076. Bustling Seoul Outdoor Stream
076. Bustling Seoul Outdoor Stream
I parked in a paid lot.
I grabbed my camera, got out of the car, and headed toward the subway station.
【Reformed Guburi】—Gye Bastard-hun. Taking the subway there?
"Yeah. Driving in Seoul's a pain."
The traffic was always heavy heading up from Gyeonggi, and people had a definite tendency to drive aggressively. Compared to where I lived, anyway.
So I'd decided to just take the easy route and use the subway.
【Min-ji】—But there aren't many people in the station at all.
【Reformed Guburi】—lol that's the countryside for you.
【Qkrnfl892】—It's Gyeonggi. -_-
"It's only like this outside. Once you get into the station, there's quite a few people."
As if to make a fool out of what I'd just said, there were only about ten people inside the station.
Feeling awkward, I averted my eyes from the camera and muttered quietly.
"...Must be a slow time of day."
【Reformed Guburi】—Don't bullshit. lololol
【Hottie Licker】—lololol To Se-hun, ten people is a lot, apparently. *Lick.*
【Reformed Guburi】—Looks to me like this is max capacity. lol
"Gyejipsa. Mute those two."
【Gyejipsa】—Wakyapya!
『User 'Reformed Guburi' has been chat-restricted. Time remaining: 00:10:00』
『User 'Hottie Licker' has been chat-restricted. Time remaining: 00:10:00』
I fed those two an instant mute.
They were the kind of bitches who only stayed docile when their chat was restricted regularly.
【Se-hun Defense Force】—lolol How dare you nitpick Se-hun's words? Instant mute!
【BigGirl】—It's been a while since we've seen a mute.
【Plum Tree】—That's because Guburi's been too busy with work to chat much.
【Yoho】—Reformed is the majority shareholder of mutes, after all.
【Qkrnfl892】—But Se-hun was right, this station usually has a lot of people. Telling the truth and not being believed is a decent reason to be annoyed. lol
As expected, Eight-Nine-Two knew this station well.
Probably because she lived in the same area as me.
【Yoho】—Still, I'm kind of relieved. If it were crowded, wouldn't everyone just mob you trying to see the streamer?
【Min-ji】—That's true. It might actually be a good thing there aren't many people.
"Huh? What kind of nonsense is that? Why would people mob me?"
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】—Right. People aren't a horde of zombies.
【Yoho】—The streamer has descended upon this place. You think they wouldn't mob you?
【Min-ji】—Exactly. It'd be more of a madhouse than when a typical celebrity shows up.
I looked at the chat window and was at a loss for words for a moment.
It was just so utterly ridiculous.
"Guys... aren't you overestimating me a bit much? I'm not some famous broadcaster or whatever..."
【Qkrnfl892】—But aren't you a famous broadcaster?
【Se-hun Defense Force】—fr lol People just can't get into the stream, but you're famous as fuck.
【Dick Lover】—Hmm. Is he at that level?
【Plum Tree】—He's pretty famous among people who frequent the communities.
【BigGirl】—The general public probably has no idea?
【Bubblegum Collector】—Wakyapya! Se-hun is a small-time streamer!
【Gyejipsa】—Wakyapya! Dick streamer!
【Yoho】—Feels like people would ask for your autograph...
【Min-ji】—They'd be all over you asking for photos.
"Don't make a big fuss over nothing. Like BigGirl said, regular people aren't going to care about me."
【BigGirl】—I didn't say they wouldn't care.
【Se-hun Defense Force】—lololol Se-hun, you live without looking in a mirror? How could anyone not care when they see your face?
【Qkrnfl892】—fr lol
【Min-ji】—Even if they don't know who Se-hun is, they might just rush over after seeing your face. heh
"...Min-ji. Ease up on the overpraising. Before I blacklist you."
【Min-ji】—Yeshh. hehe
【Yoho】—Min-ji, you've really been acting up lately.
【Min-ji】—🖕
【Yoho】—? 🖕
I was keeping up the banter with my viewers in front of the screen door.
<The train is now approaching. Passengers, please step back behind the safety line.>
Psssssshhh-!
<The screen doors are opening.>
The subway I'd been waiting for arrived, and the screen doors slid open.
***
The car I boarded had only me in it.
At first, that was. By then, it was a packed subway with not a single seat left.
【Dick Lover】—Wow, suddenly a ton of people got on.
【Min-ji】—Right? Only two stops have passed and it's already jam-packed.
【Reformed Guburi】—Resurrected! Sex!
【Hottie Licker】—I'm resurrected too! *Lick!*
【Plum Tree】—But Se-hun hasn't said a single word since it got crowded. lol
【Dick Lover】—He's even pressed the camera right up against his face. Looks like he's embarrassed.
【★Hun's World】—Gotta have manners in a public place.
【Qkrnfl892】—lolol He's so fucking pretentious, acting like he's polite.
【Reformed Guburi】—You a scared little bitch?
【Hottie Licker】—Just stream confidently. Who cares? *Lick.*
【★Hun's World】—Shut it if you don't want another mute.
Since I couldn't talk aloud in a public place under the guise of streaming, I was communicating with my viewers by typing in chat like this.
"Um, excuse me..."
Out of nowhere, a male student approached hesitantly.
He shyly held out a notebook he'd been clutching with both hands.
"Would it... be okay if I got your autograph?"
"An autograph?"
When I asked back in a bewildered tone, the student immediately flushed red and carefully pulled his notebook back.
"Ah. I'm sorry. That was a bit rude of me here, wasn't it...?"
"No. I can give you one, but do you know who I am and you're asking?"
"Uh, well... you're someone really famous... aren't you?"
He definitely didn't know me.
So why had he asked for an autograph?
The reason was obvious.
‘Ah... It was probably because of the camera.’
The student's gaze was fixed on the camera I was currently holding.
He must have seen it and mistaken me for a celebrity or a famous influencer.
I spoke in a low voice to clear things up first.
"I'm not that famous. I do stream, but I have a small audience, so you can just think of me as a regular person."
"Huh? There's no way a face like yours isn't famous..."
The male student muttered under his breath.
I took it as a kind of compliment and didn't call him out on it.
I spoke to the male student, who was still standing in front of me shuffling his feet, in the kindest tone I could manage.
"I can give you an autograph. But since I actually am a regular person, it won't be of any use to you even if you take it."
It was a response I felt pretty proud of myself for.
Thinking about it again, my social skills really had come a long way compared to when I was a student.
If it had been my middle school days, that's for sure.
When a stranger talked to me, I would've bluntly snapped, 'Fuck off, you little shithead.'
But now I was dealing with people without swearing, even smiling kindly.
This must be what it meant to be a proper member of society... no, an adult.
‘It didn't really sink in compared to before the army, but when I compare it to middle school, when I was the biggest asshole, I could really feel the difference.’
After becoming a high schooler.
And then an adult.
After finishing my military service.
Seeing myself grow in stages made me feel oddly proud.
‘The mother and daughter I had met while hiking... no. I thought I had handled that situation even better than the one with the yokai lady. At that rate, was I going to stop swearing entirely by the following year?’
While I was feeling pleased with myself internally, the male student timidly held his notebook out again.
And he made his request politely.
"Th-then, please. In my view, you're going to become incredibly famous before long...!"
"Well, sure... if you say so."
I took the notebook and pen.
And slowly inscribed my name, 'Gye Se-hun,' in careful block letters across the white page.
I was doing it reluctantly, but I kept my expression in check so he wouldn't feel awkward.
"Here you go."
"Thank you!"
I handed the notebook back to the male student.
The boy beamed and thanked me.
He spoke rather loudly.
"What's that? Is he a celebrity?"
"Looks like it?"
Because of the male student, a few people's gazes shifted this way.
At first it was just a few, but the stares aimed in my direction started multiplying rapidly.
"A celebrity?"
"No. They said he's a famous male cam streamer?"
"Who is he?"
"I dunno."
"Hey, hey. They said he's an influencer."
"Really? What's his name?"
"Who is that guy? Do you know?"
"I feel like I've seen him somewhere..."
People whispered to their acquaintances.
"Think I've seen him on Neotube..."
"Did I see him on Instagram?"
"Looking at his face, maybe he's an actor."
"Oh! Gye Se-hun...!"
People muttered to themselves and observed me intently.
Their murmuring collected together, filling the inside of the subway car, and before I knew it, every pair of eyes was fixed on me.
Fuck.
*
*
*
Worry took over.
I had a premonition that everyone would mistake me for a celebrity and mob me for autographs or photos.
I was agonizing over how to handle this.
A young woman burst through the crowd, appearing like a savior, and shouted.
"Alright, alright, everyone!"
The woman raised her voice and drew everyone's attention.
"If you all stare and whisper like that, it could make this person uncomfortable, so please, if at all possible, pretend you haven't recognized him!"
Taking a deep breath, the woman looked around at everyone and continued.
"No matter how famous you are, you've got to rest when it's time to rest! How exhausting do you think it is to get this much attention just riding public transit? With all the chaos of celebrities committing suicide over malicious comments these days, let's try to be considerate! This isn't the first time you've all seen a celebrity or an influencer in person, is it?"
I wondered if that speech would actually have any effect.
But surprisingly, it did.
"Celebrities are people just like us! They're not animals in a zoo! Now, from this moment on, let's take our attention away from this man!"
The woman spat out her final words.
The people on the subway began to nod one by one, agreeing with her.
"Uh... she's not wrong."
"Yeah, what's the big deal about a celebrity."
"This is my first time seeing a celebrity... but whatever, it doesn't matter..."
"So who is that person anyway?"
"They said he's famous. Pay no mind to it."
It was as if they were obeying a command.
The people gradually started to lose interest in me.
The young woman watching this sent a wink my way, then calmly vanished into the crowd.
【Reformed Guburi】—lolololol what the hell? This is so fucking funny, seriously.
【Hottie Licker】—Feels like I'm watching a drama. *Lick.*
【Bubblegum Collector】—Wakyapya! The people are nice though!
【Gyejipsa】—Are nice!
【Se-hun Defense Force】—No, why the fuck is that bastard here? lolol I'd recognize her just by her voice. Running around the subway using her Agitation skill, crazy bitch. lolololol
【★Hun's World】—?
【Se-hun Defense Force】—Se-hun. The chick who just helped you had blue hair and blue eyes, and was wearing blue horn-rimmed glasses, right?
【★Hun's World】—Yeah, how do you know?
【Se-hun Defense Force】—She's my army buddy. Works as the manager of our circus troupe now. lol Her voice is way too distinctive, I could tell without even seeing her face.
【★Hun's World】—Circus troupe?
【Se-hun Defense Force】—Ah, did I not mention it? That I'm the famous Red Clown?
【★Hun's World】—What bullshit are you on. I don't care about that crap. If that really was your friend who just helped me, pass along my thanks for that.
【Se-hun Defense Force】—O.K...
【Reformed Guburi】—Defense Force, you motherfucker. Don't impersonate Red Clown. I'll kill you.
【Hottie Licker】—lolol If Defense Force is Red Clown, I'll do next week's class naked. *Lick.*
I didn't know the exact details of what was going on.
Anyway, thanks to the woman Defense Force called her friend stepping up, I'd avoided an annoying situation.
***
【Reformed Guburi】—But back there, at first I thought that guy was about to pick a fight with Gye Bastard-hun. Guess I was wrong. lol
【Hottie Licker】—lol Does Guburi think every single man is a member of a male supremacy group or something? You got a problem with men? *Lick.*
【BigGirl】—There are plenty of decent men once you go outside.
【★Hun's World】—That's because Guburi's socially maladjusted.
【Reformed Guburi】—stfu, you're exactly the same as me, fucker.
【★Hun's World】—kk
I communicated with my viewers through chat.
After three or four transfers, I finally arrived at Apgujeong Station.
"Ha. Finally, I can breathe."
I only spoke my thoughts aloud after I'd made it above ground.
I'd felt like I was going to suffocate from only talking through text.
Afterward,
I continued on.
I was cutting through an alleyway between buildings, a place with hardly any foot traffic.
"Hup... cha...!"
I spotted a woman who couldn't hold herself steady, grinding against a wall with loose, unsteady hip movements.
She was a woman who radiated thug vibes from every pore.
"Bleurgh."
She was shoving her fingers deep into her throat and dry-heaving.
She seemed like a complete lunatic.
‘I shouldn't make eye contact with something like that.’
Avoiding lunatics was the wisest course.
I had no interest in getting into pointless trouble, so I decided to ignore her and walk on by. That was the plan.
"...Hey. You there!"
Unfortunately for me.
I'd been caught on the crazy bitch's radar.