Virtual Marriage Build-Up (1)
I stamped the contract. But that didn't mean we could immediately announce our virtual marriage and start the content. Of course, some impatient streamers jumped right into it, but Arine was a professional who valued natural progression.
The day after signing, I called her to discuss our virtual marriage strategy.
“So are we starting the virtual marriage right away? If we are, when should we begin?”
[No no. We can't start right away. Do you remember how long it's been since we first met?]
“We first met on Christmas, so... about two weeks?”
[No. I’m not asking about that. I mean how many times we’ve done a collab stream together.]
“Twice, right?”
[Then do you really think my viewers would accept you after only two collab streams?]
She spoke like a kind teacher gently guiding a student to figure out the answer themselves. I thought about it for a moment.
“Uh… obviously not, right?”
[Exactly. Plus, this is a virtual marriage. Not just any collab. The moment we suddenly declare we’re married, the viewers will just be confused.]
She really thought things through. As expected from a large streamer who always put her viewers first. I had only been thinking about our own circumstances and trying to rush into the virtual marriage as fast as possible. I hadn’t considered how awkward it might feel for the audience.
Even though virtual marriage content was trending on Naty, jumping straight into it after just a few collabs with no buildup would be convenient for the streamers but way too sudden for the viewers.
“Then what should we do?”
[We need to build it up. Build-up. Virtual marriage is all about the buildup. Before we start, we have to get to the point where we naturally show each other’s faces in our streams, and create that subtle, charged atmosphere between us. At the very least, we need to establish the image of close friends of the opposite sex before we can begin.]
Pretty demanding conditions. But that was what virtual marriage was like. Normally it was done between streamers who already had some kind of story between them. Cases like ours—complete strangers agreeing to do it—were rare. Her logic was so solid I couldn’t argue.
“So we have to create that image?”
[Yes. Exactly. From now on, we’ll do individual collab streams. I’ll frame the invites as me doing it because the viewer reaction was good. We shouldn’t do it too often or it’ll look intentional, so maybe once every two to three weeks. Let’s slowly build the mood, okay?]
It was honestly a little scary. Seeing how meticulously she planned out even the emotional progression of the content made her seem less like a streamer and more like an actress. I thought, This is how you reach the top of the industry. At the same time, the fact that she was willing to artificially craft an emotional arc showed just how serious she was about her content.
And so, our so-called “Virtual Marriage Build-Up Operation” officially began.
Today was the first day of that operation—the day I would do my first solo collab stream with Arine.
I let out a long breath.
A solo collab with just the two of us. It wasn’t quite the same as a regular collab stream, but it still made me nervous in its own way. I calmed my racing heart and answered her incoming call.
[Hello? Mr. Do Doyun?]
“Ah, hello.”
[What’s with that? Pfft. Why are you so stiff? Did you get nervous again?]
“N-no! I’m not nervous at all!”
As soon as I heard her bright, lively voice, the initial tension melted away. Maybe it was because we’d been talking on the phone a lot lately. Hearing Arine’s voice now felt strangely reassuring. I exaggerated my stuttering on purpose, turning it into a playful act to cover it up. She burst into giggles.
Listening to the chat and Arine’s laughter, I finally found complete peace of mind. I let her natural hosting carry me along and continued the stream like usual.
[Anyway, everyone? As I already announced, today I’m collabing with streamer Do Doyun. I saw a lot of comments on the cafe asking me to collab with him. So if our schedules line up, I’m thinking of doing more collabs with him starting today. Kind of like how I sometimes collab with Mina or Lemia when I’m bored.]
The words flowed out of her like water. The way she smoothly slipped in the hint about future collabs while sounding so natural was impressive.
[Good? Okay. If you guys like it, I like it too. And honestly, Doyun is hilarious.]
Judging by that comment, I could already imagine what her chat looked like right now. Probably full of messages like “ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ yeah he’s so funny.”
At the same time, I felt grateful that Arine’s viewers were so welcoming toward me. If it weren’t for their positive reaction, would she have even considered collabing with someone like me? The decision to do a virtual marriage had also taken their opinions into full account. It was all thanks to them liking me.
[So, Doyun?]
“Yes?”
[You should introduce yourself. My viewers are curious about who you are. Some of them saw you last time, but others probably haven’t.]
That made sense. Not everyone who watched internet broadcasts caught every single stream. It would be a huge mistake to assume that all five thousand-plus of her viewers knew me just because I’d collabed with her twice.
“Hello. I’m streamer Do Doyun, broadcasting at 6 PM on Naty.”
[Dude, I told you to say hello, not promote yourself.]
“That’s the only greeting line I have. What do you want me to do? I’ll prepare some variations for next time, so just wait.”
[Okay okay. But if you prepare something unfunny next time, we’re not collabing anymore, got it?]
She let out a small chuckle, lightening the mood with a playful jab. Then she politely greeted the viewers in my stream as well. Honestly, there was almost no one on Naty who didn’t know her, but I still appreciated the gesture.
[So, Doyun, what are we doing today? Can you give us a quick rundown?]
“Ah, yes. I guess I have to. You could’ve done it yourself… why are you making me do it…”
[Ahem.]
“Oops. My true feelings slipped out.”
[True feelings?]
“No no. Ah~ Today we’ll mainly play a bomb defusal game, and if we finish early, we’ll do some light cooperative puzzle games afterward.”
After some pointless banter and finishing the content introduction, I gave a brief explanation of the games. We were about to dive into the actual collab when—
[Oh, right!]
“What? Did you forget something?”
[Not exactly. I just think we should settle on how we address each other before we start.]
“How we address each other?”
I was caught off guard by the unexpected turn, but Arine continued casually. That’s when I realized—she was already executing her so-called “virtual marriage build-up.” No matter how naturally she approached it, to speed things up, starting with how we called each other was crucial. It would be hard to do a virtual marriage while still calling each other “Mr.” and “Ms.” all the time.
I had thought it would take a long time before we could actually start the virtual marriage after hearing her plan, but if she was pacing things this carefully, maybe it would happen sooner than I expected.
[We’ve met a few times now. And we’ll probably keep seeing each other often from now on, right?]
“Yeah?”
[So constantly calling each other “Mr.” and “Ms.” feels too stiff. How about we drop the formal speech? Doyun.]
Her words made the chat in my stream explode.
After our last collab, my viewer count had jumped significantly. For three years, I had rarely broken three hundred concurrent viewers. Now I was hovering in the early one thousands. That just showed how powerful that previous collab had been. It was almost funny how easily my old limits had been shattered, but at the same time, I felt a surge of excitement thinking about how much more it might grow with future collabs with Arine.
Watching the chat fly by much faster than before, I answered her.
“If that’s more comfortable for you, Arine, then go ahead. I don’t mind.”
[Okay. Then let’s drop the formal speech. By the way, how old are you, Doyun? Come to think of it, I never asked.]
“How old do I look? What’s your guess, Arine?”
[Hmm. About thirty-six?]
“Hey, don’t exaggerate. I know I have a bit of a baby face—no, I mean I look old for my age—but I’m definitely not in my thirties.”
My exaggerated, offended reaction made her giggle again. Of course I wasn’t actually offended. It was just a fun reaction. She had only been joking anyway, and no matter how old I was, I couldn’t compete with her looks.
[Just kidding~ Just kidding~ At first glance, you look like you’re in your mid-twenties?]
“Correct. I’m twenty-six.”
[Ah~ Then you’re older. Oppa.]
Why did the word “oppa” sound so good? For a second I wanted to record the way it had just left Arine’s lips. It was a man’s natural instinct to want to hear a pretty girl call him oppa. There was no fighting it. But I made sure not to show any of that outwardly.
“How old are you, Arine?”
[I’m twenty-three. Still fresh and young, right? Old man?]
“Hey, three years goes by fast~ You’ll be my age soon enough.”
[By then you’ll be even older, Doyun.]
“Shut up shut up shut up.”
Watching the chat flood with laughter at our back-and-forth, I smiled in satisfaction.
[So, do you have any preferred way you want me to call you? Pick one. Doyun oppa or just Doyun. One of those two.]
For a split second, the desire to hear her call me oppa surged up, but it was better to keep a little distance for now rather than choose something too intimate.
“Just Doyun or Doyunie is fine. Hearing you call me oppa feels too cringy.”
[Really? Good, because I didn’t want to say it either. What, did you think I liked calling guys oppa? Ew~ So lame.]
“Then what should I call you?”
[Me? Princess Arine.]
“There’s no twenty-three-year-old princess in the world. You wanna die?”
[Wow~ He’s not even playing along. Anyway, just call me Arine comfortably. You’re older than me after all.]
“Got it. Then shall we start now?”
[Okay. Starting~ now~!]
“........”
[If you use formal speech, you get a penalty.]
After her last words, we both fell silent. Neither of us could easily speak. Of course we couldn’t. This was insanely awkward. No matter how many times we had met, Arine and I had only interacted in a purely professional capacity. We had never even seen each other’s faces in real life. There was no way we could drop formal speech so easily.
But we couldn’t just leave the audio dead like this. I hesitantly spoke first, my voice timid and awkward.
“Um… so… A-Arine?”
The small, embarrassed tone sounded like the quietest kid in class asking the class bully to move out of his seat. At that, Arine exploded with laughter like a volcano erupting.
[Kyahahahaha! Hahaha! Kyahahahaha! This is so fucking funny~ Hahaha! A-Arine? Pfft, hahahahaha!]
…Fuck. I shouldn’t have said her name first.
Listening to Arine’s hearty laughter through my earphones, I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed and fall silent.