I Knew I Did the Right Thing by Teaming Up With Him (1)
I knew teaming up with him was the right call.
Views: 14,243 | Likes: 565
“What the… it’s literally all about me. Are these people insane?”
I had just finished my part-time shift and was back home, uploading a broadcast notice to the fan cafe, when one of the members’ posts caught my eye. I clicked on it. The title—“Do Doyun you son of a bitch, you’ve blown up lol”—was impossible to ignore. Inside, the post basically said the entire internet broadcasting community had exploded yesterday. Almost everything was about Arine’s virtual marriage broadcast, and the majority of the real-time trending posts had been completely dominated by my name.
I couldn’t tell if it was just because the broadcast had been good and my friends were hyping it up, or if this was actually happening. So I ended up digging through community sites I normally never visit. That’s when I realized the post in the cafe had been telling the truth.
Posts with views bouncing between the thousands and tens of thousands. On a single page, there were three or four threads related to our virtual marriage. Yeah… yesterday’s peak viewer count had probably hit the mid-20,000s even if I didn’t know the exact number. I knew it had been a hot topic, but I never imagined people would love it this much. At this point, it was undeniable—Naty’s current trend was Adoyun’s virtual marriage.
And when I actually read the content, most of it was praise directed at me. The Sweet Doyun concept I’d pushed through my fear yesterday. The way I’d kept the broadcast perfectly balanced—not too cringey, but just sweet enough to satisfy the virtual marriage viewers’ needs. It seemed that decision had been a masterstroke.
“……I really did the right thing. I was a little embarrassed while doing it, but…”
Now I felt like I could go all out without holding back. After the broadcast ended yesterday, I’d felt awkward because the behavior didn’t match my usual character. But if people loved it this much, there was no reason for me to feel embarrassed. If anything, I needed to show the virtual marriage version of myself even more boldly and without hesitation.
“Do I actually have a talent for being cheesy?”
People were saying every line was perfectly timed, asking where I’d learned to talk like that, wondering if I had insane dating experience. There was so much praise for the things I’d said that I was starting to question whether I really did have a gift for it. Seoyeon never seemed to like the things I said much, except at the very beginning of our relationship. But then again, there’s always a gap between real life and broadcasting. Maybe my smooth-talking only worked on stream.
Yeah. So what if I suck at dating in real life? It works amazingly on broadcast. The thought was enough to refill the self-esteem I’d lost from all my romantic failures. Dopamine flooded my brain. Maybe it was because this was the first time I’d ever received this much attention and interest from so many people. The excitement wouldn’t settle, and I felt my fingertips trembling slightly without realizing it.
“……I’ve gotta do well today too.”
Of course, I knew I couldn’t keep this level of attention forever. A big part of the spotlight on me came from the sheer unexpectedness of it all. It was like how local governments suddenly go viral when they make fun, meme-filled YouTube videos. No one had expected anything from me, so the fact that some random hako streamer was actually good at broadcasting felt fresh and surprising. Still, at least until this popularity cooled off, I wanted to give it my absolute best and make the viewers happy.
“Which means I need to start with today’s collab. Alright.”
I clapped my cheeks a couple times, then walked toward my familiar one-room apartment with energetic steps. For once, even that damp basement room felt like somewhere I wanted to get back to quickly.
#
After we finished the oath ceremony yesterday and turned off the broadcast, we talked about our collab schedule.
The speed at which content gets consumed and the risk of viewers getting tired meant we couldn’t do it too often. But we also couldn’t do it too rarely and make people feel like we were drifting apart. The key was always maintaining the right amount of distance. That’s what Arine had explained to me before suggesting we lock in one fixed collab per week—enough that we wouldn’t disappear from people’s minds.
Of course, that was just the fixed schedule. We could always hop on together anytime if something special came up or if we simply felt like broadcasting together. It was like lovers who only go on dates on the weekends. Just the minimum promise so we wouldn’t get too awkward with each other while constantly reminding viewers that we were in a virtual marriage.
And the day for this week’s fixed collab was today. Since we’d done the big announcement broadcast yesterday, it was obvious people would want to see us again right away. Especially in these early stages when everything still felt fresh, it was better to show our faces often.
Today’s collab would be streamed simultaneously from both our places. We’d agreed in the contract that we would only use Arine’s room for special occasions like yesterday’s announcement event.
I quickly finished a convenience store lunch box I’d bought on the way back from my part-time job, turned on my computer, and immediately got a Discord call.
“She didn’t say she was going to call today.”
Maybe she had something to say about the collab. It wasn’t likely to be personal business. Thinking that, I answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Yes, this is your wife speaking.”
“What is this? We haven’t even started the broadcast yet.”
“Pffft. I’m joking, I’m joking. It’s good to practice even when we’re not on air, right? For the next six months, we should basically think of ourselves as a real couple, oppa.”
Her joke came with zero hesitation. Since she only saw me as a business partner, I didn’t pay it much mind. Honestly, what she said wasn’t even wrong.
“So what’s the actual reason for the call?”
“Aww, why are you like this? Do we only call each other when we have business? That makes me sad.”
“It’s true though. We only call when there’s business. When have we ever talked privately?”
“Wait, oppa… do you want to talk to me privately? Is that why you’re upset?”
Yeah. I do. Obviously. The words rose all the way to my throat before I forced them back down. That kind of line was only appropriate during virtual marriage content. It didn’t fit a normal phone call between Yoo Harin and Kim Doyun.
“No, I’m not really upset?”
“You sound upset though~? Is it because I said we should interact outside of broadcasts and then never followed through?”
“I’m seriously not upset. I know you’re busy. Do I look like the kind of petty person who’d get upset over something like that?”
Still, you could at least send a text. It feels weird if I’m always the one initiating. It might come off like I’m trying to hit on you. Even while thinking that internally, I made sure none of those feelings showed on the outside.
“Hmmm.”
“Stop playing virtual marriage and just tell me why you called already.”
“Why? Are you busy right now, oppa? What are you doing?”
“I just finished eating.”
“Really? What did you eat?”
“A lunch box. One of those cheap, satisfying convenience store ones.”
“Oppa, eating that stuff is bad for your body. Buy yourself something nicer. If you’re going to eat out—”
“Are you seriously disrespecting the blood, sweat, and tears of food researchers across the country right now? Convenience store lunch boxes are incredibly healthy. Apologize to the nationwide convenience store lunch box fandom immediately.”
“……Do those even have a fandom?”
Those? This girl really knows how to get under my skin. But strangely, I didn’t feel like getting angry at Arine. Because honestly, it felt good. No one ever asked me what I ate. At most I’d just mention it to viewers after turning on the stream. Plus, hearing her worry about my health and tell me to eat better made me realize it had been a really long time since anyone cared about my well-being. It felt nice. After all, nagging only happens when someone actually cares about you.
“This won’t do. I’ll pack you a lunch box sometime, oppa. That could be good content too, right?”
“……Oh. That actually sounds like a pretty good idea.”
The viewers would eat that up. Eating a lunch that Arine personally packed for me.
“Anyway, that’s not the important part.”
“Yeah.”
“The reason I called is… I wanted to say something to you before we start the broadcast?”
“So what is it already.”
“Oppa, did you happen to check the reactions from yesterday’s broadcast?”
“Huh?”
Of course I had. I’d literally just been looking at them. But before I could answer, Arine beat me to it.
“You didn’t? Then let me tell you while I’m at it. I wanted to say thank you, oppa.”
Thank you? What for?
“The virtual marriage announcement video that went up on my YouTube channel this morning? It’s already at 500,000 views. Oppa. Isn’t that insane?”
Arine’s excited voice rang brightly in my ear.