The Life of a Large Streamer (3): Head Pats
The Life of a Large Streamer (3): Head Pats. In Japanese, it was nade nade, or yoshi yoshi. In broadcasting, the term described viewers comforting a streamer or gently soothing them with kind words. But right now, that very situation was unfolding in reality for Arine.
She was receiving head pats from someone other than her parents for the first time in her life.
...What is this? What the hell is going on? Reality felt disorienting. Was she dreaming? Had she been thinking about Doyun so much lately that she was now dreaming about filming a collab with him? Strangely, that possibility felt more believable to her. But the gentle touch on her hair was undeniable. The large, slightly rough hand that could never belong to a woman carried the unmistakable texture of reality.
The fingers that had lightly brushed her pulled away. Then his hand returned to her head once more. Rustle, rustle. It swept through her hair with a pleasant sound. The pressure was exquisitely delicate—just enough not to ruin her hairstyle. The caress felt so good she worried she might unconsciously let out a strange noise.
It was only after he had patted her head about three times that her mind finally snapped back to reality.
“Uh, ehh? Uhhng? Hweeeeh?!”
She let out a bizarre cry that hardly seemed like it could have come from her own throat, and her entire body froze solid.
Did he just touch me? He touched me, right? For real?
She had the illusion that steam was hissing out from between her lips. Heat surged from her chest, scorching her face. Her heartbeat thundered wildly. It felt even faster than when she had messed up during the external shoot earlier.
“What was that sound? Did some kind of animal just cry…?”
She sensed Doyun’s bewildered gaze on her. Unknowingly, her heart raced even faster under that look. Those clear, honest eyes seemed to pierce straight through her, making her feel unbearably embarrassed. She couldn’t understand why she was overreacting so badly.
It wasn’t as if she had never had physical contact with men. There had been plenty of accidental brushes during her school days, at work, bumping into strangers on the street, or riding public transportation. So it wasn’t like she had some kind of phobia.
But. But why? Why on earth was she reacting like this? Why was a single touch from Doyun making her tremble like a leaf in the wind? Why was she frozen in place as if she had been petrified by Medusa’s gaze?
And what’s more, she knew. She knew Doyun was doing this on purpose because of the camera rolling in front of them. They hadn’t discussed it beforehand, but when the atmosphere felt right, it was only natural to ease into skinship. That was what gave an offline collab meaning. This level of light contact was enough to excite the viewers without needing to show it on the actual live stream.
In fact, other virtual marriage partners showed everything from holding hands to linking arms, hugging, and even kissing during offline shoots, even when they felt nothing for each other. So this was nothing. Just light showmanship.
But… Ughhh. Is he seriously a Casanova? How is this guy so natural with skinship?
For some reason, it irritated her. She should have just let it slide and acted cute in front of the camera. But she couldn’t. The thought of how many women Doyun must have seduced this way made anger bubble up inside her. At the same time, the fact that he had patted her head felt so good that she couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from twitching upward.
It was embarrassing. Mortifying. Humiliating.
But it felt good. It made her happy. She wished he would do it one more time—.
What am I even thinking right now… She shook her head vigorously, trying to dislodge the strange thoughts that had floated into her mind.
“...Hey, Arine? Did that upset you?”
When she stayed stiffly frozen, the flustered Doyun asked while carefully reading her expression. In response, Arine acted grumpy to hide her embarrassment.
“Huh? Me? Not at all. I wasn’t upset. I was just surprised because it was so sudden. Yeah.”
“Really? That’s a relief. Sorry. Was I too abrupt?”
“The speed isn’t the issue… but Doyun, do you do this to other girls too?”
“Huh? What do you—”
At her sharp, piercing glare, Doyun’s face crumpled. Arine hid her true feelings while unleashing the anger that had been boiling inside her.
“How are you so natural with skinship? Do you just start patting girls’ heads once you get a little close? Do you even think about how the other person might feel?”
“No, it’s not like that…”
“Don’t tell me you seduced your ex-girlfriend like this too? What about your ex-ex-girlfriend? Or are you still going around seducing women like this these days?”
“Um… Arine?”
It could hardly be called a conversation. It was simply an outpouring of Arine’s emotions, all pouring down on him. Although she was the emotional type, she wasn’t usually this irrational. Her head was so heated that she couldn’t even think about why she was acting this way.
Shouldn’t you consider the feelings of the person receiving this? If it were me on the receiving end… I would…
But Doyun, who had taken the full emotional barrage, looked at her with an apologetic expression.
“......I guess I was a bit too hasty. Um, why are you angry?”
His face was genuinely confused. This wasn’t an act for the camera—it was pure, unfiltered curiosity from Doyun. The moment she heard the question, Arine felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over her head.
......Right. Why am I getting angry at Doyun right now?
She couldn’t understand it. So what if he was the natural enemy of women, a Casanova who flirted with anyone? What did it matter to her whether he seduced other women this way or that? Even if it were true, that was his private life. It wasn’t something she had any right to intrude on. In the end, their relationship was nothing more than friends at best, with the rest being purely business. No matter how fast she tried to come up with a justification for her anger, there was none.
Because she wasn’t his real girlfriend.
Once the heat that had boiled up in her mind cooled completely, the only thing she could offer was a clumsy excuse.
“Well… that’s because… I like pure romance stories!”
“What?”
Doyun’s expression turned to pure bewilderment at the completely random remark. She herself knew it had nothing to do with the context. But what else could she do? She felt too awkward to admit she didn’t even know why she had gotten angry, so that was the only excuse she had.
“I like a guy who’s genuine like the male lead in a pure love story. I hate anything that smells like a player.”
“Ah… I see?”
“Yeah. So I accidentally went into overdrive. Sorry… Seeing how you act, it just seemed like you’ve seduced a ton of girls…”
It was a truly pathetic excuse. There was no way he would buy it. A normal person would have pressed her further on why she was angry.
But unfortunately, Doyun was not a normal person.
“You’re a real otaku, huh? Heh. Got it. I’ll try harder to act like a proper pure-love male lead from now on.”
“......”
He let even that slide with a smile, as if it were nothing. He even said he would make an effort, as if he were the one at fault. The words made heat flare up inside her again like wildfire.
......So don’t say things like that either. Seriously.
Unconsciously, she lowered her head again as her face burned once more.
“But then, should I ask permission before any skinship from now on? Like, ‘Can I hold your hand?’ Like this? I don’t really know the pure-love tropes.”
“...Uh… that’s… that’s not…”
As Arine stumbled over her words in response to his genuinely innocent question, a “Pfft. Pffft.” came from the front seat.
It was Seona laughing. The sound carried the knowing satisfaction of someone who had just realized something. The laughter that had finally burst out after being held back didn’t sound unpleasant at all.
When the startled Arine and Doyun turned to look at their manager, she waved her hands dismissively.
“What is it, Manager? Why are you laughing?”
“Sorry. You two were just too cute to watch. I shouldn’t have interrupted the shoot. Aigoo. Sorry, sorry~ Please continue.”
And somehow, even though she couldn’t hear it, Arine had the distinct feeling that the editor in the passenger seat was laughing too.
Watching the two of them giggling, she felt an inexplicable wave of embarrassment. I should just ignore them. This is a broadcast. Yeah. Thinking that, Arine tried to shake off her shame and looked at Doyun again.
“I’m not saying this because I’m some kind of virtual marriage veteran, but… Arine. Doyun.”
“Yes?”
“Ah, yes.”
Suddenly the manager called out to them again from the front seat. Still giggling, she spoke as if making a sincere request.
“......You two really suit each other so well. Can’t you just date for real?”
Ah, seriously, Manager. Why are you like this? For real.