A Mother's Comfort
Party (3) I had a bad dream. And because of that dream, right now…
"…Mom, are you listening…?"
[Yeah, I'm listening.]
"…You won't abandon me, right? Right…?"
At twenty-three years old, I was still clutching the phone, double-checking that Mom had no intention of leaving me behind. I'd dreamed of being abandoned. A dream so familiar, yet the pain never got any easier to bear. After crying for a long while, I called her, and she instantly gave me a strong sense of reassurance.
"…Thank you."
[What for? Have you eaten breakfast yet?]
"I'm working… I'll eat while I do."
[Alright, alright. Want to grab a meal together soon with Minu and Jiwoo?]
"I'd like that……"
Sniffling, I hung up and headed to the bathroom. After a quick wash, I limped over and sank into my computer chair.
'I should probably start rehab soon……'
Just as I thought about dragging Yeon-a along for some light exercise, two notifications popped up the moment my computer booted.
-Ding!
-Ding!
"…!"
The senders were Yeon-a and Haram.
[Mizuame Akari: Unnie! Let's gooo! We're raiding like crazy today! I'm so excited!]
[Tachibana Kits: Snek Snek, when are you turning your PC onnnn? I already opened Discord, waiting~]
Knowing both of them were waiting for me made my restless heart feel warm.
'…They were waiting for me.'
The gloom that had lingered since last night and into this morning eased considerably.
-Clap clap!
The sound of my soft cheeks being patted echoed through the small room. My face stung a little, and tears almost welled up, but I ignored it and created a Discord room. Haram joined right away.
-Ding!
[Good morning, unnie! How'd you land such an amazing connection?]
She was already making a fuss the second she entered. I smiled faintly and answered in a slightly hoarse voice.
"Ahem! Well… I guess you could call it a string of coincidences……"
[Wooow… I-I'm a huge fan of K-hyung.]
"…Really?"
[Yeah, I've been watching since I was little.]
"Oh……"
[By the way, is your throat sore? You sound off… Do you have a cold?]
"Ah, no, not a cold… I just cried too much yesterday, haha……"
When I answered awkwardly, she told me to stop crying because it made her upset. I said okay and started organizing information on the party members we'd be teaming up with this time.
"K is… doing a cam stream… Giseong-nim is Duran… sometimes streams with cam on, and Yeowu-nim is a married woman who's gained attention for realistic CG and being a former pro……"
Looking them up, every single one of them was impressive. K was practically the one who shaped the current YouTube ecosystem. Yeowu had once been suspected of hacking but disappeared for years before making a flashy streamer debut, winning a championship in her debut year as a beautiful pro gamer…… And Giseong was one of Yeowu's disciples, a skilled four-year FPS veteran working for a major company. They were all truly remarkable people.
'I'm actually nervous.'
My small chest trembled as I prepared to face these legends. Just then—
-Ding!
[Sorry I'm a bit late…! I kept you waiting, but I didn't expect a call while I was in the bathroom.]
Yeon-a smiled sheepishly. I told her it was fine.
"I-It's okay… Actually, ahem ahem! I'm the one who was late……"
[What? Suhyun, is your throat hurting? Did you drink warm water? What's wrong? Huh?]
Yeon-a fussed over me even more than my own mom. I honestly admitted I'd cried too much.
"I-I cried too much……"
[Ah… Right, I saw the stream. But everything got fixed. Don't be too down.]
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay now."
The trolling still bothered me, but at least they couldn't touch us during the raid. Just in case, we'd decided not to meet up at my place. The meeting spot was the village square in front of the church.
[Aah… I'm nervous.]
Haram muttered, looking unusually tense. Feeling the tension rub off on me too, I took a deep breath.
"F-First, let's start the stream…!"
I quickly checked the mic, chat, and my chubby cheeks before going live.
[Title: Chop Chop]
My face flushed at the half-hearted title, but the Jireongi still poured in as if they'd been waiting.
I smiled and greeted them back.
"Hellooo… Ahem! My voice sank a bit because I cried yesterday."
"Ahem ahem! Ah… I'm not a baby… Anyway, did Giseong-nim's story spread on the community…?"
I tilted my head, wondering what on earth he'd done to be called a flirting expert on the community.
Giseong woke up frowning that morning. He was sighing heavily, regretting the previous day.
'Why did I ask for her age……'
Just for asking her age once, he was being roasted as an "underage killer" or whatever. Of course, it was still better than fighting off the Jireongi who charged in yelling "How dare you touch our Snek Snek!!" so he felt both annoyed and relieved. But that peace didn't last.
His teacher, the former pro and current streamer Yeowu, sent a message that left him dazed.
"Damn it……"
Before officially starting Minecraft, Yeon-a, Haram, and I read one of the posts that had gone up on the community.
'Everyone's being kind about it.'
I was just relieved that Giseong-nim, who hadn't done anything wrong, wasn't being unfairly targeted by public opinion. Just in case, I checked the fan cafe too, but—
'YunaYuna already handled the bad stuff, so the boss can rest easy…!'
Thanks to Yuna-nim's management, and because the cafe wasn't that active, her handling was more than enough.
"Ahem! Ah… Shall we go now……"
[Okay!]
[Alright, I'll launch it right away!]
Haram and Yeon-a answered in turn. Leaving the two of them behind, I smiled brightly and launched Minecraft as well.