Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: A Hole in the Dam
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While we were enjoying our own little party and chattering away, the cell phone I'd set up just for calls started ringing.
"Hang on a sec, I'll take this call."
"Go ahead."
I stepped a few paces back from the table to take the call and held the phone to my ear.
"Hello?"
— Sis Ga-eul!!!! "Sis?"
— Sis Where are you!! What are you doing!! Why do I see the ocean!!! What!! From the way she was talking, it sounded like Sis had turned on my stream.
"I'm in Dubai."
— Sis Whaaaat? "Pffft. Calm down a bit."
Da-rin's voice came through next, sounding more baffled than flustered.
— Sis Where did you say? "Dubai. More precisely, somewhere midway between Dubai and Abu Dhabi? I'll explain why I came when I get back."
— Sis That doesn't make any sense on a common-sense level, but fine. You have to tell me later, right? "Of course."
After that, Sis—who'd been chattering nonstop about whether Herman was real, if the food was good, and all sorts of other things—seemed to remember the actual reason for her call and abruptly changed tacks.
— Sis Oh, right. Ga-eul, remember those photos from when you modeled for the fitting shots? The office is in total chaos trying to figure out who the model is. Even the TV station reached out? "Huh? From just one photo?"
— Sis Of course! You said you did a shoot in the army too, right? That's trending in real-time searches right now. Something about "Amidol"? "Wait a minute. My brain can't keep up. What idol?"
— Sis Special ops unit Amidol or whatever. And this photo with Baekseol! Is this really Isabelle from Tran? I can't believe it even after seeing it. "Sis, I'm swamped right now. What photo are you even talking about?"
Sis sent a photo via message right away.
In the photo, I was standing next to Isabelle, who was grinning ear-to-ear while holding up Baekseol.
It was the picture from the first day I'd met Baekseol—the one where I looked like a total doofus, but Isabelle adored it anyway.
"Sis, where'd you see this photo?"
— Sis Obviously Isabelle's SNS. The internet's going nuts right now. It's all Ga-eul-related stuff. "Oh, fuck me, the world."
The fateful meeting with Par that upended my entire life. Her final words had been to live happily.
Unwelcome fame—totally out of my control—was crashing in like a tidal wave.
With a face this striking, just breathing was headline material, and I'd somehow kept it under wraps this long. A miracle.
— Sis Ga-eul, you okay? Sis's worried tone snapped me out of my brooding.
"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I'm good. It's just... I always figured it'd happen eventually, but the suddenness caught me off guard."
— Sis Hate getting famous? "Hmm, nah. No real thrill or anything. It's necessary because of someone's favor. Just... not the path I envisioned, and all the hassle it'll drag in afterward."
— Sis True that. It's because you're so damn pretty! Who can we blame? "Ugh, just thinking about it annoys me."
Sis's teasing lilt melted my lingering worries away like dissolving cotton candy.
"Thanks for the heads-up, Sis. I'm with people right now—I'll call later."
— Sis Got it! Oh, and I made that signboard you mentioned. I'll bring it by later! "Already? Thanks, Sis. The kids are gonna love it."
— Sis Pffft. The gentlemen? "Gentlemen can go fuck themselves."
With Sis's signature bright, quirky laugh as the finale, I hung up and snatched the stand from the table, heading back to the group.
"Kids, the internet's blowing up—why didn't you tell me?"
— Viewer We knew, but thought you'd block it. — Viewer Lol yeah, couldn't block anyway lol — Viewer Isabelle too OP lol I should've caught on when that mega-influencer Isabelle started yapping about SNS, but I'd never touched the stuff myself, so I'd underestimated it big time.
"Block it? You've been handling that this whole time?"
— Viewer Yeah, Boss is ours. — Viewer But even we have limits hiding Boss. Internet wizards, these viewers.
In a world where a celeb farts on the opposite side of the planet and it's global news in seconds, they'd kept me hidden like pros.
Now it was all bursting out at once, like a clogged dam finally giving way.
Their adorable "keep her to ourselves" mentality was seriously touching.
"My sweet babies, thanks. You know I love you, right?"
— Viewer Seductress at it again. — Viewer Boss weak sauce.. — Viewer Here! Tons left from our grub. "You little bastards."
— Viewer Now that's our Boss. — Viewer For real lol Compared to folks who always mind their manners, these guys would break a washing machine on spin cycle.
Not that I'm any better.
"Sigh, we really do have a blast just among ourselves. Birds of a feather, huh?"
— Viewer Aw, feeling shy? — Viewer Ever heard "like attracts like"? — Viewer lololololol A chatroom without even a manager, of all things.
Still, compared to the early days, it felt like the viewers had gotten used to a wench like me... or maybe I'd gotten used to them. Things had softened up a bit on both sides.
"You guys didn't go mess with other streams, right?"
— Viewer Only if Boss orders it. — Viewer Too busy watching Boss. "Pffft. Good babies. Such good kids."
— Viewer Boss hits different every time. — Viewer That smile tho. No matter how you sliced it, these weren't rotten-hearted viewers. Anyone lower in the abyss, too vile to even call evil, got bounced from my room.
To outsiders, my crowd might seem a tad rough around the edges.
"But my kids are the best anyway."
— Viewer Quit embarrassing us. — Viewer Shall we kill 'em, Master? — Viewer Ga-eul's the Master lol — Viewer Master contract tomorrow! "Hmm, just darkness superfans, then?"
I was bantering with the viewers, eyes averted from harsh reality, when a dosage therapist yanked my head back around by force.
— Viewer *Jingling!* 💰 DONATION 💰 Red Parade donated ₩1,000,000 So what about the internet leak?
— Viewer Psycho? She's right there. — Viewer Chairman dude wild lol A quick glance sideways revealed the Chairman staring intently at his phone, eyes glued downward with all his might.
"What d'you mean 'what'? Knew it'd blow up since the prison-visit shoot. You lot plugging it delayed the inevitable. This time they aired the docu footage—how the hell do you block that?"
— Viewer True. — Viewer Wave crashing hard from army broadcast tho. — Viewer Boss looks like peach dessert, no helping it lol — Viewer Ek Amidol lol "Fuck, what bullshit Amidol. I'm an adult idol. Got it? Straight-up for grown-ups."
— Viewer lolololol insane bitch — Viewer ㅗㅜㅑ Even as the words left my mouth, I couldn't fathom the hassle storm brewing.
"Aaaah! Herman!! Help!!! Immigration!!!"
— Viewer Boss ditching us? — Viewer Uwaaah Boss meltdown "You can just lurk as casual fans."
— Viewer Aha! — Viewer Saw you on TV first time here, you the broadcast lady? — Viewer Huk — Viewer Huk alert "Huk."
— Viewer *Jingling!* 💰 DONATION 💰 JellyIsDelicious donated ₩1,000 Hi, came from Isabelle's SNS. This the place?
— Viewer Huk "Nope?"
— Viewer lololololol — Viewer Nooope? — Viewer Nope agreed lololol The classic newbie lines from folks jumping from recordings to live internet streams started popping up one by one.
The viewer count in the screen corner was skyrocketing.
The army footage airing, my party stream, the photo on Sis's shop page, and Isabelle's SNS pic as the final spark—it had all detonated.
"Mayday. Mayday. Mayday!"
Stream set to private. I'd figured no one even knew I did personal streams, but the chaos hit within minutes anyway.
"Kids, switched to private mode for now. If you leave, you can't come back."
— Viewer Disaster already, casuals leaked coords huh — Viewer Fuck Heimdall shut the door! "Heimdall slacking? Opening's not enough? Gotta close it too. Why just leech the fun without responsibility!"
— Viewer We didn't open it lol — Viewer What if kingfans crash? — Viewer Nah Boss shut quick, only a few got in fine "Ahaha. Kids, you get it? Smile."
— Viewer ^v^7 — Viewer ^^7 — Viewer Whoa ^^7 like this? Boss voice pretty af "Ahaha. Thank you. First time hearing praise like that—super embarrassing."
— Viewer Ek lol ^ㅋ^ㅋ^^^ lol — Viewer Lookit Boss shy grin lol^^ — Viewer Blush lol^^;; "Ha, this is exhausting. My cheeks are gonna cramp. Kids, handle newbie training yourselves. Gotta eat leftovers or I'll choke."
— Viewer Lol leave it to us The urgent fire was out. Snapping back to reality, the chat was a riotous explosion, but my surroundings were dead quiet.
The party members, silently watching my meltdown.
"Ga-eul, is there trouble? If it's immigration, I'll sort it right away."
"Nah, seems fine. People are calling me pretty."
"The lady has always been beautiful."
"Kuhaha. Tell me something I don't know."
"Ugh, Daddy!"
"Ga-eul, Baekseol needs more food."
Folks lobbing one-liners, and the Chairman faceplanted in his phone, smirking. Noise from both sides—my brain was mush.
—Click, click. Click.
"Why even the lighter."
"Lady."
"Ah. Thanks, Grandpa Kamar."
"Think nothing of it."
He popped a cigar in my mouth the second he heard the lighter.
"Huu…. Feels like I forgot something important. What was it?"
I sat there dazed, puffing thick cigar smoke for a good while.
As my wits gathered, the forgotten thing hit me.
"Oh, right. Grandpa Herman. The treasure…."
— Viewer *Jingling!* 💰 DONATION 💰 JellyIsDelicious donated ₩1,000 Kyaa cigar? Boss smoking hot too ㅗㅜㅑ winner! Love it ek lol rush lol idk pya top-tier Boss slay! ^^^7
"…?"
— Viewer What a nightmare creation — Viewer lol training complete (･`◡´･)ゝ