Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Weekend Streams Are Always Clear, Then Cloudy
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The alarm announcing the weekend morning.
"Ugh..."
I groggily sat up, brushing back my tousled hair.
This damn hair—fuck, every night it gets tangled on my back, causing no end of discomfort.
Every time I tossed and turned, jerking my head, it gifted me fresh misery.
The impulse to just chop it short had struck dozens of times already.
But if I did, I'd face a scolding from Ye-eun-mama more terrifying than the plague.
My lifespan would shorten right along with the hair.
I flung open the silk curtains, and sunlight rushed in like a housewife spotting a bargain sale.
Normally, I'd lounge on the terrace, basking in the pouring rays while elegantly sipping morning coffee, but with the chilly weather, I skipped it today.
Lies, actually.
What's a terrace, you otaku?
The rice cooker's hum. Crisp chopping on the cutting board. Bubbling water boiling.
Right now, I was the maestro ruling the kitchen.
I'd been chopping since I was five.
A genius, right?
Humming a tune, I finished prepping breakfast just right.
Then I opened the door to my soundly sleeping little sister's room to wake her.
"Oof, scary."
A shape too early for human eyes to process.
Undeterred by the chilly early spring air, she'd kicked off the blanket, greeting me in the nude.
Her bedside pillow had suffered a cobra twist, mangled beyond recognition.
The girl must've been starving all this time.
I'd thought her violent streak had mellowed lately, but nope—she was just venting it in her sleep like this.
I carefully woke Ye-eun, who was showcasing her pillow abuse and brutal sleep-talking, then finished setting the side dishes and table.
Today's breakfast: simple kimchi stew, rolled omelet, freshly seasoned spinach and bean sprouts.
And piping hot white rice topped with a fried egg.
"Grrr~! Lady Han's cooking skills are still top-notch. Whoever marries her will be thrilled."
"Shut your mouth."
I scolded the idiot spouting nonsense and finished eating.
"Jogging?"
"Yeah."
Lately, I'd been feeling my stamina lag.
So morning runs had become my new daily routine.
After a quick jog back home, Ye-eun, who'd been waiting, called me over and sat me down.
I eyed her pulling out the makeup tools in confusion.
"Still hours till my stream."
Surprisingly, I always got makeup before streams.
Usually an hour prior.
The clock showed three hours left.
"I have to head out today too, so doing it early."
"Where to?"
Now I noticed: full makeup.
Even her hair styled differently, all curly.
I stared in surprise, and she nodded lightly.
"Collab stream later."
"Collab?"
"Streaming with another streamer."
"Ah."
Come to think of it, she was a famous Nutuber.
But I'd never actually seen her stream.
"Lately, focusing on upload videos only."
She explained she'd paused lives for Nutube content.
Her expression looked awkward as she said it, like she was hiding something, so I played dumb.
I'm a cool big bro who respects his sister's privacy.
But one thing I couldn't overlook.
I asked just in case.
"The collab partner... not a guy, right?"
Stern. Dignified. Serious.
The face of a father with a daughter.
Ye-eun shook her head.
Good, a girl.
Channel: Goblin. A whopping 2 million Nutube subs.
Ye-eun had some clout herself, but this was a whole other league.
"Name's what? Goblin?"
"Watch your pronunciation. Goblin-nim is one of the top beauty Nutubers in the country."
Goblin or rice ball, what do I care?
No chance I'd ever meet her anyway.
"She's the one I'm truly grateful to. When I was struggling, she mentioned my nickname and it helped so much."
"Ah, the golden goblin."
Her lips twitched at that.
She thought it was funny, desperately holding back laughter.
She quickly schooled her face to stoic, but I'd already seen it all.
Not much sincerity in her 'respect' for her mentor, but as long as not a guy, fine.
Master of beauty Nutube—maybe she'd pick up something useful.
They say appearing on big corp streams is 'sucking the straw,' so I hoped she'd become a giant mosquito and grow even more.
"Want me to come along? As big bro, proper to greet your benefactor."
"What? You've got a stream."
"Right."
Times overlapped perfectly.
Even if not, it was a public thing, so she'd set up a private meet later, she persuaded.
Makeup's a hassle.
Especially since sis always did it.
"Can't I just skip makeup?"
I'd hinted once with faint hope.
"Like telling firefighters to skip gear, cops uniforms, soldiers fatigues?"
Makeup was a streamer's work uniform, so I had to nod.
Plus, bigger buzz later for bare-face reveal.
Made weird sense.
Stream started.
Ye-eun was out, house empty, so I left the door open for ventilation without thinking.
That became the problem.
The open door. And beyond it, a single dress visible.
My eyes widened in shock too.
Why the hell is that there?
Pushing aside the fluster, I slowly recalled.
Ye-eun, heading out, had pulled out tons of clothes for outfits, then ditched them.
I'd picked them up and roughly hung them nearby.
Oh god.
I was the culprit.
In truth, no issue there.
Sister's clothes in sister's house? Totally normal.
But viewers didn't know sis existed. That was the fucking problem.
So what would viewers think seeing this?
Obviously, it's mine.
And reactions to 'my dress'?
Pandemonium.
Total chaos.
Chaos turned to total madness.
'Hoo.'
We're screwed.
Perfectly logical, no room to argue.
To explain, I'd expose sis to the world, and those wolves wouldn't leave her alone.
Han Hyo-jeong.
Would you sell out your sister to save yourself?
My answer was set.
'Of course.'
Save myself first...
But diving into that chat tsunami would drown me.
Instead of excuses, I closed my eyes and counted down.
10.
9.
8.
...
2.
1.
Whew.
Good. Calmed down.
Not really, but dallying more meant losing explanation chance forever.
So I shouted.
"Ah, the dress? Want it? Here! One Piece! I left everything in the world there!"
No dice.
Sorry, Ye-eun-mon.
Didn't want to pull this...
"Joking. It's actually my little sister's."
Han Hyo-jeong-style shield.
'That? Sis's. Anyway not mine.'
The truth hit, waves calming to a still lake...
Not calming—in fact, worse.
"For real. Can call her to verify."
"Crazy, why would I wear it? She'd hate it too."
Not sure if true.
Siblings usually hate sharing clothes, so probably.
Finally, interest in sis.
Golden opportunity.
I dumped TMI I'd normally avoid, stoking the fire with fresh fuel.
"This makeup? She did it."
"Yeah, of course. She told me to stream first off."
"FYI, she's a streamer too."
"Channel name?"
I chuckled at the reactions.
"Not telling."
Bonus laughing sound at end.
To piss them off, yes.
"Wanna tell ya badly, but spilling channel without permission is jerk move. I'm a considerate big bro."
They seemed super curious since she's a streamer.
'No way I'm telling.'
What if they raid her stream?
Dizzying thought.
These biochemical terrorists I barely handle—I can't pass the buck to Ye-eun.
Hold them solo like Lady Noh, to the death.
Time passed, stream going okay.
But suddenly, TS Hyo-jeong kept checking her phone.
Viewers, hiding suspicions, playfully prodded.
"What BF."
Relief brief.
"No, not that."
Then what.
No intent to satisfy curiosity, eyes back on phone.
Girls and phones are one, but during stream?
Other streams would've rioted.
But her arbitrary style had viewers used to it, reacting chill.
They chatted among selves, streamer silent.
Then, belated answer.
"Sis went out. Suddenly no contact."
Lifting head, face full of anxiety.
Thought dress pissed her off, but worry.
Viewers caught gravity.
"Should I? File missing report now?"
"Wait."
After some taps, showed phone screen to cam.
Chat history visible. Profile blurred.
Last: Sis 'going lunch,' cool 'K' reply.
Timestamp: tiny 11:03.
Meaning no word since 11.
"No reason for lunch girl to ghost this long."
"Sigh, that complacency causes accidents."
Who's liable if golden hour missed?
Thinking kidnapped sis calling for oppa in dark—hands shake, can't focus.
But viewers scoffed.
"Normal worry for big bro, right?"
No one agreed.