Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Reward? Ah, of course. I got a tremendous reward.
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Rushing over, I found Baek Ha-yan crouched down in terror.
Under the streetlamp's glow, her small frame was trembling. I approached her slowly.
"What's wrong?"
"Unnie..."
Spotting me, Baek Ha-yan flinched, her face crumpling into a pitiful expression.
She spoke in a quivering voice.
"...Dad came looking for me."
Somehow he'd figured out where she lived and showed up causing a scene.
"He was threatening me for money, and I got so scared I ran out."
"Is he still at the house? I'll chase him off for you."
Ha-yan quickly grabbed my sleeve and shook her head vigorously.
Her eyes, filled with terror, looked heartbreaking.
First things first, I needed to help her calm down.
With nowhere else to go, I took her back to my old one-room studio apartment.
I'd considered bringing her to Ye-eun's place at first, but I didn't want to burden her with more new faces when she was already uneasy around people.
"No one's using it right now, so don't worry about it."
I reassured her as she looked around the studio.
"Tomorrow, we'll talk to President Park and decide whether to report it to the police or whatever. Just in case he comes back, you should stay here for a while."
"Are you leaving?"
Her expression was like that of an abandoned stray kitten.
Her eyes, a mix of anxiety and fear, stared up at me.
"Can't you stay with me tonight?"
Fair enough. She looked way too fragile to leave alone like this.
In the end, I had no choice but to stay with her for the night.
But then a new problem arose.
Luckily, the bedding and essentials were still there, but the studio was way too cramped for two people to sleep comfortably.
We basically had to lie down practically touching under the same blanket.
I could vividly feel Ha-yan's breath brushing my shoulder.
'This feels kinda morally questionable...'
Even though I'd become a woman physically, my mind was still very much a guy's. The situation felt incredibly awkward.
Like I was taking advantage of an innocent kid or something.
So I turned away, trying to put as much distance as possible between us, but suddenly she wrapped her arms around my waist.
"Hey, where are you grabbing...!"
"It's too cramped."
She kept burrowing closer, making it really tough for me.
I stiffened up, hyper-aware not to accidentally touch anywhere inappropriate, when I felt her body trembling faintly against mine.
She wasn't showing it, but today's events must have really shaken her.
I let out a sigh and turned back around to pat her shoulder.
"...Go to sleep already."
In the end, I stayed up all night staring at the ceiling.
Unlike my exhausted self, Ha-yan had regained some composure overnight; her face was lively again.
She gave a small smile.
"It's been forever since I slept next to someone like this."
Just seeing that smile made last night's ordeal feel worth it.
I met up with President Park, who'd come at my call, at our usual coffee shop.
"Whoa... you two have gotten really close, huh?"
President Park eyed Ha-yan, who was stuck to my side like glue, with curiosity.
"Ha-yan, if you keep tugging like that, your clothes will stretch."
"Okay."
"Your clothes will stretch, kid."
I explained everything that had happened, and President Park's expression grew serious.
Especially regarding her father—he took it very gravely.
He said he knew a law firm that could handle it.
Following Ye-eun, here was another all-purpose fixer. With President Park stepping in, things seemed to sort themselves out smoothly.
Still, just to be safe, he suggested she avoid her old place and stay somewhere else for a bit.
He offered to lend her an empty studio room, but Ha-yan turned it down.
"I like unnie's house better."
"I'm telling you now, we're not sleeping together anymore."
I added to the sulking girl.
"But I'll visit often."
"Okay."
Guess I'd have to make side dishes for one extra person from now on.
Taking advantage of us all being together, we set up the Nutube channel—that was the original goal, after all.
We set a profile pic, linked the Lemon TV account.
Sharing the ID with President Park and Baek Ha-yan wrapped it up nicely.
After resolving the commotion, I headed home, fatigue crashing over me like a wave.
Having barely slept, my whole body ached.
And nagging at the back of my mind was this uneasy feeling, like I'd forgotten something important...
"Oh, right—the stream!"
I'd announced last night that I'd go live in the evening, but Ha-yan's call had me so startled I'd completely forgotten.
I hurriedly turned on the broadcast.
"Hey guys. Good morning...?"
The viewers, thoroughly pissed off, flooded the chat.
The chat was scrolling so fast it made my eyes spin.
Sensing things were off, I quickly apologized.
"Sorry, I was busy saving a kid's world."
Not only had I arbitrarily changed stream times without notice, I'd gone completely dark without even an announcement. I had no excuses, even ten mouths wouldn't be enough.
"...I'm really sorry. No excuses. My bad."
In relationships, promises are worth their weight in gold.
Breaking one is, as they said, unthinkable in the Land of Morning Calm.
Having shattered that trust, it was only natural for viewers to be disappointed.
I was prepared to humbly accept whatever anger or curses came my way.
But the response was unexpected.
...It was because they were moved by my sincerity, right guys?
"Ah."
I quickly maneuvered the mouse to a certain site.
Nutube.
Specifically, my brand-new, steaming-hot channel.
Pointing at it triumphantly, I declared,
"Ta-da! I made a Nutube."
"Something like, I was too busy rescuing an editor in peril."
"Reward? Ah, of course. I got a tremendous reward."
"The editor's smile."
Baek Ha-yan's shy smile was pretty valuable reward.
The viewers' curiosity didn't end there.
"You guys are getting a bit scary now."
I'd noticed it during the last collab too—they had this obsessive fixation on gender.
I couldn't even imagine what would happen if I jokingly said it was a guy.
With reactions like that, I kinda wanted to tease them more.
But feeling guilty about the no-show, I decided to be honest.
"Nah, she's a girl. A super cute, adorable younger beauty at that."
"We even had a full date yesterday."
I said it to make them jealous, but the reaction was disappointingly lukewarm.
"Guys? I said beauty! We ate together, held hands and everything."
These guys. Why so nonchalant?
Their attitude only fired me up more.
I hadn't planned to go this far, but...
"And get this! At night, we even shared a blanket and slept together!"
These idiots were supposed to be jealous of me, but now they're jealous of some random editor.
I'd at least expected something like 'Enjoying it all alone, huh?'
The unexpected turn left me more flustered than them.