Sabotage
Sabotage
I was fixing my makeup in the waiting room when Park Haneul entered with Lee Suyeon.
The two of them were whispering about something while looking at me.
"Wouldn't that be fun?"
"Right?"
What are they talking about?
When my eyes met Park Haneul's, he hurriedly turned his head away.
In contrast, Lee Suyeon was looking at me with a relaxed smile.
...What are they plotting this time?
***
"Alright! Let's charge into the second half with energy!"
The studio lights came back on, and Park Haneul grinned.
"But don't you think we've fallen into a rut lately?"
"No!"
"Maintaining the status quo is the best!"
[Oh what's this what's this]
[Dopamine more dopamine]
"Yes, I've also been feeling our broadcast format has become predictable lately.
So!"
[Don't drag it out!]
[Dugudugu]
"Let's watch an ad!"
[Bullshit]
[Are you fucking with us?]
"Haha, just kidding.
But guys, don't you think our broadcasting station needs a bit of remodeling?"
[Suddenly?]
[Fix it with the money you're eating up]
"I don't have any spare money either.
I'm a boss who pays my employees' salaries so well."
What a shameless bastard.
[Where's your conscience?]
[LOLOLOLOLOL]
"So, I've decided to get help from our staff members."
"Huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you saying you're going to take Balloons from us or something?"
The female streamers showed signs of discomfort.
Except for Suyeon and the female streamers around her.
"Ahh, I'm not some thug who's going to extort you by force, am I?
It's all content. Content."
With the sound of fireworks, large letters appeared on the screen.
Balloon Bread?
[?]
[What's Balloon Bread?]
"We'll be doing missions, wagering the Balloons received during the second half!
If you succeed, the Balloons are yours.
If you fail... they'll be donated in full to the station remodeling fund!"
[LOLOL look at this boss's character]
[Do it with your own money, you motherfucker]
The female streamers' faces turned pale.
"Boss, how can you suddenly do something like this?"
"What's wrong, Arin.
Not confident?"
"What?"
Suyeon cut off Arin's outburst of dissatisfaction in one stroke.
"Our oppas want to see us in better quality,
so we should show this much sincerity, right?
Isn't that so, oppas?"
[Leader Su-yeon: Suyeon is the only one thinking about the broadcast]
[For real LOL]
"So, everyone agrees, right?"
"Yes!"
"For our oppas, we can do this much!"
"No..."
"Then let's begin!"
So that's what they were talking about with Park Haneul earlier...
"Wolha, what's wrong?
Something up?"
"No, I was just thinking you're really amazing, unnie."
Lee Suyeon moved the mic away from her mouth and whispered softly.
"I know."
***
"Alright, let's start from last place!"
The 10th place, who took the stage first, kicked things off by wearing a bald wig and doing a zero-two dance for 3 minutes.
9th place did a similar mission.
But when it was the turn of 8th place, Ha-Yan, the missions slowly started to become sadistic.
Chewing and swallowing three whole lemons while singing a cute song without making a sour face.
Ha-Yan forced herself to swallow the disgusting juice, and her tear-filled face was captured raw by the camera.
The mission for 6th place that followed was even more intense.
Singing a full verse of a song while in a transparent chair pose wearing high heels.
Her legs were trembling and you could clearly see the cramps in her calf muscles,
but she desperately forced a smile towards the camera.
And when it reached 4th place, the difficulty jumped another level.
The mission was to spin around like an elephant's trunk 30 times and then immediately do sexy waves for 1 minute.
In the end, unable to overcome the dizziness, she tumbled onto the studio floor and performed physical comedy,
and the chat giggled while watching it.
Soon, it was the turn of 3rd place, Arin.
The mission was to do 100 squats after a bunny girl cosplay.
"Haa... Haa...!"
Arin panted heavily, her legs trembling, but she somehow managed to complete the 100.
The grimace from earlier was nowhere to be seen.
That girl is amazing too.
Next was Suyeon's turn.
Suyeon got an ordinary consecutive dance mission.
Only 10 songs in a row.
But Suyeon was experienced.
For the first 5 songs, she conserved her Stamina, enduring with minimal movements,
and then poured it on during the last 5 songs, finishing with a flourish.
When the last song ended, she exhaled roughly and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
It was a clean, flowing finish.
[Suyeon is for real a pro]
[Can't ignore the experience]
[Leader Su-yeon: Let's go back to 1st place!]
"Now, the mission for our long-awaited 1st place, Wolha-ssi!"
Park Haneul checked his tablet and smirked sinisterly.
"Since our number one needs explosive buzz, we have to go a bit hard, right?"
Fireworks exploded on the screen, revealing my mission, which seemed pre-prepared.
[20 Songs Consecutive Dance]
...What?
"Twenty songs?"
"Yes! Wolha-ssi can do this much, right?
Ah, but since Wolha-ssi dances so well, I'll add one penalty.
No taking off the high heels."
Park Haneul smiled, feigning innocence.
No taking off the heels either?
The image of Suyeon whispering something to Park Haneul during the break came to mind.
[LOLOL 20 songs for real?]
[Suyeon had 10 songs, 20 for Wolha is a bit much]
[She's first place, so she should do this much]
[She acted all high and mighty just because she dances a bit well, she should be able to do this much hehe]
[Just say you want to eat all of Wolha's Balloons, you motherfucker]
But I couldn't go against this atmosphere.
I tied the hem of my dress to one side.
And tightened the straps of my heels once more before heading to the center of the stage.
"Music, please!"
The beat dropped.
If I danced normally, I wouldn't last 10 songs.
Moving my body to the beat,
I deconstructed the choreography and rebuilt it piece by piece in my head.
I need to reduce the movement.
Shaking my shoulders to catch the rhythm,
I twisted my hips once to make the skirt hem flutter.
The important thing isn't dancing well.
Movement that looks flashy on camera while conserving Stamina.
Making it look like I'm dancing well.
7th song in, my breathing became slightly rough, but I still had some leeway.
[Something's different from the others?]
[Her dance lines are so clean?]
[Whoa whoa is she making up the choreo in real time?]
[Why would someone who can do that be here]
[Thighs, tits are amazing hehe]
But the crisis soon arrived.
Sweat started to form on my face.
Sweat running down my back soaked the inside of my dress.
12th song.
The tip of my high heel slipped slightly on the stage floor.
I barely caught my balance.
13th song.
It was hard to move my arms and thighs.
14th song.
My breath rose up to my chin.
My face felt hot, maybe from the heat of the lights.
15th song.
The moment I kicked the floor with my left heel, my knee buckled inward.
—!
Gritting my teeth, I forcibly held up my body that was about to collapse.
My shaking leg was zoomed in on the screen.
It hurt as if my leg was broken.
[Gasp]
[Is she hurt?]
[She's gonna go on hiatus again]
[Shit my side dish!]
Hold on.
Just five more songs.
***
But then, strange chats started appearing on the Haneul Company broadcast.
[I heard Wolha does backroom deals? They say she gives out her personal number to big spenders]
[Saw Keunson Gom bragging about it]
[They say Wolha contacted him first]
Rumors began pouring in.
[Ah so that's why Keunson Gom poured out money like that]
[So she was catching big spenders with backroom deals]
[Female streamers are all like that, what else]
[So Gom TV is that kind of place]
Instantly, the atmosphere froze and the Balloons abruptly stopped.
***
Sweat dripped down my eyelashes.
"Oh my, what's wrong with the chat?"
Lee Suyeon grabbed the mic and started saying something.
"Wolha, did you contact the big spenders directly?"
"Huh? What kind of nonsense—"
It was only then that I checked the rumors filling the chat.
[Ooo]
[But how much do I have to give to get her number too? LOL]
[You with the dry bread, you can't]
"I've never contacted the chairman separately."
[But Keunson Gom was bragging about it?]
[He even posted it on his SNS]
"That's..."
It's true that Keunson Gom called me, but I didn't call him.
Park Haneul was the one who gave out the number.
But can I explain that here?
...That would be suicide for my female streamer career.
"I..."
Gasping for breath, I brought the mic to my lips.
"I think showing you my sincerity is better than making excuses."
My sweat-drenched silver hair stuck to my cheeks,
and my chest rose and fell roughly.
"I'll dance all the remaining songs... until I collapse..."
I stared straight into the camera's red light.
"Please believe in me."
The 16th song began.
***
Right after Wolha started dancing,
amidst the flood of spam and trolling, one line of chat appeared.
[Bamui Jewang: Backroom deals, what nonsense LOL]
[Bamui Jewang: I've never received one]
[Bamui Jewang: It must have been Park Haneul who gave out the number LOLOL]
[??]
[What are you saying?]
[Bamui Jewang: Last time during the after-party broadcast, Keunson Gom spilled everything when he was drunk]
[Bamui Jewang: Said Park Haneul tipped him off]
The tables turned with this chat.
[Holy shit Park Haneul gave out the number?]
[The CEO sells female streamers' numbers?]
[Keunson Gom answer quickly!]
The arrow of the rumor instantly pierced Park Haneul and Keunson Gom.
Keunson Gom remained silent, and Park Haneul's face, caught on camera, turned ashen.
[The boss sold the number LOL]
[What a punk-ass motherfucker LOLOL]
[Leader Su-yeon: But what's with the act of being clean? Doesn't everyone do it?]
[Suyeon probably does it too?]
[Leader Su-yeon: Shut up]
***
The viewers' attention focused back on me on the stage.
I'll have to give Bamui Jewang some special service in a private broadcast.
I kept dancing while glancing at the chat out of the corner of my eye.
17th song.
My legs started to give out.
The inside of my thighs went numb, and I felt a cramp coming on in my calf.
Can't stop.
What's the reason I come out here even if I get dirty!
I adjusted my movements again.
Small steps.
Bigger arm movements.
Instead, I'll fill the gaps in the movements with eye contact.
18th song.
Sweat was completely soaking my dress.
The dress stuck to my skin.
[Gasp]
[Whatever, what Wolha does has nothing to do with me]
[For real, as long as she tastes good, that's all that matters LOL]
I couldn't pay attention to the chat anymore.
19th song.
My knees shook.
Every single step was agony.
The camera zoomed in on my face.
A crumbling expression.
Roughening breath.
But my two legs absolutely did not stop.
[She's insane whoa what kind of Stamina is that]
[Guts acknowledged]
[My eyes go to her chest even in this situation...]
[Me too hehe]
Last one.
My whole body screamed.
Every time my heels hit the floor, it felt like fire was burning the soles of my feet.
The moment the final beat ended.
Strength left my legs.
I sank onto the stage as if kneeling.
"Haa... Haa..."
Only my rough breathing was carried by the mic.
I raised my head and smiled towards the camera.
[Wooow]
[Insane!!!!]
[Legendary]
[Bamui Jewang-nim has gifted 30,000 Balloons!]
[Bamui Jewang: I couldn't not give]
[Jjoinamed-nim has gifted 20,000 Balloons!]
[Jjoinamed: You worked hard]
The numbers on the ranking board updated like crazy.
I overtook Suyeon again and rose to 1st place.
I could see Suyeon's expression contort.
But she soon forced a smile and clapped.
