episode_0157

“Here, Dayoon. Eat a lot.”

“Yes, yes? Oh, thank you.”

Kim Dayoon was in such a state of confusion that he didn’t know if the food was going into his mouth or his nose.

No wonder.

“Here, try this too.”

Ma Mang, Jeong Do-yeon, kept urging him to eat a lot by piling various side dishes on his plate since earlier.

“Mom, if you keep doing this, Sunbae’s stomach will burst. Let him eat on his own. Right?”

Jeong Dayoung sat next to him, laughing and stopping her mother.

“Yeah, what’s up with that guy? Doesn’t he have hands and feet? Why bother piling side dishes on top of the rice?”

Even Jeong Dayoung’s younger brother, glaring at him with angry eyes, said while looking at him.

He looked back for a moment at how the situation had come to this.

**

Jeong Dayoung smiled as if comforted by Kim Dayoon’s words for a moment, then asked.

“Sunbae, do you watch a lot of internet broadcasts? Who do you watch?”

“Me? I…uh.”

Kim Dayoon hesitated and said in a hesitant voice.

“Huh? Who?”

“You…”

“You? Oh, Neoeod-nim?”

Was he talking about that big YouTuber who reviews various IT devices and recently does live game broadcasts? Well, he heard that most of Neoeod’s viewers were male. On the contrary, it was rare for a man not to know Neoeod.

Indeed, that’s right. Jeong Dayoung nodded her head, thinking. While looking at her, he sighed deeply once again and spoke more clearly and loudly this time.

“I do watch Neoeod, but…you. You.”

“Huh? Oh, of course, I’m excluding myself because I’m a Jollangdan, and you even mentioned my Kirinuki, right?”

“Jollang…no. Dayoung, I’m a senior in high school. Of course, I can’t say I’m studying extremely hard, but I don’t have that much time to spend on internet broadcasts like crazy even though I’m a senior in high school.”

That’s right. Kim Dayoon was a senior in high school. No matter how many times he emphasized it, his daily routine was geared towards the upcoming college entrance exam in less than two months. Of course, he would also apply for early admission, and if he passed, he would probably sigh in relief, but anyway, now was the most important and busiest time for a high school senior.

During that time. He made time to watch her broadcast. He even made clip videos through video editing, too.

“Oh…”

Jeong Dayoung realized the meaning now and felt strange. What was so attractive about her that he would make time for her even during this busy time?

“Because I like it.”

“Yes, yes?!”

Jeong Dayoung’s eyes widened at Kim Dayoon’s sudden confession, and she flustered.

“Oh, no. Um, we just met the day before yesterday, and I don’t dislike the kind type like a senior, but it’s too sudden…I’m sorry.”

A rejection comment out of the blue. Kim Dayoon couldn’t even try to make up for that pain and quickly opened his mouth to pick up an excuse.

“It’s not like that! I mean, I like Jollangi’s stream, not you. When did we ever say we liked you and all that?!”

“Yes? Oh, oh. Haha! Yes, of course. I understood that. It was a joke. Just a joke.”

Jeong Dayoung blushed, waving her hands frantically and desperately emphasizing that it was a joke, and Kim Dayoon had to spit out words like “I knew it,” “It’s okay” to her to prevent the atmosphere from getting awkward.

And as the atmosphere calmed down for a moment.

“Um, so…other than my broadcast, do you watch other broadcasts?”

“What, overall, I do have some interest in watching other streamers’ videos, but these days, it feels like I only watch videos?”

“Oh, I see.”

“But why is that?”

“Well, I mean… if you’ve been watching broadcasts for a long time, when something like this happens, wouldn’t you want to know how other streamers handle it?”

“Well, why ask me about that? Even if you don’t interact with them a lot, you haven’t avoided collaborating with other streamers, and you haven’t contacted those people?”

“Well… no.”

Honestly, at this point, it makes you wonder if she’s really a third-year streamer. I mean, in school, she was so popular, so why does she seem so down when she’s just doing broadcasts?

“Well, if she’s avoiding collaborations, how much is she willing to pay for going to other channels instead…”

Joraengi tends to become less talkative and passive when she only collaborates, so it’s understandable that viewers find it frustrating. So, even though she tried to take care of the channel owner in other channels and even told other streamers to pay attention, seeing her like this makes you wonder…

“Is there some kind of backstory to this too?”

“Haha… yes.”

And then her story continues. Well, to summarize, after their first collaboration, she became close with the other members and went to an offline gathering once, where something big happened.

“There were five of us. But then, there was one guy and four girls, including me…”

The guy was a super alpha male. Apparently, having one handsome guy in a group of girls can lead to intense competition.

“Among us, I had the least experience in broadcasting and was the youngest.”

At that time, he was good-looking and had a different growth rate, so the male streamer kept showing interest in her.

“Insane! You must have been in middle school back then.”

“Haha… listen to the rest. It gets crazier.”

Usually, when an adult man shows interest in a middle school girl, someone would intervene, but the other three girls were blinded by jealousy and kept pointing fingers at her. She wasn’t interested in that guy at all.

Anyway, after that incident, she refrained from offline gatherings, collaborations, and became more passive. It seems that after experiencing such a situation, she developed some kind of mistrust towards people, according to Jung Dayoung.

“You’ve been through a lot…”

“That’s right. Anyway, after that, I ended up doing broadcasts alone as a lone wolf. Well.”

No wonder. Every time viewers asked her to collaborate, she would just brush it off a few times, or if it got too annoying, she would even get annoyed, all because of that incident, I thought, understanding her feelings.

“So, in reality, there’s no point in talking to friends. And since there’s no one to ask for help on broadcasts, the only person she could ask for help was her senior.”

“Ah, I see what you mean. But, I don’t have any expertise in this area. I have a friend named Jiho, who might be better at this kind of thing. He’s a birdwatcher.”

“A birdwatcher?”

“Someone who doesn’t settle in one place and looks at everything. Maybe he knows more about this kind of thing. Should I ask him? Or maybe meet him in person. You know, the guy who greeted me in the cafeteria yesterday, the one standing next to me.”

“Oh… ah! Ah, that senior… is a bit…”

“Why?”

“Well, recently my mom said something like this. Physiognomy is a science. That senior… well, he seemed a bit… how should I put it, frivolous at first sight…”

She thought she wasn’t the type to vent and seek advice casually.

“Should I spread rumors and hang out with him? Jung Dayoung is doing an internet broadcast?”

When the conversation with him in the morning suddenly crossed her mind, Kim Daeyoon nodded sympathetically at her words.

Indeed. He is truly an adult. Each word he says has depth.

He deeply engraved the words she had just conveyed, “Physiognomy is a science,” and said to her.

“Well, if Jung said so, can I ask him in return?”

“Oh, really? Will you do that?”

Looking at her brightening face, Kim Daeyoon took out his phone and immediately called Kim Jihwan.

After a short conversation, Kim Daeyoon hung up the phone and said.

“In short, I think it won’t be easy to sink, right? Even if your face is known, let’s put that aside for now, Mamang… no, I think your mother is attracting too much attention, so you will also become a hot topic wholesale.”

Dayoung, feeling like she had received a death sentence, clutched her head at Kim Daeyoon’s words.

“Oh, what should I do?”

Dayoung felt frustrated. Of course, she didn’t think people would recognize her in real life and come running with knives, but she wanted to avoid unnecessary attention as much as possible, as she just wanted a normal school life.

“Moreover, your mother will soon be a promotional model for the company’s products. Then, well, it will be more of a hot topic. And then, you will also become famous in no time, don’t you think?”

“Is there no way?”

“Hmm…”

Kim Daeyoon, pondering with a grim expression, soon reached a conclusion, slapping his knee.

“If you can’t get rid of the attention, just divert it to one side!”

“What?”

“That’s it. Just turn your mother into a star.”

“What, what?!”

Shocked by Kim Daeyoon’s conclusion, Dayoung screamed as if in agony.

And then.

-Clang!

“W-What’s going on, Dayoung!”

Just then, Mamang, no, Jung Doyeon, arrived and entered Dayoung’s room, asking in confusion.