Chapter 4: Sister, are you interrogating me?

[Seo, Seoya. Is Seoyeon there by any chance?]

“Yes, she’s here.”

[I was wondering where she went without even eating… Ugh, I can’t take this anymore…]

“I’ll try to talk to her. Don’t worry too much and try to get some rest.”

There was a brief silence over the phone, followed by a small sigh.

A moment later, the call ended with a quiet “Alright.”

She must be really worried about Seoyeon.

Her voice over the phone trembled slightly.

It seemed like she was shaking with anger once she found out Seoyeon was at my place…

“She didn’t eat, did she?”

I remembered that Seoyeon had run away before mealtime, and headed toward her on the sofa.

I said I’d talk to her, but hearing a lecture on an empty stomach only makes things worse.

Whatever we needed to talk about, it’d be better to start by filling our stomachs.

I hadn’t eaten dinner yet either.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Chicken!”

“I meant like a rice dish…”

“Chicken!”

Faced with Seoyeon’s hopeful eyes, I ended up unlocking my phone and opening the delivery app.

Since it came to this, maybe it’s better to just let her eat what she wants.

If eating chicken puts her in a better mood, she might actually listen to what I have to say.

It might also make her responses more sincere and useful.

“Oh? You’re really ordering it?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, awesome. You’re the best…”

Seoyeon, murmuring in awe, plopped down on the sofa with an ice cream stick in one hand.

Meanwhile, I completed the order on my phone.

The menu: Fried chicken.

Coke: 1.25 liters.

Estimated delivery time: 47 minutes.

After placing the order, I stared at my screen for a moment before sending a text to Mom.

If I told her I ordered chicken, she’d probably scold me for spoiling the kid, so I phrased it like I just whipped something up from what was in the fridge.

[Me] – Gonna eat with Seoyeon

With the side dishes you sent last time

[Mom] – Why feed her again

[Mom] – Just let her go hungry

[Me] – I’ll probably waste food if I eat alone

[Mom] – Make sure Seoyeon does the dishes

[Me] – Okay

Once the reporting was done, I lowered the phone and finally looked at Seoyeon.

She looked visibly happier.

When our eyes met, the first thing she asked was how long the chicken would take.

“Unni, how much longer till the chicken gets here?”

“About 30 minutes.”

“It’s been a while since we had chicken together.”

“Last time was Chuseok last year, right?”

“Yeah, I think? Wow… You have such a good memory.”

Time passed quickly as we chatted like that.

And then finally—ding-dong.

The doorbell rang, slightly earlier than expected.

Seoyeon jumped up.

“I’ll get it!”

The troubled expression she had earlier was long gone.

Chicken worth 4,000 won in delivery fees was more than enough to make a high school girl excited.

We put the chicken box on the table, grabbed plastic gloves from the kitchen drawer, and soon the crispy sound of the batter breaking filled the quiet living room.

The golden, olive-oil-fried pieces vanished like snow in the sun.

She must’ve been really hungry.

“So, why did you break your savings?”

I casually asked once I figured her stomach was full enough.

Not scolding or blaming—just purely curious.

But her answer was…

“…To buy a mic.”

“A bi—bike? A motorcycle?”

“A mic! M-I-C!”

That was unexpected.

Well, at least it wasn’t a motorcycle. That would’ve been worse.

“…Mic is spelled M-I-C.”

“Ugh, whatever. You understood me, didn’t you?”

Anyway, I started digging into why a high school girl would break her savings to buy a mic.

The important part was the purpose.

If it was just because it “looked cool,” I wouldn’t be able to cover for her.

If it was just a momentary impulse, then she totally deserved to get scolded by Mom.

But then, surprisingly…

“It’s for broadcasting. My old one broke…”

That answer caught me off guard again.

A mic for broadcasting?

Broadcasting?

What kind of broadcasting would a high school girl be doing…

“…Yoo Seoyeon.”

“Not that kind of broadcasting!”

Maybe it was my sudden change in expression, but she quickly spilled everything on her own.

Actually, since around this time last year, she’d been doing online broadcasts on a platform called “Bba-jijik.”

She ended up making a decent income from it, and just a few weeks ago, she even joined a broadcasting crew called “Espresso.”

“I was gonna replenish the savings as soon as the next payout came in. Really.”

“Once you break a savings account, that’s it.”

“Wha—what? Seriously?”
“Anyway, what kind of broadcast is this? What the heck are you doing online to make that kind of money?”

With my skeptical voice, Seoyeon blinked slowly instead of answering.

There was a long pause, and after some hesitation, she bit her lip lightly.

“…It’s not something I can explain easily. Why are you doing something like that anyway?”

“It’s not some shady broadcast… It’s, uh, unni. It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“Ugh! Just watch it! Just look! You be the judge if it’s weird or not!”

Clearly frustrated, Seoyeon shoved some hard evidence right in front of my face.

It was a YouTube channel.

[Maru YouTube 回]

@_Maru • 121K subscribers • 91 videos

Let’s Maru!

There were all kinds of videos.

From joint broadcasts with other creators under the Espresso Crew, to highlight compilations of her streams.

The common thread?

Each video was between 8 and 10 minutes long.

And the voice you heard as soon as you played a video was always Seoyeon’s.

“Unnie, noona, those are fine… but don’t call me aunt! Mom? Why would I be your mom!
If you call me ajumma, you’re dead!”

I blinked at the confusing content of the video, bewildered in many ways.

So, this kind of video actually makes money.

Like, ■■■ won per month.

…H?

“I’m kinda famous now, unnie. Not many people get this far just a year into streaming…”

Seeing how speechless I was, Seoyeon awkwardly continued.

She said that by her standards, she considered herself successful.

That this was the first talent she had discovered in her 18 years of life.

“Mom wants me to be like you. A good school, a good company, stuff like that.”

“But… I don’t know. Those things didn’t feel like they were mine. I wasn’t even sure they ever would be.”

Her voice gradually shrank.

Her eyes weren’t looking straight ahead, but downward.

The thoughts of this high school girl, with her head bowed, once again exceeded what I had expected.

Today is just one confusing moment after another.

“So… are you planning to keep doing this streaming thing?”

“For now.”

“…Does Mom know?”

“No. She probably just thinks I’m addicted to the internet.”

Seoyeon trailed off with a bitter smile.

The air felt just a little heavier.

“You’re good at a lot of things, unnie… I just wanted to be good at something. And I think this is it. Of course, compared to you, it’s nothing.”

Without meaning to, my eyes drifted to the Coca-Cola label on the plastic bottle at the end of the table.

Through the transparent bottle, Seoyeon’s blurry expression was faintly visible.

A past-life instinct gave me a warning—or maybe some advice:

Comfort her first.

That I may have had a part to play in Seoyeon’s current worries.

“Hey, Seoyeon. This isn’t ‘nothing’… 120,000 subscribers is like 170 times the population of Vatican City.”

“…That’s so you, unnie.”

I did my best to comfort her until she finally said she wanted to sleep.

Internet broadcasting was a total gray area for me, so I couldn’t offer any in-depth advice.

But as her real sister, I could at least offer some heartfelt words.

“Go wash up and sleep. You can use my bed.”

“…Okay.”

By the time Seoyeon went to wash up, my mind was a bit tangled.

I didn’t feel sleepy at all. What now?

—Swoooosh…

I let the sound of the shower flow past one ear as I kept thinking, and finally powered on my laptop.

When your head’s a mess, it’s better to get some work done.

‘Hmm…’

With a full-screen list of current tasks in front of me, I tied my hair back.

—Tap tap.

—Tap tap.

I opened the meeting materials first.

A request to use the internal lounge had been submitted for an upcoming VIP event.

The problem was that the space was too narrow for the expected number of people.

I reviewed the existing floor plans and considered merging two nearby meeting rooms for use.

I planned to check the schedule with the reservations team, and drafted a revised layout based on estimated attendance.

Next, I pulled up the customer satisfaction data.

Among the past three months of VOC (Voice of Customer) data, the keywords “check-in delay,” “room cleanliness,” and “breakfast quality” showed higher-than-average frequency.

I quietly sorted the Excel sheet and marked the top frequent keywords in red.

It was likely due to a lack of front desk staff.

I compared the weekly staffing chart and noted the days when experienced staff were lacking.

Starting next week, we’d need to replace trainees.

I saved a draft of the request.

“…Next.”

I moved on to emails.

Executive Director Jung Hwayoon’s schedule email said the afternoon meeting had been moved up by 30 minutes.

There was also a note that the external MD team would visit for the launch event rehearsal.

I opened the calendar and reorganized her schedule.

[Tuesday 14:00 – VIP Response Feedback Meeting]

[Wednesday 16:00 – Internal Briefing / Pre-Launch Event Inspection]

[Friday 11:00 – Meeting with Partner Company Representative]

The materials for the afternoon meeting had already been prepared in the morning.

The only thing left undecided was the Friday meeting location.

I planned to check tomorrow if the VIP room at the Seocho branch was available.

“…She’s already living a busy life, huh.”

Lastly, I skimmed through the company notices.

Welfare point expiration date, changes to cafeteria menu.

Normally, I would’ve skipped this part, but these days even small bits of information couldn’t be ignored.

In a company like Yeryeo Hotel, once a crack forms, it can widen more easily than you think.

Starting from the top, more than the field.

After wrapping everything up, I moved the cursor quietly to the desktop.

Saved all files and logged out.

The clock at the bottom of the monitor read 11:37 PM.

I leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling.

Stretched out a bit in the chair.

…Still, working made me feel a bit better.

I gave my stiff body a stretch, then got up to check on Seoyeon.

She was fast asleep, completely unaware of the world around her.

Her phone, by her pillow, was still playing dog shorts on repeat.

I turned it off and pulled the blanket up a little higher over her.

But I still couldn’t fall asleep.

In the end, I picked up my phone and searched for the thing that had been bothering me for a while.

—Tap.

—Tap, tap tap.

[Maru YouTube 回]

@_Maru • 122,000 subscribers • 91 videos

Let’s Maru!

“Hmm…”

-Tok, Toktok.

『Your little sister is getting married tomorrow, and you’re not going because you want to watch Maru’s stream? Seriously, it’s your sister’s wedding—we only get that once in a lifetime.』

『How would I know that? I mean, why would someone get married twice… …Ah, no, that’s not what I meant. Everyone has their own circumstances… No, stop. Stop going downhill!』

I couldn’t say for sure that Seoyeon’s choice was wrong.

But something was off for me to feel confident that it was right.

Yeah, it was that subtle discomfort.

So I started analyzing my little sister’s YouTube channel.

Even pulling an all-nighter for it.

Apparently, my habit of digging into things wasn’t going away, even in another life.

***

“I looked into your channel a bit. Your streaming concept’s changed from the beginning. You used to focus on daily talk, but now it’s more about being a gaming unnie. Was that suggested by your crew, or was it your own decision?”

-Tok.

“Your streaming hours are also a bit concerning. You’re mostly active around midnight. Isn’t that too much for a high schooler?”

-Todok, Tok.

“You’re using VR equipment from AuroraTech, but that model isn’t medically recommended. Especially not for minors like you. Have you even read the user guidelines?”

“…Are you interrogating me or something? What are you, NIS?”