Chapter 39: “Man Like a Pine Tree (Flexible Version)”

It was a fried rice that I had worked hard to make.

I hoped she would enjoy it, at least.

With that thought in mind, I cautiously watched her reaction.

And after a moment,

“Oh, it’s delicious?”

“Phew. I was nervous you’d say it wasn’t.”

“Come on, I know you cook well.”

Even though the dishes I could make could be counted on both hands, if Yeram felt that way, then that was what mattered.

After hearing Yeram’s evaluation, I lay down on the blanket.

I had to go to my part-time job.

I had asked for permission to skip today since I had been out with Yeram in Seongsu-dong, but I had to show up for work tomorrow without fail.

“Then let’s eat and turn off the lights.”

“Okay.”

I peeked at Yeram eating her meal and closed my eyes.

Rain.

Some people might like it, and some might dislike it, but from the perspective of someone running a business, it wasn’t a favorable kind of weather.

Unless it was midsummer, rain didn’t really help with the store’s profits.

But that aside,

“Wow… it’s completely soaked.”

“Yeah.”

The delivery box in front of the café was so drenched that it was hard to recognize its original form.

If it contained drinks, that would be one thing, but the identity of what was inside was a microwave.

The one used to heat up food.

It was the machine that the owner had bought after the old microwave malfunctioned.

“Let’s call the owner for now.”

“…Okay.”

I picked up my phone and dialed the saved number.

Drrr—

I heard the connection sound, and a moment later,

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Um, it’s just that I wanted to let you know something.”

“What is it? I’m busy right now, so keep it brief.”

I conveyed just the essential information in response to the owner’s words.

“The new microwave we ordered got soaked in the rain and broke.”

“…Hmm. Hold on a second.”

I could hear some bustling sounds from the other end of the phone, and then,

“Oh, I just ordered another one. Use that. I’m busy now, so I’m hanging up. Just take care of it.”

Click.

The call ended like that.

I was taken aback.

I had never seen someone so cool about things before.

It wasn’t like microwaves were cheap; he didn’t even ask for the details and just immediately ordered another one.

And through all this, Shin Ye-hwa had been listening.

“Well, that’s good to hear.”

“Yeah, I was wondering what you’d say.”

“The owner is usually a bit cool like that. We do have to compensate for items that get damaged due to our mistakes, though.”

I moved busily while talking to Shin Ye-hwa.

I wiped down the coffee machine and took out the coffee beans I had set aside.

I started the business by doing various tasks.

Then customers began to come in.

I was busy moving around while waiting for closing time.

I don’t know how much time had passed.

“Well, I’ll be heading in now.”

“Oh, go ahead.”

Finally, it was closing time.

Personally, I don’t think it’s a good practice to leave right at quitting time.

But today, I couldn’t help it.

I thought I’d be okay after taking a day off yesterday.

“Yawn.”

Did taking a day off disrupt my routine?

Feeling the absurdity of the human body, I quickly arrived home.

Ding-dong—

When I got home, everything was left as it was after I tidied up in the morning.

It seemed Yeram hadn’t returned home yet.

Normally, she would either go to the café or come straight home.

“Is she busy with something?”

Well, Yeram isn’t an elementary school student; she can manage just fine.

There’s no way a student would be out playing.

She’s probably gone to a study room with friends.

Thinking that, I sat down in a chair and turned on the stream.

[The broadcast has started!]

As the broadcast started, a chat window appeared on the right side of the screen.

At the same time, viewers began to join.

When I first started the stream, I think there were a maximum of about twenty viewers.

Now, there were as many as—

[Number of viewers: 56]

Fifty-six people.

And this was only three minutes after starting the broadcast.

“Hey, everyone.”

Since it felt a bit excessive to jump straight into a game right after starting the broadcast, I decided to sit for a moment and kill some time.

I had just finished my part-time job, so I was also a bit tired.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Why are you starting the stream so early today?]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: I’m looking forward to it.]

[ᄅᄋ: You’re starting way too early.]

[Usually, you’d post something like “Today’s part-time job was really hard…” and then start the stream an hour later.]

[Whoa.]

[I’m not whining; I’m pointing out that in modern society, you can only earn money by working.]

[Indeed, social insight is valuable. ᄏᄏ]

The chat window was lively.

Maybe because of the time of day, everyone seemed to have a lot of energy.

Here’s the translation with names and every word included:

I had a question.

“I wonder if anyone will watch if I stream in the early morning.”

While a lot of people will be asleep, some might be wide awake due to their reversed sleep schedules.

I don’t usually check the gallery in the early morning, so I’m not really sure.

“By the way, I was just thinking, will there be anyone watching if I stream in the early morning?”

I casually tossed the question out there.

Then—

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Early morning streams can be fun ᄏᄏ]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: There are people who are awake at that time]

[Early morning streams are definitely fun]

[Hwanhee: Streaming in the early morning is a bit much]

[Hwanhee: My sleep pattern is normal]

[It might be better in the early morning]

[Kang Hoomin: I can do it anytime.]

[As expected, Kang Hoomin is the night-and-day public servant who keeps the chat alive ᄏᄏ]

[ᄉᄇᄏᄏ]

[Even if you stream in the early morning, there will be people watching]

As I looked through the comments in the chat, it seemed like a decent idea.

There didn’t seem to be any negative reactions from anyone.

“Hmm, so should I try streaming until the early morning? I’m curious about who would be awake then.”

I had to work tomorrow, but I didn’t usually need a long sleep, so I could recover from fatigue with a short nap.

Of course, that didn’t mean I had to stay up until the early morning… but I was still curious.

I wondered what kind of people would be around.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Oh, sounds good]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: I can do it in the early morning too]

[Let’s do it]

[It’ll definitely be fun ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ]

[You have to be careful; there are a lot of wild people in the early morning]

[They’re wild (with many histories of complaints)]

[In fact, there’s no separate money box for Da Ma]

[Money box ᄋᄌᄅᄏᄏ]

[Kang Hoomin: Complaints are valid.]

[The one who has awakened to the truths of the world is Kang Hoomin ᄏᄏ]

Then I decided that today’s stream would go until the early morning and briefly recounted what had happened yesterday.

Since it had already happened, I couldn’t just ignore it without mentioning it.

“I told you, I went to pick up my sister. It wasn’t even like I walked there or anything.”

[Omniscient Cthulhu: That’s unbelievable ᄉᄇᄏᄏ]

[What’s with dropping the chicken when getting out of a taxi? ᄏᄏ]

[Is this for real?]

[Of course it is; why would it be fake?]

[What a waste of chicken]

[Kang Hoomin: Just wash it and eat it ᄁᄇ]

“What do you mean wash it? The batter has already soaked up mud.”

[If it seeps in, you have to hit the C button to block it ᄋ이]

[If you turn your back and harden, you can block the seepage; haven’t you played FIFA?]

[Oh damn, that’s a crazy joke ᄏᄏ]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Washing it before eating is a bit much]

[Hwanhee: So when are we playing games today?]

[Games are indeed fun]

As I chatted about various topics, people were starting to express their desire to play games.

“I’ll be playing Leore in a bit, so just wait.”

But it wasn’t time yet.

There were still things I wanted to talk about.

Just as I was about to continue the conversation,

[FootballIsDifficult has donated 10,000 won!]

• Let’s play Leore, let’s play Leore, let’s play Leore, let’s play Leore, let’s play Leore, let’s play Leore

A viewer started begging to play the game, even donating money to do so.

“Well, I appreciate the money, but I said I’ll do it later. Just wait.”

I shouldn’t give in to such childish demands.

It could lower the quality of the broadcast.

Not that I’m in desperate need of money.

Just then, as I was thinking that,

[FootballIsDifficult has donated 10,000 won!]

• Oh please, I have an appointment in two hours!

A viewer suddenly donated an additional 10,000 won.

It felt a bit burdensome.

I had clearly said not to pressure me.

“Uh… I’ll handle it, so if you send more donations like this, you’ll be blocked.”

I really dislike being ordered around by others.

Even if money is involved, if I don’t want to do something, I won’t do it.

But then—

[FootballIsDifficult has donated 80,000 won!]

• I’m just really bored…

Another donation came in, and it was quite a large amount.

‘…Should I?’

I was planning to play a game soon anyway.

But if I start the game now, it would seem like I was doing it because of that person.

How can I start the game naturally?

As I pondered, a certain person in the chat caught my eye.