Chapter 19: The Sister Connection

Click!

I opened my eyes to the sound of a camera shutter. Yoon Boora was taking a picture.

“Huh?”

In my half-asleep state, I tried to recall what had happened to me.

I had been caught by Raxy Boora and couldn’t move, so I must’ve fallen asleep.

Rubbing my eyes, I sat up. Somehow, it felt soft and squishy beneath me.

With my half-closed eyes, I looked down and saw that I was sitting on top of the sleeping Raxy Boora.

‘Oh no.’

I had been sitting on her. How rude of me.

I tried to move off her immediately, but it was a bit tough, since I had just woken up. Normally, I would fidget under the covers for about thirty minutes before getting up.

“Yawn…”

I yawned and then lay down on top of Raxy Boora again. Lying on her felt better than sitting on her.

‘I’ll just stay like this for about ten more minutes,’ I thought, closing my eyes again.

Click!

The sound of the camera shutter went off again, making me sit up.

“…What are you taking pictures of?”

“You two look so cute sleeping together.”

Click!

Yoon Boora pressed the camera shutter once more as she spoke.

“Why again…?”

“You sitting on Raxy was adorable.”

“Ah.”

I quickly got off. I was still groggy, so my legs were shaky, making it hard to stay balanced.

To keep from falling, I grabbed onto Yoon Boora’s waist.

“Harang, could you wake Raxy up for me? I have some things to do.”

“Okay. But what time is it?”

“It’s already past noon.”

“…We’re late for work, aren’t we?”

With the sun high in the sky, we were definitely late.

‘Oh no.’

I looked up at Yoon Boora with a worried expression, but she just smiled and patted my head.

“Unnie said you could rest today. You had a rough day yesterday.”

“Oh, thank goodness…”

It seemed like Jinhyang was a flexible person after all.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I squatted down in front of Raxy Boora.

“Raxy, wake up.”

I poked her cheek a few times, and she slowly opened her eyes.

“Ah, I’m so happy…”

“What’s making you happy?”

Raxy Boora chuckled softly but didn’t explain. She just got up and yawned.

“Yawn, and now I have to start working the moment I wake up.”

“Work? You mean your broadcast?”

“Yeah.”

Broadcasting, huh. That must be seriously exhausting.

I knew how hard it was to communicate with viewers, having tried broadcasting a few times myself.

“Hang in there, Raxy.”

I patted her shoulder in encouragement.

“…Harang, do you want to stream with me?”

“Stream?”

“Oh… you probably don’t want to, huh?”

“Huh? It’s not that I don’t want to.”

Since I was living off them in their home, it wouldn’t hurt to appear in a stream once in a while.

I just wondered if I should be showing up on Raxy Boora’s broadcast and risk damaging her image.

“Wait, didn’t you have a trauma from streaming?”

“It wasn’t traumatic to that extent.”

Though it made me feel uncomfortable, it wasn’t something that would haunt me for life.

There were far more significant shocks in my life than that.

“I see… so it wasn’t enough to give you a trauma…”

“Y-Yeah, exactly?”

Raxy’s voice suddenly turned somber, which confused me.

Sometimes, she expressed emotions that I couldn’t quite grasp.

Maybe it was because she had a unique mental world, different from others.

“Hm… no, it’s fine, Harang. I shouldn’t have asked something so unreasonable.”

With that, Raxy Boora reached out and pinched my cheek.

Lately, it seemed like my cheeks were getting pinched a lot by the three women.

Yoon Boora wasn’t around, Raxy Boora wasn’t here anymore, and Jinhyang was nowhere to be seen either.

“Haa…”

It was nice to have a break, but when I actually had free time, I didn’t know what to do with it. All I could do was sit on the sofa and stare blankly around the room.

‘What’s that…?’

On the small table in front of the sofa, a book lay open. It was the book Jinhyang had been reading earlier, judging by its cover.

I walked over to the table and picked it up.

But something about the book’s title seemed unusual.

– The Proper Way to Raise Our Child.

“Oo…?”

Did Jinhyang have a kid?

Feeling surprised, I opened the book.

Chapter 1: How to Talk to Your Child Without Hurting Them.

‘Jinhyang, talking without hurting someone…’

I couldn’t even imagine that. It would be a miracle if she didn’t make the child cry.

“Hehe.”

A laugh slipped out. The thought of Jinhyang speaking kindly was just too funny.

I was about to turn to the next page when—

“Hey.”

Jinhyang’s voice came from somewhere.

“…?”

Slowly, I turned my head toward the direction of the voice.

There she stood, Jinhyang, with her usual irritated expression.

I looked at the book, then at Jinhyang, repeating this action a few times before hastily hiding the book behind my back.

It felt as though I had done something terribly wrong.

“Aren’t you going to hand that over?”

“Ah.”

Why did I hide it? It was just a book.

I handed the book to Jinhyang and asked, “Are you… pregnant?”

“What?”

“Or… have you already given birth?” Or maybe not?

“…Are you insane?”

Suddenly, an intense aura of menace radiated from around Jinhyang.

‘W-What?’

I only asked to congratulate her. Did I say something wrong?

Feeling a little scared, I pointed at the book’s title and said, “If you get mad, the child will get hurt.”

Jinhyang’s gaze followed my finger to the book, and she clicked her tongue. It seemed like her anger had subsided.

“Why would I have a kid?”

“So… you don’t have one?”

“…”

Jinhyang shot me a silent glare before reaching out her hand. I closed my eyes tightly in surprise, but all she did was take the book from me.

As I stood there watching Jinhyang look at the book, Yoon Boora appeared in the distance, carrying a tray.

“Harang.”

“Huh?”

“Could you take this to Raxy for me? I’ve got a lot to do.”

Yoon Boora handed me the tray as she spoke.

On the tray were three cups of coffee and one glass of lemonade.

“Raxy drinks this much?”

“Huh? No, it’s one for each of us.”

With that, Yoon Boora handed one of the coffees to Jinhyang and kept one for herself.

“Ah, I see.”

Well, as a houseguest, this much was the least I could do.

Without hesitation, I accepted the tray.

“…And try not to drop it?”

“…I’m not a kid, you know.”

Why would I drop it? Though it was a little heavy.

Raxy Boora’s streaming room was in the basement.

Standing in front of it, I held the tray, but I couldn’t knock because both my hands were occupied.

Kicking the door didn’t seem polite either.

‘What should I do…’

I thought for a moment and then knocked on the door with my head.

Thud thud—

My forehead hurt a little.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Harang.”

“Oh?”

The heavy soundproof door swung open, making no noise at all.

Raxy appeared behind it.

“Yoon Bora told me to give you this.”

I handed the tray to Raxy, silently hoping she would take the coffee and not the lemonade.

“Oh, Harang brought this?”

“Yeah.”

Raxy picked up the coffee. I sighed in relief. I wasn’t a fan of the bitter taste of coffee.

“Thanks.”

“Sure.”

I grabbed the remaining lemonade and peeked into Raxy’s streaming room. There were machines that only professionals would use, several monitors, and a rather expensive-looking microphone.

‘Wow.’

Raxy was more serious about this than I thought.

Feeling curious, I looked up at her.

“Raxy, can I take a look inside?”

“Huh? Are you sure?”

“Why?”

“I’m streaming, so your face might accidentally show up.”

Ah, that. I wasn’t worried since my face was already well-known at this point.

“Yeah, I don’t mind.”

“Then just stay out of the camera’s view, okay? And if anything feels off, tell me right away.”

“Got it.”

With Raxy’s permission, I stepped into the streaming room. I sat on a bed placed in one corner of the room, while she settled in the chair in front of the monitor.

“Sorry, my little sister wanted to check out the stream.”

Raxy adjusted the camera as she spoke. It seemed like she was repositioning it because of me.

[Wait, Raxy has a sister?]

[Where is she? Can we see her?]

Even though I wasn’t close to the camera, I could still see the chat full of questions about me.

I held my breath, quietly watching.

“She’s my little sister. She’s sitting on the bed watching the stream.”

Raxy pointed towards me as she spoke. Of course, since the camera wasn’t angled at me, they wouldn’t be able to see me.

‘Hmm.’

So, she’s using this “sister” concept for the stream, huh?

I thought it was just a joke between us, but I was a little taken aback, watching Raxy’s back.

Just then, she turned her head toward me.

“Harang, could you say hello?”

“Uh, sure. Hello.”

Even though I shouldn’t have been visible based on the camera’s angle, I instinctively bowed my head while greeting.

Seeing that, Raxy smiled with a soft laugh.

[That voice sounds familiar.]

[Me too.]

[Where have I heard it before?]

[Harang? Kang Harang?]

“Huh?”

The internet crowd started guessing my identity, piecing it together from just my voice and name.

“Harang…”

Raxy looked back at me, clearly flustered. She had an expression that said she realized she’d made a small mistake.

“It’s okay, Raxy.”

“Yeah, sorry…”

After that brief exchange, we both turned our attention to the monitor. Because of our conversation, people’s guesses were becoming more certain.

[Wow, is that really her? So, Raxy’s sister?]

[Isn’t she famous these days?]

[Sisters: Raxy Bora, and the little sister’s a cat? Talk about winning at life!]

‘A cat? That’s going too far.’

I frowned at the chat, annoyed that I was being compared to an animal even here.

Ding—

With the sound of an alert, a donation message popped up.

PLUS 10,000 KRW donation! From Russ

[But why does your sister call you Raxy instead of ‘Unnie’?]

‘Unnie?’

I stared blankly at the question.

Now that I thought about it, it probably seemed disrespectful for a younger sibling to casually call her older sister by name.

“Ah, um.”

“Well, that’s because…”

Raxy and I looked at each other, at a loss for words. It was such an unexpected question that neither of us knew how to respond.