Chapter 27: “Are You Unemployed, Unnie?”

“Are you unemployed, unnie?”

It was a sudden question.

It was an odd question to hear, especially when I had been sitting on an empty swing at a deserted playground, staring blankly at the sky.

Who were they even talking to?

There wasn’t anyone around, after all.

As I thought about that, I realized that the ‘unnie’ the voice was referring to might actually be me.

I soon turned my head in the direction where the voice had come from.

It was a little girl.

She was probably the one who had asked the question.

A girl with a cute appearance that matched her voice.

She seemed to be in the early years of elementary school.

Judging by her short stature, she looked about 10 or 11 years old.

But I couldn’t be sure.

These days, kids grow much faster and taller than when I was their age.

I met her gaze, considering she might even be a kindergartener.

“Where is your mother?”

My voice was gentle and soft.

So soft that even I was surprised by how tender it sounded.

I involuntarily shivered at how soothing it was.

Come to think of it, I had always been especially weak when it came to children.

Whenever I was around them, I would deliberately soften my voice.

Careful not to let my naturally deeper tone scare them.

Now that I no longer needed to do that, I wasn’t sure whether I should laugh or cry about it.

Before I could settle on an answer, the little girl standing in front of me smiled brightly and responded.

“I don’t have a mom!”

Ah, shoot.

It seemed I had stepped on a landmine.

“Oh, uh… I see. Umm…”

I was never particularly good at interacting with people.

In fact, I would say I was pretty bad at it.

My conversations were always so awkwardly short, often breaking off in mid-sentence.

At least, through the internet, I had managed to improve my communication skills somewhat online.

But my real-life conversational abilities were still woefully lacking.

I had never encountered a situation where I unintentionally said something so insensitive.

Now I had no idea how to react.

It felt like my tongue was tied.

What am I supposed to say now?

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Meeting the little girl’s pure black eyes, I was uncertain of how to proceed.

Since things had turned out like this, I might as well bow my head in apology first and think later—

“But it’s okay! I don’t have a mom, but I have my grandma and uncle.”

“As long as I have them, I’m fine!”

However, the girl was more mature than I expected.

It seemed she had noticed my discomfort and immediately reassured me, saying it was alright.

Her thoughtfulness touched me.

At the same time, I felt uneasy knowing that she had matured too quickly.

All I could do was give her an awkward smile.

Still, she kept smiling brightly back at me.

“…Your name is Si-hyun?”

“Yeah! Han Si-hyun. That’s my name.”

She was a child with a beautiful smile.

There wasn’t a trace of darkness or shadow on her face.

Something you might expect from a child who had lost their parents.

I couldn’t be that composed.

I remember how I had spent years crying, almost forgetting how to smile.

As I was momentarily lost in those contrasting memories, Si-hyun puffed out her cheeks as if something had displeased her.

“Why, why are you asking?”

“Unnie, what about you?”

“Huh?”

When I asked, not understanding what she meant, Si-hyun stopped puffing out her cheeks and spoke.

“Your name, unnie.”

“I told you my name first, so you should tell me yours too!”

“Ah, right.”

“Sorry, unnie forgot for a moment.”

To think she already knew the rules of exchanging names.

I thought she was mature for her age.

But she was smart too.

“My name is Moon Ah-ya.”

“My last name is Moon, and my first name is Ah.”

“? Your name is just one syllable?”

She must have never seen a one-syllable name before.

Seeing her tilt her head in confusion, I explained that there are indeed single-syllable names in this world.

“So should I call you Ah-unnie?”

“That sounds a bit strange.”

“You can call me by my full name if you want.”

To be honest, it felt strange to me too.

Not just the name itself, but also the fact that someone was calling me “unnie” for the first time in my life.

Still, it was something I’d have to get used to eventually.

I didn’t expect that the first person to call me “unnie” would be a little kid I met at the playground, but…

I figured I might as well think of it as a practice run.

It’d be better than being shocked and collapsing the next time someone called me unnie.

After exchanging names with me, Si-hyun asked another question.

“Moon Ah-unnie, are you unemployed?”

And here we are, back to square one.

Why is she so curious about this?

“Do you think unnie is unemployed?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you think that?”

When I asked her why, Si-hyun responded as if she had been waiting for the question.

“Because you’ve been here at the playground around this time every day.”

“Everyone else is at school or work at this time.”

“My grandma says people like that are all unemployed.”

Not too long ago, I decided to start going for short walks in the morning to lead a healthier lifestyle.

This playground happened to be part of my walking route.

I usually woke up around 10 or 11 a.m.

So if Si-hyun had seen me here often, I could understand why she thought I was unemployed.

However, it wasn’t entirely a misunderstanding.

After all, I had only started streaming less than a month ago.

Although I was seeing some growth, it wasn’t exactly a stable job.

My income was still uncertain.

And more importantly, my lifestyle hadn’t changed much since I started streaming.

The only difference was whether I was streaming while playing “Abyss” or not.

Other than that, my life was just like it was when I was unemployed.

So, I couldn’t confidently say, “Unnie isn’t unemployed.”

I wasn’t at a point where I could call myself a full-time streamer yet.

But at the same time, I didn’t want to admit to being unemployed.

After all, I had been putting in quite a bit of effort.

Talking more to interact with viewers.

Researching trending humor online.

And calling myself unemployed felt like it would invalidate all that hard work.

So the answer I gave was this:

“Unnie is a freelancer.”

“Freelancer?”

“Hmm, so you work freely?”

“Doing it when you want, and not doing it when you don’t, something like that?”

I wasn’t sure if that was the correct explanation, but that’s how I saw freelancers.

Since I could start and stop streaming whenever I wanted, it wasn’t exactly wrong.

“Really?”

“So you’re not unemployed?”

“By the way, Si-hyun, do you even know what being unemployed means?”

“Yes, my uncle is unemployed!”

“Ah…”

From what Si-hyun told me, her uncle’s lifestyle seemed pretty similar to mine.

Both of us seemed to always be wandering around outside at this time, so Si-hyun had assumed I was unemployed like her uncle.

“But that’s freelancing.”

“What kind of work is it?”

“My uncle should be working too, but Grandma always sighs at him.”

What kind of work…?

I pondered Si-hyun’s question for a moment before explaining the key part of streaming.

“There are a lot of fields, but unnie’s job is to make people happy.”

“I meet people, talk and chat with them about common topics, and have fun… yeah, it’s something like that.”

“A job that makes people happy…”

Si-hyun stared at me in thought for a moment without saying anything.

“You suit it.”

“Huh?”

“Unnie is pretty, so when people look at you, it makes them feel happy.”

What…?

What is this kid saying?

Si-hyun’s words were filled with pure innocence, as expected from a child.

There wasn’t a hint of hesitation in her eyes, and she spoke as if she were stating an obvious fact, with the most casual tone.

Ridiculously, I was left speechless.

I even half-turned my head away from Si-hyun.

My earlobes flushed hot as a bonus.

“Si-hyun, it’s time to go inside!”

It was then that I heard a deep male voice from afar.

As soon as Si-hyun heard that voice, her ears perked up like a rabbit, and she started shaking my hand up and down.

“Unnie, my uncle is calling me.”

“I have to go in now.”

“You’ll keep coming to the playground, right?”

“Uh, uh-huh…”

Her small, warm hand gripped mine tightly.

It had been a while since I felt human warmth.

And that warmth, unique to children, was comforting and gentle.

“Then see you next time!”

“I’m going now!”

This part of her was childlike—leaving so abruptly.

Before I knew it, Si-hyun had disappeared like the wind.

I stood in the spot where Si-hyun had been for a few more minutes, reflecting on her words while still feeling the warmth in my hand.

“You suit it…”

Si-hyun had said that a job that makes people happy suits me.

And so, after that strange meeting in the morning, I found myself turning on my stream as soon as I got home.

It was because I suddenly wanted to see people.

To see my viewers.

I wondered if, like Si-hyun said, people feel happy when they see me, or when they watch my stream.

Could my stream bring some comfort to someone’s tough day?

As soon as I started the stream, viewers immediately flocked in.

They began greeting me through the chat.

[What is this, streaming so early in the morning?]

[Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak! Kayak!]

[My favorite streamer is here!]

[Hng… such a diligent noona, streaming in the morning…]

[Turn on the mic! Turn on the mic!]

[Are we getting a ‘play till you win’ stream today?]

Their reactions weren’t exactly what I had imagined.

But just like Si-hyun said, I could feel that people were happy to see me and excited to have me on.

For the first time in a while, I didn’t feel dizzy looking at the chat.

Instead, I found myself smiling brightly.

“Hello.”

“Good morning, everyone.”

 


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stryke106
stryke106
3 months ago

very cute