Chapter 36: Coming Out as a Streamer (Revised)

‘This is… tougher than I thought.’

I had been dragged around for two hours. We had been at the department store for nearly five.

By the end of it, I was holding shopping bags in both hands while my older sister and younger sister nodded in satisfaction.

“This should be enough.”

“Well, it’s not bad.”

“…That was a compliment, right?”

It was finally time to head home. As soon as I got back, I needed to start my stream.

I was mentally calculating the time when my older sister placed a hand on my shoulder.

“I’ll walk you home. It’s too dark for you to go alone.”

“It’s fine… It’s not that far.”

“Not far? It takes at least 20 minutes to walk to your place.”

She wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t exactly close, but it wasn’t too far to walk on my own either.

‘…Is it because I’m a woman?’

That was my rough guess. I nodded without much thought.

Of course, Bomi came along too.

‘But now I can’t just send them away immediately.’

Having them walk me home and then sending them right back felt wrong.

But if I invited them inside… I wouldn’t be able to stream right away.

‘Whatever. I’ll just order them some food and start my stream.’

That was a careless decision.

We arrived home.

Since I couldn’t just send them back out into the dark, I let them in.

“Why is it so empty? You barely have any furniture.”

“Simple is best.”

It was my place, but even I had to admit—it really didn’t have much.

Well, except for my room.

Now that I thought about it, this was Bomi’s first time visiting.

She clicked her tongue at the bare living room before glancing at my older sister, who also frowned in disapproval.

‘It’s not that bad… Is it?’

I thought it was decent for someone living alone.

“It’s late. You should stay over.”

“Is there even space for us to sleep?”

“…There’s one extra spot, but I can take that. You two can have the bed.”

Right. I hadn’t considered the sleeping arrangements.

As I awkwardly moved to grab blankets from the closet, they stopped me.

I looked at them, confused.

“W-Why don’t we all just use the bed? It’s big enough.”

“…Yeah.”

The bed was big, sure, but wasn’t it a bit cramped for three people?

I narrowed my eyes, but they avoided my gaze.

Well, whatever.

I wanted to sleep on the bed too.

“Alright then.”

I shrugged. The person in the middle would probably suffer the most.

While they unpacked their things, I finished setting up for my stream.

Neither of them knew I was a VTuber or a streamer.

Of course, just looking at my setup, they might have had a vague idea…

“What do you want to eat?”

“Oh, chicken for me!”

“What about you, unni?”

“I’m good. You already bought me clothes, I don’t want to take advantage.”

It’s not like I couldn’t afford one meal.

Since she seemed firm on it, I just added a pizza.

That should be enough.

After ordering, I headed to my room.

“If the food arrives, just start eating. I don’t really care. I’ll probably be in here for about five or six hours.”

“…What exactly are you doing?”

Bomi’s question made me pause.

I couldn’t exactly tell them I was about to stream, right…?

After thinking for a moment, I opened my mouth.

“I need to draw.”

“I have to stream.”

“…What?”

“What?”

Ah.

I messed up.

Honestly, even if my family found out, it wasn’t a big deal.

Anyone with half a brain could put two and two together.

I looked exactly like Yuwol.

No, actually, I was Yuwol.

Eventually, I explained everything to them.

Now, they were both staring at me with unreadable expressions.

“I mean, I’ve heard of Yuwol before, but… uh…”

My older sister stuttered like a broken machine.

“…When you said you were working…?”

Bomi looked like she was about to connect some wild conspiracy theory.

She was probably making some weird assumptions, but technically, I wasn’t lying.

Both of them were now watching my YouTube channel in real-time.

My face felt like it was on fire.

Yeah… I guess from their perspective, this was pretty shocking.

Even I would have been surprised.

“Ahem. Anyway, I need to start my stream, so please leave.”

At least they listened.

…They weren’t going to watch my stream while eating, right?

I felt a little anxious, but this was something I had to deal with.

I sighed internally and posted my stream announcement.

Now I had another story to share.

One hour into the stream.

“So, they’re probably outside eating chicken right now. Oh, and pizza too.”

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Oh no, this is bad.

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

They found out you’re a streamer, huh?

Are they in chat right now? ㅋㅋㅋ

What a moment…

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

As long as it entertained people, I was satisfied.

A hero shouldn’t get embarrassed over something like this.

…But I don’t want to be a hero anymore.

“Well, at least it was my family.”

If it had been anyone else, I would’ve panicked.

“Anyway, I went to the company today, did some shopping with my sisters.”

Spent 600… Oof.

Yuwol is loaded…

“She even throws money around in real life, not just in the playground…”

“Big spender Yuwol.”

“CCCCCCCC.”

“But why does an illustrator have no interest in her own clothes? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

I should wrap up the chat here. If I drag it on too long, it’ll get boring.

Come to think of it, I need to reply to Akira. Is she streaming right now?

I could just DM her on Discord, even if she’s not.

After a brief moment of contemplation, I decided to sneak into Akira’s stream.

But before I could even type anything in the chat—

The viewers started spamming messages about my arrival.

[“Huh? Wol is here?”]

Thanks to that, Akira noticed me first.

Oh well. I came here to answer her collab call anyway.

-Yuwol: “H… Hello.”

[“Wol-ah…! I missed you!”]

…Did we really not see each other for that long? It was just yesterday, wasn’t it?

Judging by Akira’s reaction, you’d think it had been a decade. She’d make a great actress.

[“Wait! Can we call right now?!”]

-Yuwol: “Yes, I’m available.”

I typed my response and hesitated for a moment.

Should I mention the collab on stream?

It’d be more fun if we kept it a secret until right before we announced it.

Yeah. That was the right call.

Before joining the call, I sent Akira a quick private message.

[Yuwol:] “Should we keep the collab a secret on stream? Also, thanks for the invite! Let’s set up a date.”

I was sure she’d find it odd that I suddenly popped into her stream, but I could make up an excuse.

Something like, “I just dropped by because we know each other from Minecraft.”

[Akira:] “Yes! Thanks for accepting!!! And yeah, it’s better if we don’t mention it yet!”

-Yuwol: “=>v<= ”

[Akira:] “Cute!”

Alright. Keep the collab quiet for now. And I need to set up a date with Akira.

With that in mind, I called her.

“Senpai.”

[“Kyaa! Wol-ah!”]

If you only heard her voice, you’d think I was a long-lost lover she had been waiting for.

I chuckled and greeted Akira, as well as her viewers.

“I just thought of you, so I stopped by. And you happened to be streaming.”

Akira’s chat enthusiastically welcomed me.

It was funny, so I laughed before saying,

“But I can’t stay too long. You still have your stream, and I don’t want to interrupt.”

That was a bit ironic, considering I was the one who dropped by unannounced.

[“Eh? You can stay longer!”]

“Won’t it mess with your stream? Don’t you have content planned?”

[“It’s fine! I didn’t have anything scheduled today!”]

…That’s a bit unfortunate for me.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-“I think she wants to leave, guys.” ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-“Our Wol is trying to escape.”

-“You may enter freely, but you may not leave, little one…”

-“Possessive Akira, confirmed.” ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-“Honestly, I think Akira and Yuwol are real.”

And just like that, I ended up chatting with Akira for an entire hour.

Although… she did most of the talking.

Today had been exhausting.

As soon as the stream ended, my bedroom door creaked open.

Of course, they had been watching.

“Sorry. I went on too long. If you’re sleepy, go ahead and sleep first.”

“It’s fine. It’s not even that late.”

My older sister shrugged.

I nodded. I needed to wash up before bed.

When I came back from the bathroom, they were already lying in bed.

But when I went to lie down—

…Why was I in the middle?

Was it because I came back late?

“I can just sleep on the floor—”

Of course, that wasn’t going to happen.

I was too weak to fight back against them.

And so, I spent the night suffocating between my sisters.

Both of them were taller than me.

And this bed was not made for three people.

‘How are they both… this well-endowed?’

I had no words.

Actually, I barely had space to breathe.

My face wasn’t being smothered… right?