Chapter 50: Puddadadad (Image modification complete)

Lee Yeram’s face appeared.

Soon after, her friends began entering in a group.

They were the same friends I had seen at the cafe last time.

As soon as I confirmed that, I turned off the microphone.

Then, I quickly typed a message in the chat.

[Du Gong: Hey guys]

[Du Gong: My little sister’s friend suddenly showed up]

[Du Gong: I need to turn off the mic and stream for a bit]

[Du Gong: Please bear with me]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: What in the world is going on?]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Her friend just shows up suddenly? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: It’s funny that it’s not just any friend, but her sister’s friend ㅋㅋ]

[Hwanhee: Friend introduction point]

[Hwanhee: Damn, that’s a weird thought]

[Hwanhee: He didn’t say it was a girl, just that it was his sister’s friend]

[Hwanhee: Of course, various possibilities exist ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[Hwanhee: Just turn off the stream and come back later, why keep it on ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

The reason I wasn’t turning off the stream was simple.

That was because—

[Du Gong: I really don’t need to]

[Du Gong: There’s no need for that]

[Du Gong: It’s not like I’m doing something embarrassing]

[Du Gong: Honestly, it’s not embarrassing, but I’m terrified of getting caught, so please understand ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[Hwanhee: If it were me, I’d have turned off the stream immediately so I wouldn’t get caught ㅋㅋ]

[Hwanhee: How are you not going to get caught?]

[Hwanhee: Your house must be really big]

[Hwanhee: Judging by the greeting when they entered, I don’t get the house layout]

It wasn’t something embarrassing.

I wasn’t making money through dishonest acts.

Since the viewers seemed curious about the house layout, I decided to explain it.

[Du Gong: Just a second]

[Du Gong: I can’t just play games without saying anything]

[Du Gong: Let me explain using Paint]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Paint? Nice ㅋㅋ]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: How are you going to explain it?]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: I’m expecting some serious skills]

[Kang Hoomin: What’s going on?]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: So clueless ㅋㅋ]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Really clueless, just stay quiet and watch]

I confirmed that Kang Hoomin had returned after being temporarily kicked and opened Paint.

I used Paint often in the past, especially when I wanted to express something in the Ifrit Gallery.

Sometimes I used Notepad, but in this case, it was Paint.

Click click.

I moved the mouse and quickly drew the house layout.

It was an ordinary one-room apartment, but the placement of the computer was unique.

I quickly sketched it and showed it to the viewers watching the stream.

Then—

My computer.

My sister’s computer.

And a third one.

[Omniscient Cthulhu: What kind of layout is this?]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Why are the computers placed sideways?]

[What even is this?]

[Hwanhee: At least you can’t see each other’s screens, ㅋㅋ.]

[Living like that must be so much fun, LOL.]

[If you have a setup where you can game all day with your sibling, that’s honestly amazing.]

[Wow, what a dream.]

[Kang Hoomin: If it were me, I wouldn’t have arranged it like that.]

[Why did you set it up like this?]

[You clearly have no understanding of space management…]

As usual, the backseat commentary began.

So, I responded in the chat.

[Du Gong: If you actually live with this layout, you’ll see it’s the most convenient.]

[Du Gong: Why are you guys being so critical?]

[Du Gong: This is just ridiculous…]

[It’s not criticism; it’s just facts.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Who would arrange a one-room apartment like that? ㅋㅋ.]

[Seriously?]

[I feel like punching something.]

[One advantage of that layout is that you’d know immediately if someone walks in.]

[By the way, what are you even doing secretly behind your sister’s back?]

[Kang Hoomin: It’s super embarrassing to get caught playing Hearthstone…]

[LMAO, true.]

[Hearthstone is embarrassing, no doubt…]

The layout was designed so that you could immediately notice if someone entered the room.

And right now.

That layout was proving its worth.

But still, when were they planning to leave?

It seemed like quite some time had passed.

As I thought about it, I glanced toward where Lee Yeram and her friends were.

“Wow, it must be so fun to play games here!”

“It is. The computer specs are great too.”

“By the way, what’s your brother doing? I saw him at the cafe last time.”

“Well… probably playing games. Judging by his posture, it looks like he’s gaming.”

After the incident in Seongsu-dong, I had repeatedly told Lee Yeram one thing:

Never tell anyone that I stream.

And if she had already mentioned it to someone, I asked her to let me know immediately.

‘She said there was no one back then.’

Lee Yeram might be good at provoking people, but lying isn’t part of her nature.

I could trust her, I suppose.

With that thought in mind, I spoke up.

“Since you’re here, should I get you something?”

“Oh, no. We’re okay. We’re just waiting here until another friend arrives.”

“Still, let me at least make you a cup of coffee. You can have some before you leave.”

“Well, if you insist…”

I had never really considered the possibility of someone visiting this tiny one-room apartment.

But if someone did visit, I always had one thought:

Guests should always be offered something.

It was a belief I’d held for a long time, but it seemed like this was my first time putting it into practice.

I chuckled at the thought, turned my monitor to a dark screen, and stood up briefly.

[Du Gong: Just stare at the dark screen for a bit.]

[Du Gong: Gonna make some coffee for my sister’s friends.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Classy.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: Why don’t I have a brother like this?]

[I’d love to have a brother like that…]

[In reality, I just have a slob at home scratching his belly all day…]

[Kang Hoomin: Make me a café latte too, please.]

Ah, come to think of it, I realized Yeram’s friends might misunderstand.

So I explained in advance.

“I’m not making the coffee myself, just so you know.”

“Oh… okay.”

Whew.

It was good that I clarified.

I had suspected they might assume I was personally making the coffee, and sure enough, they did.

This made me appreciate the importance of saying things in advance.

Click.

I opened the fridge and poured the pre-made iced Americano into some cups filled with ice.

Since I’d be drinking some too, I prepared about six cups.

“Here, take one each.”

“Okay, thanks!”

Thankfully, no one seemed to have any complaints.

They did look slightly disappointed, though.

‘Do they even know how hard it is to make coffee?’

Sure, I had learned how to brew coffee myself at one point.

But after realizing how complicated it was, I gave up making it at home.

You needed all sorts of equipment, starting with a fancy coffee machine.

There were simpler ways to make coffee, of course, but I wasn’t keen on putting in that much effort.

‘Why bother, when you can just buy coffee at the store?’

So, I handed out the iced Americanos, packed with ice, to Yeram’s friends.

Afterward, as I was filling the ice trays to make more ice, it happened.

BOOM! LOL. UGH, GRUUUNT, UUUGH…!!!! Oh, SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH SPLATTER POP SPLASH BZZZZT SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT SPLASH SPLASH BOOM BOOM SPLAT SPLASH BZZZZT!!!!

“Oh.”

Hold on a second.

I had forgotten to mute the donation notification sound on my stream.

The sudden visit had completely thrown me off.

Normally, I didn’t set the donation sound to be very loud, so it wouldn’t have been noticeable if Yeram’s friends were chatting.

But right now, the room was dead silent.

They were all sitting quietly, drinking the coffee I had given them.

And of all times, a donation like that had to come through.

‘What do I do now?’

In that split second, I racked my brain for an excuse.

How could I explain away that crude donation message in the smoothest way possible?

I thought deeply, and finally, an excuse came to mind.

An excuse that would allow me to naturally defuse the situation.

“I had YouTube autoplay on, and suddenly that video started playing. Why is this happening, seriously?”

As I made the excuse, I naturally sat down and quickly turned off the donation notification sound.

But it was already spilled milk.

The fact that Yeram’s friends heard the Puddadadad noise didn’t change.

‘This is really fucked up…’

I had never felt so embarrassed in my life.

I mean, these aren’t strangers. These are people I know to some extent, and I’m going through this humiliation.

Immediately, I suppressed the strong urge to just end it all and found the person who sent the donation.

[If you’re gonna block me, go ahead.]

[Du Gong: That bastard.]

[Du Gong: Permanent ban.]

[Omniscient Cthulhu: LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL]

[What the hell happened? LOL]

[Did you leave the speakers on? I don’t get why you’re so mad about this.]

[Hang in there…]

[Poop lover, LOL]

[Kang Hoomin: I’ve been temporarily kicked out!]

[That bastard has no sense of awareness, LOL LOL LOL LOL]

Looking at the username, it seemed like it was an account created for trolling.

If that was the case, it meant there was a chance something like this could happen again.

‘I’ll have to be careful from now on.’

There was always a possibility that something like this could happen again.

While I was thinking that, suddenly…

“Uhm… we should head out now. Goodbye.”

Yeram and her friends suddenly got up to leave.

“Stay longer, the wind outside is strong.”

“Haha… It’s fine. Thanks for the coffee.”

And with those words, Yeram and her friends left the house.

My mind went blank.

“Ha…”

What a mess this is.

I hated myself for not turning off the donation sound as I switched on the mic.

Then I said one thing.

“If you ever send a donation like that again, I’ll kill you.”

I said it with sincerity.