My Favorite Has Started A Live Broadcast!

“Unnieee! I’m here!”

While I was cleaning the empty plates and table and doing the dishes, my sister brought a bunch of large boxes into the living room.

I hurriedly finished the dishes at a fast but spotless speed and walked over to the living room.

“Hmm… It’s smaller than I expected… Is it something that needs assembly?”

One of the boxes looked a little small for the cat tower I’d seen at the store, but there was also a large box that seemed to be a platform and a huge bag of cat food.

There was a picture of a cat on the label, making it clear to anyone that this was specifically cat food.

“Meoow!”

Strawberry, who had eagerly pounced at it since it was the sample food she’d liked best at the store, was already kept in check because she had already emptied a bowl.

Rip—

Min-young made a clean tear in the tape with her nails and opened the box, revealing, as I had guessed, a cat tower in need of assembly.

As the box opened, Strawberry’s interest shifted naturally from the food bag to the box itself, and she slipped into the box while I was momentarily distracted.

“…….Meooow…”

Though the box was small, it was still larger than Strawberry, so I wasn’t too worried about her getting out by herself. She seemed content as she stayed quiet, so I laid the box on its side to let her come out on her own and started assembling.

“Mew!”

Strawberry quickly adapted to her new surroundings.

Even though the new environment was just a cat tower and a platform, Strawberry ran around the room like a puppy seeing snow for the first time.

For no particular reason, she kept climbing up and down from the bed repeatedly, and from the top of the one-meter-tall cat tower, she even took the posture of a predator who’d succeeded in a hunt.

Min-young stayed by, taking pictures of Strawberry for quite a while, and then went home.

There were moments when it seemed like the camera was aimed at me, but she said it was just my imagination.

Seeing Strawberry lying at the top of the cat tower, sleeping after burning through all her energy in just an hour, I felt pleased when an alarm rang on my phone.

Naturally, it was from Chocoa.

“Hm..? Hm…??”

It was Chocoa, all right.

But rather than a notification from Twitch, it was the sound of an actual call from Chocoa.

Surprised, I dropped my phone for a second, and, as if to get back at me, the falling phone landed squarely on my foot.

“Ouchhhh…..!!..Ouch…..”

Even as I lay on the floor holding my throbbing foot, the phone continued to ring.

I tried to grab the phone with one hand while clutching my foot with the other to suppress the pain.

Click—

“No.. no way..!!”

Just as my hand touched the phone, the call ended.

With a somewhat devastated expression, I picked up my phone and lay back on the bed.

What should I do… Should I call back..?

If she asks what I was doing, what should I say…?

Would she laugh at me if I told her the truth, like the doctor?

While I was mulling over various thoughts, a Discord message came through.

Chocoa—If you’re not busy, want to play a game?

“……Hello….”

“It’s been a while. Not since your birthday, right?”

“Y-Yes! It’s been a while, Chocoa-nim…”

Honestly, I want to call and meet up with her every day.

“I was thinking of playing Lesik. Is there something else you want to play?”

A game I could play… Nikita… too expensive, a rhythm game… not possible to play together…

“I don’t really have anything. I’ll join Lesik.”

I was a little surprised at how quickly the game loaded, but I spun my mouse, thinking I’d get used to this speed someday.

“…..Are you using the wallet well?”

“Oh.. yes! I love it…”

“That’s good to hear. I almost regretted it since I used it for nearly a year.”

“No, no! It’s… perfect…”

As soon as we entered the game, Chocoa sent me an invitation.

Her profile was just a simple English name, Chocoa, with nothing else.

To warm up, she headed to the training ground for the first round.

“I’m thinking of starting my stream in a bit, but want to chat now?”

“Oh.. yes, but… what should we talk about…”

“What were you up to?”

I tried to stretch out that training ground around as long as possible.

Since it was a sweep mode, I avoided finding the enemies too quickly and wandered around the map, chatting with Chocoa.

“I was playing with Strawberry. I got her a platform and a cat tower… bought her food, too. She’s running around like crazy on her own and now she’s exhausted and asleep.”

“Hm… Would it be okay if I visited again sometime? Last time, I only saw her sleeping.”

“…Yes!! If you come over, I’ll even make something delicious for you!!”

“Uh… shooting is hard. Why are you so good at it, Suyeon?”

“I’m… not really that good… I think I just have fast reflexes…”

As I loaded the shotgun, I approached an enemy sitting behind cover. Reload skipping was something I could always do, and the difficulty of the training ground was the lowest level, so I wouldn’t die even if I took a few hits.

Confidently, I walked up, and when the enemy AI, dumb enough to only move when the barrel was pointed right at its head, turned to look, I took it out and strolled to find the next target.

“Have you always been that bad with alcohol?”

“Oh… I’m really sorry about that… I used to be able to handle a bit, but… now, even one drink and…”

“Really? Then next time I visit, I’ll bring some drinks.”

“Huh…?”

***
Choi Ga-young POV

“….Yawn…”

Giving in to the urge to stay under the covers a little longer, I groped around in search of my phone.

Feeling the cool phone near the head of the bed, I was saved from the usual blinding light by the curtains that my mom must have drawn when she visited.

It was a late Sunday morning, and whether it was because of the long broadcast yesterday or because I had stayed up all night doing assignments, it was already past ten.

“…Oh, Su-yeon’s broadcast…”

Normally, by now, Su-yeon’s broadcast would be up and running, but oddly, there were no notifications from Twitch.

There was just one video file from a junior in my inbox.

Thinking maybe the broadcast had started but the alert hadn’t come through, I checked Twitch, but Baraa’s broadcast wasn’t on.

“Is she not streaming today…”

With a bit of disappointment, I opened the chat room with my junior.

Eunah—(random YouTube link) Senpai, take a look at this.

Honestly, I want to call and ask about it.

I want to ask my junior, who’s her stream manager, or even Baraa herself, what she’s doing right now, why she didn’t turn on the broadcast, and what she does when she isn’t streaming.

I’m curious.

Recently, I’ve felt strange.

Up until now, even if there were few people to talk to or none at all, I never felt lonely.

I just felt a little bored because I had nothing to do. That’s why I started streaming, and thanks to that, I feel less bored now.

“…..Why?”

Why does that person give me such endless attention?

Why is Baraa a fan of mine?

Why does Su-yeon like me so much that she doesn’t even understand it herself?

Why did she want my wallet?

These days, my biggest interest isn’t studying or streaming.

I was never really interested in studying anyway, and streaming, I only cared about my own channel.

Now, my biggest interest is this person, Lee Su-yeon.

It all started impulsively.

In the past, and even now, this kind of person is someone I’d never have the chance to see in my life, with an overwhelmingly attractive appearance.

Honestly, she could probably have anyone she wanted, so why she likes me is still a mystery.

I’m sure she’s just overly fond of me as a fan, but she doesn’t seem particularly interested in romance.

Maybe she’s had so much experience that she’s lost interest?

Brrring—

“Hello.”

“Hey, did you see the video?”

“No… uh, what’s Su-yeon doing right now?”

“She’s out somewhere. She’s been sulking and not feeding herself… Is that normal?”

“Really..? She didn’t start her broadcast today?”

“Hm… judging by her mood, I think so… Just watch some videos to pass the time today. There’s other stuff too, and there might be a new video next week.”

“…Okay…”

Feeling disappointed, I crawled out of bed and flipped onto my back.

The ceiling seemed even brighter than usual in the sunlight today.

“If you’re that eager to see her, shall I give you a reason?”

Since the room was quiet, even the sound of a regular call was clear.

“…What..?”

“There’s a Lesik event happening next weekend.

She doesn’t seem to know about it yet, but there’s a YouTube event and a bunch of other things. You could drop by… Hold on…”

Rustling sounds came through the phone, followed by Eunah returning with a sigh.

“Oh~ perfect timing. It’s happening next Friday to Monday. Her sister’s birthday is on Saturday. That’s when you should go. The timing is flawless.”

“Oh… really..? I’ll ask her later. Thanks.”

“Alright, I’ll be off.”

The call ended, and I flipped through the calendar on my desk, which had been gathering dust since January.

Swipe—Swipe—

Next Saturday. A red circle was drawn.

“Guess I’ll watch that video.”

***
Lee Su-yeon POV

“Um… can I ask you something before you start the broadcast?”

After finishing a fruitful chat in the training ground, Chocoa asked as we came out to the main lobby.

Naturally, I told her it was fine.

“…Do you have time next week?”