I am lying quietly, staring at the ceiling.
Just lying there blankly on the bed, blinking my eyes.
Without even holding my phone in hand, I support my body on the electric blanket, maintaining a somewhat dazed state.
My body feels like it’s slowly melting away.
Like a marshmallow roasted over a fire, sticky and thick, it’s melting gradually.
Thinking like this makes me want to eat marshmallows.
Recently, I’ve suddenly been craving sweet things a lot.
“Yikes… car.”
With such thoughts, I struggled to turn my body to the side.
Sweat beaded on my back and dripped down.
My temperature is high, making me sweat, and the sweat cools down, and the cooled sweat is warmed up again, causing an endless cycle of repetition.
But, it’s unavoidable.
If I turn off the electric blanket, it’ll be too cold.
Taking a shower or at least wiping off the sweat and lying back down would be good, but I don’t even have the energy to do that.
Yes, I caught a cold.
Not that it came on suddenly without any signs… well, not entirely.
I do have my suspicions. The reason is so ridiculous that it’s hard to believe.
“Getting a cold from eating cold noodles… Is this what a human body is?”
It’s really astonishing how weak my body is.
I wonder how the previous owner lived.
Catching a cold just from enjoying some cold noodles—not even a mild one but a nasty one to the point where I can’t even move.
Or maybe it’s just a mild cold and my body can’t even handle that.
I should have realized when my throat got scratchy from having just a sip of the cold noodle soup.
Honestly, aside from having a pretty face, I don’t like this body at all.
“Ah… I need to broadcast.”
I just feel regretful.
It’s not because I’m going insane from missing my viewers or because I’d feel uncomfortable if I don’t broadcast.
I’m not that diligent of a streamer, and it doesn’t have that wholesome reasoning behind it, nor is it entirely negative.
So the reason I wanted to broadcast is.
“I had selected a game I wanted to play…”
The new game recommendation board opened in the café is really useful.
When I have nothing to do and lazily rummage through it, it’s like, “Oh, this game exists. Oh, this game exists…” It really gives me a sense of the world’s vastness.
The point is, it’s fun to know that there are really all kinds of works.
It feels a bit like exploring an unknown cave.
Finding a game that seems fun while rummaging through the game recommendation board.
I was planning to play that game today.
Cough.
As you can see, my physical state is like this.
The viewers watching my broadcast must have thought something when they heard my coughing sound, rushing to tell me to turn off the broadcast, hurry and rest, or if I’ve gone to the hospital.
I wonder what kind of wind blew that had people, who usually only go tick-tick-tick, react this way.
…These days, maybe it’s not so unusual.
I recalled Ji-yeon saying that the chat in my older sister’s broadcast had become unpleasant in a different sense than before.
Yes, I feel the same way.
Since the company dinner broadcast, noticeably, those types of people have increased.
There were quite a few viewers whose nicknames I remembered that suddenly became sweet.
Just hearing my fellow streamers’ stories and imagining my face however they wish.
Are they wanting to have some kind of similar relationship with me?
For them, I’m always just the same presence.
Since I ended the broadcast due to being ill, I’ve been in this state ever since.
Like a wilted cabbage, I crawled into bed, turned on the electric blanket, and the world was me, and I was the world, with the ceiling spinning around and around, feeling sticky, uncomfortable, cold, hot, and my eyes slowly closing, feeling sleepy but also thinking I might not be…
Uuuuh…-!
“Ah.”
Straining to hold onto my fading consciousness, I reached out to grab my phone.
What was this vibration? I had received a message.
[Editor Lee Si-young]
– Boss, are you okay? I watched the broadcast. Shall I come visit you?
What am I to say?
Even though she doesn’t look like it, Si-young is quite the fuss, isn’t she?
I was about to leave a message saying that nothing was wrong.
– I’m okay, it’s just a cold. You don’t need to…
“Ah.”
Perhaps due to my hands being sweaty and slippery, a typo occurred, and the message was sent out with the mistake.
But the meaning should have been conveyed. A visit is burdensome. It’s not like I’m seriously ill; it’s just an everyday cold, so why a visit?
[Editor Lee Si-young]
– I’m coming right away.
Why is she coming?
It was just a typo after all. I’m really fine.
It seems my feelings didn’t get through.
This is how the boss and employee’s communication doesn’t match up.
While I was sending messages saying I was fine, I was attempting to persuade the resolute Si-young.
[Younger sibling Ji-yeon]
– Unni, are you okay? Should I come visit you? You’re not too sick, right? Yes, I’ll come.
Ji-yeon chimed in, giving herself answers.
No, why is everyone acting like this? It’s just a cold, and they are making a fuss about coming to visit.
Of course, I’m feeling really weak to the point that I can’t move, and I could at least send a text message.
After taking a short nap, I would be fine though.
I called Ji-yeon to dissuade her.
“Ji-yeon, I’m okay, so you don’t have to come.”
“Are you really okay? Your voice doesn’t sound like it. I’m worried, I have to go.”
“Actually, the editor is coming, so you really don’t have to-.”
At that moment, I heard someone take a big breath, and a moment of silence followed.
“…Ah, the person you mentioned last time? Then I should probably go. If a guest is coming over, I should tidy up the house a bit.”
“No, you really don’t have to-.”
“You probably didn’t clean your place either, right?”
“Uh-huh…”
Feeling like rejecting her any further would be awkward, I had no choice but to agree.
Well, whether one person comes or two comes, it’s all the same.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to introduce Ji-yeon to Si-young this time.
She has been curious about who the editor is and what kind of person they are since last time.
I was just about to put my phone down and try to rest again when.
Uuuuh-!
[Streamer Ryu-a]
– Um, Ji-eun, are you okay? I watched the broadcast. I came up to Seoul for something. Do you want me to get some abalone porridge from a well-known place?
What are you saying?
*
[Ji-eun ♥]
– Sure.
“Huh?”
Ryu-a let out a squeaky voice without realizing it.
After fidgeting and staring at her phone for a few minutes, she was in a situation where she didn’t know whether to respond or not.
She was aware that it was somewhat out of the blue.
Out of nowhere, she said she had watched the broadcast and was worried, saying she would come visit.
If someone saw this, they might think we were really close, but in reality, we had only had one face-to-face meeting at a company dinner.
Just talking because we are the same age was due to Ryu-a’s one-sided drunken rambling.
Recalling that day made her blush with embarrassment, but she thought she had done well to talk to Ji-eun.
While pondering whether to send a text or not, she ultimately pressed the send button for the same reasons.
A simple yet complicated desire to get close.
When she saw this friend of the same age, or even before that.
More precisely, since the first time she watched her broadcast, Ryu-a had fallen head over heels for the streamer Mollu and the person inside.
That feeling had grown even more after meeting Ji-eun during the company dinner.
Affection, fondness, admiration… feelings she couldn’t even comprehend were all mixed up.
She wasn’t particularly introverted, but around Ji-eun, it was confusing how turbulent it felt.
Had she always been the type to worry about human relationships?
She had lived a life where she just spoke appropriately, and it was whatever if not, flowing as friendships developed.
For her to go this far just to want to befriend someone…
“Is this the place?”
Clutching a bag from a famous porridge brand in one hand and her phone in the other, a woman was wandering around.
Ryu-a, frowning at the address Ji-eun sent, suddenly perked up as if she had found something.
“I found it!”
Worried that I might not find the place even after seeing the address, Ji-eun kindly noted down the names of the buildings around.
From this, it seemed like she didn’t mind coming at all.
With a strong determination to get closer, Ryu-a had been anxiously wondering if she had burdened Ji-eun or if she had wanted to refuse but couldn’t refuse.
But now that she had come this far, such worries became irrelevant.
If she didn’t take action, the outcome wouldn’t change.
Ryu-a wanted to move forward toward a deeper relationship and boldly acted, which now was the time to face the consequences.
“Phew…”
In front of the studio apartment where Mollu lives, Ryu-a stepped out with a grave heart.
Checking her outfit for anything strange, she retouched her makeup and walked into the building hallway, where a woman stood.
The first thought that came to mind was that she was tall.
The tall woman was waiting for the elevator, holding a bundled bag like Ryu-a.
There was a delicious steam coming from it, suggesting that she might have brought porridge too.
As the elevator opened, Ryu-a followed the woman inside, wondering if this person was also going to visit someone.
