Ryu-a felt something strange when her hand overlapped with that of a stranger woman in the elevator.
“Oops.”
“…”
Just as she was about to press the button for the third floor where Ji-eun lived, the tall woman pressed it first.
She thought perhaps the woman was a neighbor of Ji-eun.
Well, maybe she’s just living next door, a fleeting thought crossed her mind.
The thought shattered when she saw the woman’s confident gait.
Wasn’t she heading toward room 305, where Ji-eun lived, as if it were natural?
That was the reason Ryu-a unconsciously blocked the woman’s path.
“?”
The woman’s gaze, looking down from above, was filled with curiosity as if to ask what was going on.
Although she blocked the way ahead, Ryu-a found it hard to speak.
Was it because of the intimidating height? She couldn’t muster the words to ask who she was and why she was going to Ji-eun’s house, her mouth only mumbling.
The woman, observing Ryu-a’s awkwardness, spoke first.
“Ryu-a?”
“Y-yes!”
Ryu-a was taken aback that she was recognized.
She had only started her broadcasts recently and wasn’t very well-known among streamers.
Yet, how did she recognize me? Could she be a fan?
It seemed like she was indeed a fan. After all, how else would she recognize her?
Ryu-a’s thought process began to race.
The confusion and awkwardness of meeting her fan in such an unexpected place, combined with an underlying thrill of feeling like a celebrity, enveloped her.
However, that feeling was quickly shattered by the woman’s next words.
“Hello, I’m Lee Si-young. I’m working as Mollu’s editor.”
“…What?”
With a foolish expression on her face, Ryu-a let out a dazed sound.
She quickly realized the situation and her face turned red.
Of course, how could she have met a fan here?
This isn’t a crowded place, it’s just the hallway of a studio apartment.
“Are you here to visit… her?”
“Oh, this…”
Si-young spoke while looking at the rice porridge bag Ryu-a was holding.
Ryu-a’s gaze also shifted toward the bag Si-young was holding, which contained food that was steaming, leading Ryu-a to guess that Si-young was indeed there to visit someone sick.
She had never imagined that the destination would be the same as hers.
“Are you visiting Ji-eun… or Mollu?”
“Yes, she seems to be very ill. What about you, Ryu-a?”
“I came after watching the broadcast. I thought Mollu might need someone since she lives alone.”
She hadn’t received any specific contact.
Si-young’s mumbling comment lingered in Ryu-a’s ears.
It was the same for her.
She had only received a short text saying it was okay to come and had never thought there would be other visitors.
But, do editors really care about the condition of streamers that much?
The streamers Ryu-a knew didn’t form such close relationships with editors.
Usually, they maintained a professional relationship and even if they were friendly, they wouldn’t bring rice porridge to visit.
It seemed like Si-young must have brought the porridge herself. That wasn’t something people usually do.
This was more like the act of a personal manager rather than an editor.
Was it because they were both women of a similar age?
“Shall we go in first?”
This editor seemed to have been to Ji-eun’s house many times.
Unlike Ryu-a, who imagined the images of the house visible beyond Mollu’s broadcast half-cam, Si-young had a rather indifferent demeanor as if she were used to it.
Feeling as if something significant was at stake, Ryu-a shook her head and followed Si-young.
Then, Si-young, who was in front, suddenly stopped, causing Ryu-a to halt as well.
Watching Si-young take a step back toward the corner by the elevator, Ryu-a tilted her head in confusion.
“What is it? Why did you stop—?”
“Shh.”
As Ryu-a’s words were cut off, she looked at Si-young in front.
Si-young was staring at something with a cold expression, her hand at her mouth as if to say be quiet.
Then she kept gesturing for Ryu-a to come over.
Ryu-a felt she had to comply, unsure of what was going on.
Ryu-a bent down behind Si-young, observing Si-young’s expression, which appeared quite serious, making Ryu-a shift her gaze toward whatever Si-young was looking at.
“What the…?”
She gasped and covered her mouth, taken aback by the unexpected sight.
In front of the door to Ji-eun’s house stood a suspicious-looking figure, clad in thick padding, a mask, and sunglasses.
—
“Ugh, look at this sweat.”
A person diligently wiped the beads of sweat from Ji-eun’s forehead with a damp towel.
It was Ji-yeon, her younger sister, who rushed in, worried about Ji-eun’s health.
Sighing, Ji-yeon gently inserted a thermometer into the ears of the sleeping Ji-eun, who had been wheezing.
“Why is her temperature so high… Didn’t she say she was fine?”
Really, it has taken a lot of care lately.
Especially in the recent days.
The sister who used to be a pillar of strength during Ji-yeon’s childhood had started to show such vulnerabilities recently.
“Is it because she’s living alone?”
Ji-yeon murmured as she brushed Ji-eun’s hair aside.
One could hardly say that living alone was the cause, as Ji-eun had been living independently for about a year without any issues.
It was unimaginable that she would be in such a bad condition that she would collapse.
For some unknown reason, Ji-eun seemed to have become lazier, too.
Household chores were never neglected, and Ji-eun was good at cooking, but now she was reduced to boasting about making soy sauce egg rice.
Acting as if she were a completely different person was strange.
Tracing back to the point of change, it dated back to her first broadcast.
It was absurd that Ji-eun was even doing game broadcasts.
Ji-yeon had never seen her play a game her whole life, and yet suddenly she started doing game broadcasts…
“This is weird, strange…”
Ji-yeon was staring intently at her sister, asleep without a care in the world, before she finally erupted in a small chuckle and stood up.
Well, why should she think too much about that?
The reasons behind her sister’s changes were not important.
What mattered was that her sister’s changed demeanor wasn’t all that bad for Ji-yeon.
“What will you do without me, unnie?”
She headed to the bathroom to make the warm towel cool again.
There wasn’t much around the house.
Although she had made a damp towel, there was no basin to hold water, so she kept running back and forth to soak the towel.
Then a sudden thought crossed her mind.
“Is it okay to sleep like this with a fever?”
If she had that much sweat on her forehead, it meant she must be drenched in sweat all over.
It was common knowledge that sleeping while sweaty wasn’t good for catching a cold.
It would be nice if Ji-eun could take a shower before lying down, but she looked too exhausted for that.
Therefore, there was only one solution.
“Should I wipe her down myself?”
Ji-yeon looked down at the damp towel in her hands.
Squeezing it out, the dry towel emanated a refreshing chill.
“U-unni… are you awake?”
Ji-eun, with her eyes closed and mouth slightly open, gave no answer.
After swallowing hard, Ji-yeon approached Ji-eun with the damp towel in hand.
This was merely a matter of taking care of someone’s health.
It was the same thing Ji-eun had done for her when she was younger.
This was simply a medical act for her sister’s health; nothing more and nothing less.
As Ji-yeon had affirmed to herself this way, she was about to lift Ji-eun’s short sleeves, when suddenly—
-#$%@What is that?!
– Who is this@#@!^
Startled by the strange noise from outside, Ji-yeon lost her grip on Ji-eun’s sleeve.
Ji-eun’s fair skin stuck to the fabric of her shirt.
“What the…”
If it was just a temporary noise, she would have ignored it, but the unexplained sounds kept escalating.
There were sounds of a struggle and then a woman’s screams began to emerge.
And it seemed that the sounds were coming directly from in front of Ji-eun’s door, where Ji-yeon was currently standing…
“Should I go out?”
The deliberation was quick.
As she checked on her sister who was sleeping soundly, Ji-yeon dropped the damp towel and headed for the front door.
Dressed quickly, she pressed her ear to the door and carefully unlocked the door.
Outside, there was—
“Ah, let go! What are you doing! Aah!”
“What were you doing here? Can I see your phone?”
A man, his hat and sunglasses removed, was pinned to the ground, subdued.
A woman was sitting atop him, twisting his wrist and interrogating him in a cold tone.
“What do I do? I’ll help!”
The woman, who looked bewildered as if she didn’t understand the situation, was also helping to restrain the man.
It was an odd standoff involving three people.
It seemed the noise had originated from this.
As Ji-yeon confronted a sight that was anything but common, she started to grasp how such a situation had come to be.
A phone that had fallen amidst the scuffle rolled all the way to Ji-yeon’s feet.
Picking up the phone in the chaos, Ji-yeon realized the situation’s context.
“A stalker…?”
The phone she had picked up was filled with pictures of a familiar person’s back.
That person was exactly the one Ji-yeon had just been caring for.
Her one and only sister.
