"Ah... I should've bought a robot vacuum..."
I was sweating from rough labor, using an electric fan despite it being fall—or rather, what felt closer to winter.
The cleaning I started right after waking up this morning finally ended after more than two hours. Despite working so hard, there wasn't much difference between before and after. The cleaning I started because things looked dirty only changed what looked dirty—the house was still cluttered.
The reason was probably all the things I'd left scattered around for my own convenience instead of organizing them properly.
For example, there were three tissue boxes just in the living room.
A roll of toilet paper, a box of tissues, and a nearly empty tissue box. Though they all served pretty much the same purpose, somehow I kept putting them in different places without cleaning up. The vitamins that a viewer had gifted me were also scattered here and there, when having just one out would have been enough.
Hmm. Well, it should be good enough for receiving guests.
Though it was a bit messy, you could tell it had been cleaned. As long as it's obvious that cleaning was done, guests generally don't complain, even if it's not spotless.
This definitely isn't from personal experience.
* * *
[Everyone, I cleaned]
(photo)
Haven't posted in a while so here's my house~
[Comments]
- LOL idiot, if you'd spent the cleaning time streaming instead and called a cleaning lady, you could've paid for it with streaming money and had some left over LOL
ㄴ FR FR being stupid means physical labor
ㄴ Old sayings are never wrong
ㄴ OP: Ah
- But why don't you hire a cleaner? I'm good at cleaning and I know your address, and I love you so much I'd even lick your feet if you asked
ㄴ Probably won't hire you because of that last part?
ㄴ Oops
ㄴ Wanted to hire a cleaner but why did someone who needs cleaning apply?
* * *
A cleaning service, huh.
Though I wondered if I could afford such a luxury, I was curious if people with bigger houses than mine who could afford it would hire one? I could ask the guest who was coming over soon.
As I was cooling off with the electric fan, my sweat started drying. And around that time, I heard my doorbell ring.
What surprised me was that I heard the doorbell to my actual unit rather than the apartment building's entrance.
Maybe the timing matched up with someone else entering and they followed them in?
Anyway, since the guest I was waiting for had arrived, I turned off the fan and got up to open the door.
Cleaning must have been more strenuous than most exercises, because when I stood up, my body felt so tired that I unconsciously let out an "ugh" of complaint.
"Yes, coming~"
I heard an "eek!" sound as soon as I opened the door, so I paused for a moment before opening it slowly.
"Ah... the door opening startled me..."
Today's expected guest, Yeonhee, said with an embarrassed smile.
"Oh, please come... come in."
"O-okay!"
I caught myself almost using formal speech out of habit and corrected myself, stepping aside slightly as I invited her in, and she responded energetically as she strode past me.
And seeing her like that reminded me of why I was meeting Yeonhee today.
There wasn't any special reason.
I had just thoroughly wounded her pride by teasing her while winning our game yesterday, and she got upset, so we agreed to play League of Legends, but Yeonhee suggested we do a collab stream. Her reason was that she wanted to mock me after winning.
When I asked if it was okay since I only had one computer at home, she said she'd bring her laptop.
I asked if it wouldn't be difficult playing on a laptop, but she taunted me saying "A master doesn't blame their tools, Mr. Spoon[1]." Like the internet warrior she is.
And I never backed down from her provocations.
That's how we ended up meeting today.
"Huh?"
"W-what is it?"
When Yeonhee took off her shoes, her height suddenly shrank considerably.
I looked at Yeonhee contemplatively.
We'd gotten pretty close, but I wondered if it was okay to tease her about this? Then I remembered her taunt from yesterday.
I pointed at Yeonhee's shoes, which looked like high heels.
"Were those a ladder?"
"...Want me to hit your crown?"
"...You won't reach."
"Tch!"
Yeonhee kicked my shin.
It hurt, but the satisfaction of winning the verbal exchange was even more soothing to my mind.
I thought she'd be the type to take time getting close to, but after we started speaking informally, we quickly became close while chatting on KakaoTalk.
I guess we became friends quickly because we had a lot in common, including being internet warriors.
Come to think of it, it's strange that I became friends with Se-na.
If I had to say, we had very few things in common.
After kicking me three or four times, Yeonhee seemed to feel better.
She quickly scanned my house before darting into the soundproof booth.
"Wow... the soundproof booth takes up a whole room"
Yeonhee was admiring the inside of the booth.
Though she had her manager help with the installation, this was her first time seeing the finished product, so she was looking around and touching various things.
And in the corner was the desk and chair I had prepared for our League battle.
Since I prepared it in a hurry, it wasn't a gaming chair, just the dining table and chair that came as an option for the living room.
Which I hadn't used even once since moving in.
"Shall we start right away?"
"Huh? Right away?"
"Why?"
I stared at her in surprise as Yeonhee immediately started pulling out her laptop and told me to start streaming.
We'd barely exchanged greetings, why so rushed?
Was she that fired up from my teasing earlier?
Seeing my reaction, Yeonhee grinned.
"Scared?"
For normal people.
That is, for regular guys in this world, it would've been a word they'd just let slide, but it was different for me.
Scared, she asks?
How dare she?
"Don't regret this."
"Isn't regret for the loser? I wouldn't know~"
Was she always this annoying?
After we started speaking informally and got closer as one wall came down, these irritating behaviors would occasionally show up, making me want to give her a knock on the head.
But I held back since her current behavior oddly overlapped with how I teased her yesterday.
Is this what they call mirror therapy?
"Hello everyone"
[Daeha~]
[Daeha...? Who's that behind him?]
[It's Yeonhee LOL I can tell just from the back view]
[A man and woman in one soundproof booth? Whoa... they can make lots of noise LOL]
[Is it okay to chat like this here?]
[Ah, newbie since the face reveal LOL don't make it weird, just get used to it LOL]
"With more viewers, I might need to hire a manager"
I was seriously considering hiring someone as both an editor and manager since my current editor had been busy lately, and when I checked the viewer count, with Yeonhee's viewers and mine combined, we were still exceeding 10,000 as usual. Recently having high viewer counts for everything was both burdensome and making me feel a bit like a celebrity.
As evidence, I'd ordered sunglasses with same-day delivery.
In case someone recognized me outside.
There actually were people who recognized me even before the face reveal. But thinking about it now, a mask probably would've been enough. Even some celebrities, the relatively less famous ones, use public transportation, so who am I to need sunglasses.
[Yeonhee's spacing out]
[Probably running LoL simulations in her head LOL]
[Is this person really a streamer?]
[LOL if it were me I'd be staring at Daeha and saving his image in my head, right?]
I looked toward Yeonhee. Just then, having finished setting up her laptop, our eyes met as she sat blankly in her chair.
Yeonhee met my gaze with surprise after spacing out.
Continuously.
Then, unable to handle my steady gaze, she suddenly blushed and burst out:
"W-what?!"
"Ow! You startled me... you need to introduce yourself..."
"Ah... I'm Yeonhee, the best among Gold players."
[Is being the best in Gold even meaningful?]
[It's not even true LOL]
[Still can't beat Daeha LOL how much LoL has he played just this season LOL]
[FR FR]
[Time to open the betting house LOL]
Though we both switched to formal speech since we were streaming, it wasn't the awkward formal speech from when we were uncomfortable with each other, but rather formal speech that felt necessary just because we were streaming.
The viewers passed over Yeonhee's introduction without much thought, but I was a bit bothered by it.
"With me here, saying you're the best in Gold is... well..."
"Who are you to say that?"
[LOL LOL this house is getting heated]
[They seem to have gotten close recently but already no brakes LOL]
[It's not about being close, she's still mad about Daeha playing with her yesterday]
[Come on, what kind of girl stays mad the next day over something like that]
[There's one right there LOL]
At her sharp comeback, I glared at her while smiling.
Yeonhee looked at me worriedly after her instinctive counterattack, but seeing my playful expression, she smiled with a 'hehe' expression.
If Yeonhee had been a man, I would have responded in kind right away, but since she wasn't.
However, I quietly fueled my competitive spirit.
"I'll win this for Sensei Vine’s honor."
[What did Vine do wrong?]
[The crime of getting scammed for a job]
[The crime of having a useless student]
[The crime of having a useless boss]
[Now that I think about it, Vine does have a lot of crimes huh, guilty!]
"Everyone, just for reference, I'm on a laptop... the keyboard feels unfamiliar, the desk and chair are uncomfortable, this isn't my usual streaming place... there aren't even many of my fans here, and..."
[Wow how many excuses are you making?]
[Making excuses as tall as herself LOL]
[Is this allowed LOL]
* * *
(End of chapter)
T/N:
"Mr. Spoon" (숟가락씨) - A sarcastic honorific adding -씨 (Mr./Ms.) to "spoon," implying someone is useless or incompetent.
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