chapter 52
That smile—laughing without a care in the world—was pissing me off more than usual today. I snapped at him without holding back.
“You don’t knock?”
“This is my room though?”
“……”
I shut my mouth, lost for words, and just glared at him. Shin Heejae smiled and knocked lightly on the door. I almost yelled at him for screwing around but ended up letting it go.
Unbothered by my glare, Heejae casually explained the reason for his visit.
“Noona, I’m about to stream. Wanna come watch?”
“What?”
“Let’s play together.”
“No tha—”
“I won’t show your face or make you talk. Just watch, okay?”
He clearly wasn’t going to take no for an answer. No matter what, he wanted me next to him during his stream. I didn’t like it—there had to be some shady motive behind it—but since he tugged on my arm, I had no choice but to get up.
‘…Seriously, I don’t get it.’
Even as he ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) dragged me into his streaming room, doubt kept gnawing at me. If I could, I honestly wanted to crack open his skull and see what the hell he was thinking. Oblivious to my murderous thoughts, Shin Heejae pushed me into a chair beside his and sat me down.
The streaming room had a U-shaped desk setup along the wall, and the desk was so wide that even one side held three monitors and four full-sized PC towers.
Another long desk along the side wall had three laptops on it, plus a fridge-sized case for storing electronics. Honestly, it looked super professional—way too professional for Shin Heejae.
“You actually use all this?”
“Yup.”
I asked without thinking, and Heejae nodded right away.
Watching him log into [Arcadia], I gave in and logged in too. Then I watched out of the corner of my eye as Heejae started streaming.
“Starting today, I’m gonna upload a route to max-level a sub-character.”
“...All of a sudden?”
He suddenly said something bizarre, so I responded without thinking. But the way he glanced at me made me realize he hadn’t been talking to me, but to the live viewers. Awkward didn’t even begin to describe it.
‘At least give me a heads-up if you’re starting, damn it!’
Meanwhile, a few sharp-eared viewers started posting questions in chat like: [?], [Who’s next to you?]
“There’s no one next to me.”
“……”
Luckily, Shin Heejae played it off in his usual deadpan tone, so the viewers let it slide without pressing too much.
I let out a quiet sigh and logged in with my old sub-character, [Saenyang]. Heejae logged in as [SeYoung’sHusband].
LIVE Chat
● Who’s SeYoung??
● iai SeYoung, right?
● Heejae, you crossed the line with SeYoung
● Don’t mess with Joo SeYoung!!
● I like our Heejae more than SeYoung tbh
I had no idea, but apparently there was a popular girl group called iai, and one of the members had the same name as me. Judging from the chat, Heejae’s useless viewers were a bunch of idol otakus who thought he liked that member and started teasing him about it through his new sub-character nickname.
I watched the chat scroll past, feeling secondhand embarrassment, and waited for Heejae to come to where I was in-game. But the real problem started when he gave an utterly outrageous response to their teasing.
“She’s mine.”
What the hell?! He could’ve just ignored them like he usually does! Why respond like that?! I glared at him, stunned by what I heard, but Shin Heejae just met my eyes and doubled down.
“Who’s iai SeYoung, anyway?”
I shot him a death glare that screamed shut the fuck up, but he just shrugged like, What’re you looking at me for?
‘Do you have a death wish?’
I shook my fist at him, but Heejae wasn’t even fazed. Speaking like he was addressing the stream, he said to me:
“I’m seriously asking because I don’t know.”
Then, like it was nothing, he minimized the game, opened a portal site, and searched for [iai SeYoung]. A photo of a stunningly gorgeous idol popped up immediately. Heejae looked at the screen and said,
“Hm… I still think Kim Seyoung’s prettier.”
Shut up. Just shut the hell up!
I mouthed a full-on curse at him, but Heejae was already answering the stream’s questions like [Who’s Kim Seyoung??].
My fists were trembling. The mic was positioned right under his damn face, so if I punched him, the impact would be broadcast live. I couldn’t risk that.
And judging by how smug his face had gotten, he knew I couldn’t retaliate. With that shit-eating grin on, Heejae started spouting even more nonsense.
“I have a girlfriend now. Her name’s Kim Seyoung.”
LIVE Chat
● ???
● Is she a cam girl??
● Huh?
● Who??
“If I told you, would you even know her? Don’t get ahead of yourselves.”
While trolling the chat, he gave me a once-over, probably noticing my red face. I didn’t hit him, but I did pinch the hell out of his arm. It must’ve hurt, because his brow twitched for a second.
But that bastard didn’t stop. Instead, he grabbed my pinching hand and laced our fingers together, locking me down while he kept talking.
LIVE Chat
● Where’d you meet her? I thought you only played Arcadia all day?!
● Whoa
● Sounds like a light novel heroine
● What’s the age gap?
“She’s three years older than me.”
I was wriggling, trying to push him away, but he’d hooked his foot into the chair’s wheelbase so I couldn’t budge him. Pinching with the other hand did nothing either.
Heejae chuckled even as the spot I pinched turned red. Then he suddenly yanked me toward him. I almost fell straight into his arms.
I barely caught myself with a hand on his shoulder, avoiding disaster. But then he cupped my cheek in one hand—and that’s when my spine went cold. I flinched away, but his eyes stayed on me, silently threatening me as he finally pulled his hand back.
But then he grabbed my hand again and gave me a slow once-over. I could see the unhinged glint in his eyes—I’d seen it before. I broke out in a cold sweat.
‘This bastard… seriously, is he insane?’
Any other time I’d have beat him to a pulp, no hesitation. But the idea of something weird being caught on stream was just… no thanks. And I couldn’t even begin to guess what other psychotic stunts he might pull live.
In the end, despite how much I wanted to scream, I had no choice but to sit there obediently. He was even holding onto one of my hands.
‘I want to kill him…’
I stared daggers at him, practically cursing him into the ground, but Shin Heejae just kept smiling as he smoothly continued streaming with one hand. That’s when I realized—this psycho could torture people through a livestream.
LIVE Chat
● Is your girlfriend pretty?
“She’s gorgeous.”
LIVE Chat
● Where’d you meet her?
● If she’s 3 years older, how old is she?
● Is it a long-distance relationship?
● Does your girlfriend play Arcadia?
● Does she know you play Arcadia??
“Yeah. She’s gonna start playing with me from now on.”
The hell she is… who said you could just decide that?!
I scoffed at his words, grinding my teeth. Seeing that, Heejae ran a finger across my palm, sending a chill up my spine. Is this guy seriously unhinged?
Die. Die. Die!
I mouthed my curse, and the more I glared, the brighter Heejae’s smile became.
LIVE Chat
● Who confessed first?
“SeYoung did.”
LIVE Chat
● Liar
● There he goes again, acting all hot
“If I turned on my cam, I’d hit a million subs, easy.”
LIVE Chat
● LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
● People still tune in even when you’re ugly AF lmao
● There’s always one freaky-looking streamer, right?
“SeYoung said I was handsome too.”
LIVE Chat
● So your girlfriend’s name is SeYoung? Got it, dating sim NPC confirmed
“We had a date yesterday. Saw a movie. Anyone seen [Gosari]?”
LIVE Chat
● Looking for a light novel with that title now
● Please stop… it’s not funny anymore… when are you gonna admit it’s all a lie?
I was the only one suffering inside this massive, fabricated lie. Even the viewers were starting to wonder if it was real or not, but Heejae was having the time of his life.
That’s when I finally realized why he dragged me in here to play with him on stream.
From the beginning, this bastard planned to pull this stunt.
Turn off the mic, you psycho!
I yanked hard at the hand he was holding, trying to get him to stop, but Heejae ignored me completely.