Gender Swap: The Introvert’s Broadcast

I saw Yeram’s face, and a moment later, her friends began pouring in.
They were the same friends I had seen at the café last time.
As soon as I recognized them, I turned off the microphone.
Then, I quickly typed in the chat.

[Du Gong: Hey, everyone]
[Du Gong: My little sister’s friends came over suddenly]
[Du Gong: I’m turning off the mic for a bit]
[Du Gong: Please understand]

[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: What the hell is this]
[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: Suddenly, her friends show up, lol]
[Not even some random person, it’s her sister’s friends showing up, what the hell, lol]
[Hwanhee: Friend introduction time]
[Oh, damn, lol]
[Hwanhee: She said her sister’s friend, but didn’t mention they’re a girl]
[As expected, everything’s a possibility, lol]
[Just turn off the stream and restart later, why keep it on, lol]

There was a reason I didn’t turn off the stream.
It was because—

[Du Gong: I don’t really]
[Du Gong: See the need to do that]
[Du Gong: I’m not doing anything embarrassing]
[Honestly, it’s not embarrassing, but if I got caught doing something secretly, it’d be embarrassing, haha]
[Hwanhee: If it were me, I’d turn the stream off immediately to avoid getting caught, lol]
[How can you not get caught doing this?]
[Your house must be really big]
[Based on the greetings when they walked in, I can’t tell the layout of your place]

It wasn’t something to be embarrassed about.
I wasn’t making money from doing anything shady.
Anyway, since the viewers were curious about the house layout, I decided to show them.

[Du Gong: Hold on a sec]
[Du Gong: I can’t just play the game without saying anything]
[Du Gong: Let me explain it with Paint]
[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: Paint is fine, lol]
[How are you going to explain it?]
[I’m expecting some great drawing skills]
[Kang Hoo-min: What the hell, what’s going on?]
[The one with no awareness is Kang Hoo-min, lol]
[Seriously, no awareness, just watch quietly]

I checked on Kang Hoo-min, who was temporarily banned, and then opened Paint.
I had done this often before.

Click click.

I moved my mouse and quickly drew the layout of my house.
It was a standard studio, but the computer setup was unusual.
I drew it right on the spot and showed it to the viewers watching the stream.

Then—

[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: What the hell is this layout?]
[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: Why is the computer set up on the side?]
[What is this?]
[Hwanhee: I guess they can’t see each other’s computer screens, lol]
[Living like this must be fun, haha]
[If I had an environment like that, I’d love it, could play games all day]
[Seriously]
[Kang Hoo-min: I wouldn’t have set it up like this, lol]
[Why did you do this layout?]
[No understanding of space…]

As expected, the unsolicited advice started.
So, I typed in the chat.

[Du Gong: If you live here, this layout is the most comfortable]
[Du Gong: What’s with the criticism?]
[Du Gong: Seriously, this is too much…]
[It’s not criticism, it’s the truth]
[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: Who sets up like this in a studio? Lol]
[Ah, seriously]
[This is driving me crazy]
[The advantage of this layout is that you can immediately know when someone enters, lol]
[Dama, what are you doing behind your sister’s back?]
[Kang Hoo-min: If you’re caught playing games, it’s embarrassing…]
[Yeah, lol]
[Playing games is embarrassing…]

This layout was designed so that I could immediately notice if someone entered.
And right now, it was paying off.
But, when were they planning to leave?
It had been a while now.
I thought about it while glancing toward Yeram and her friends.

“Wow, it must be really fun to play games here.”
“It is. The computer specs are good too.”
“By the way, what’s your brother doing? I saw him at the café.”
“Well… He’s probably playing games. Looks like he’s gaming from his posture.”

After the incident in Seongsu-dong, I had repeatedly told Yeram not to tell anyone that I was streaming.
If anyone had said anything, I told her to tell me right away.

‘I’m pretty sure she said nothing.’

Yeram was good at making people angry, but she wasn’t the type to lie.
I could trust her.
I thought about it and spoke up.

“Since you’re here, should I get you something?”
“Oh, no. It’s fine. We’re just going to stay here for a bit until my other friend arrives.”
“Come on, I’ll make you a coffee. Drink it before you go.”
“Well, okay…”

I had never thought about visitors coming to this tiny studio, but I always thought that if someone visited, I should offer them something.
It was something I had always thought about, but now it felt like the first time I was actually doing it.
I smiled at the thought and switched the screen to black, then stood up to prepare the coffee.

[Du Gong: Please enjoy the dark screen for a moment]
[Du Gong: Let me make coffee for my sister’s friends]
[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: Haha]
[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: I wish I had an older brother like that]
[Would be nice to have an older brother like that, lol]
[Reality is just having one beast at home scratching its belly]
[Kang Hoo-min: Make me a café latte]

Ah, come to think of it, I noticed Yeram’s friends might have misunderstood, so I preemptively explained.

“I’m not the one making the coffee, just so you know.”
“Ah… okay.”

Phew.
I’m glad I said something beforehand.
I had a feeling they might think I was actually making the coffee, but it was good that I clarified.
I realized the importance of preemptive communication.

Click.

I opened the fridge and poured some iced Americano into cups.
Since I was going to drink one, I filled about six cups.

“Here, take one.”
“Thanks!”

Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any complaints.
They looked a bit disappointed, though.

‘Making coffee isn’t that hard.’

Of course, I had learned how to make coffee, but once I understood how, I gave up on doing it at home.
It required a high-end coffee machine and various tools.
There were simpler methods, but I wasn’t willing to go that far.

‘I can just buy coffee at the store, why bother?’

I handed out the iced Americano to Yeram’s friends.
Then, as I filled the ice tray to freeze the rest of the ice, I heard it.

Ding! Hah, uh-huh, ah...! Oh, oh, plop plop, shhhuuup, plop plop!

“Oh.”

Wait.
I had forgotten to turn off the donation sound after the stream.
It had suddenly come through, and I hadn’t turned it off.
Normally, I didn’t have it set loud, so if Yeram’s friends were talking, they wouldn’t have heard it, but the house was really quiet now.
They were all drinking the coffee I gave them.
And then, this donation came in.

‘What should I do?’

I quickly thought of a way to cover it up.
How could I naturally brush off this vulgar donation message?
After thinking about it, I came up with a good excuse.
A perfectly natural way to move on from this awkward moment.

“I had autoplay on YouTube, and that video just started playing. I wonder why that happened.”

“...”

I gave my excuse, then quickly muted the donation sound.
But the damage was done.
Yeram’s friends had clearly heard the rude donation sound.

‘This is so messed up...’

I had never been so embarrassed in my life.
To be embarrassed like this by people I kind of knew, not strangers—
I immediately resisted the overwhelming urge to just quit everything and searched for the person who donated.

[Block me if you want]
[Du Gong: That jerk]
[Du Gong: Permanent ban]
[🗡️Omniscient Cthulhu: Hahahaha]
[What the hell happened? Lol]
[Did you leave the speakers on? That’s the only way you’d be this upset]
[Hang in there...]
[Kang Hoo-min: I like shit, it’s fine]
Temporary ban applied!

[That guy has no awareness, lol]

I looked at the username, and it seemed like it was an account made just for trolling.
If that’s the case, then there’s a good chance this situation will happen again.

‘Better be careful from now on.’

This could easily happen again.
Thinking about that, I suddenly heard Yeram’s voice.

“Uh… we’re going to leave now. Bye!”

Yeram and her friends suddenly decided to leave.

“Stay a bit longer, the wind’s strong outside.”
“Haha... it’s okay. Thanks for the coffee.”

With that, Yeram and her friends left the house.
I felt a little dazed.

“Ha…”

What a mess.
I regretted not turning off the donation sound earlier.
I switched the mic on and muttered a line.

“From now on, if you send donations like that, I’ll kill you.”