Chapter 34: Is it possible to get pregnant through a bobeam?

“Zzz… Hm?”

Sometimes when I wake up, I feel an oddly light sensation in my body.

Even though I definitely stayed up all night reworking a cover song, then immediately worked on illustrations for the music video and did my debut stream—all without rest—my mind was crystal clear and my body felt as light as a feather.

When was the last time I woke up feeling this refreshed?

…Actually, I only just now remembered that I used to feel this way.

I guess at some point, I stopped noticing how heavy my body had become.

Maybe the months of overexertion in preparation for my debut really built up more fatigue than I realized.

“…But still, I feel like I forgot something.”

Sometimes people just have an uncanny sixth sense, and bad feelings often come true.

I, too, felt a wave of unease creeping up thanks to this strange vibe.

As I mindlessly wiped away the drool from around my mouth, I thought.

There’s no way I’d be feeling this good…

Because I definitely fell asleep during my debut stream—

“I FELL ASLEEP DURING THE STREAM?!”

I quickly pushed myself up from the desk and turned the computer back on.

The computer normally shuts down automatically after a while to save power.

That meant a good amount of time had passed.

I think I managed to finish most of the stream, but I couldn’t remember anything after that, so I had no idea what had happened.

“D-Did the stream get shut off…?!”

With rising anxiety, I checked the date: October 6.

The debut stream date had already passed.

Thunk—

It felt like my heart dropped to the floor.

The monitor flashed with alerts from the messaging app Descord.

There were tons of messages from my peers and Ari-nim.

So… I really messed up, didn’t I?

My fingers trembling, I barely managed to move the mouse.

2nd-gen Manager Ari! – [Kotori]
[What are you doing!]
[Are you sleeping?]
[You can’t fall asleep mid-stream T_T]
[Pick up your phone!!]
[You weren’t answering so I just ended the stream myself]
[Sumire told me you pulled an all-nighter?]
[I explained things to the boss already]
[Call the boss as soon as you wake up]
[It didn’t blow up into a huge problem, so don’t beat yourself up too much]

“…Phew.”

After reading Ari-nim’s messages, I let out a deep sigh.

The breath that had filled my tiny lungs came out with a little “phew~” sound.

Thankfully, Ari-nim seemed to have handled things before it turned into a full-blown crisis.

I could at least breathe easy for now.

“Good thing it wasn’t on my personal account…”

All the Vtubers at Bellus stream under company accounts, not personal ones.

Thanks to that, all of us 2nd-gen rookies started our careers under partnership contracts with Toichi.

But more importantly, the benefit of this setup is that if something goes wrong, Ari-nim can forcibly end the stream.

If things had gone really bad and I ended up getting “graduated,” I’d lose everything—from my channel to my model.

But at least now, we can clearly see why streaming through company accounts makes sense.

“How many missed calls are there…”

The earphones the company gave me for streaming had run out of battery since I left the facial tracking program running.

When I checked my new smartphone, I saw over 100 missed calls.

All from colleagues and staff.

Occasionally, even Kim Kang-hyun and Haruka’s numbers showed up.

“Why would Haruka…?”

I was briefly curious, and my heart skipped a beat seeing she had called first.

But I at least knew what had to come first.

“Better… make the call.”

I gripped the smartphone tightly in my small hands.

T-To be honest, I was scared. I had messed up big time on day one.

But even if my body had changed, I was still a man inside.

Even if I made a mistake, dodging this situation wouldn’t be manly at all.

I gulped and called Kim Kang-hyun.

「Hello? Kotori?」

“Boss…”

Kim Kang-hyun had started speaking informally to us 2nd-gens recently.

He said he wanted the members to feel more comfortable with him as a youthful forty-something, and suggested we all drop the formal speech.

But even the 1st-gen never did, and he once grumbled about it.

I mean, who in their right mind would speak informally to their boss?

Anyway, maybe because of that personality, even though I’d caused a mess, his voice over the phone was surprisingly gentle.

I let out a sigh of relief and apologized.

“I’m sorry… for messing up the debut stream…”

「It’s okay. The fan cafe loved it… Did you check the fan cafe yet?」

“No…?”

I saw Ari-nim’s message and called right away, so I hadn’t had a chance to look anywhere else.

Plus, fan cafes tend to be super affectionate, so their reactions alone aren’t enough to say it was all good.

If I wanted real feedback, the gallery boards were probably more reliable.

But I couldn’t exactly say that while on the phone with Kim Kang-hyun, so I just trailed off.

「Well, check it later… You’ve got a collab today too, so be careful this time. One incident is more than enough…」

“Okay…”

I could feel his exhaustion through the phone.

As someone overseeing Bellus, even if the fan response was positive, this must’ve scared the life out of him. I felt bad for him.

「By the way, the collab’s in the evening, so you have time, right?」

“Yes, I’m mostly done preparing for it.”

「Then… wanna come over to my place now?」

“Eh.”

This guy’s finally trying to lure a young woman to his house?!

Just like with the “Mama” incident, I’m convinced this man is secretly scheming.

No way he’d invite a talent to his home out of the blue otherwise.

Even though he has a wife at home…!

「Haruka’s here too.」

“Wait, what.”

「She sometimes comes over to chat with my wife and helps with the twins.」

Haruka likes taking care of little kids…

I couldn’t help but giggle to myself.

My wife really is the sweetest.

Then, if we had a child, Haruka would handle the childcare?

But nowadays both parents usually work, so we’d probably raise the baby together…

And Haruka can’t afford to take time off streaming, so maybe I should just raise our adorable kids myself.

But then again, who’s going to get pregnant?

Can you even get pregnant with bo*bing…?

「…Kotori? Are you listening?」

“Ah, sorry. I got a bit distracted…”

「It’s okay. Your manager told me you were really tired—want to rest a bit and come later?」

“No, no! I’ll come now!”

If Haruka’s at his house, it must be about the cover song she released.

Since I’m somewhat involved with that, I should definitely go.

Of course! Here’s the translated text with every line starting in a new paragraph:

Besides, I had things to talk about with her.

“I’ll send you the address, so come on over.”

“Yes! I’ll get ready and head out right away…!”

Just knowing Haruka was there made me want to fly over immediately, but I couldn’t go see my wife without even taking a shower.

Sniff sniff.

…When I grabbed a strand of hair and smelled it, I thought I caught a bit of a toasty scent.

Anyway, I quickly scrubbed myself clean like laundry in a washing machine and started drying my hair.

“Ugh… should I cut my hair?”

At a glance, it was long straight hair that suited Useo’s cute looks perfectly.

But drying it every time was such a pain.

Luckily, Sumire-mama regularly took me to the salon and told me not to cut it.

If it weren’t for her, I probably would’ve chopped it off by now.

Anyway, I put on the outfit Sumire-mama bought me last time, applied some sunscreen, and packed the handbag she picked out for me.

I feel like I’ve suddenly gained a lot of feminine points… but if I think about things like peeing outdoors or suddenly getting my period, I just have to carry this stuff. It’s not because I want to live like this or anything.

“Oh, the mirror!”

I was about to fly out the door, clutching my handbag, when I stopped in front of the full-length mirror Sumire-mama had given me, fixing my outfit and hair.

…Looking at myself like this, I really do owe a lot to Mama.

I should definitely get her a gift or something soon.

I made up my mind to repay Sumire-mama somehow and left the house.

I rushed out of the subway station and opened the map.

“Hmm… left from here.”

The address Kim Kanghyun sent wasn’t far from the station.

It was even in a neighborhood known for its wealth, so it was easily accessible.

It must have been a weekend morning walk with the baby or something, because there were women everywhere in tight, revealing outfits like those “Dongtan moms”… oh my, what is that shaking?

I barely managed to tear my eyes away from the wildly bouncing chest of a woman who clearly wasn’t wearing a bra and made a vow to myself.

If I marry Haruka, I’m banning her from ever wearing Dongtan fashion.

She’s already stunning enough—if she walked around in outfits like that, who knows what kind of creepy guys might come crawling out.

Ding dong—

Anyway, I arrived at the address and rang the doorbell.

The security here was no joke, true to its rich neighborhood reputation.

What if I hesitated too long and a guard kicked me out?

“Come on in~”

As I nervously adjusted my hair while glancing at my phone’s camera, a graceful woman’s voice came through.

The voice was familiar. It was probably Kim Kanghyun’s wife, who had only ever appeared by voice on his MeTube channel.

Now that I think about it, I’m finally getting to see his wife in person.

According to streamer gossip, she’s supposedly a total beauty. Did Kanghyun save a country in a past life or something?

His face just looks like a friendly neighborhood hyung… though his body was pretty fit for a streamer.

…Is it really just money?

I tilted my head in doubt as I walked up to the door, which was already open like they were expecting me.

I carefully stepped over the threshold and greeted them.

“Excuse me for intruding…”

The apartment itself was pretty impressive, but the inside was beyond expectations.

Ever since my parents passed, I’d only lived in small rentals, so the interior of this place immediately took my breath away.

“Wow…”

The living room was spacious and tidy.

The gray-toned walls and floors gave a calm vibe, and sunlight streaming through the windows wrapped the space in warmth.

On one side of the room was a gray, straight-lined sofa, decorated with all kinds of kids’ toys—clearly for the twins.

It looked like there were at least four other rooms besides the living room.

The white marble island separating the kitchen and living room looked ridiculously expensive.

How much did Kim Kanghyun earn while streaming?

…If I marry Haruka, I’d want to live in a house like this.

We’d lie together on the couch reading to each other and listening to music, then grill meat on the island at night and drink champagne.

As we got tipsy, I’d slowly slip off her robe… hehehe.

“Oh my, such a cute girl, just like he said.”

Startled by the female voice, I turned my head and saw a woman who looked to be in her early 30s smiling so beautifully it instantly captivated me. I bowed my head.

“Ah, hello! I’m Useo, a VTuber from CEO Kim Kanghyun’s company!”

“Hehe… nice to meet you. Shall we go inside?”

“Yes…!”

She was at least a hand taller than me, with average height by normal standards.

As she came closer, the faint scent of milk drifted over—she must’ve just finished breastfeeding the twins.

“Was it hot outside? Your face is all red…”

“N-no…”

I tightly shut my eyes to avoid staring at the giant milk bags swaying in front of me.

Her vibe was similar to Sumire-mama’s but even more mature and intense.

If Sumire got older, got married, and had kids, she’d probably turn into someone like this… that’s how elegant and beautiful this woman was.

She gave off this perfect housewife aura… and she’s Kim Kanghyun’s wife?

…Kanghyun, I swear, you better watch your back.

“He’s in the living room. Lately, he’s really into coffee and has been preparing snacks…”

Come to think of it, he was always sipping coffee at the office too.

There was a coffee machine in the office, but I didn’t realize he brewed it himself.

I gave a small nod and followed her to the sofa in the living room.

From behind the island, I could see Kanghyun brewing coffee and slicing fruit.

“Oh my, I told you I’d handle the fruit.”

“It’s fine. You chat with Seo-woo for a bit.”

“Really now… You never even touch knives usually.”

“Ahem…”

She threw him a gentle side-eye, and he awkwardly cleared his throat and turned away.

Still, the affection between them was practically dripping, even after having twins.

“……”

Suddenly, a wave of despair hit me.

Someone like me—who’d literally had their junk taken away and can’t even have kids—is standing here watching that guy enjoy a perfect life with a gorgeous wife and twins.

I just want to see Haruka’s face now…

Wait, where is Haruka?

Clack—

Before I could even start looking around, the door to a small room opened quietly.

Out walked the most beautiful woman in the world, her bright chestnut hair tied high like a sunbeam.

She gently shut the door behind her to avoid making noise and gave a soft smile to Kanghyun and his wife.

The moment I saw that smile, all the despair clinging to me melted away.

My wife is here!

Without even realizing it, a dumb, giddy smile spread across my face.