Chapter 21: A Failed Debut

Ban-ye’s large hand gripped me with a different kind of strength than before.

As my body flailed, having lost its balance, Ban-ye effortlessly pulled me back up.

As he helped me up, his face was so close that I gasped without realizing it.

Once my body was upright, Ban-ye let me go.

“What are you doing.”

“Ah, no….”

“If you want to watch, just watch comfortably.”

“…Is that okay?!”

“Yes.”

Ban-ye even pulled my chair, which had been pushed far away, closer to him.

My heart pounded with tension at the closer proximity.

[Party][HugMeRaiseMe] What’s going on?

[Party][Ban-ye] again gg

HugMeRaiseMe expressed their confusion, likely because the grinding had stopped because of me, but Ban-ye simply resumed the grind instead of explaining.

I moved right up close and watched Ban-ye’s gameplay.

“Oh….”

Seen from up close, Ban-ye’s play was as smooth as flowing water.

When I grind, I always get stuck at some point and stop, but Ban-ye’s series of movements—using a skill and immediately moving before attacking again—was completely seamless.

I watched my Lilith, controlled by Ban-ye, in a daze, and forgetting the psychological distance between us, I muttered.

“…As I thought, it’d be better for you to just be a streamer instead of working part-time.”

Ban-ye didn’t even look at me, just replying while he continued to play the game.

“A streamer?”

“Yeah. Your face is handsome, your voice is nice, and most importantly, you have skills….”

“….”

As I said that, I realized I had just complimented Ban-ye’s looks and felt a little embarrassed.

So I peeked at Ban-ye, but he was just clicking the mouse with no change in his expression.

Just as I thought, it was the attitude of someone who knew all too well that he was handsome, to the point of being sick of it.

It was a bit j*rk-like, yet that nonchalance looked so cool it made me jealous.

I pouted my lips a little, then quickly fixed my expression before Ban-ye’s gaze could land on me.

Ban-ye glanced at me before muttering as if to himself.

“…Do streamers make a lot of money.”

“They make a ton!”

Thinking Ban-ye had become interested in streaming, I quickly spoke up to persuade him.

“You can make a lot of money as a streamer, Ban-ye. There are people who make like 100 million won a month.”

“100 million…. But, why don’t you do it, hyung?”

“Huh?”

“If it’s so good, why don’t you do it? Be a streamer.”

“M-me…. I can’t because I don’t have a talent for gaming….”

“Because you’re ugly, have a bad voice, and are terrible at games?”

“…Yeah.”

I felt kind of bad for some reason, but it was the truth, so I nodded.

At that, Ban-ye pressed his lips together as if holding back laughter and then went back to playing the game silently.

I looked back and forth between Ban-ye’s face and his hands, then once again asked carefully.

“Y-you’re not going to do it?”

“Do what?”

“Be a streamer….”

“I don’t know how.”

“It’s no big deal! First, you upload videos to YouTube, and then you start livestreaming on Twitch….”

I blabbered on, explaining everything I knew about how to become a streamer in order to get Ban-ye to debut.

Each time, Ban-ye would chime in with a “Hmm…” as if he were listening seriously, but then, as soon as the party ended, he suddenly typed [Top earning streamer] into the YouTube search bar.

And he clicked on the first video of a male YouTuber that came up.

[Co.ca.ine….]

“….”

“….”

And for about 15 seconds, we watched some man make a strange face, stick out his tongue, and do a sexy dance, stroking his body.

Ban-ye asked with a blank face.

“…You want me to make money doing this kind of sh*t?”

“N-no…. There are people who do that kind of content, but….”

I was so flustered I almost bit my tongue.

“G-game streamers don’t do that kind of stuff…!”

I then frantically searched for game streamers and showed them to Ban-ye.

However, Ban-ye was still unimpressed even after watching them.

“They’re all people who are good at pleasing others and making jokes.”

“You’re pretty funny in your own way….”

“Me?”

“Yeah….”

I muttered to myself, ‘The way Ban-ye says things… isn’t it kind of funny?’

I thought his charm was that he made you want to keep picking on him.

However, I felt like saying that might hurt his pride, so I didn’t go that far.

And Ban-ye, seeming to disagree with me, furrowed his brow and said nothing.

Then, after a short sigh, he said this.

“I don’t think I can do something like this.”

“Why?!”

“It’s awkward.”

Saying that, Ban-ye added that he would just look for a normal part-time job.

I was very disappointed, but I couldn’t force someone who didn’t want to do it, so I said I understood for now.

In the end, that day, Ban-ye went for an interview at a place that told him to come in right away.

About an hour after Ban-ye left for his interview.

Ban-ye texted me, saying he got the job at a franchise restaurant not too far from my house.

He also said the owner asked if he could start working right away, so he would work and come back.

He said he would finish up and be back by 10 PM, so around 9:30 PM, I slowly walked towards the restaurant to meet him (without telling him).

“Huh…?”

But, I saw a familiar person in the alleyway by the restaurant.

It was rare to see someone so tall and handsome.

It was Ban-ye.

“Ban—!”

I was about to call out loudly, happy to see him, but then I remembered that Ban-ye was also his game nickname, and upon closer inspection, I realized he was smoking in the alley, so I hesitated.

Ban-ye was smoking, and his expression was… expressionless, but should I say it was murderous?

It’s hard to describe, but anyway, he had a face that was difficult to approach easily.

CRASH—!

“Eek!”

On top of that, after standing still, he suddenly kicked a trash can that was in the alley.

I was so shocked seeing the plastic trash can get smashed by Ban-ye’s savage kick that I trembled.

Then, worried that Ban-ye might spot me, I hid in another alley and sent him a text.

[Hey… did work end okay…?]

I was about to send Is something wrong… but deleted it.

In the meantime, a reply arrived from Ban-ye.

[yep]

It was a simple reply, but I was one hundred percent sure that something had happened to Ban-ye.

“Did he get fired…?”

In the end, I gave up on picking up Ban-ye and returned home.

I then asked Ban-ye to contact me when he finished work.

It was well past closing time, at 10:40 PM, when Ban-ye texted me that he was in front of the building.

I let Ban-ye inside, pretending I didn’t know anything.

“How was it today?”

“It was whatever.”

Ban-ye spoke only briefly and had a tired expression.

I didn’t ask any more questions.

And from the very next day, Ban-ye started looking for another part-time job.

‘As I thought, he was fired….’

Why?

This morning, I wondered to myself as I watched Ban-ye, with my chin in my hand, forcing down the 3-minute curry I had made for him with a look of distaste.

‘He seems to have a bit of a hot temper….’

The fact that he left home after hitting that man, and the way he suddenly kicked the trash can….

‘But… he’s never really shown that side to me….’

Is it because I don’t get on his nerves?

Or is Ban-ye holding back?

‘Will it be okay to keep living together….’

I looked at Ban-ye’s large hand holding the spoon and felt a little worried.

If Ban-ye were to become violent, I would have no way to stop him.

Because I’m not confident in a fight….

But just then, Ban-ye ate the last spoonful and said to me.

“Actually, I got fired from the restaurant the other day.”

“…!”

I hadn’t expected Ban-ye to bring up the fact that he was fired himself, so I froze.

Ban-ye avoided my gaze, looking down and scraping the empty plate with his spoon.

It seemed like he was embarrassed, or maybe he was hesitating a bit before speaking.

“They seemed to like me when I first interviewed, but around closing time, they asked if I had a health certificate. When I said I didn’t, they said they thought I obviously would and started giving me a f*cking earful about what kind of guy comes to a restaurant interview without one….”

“…Ah.”

“It was kind of annoying. So I just listened to the nagging and walked out….”

Ban-ye said that much, let out a big sigh, and then apologized to me.

“I’m sorry. I need to find a job quickly and move out.”