Da-eun had a big reason for putting the chocolate on that high shelf, or rather, a lack of one.
Crunchy munch munch…
“Snacks… should be put up high.”
If they were in plain sight and easy to grab, she’d eat them every time she passed by, so Da-eun had a habit of storing them away where it was inconvenient to retrieve… or, more accurately, a habit of avoiding the temptation.
Her trip to the market today was just a result of that habit.
However, there was something different today.
She had a roommate now, and that roommate was watching her organize everything.
The details of the incident were like this.
“Hmm…”
After Da-eun had left for her broadcast, the left-alone Kana was scrolling through her phone when she suddenly felt bored and looked around for something to munch on. That’s when she remembered Da-eun had put snacks in the pantry.
Although it was doubtful whether she’d heard Da-eun’s warning not to eat them, she hadn’t said anything, so Kana headed straight for the pantry.
“Hmm?”
Kana’s hands couldn’t reach the pantry.
Of course! Da-eun, who was taller than the average woman in the Republic of Korea, still found it hard to reach, so the much shorter Kana had no chance.
At one time, Kana could leap around like she was on clouds, but she couldn’t do that indoors, and trying would only slow her recovery.
Bounce bounce!
But despite her desperate jumps, she just couldn’t reach. Scowling, she glared at the pantry.
Why was it sitting so high up, making her suffer?!
An utterly disgraceful situation where a human-made object, designed for convenience, had become a nuisance.
In the end, Kana dragged a chair from the kitchen over.
Standing on the somewhat tall chair, she finally managed to grasp the chocolate.
“…Uh-oh.”
Had she shopped too enthusiastically? Suddenly hit by a wave of fatigue, Kana instinctively grabbed onto something nearby to regain her balance.
And the result was—
Crash! Smash!!
Just like Da-eun exploded onto the scene in a panic, it led to a disaster.
Fortunately, she didn’t fall, but the dishes Kana had grabbed in a flailing attempt all toppled over and shattered into pieces.
“…I messed up.”
As she failed to catch the chocolate with her fingertips, Kana sighed in the midst of the wreckage.
That was the whole story of the incident.
Da-eun, hearing Kana’s slow, guilty confession as she desperately tried to avoid eye contact, sighed deeply.
When would she clean up this mess?
With a mixed feeling of exasperation, Da-eun scanned the room and asked Kana, “Are you hurt?”
“…No…”
Hurt? Me?
Imagining such a response, Da-eun was surprised when Kana replied so obediently.
‘Looks like she was quite startled…’
Seeing Kana, normally so confident, looking downcast like that tugged at Da-eun’s heart.
She had a child-like innocence that wasn’t visible normally, and since it was quite the accident, she wondered if she should scold her, but it softened her heart instead.
The protective instinct that kicked in pushed aside her annoyance.
‘Yeah, how hungry must she have been to act like that?’
Da-eun’s eyes softened as she fell for Kana’s innocent charm, despite not being one to fall for such things.
“Thank goodness you’re not hurt. Dishes? Well… I can just buy new ones. Just stay right there for now.”
She didn’t want Kana stepping on any small shards that weren’t visible.
Fearing Kana might misinterpret her words, Da-eun added, and once she saw Kana nod, she got to work.
She swept up the larger pieces with a broom and used a vacuum for the smaller bits.
After cleaning up every tiny shard with tape, Da-eun scooped Kana up, who was still standing on the chair.
The child’s light weight and warm body fit perfectly in Da-eun’s arms.
Kana, being held and gazing up at Da-eun, suddenly dropped her eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“Huh? No, no! You didn’t do it on purpose. Besides, it’s my fault for putting it there, so let’s just call it a mutual mistake, okay?”
“…Okay.”
‘Hmm, even I think that was a mature response. Well done, Shin Da-eun…!’
If Kana could hear that, she might have thought, “That’s classic Da-eun,” and her liking from earlier would have taken a big hit.
But with Kana not able to hear her internal monologue, she had no way of knowing Da-eun’s thoughts.
“Now I completely understand why homes with kids use plastic dishes.”
“I’m not a kid!”
As Kana sulkily retorted, having read the context…
“Hmmm? If you’re not a kid, then you should be punished for breaking dishes!”
“…”
“Oops, I’m broken!”
Caught off guard, Kana just froze.
Wobble wobble!
“…Put me down.”
Kana, stiff as a wooden block, finally snapped back to reality as Da-eun shook her lightly.
After a couple more shakes, Da-eun finally set her down when Kana’s eyelids lifted in annoyance.
If Da-eun didn’t stop soon, she might get scratched.
“Anyway, thank goodness it wasn’t a huge disaster. I thought maybe a burglar was in here or something.”
Reflecting on it now, with the trusty guard cat around, she felt secure. But at that moment of chaos, she had been genuinely scared.
Petting Kana’s soft hair, Da-eun suddenly widened her eyes.
“Oh, the stream…!”
It felt like she had been forgetting something but realized she had dashed out during her broadcast!
She hadn’t even grabbed her phone in her haste, so she couldn’t see the state of the chat, but she could easily imagine—it would likely look like a disaster worse than the one Kana caused.
Thinking of heading into the chaotic abyss, Da-eun couldn’t hold back a deep sigh.
“I’m going back to work, so don’t cause any more trouble this time.”
Da-eun peeled off the wrapper from the chocolate she took from the pantry.
Then, she popped it into Kana’s mouth and brushed off her knees as she stood.
‘How nice it would be if I could just relax and sleep with Kana like this.’
But society was harsh…
While it would be peaceful to cuddle with Kana and fall asleep, later she might end up on the cold concrete floor alone.
‘If that happens, I won’t be able to stay with Kana…’
That sort of thing absolutely couldn’t happen!
With her mind set, Da-eun steeled her expression as she entered the soundproof booth and took her seat.
“I’m back.”
As expected, a mix of worry, chaos, and trolling had erupted in her chat, greeting Da-eun with a wild mess.
Seizing the moment, she started clearing out the impurities that had been spewing malice while mentioning, “What happened, you ask? The dishes fell and broke. So, I was late cleaning it up.”
– Oh, really?
– Why did the dishes break suddenly?
– Was there an earthquake?
– Doesn’t the stream boss live in Seoul? The alarm didn’t go off.
– Did she move to Japan?
“Well, um… I think I misarranged them while doing the dishes, and they toppled over. It was totally shattered.”
– My dishes broke yesterday…
– It’s lucky they spilled during a stream.
– For real, if it had happened while cooking, it could have hit my head.
– It almost did, you know?
– Crazy, lol!
Hahaha!
“…Pfft! Is it funny that I almost cracked my head?!”
– Yeah?
– ???
– Why are you laughing when you say that to us?
– Anyway, isn’t it good that it didn’t break?
As the viewers, who were initially concerned, realized it was no big deal, they quickly returned to their original tone.
However, not everyone shared that view.
– Am I the only one who thinks this is strange? Why did perfectly fine dishes break suddenly?
– She said she misstacked them.
– If they were misstacked, they should have fallen before. Why did they suddenly break during the stream?
– It’s not ‘didn’t’ but ‘did’.
– Why not?
Questions arose with suspicion.
Although words were few compared to the mainstream comments in the chat, the current they created was certainly sweeping away others.
Da-eun’s managers intervened late, but the chat was already a tangled mess of supporters and refuters.
– Did she bring a boyfriend home?
– Boyfriend, what boyfriend? Stop with the wild speculation!
– Isn’t it weird that she suddenly took a few days off?
– Why are these fools always buzzing around when the stream boss isn’t even selling broth?
– Isn’t she doing a stream without the cam isn’t pulling the broth?
“Uh, I’ll leave it to my imagination?”
“Anyway, all right. Let’s calm down and listen. Actually, my cousin is visiting. The noise earlier was from her messing up.”
– Huh?
– Huh?
– So, it was your cousin who caused the trouble?
– Was that a lie?
– I mean, it’s obvious that a dish wouldn’t just break like that, right? LOL!
“My cousin came to visit because she said I’ve been looking under the weather lately.”
– Can’t you just say it’s your cousin?
– For real, why lie?
– LOL, why would she?
– That guy hasn’t been banned yet?
– Does your cousin know you’re streaming?
– Invite your cousin over!
Cleverly mixing truth into the lies.
“Why did I lie? …Because if I said the truth, everyone would freak out.”
Da-eun waved a message in hopes of showing them the chat she’d been swimming through.
A request to invite her cousin to the stream.
“See? It’s obvious how that would go down, so would I want to say the truth?”
– For real, haha!
– Laughter intensifies!
– We’re all tuned in!
– Is she a girl?
– If she’s a cousin, why are you asking if she’s a girl?
– Of course, she’d be pretty since she’d look like our stream boss!
– Oh…
– That sounds convincing…?!
– Because of what she said, I want to see her too!
“Get real! I’m not showing her. Even if I wanted to, I’d need her permission first.”
– Can’t we ask?
– Let’s give it a try!
– I’ll hold my breath until she debuts! Huff!
– Huff! – It’s written right here!
A piece of bait that could lure in other bait in such a swift manner.
Why everyone was so curious about someone’s cousin was still a mystery.
Despite saying she absolutely wouldn’t show her, Da-eun sighed at the still-roiling chat.
Meanwhile, a mission to show her cousin was set in motion.
At first, it had seemed trivial, but bit by bit, the mission money accumulated, and suddenly it became quite a hefty sum.
An amount Da-eun could not easily ignore—
“Yeah, nope. Cancel that.”
– Oh no!
– Crying sounds
– That’s outrageous!
– But she’s just an ordinary person, so we can’t help it…
“Oh, please.”
Without a hint of hesitation, Da-eun canceled the mission.
It was a move sure to bring her discontent among the masses, but since it involved family, the viewers accepted her decision fluidly.
Following that, Da-eun spoke about extra recent happenings and wrapped up the stream.
The broadcast had flowed unexpectedly due to the incident caused by Kana, and now the chaotic atmosphere had settled down.
…At least for now, it seemed that way.
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