“Sigh… Should I go down and wake her up now? No, wait… She probably just fell asleep. But still, leaving it like this isn’t good…”
Eun-ah, who was experiencing this situation for the first time, couldn’t hide her unease. She bit her nails, making sharp snapping sounds, and shook her leg nervously.
“Sigh…”
This wasn’t completely new to me. I’d experienced people insulting me to my face or spouting nonsense before. However, dealing with someone anonymously slandering me from a place I couldn’t see, without any reason or connection, was something I didn’t know how to handle.
All I could do was threaten them to take down their posts or explain the situation to Aro while raising my voice a little.
“I don’t know either! They must’ve planned something somewhere we didn’t notice! Otherwise, how could dozens of hate comments and attack videos suddenly go up overnight? … Sigh… Sorry.”
I apologized to Aro after lowering my raised voice, and through the headset, I heard him say it was okay.
I felt bad for Aro. He had only started sleeping about an hour ago after finishing work, and I called him out of the blue to demand his help without really doing much myself.
“Hey, you’re good with the internet, right? What should I do… Can you handle this until Su-yeon wakes up?”
“Ah… yeah? Still, I think it’ll calm down by this week. They’re closing the café soon, so there won’t be much trouble in real life. Besides, these posts and videos are all baseless nonsense. If they get criticized or receive backlash, they’ll delete or take them down on their own, even if the teacher doesn’t intervene.”
Aro’s calm explanation gave me some relief. Although the anxiety and frustration lingering within me hadn’t disappeared, it seemed to ease slightly.
“But why is this happening all of a sudden?”
“I don’t know either. But it’s definitely orchestrated by someone.”
Before long, Aro and I ended our conversation. Since the posts weren’t just appearing on Su-yeon’s fan café or blog but on various communities including Siege-related ones, there wasn’t much I could do anymore.
“…We’ll have to make sure she doesn’t see this…”
Seeing things like this wouldn’t be good for his mental health. She’s such a kind person that he couldn’t even kill a spider in the house. If she saw dozens of people insulting her, I worried that it might break her.
Feeling a mix of helplessness and a strange sense of curiosity, I closed my eyes.
“…It’s strange how I’ve started worrying about others.”
I prayed to a god I didn’t believe in, hoping for nothing serious to happen. Then, I turned off my computer and crawled into bed.
“…There’s no cat…”
The empty bed felt a bit lonely.
***
Unknown POV
“Hm hm hm~”
Aro’s predictions were spot on. There was indeed someone behind this sudden attack. The man hummed a small tune as he enjoyed the view of Seoul’s nighttime skyline from a high motel room, accompanied by wine and a woman.
“Oppa, want to keep going?”
“…Just a moment.”
The man took a sip of wine and was about to step forward when his phone rang on the table, halting him.
“Who is it?”
“My sister. Hold on for a bit.”
With a natural smile, the man put on a bathrobe and picked up his phone. He stepped into the bathroom and turned on the water.
Shhhhhh—
“…Hey.”
With the loud sound of running water and the locked door muffling noises, the man answered the call, his earlier smile replaced with a cold expression.
“…Sorry…”
“Tsk… What is it? Speak quickly.”
When the man’s voice dropped to a heavy, low tone, his sister stammered as she replied.
“That… That girl! We carried out the attack on Baraa! Just like you told us, the community unnies and I coordinated everything! We even left comments on NewTube…!”
“Hey. Quiet.”
“…Sorry…”
“Did you finish everything?”
The man ran a hand through his dark hair, revealing a large tattoo reflected in the mirror.
“Yes! Posts are still going up, and we’ve reached out to other communities to join in! They’ll continue at least until tomorrow…”
“Good. Keep it going as much as possible.”
“Got it! … But why are we doing this? Sure, I don’t like her either, but isn’t this too much of a hassle?”
“…Oh, didn’t I tell you? Once she starts streaming, she’ll become a nuisance. We’re just doing things like this to make her quit broadcasting. Eventually, she’ll come crawling to us.”
“…”
“Anyway, keep at it. Just think of it as revenge for being kicked out of the café.”
The man ended the call and turned off the water. Exiting the bathroom, he approached the nameless woman sitting on the bed and removed his robe as he drew near.
***
Lee Su-yeon POV
“…Yaaawn…”
Was it because I slept with the curtains open? The brightness greeted my half-open eyes. I stretched as I got up.
Crack—
“Oof… Did I sit for too long yesterday?”
I heard a faint sound from my back, which now felt strangely familiar. Standing up from the bed, I stepped onto the warm floor and checked the time.
“…What time is it…”
The clock read 11 a.m. When was my café shift supposed to start? 9 a.m. When do my sister and Eun-ah unnie usually eat? Around 8 a.m.
“Hm hm hm…”
Sometimes, you just accept defeat. Last time, I woke up just before being late and barely made it. But when you know you’ve completely missed the mark, you lose all sense of urgency.
I petted Strawberry, who was still asleep, as I looked at my phone’s screen filled with missed calls.
“Calls from the manager and Eun-ah unnie… Why so many…”
A sense of foreboding crept over me. I finally decided to call the manager first.
“Um… Hello…”
“Oh? You’re awake?”
“…Sorry…”
“It’s fine~ I kept you up late last night, after all. Anyway, starting today, you don’t have to come in.”
“Wait… Are you starting renovations already?”
“Not quite~ I need to sort things out with HQ since I’m leaving the brand. There’s so much to discuss—designs, the interior, and all that. So, I’m closing the café to focus on preparations. I’ll transfer your salary to the account you gave me yesterday, okay?”
“Yes! Thank you!”
A faint sound of Strawberry waking up reached my ears.
“Our Su-yeon has grown so much… Getting paid online… even being late…”
“Haha…”
“Just kidding. You did great. I’ll let you know when everything’s done, so come visit.”
After ending the call with the manager, I welcomed what felt like a peaceful weekend. Everyone seemed to be in a deep sleep today. I fed Strawberry, quickly dressed, and stepped outside. My sister was still sound asleep, clutching her blanket tightly. I didn’t wake her up.
My next stop was Eun-ah unnie’s house. Not knowing the password, I knocked softly.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me!”
The door soon opened, revealing Eun-ah unnie scratching her head.
“Ugh… I’ll just give you the password. Come in whenever. I’m too lazy to keep opening the door.”
“Is that okay…?”
“What, are you going to sneak in and steal money?”
“That’s not what I meant…”
“It’s 1234. Use it if you want, or don’t.”
She flopped onto the bed, swinging her legs lazily.
“Coffee.”
“…”
“Hey, didn’t you quit the café?”
“You knew?”
“That lady called me. She said it’s a shame and went on about it for a while.”
Eun-ah unnie watched me as I brewed coffee. Despite her love for coffee, even owning a machine, she always asked me to make it for her.
“I used to be like that lady, too. Dreaming about opening a café and studying to be a barista. But I got bored and went into humanities instead. That machine’s from back then. Now I just drink instant coffee…”
She glanced at the machine with a touch of regret.
“So, you make it. You can even take the machine if you want. Just make coffee for me.”
“…Okay…”
As I brewed coffee, sunlight streamed into the room, revealing the usual mess. Eun-ah unnie hesitated before quietly tidying up, as if embarrassed.
“So, Baraa…”
After the room was somewhat cleaned, Eun-ah unnie addressed me not as Lee Su-yeon but as the streamer Baraa. As my close friend and unofficial manager, it was appropriate, but it still felt strange. I asked her to keep things casual.
“Are you just going to live as a streamer now? Doing a bit of NewTube, too?”
“I guess so. At least until I start working with my parents. Now that I have some freedom, I want to try new things—take cooking classes, travel with my sister and Strawberry…”
“What about Ga-young unnie?”
“Well… I just want to… be with her…”
“Your life, your call.”
Eun-ah unnie drained her coffee with a satisfied “Ahhh!” like a middle-aged man.
“Speaking of NewTube…”
I opened NewTube to show her Chocoa’s new clip channel.
Beep beep beep—
The connection lagged, likely due to the poor signal here. Just then, the sound of the door opening caught our attention.
“Hey… What are you doing…?”
“Huh?
Oh, just wanted to show you something…”
“Stop!”
Eun-ah unnie lunged to grab my phone. In the scuffle, I ended up falling onto the bed.
“Wait… What’s this…”
As we stared at each other, flustered and speechless, a voice came from the doorway.
“What’s going on… teacher?”