Gender Reversed Geum Taeyang - Chapter 61

Chapter 61 – After Making Up

Monday, 6 PM.

As if coordinated, two broadcasts simultaneously went live on TwitchyTV.

A woman exuding an elegant atmosphere, and a man giving off a rebellious vibe.

A chat room that remained strict despite becoming more lenient than before, and a radical chat room running with minimal regulations.

A nickname taken from internet memes, and a nickname inspired by philosophy books.

If there was one thing in common between these two showing such extreme differences.

-Whoa what’s this

-What’s that in Rete’s ear???

-Never thought I’d see the day Rete gets a piercing lol

-It suits her but I can’t get used to it lol

Whether it suited her or not, whether they could get used to it or not. Despite numerous messages flooding the already active chat, Ari paid no attention.

Unlike usual when she valued viewers’ reactions, she thought that as long as Yuhan liked her piercing, others’ opinions didn’t matter.

“Testing 1,2,3 can you hear me?”

-Yesss

-s

-ss

“Ah… the piercing? I got it yesterday while hanging out with Yuhan. Well, does it look okay?”

-????? Why is she saying it so casually

-Are they close enough to hang out????

“Well, friends can hang out together, right? We originally met to film content though.”

-What what

-What’s going on

-??? Does your boyfriend allow that????

“Ah… boyfriend….. *sigh*”

-???

-What what

-Did they break up??

“Breaking up… well, not exactly. Just some things happened.”

The viewers vaguely sensed something was off.

She wasn’t someone who unnecessarily brought up relationship topics during broadcasts, and whenever such content came up, she had always shown such care for him, yet now this ambiguous reaction.

Rete’s expression was telling too.

Usually, Rete was a streamer who maintained the broadcast atmosphere with mature responses even when strange things happened.

In Geum Taeyang’s case, all of Rete’s viewers knew about her delinquent-phobia, so they thought of it as a simple happening and moved on.

But this situation, where she openly showed displeasure at the mention of her boyfriend, was certainly not normal.

However, the chat’s reaction was mild.

Everyone implicitly knew that Rete’s occasional emergency broadcast cancellations were related to her boyfriend.

They remembered the boyfriend’s mindset that came up during the last collaboration with Geum Taeyang.

They felt the broadcast had become more entertaining since Rete started hanging out with Geum Taeyang.

Though something seemed to have happened between the couple, no one thought Rete was at fault.

-Let’s move on move on

-^^7^^7

-I have… lost my memory…

-Tell us about your date instead

-Date lololololol

Everyone was trying to move past it.

In that atmosphere.

Negative emotions toward a man whose face they didn’t even know were contained.

###

“You say Ari seemed the same as usual?”

“Well… I only exchanged brief messages with her so I’m not sure…”

‘When is this guy going to drop this stubbornness?’

Seol Jihun, Ari’s younger brother, found this conversation unbearably annoying.

Though Jihun was someone who found joy in meeting and talking with others, this was truly a bothersome and difficult matter.

The news that two people who seemed like they’d be lovey-dovey forever had fought definitely shocked Jihun.

But listening to it, he couldn’t really see any fault with his sister.

‘Even though noona can be annoying sometimes…’

Jihun and Ari’s parents had grown fond of Lee Junhyuk because of his considerate personality.

Of course, everyone knew about Junhyuk’s strong stubborn streak, they just thought it wouldn’t be a major issue.

Jihun decided to withdraw that thought just now. This stubbornness definitely seemed problematic.

“Ah. No, sorry. There were times she seemed quite different from usual.”

“Really?!”

‘That serious girl suddenly started calling our parents casually.’

He thought that change wasn’t related to the fight with Junhyuk.

He just desperately wanted to give the answer he wanted and end the call.

“But, seeing how noona still hasn’t called, she seems pretty upset, so wouldn’t it be better if you approached her first?”

“Hmm, still… *sigh*, I don’t know.”

‘What’s there not to know. What’s so difficult about it?’

“I’ll head out first then. Let me know if anything happens with Ari!”

“Okay hyung. Take care.”

40 minutes of call time.

He regretted the time wasted listening to heavy topics and lamentations.

As he lay down on his bed with his tired body, Jihun’s phone rang several times.

“What now…”

But it was a message from a different person than before.

[Yuhan hyung]

-?

-Why no reply

-You busy?

-Whatever lol

-Nevermind

-[Banana milk gift certificate]

-When you see this have a drink and study hard

-Gotta prepare for broadcast

-bye

KakaoTalk messages sent in a rough manner unlike other guys.

The two men exchanged messages occasionally, and Jihun especially enjoyed their conversations.

There was kindness in his seemingly rigid way of speaking, substance in their brief exchanges, and no need to rack his brain to avoid saying the wrong thing. Yuhan wasn’t the type to care about such things.

Plus the snacks he’d send when bored.

‘Wish he was my brother instead.’

Jihun thought while sending a thank you message to Yuhan.

And with his particularly irritated mood today.

‘It would have been quite interesting if noona’s boyfriend was Yuhan hyung.’

An insignificant fantasy crossed his mind.

###

It’s really strange thinking about yesterday’s call with Jihun.

I didn’t expect her to react like this.

Is this really worth getting so upset over? Jihun said Ari seemed off… Well… I guess I can understand somewhat.

Now that we’ve grown distant, I can see the situation more objectively.

And looking at our fight that way…

Yeah, I can’t say I’m completely blameless either.

Honestly, it’s still annoying even thinking about it now.

We were a couple who rarely met due to her internet broadcasts that started after she finished military service.

Twice a week. A number that paled in comparison to my friends.

That’s why I stayed over at Ari’s house, and why I made plans even when she had broadcast schedules.

I hated how she seemed to prioritize broadcasting over me, her boyfriend.

I even felt somewhat satisfied when her broadcasts got disrupted.

Anyway, no matter how I think about it, we met too rarely recently. Even on the day we fought, it had already been two weeks since we last saw each other.

But what was with that lukewarm response?

I didn’t like how she brought up being sick either.

She used to say herself when we were young not to come around and risk getting infected when sick.

Well, forget about that now.

They say women are naturally proud creatures.

This time I’m willing to lower my head. No, I’m planning to lower my head.

Thinking that, I lay in bed and watched several videos uploaded to Ari’s NewTube.

Looking at the video descriptions, it seems these were edited and uploaded recently from events that happened a while ago.

It’s disappointing that this is the only way I can see her face from back then.

After watching a bit more, I ended up installing the TwitchyTV app on my phone.

I struggled a bit confused by the app name but managed somehow.

Found Rete’s channel after searching hard.

Since she hadn’t started broadcasting yet, I began watching short videos labeled ‘clips’.

24-hour popular clips.

7-day popular clips.

When there wasn’t much to see, I moved to 30-day popular clips.

…..

What…

Who is this person…?

An eerily approaching smile, height larger than average men, an objectively handsome face.

There’s a strange person next to Ari.

When was this video? Is the date not shown?

The video continues playing.

Two people giggling and laughing happily.

They even playfully hit each other.

I can’t understand the situation.

That man. Where have I seen… Ah, Nintendo Switch?

A male character from that Animal Village game.

I remember a character that looked exactly like that man.

Why was there a character of that man on Ari’s game console… Ah.

Collab. The word ‘collaboration’ flashed through my mind.

A word even I know despite not enjoying internet broadcasts.

So… that person must be a fellow BJ*¹.

.

Ari looks at that man with a bright smile. I don’t think I’ve seen such an expression before…

Is this what collaborations are usually like? Did Ari do collaborations before?

I don’t know since I’ve never watched her broadcasts.

I pressed the home button at the unpleasant feeling rising in my chest. Deleted the TwitchyTV app.

Let’s calm down and think.

I recalled that unpleasantly looking man from earlier.

Looking every bit like a delinquent, nothing more nothing less.

Wasn’t that the type Ari hated most?

To laugh and joke with someone like that. There’s no way it could be genuine. Since Ari’s channel is supposedly big, money probably changed hands under the name of promotion.

Ari is a talented person in many ways. Of course that bright smile earlier must have been acting. Excellent acting.

Showing expressions to another man that she’s never shown me? To a delinquent like that no less? That Ari?

Say something that makes sense.

My mind settles as thoughts reach that point.

But still an unpleasant experience.

Shouldn’t she tell me first if such broadcasts are planned?

After focusing so much on broadcasting, she won’t even show basic courtesy to her boyfriend?

I abandoned my plan to make a reconciliatory call to Ari.

I’m really disappointed too.

I won’t easily accept even if she apologizes first now.

As her boyfriend, I don’t want to acknowledge a broadcast that does things like this.

But since Ari has a kind heart, she’ll probably take some action if I push this far.

I lay in bed to take a nap and closed my eyes.

Let’s think some positive thoughts.

I’m sure she’ll contact me by next week at the latest.

If we somehow make up, if she takes a break from broadcasting or quits.

How about going somewhere together? Like celebrating a new start!

The place… the amusement park where I confessed?

Not a bad plan! I can’t help but smile thinking about dating Ari after so long.

Pushing back the lingering unease in my heart.

Consciousness slowly began to fade.

(End of chapter)

T.N. 1. Bang Jang (房長) or Broadcasting Jockey. What else did you think it was (≖_≖ )?