Chapter 25: Tangerine Flower Paper (7)

Part 16

“Seriously, I’m so sorry, Sis. I’ve committed a mortal sin…”

“I told you, I’m not mad!”

Despite my words, my tone wasn’t exactly gentle.
I’d seen it all—Sanghyeon making horns on my head with his fingers while I was sulking, and the viewers roaring with laughter.
Sure, he was probably trying to lighten the mood with good intentions, but…

– Sis’s eyes are scary ;;
– Don’t just say you’re not mad, relax your face a bit…

“I’m smiling, aren’t I?”

– That expression is the reward.
– Fr lol

I was starting to catch on to what they meant by “reward.”
Glancing at the cam, I saw my stiff cheeks and twitching brow betraying me vividly.
Forcing a smile would probably backfire, right?

I rubbed my cheeks with my fingertips, then sighed and dropped the fake grin.
I realized too late that trying to smile through half-suppressed anger on this youthful face would only make me look ridiculous.

“Seriously, hearing that stuff at my age makes me want to die of embarrassment, so stop it.”

“Why not just embrace it and have fun with how they treat you?”

My slender finger shot out, grabbing Sanghyeon’s hair again.
A pathetic yelp followed.
It’s weird to think this while doing it, but thankfully, no clumps of hair came out this time either.

“…So, what were you planning to do today?”

“Argh… Well, if you hadn’t suddenly decided to do a cam stream, probably just games like usual.”

“I went through all this effort to show my face, and it’s just gonna be the same as always?”

His lackluster answer to my sighed question was a letdown.
It’s kind of a big day, isn’t it?
Wouldn’t a special event make it a memorable moment?
When I pressed again, Sanghyeon responded with an exasperated tone.

“You spring this ‘wanna go on cam’ thing with 30 minutes to go—what do you expect me to do?”

“I mean, it just feels… anticlimactic, I guess.”

“Anticlimactic how?”

Such a soulless guy.
I shot him a sulky, expectant look, but sadly, conveying my delicate emotions through eye contact alone was lost on this logic-driven nerd.

“…What? Did I mess up again?”

“My bad for expecting anything. Science major.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?! Why the sudden STEM hate?!”

“So many people were excited to see my face. I made them wait because of my personal stuff, so just doing the usual after finally showing up feels… I don’t know, like I’m letting them down? Not quite regret, but something like that.”

Ugh, putting it into words made it hard to articulate clearly.
Glancing at the chat full of question marks, I started mentally sorting out what to say.
My fingers drifted to my jawline—a habit when I’m thinking.

I hadn’t noticed before, living so carelessly, but my hair had grown long enough to brush softly against my fingers.
I’d only been aware of the annoying back strands when sleeping, but now I realized the sides were pretty long too.
From waking up to now, standing in front of so many people, smiling and talking—it hit me suddenly how much time had passed.

“…Heh.”

“…Chat, what do I do? Our special guest started playing with her hair out of nowhere and laughing instead of answering. Think she’s broken from the shock.”

“Don’t ruin the moment and hush.”

Looking back, it all started with getting into Sanghyeon’s streams.
He thought dragging me into it was unhelpful and felt guilty, but without streaming, I wouldn’t have taken the doctor’s advice or found the courage to open up to my friends.

Every decision I made was probably a string of coincidences, but the starting point was undeniably this stream—and the 200+ viewers watching now.
I couldn’t deny their kindness had helped me, knowingly or not.

“To the viewers and to me, I always hoped for a moment like this. A memorable milestone. So, I want it to be a cool moment, maybe repay them a little… that’s what I’m thinking.”

My fingers, which had been stroking my jawline, were now twirling the long side strands.
The soft texture was oddly addictive, and my face relaxed into another shy smile.

– Is Sis actually an angel…?
– I wanna be the hair wrapped around her fingers…

“Haha… Stop with the embarrassing stuff. I’m serious, it’s tough. I’ll leave if you keep it up. TwoEyesTooturuBbaraBba, True Gentleman, thanks for the 10,000 won donations.”

“Hmm… Sounds like our Sis sees today as a pretty meaningful day, folks.”

A ching sound effect signaled another donation message.
Right after my thanks, Sanghyeon’s voice piped up.
My head whipped toward him reflexively, eyes wide with hope that he’d thought of something good.

“What? Got an idea?”

“…Man, chat, if you saw this expression, we’d be drowning in donations for a meat party tonight. Such a shame.”

– Why do you get to see it?!
– Unsubbed.

“Then throw out some juicy bait to see it yourselves!”

“Stop messing around and spill it—what’s the idea?”

I cut off his bickering with the chat.
If this kept up, it’d just fizzle out into the usual vague routine.
I was a bit swept up in the moment, but I didn’t want to let it slide like that.

“Like when I hit 200,000 subscribers, how about a random-draw Q&A for, say, 10 minutes?”

Part 17

[Breaking News: Sis’s Height is 161cm] – Anonymous

– She says she looks taller because her body proportions are godly, sparking debate. She didn’t hesitate to shade Cheungjeokun, saying his big head makes him look shorter.

┕ Anonymous: ???? 161?
┕ Anonymous: Total scam lol
┕ Anonymous: Looked like mid-to-late 160s on screen, but comparing to the chair, she does seem small…
┕ Anonymous (OP): Breaking News Addendum) Sis’s Q&A raffle ongoing. 9 questions left.
┕ Anonymous: Why’re you telling us now, you jerk?!

Part 18

“No, really, I’m 161cm! Why don’t you believe me?”

I stood up from the chair, grumbling slightly.
The first question was a deflating “How tall are you?”
I’d never cared much about being tall, so I didn’t see the point in hiding my shorter height and answered honestly, “161cm.”
But the unanimous response was disbelief, and we’d been stuck on it for a while.

“Cheungjeokun, stand up for a sec.”

“Why me?”

“Your height’s… 170-something, right?”

“Not saying.”

“Why do you never cooperate?”

He stubbornly refused to reveal his height, but thankfully didn’t refuse to stand next to me.
Standing side by side, I realized I had to tilt my head up to meet his eyes now—a weird feeling.
…Not the point right now.

“His height’s, I think, high 170s? There’s about a head’s difference, so…”

– Wow, Cheungjeokun’s head is HUGE lol
– Hnng, Sis… looks like a doll next to that dark beast…

“Why’re you suddenly ganging up on me?!”

“If we say a head’s about 20cm… Chat, you listening…?”

The chat exploded into chaos again.
Calming down Sanghyeon’s squawking took time, and answering just one question dragged on longer than expected.