Chapter 63: Promising (3)

Part 5

At least the chat’s noisy chaos is a relief, Kwon Hyuk—Bonfire—thought. A brief incident, an obvious lie, yet its impact left him unable to meet Yoonseo’s gaze directly. He averted his eyes, forcing a blank, innocent expression—the best he could manage.

Her delicate, fox- or cat-like features contrasted with the unguarded, puppy-like warmth she exuded when she laughed, making it hard to gauge her distance. Her shyness, paired with the boldly revealing outfit, stirred a strange, almost sadistic urge in him. Is she secretly enjoying being teased? The thought crept in.

He knew he shouldn’t think this way, but her ambiguous demeanor kept him on edge. Hyunji’s blatant lie didn’t help. “Almost showed everything”? What does that mean, Yoonseo-ssi? Why aren’t you denying it?

He lost count of how many times his gaze drifted to her while scanning the chat. Her faintly pink cheeks and shoulders—Can such fair skin blush that much?—haunted his thoughts, though he couldn’t tell how many times he’d imagined it.

So, he couldn’t fathom how she maintained such a carefree attitude. At least she acted oblivious, and he had the chat to distract him. Don’t dig deeper. Don’t overthink. Don’t make this awkward. He repeated the mantra he’d been chanting since seeing her emerge from the fitting room, forcing a cheerful tone.

“Well… it’s been a while since you started appearing on Cheungjeokun’s streams, but it seems your brother never suggested, ‘Hey, you need a nickname,’ huh?” Bonfire said.

“Yeah… I guess ‘Nuna’ or ‘Noona’ was enough for everyone. Or, uh… ‘Nuna’ vibes? But you’re right—‘Cheungjeokun’s sister’ is a mouthful on other streams,” Yoonseo replied.

Her head tilted, and unlike the updo from earlier, her loose honey-blonde hair cascaded with gravity, brushing her neck and bare shoulders. The stray strands, like colored lines on a blank canvas, inexplicably drew his attention.

“No vague ideas at all?” Bonfire asked.

“Um… maybe? Since my brother’s alias is cloud-themed, I thought about something similar, but that’s about it,” she said.

She let out an embarrassed “haha,” her golden eyes narrowing, lips fidgeting to hide her unease. Her unconscious charm kept pulling his gaze, despite his efforts to resist. If it were deliberate, it wouldn’t be so captivating.

Her kind nature, her respectfulness, her tendency to prioritize others—her soft voice matched it all. She should’ve been the easiest guest to work with, yet from the moment the stream began—no, before that—Bonfire felt this broadcast would be exhausting.

One slip, and I’ll mess up big time with this innocent-looking girl. That certainty fueled his tension, piling up as fatigue.

• Jangjak, give us some distance, man!
• Show us below the chest too, Jangjak!!!!
• The face is great, but let us see the whole thing, boss!

You think I’d do that? Staring at the flood of suggestive chats, Bonfire renewed his silent vow. No way am I focusing the camera on anything inappropriate, intentionally or not. Never.

“That’s what they’re saying, folks. A cloud name. With her floaty vibe, any cloud name would suit her,” he said.

“Is that… a compliment?” Yoonseo asked.

“Floaty in a good way, everyone. Before we move on, how about we settle on a nickname for Nuna? What do you think, Nuna?” Bonfire suggested.

“Do I even get a choice?” she teased.

“Honestly, I was gonna pick one anyway,” he quipped.

Her large golden eyes curved playfully at his joke. Natural eye color, not lenses, right? Pigment mutation? Pretty to begin with, and even prettier because of a condition? Is she cheating or what?

She wasn’t overtly sensual, but her girlish smile was deadly to his rational mind. He barely stopped himself from blurting, She’s like a puppy. She’d think it was weird, right? I’m decent-looking—maybe she’d like it?

“Well, I doubt I’d come up with something good on my own, and being called ‘Nuna’ by Bonfire-nim is kinda embarrassing. So, how about you all pick a nice name?” Yoonseo said.

“Congrats, everyone! You’ve got a chance to name a future star!” Bonfire announced.

Enough daydreaming, Kwon Hyuk. Don’t spout nonsense out of baseless confidence—you’ll regret it. She’s different from the usual crowd. She might be understanding, but that’s not the same as sharing your weird fantasies. Don’t forget you’re Bonfire the streamer, not just Kwon Hyuk.

Feeling like he was walking on thin ice, he gripped the camera angle tightly, resisting the urge to lower it.

Part 6

“Jeokranun…?” Yoonseo said.

“There’s a lot of support for Jeokranun,” Bonfire noted.

“I’m a humanities major, so I don’t really know what kind of cloud that is,” she admitted.

Tucking a strand of hair tickling her cheek behind her ear, she looked at Bonfire and, presumably, the viewers beyond the phone’s lens, as if asking for an explanation. I couldn’t read much of the chat, but it feels a bit lonely not seeing it during a stream.

“In pure Korean, it’s called ‘ssaenbi-gureum,’ a cloud that forms at low altitudes but can rise vertically to great heights with updrafts, often accompanied by lightning and showers,” Bonfire explained.

“…Do I give off a dangerous vibe?” she asked.

“They say your tall, striking look fits—‘saw your dark mode, loved it,’ ‘higher than Cheungjeokun’s clouds,’ stuff like that. What do you think?” he said.

“…What’s ‘saw your dark mode’ supposed to mean?” she replied.

Bonfire shrugged playfully, and though she seemed to grasp the implication, she pouted, narrowing her eyes. I’ll try not to do that again. Not sure if I can, but… Would people now say she’d bring showers when upset or lightning on magical days?

“So, what do you think?” he asked.

“It feels a bit off since I’m definitely not doing any ‘dark mode’ stuff anymore…” she said.

Still, the name excited her. Not for profit, but because she’d decided to try streaming herself. Starting this journey with kind people who liked her felt like a gift—a new beginning, a driving force to affirm herself.

“Still, since you all chose it, I’m thrilled,” she said.

She flashed a bright smile, restraining the urge to grin like an excited kid—it’d look too childish.

A brief silence followed. Then, click—a camera shutter. Her wide eyes turned to see Homin gesturing frantically at his camera, as if asking, Is it okay I took that? Feeling good, she nodded emphatically.

• Jeokranun Nuna… Jeokran-Nuna… Jeokranrunra…?

“Pfft… don’t donate with weird names,” she laughed, responding instinctively.

It stung her pride, but she couldn’t help giggling.