NOVEL NEXT Chapter 68
Ryuah felt something strange when her hand brushed against a stranger woman in the elevator.
Ah!
…
Just as Ji-eun was about to press the button for the 3rd floor, the tall woman hit it first.
So she thought, maybe this woman lives next door?
Just a fleeting thought about her possibly being a neighbor crossed her mind.
That thought shattered when she saw the woman’s determined strides.
Of course, she headed straight for apartment 305, where Ji-eun lived!
It was the reason Ryuah unconsciously stepped in her way.
?
The woman’s gaze looking down at her was filled with confusion, as if to say, “What’s going on?”
Ryuah had blocked her path, but for some reason, words weren’t flowing.
Was it because of the imposing height of the woman? She couldn’t even mutter “Who are you to go to Ji-eun’s house?” and just stammered instead.
As Ryuah fidgeted nervously, the woman observing her spoke first.
“Ryuah-nim?”
“Y-Yes!”
Ryuah was shocked that she recognized her.
Not long after she started streaming, her fame among broadcasters wasn’t very high.
How could she possibly know her? Could she be a fan?
It seems like she is a fan. If not, how would she recognize her?
Ryuah’s mind began to race.
Meeting a fan in an unexpected place like this filled her with a mix of embarrassment and awkwardness, along with a subtle thrill of feeling like a celebrity.
However, that feeling quickly shattered with the woman’s next words.
“Hello, I’m Si-young. I work as an editor for Mollru.”
“…Huh?”
With a foolishly dazed expression, Ryuah blurted out something dumb.
And then realization hit, turning her face beet red.
Of course, why would she meet a fan here?
This wasn’t a place flooded with people; it was just the hallway of a one-room apartment.
“Did you come to… visit her?”
“Oh, this…?”
Si-young pointed at the bag of porridge Ryuah was holding.
In the same direction, Ryuah’s gaze shifted to the bag Si-young held.
A bag of steaming food, confirming Ryuah’s thought that she must be visiting someone in the hospital.
But she never imagined it would lead to the same destination as hers.
“So, you too, Si-young? Visiting Ji-eun… I mean, Mollru?”
“Yes, she seems very sick. You too?”
“I came after watching the stream. I thought Mollru might need someone to help her since she lives alone.”
She hadn’t received any special message.
Si-young’s quiet muttering lingered in Ryuah’s ears.
It was the same for her.
She received just a short text saying to come over, never considering there would be other visitors.
But do editors usually worry about broadcasters’ condition?
The broadcasters Ryuah knew didn’t maintain such a close relationship with their editors.
Typically, it was a professional relationship; even if they were friendly, they wouldn’t bring porridge and visit each other like this.
It seemed Si-young had made the porridge herself. That was quite impressive.
This felt more like a manager than just an editor.
Was it because they were both the same gender and around the same age?
“Shall we go in?”
Seems this editor frequented Ji-eun’s place often.
Unlike Ryuah, who imagined her home from the shots on Mollru’s streams, Si-young showed no strong reaction, as if it didn’t impress her at all.
Feeling overwhelmed, Ryuah shook her head as she followed Si-young.
Then Si-young suddenly stopped, prompting Ryuah to halt as well.
Seeing Si-young step back toward the corner near the elevator, Ryuah tilted her head.
“What’s going on? Why are you stopping—?”
“Shh.”
Ryuah, cut off, looked at Si-young.
Si-young was staring at something with a cold gaze, indicating Ryuah to be quiet with her hand.
Then she beckoned her over like she wanted Ryuah to come to her side.
Not knowing what was happening, Ryuah felt inclined to follow her lead.
She crouched behind Si-young, studying the expression on her face.
It was serious and intense, causing Ryuah to shift her gaze to what Si-young was looking at.
“What the…?”
Muffled, she covered her mouth in shock at the unexpected sight before her.
At Ji-eun’s door stood a suspicious figure, heavily clad in padding with a mask and sunglasses, clearly up to no good.
Dun dun dun!
Wiping the sweat off Ji-eun’s forehead was the worried figure of Ji-yeon, her younger sister, who had rushed over.
Quietly inserting a thermometer into Ji-eun’s ear, she sighed.
“Why is her temperature so high? She said she was okay…”
Man, it really is a lot to handle.
Especially lately.
Ji-eun, who used to be like a solid mountain of reassurance, was suddenly so vulnerable as if a weird wind had blown through.
“Maybe it’s because she’s living alone.”
Ji-yeon gently pushed Ji-eun’s hair back and mumbled to herself.
But even so, she hadn’t fallen ill after living alone for a year.
She never imagined her sister would collapse like this.
And for some reason, Ji-eun seemed a bit lazy lately.
She’d never been neglectful at home, nor was her cooking lacking. Now her only specialty was soy sauce scrambled eggs.
Acting like a completely different person was odd.
Tracing it back, it all pointed to the time of her first stream.
It was absurd that Ji-eun started gaming broadcasts when she had never gamed in her life.
Whacky whacky!
This made no sense, no sense at all…
Ji-yeon, glaring at her sleeping sister, chuckled softly and stood up.
But what’s the use in thinking about it?
The important thing was that her sister’s change wasn’t necessarily bad.
“What will you do without me, sis~?”
Heading to the bathroom to cool the now lukewarm towel, she noticed her home lacked some essentials.
She’d made the wet towel but had no basin to fill with water, so she kept going back and forth soaking it.
Then suddenly, she thought,
“Is it okay for her to sleep like that with a fever?”
If there’s that much sweat on her forehead, there should be tons of sweat all over her body too.
Everyone knows that sleeping while sweaty isn’t good for catching a cold.
A shower would be good, but right now, Ji-eun wasn’t in the right state of mind for that.
Thus, there was only one solution.
“Should I wipe her down myself?”
Ji-yeon glanced at the wet towel in her hand.
Wringing out the towel brought a refreshing coolness.
“Hey, sis… are you sleeping?”
With her eyes closed and lips slightly parted, Ji-eun gave no response.
Stomach tightening, Ji-yeon approached her sister with the towel.
She was just doing what her sister had done for her countless times in childhood.
This was simply a medical act for her sister’s health, nothing more, nothing less.
Having convinced herself, she reached for Ji-eun’s T-shirt, ready to lift it up.
Bang! Whoa!
Who’s there?!
Startled by a strange noise from outside, Ji-yeon let go of Ji-eun’s shirt.
Ji-eun’s pale skin stuck to the fabric after the towel slid off.
“What’s going on…”
If it were just a brief noise, she would have ignored it, but the noises kept coming.
Sounds of scuffling between someone and a woman’s scream echoed outside Ji-eun’s door.
It was like the ruckus was originating directly in front of Ji-eun’s door…
“Should I go check it out?”
The decision came quickly.
Upon looking after her sister, Ji-yeon worried her sister might wake up due to the noise, so she put down the towel and headed to the entrance.
Dressing quickly and pressing her ear to the door, she cautiously unlocked it.
And there it was,
“Let go! What are you doing! Aaah!”
A man pinned to the floor, wearing a hat and sunglasses, caught in a struggle.
Above him was a woman interrogating him with a cold tone.
“What’s going on? I can help!”
Another bewildered woman stood there, joining in on restraining him.
It was a bizarre scene with three unusual characters.
Clearly, this must be the source of the noise.
As Ji-yeon faced a rare sight, she began to piece together what happened.
The phone from the tussle rolled all the way to her feet.
As she picked it up from the chaos, Ji-yeon finally grasped the situation.
“A stalker…?”
The phone she had picked up showed the back of a familiar figure in numerous photos.
That person was none other than her beloved older sister, whom she had just been caring for.