[TS] Malicious Sniper

I called Ji-hye, who was resting in the room, and headed to the dining table in the living room.

I explained the current situation, and Ji-hye’s eyes sparked as she grabbed my hand.

“Glad to hear that…”

“What about?”

“I thought you had no interest in fashion since you always wear that navy cardigan and white sleeveless shirt.”

“…I wasn’t really interested before?”

“That’s not important!” Ji-hye insisted firmly as she pulled out her smartphone.

After searching for a bit, she handed me her phone.

I thought to myself how this was the first time to see Ji-hye so proactive as I checked the phone.

The smartphone displayed a variety of clothes, each flaunting an expensive price tag.

Wait, how is it that one outfit costs hundreds of thousands of won? On average, they were all in the tens of thousands!

I never felt regret when spending money, but for the first time, I felt it was a bit too much.

Just thinking about how I could treat my curry mental state multiple times with the money for these outfits made them seem ridiculously overpriced.

But despite those thoughts, my eyes were scouring the list.

I was going to an important fan meeting, and showing up in cheap clothes might earn me some scorn.

Even if it felt wasteful, I thought of it as an investment for the fan meeting, and I continued to ponder seriously.

Which outfit should I buy?

“These are the trendy clothes right now.”

“Really? Can you recommend something from these? I’m really lacking in that department.”

“Hmm…”

Since I had zero interest in fashion, I left the shopping to Ji-hye.

Ji-hye struggled with her smartphone for quite a while before letting out a sigh and quietly saying,

“Seeing them in person and just looking online can be really different.”

“Is it really that different?”

“Yep. Sometimes it feels like it’s an entirely different outfit.”

As Ji-hye answered my question, she looked at me with a subtle gaze.

It seemed like she wanted something from me, and judging by the flow of our conversation, the answer she wanted was clear.

“…We should visit a department store.”

“Absolutely! Visiting a department store…”

Zing!

“…would be nice, but your opinion matters the most, so if you don’t want to, ordering online is fine too.”

Sigh… “Fine. We can go shopping, right?”

In the end, I blurted out the answer Ji-hye wanted.

Seeing her sulk after I glared at her for a moment made my heart soften.

Once I declared we were going shopping, Ji-hye beamed like a puppy going for a walk after a long time.

“Shall we go today? Or tomorrow? I’m available anytime!”

“Let’s go today. Who knows when I might change my mind.”

“Then I’ll get ready right away!”

Pitter-patter!

Ji-hye jumped up and hurried to her room.

I hadn’t planned on this at first, but somehow, I found myself going shopping at a department store.

After a quiet sigh, I headed upstairs to prepare for my long-awaited outing.

*

When Nayun unni revealed she was a fan of Curry, a streamer, I honestly didn’t get it.

After looking it up, I found out that a ‘fan’ targeted bad streamers in the game.

However, I didn’t point that out or say it was wrong. I was always in a subordinate position.

I could be discarded if I dared to cause trouble, and that was something I absolutely didn’t want.

Thus, I merely replied with the cheerful smile I always wore.

Since then, I juggled household chores, being a manager, video editing, and practicing for Leore.

You might think it was a killer schedule, but it absolutely wasn’t.

Above all, Leore was something I enjoyed doing in my free time.

Nayun unni’s job as a broadcasting manager, which she said was tough, wasn’t hard at all.

Sometimes, there were strange viewers who typed weird chats, making me smile wryly, but other than that, being a broadcasting manager wasn’t that difficult.

And so, my ordinary life continued.

After a while without streaming, Nayun unni came down to the first floor to find me.

Typically, when the meal was ready, I went up to the second floor, but it was rare for her to come looking for me.

Wondering if she had something important to say, Nayun unni led me to the dining table in the living room.

Once seated, she hesitated for a moment before speaking.

For a while, Nayun unni told me a story that turned out to be simpler than I expected.

She revealed that she was the president of Curry’s stream and had been invited to the end-of-year fan meeting.

So, she needed to buy an outfit for the fan meeting and asked for recommendations since she didn’t know much about fashion.

Nayun unni’s story summed up like that, leaving me puzzled.

Nayun unni is the president of Curry’s stream?

Wasn’t she active as a fan targeting Curry?

What kind of relationship do Nayun unni and Curry have?

And what does Nayun unni think of Curry?

Trying to resolve those questions, I managed to come up with one answer.

There was a decisive commonality between Nayun unni’s activities as a fan and her becoming the president through major donations.

That commonality was none other than Curry’s ‘attention.’

If you donate, Curry will pay you attention.

If you target him, Curry will pay you attention.

So why did Nayun unni want Curry’s attention?

The only reason a woman seeks attention from a man is one single case.

‘Oh my, oh my, oh my…’

Nayun unni must have a crush on Curry!

If it weren’t that, Nayun unni’s excessive need for Curry’s attention couldn’t be explained.

I quietly closed my eyes and recalled Curry’s appearance.

He had a mischievous image yet a bright appearance, was tall, and had a pleasant voice.

With charming speech skills that made people laugh.

Hmm, it’s clear Nayun unni didn’t fall for him for no reason.

I nodded in agreement, finding it understandable.

And most importantly, there was a definitive piece of evidence that Nayun unni had a crush on Curry.

The video of Nayun unni (Barcode) collaborating with Curry was proof of her unrequited love.

Normally stiff and unemotional, Nayun unni seemed emotionally expressive exclusively during the collaboration.

Most of the time, she laughed at Curry’s reactions, but if he made a critical mistake, she would frown.

Having spent nearly two months with Nayun unni, this was the first time I witnessed such emotional changes.

Nayun unni wanting recognition from someone who doesn’t notice her, continually craving attention from Curry—they had a sweet relationship that made me rethink my shopping intentions.

“It’s really different seeing it in person compared to online.”

“Is it really that severe?”

“Yeah. Sometimes it feels like it’s an entirely different outfit.”

With long-standing unrequited love having the chance to flourish, it felt right to help them.

Determined, I gathered my courage and signaled Nayun unni to visit a department store.

“…Then we should go shopping at a department store.”

“Absolutely! Actually visiting a department store…”

As soon as Nayun unni threw out the bait, I felt her glare at me.

Was I too obvious in my intentions? Nayun unni sat in silence, deep in thought.

I couldn’t let Nayun unni and Curry’s monumental first meeting be ruined.

“…It would be nice, but your opinion is what matters most, so if you don’t want to, ordering online is perfectly sufficient.”

Despite my resolve and determination, Nayun unni’s gaze was incredibly menacing.

“Sigh… Alright. We can go shopping, right?”

Thankfully, Nayun unni agreed to my suggestion.

“Shall we go today? Or tomorrow? I’m available anytime!”

“Let’s go today. Who knows when I’ll change my mind.”

“Then I’ll get ready right away!”

With the successful persuasion of Nayun unni, I joyfully left the room.

*

It was my first outing since moving to the country house.

Most people wandering the streets around were not wearing masks.

Since the situation had settled down, there was no need to wear one anymore.

Of course, I still wore mine.

Glance, glance!

Even with the mask on, I sensed attention coming my way.

Unlike Ji-hye, who was gleefully walking beside me, my mood wasn’t as bright.

Even I knew, my appearance and hair color stood out too much.

When I first became a woman, my hair was mixed with black and red.

But at some point, the red became more prevalent, turning everything that had once been black into a vibrant red.

Enduring uncomfortable stares, I stepped onto the street and flagged down a passing taxi.

Arriving at the nearest department store, Ji-hye grabbed my hand and pulled me forward.

I was the one buying clothes, but it looked like Ji-hye was more excited.

“Come on, hurry up!”

“Hey, we can take it slow…”

“We might not have enough time!”

At her words about time, I expressed my confusion.

Really, how could buying an outfit for a fan meeting take so much time?

Not understanding, I followed Ji-hye around the department store.

Whenever Ji-hye spotted clothing stores or corners, she dashed towards them.

She would bring various clothes to drape on me while looking into the mirror.

Or she’d pull out clothes she thought would suit me for trying on.

At first, I didn’t feel tired and even enjoyed the new experience of seeing and trying on various clothes.

But after doing this dozens of times, I could no longer laugh, and fatigue began to hit me.

“Look! There’s a clothing section on the 4th floor too! Let’s hurry!”

“…”

Was Ji-hye not tired?

It felt like we had been shopping for over three hours already.

As I endured this exhausting shopping spree, one fact became clear.

Department stores had an excessive number of clothing corners and stores.

“How about this one?”

“Hmm… It’s not bad.”

I felt like a doll being dressed up.

Disregarding my preferences, Ji-hye was deep in conversation with the store clerk, contemplating what outfit to have me wear.

“Unni, why don’t you try this on and come out?”

“Okay…”

Carrying the garments Ji-hye handed me, I headed to the fitting room.

After changing out of my clothes, I first put on black leggings.

Next, I donned a white t-shirt, layering a gray long knit cardigan over it.

Standing before the full-length mirror in the fitting room, I checked my reflection and found it wasn’t bad.

Honestly, as my fashion sense was nearly zero, most of what I wore previously looked good to me.

But this time, since I was trying on outfits similar to what I usually wore, it felt less jarring.

After changing, I stepped out of the fitting room.

Ji-hye approached me as if she had been waiting, staring curiously.

“I think this outfit suits you the best of what we tried today… what do you think?”

“Me? Sure, it looks good… but I don’t want to shop anymore.”

“Haha… then let’s decide your outfit for the fan meeting with this!”

After a coy laugh, Ji-hye announced the end of our shopping.

Finally, I was free from this torturous shopping adventure.

That realization made me feel unexpectedly uplifted, and my steps felt lighter.

After about four hours of shopping, I was ready to leave the department store.

“Unni, where are you going?”

“We’re done shopping so… I’m going home.”

“Hey, we’re not done yet.”

What?

“The president, who donated the most, must wear at least one accessory for style.”

“…”

“Picking out accessories doesn’t take long. Let’s quickly choose one and head home!”

“Yeah… let’s do that.”

With no real grounds to object, I decided to follow Ji-hye’s lead.

As she pointed out, it would be odd if the president showed up at the official fan meeting without any accessories.

But I thought it shouldn’t take much longer, right?

But as it turned out, it took two hours to finish accessory shopping.

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