Gender Swap: The Introvert’s Broadcast

The reason it felt like a peculiar situation was simple.
In front of me stood someone very familiar.
Someone who seemed to be actively trying to hide.
"...Why is Mangming acting like that?"
"No idea. When I mentioned I was coming here with you, they just started behaving that way."
"Interesting."

I couldn’t understand the reasoning behind it, so I quickly walked over and tapped them on the back.
"What are you doing here?"
At this time of day, they should have been streaming.
I stared at Mangming, thinking it was absurd, when—

"Ahem, fancy meeting you here, huh?"
The kind of excuse even a passing dog wouldn’t believe.
Deciding to play along for now, I continued the conversation.
"Well, since we’ve bumped into each other, how about grabbing a meal together?"
"Mm, sure, let’s do that."

For some reason, Mangming seemed unusually awkward today.
Thinking it was odd, I called over Yeram and Harin, who were waiting a short distance away.
"Let’s eat while we talk about why you’re here."
It was time to have a deeper conversation.

"Ah, well…"
Mangming’s explanation turned out to be simpler than expected.
They thought they knew more about computer parts than Harin and came uninvited, but once they arrived, it felt too much like stalking, so they hesitated to approach.
"What stalking? What kind of relationship do we have?"

I was dumbfounded.
We’d had so many conversations over time.
If I were to list my top five closest people, Mangming would make the list.
And yet, because they felt slightly uneasy, they hadn’t approached?
Was it because they cared enough to respect boundaries, or because we weren’t close enough for them to feel comfortable?
Not fully understanding, I opened my mouth.
"Next time, don’t overthink it. Just come over. Why bother worrying about something like that?"
"...You think so?"
"Of course."
With that, we continued talking and finished our meal.

Time passed, and before I knew it, the day to meet Harin had arrived.
To be precise, the day for our collaboration stream.
I had streamed from London with others before, but this was my first time visiting someone’s house to do a broadcast.
It felt strangely formal.
"I hope I don’t mess up…"
Since the news of me streaming with Harin would attract a lot of viewers, I was nervous about making mistakes.
With these thoughts in mind, I arrived at Harin’s house.
Knock knock.

After a moment, the door opened.
"Oh, you’re here?"
Harin appeared in comfortable clothes.
Since we were at her home, her outfit was incredibly casual.

‘Distracting.’
Maybe it was because Harin was mixed-race, but she seemed very comfortable with such things.
Or maybe she just didn’t see me as a man—though that thought quickly passed.
Pushing aside such trivial thoughts, I stepped inside and couldn’t hide my amazement.
"Wow, what’s this? Why’s your place so clean?"

The house was spotless.
To be honest, I had expected it to be messy.
"Of course it’s clean. When people come over, you have to keep it tidy to avoid any gossip."
"Don’t you feel uncomfortable with people visiting your house? I find it a bit bothersome."
"Not really. They’re here to stream with me, not to do anything weird."
"Fair enough."
Harin stretched as she spoke.
Normally, I wouldn’t have thought much of it, but today I was a bit more conscious.
It was my first time visiting a female acquaintance’s house, after all.

"Alright… Let’s start the stream soon. Carry me in solo queue for a bit. My rank’s been dropping a lot lately."
"How much has it dropped?"
"A lot, seriously."
As Harin spoke, I followed her to the streaming setup.
There, I saw a top-of-the-line computer setup.
"Wow, your computer is amazing. How much did it cost?"
"Eh, around five million for the setup? Mine alone was about ten million."
"Wow."

I couldn’t fathom spending ten million won on a computer.
Impressed, I took off my jacket and sat in one of the chairs, which was also incredibly comfortable.
"This chair’s nice."
"That was around eight hundred thousand won."
"Seriously? Why spend so much on stuff like this?"
"It’s an investment. This is my livelihood, after all."
"True."
Thinking about how professional Harin was as a streamer, I fiddled with the computer until—

"Wait, let me set it up for you. The settings here are complicated, so I’ll take care of it."
"Ah, okay."
Harin leaned over and began adjusting the computer, her upper body invading my personal space.
It was an awkward situation.
I wanted to say something, but since Harin didn’t seem to care, I held my breath, worried that reacting would make things weird.
After what felt like an eternity—
"There, all done."

Harin finally stepped back.
"Whew."
Relieved, I watched as she made a few more adjustments to the settings.
Then she spoke again.

"We’ll start soon."
"Okay."
We hadn’t announced the collaboration stream, so I was curious about the viewers’ reactions.
It felt like a surprise reveal.
[Stream has started!]

The broadcast went live, and viewers began flooding in.
[???]
[What’s going on?]
[What’s this? What’s this? What’s this? What’s this? What’s this? What’s this? What’s this? What’s this?]
[Da-Ma!]
[Dama is here lolololol]
[Finally, Dama on Harin’s stream lolol]
[About time you showed up]
[It was bound to happen eventually]
[Once you taste Harin’s cooking, there’s no escaping]
As someone who occasionally watched Harin’s streams, I couldn’t quite grasp all the references in the chat.
I could only get a general sense of the vibe.

‘What are they even talking about?’
Curious, I greeted the audience lightly.
"Hey, everyone."

[Hi]
[Hi]
[Dama, we missed you so much!]
[Take Harin! Take Harin! Take Harin! Take Harin! Take Harin! Take Harin!]
Temporary ban issued!
[Why would Dama take Harin?]
[🗡️OmnipotentKthulhu: What the hell]
[🗡️OmnipotentKthulhu: I told you to warn me before starting the stream!]
[🗡️OmnipotentKthulhu: I’m seriously pissed off lol]
A familiar username appeared in the chat.
"Oops."

This was definitely my mistake.
Even if we’d planned to keep the stream a secret, I should have informed the manager.
It was a clear oversight on my part.
"I’ll do better next time."
[Lololol]
["I’ll do better next time" (translation: I won’t, so don’t expect it)]
[But seriously, even when they complain, the manager always shows up lol]
[They grumble but never miss a stream...]
[🗡️OmnipotentKthulhu: Of course, I track all of Dama’s stream keywords]
[🗡️OmnipotentKthulhu: If you don’t tell me, I have to find out myself, sigh]
[Such dedication lolol]

The chat speculated on why I was there.
[What’s going on today?]
[What are you doing here?]
[Maybe they’re here to grind solo queue together?]
[Sounds fun lol]
Nobody seemed to suspect that we’d be commentating the Reld Cup finals together.
It made sense.
As far as I knew, Harin had never co-commentated the Reld Cup with anyone.

‘I want to tell them…’
But since it would be impolite to reveal it first, I waited quietly until Harin began speaking with a smile.
"We’ll be commentating the Reld Cup finals together today, so bring everyone you know who’s interested. Let’s enjoy it together."

[Oh!]
[Lolol]
[This is gonna be amazing]
[Harin never co-commentates, what’s going on?]
[Can’t wait lol]
The viewers were thrilled, as expected.
It wasn’t every day you got to watch a Reld Cup finals commentary.
Even I was looking forward to it.
"Until then, we’ll grind some solo queue and grab food. That’s why we started early."

[🗡️OmnipotentKthulhu: Harin’s food? Educate them with that lol]
[This is gonna be so good lol]
[Harin’s just hitching a ride on Dama’s solo queue skills, isn’t she?]
[Totally, lolol]
In this lively atmosphere, we kicked off our first collaboration stream.