I Became a Malicious Streamer

“Your ordered drink is here~.”

I was surrounded by current high school girls who were bombarding me with quirky questions when Ji-yeon came to my rescue.

As she placed what looked like a decent iced Americano in front of me, she glanced at the girls crowding around and raised her eyebrows in annoyance.

“Hey, aren’t you guys going to back off?”

With Ji-yeon waving her hand like swatting at pesky flies, the girls slowly backed away, retreating like well-behaved students.

“Oh, Ji-yeon’s here. It’s over for us.”

“Let’s go, let’s go.”

“It was fun! Let’s chat again, unnie!”

Finally, I let out a sigh of relief.

“Ugh…”

I was exhausted.

I took a moment to stretch my neck and arms, shaking them around like a tired cat.

In my past life, I wasn’t the kind of person to have any connections with women.

Even though I’ve been interacting with girls more recently, I had never been around someone with such high energy like that.

The closest was Ryuah, who’s quite dog-like and drags me around, but even she would be a rookie in this crowd.

“Hey, you must be tired. Drink this.”

Ji-yeon handed me the drink she had just brought.

Iced Americano in winter? Now that’s someone who knows what’s up.

“Ahh…”

The bittersweet coffee flavor lingered in my mouth.

The refreshing chill of the ice was just a bonus.

My dongsaeng had figured out my tastes perfectly.

Forget the whole ‘ice for summer’ nonsense; ice is delicious, regardless of the season.

Those who only drink hot drinks in winter? Now that’s what true craziness looks like.

Seeing people drink hot coffee or tea in the middle of summer makes me feel all hot and dizzy!

“You used to not even touch bitter stuff. Now look at you.”

“…Did I?”

“You always drank sweet stuff when we went to cafes.”

Like blueberry smoothies, Java chip frappuccinos, and sweet potato lattes.

Looks like the previous owner of this body, Ji-eun, had a completely childlike palate.

“Eh, it’s not that bitter.”

And really, it isn’t.

An Americano served in a café is just watered-down black coffee, after all.

If someone thinks that this diluted coffee is bitter, maybe they’ve never tasted the bitterness of life.

“This coffee isn’t as bitter as… life is, Ji-yeon. Living through life, this coffee is very sweet.”

As I shared this enlightening thought, Ji-yeon’s expression changed, as if she had witnessed something unfortunate.

“Unnie… that was really old-fashioned.”

“Ugh.”

I choked on my Americano at the unexpected comment.

Old-fashioned, huh?

I simply expressed my thoughts; I wasn’t forcing my beliefs on her!

Plus, I’m not even that old.

Since my life as Ji-eun has barely been a year, I can’t be more than thirty, right?

Roughly speaking, I was thirty in terms of experience.

Isn’t thirty not even considered old nowadays?

People often lump thirties together with their twenties, and I’m practically in my twenties!

I feel absolutely fine. Not even a little bit bothered!

“Um, I’m sorry, unnie. I’ll take back that comment.”

But from the looks in Ji-yeon’s eyes, she thought I was really hurt by the ‘Ji-eun is old-fashioned’ theory.

Well, whatever.

The weather was nice, and the iced Americano was delicious, after all.

*

“Have all the guys gone out to play?”

While sipping my coffee, I casually threw the question while chatting with Ji-yeon.

By now, the influx of guests had subsided.

Only a few girls, including Ji-yeon, remained in the class.

This high school is co-ed, but where did the rest of the students go?

“The booth is fine with just us. Usually, everyone wants to roam around, so we’ll switch off soon.”

They operate on a rotating schedule.

Nodding along, I weighed in.

“If you have a boyfriend, bring him to me. I want to see what kind of guy he is.”

It’s a dog-eat-dog world.

As someone who thinks people are the most frightening of all, I couldn’t help but be concerned.

But at least chatting with him would give me an idea of his character, so I just had to ask.

Plus, guys often reveal more when seen through the eyes of another guy.

Even though I’m not currently a guy, my previous life as one surely swayed my perspective.

However, Ji-yeon only smiled as if what I said was hilarious.

“I don’t have anyone like that. You need to like someone to date.”

“The confessions must have piled up, huh?”

“Well, yeah… how did you know?”

Ji-yeon tilted her head in curiosity.

It’s hardly a guess.

It’s only natural for someone like Ji-yeon to receive confessions from people around her.

She muttered softly, seemingly finding the answer.

“Yeah, it would be even more than me. You probably had your share of confessions, too, right?”

I could answer yes, even though my memory of school days was hazy.

I could vividly picture it with my eyes closed.

“Do you like anyone? No?”

“Why does the topic always head that way?”

“Because I’m curious?”

Let’s face it; stories about school days would involve either academics or romance.

Had Ji-yeon been my younger brother, some mischievous tales with friends would be sprinkled in, but her chromosomes were never about to shift from XX to XY.

Academics were a distant phrase from what I envisioned a vibrant school life to be.

And these days, it seems kids date pretty easily.

“I don’t really like anyone—but, ah, there is someone, though he probably doesn’t even know I like him.”

Ji-yeon’s love was ongoing.

The fact that it was unrequited made it even more intriguing.

Most kids would fall for a person with that expression.

I became quite curious about who they were.

“Must be someone pretty dense, huh?”

“Exactly. He probably doesn’t even realize I’m talking about him right now.”

Just then, shadows began to show through the window, and a bustling crowd surged in.

– Class 3 is at the café!

– Is there coffee?

– Let’s grab something to drink!

People began to crowd into the previously quiet café.

Mostly students, but a few staff and even I, an outsider, mingled among them.

“I have to go to work. They’ll be done soon, so wait for me here, okay?”

I nodded in response, gearing up for what felt like a hectic shift.

Why did so many people suddenly arrive?

Had some event just wrapped up?

I pulled off the lid of my empty Americano, crushed the ice in it, and observed the scene.

But something seemed off.

– What’s going on? Hye-jeong, where did they go?

– Well, Yeonsu went to the bathroom because her stomach hurt, and Hyeji went out the front because her boyfriend showed up.

– Of all times!

It was ridiculous how, during the busiest time, the staff mysteriously vanished.

I couldn’t blame my friends for needing a break, nor could I say they were being irresponsible.

Didn’t Ji-yeon drag me along?

This looked like an uncomfortable mess.

Many people, no one to help.

It was time to step in and assist!

“Ugh… what should we do?”

I approached Ji-yeon, who had told the customers to wait a bit while she figured things out.

“I’ll help.”

“You, really?”

“I can take orders, handle the cash and call out the orders.”

It was just a small café booth set up in the school.

There was no point-of-sale system, just a manual ledger for calculations.

I had no reason not to help.

“Thank you, unnie!”

Hye-jeong, who had been making drinks in the kitchen, lit up at my offer.

“Please help us out!”

“Leave it to me!”

Ji-yeon reluctantly handed me an apron and a baker’s hat.

Tying the apron tightly, I stepped up to the counter.

*

“Vanilla latte and choco shake… Hey, what do you want?”

“Do you have any recommended drinks?”

“Warm Americano with chocolate chunk cookies, chamomile tea—and can I also have your number?”

Even though I was working a job that felt unofficial, it still required me to deal with people.

Interacting with a crowd was always a draining endeavor.

– Wow, she’s really pretty.

– Go talk to her!

– Loser who loses rock-paper-scissors has to get her number!

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

Getting such advances seemed cute, but only until you’ve heard it a few times.

Eventually, it becomes tiresome.

Kids these days have no brakes; they’re so aggressive!

“Unnie, do you use Instagram?”

Students of all genders continued to show interest in me.

Whether it was genuine attraction or just pure curiosity, they were eager to learn about this new face in class.

When my friends returned, at least the rotation picked back up.

Still, I couldn’t rest easy, as I was still needed.

“We’ll switch soon, just hang in there a bit longer.”

“Why are so many people coming?”

“There’s a post on the school comm about our café saying a super cute person is here.”

Suddenly, my face felt hot.

They actually have community boards for high schools these days?

The thought that my presence was spreading like wildfire across those circles gave me the most peculiar feeling.

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