hyemu.exe.

“Good evening chat! How’s it going? I need to see all my Hyemdans in here. Notifying the members on Discord, and—”

hyem_hyemu has gone live.

Almost immediately, 500 or so viewers pop in all at once.

“Welcome, welcome! I’ll begin the stream shortly, but while I set up tonight’s game, how are we doing on this fine Thursday evening?”

Hyewon giggles and winks at the camera, lightly rubbing her body as if she’s holding a microphone to sing for a show. This is what welcomes you to the stream: her in a tight black dress/nightie with her tits pressed together for greater emphasis. Do this on a more popular site and it would be an immediate takedown of the channel, but here, it’s all fair game.

It’s the norm on her channel. So much so that everyone’s desensitized to it by now.

> flag_xo: we running league again tonight?

> bananaleclercc: when are you gonna stream on youtube?

> peachikinn: W stream

> ThatsTheSequence: School just started for me

Hyewon laughs at a particular comment, covers her mouth for a moment. “Alright. So, we’ll be playing a Pokémon game today. You guys gave some intriguing suggestions in the Discord, which if you haven’t, please join—”

Her main screen displays Pokémon Radical Red. Chat’s reception is rather lukewarm.

> flag_xo: Thought it was okay. Unbound is a must play for sure

> bananaleclercc: PokeRogue is way better

> wandering_notions: not a rom hack @bananaleclercc

> peachikinn: i don’t play rom hacks

> you: goated rom hack

In the midst of the commotion:

ThatsTheSequence has sent a ₩100,000 donation.

Hyewon raises an eyebrow, adjusts her cleavage from side to side in her dress, sitting comfortably on her seat in her usual style. She hears the notification sound and her eyes light up. “Sarah with the big 100k and we haven’t even started the game yet! Can we get some big Ws for Sarah in the chat please?”

Like mindless drones, most of the viewer base obediently complies, spamming Ws and emotes in the chat that disappear immediately and are lost to time—yours included.

> ThatsTheSequence: gotta jet, school is gonna start soon lol. hf with the stream

“Of course; thank you again Sarah for the dono, give her some Ws in the chat please!”

Her cursor then scrolls over to a giant wheel, with hundreds of usernames written, all exclusive members who pay a small monthly fee or are gifted by others to be part of the club. This is a stream tradition: the winner at the end will be able to get an exclusive chat with her, whether through DMs or in video call.

It’s your most anticipated part of every stream. And even though you’ve been a member for almost 18 months, you still haven’t gotten the opportunity. Every live is a new chance, a new hope—and it gets shot down. Every single time.

“You already know what this is,” she says to everyone in chat, spamming Ws now for the wheel spin ahead of the stream’s finale. “But let’s get on with the game; I know some of you have been waiting.”

It’s your typical Pokemon gameplay viewing, except every now and then, you ghost Hyewon with story progression and teambuilding since it’s one of those games you memorize from front to back after replaying countless times.

> Furret’s a great early game mon. Catch it

“Already on it.”

> bananaleclercc: furret’s good in this game?

> peachikinn: this game seems kinda hard

> verstrappon69: what game is this?

> ddeunsparce: Do people not read the title? Seriously?

Hyewon composes herself graciously, reiterating the title of the game (Radical Red) no matter how many times this question is spammed in chat. Despite willingly going in blind. Apart from some ghosting from chat (mostly you), she’s managed to reach the 1st set of difficult boss fights with minimal, if any, difficulty.

So you commemorate your contribution with a donation.

[you] has sent a ₩150,000 donation.

Her eyes come alight once more, and chat responds concurrently, spamming Ws right away before she even issues the command.

“There’s our resident gifter! Ws in chat!”

This is your most consistent stream. Your only stream, in fact. Almost every live, you donate. Regardless of game, or whether or not she’s even playing that particular day. Whether big or small it doesn’t matter, anything to get Hyewon’s attention and have her notice and call out your name or username, because nothing inflates the ego more than hearing it from her voice.

Her gaze lifts up, locking into the camera. Like she’s trying to burn a hole right through. Right through your eyes and out the other end of your monitor. But Hyewon still continues. Still manages to somehow play this game. Because it’s something about how you’re a devoted viewer: 84% watch time dedicated to her, almost 4 hours per session, top 0.1% fan.

“Okay, guide me through this one, since you seem to know a lot about this game,” she remarks, directly implying to you. You write a strategy and optimal team with her options in chat with pinpoint precision, leaving a response in chat as quickly as she speaks. She takes a moment to stare at the message box, to read every word, absorb every direction like it’s gospel. And her expressions indicate, she’s impressed.

She reads and plays it just like you outline. Hyewon pauses on every turn, every selection, and even when luck decides to fuck her sideways, you steer her through the first of the two boss fights with minimal difficulty.

As the battle fades, so do your thoughts. Even though you’ve been backseating, you’re proud on her behalf, like this is her achievement and hers alone. And so does chat.

> bananaleclercc: L FALKNER

> peachikinn: ez

> ddeunsparce: This is actually still easy ngl. Just wait till Surge

But you’ll cross that bridge when you get there.

And as for the second fight, she decides not to take your advice—or anyone’s for that matter, out of avoiding overreliance on chat’s assistance.

“So. I know he’s usually got Rock types, and I think I can handle it with my team just fine.”

Your eyebrows furrow. You can’t help but hold your breath. She’s either underestimating him, or overconfident about herself, given her lack of experience playing ROM hacks. Either way, you try and compose yourself.

> u sure about this?