Ranker's Return

-Let’s get the interview going.

-I want to know. Go go go.

-When did they start the fling?

-Maybe they are dating right now but are hiding it with the pretense of being in a fling?

The messages they sent were too much for Yeongchan to handle.

“First of all, I will do the greetings again. Hello, everyone. I am the streamer Argon.”

-That is enough with the greetings. Let’s get to the interrogation.

-Uhuh, the interrogation. The interview.

-Start the interview and interrogation.

Despite Yeongchan’s behavior, the chat window didn’t change much. On the contrary, the same messages rose even faster.

“I got it, so please calm down, everyone.” Yeongchan extended both hands toward the viewers.

He approached Hyeonu and Reina and asked cautiously, “You two, since when have you been like this?”

“What do you mean? Your choice of words is a bit weird.”

“That’s right. It sounds like Hyeonu and I have some type of weird relationship?”

Hyeonu and Reina frowned as they grabbed onto Yeongchan’s words.

“Ah, I’m sorry. Then I’ll correct it. How long have you been dating?” Yeongchan changed his words with an apologetic expression.

Hyeonu realized immediately that he was about to fall for the trap in Yeongchan’s words and rolled his eyes fiercely. “It isn’t since when. We haven’t started dating yet.”

“This... It didn’t work. As expected of Alley Leader.” Yeongchan shrugged with a sly expression.

-Argon’s hosting is crazy.

-Were you kidding from the start? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Wow, he wasn’t fooled ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-It was halfway there. What a shame. ㅋㅋㅋ

The viewers fully supported Yeongchan’s hosting. There were only a few people who could come out like this toward Hyeonu, so it was a very difficult sight to see.

“I’ll ask you again. Why are you finally announcing a pre-relationship fling now? Are you mocking the viewers?” Yeongchan relied on the full support of the viewers to prod Hyeonu with provocative words.

“What do you mean? Excuse me, Teacher-nim. You are going a bit too far.”

“It is probably you who went too far with mocking the viewers.”

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Cool.

-Who ordered the cider?

-How has Argon endured it all this time?

-Is this the beginning of Alley Leader’s roommate revelations?

Yeongchan pushed Hyeonu like a man with no backing. The more he did so, the more the viewers enjoyed it.

“It hasn’t been that long. Before that, we were just friends,” Hyeonu barely managed to speak while gritting his teeth tightly.

“It hasn’t been that long? Hmm... I understand.” Yeongchan nodded in disbelief. He couldn’t shake off the feeling of being forced to pass over it.

“This time, I will ask Reina. What is good about this guy?”

“Everything.”

“Everything?” Yeongchan’s eyes widened at Reina’s short answer. “I’m not the only one who is annoyed, right? Everyone?”

-Really. I just imagined using a skill.

-It would’ve been a big problem if it wasn’t Reina.

-She is blinded by him.

-In fact, Alley Leader is good...

“That’s right. This guy—he’s a good guy. He has a handsome face, and he’s tall. He has a nice body too. He is even good at games and making money.”

-His personality... I can’t guarantee it.

-By the way, he is nice when the New World hyung-nims are around.

-Or is he the type of guy who is only nice to his woman?

“I’m not sure about that, but I am sure of one thing. I am in a terrible mood,” Yeongchan said.

-It is the same for us.

-I have to look at this.

-It is usually the most fun right before things go well...

Yeongchan shared his feelings with the viewers as if they were one body.

“Well, if you have no more questions, I’ll stop the streaming here today. You all have other streams to watch, right?” Hyeonu saw the chat window that only complained about him without any particular content and aimed to end the live stream.

-Well... it is true, but this is unfortunate.

-I have other live streams to watch, but it feels like something more will come from this side.

-Turn it off if you want. We will go to Argon’s live stream. Let’s see the end there.

Surprisingly, the viewers backed off easily.

‘What? What is with this reaction?’ Hyeonu cocked his head at their unusual reaction. The viewers were too generous when normally they would be rushing to grab at his ankles.

‘A good thing is a good thing.’

However, Hyeonu didn’t bother to bring it up and make it a problem. He just let it flow.

“Then I will end today’s stream here. I will turn on the stream as soon as I return to South Korea, so please come and watch me then.”

-See you then.

-Bye bye.

-Have a nice party.

-Argon is left.

The viewers didn’t hold onto Hyeonu even as his live stream ended. Then Hyeonu boldly ended the live stream. Hyeonu confirmed that the live stream was turned off through his smartphone and stretched while shouting at Yeongchan, “Hey, go stream elsewhere! I need to rest now.”

Yeongchan didn’t respond to Hyeonu’s words though. Instead, he just fiddled with the tablet PC in his hand.

‘What?’ Hyeonu frowned upon seeing it. Something was strange. A wave of anxiety swept over him.

‘Perhaps...’ Hyeonu quickly tapped on the smartphone in his hand.

A few seconds later, Hyeonu charged like a bison at Yeongchan. “What is this, you jerk?!!”

The reason why Hyeonu was angry…

[Following the Alley Leader ♥ Reina couple.]

It was due to the magical title that would make anyone enter at least once.

“You hit me? Hyung-nims, this friend is going to hit me,” Yeongchan said.

He wasn’t flustered by Hyeonu’s charge. Instead, he just held up the camera and pointed it at Hyeonu.

“When did I hit you?” Hyeonu raised his hands and waved them at the camera.

“Let’s talk like gentlemen.” Hyeonu clung to Yeongchan in this posture. Then he quickly stabbed Yeongchan’s thigh with his knee from an angle that wasn’t visible to the camera.

“Ack!” Yeongchan screamed and twisted his body at the sudden pain.

Hyeonu naturally supported such a Yeongchan. Then he once again attacked Yeongchan from an angle where the camera couldn’t be seen.

“Ack!” Yeongchan let out another cry.

“Argon seems to be very sick, so he will end the live stream now. I’ll see you in the next stream.” Hyeonu ruthlessly ended the stream.

“Are you crazy?” Hyeonu finally let Yeongchan go.

“Thank you.” Yeongchan shrugged at Hyeonu with a casual expression. “I was having a hard time as well. Thanks to you, I managed to turn it off.”

Yeongchan was similar to Hyeonu. He hadn’t sobered up yet. He turned on the live stream because he made a promise. From then on, he just looked for the right time to turn it off. In such a situation, Hyeonu made up a reason like this. He thought it was right and ended the live stream.

“I am going. The two of you play well.” Yeongchan turned and strode toward the resort. Hyeonu stood there in a bewildered manner without even thinking about catching Yeongchan. Reina lay on the sunbed and watched the scene with great amusement.

***

Hyeonu and Reina ended their date and returned to the resort as the sun was sinking into the sea. The resort was already in party mode. There was good music playing through the loud audio, and drinks and food filled the huge table. In addition, those invited to the party had arrived.

“Hyung!” Mason ran to Hyeonu.

“Why are you so late? You spoke as if you were coming here first.”

“A meeting was suddenly scheduled. I’ve been a bit busy lately. Because of a certain someone.”

“Is it because of me?”

Mason nodded. Once companies learned that Hyeonu was doing advertisements on his live streams, they inquired about it and set Nike Management’s phone lines on fire.

“Really? That’s good. What, is there no bonus or anything? The company is doing really well because of me, after all,” Hyeonu teased Mason with a playful expression.

“Why? Is there anything you want?”

However, Mason didn’t easily fall for it. Rather, he teased Hyeonu instead.

Hyeonu smiled and shook his head. “It’s fine. If I need anything, I’ll buy it. I have a lot of money.”

“Yes, Hyung needs to spend some money.”

“I should.”

After a short conversation with Hyeonu, Mason found Reina standing behind Hyeonu and greeted her. “Congratulations, Reina.”

“Huh? All of a sudden?” Reina looked puzzled at Mason’s sudden congratulations.

‘For what reason?’

It was because she had nothing particular to be congratulated on.

“I heard you are dating Hyung?”

“Huh? We aren’t dating yet...”

“Really? That is strange. Everyone says that you are dating?”

“It is just a pre-relationship fling, pre-relationship,” Hyeonu interjected with a frown.

“Hyung, that is dating. What fling? Are you planning on ending it badly?” Mason freely expressed things that others couldn’t say to Hyeonu.

“That isn’t it...”

“Then just tell the people around you that the two of you are dating. You just have to hide it moderately on your live streams.”

“Is that so?”

In fact, Hyeonu also knew that his relationship with Reina was different from the usual fling.

‘Indeed, we are more like a couple than someone in a fling.’

The reason he couldn’t reveal it easily was Reina. Compared to the man, the woman was always at a disadvantage when a couple made their relationship public. So Hyeonu was naturally in a position where he had to be considerate of her.

“Hyung, think about it. What exactly are you doing?” Mason said as he grabbed Hyeonu’s arm lightly. Then he let go and walked over to where another person was.

Reina approached Hyeonu and whispered softly, “You don’t have to worry too much. Don’t pay any mind to the eyes of others.”

Hyeonu nodded at those words. “It doesn’t matter if we’re dating or having a fling. We just need to like it.”

Then he took her hand and walked into the party. The atmosphere of the party was already heating up. People were dancing with excitement or eating and drinking. Yeongchan was holding a microphone. He pointed at Hyeonu and shouted, “The next batter has just arrived. Please give him a round of applause—our leader, Gang Hyeonu.”

‘What? So suddenly?’ Hyeonu looked around with a flustered expression.

“Come up, Gang Hyeonu-ssi,” Yeongchan called out to Hyeonu again.

Hyeonu was forced to go up onto the stage where Yeongchan was.

“There is a woman here that Gang Hyeonu likes. Today, he would like to take this opportunity to convey his heart to her. Everyone, please support him with a round of applause.”

Hyeonu frowned slightly when he heard Yeongchan’s words. It was because he didn’t know what Yeongchan’s intentions were.

“What is this about?”

Yeongchan moved the microphone away from his mouth and quickly poured out some words: “What is this? Sing a song or something. Think of it as karaoke. They are all people you know.”

‘Yes, but...’ Hyeonu thought.

All the people at the party were Kim Seokjung’s acquaintances, but Hyeonu knew them as well.

‘Ah, I don’t know.’

“I will sing a song for her.” Hyeonu snatched the microphone from Yeongchan’s hand.