I'm living with someone who's about to get married.
My aunt's statement, which was quite effective in warding off other relatives trying to leech off me, was also somewhat bewildering to me personally.
It was a half-truth, half-lie kind of situation.
Yes, I am living with Gabi.
But this is cohabitation in the dictionary sense, not what people commonly mean by it.
We're just living together, not getting to know each other with marriage in mind.
Then again, I can't completely deny it since Gabi and I are technically married on our internet broadcast.
Strongly denying it would make me feel guilty toward Gabi.
And if I tried to explain that we're married because of our virtual marriage content...
My aunt's protection would be meaningless, and other relatives would pounce immediately.
"N-Noel, how old are you to be getting married already?"
"What? You're living with someone without any adults in the house? Who's this boyfriend? You should at least introduce him to the elders."
"That's right. Someone might be approaching you for your inheritance, so the adults should evaluate if this man is suitable to be your husband."
Just listening to my relatives, they're being quite blatant.
I was about to feel offended, but seeing others' reactions made me feel better.
From the conversation, everyone clearly knows I'm a young woman living alone after losing my father.
And that all my relatives, including my uncle, are concerned about my inheritance.
If I were to be generous, I could interpret their words as genuine concern that the person I'm living with might be after my inheritance.
But that's not it.
Even though language can be imprecise without proper articulation, non-verbal expressions often reveal people's true intentions.
Expressions, voice, gestures, and timing.
They're afraid that my father's inheritance, which they've been coveting, might go to someone else.
It's not an insignificant amount of money, I suppose.
But is it worth sacrificing their dignity?
Why don't they realize how bad they look to others when they show such greed here?
Meeting guests at my cousin's wedding, exchanging business cards, building connections for future collaboration—they're going to lose all those networking opportunities.
Well, I suppose people with that level of awareness wouldn't have shown their greed toward me in the first place.
They think they're disguising their intentions well, but if it's obvious even to my inexperienced eyes, how much more so to those with more life experience?
"It's okay, we're living together to figure that out. I'm not sure if I should call you sister-in-law. I don't know much about family titles. Thank you for the bouquet, I'll definitely contact you with good news next time."
"Just calling me 'unni' is enough. Yes, please do contact me. I'll definitely come with Junhyeok."
With my aunt's cover, I managed to end the controversy and redirect the attention back to the real protagonists of this event.
Fortunately, the bride didn't seem to mind the brief attention on me and smiled it off.
With that settled, the other relatives had no more excuses to approach me.
They retreated to their seats, grumbling among themselves.
I'm not sure if I should return the bouquet or not.
If no one asks for it back, can I just take it?
Then I can show it to Gabi and Jaemin, and brag about it to my viewers too.
Maybe I'll joke that I jumped from my wheelchair to catch it on the rebound.
No, they might think I'm serious.
Better to say I used my wheelchair as a booster to fly through the air.
That way they'll know I'm just kidding.
I'm the kind of person who has to carefully consider even simple jokes, which is tiring.
But it's better than causing controversy by speaking thoughtlessly.
So, feeling triumphant after successfully fending off my relatives' offensive thanks to my aunt, I returned to our table.
My cousin's friends were looking at me with shocked expressions.
...Ah, right, these people knew a bit more about me.
"Wait, Noel. You're engaged? Aren't you twenty?"
"I'm twenty-one now. The year changed. You call yourself an HLG fan but don't know that?"
"That's not the issue. Isn't that too young to get married?"
"She's pretty and talented. Isn't it better to marry young then?"
Apparently, they weren't viewers of my broadcast and took my aunt's words seriously.
My aunt responded to them before I could, with a mischievous smile.
"Hehe, looks like Junhyeok's friends already know Noel. But you didn't know she's marrying her manager, did you?"
"Auntie, if you say it like that, they'll think it's real. And we're already married. We even had a ceremony recently."
"What? You should have invited me, Noel. I occasionally watch your broadcasts, but I didn't know. You got married already?"
"Wow..."
I'm a bit embarrassed that my aunt apparently watches my broadcasts.
But that aside, if this continues, the misunderstanding will grow out of control.
So as soon as the other relatives returned to their seats, I quickly explained to these people.
"It's not a real marriage, it's a virtual one. It's broadcast content."
"Oh, a virtual marriage? That makes sense."
"Phew, you scared me. I was really curious about who married Noel."
"But even for a virtual marriage, wouldn't there be controversy if someone married Noel...?"
"It's fine because we're both women. If it were a man, it might not have been great, but we're all just friends anyway."
"Ah, two women. Then there's no problem. But did you broadcast it? A pro-gamer toplaner doing internet broadcasts—why didn't I know about this?"
"I'm not a pro-gamer anymore. I've retired."
"What? Why did you retire after winning the championship? At twenty-one, aren't you in your prime? That's such a waste."
Junhyeok's friends are quite innocent.
They believe everything my aunt and I say at face value, and they genuinely care about my well-being.
...And they're really behind on gaming news.
Well, as a streamer, it's disappointing that they're not up-to-date with my field.
But being behind on gaming news probably means they don't have much time to dedicate to games.
They must be busy with their own responsibilities.
It's not that being passionate about games means neglecting studies or work.
But if they're not interested in something as addictive as games, they must be diligent in their duties.
Of course, not all gamers keep up with pro scene news.
Anyway, that must be it.
Otherwise, I'd feel disappointed.
Not everyone in the world needs to know about me.
But since I do internet broadcasts and have become somewhat famous,
I feel a bit miffed that people who claim to know me are so behind on news about me.
"Well, being a pro-gamer came with too much pressure. Instead, I received an offer to coach, and I thought that would be better."
"True, pro-gamers are under tremendous stress. It's disappointing not to see you in tournaments, but if that's what you decided, I'll support you."
"Oh, looks like they're serving galbitang. Why isn't it a buffet?"
"Wedding buffet special: tastes bad. Wedding hall serving galbitang special: tastes good."
And even that topic was quickly forgotten at the sight of galbitang.
Some fans they are, prioritizing galbitang over me.
But I didn't mind their lightheartedness, and I smiled as I watched the wedding hall staff serving the food.
"By the way, Noel. You must have received prize money from winning the pro tournament. Is it just sitting in your bank account? Trust your aunt just once. Let's invest in stocks!"
"Haha. I appreciate your help, but I don't know much about that. I'll just put it in a savings account."
"No, stocks give you dividends, so the return is higher than savings accounts. If you invest in promising stocks, your money will multiply! Though I personally think investments with a bit more risk yield better returns."
"I don't really like risk."
"But Noel, don't you make high-risk, high-return plays in tournaments? That's what the commentators said."
"But I heard those plays have somewhat predictable returns. So it's not just high-risk, right?"
"The risk is the champion dying. Since there's a minimum return, that's like a savings account."
"But savings accounts have fixed returns. Noel's plays are more like investing in blue-chip stocks!"
"At least it's not cryptocurrency."
Amidst all this, my aunt remained earnest about growing money,
And my cousin's friends continued their bizarre conversation after hearing us.
If I had just a couple more friends like them, I might still be living that kind of life.
Unfortunately, I didn't have such friends.
But I didn't feel jealous.
I have Gabi and Jaemin.
Everyone has their own style of friendship.
Thanks to those conversations, my forced smile soon turned into a genuine one.
The galbitang being carefully placed on our table looked appetizing.
Above all, seeing the relatives my aunt had chased away looking uncomfortable as they watched others' reactions,
I knew the galbitang would taste delicious, regardless of how well it was made.