Chapter 9

The total amount sponsored was 1.92 million won.

On the day of my discharge, my joint broadcast with Jinhyukie ended in success in all areas except for the matter of actually celebrating Jinhyukie’s birthday.

As soon as the broadcast was over, I climbed out of the capsule; Jinhyuk was waiting for me, holding a cup of ice in his hand.

“Hyung-nim! Thank you for your hard work. Why don’t you have a cool drink of water.”

“Uh, okay. Calculate the split the way I said earlier.”

“Hyung, why split anything when we share the same blood?”

“It’s precisely because we share the same blood that we need to keep money matters separate, dongsaeng-ah.”

I breathed heavily as I gulped down the water Jinhyukie had given to me in one go.

Perhaps because we had been using the capsule for such a long time, my throat was parched.

Jinhyuk placed the empty glass in the sink and picked up his smartphone.

“Hyung, this was really amazing. Let’s just keep going. At this rate, we could become a big corp.”

“Whose dog is named big corp?”

“I’m serious. Look, haven’t I totally gotten the hang of this?”

I was already tired to begin with, but listening to my brother babbling away in my ear was making me feel even more stressed out.

It seemed that it was time to impart the truth to the innocent lamb who had no idea of the way the world worked.

I draped my arm over Jinhyukie’s shoulder and said, “Dongsaeng-ah.”

“Yes, Hyung-nim.”

“There were people around me who thought they’d gotten the hang of things. Do you know what happened to them?”

Bitcoin, stocks, things like that.

“What happened?”

“They were all ****.”

“Ah………”

“So don’t ever say that kind of thing again. Before I become ****. Do you understand?”

My words had finally reached him.

When my dongsaeng heard those shocking words, he seemed to have fallen into a daze.

However he was young; he bounced back quickly and spoke to me with a determined expression on his face.

“Honestly, Hyung, you looked like you were having fun too. Isn’t that enough? Do whatever you want. Get a license or a part-time job. Just, let’s do a broadcast together once in a while.”

“Do you know how old your hyung is this year?”

“You’re 26.”

“Your hyung didn’t go to college and doesn’t have any skills. He also went to the army very late.”

This was a realistic problem.

Unlike other people, we didn’t have parents, nor did we have someone we could rely on to support us.

I was lucky enough just to get a small place in the capital.

No matter what my dongsaeng-ie chose to do, from the very beginning, I never had any intention of stopping him.

I was always grateful just for the fact that he was alive.

But we had to face reality.

A stable income was essential to take care of even the most basic expenses, including maintenance fees and telecommunication bills.

“You’re the only one who can have an unsteady job. Understand?”

Jinhyukie was right.

Honestly speaking, I had so much fun earlier.

It had been a long time since I had been online and it had been a lot of fun. It was also great to joke around with my brother’s viewers.

However, that was all.

The real world was too cold to think in ideals.

Jinhyukie fell silent for a while and bit his lips.

I smiled seeing him like that.

“Don’t be so serious. Hyung’s going to go take shower……..”

Drring.

Just then, an old-fashioned ringtone rang out from Jinhyukie’s smartphone and he answered immediately.

It must have been an important caller for him to pick it up right away.

“Ah, yes! Dongsoo hyung. I just finished my broadcast.”

Dongsoo hyung?

I’d heard that name a lot.

Well, Dongsoo wasn’t exactly an uncommon name.

I picked up a towel from the drying rack and was about to enter the bathroom.

My eyes met with Jinhyukie’s as he spoke on the phone. Soon after, his lips began to rise.

Did the heat get to him?

Why was he laughing like that all of a sudden?

“Ah, really? I’ll ask right away.”

Jinhyukie moved the phone away from his mouth after a moment and spoke to me with a smile,

“Hyung, there’s this hyung that I’m really close with.”

“Then let that hyung be your hyung.”

“What- that’s not what I’m saying. This hyung says that he wants to buy you a celebratory drink. What do you think?”

“For me? Do I have to go?”

“I was planning on introducing him to you when you got out of  the military, so the timing works out. Do you want to go meet him? He says he wants to get you a drink to celebrate your discharge.”

……Well.

The more I looked at his face, the more I didn’t like it.

However, seeing him wear such a bright expression while talking on the phone, it seemed like this guy had some kind of influence over my dongsaeng.

If that was the case, then I thought I should see this guy at least once.

My dongsaeng was also an adult but it was important to meet the people he knew.

I mulled over it for a moment and then replied reluctantly while nodding my head.

“I’ll do it.”

Jinhyukie then responded to the ‘hyung’ who was on hold straight away.

“Yeah, Hyung. Then I’ll see you there. Yes.”

Jinhyukie ended the call quickly and told me,

“This is….. An opportunity!”

Seriously, why did I feel so apprehensive?

Roughly $1,600 USD