After finishing his meal.
Luke returned to his room, staring at the still-lit computer screen and muttered.
“Um, was the stream still on?”
Soon, Luke approached his desk to shut down the computer. He thought it was pointless to keep it on when there was no one watching.
He felt regret for the time wasted preparing for today’s stream.
Then suddenly, Luke’s hand stopped. The reason was a sentence written in the stream’s chat window.
[muscleman123-Hello^^]
“Uh?”
There were words in the chat window? This was something that couldn’t happen if no viewers had entered.
Luke began to check the number of people currently watching the stream, hoping it wasn’t a mistake. The number displayed was a remarkable 2.
Even if one of those viewers was checking the stream on another computer to see if it was working, it clearly meant that someone was watching his broadcast!
Luke was both surprised and happy that someone had entered his room. He decided to respond to the greeting and waved at the chat while answering.
“Ah, hello! Really nice to see you, muscleman123! Um, it feels awkward talking like this.”
Perhaps it was because he found it strange to speak to a single line of text on the screen; he was feeling rather shy. Usually, when people communicate through text, the reply also comes in text, and if they communicate verbally, the other person usually replies in kind. However, responding verbally to something received in text was creating a feeling of odd unnaturalness for Luke.
As a result, it felt akin to talking to himself.
Indeed, there are things you only know if you actually try.
Were others really doing this so skillfully?
By the way, he had just greeted, but there was still no reply in the chat.
Could it be that the person didn’t hear his greeting properly? Or perhaps they were choosing their words?
It was frustrating not being able to confirm if the other person was really reading it.
Unable to bear the frustration and silence any longer, Luke opened his mouth.
“Um…”
At that moment, a new message appeared in the chat.
[muscleman123-But what is this room for??]
“Ah.”
What was this? Were they typing a message just then?
It seemed they were just slow to type. He had been unable to hold out for that brief moment.
Luke felt a bit embarrassed about his impatience. However, he couldn’t let something like that stop him now that he finally had someone to talk to.
He quickly decided to share the plan he had thought about while eating earlier.
“Um, right. I was thinking of playing a game earlier; how about it? Are you interested in games?”
He had thought about it while eating, and it seemed that doing a game stream would attract more viewers. He felt hesitant because it sounded too stimulating, but he certainly couldn’t just sit around doing a broadcast no one was watching without knowing where to even advertise.
However, the response to his chat wasn’t particularly positive.
[muscleman123-Sorry, I’m not interested in games hehe;]
“Ah… I see?”
Oh, just his luck that he encountered someone who wasn’t interested in games…
Given the person’s preferences, it was hard to say anything.
Well, there were many such people in the world.
[muscleman123-So, are you playing a game today?]
Luke pondered for a moment.
If they weren’t interested in games, there was a good chance they’d leave the broadcast if he played one.
Not wanting to let his first viewer go after just a few minutes, Luke thought that maybe he should do what the viewer wanted today instead of playing a game.
“Ah, since you said you’re not particularly interested, I won’t play a game. Instead, let’s do what you want this time. How about that?”
Luke smiled at the screen.
Then, another message followed.
[muscleman123-Can I ask you something?]
Hmm, it seemed they were curious about something. Naturally, it’s common to be curious when meeting someone for the first time.
Luke nodded.
Since this was his first broadcast, he wanted to know what others were curious about.
“Of course. As long as it’s not too strange, I’ll do my best to answer. What’s on your mind?”
However, Luke was taken aback by the next question.
[muscleman123-Are you cross-dressing?]
“…What?”
Reading that message, Luke’s expression froze for a moment.
He paused to think about the meaning of what was written.
Well, technically, it could be seen that way, and as far as Luke was concerned, the discomfort with cross-dressing stemmed from the perception that pretty young men in drag were a form of entertainment from the past, so he didn’t find it too severe. However, this kind of chat was more than enough to fluster him.
Could it be that he looked that way to others?
[muscleman123-Your name is masculine and your manner of speaking is masculine too.]
Since he was using his previous name, he occasionally encountered misunderstandings when introducing himself. Just the other day, there was a discussion about it when he visited Umi’s house.
His manner of speaking was just something he was used to, with no particular meaning attached. He could change it easily if he wanted to.
However, the following message was something he couldn’t ignore.
[muscleman123-You’re very pretty for a cross-dresser ^^]
“For a cross-dresser.”
That statement seemed to carry a lot of meaning within it. It was usually interpreted as “You must be a man, but you seem to have tried to look like a woman,” or “At least this much, a man could be seen as a woman.”
If so, did that mean if he were actually a “woman,” he wouldn’t be considered pretty at all?
This was different from the previous messages, and Luke couldn’t help but shout in excitement.
“Wh-what do you mean? I am a woman right now! But saying ‘for a cross-dresser’—what does that even mean? What does it imply?”
Luke’s outburst was followed by a short response in the chat.
[muscleman123-Really?]
“Yes! Suddenly calling me a man—what are you implying? Apologize!”
[muscleman123-Then show me!]
“What?”
Luke was rendered speechless again.
Show me? What on earth did that mean?
Could it be that they were asking him to lift up his skirt to show something?
“What?!”
There’s no way he would do something like that!
There’s no need to prove his gender to them; this was just sexual harassment!
“D-don’t make unreasonable requests! This isn’t that kind of broadcast!”
As Luke protested, the other party calmly (at least from Luke’s perspective, since he couldn’t see their face) continued typing.
[muscleman123-I just meant that I know you’re a woman, so I wanted to see something cute…]
“…”
For a moment, Luke started to doubt if he was the one thinking inappropriately.
But it was impossible to accurately discern the other person’s intent from just text, so he couldn’t be blamed.
“Uh, well. If that’s the case, I could do that… But what exactly do you want?”
—-
Meanwhile, Dayton was thoroughly enjoying the broadcast.
He found it incredibly amusing to see Luke flustered and blushing on screen.
“Hehe, you never spoke properly all the time, did you? How does it feel to experience it firsthand?”
Of course, he had intentionally omitted the subject “cute” to create misunderstanding!
This was the result of Luke’s frustrating way of speaking.
And Dayton’s amusement was far from over.
– Meow… Meow…?
Here was Luke, who used to rebel against him all the time, now earnestly posing on screen and continuously making cat sounds.
It looked as if he were under hypnosis.
“Oh, this is so cute! Hehe…”
This was something he could rarely see in everyday life; all it took was to donate a sum of money and say, “Please imitate a cat!” to make this happen.
If he had known it would be like this, he should have encouraged Luke to stream from the start.
“Really, if he had a bit more charm like this in everyday life, it would be nice.”
If so, there wouldn’t have been occasions to tease him like this.
A little while later, Luke turned his gaze away from the screen, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and spoke.
“It’s t-time, so I’ll stop the cat imitation…”
“What? Is it time already?”
Now that it was ending, he felt a bit disappointed.
Feeling that disappointment, Dayton decided to ask for something else.
Such opportunities are never common.
By the way, he was really doing everything he was asked.
Was he really that desperate for money?
Well, for now, he decided to treat it as giving him some allowance and have some fun at his expense.
He even considered outright asking him to do household chores, but he decided against it this time, fearing that Luke’s sharp intuition might catch on.
Instead, Dayton manipulated his phone and demanded that Luke call him “Daddy” with a donation of 50,000 Gil.
[muscleman123 donated 50,000 Gil!]
[Please call me Daddy ^^]
As expected, Luke’s eyes widened in shock, and he turned crimson.
“W-what?! You want me to call y-you, D-Daddy? Out of the blue…!”
While he often called Yerna “Mom” and acted affectionately, he secretly felt a bit hurt that Luke didn’t call him that. It was, however, so amusing to see him embarrassed that the response was even more satisfying than expected.
But after showing that flustered expression for a while, Luke eventually bowed his head as if it were impossible and muttered.
“I’m sorry, you’ve given me 50,000 Gil, but I don’t think I can do that.”
Dayton felt deflated at that response.
What? Is it really that hard to say “Daddy”?
Was it that he didn’t want to say it?
He thought simply.
However, as Luke continued, it left Dayton speechless this time.
– The only person I can call “Daddy” right now is the one person in this world. Is there any way you can change it?
“…”
Is that so?
He thought Luke wouldn’t think of him as a father, but it seemed he took their relationship more seriously than he expected.
Well, considering it was a family he had gained back after a long struggle, it’s understandable that it would hold great significance.
It seemed he had unintentionally touched upon a sensitive subject.
Reflecting on his playful remarks, Dayton continued chatting.
[That’s fine. But promise me you’ll tell Dad that you love him later!]
Luke’s expression brightened as he smiled.
– Thank you for your consideration. Yes, I will definitely do that.
