“You little brat! You naughty little brat!”
Smack, smack!
“Ow! Ow!”
After getting spanked repeatedly on her bottom, Soona burst into loud tears.
At the same time, doors opened all around, and several people came rushing out.
“What’s going on?”
“Su… Suhyun? What happened?”
Kim Suhyun reluctantly put down the struggling Soona, but his angry expression didn’t fade.
“Wah—!”
“Stop crying already! What did you do to deserve this?”
“I don’t know! Dad’s an idiot!”
“You…!”
Before he could finish, Soona ran off crying and slammed the door shut behind her.
Bang!
The heavy thud was followed by her wailing sobs echoing through the room.
“Huff…”
Kim Suhyun sat down wearily on a nearby dining chair, his face blank.
Ansol, who had been standing stiffly like a stuffed straw doll, broke the sudden silence awkwardly.
“O-brother, what happened?”
“She lied.”
Gehenna, who was taking off her shoes by the front door, said calmly.
“On the way home, we stopped by the supermarket. While picking out what we needed and about to pay, we found a bunch of snacks hidden that weren’t even in the cart.”
“Oh… So Soona did that?”
“From the circumstances, it looks like Soona planned it, and Mar was coerced into being an accomplice through threats and desire.”
“But she looked so wronged just now…”
“She kept denying it so much that we checked the CCTV. Every time I or E looked away, she’d sneak things in.”
“Even CCTV…”
Ansol smiled wryly but tilted her head in confusion.
Knowing how deeply Suhyun loved his kids, she couldn’t understand why he’d resort to spanking over something like this.
“If it were just that, I wouldn’t say anything.”
At that moment, Kim Suhyun, who had been chain-smoking, finally spoke in a low voice.
“If she said she just wanted to eat it, who’d blame her? Of course, I’d buy it for her.”
“Y-yeah.”
“But at first, she flat-out denied it. Then as soon as she saw the CCTV, she flipped everything, blaming Mar, saying Mar threatened her. Does that make sense?”
“Ahahaha…”
Ansol gave a clumsy laugh, as if she finally understood.
Mar threatened her?
No way.
A ten-thousand-level being who could rival hell’s terrors, and yet she caved to a baby fairy’s threats?
That was absurd.
“So Soona definitely did wrong, right? Vivian unnie…?”
Ansol looked to Vivian for agreement but suddenly noticed a sour expression on her face.
Vivian, who had been with them moments ago, had quietly slipped away.
“Unnie?”
Stretching her neck and looking around, Ansol spotted a woman leaning against a pillar, clutching her chest.
Huff… huff…
Panting heavily, it was Vivian.
In fact, Vivian had been struggling to calm the pounding in her chest for some time.
Her cheeks were flushed bright red, as if lightly burned.
‘Why all of a sudden… why am I like this…?’
She tried to steady herself by taking deep breaths, but the harder she tried, the more her heart hammered.
‘What did I just see…?’
Vivian squeezed her trembling eyelids shut.
The scene she’d just witnessed replayed vividly in her mind.
Then, the moment she saw Suhyun’s strong palm strike something, her eyes snapped open in shock.
Something she’d forgotten until now.
But something she’d always carried deep in her heart.
A unique trait everyone possesses.
Her nature, briefly forgotten in the fresh new world of broadcasting, had been reawakened.
And that instinct sent chills crawling all over her body.
So much so that she even felt a strange, tingling sensation deep inside.
‘My heart won’t stop trembling…!’
Vivian screamed silently inside.
The stormy Friday night passed, and Saturday morning dawned.
After breakfast, Vivian entered Kim Suhyun’s room without permission and was met with an unexpected sight.
“Well, well, look who’s grown up enough to apologize when she’s wrong. Our little princess~”
The two, who hadn’t appeared at the dining table, were sitting on the bed, warmly embracing each other.
“Yeah. If you want something, just ask. Has Dad ever refused to buy you anything you wanted?”
“No. Never.”
“And don’t blame Mar for everything. If you did wrong together, you both have to be punished. Do you know how disappointed I was yesterday? Huh?”
“……”
Kim Suhyun gently stroked his daughter’s hair.
Soona, with a small pout and candy in her mouth, nodded reluctantly.
“It’s okay. You won’t do it again, right?”
“……Yeah.”
After all the fuss yesterday, they seemed to have made up overnight.
A moment later, Soona got a kiss on her chubby cheek and jumped off her dad’s lap.
Noticing Vivian, she glanced over and hurriedly left through the door.
Only then did Kim Suhyun notice Vivian and scratched his temple, looking a bit surprised.
“You already made up?”
Vivian asked.
“Well, no parent can win against their kids… By the way, what brings you here? You didn’t even knock.”
Shrugging, Kim Suhyun asked with a slightly tense voice.
Clearing her throat, Vivian put on a very businesslike expression and spoke.
“Nothing much, just a favor.”
“A favor?”
“Yeah. I was hoping you could help me with something related to broadcasting.”
“What is it?”
Kim Suhyun stammered.
Ignoring that, Vivian calmly began reciting the script she’d prepared overnight.
After hearing the lengthy explanation, Kim Suhyun sighed in relief.
“Ah, so you want to add a punishment element to the new skill-focused segment, and you want me to appear as an assistant?”
“Exactly. You know the game ‘War of the Stars’?”
“Of course. I play it too.”
“……What?”
For the first time, suspicion flickered across Vivian’s face.
She had no idea Kim Suhyun played games.
“What’s your ID?”
“Why?”
“Can you show me?”
“Sure, no problem.”
Without changing expression, Kim Suhyun calmly pulled out his smartphone.
In truth, the ID ‘Cheater Spider Vivian’ was just a secondary character.
He had a main character under a different name.
In case Vivian got suspicious like just now, he was fully prepared.
When he showed her the record on the stats site, Vivian’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Mercenary Lord? That’s you?”
“Doesn’t the ID give it away?”
“No way… You’re one of the top ten?”
“Only seventh place. Mid to lower tier. People here are really good, especially the top three—they’re on a whole other level.”
In War of the Stars, ranks are divided by skill.
Though Kim Suhyun spoke casually, the top ten were the absolute elite among all players.
In the wildly popular War of the Stars, seventh place was a distant, unreachable sky to Vivian.
“Really? You’re really a cheater?”
“Cheater? No, it’s skill.”
By the way, ‘cheater’ was a nickname mocking Kim Suhyun’s ID ‘Mercenary Lord.’
Top-ranked players often get offers to become pro gamers or streamers, but he refused all requests, earning that nickname.
Gossipmongers often spread rumors that he used hacks and never appeared in real matches.
“If it’s true, log in and prove it!”
“Alright, alright.”
Kim Suhyun logged in immediately, and Vivian’s doubts vanished.
“Great!”
Swallowing her surprise, Vivian clapped her hands loudly.
“Perfect! Then how about we tweak the plan a bit? You teach me instead.”
“Oh, you want to change the punishment to a teaching role? Sounds good.”
Just as Kim Suhyun was about to agree, Vivian jumped up.
“No! I mean you become my mentor! And if I mess up during the game, you punish me under the pretense of a penalty! Like giving me mental or physical shame, or even corporal punishment on some body part…!”
“…Hey. Do we really have to go that far?”
Seeing Kim Suhyun’s face, Vivian suddenly shut up.
Realizing she’d gone overboard, she quickly returned to a professional demeanor.
Then, with a resigned look, she continued.
“What else can I do? The viewers want it. Popularity’s dropping lately, and these days, only edgy segments get a good response.”
By the way, none of the viewers had actually asked for punishments.
They’d only said the show was boring.
“Of course… I don’t really like those ridiculous skits either. But I’m a professional broadcaster. Even if I hate it, I think I have to give the viewers what they want.”
Still, Vivian didn’t even bother to sugarcoat it, blaming everything on the audience.
“…Is that so?”
Kim Suhyun replied nonchalantly.
Maybe thinking she’d won him over, Vivian suddenly pulled out a carrot.
“Please, I’ll give you half the broadcast income. Deal?”
As a popular streamer, it was a bold offer.
But for Kim Suhyun, who got tens of millions a month just as allowance from Han So-young, money wasn’t much of a lure.
“In that case, fine.”
Despite everything, Kim Soo-hyun agreed.
“I’m not sure if I’ll be much help, but I’ll give it a shot.”
“Really?”
“I said I would.”
“Are you sure?”
Vivian was practically bouncing with excitement.
“So you can start tomorrow, right? You don’t have much going on these days anyway.”
“What?”
“You’re basically a kept man, living off your wives’ money.”
“…”
“A jobless bum just lounging around at home.”
“…Yeah. Fine.”
Though there was no malice behind it, her words hit him right where it hurt.
Strictly speaking, it was true. Kim Soo-hyun’s voice suddenly dropped to a serious tone.
But Vivian, too caught up in her joy to notice, quietly cheered to herself as she left the room.
“Yes!”
She shut the door behind her, clenched her fist, and shouted.
How could she not be thrilled? She’d gotten exactly what she wanted.
Of course, Vivian had wrestled with this decision for a long time.
Even if she wanted it herself, she didn’t have the guts to just barge in and say, “Hey, slap my butt like you do with Soo-na!”
No matter who you were, that was a pretty embarrassing thing to ask.
So the key was figuring out how to annoy Kim Soo-hyun without raising suspicion.
That’s why she combined the punishment idea from the broadcast with An-sol’s advice.
If she said it was for the show, Kim Soo-hyun wouldn’t object—and in fact, he understood.
In the end, a fantasy she’d only dreamed of for years suddenly became reality.
And that wasn’t all.
The fact that Kim Soo-hyun was a top-ranked player was an unexpected bonus.
A cheater who had always been shrouded in mystery was now revealing himself openly?
It was obvious that curious viewers would flock in droves.
In other words: skill would improve, the show’s popularity would soar, income would increase, and best of all, she’d get to be with Kim Soo-hyun.
Truly,
“Having your cake and eating it too!”
“Seeing the man!”
“Getting teased!”
“And getting a good slap on the butt!”
“Hehehehehe.”
Her mischievous laughter burst out.
Vivian’s light, carefree steps were as light as feathers.
Soon, she fluttered back into her room, humming a tune as she eagerly prepared for tomorrow’s broadcast.
…And so, Vivian was lost in her rosy daydreams.
Unaware that Kim Soo-hyun, left alone, was smirking quietly to himself.
Meanwhile, what would happen after their promised joint broadcast period ended?
Poor Vivian had no idea—not even in her dreams.
---------------------------= Author’s Note ---------------------------=
Come to think of it, the pre-orders have surpassed 50,000…
Thank you all so much. (__)
There aren’t many daily side stories left, but I’ll keep giving it my all until the end.
Thank you! :)