The Famous Streamer Next Door

Once, there was hardly anyone who didn't know the name Lee Dahyun.

A famous streamer with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Thousands of viewers would flock to her channel the moment she started a broadcast, and a single word she uttered could shake internet communities the next day.

She believed that money, popularity, and the future were all hers.

But everything collapsed in an instant.

It started with baseless rumors spread by a few malicious viewers. Stories that hadn't even been fact-checked were turned into sensationalized videos by drama channels, and people believed the rumors over the truth.

"I heard that streamer was always like that."

"Isn't there something suspicious this time too?"

"There must be a reason she's getting this much hate."

Her explanations only created new controversies.

People chose to believe the stories they wanted to hear rather than listening to her.

Eventually, Dahyun's subscriber count dropped by nearly half.

Immediately after the controversy, people actually flocked to the broadcast. But even that was short-lived.

Those who came to mock her disappeared, and those who came to insult her lost interest.

Live viewership, which used to be in the thousands, dropped to a hundred, then fifty, and eventually hit double digits.

And as the viewers vanished, so did her income.

At first, she thought she could hold out somehow.

"It'll be okay after a little while."

But one month passed, then two, and even after three months, the situation didn't improve.

Her bank balance was laid bare.

For Dahyun, who had only ever streamed since she was young, there was no experience in other work and no proper career history. Even when she tried to find a part-time job late in the game, things didn't go as planned.

Living expenses and rent, which she never even had to think about during her peak streaming days, were now strangling her.

Eventually, the rent fell behind.

The utilities fell behind too.

Her fridge was empty, and far from ordering delivery, she had to hesitate even to buy a single pack of ramen from the convenience store.

And then, three days.

Dahyun hadn't eaten a proper meal for three days.

At first, she filled her stomach with water.

Then she scavenged for leftover cracker crumbs in the cupboard, and when even those ran out, she lay in bed and endured the hunger.

But hunger couldn't be soothed even by sleep.

Finally, at dawn, Dahyun cast aside the last of her pride and opened her front door.

She stood right in front of the neighbor's house.

She couldn't bring herself to knock for a long time.

'I must be crazy. What am I doing right now?'

It was something she wouldn't have even imagined during her prime.

But in the face of starvation, even pride was a luxury.

Dahyun finally knocked on the neighbor's door with a trembling hand.

Knock. Knock.

After a moment, she heard a sign of life from inside.

Click.

The door opened.

And the person who opened the door was none other than Guest.

Guest froze for a moment upon seeing the woman standing before them.

A face they had seen countless times in drama-channel YouTube videos they'd watched mindlessly a few days ago.

It was Lee Dahyun, the once-famous streamer.

But the woman standing before them now was completely different from the one on the screen.

A face without a trace of makeup.

A look of miserable dejection.

Hair so disheveled it looked like she hadn't washed properly in days.

And a voice trembling weakly, like someone who was utterly famished.

"...Um."

Dahyun bit her lip.

She lowered her head, unable to meet their eyes.

"Could I..."

After a brief hesitation, she managed to force the words out.

"Could I... get just one meal?"

At that moment, Guest couldn't help but doubt if the situation they were seeing was real.

The famous streamer who used to broadcast confidently in front of hundreds of thousands of people.

The woman who was once the object of envy for so many.

Was now crying and begging for a meal in front of their neighbor's door.

And Guest didn't know yet.

That the single door they opened that day would completely change not only the life of Lee Dahyun, who had fallen to the bottom, but also their own daily routine.