By day, I’m the second-ranked student in my year. By night, I’m a thirst-trap streamer. My top donator is the cold, untouchable genius from the dorm next door. Pretending I don’t know, I subtly bait him into showering me with gifts, vowing to win back every cent of the scholarship he snatched from me. But I never expected him to walk in on me during a live stream. There I was, in a backless sweater, cornered in an elevator by Ethan Shroyer. “Don’t worry,” I stammered, “I’ll never tell anyone you’re… this kind of pervert!” Ethan just chuckled, leaning in to breathe a whisper against my ear. “Twenty grand a month. Private video calls on WhatsApp. You dance only for me.” 1 “Thanks for all the love, my beautiful people. Hit that follow button so you don’t get lost.” Dressed in a new black lace shirt, I moved to the rhythm in front of my phone camera. In the comments, a pack of ravenous female fans were howling. That’s right. I’m a thirst-trap streamer. When I started, I was all passion, genuinely trying to be a serious dancer. The result? A handful of viewers, if I was lucky. One of my loyal followers kindly offered some advice: 【Dude, you don’t show your face, which is fine, but you’ve gotta at least show off those abs, right? What else is gonna pull people in?】 【If you wanna make it on the internet, you gotta be willing to go all out. No risk, no reward, you know?】 I took the advice. The long sleeves came off, replaced by a tight black tank top. That night, over two thousand people flooded my stream, showering me with gifts. In this day and age, a little bit of skin is what sells. To avoid being recognized by anyone I knew, I always wore a mask during my streams. I glanced down to switch songs, and when I looked back up, my screen was frozen, stuck in a dizzying loop of the “Carnival” gift animation. Beneath my mask, my face was stretched in a grin so wide it hurt. “Thank you! Thank you so much, ‘S’... my lady—wait, my good man!” The user ‘S’, who had just dropped ten Carnivals in a row, had their gender listed as male. Uh oh. A little bit of edge attracts the girls. Too much, and you attract the guys. Whatever. As long as they’re spending money, they’re my patrons. Time to charm my audience. “What would you like to see, S?” I asked twice, but the mysterious benefactor, nicknamed ‘S’, remained silent. So cold? I couldn’t leave the rest of my viewers hanging, so I got back to dancing. After a while, a line of text finally crawled across the screen from S: 【Show me your abs.】 2 By the end of the stream, S had donated a total of two grand. He was officially my number one fan. After logging off, I clicked on S’s profile to do some digging. His avatar was a generic photo of the sky. Age: 20. Location: Unknown. How could someone so young be so loaded? His profile was completely blank, not a single post. Looked like a brand-new account. Just as I was wondering how to build a connection with this guy, a private message from S popped up. 【Hey, streamer. Can I get your WhatsApp?】 Wow. Straight to the point. My internal alarms started blaring. Out in the world, a guy’s got to know how to protect himself, especially in my line of work. People can get the wrong idea. But maintaining a relationship with my top donator was crucial. Otherwise, who’d be foolish enough to keep throwing money at me? 【Of course.】 To protect my privacy, I used a burner account specifically for my fans. Clearly, he had no such concerns, adding me from what was obviously his personal number. I typed his username into the search bar. The moment his profile popped up, my eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. You have got to be kidding me. This ‘S’ was someone I knew. He lived in the dorm right next to mine. 3 Ethan Shroyer, the math department’s resident saint, the ice-cold academic prodigy, was secretly a pervert who watched male thirst-trap streamers! Unbelievable! To think he could maintain that holier-than-thou, untouchable facade every day, making all the girls in our department swoon over him. I’d never liked the guy. He was always number one. No matter how hard I studied, I was always stuck in second place. I was like the bitter rival in a novel, forced to watch year after year as the Chancellor’s Scholarship went straight into his pocket. And this bastard was using that money to tip thirst-trap streamers! The rage! If I wasn’t afraid of exposing myself, I would’ve screenshotted his donation history and blasted it in the department group chat, exposing his disgusting true colors. But then it hit me—the money was only taking a short detour through his wallet before landing right back in mine. My mood brightened considerably. The guy clearly had money to burn. I had to seize this opportunity and squeeze every last penny out of him. After he accepted my friend request, I put on my most sycophantic persona, sending a couple of cute, welcoming emojis. Ethan didn’t reply immediately. Five minutes later, I heard the door to the next dorm slam shut with a loud thud. Someone was back. Right on cue, a message from Ethan came through: 【Sorry, was just walking. Didn’t see your message.】 I scoffed. More like he was too paranoid to be seen texting his favorite streamer in public. I typed furiously: 【I’d wait forever for you, handsome.】 Six months in the business had not only perfected my dance moves but also armed me with a whole arsenal of sweet nothings. 【Are you always this enthusiastic with your viewers?】 【Of course not. It’s only because you’re so handsome. I saw your pictures on your profile.】 【You know which one is me?】 I froze for a second, then quickly opened Ethan’s profile. He only had one picture posted: a group photo of the university basketball team after a game. Awkward. 【Of course I do. You’d be the hottest one there.】 God, I’m quick on my feet. I immediately changed the subject: 【Are you going to come watch me dance tomorrow? If not, I’ll just wait for you.】 【You stream every day?】 【I used to just do Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at seven, but if you want to watch, I can be online every night for you.】 The subtext was clear: as long as you pay, I’ll dance whenever you want. But I knew he wouldn’t be free tomorrow night. We both had a class on Tuesday evenings. 【I have something tomorrow. The day after.】 【Okay! See you then.】 4 My three roommates were all out of the dorm from seven to nine on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays for club activities or tutoring gigs. This gave me the perfect, private space to stream. To keep the music from bothering the other dorms, I’d even installed soundproofing strips around the door and the balcony entrance. Ethan became a fixture in my stream for the next couple of weeks, dropping hundreds in gifts every night. After each stream, we’d chat on WhatsApp. Occasionally, I’d send him a little bonus—a picture of my abs, for instance. I also built up a tragic backstory for myself: a sick grandma, a younger sister, divorced parents, and crippling tuition fees. It worked like a charm. Soon, Ethan wasn't just donating during streams; he was sending me money directly through WhatsApp. All I had to do was keep playing the adoring fan, changing my outfits and props based on his requests. 【Can you show me what you look like?】 I replied with my well-rehearsed rejection: 【I’m not very good-looking. If I showed my face, you might not like me anymore. It’s better to keep a little mystery, don’t you think?】 During the day, whenever I saw Ethan in class, I couldn’t help but look away, terrified he’d see right through me. He always wore crisp white shirts, his handsome, sharp features giving off a cool, distant aura that made him seem unapproachable. The only time he showed any sign of being human was the slight furrow of his brow when he was deep in thought, solving a problem. The thought that this guy was secretly drooling over my streams was enough to make me laugh out loud. “Leo, what are you grinning at? You’ve already turned the page,” my roommate, Alex, poked me in the ribs. I jumped, nearly shooting out of my seat. “Ugh… I told you not to touch my sides, they’re ticklish!” Our little commotion must have been loud, because a few people in the rows ahead turned to look at us. Even Ethan glanced over from his seat. Mortified, I ducked my head and viciously pinched Alex’s thigh. Alex winced, hissing through his teeth, “My bad, my bad, I forgot.” That evening, when I got back to the dorm, it was already 6:50 PM, and my roommates were still there. I tested the waters. “You guys not going to your club meetings tonight?” “Nope. They’re using all the activity rooms for the anniversary gala rehearsal. All club activities are canceled.” Well, crap. That meant I had to find a new place to stream. I quickly updated my stream profile, announcing a thirty-minute delay. Then I sent a private message to Ethan: 【Hey handsome, something came up tonight, so I’m going to be a little late. (Love ya~.jpg)】 Ethan replied instantly: 【What’s wrong?】 【I have family over, so I can’t stream from home. I’ll have to get a hotel room.】 Ethan didn’t say anything else. He just sent a direct transfer for a thousand dollars. He was covering my expenses. So decisive. So generous. If this keeps up, I’m afraid I’ll really fall for him… for his money. 5 I was walking out of the dorm, head down, typing a reply: 【You’re the best.】 The moment I hit send, I collided head-on with someone. I looked up, and my eyes met Ethan’s. My heart hammered against my ribs. I quickly locked my phone. “Sorry, wasn’t watching where I was going.” Ethan let go of my shoulders. “It’s fine,” he said, his voice a calm, low murmur. His gaze fell to the large black duffel bag in my hand. I broke into a cold sweat. Inside was the low-cut tank top he’d specifically requested to see. “Going off campus?” My throat felt tight. “Uh… yeah.” Normally, Ethan and I barely spoke. Offering too much of an explanation would just be weird. As expected, he didn't press further and simply walked into his dorm. To save time, I found a cheap motel about five hundred yards from campus. By the time I had all my gear set up, it was already past 7:30. I rushed to start the stream, and viewers quickly began to pour in. When Ethan entered the room, his “Top Donator” animation nearly blinded me. “Welcome, S! Good evening, everyone. Sorry for the change of scenery tonight, had people over at my place, so I had to come out here.” 【Whoa, that top is cut down to his navel!】 【Is this a special fan service night? Damn, I’m on my period, I can’t watch this today.】 【His pecs look so soft, I wanna squeeze them.】 … My phone buzzed with a stream of WhatsApp notifications. It was Ethan. I had to pause the stream to check them. 【Change your shirt.】 Such a commanding tone. Did he think he owned me? Luckily, I’d brought a spare outfit. “Hold on, guys, the streamer just got a wardrobe warning. I need to change.” Three minutes later, I was back on camera. From the front, it looked like a plain, white sleeveless sweater. But when I turned around, the entire back was open, completely bare. 【Holy hell, that’s so hot! I’m getting a nosebleed.】 【I’m crawling through the internet to get to you right now!】 【I’m close! It’s only a ten-minute cab ride!】 I paused. A ten-minute cab ride? What did that mean? A wave of panic washed over me. I quickly checked my settings and realized, in my haste to go live, I’d forgotten to turn off my location sharing. “Sorry everyone, having some network issues. Let me just reset a few things.” I immediately shut down the stream. As I fumbled with the settings, another message from Ethan came through. 【I’m outside your hotel.】 【Want to meet?】 6 Meet? Hell no! This two-faced psycho actually tracked me down using my location. My entire body clenched. I crept over to the window and peeked through a crack in the curtains. Down below, under a streetlight, a figure in a white shirt stood silently. It was unmistakably Ethan. 【How did you know where I was?】 【You said you were streaming from a hotel. This is the only one nearby.】 【But I’m still streaming. And this is so sudden, I’m not mentally prepared to meet anyone.】 【Then I’ll wait downstairs until you’re done.】 If we actually met, how could I ever show my face at school again? I had to find a way to make him leave. At this critical moment, I knew I might have to give up Ethan, my personal ATM. I gritted my teeth and deployed my ultimate weapon: 【I’m sorry, but my boyfriend is on his way over. Tonight’s not a good night to meet.】 Ethan went silent. After a long pause, he sent a voice message. “You have a boyfriend?” His voice, even distorted by the phone’s speaker, was a low, magnetic rumble that seemed to kiss my eardrum. The thought of losing all that future income was excruciating. It hurt more than realizing I’d misread the last question on my calculus final. 【Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.】 Another voice message arrived. His tone was unreadable. “So he knows you chat with me every night? That you send me… private photos?”
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