Five Watching
1233 Words
The sky was hot, burning with golden rays that threatened to penetrate through the curtains. In the poorest part of the busy city, within a dirty, small apartment complex, Eli yawned lazily.
His eyes opened, then closed… before opening again. The morning light burned through them so much that he shut them once more, waiting a few minutes before trying again.
Below his pillow, his phone beeped for the hundredth time that morning.
Eli wasn’t a heavy sleeper, but yesterday had been one of the most stressful days. Not only had he received rejections from all the job vacancies he applied to, but he had also gone out early, walking from one coffee shop to another, yet he had no luck.
Eli glanced at the notifications.
The same as always.
Another rejection.
“Great… just what I needed to start my day,” he hissed, tossing the phone across the bed.
Eli went on with his day, unaware of the camera.
He brushed his teeth, had his bath, and even stepped in front of the camera wearing nothing but his boxers as he picked out a set of clean shorts and a white T-shirt.
When he was done, he made his bed and casually walked over to his monitor.
His hands hovered.
Then he noticed.
“Who turned on the camera?” he whispered.
His fingers hovered over the camera icon, but no matter how many times he clicked, it wouldn’t turn off.
Surely it wasn’t just the camera; it was streaming.
“Now this too is acting up… God, when?” he muttered under his breath.
Eli spoke casually to himself, unaware he had an audience not only paying attention to his words, but to his movements, body language, and surroundings.
Just then, his phone dinged on the bed. He rolled over with his half-broken chair and grabbed it.
From the lock screen, he could see it was from his bank app. Reluctantly, he unlocked it, but the moment he tapped the app and entered his passcode, his mouth went dry.
He blinked.
“I had… twelve dollars yesterday,” he murmured, refreshing the page again and again.
Eli quickly checked the sender.
Streaming…
His eyes didn’t finish the sentence.
His gaze snapped to his open laptop.
“I… I didn’t sign up,” he whispered.
But the ongoing stream before him said otherwise.
Not only was he signed up, he already had a fully functioning account.
Well… that was thanks to his forgetful habits.
As a mass communication graduate, he wasn’t very good with passwords and details, so he used one password for everything and saved it all, bank details included. Whenever he signed into a new app or site, everything autofilled.
He hadn’t registered.
But his glitching laptop had taken care of that.
Eli stared at the one view.
“Thank goodness,” he whispered.
His mind drifted back to the embarrassing things he had done in front of the camera. From the time record, it had been on all night.
“Well… one won’t hurt,” he said.
He explored the interface more carefully than the previous night, clicking through icons, reading whatever he could.
“Payments above 100 USD are automatically credited into the recipient bank account…”
The rest blurred.
He checked his earnings.
Negative 200.
The same amount was credited into his bank account.
“This is insane,” he thought.
But when he opened the chat, there was only one word.
Cute.
Then,
Before he could close it,
Another message appeared.
KingRed—"Eat."
The word felt more like a command than a suggestion.
But Eli was hungry.
Very hungry.
“I will,” he said softly.
He was going to anyway.
There wasn’t much interaction after that. The room fell silent.
Eli turned off the stream and let everything sink in.
For the first time in weeks, he went out and bought food, just enough to last a few days. Then he paid his internet and electricity bills.
Those were the most important.
Deep down, he already had plans.
Streaming again.
A side gig.
On his way back, he passed by the café. As expected, it was busy; rush hour. Lena was swamped, barely able to scream a heartfelt “bestie!” before another customer interrupted.
Eli smiled.
Lena was his only friend, a creative soul, and a little critical, but he liked her that way.
They hadn’t seen each other in days.
She was juggling her job and her parents’ messy divorce.
Another graduate trying too hard.
Another life falling apart.
She waved, signaling she’d call later.
Eli nodded.
The sun was brutal.
The moment he stepped back into his apartment, he collapsed onto the bed and turned the fan to its highest speed.
People here use air conditioners.
But he couldn’t afford that.
Even though one was installed in his room, he dared not use it.
His electricity bill would kill him.
Dinner was simple: fried noodles and a glass of chilled Pepsi.
He sat before the monitor and ate like a king.
Before evening, two more rejection emails came in.
Eli sighed, exhausted.
Without thinking, he opened the streaming website again.
Like yesterday, he browsed, watched other streams, and studied how they worked, the games, the interactions, and the money flowing like an ATM without limits.
Then he exited.
The cursor hovered over Start Stream.
This time, it didn’t feel strange.
Not like before.
So he clicked it.
Minutes passed.
Viewer count: 0
Eli leaned back and started talking about his day.
At first, it felt awkward.
Then his body relaxed.
His voice steadied.
Viewer count: 1
“You ate.”
A message popped up.
Eli smiled.
KingRed.
“Thank you so much… I don’t know, is there anything you’d like me to do?”
It sounded like a harmless question.
But it wasn’t.
“Stream overnight.”
Two words
Eli’s eyes flickered to the time.
Just past eleven.
He nodded.
That was doable.
He kept talking about random thoughts and small observations.
Then,
A gift notification.
400 USD
“Get a chair.”
Eli’s eyes burned.
Tears threatened to fall.
“Thank you so much… you’re doing so much for me.”
No reply.
His phone chimed.
400 USD.
Rent, covered.
Groceries, covered.
A proper chair, covered.
Hours passed.
Viewer count: 3
Two more joined.
“Cute.”
A new message. Appeared, but it wasn’t from KingRed; it was from a new viewer, MiraCare.
MiraCare: “Sleeping late isn’t good for your health.”
Eli chuckled softly.
“I was just about to head to bed.”
“Do you sleep fully clothed?” Blaze
Eli laughed and shook his head.
That should have been a warning. A signal…a reason to stop, but he didn’t.
“I need the money,” the thought repeated.
“No… boxers only,” he replied to Blaze.
“Don’t end the stream... Go to sleep," KingRed
Eli smiled.
It didn’t feel strange.
After all, it had been the night before.
So he pulled off his trousers and T-shirt, leaving only his plain white boxers.
Nothing special.
Nothing branded.
“Calvin Klein would look good on that waist,” MiraCare
The message dinged.
But Eli was already in bed.
Whatever they were saying would have to wait until morning.
If only he knew,
That would be the last time he slept as an ordinary person.
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