# Chapter 124
After ordering samgyeopsal delivery and eating until full, I went to look at houses from 2 PM, the time I had arranged with the real estate agency owner. Despite saying I’d go alone, Ban Hajun insisted on coming along and made the atmosphere tense by finding flaws with every place we saw and offering unsolicited advice.
“You’re a pedestrian, but this is too far from the subway station. You’d have to walk quite a distance to reach the bus stop too.”
“Even though the interior has been completely remodeled, the building is over 30 years old, so that’s not great.”
“No parking available is a no-go. You might buy a car, Gye Minho’s getting his car soon, and Igyeol or I might visit. You need parking for at least one car. It might not seem important since you don’t have a car now, but once you live there, you’ll find it’s a different story.”
“The kitchen is too small. Do you know how inconvenient it is to have just a single-basin sink? The single basin sink in my current place has been my lifelong regret.”
“It’s blocked by the building in front, so sunlight doesn’t come in even during the day. You know natural light prevents depression and improves quality of life, right?”
“The water pressure is too weak. You’ll die of frustration when showering and washing your hair.”
Someone watching might think he was a real estate expert. Everything Ban Hajun said was right, but if we were that picky, it would be impossible to find a place. That’s why I couldn’t find a place when looking with Song Yeonhwa—because we scrutinized every condition like this.
As it approached 6 PM, we parted ways with the real estate agent without selecting a place I liked. I said I’d think about it and call, but I probably wouldn’t. If Ban Hajun hadn’t picked at every little thing, I might have compromised, but now that I’d heard all the clear disadvantages, I couldn’t easily make up my mind.
It hit me how much Song Yeonhwa had cared for me, as all the places she showed me were newly built and had much better conditions. As if proving Ban Hajun’s point, even the best place we saw today—the last one—couldn’t compare to what Song Yeonhwa had shown me. For the same price, there was already a difference in square footage.
At this rate, I might as well stop imposing on Ban Hajun at his officetel, pack my bags and go to Busan to at least have peace of mind. Even though my mother had expressed opposition to me staying in Busan, she wouldn’t kick me out, even if she didn’t welcome me with open arms. But for some reason, maybe because of the physical distance, I was reluctant to go to Busan.
“Let’s buy groceries and go back.”
“What are we making?”
“Choose between curry and jjajang.”
Ban Hajun presented the options. The ingredients were basically the same, only the sauce flavor was different. After thinking briefly, Mo Eunje remembered that the kimchi in Ban Hajun’s refrigerator needed to be eaten before it over-ripened. So he chose the menu that would maximize the spiciness when eaten with kimchi.
“Curry. Just put in onions for vegetables, and load it with meat, ham, and sausage.”
“As expected, you know how to eat. Then we can have egg soup with the eggs we have left.”
Tae Igyeol also likes curry with lots of meat…
Would it be weird if I suggested making extra to take some to Tae Igyeol?
Trying to shake off these thoughts that unconsciously surfaced without going through his brain’s filter, Mo Eunje headed to the mart in Ban Hajun’s car.
“Take some pictures of me cooking.”
Ban Hajun, who was cutting ingredients while moving around in the narrow kitchen, asked Mo Eunje as usual. Since he’d been taking photos and videos of Ban Hajun cooking recently, the reason was obvious without having to ask. It was for uploading to social media. Ban Hajun, who claimed to live off others’ attention and love, was almost addicted to social media and would take photos or videos of almost anything he did to post.
Mo Eunje, who had been sitting on the living room sofa, reluctantly got up, grabbed his phone, and sauntered into the kitchen. He switched to video recording mode and pointed the phone camera, and Ban Hajun gave a stylish smile. Even though the sink was only one basin wide and the kitchen was rather cramped, it wasn’t so bad that they couldn’t cook, but it was stuffy with two tall men standing together. If the well-built Tae Igyeol had been there too, the pressure would have been as suffocating as a crowded subway car.
“Haa…”
Tae Igyeol isn’t here now and won’t be coming, yet I’m still having these pointless thoughts.
“Why are you sighing? Does it look unappetizing?”
“You haven’t made anything yet for it to look appetizing or not. Cut the ham and meat into big chunks. So we can really feel the texture when we chew.”
Mo Eunje demanded as he picked up a sausage to eat.
“I’ve made curry often, but it’s my first time making it with just meat, ham, and sausage.”
“There are onions too. It will probably taste much better than what you usually make. When you use only delicious ingredients, it can’t help but be delicious.”
Since they had bought various types of ham and sausages famous for being tasty, Mo Eunje was looking forward to how delicious it would be with all of them thrown in together. Walking around looking at houses had consumed a lot of energy, so he was extremely hungry.
After filming Ban Hajun making curry for about 30 minutes, a delicious-looking curry was completed. He neatly served rice and curry in a concave plate, sprinkled parsley powder on top, and brought it to the lift table in the living room.
“Thank you for the meal.”
Mo Eunje, who sat down first, urgently mixed a certain amount of rice and curry with his spoon. Rather than mixing the entire thing, Mo Eunje’s style was to mix a certain amount of curry with rice as if soaking the rice in broth, then scooping it up. He put meat and sausage on top of the rice and curry sauce, put it in his mouth, and chewed thoroughly. Whether because he was hungry or because all the ingredients were delicious, the taste in his mouth was fantastic.
Honestly, it was exactly the kind of taste Tae Igyeol would love, and Mo Eunje sincerely wanted to pack some for him. He felt increasingly angry and heated thinking about how that bastard’s confession made it impossible to take care of him as he’d like to. There was so much he wanted to do for him… He chewed and swallowed his desire to ask Ban Hajun to take some curry to Tae Igyeol along with his rice.
“Wow. From now on, I’m not going to bother putting useless vegetables in curry. Just meat and ham really makes it delicious.”
“Right? I might only know how to cook with kimchi as the main ingredient, but I’m brilliantly aware of how to make things tastier.”
When he added a piece of kimchi, strangely it became more spicy, maximizing the savory flavor.
“How do you know these things?”
“How can you not know? Just put tasty ingredients in my mouth?”
It was a fairly simple principle. When they were young, Mo Eunje liked ham and sausage, and Tae Igyeol liked meat, so when grandmother made gumbo, curry, or jjajang, she would put in plenty of meat, ham, and sausage.
Both sets of parents complained about nutrition when the kids were growing, but grandmother said it was better to let them eat a lot of what they liked than to worry about them not eating at all. Only much, much later did they learn that grandmother had ground vegetables and mixed them into the sauce.
“Oh right. You have a MiTube account, don’t you? How about editing and uploading the videos I’ve taken over the past few days?”
“What? The cooking videos?”
“Yeah.”
“There are already too many videos like that.”
Mo Eunje had anticipated that Ban Hajun would respond so skeptically to his carefully considered proposal. But having a negative mindset without even trying was like throwing away potential opportunities.
Ban Hajun was currently working as an advertising model, almost like a part-timer, but he wasn’t getting steady work. This meant that if no offers came in, he couldn’t earn money. So it was better to find other breakthroughs. It would be better to at least try something with the mindset that it’s good if it works out, and if not, then forget it.
“There might be a lot of cooking videos, but there are probably few with a face like yours cooking? I focused more on your face than the cooking.”
“Logically, what’s the point of showing just a face in a video people turn on to follow a recipe?”
“Well, people don’t just watch when they’re trying to make the recipe? They might just turn it on mindlessly while lying in bed, enjoying watching someone who looks like you cooking. Do you only watch MiTube with a specific purpose?”
“…No? I watch when I’m bored too. Then… should we really try it?”
“Yeah. I think it’s good. Let’s record all your cooking from now on. Fix your phone in the sink cabinet to show your face, and I’ll hold my phone to film.”
“Damn. You’re a genius?”
Ban Hajun exclaimed admiringly, showing an enthusiastic attitude. Uploading videos wouldn’t suddenly generate significant income, but it was better than doing nothing. Isn’t there a saying? Nothing happens to people who do nothing. So whether it turns out good or bad, there was value in the attempt itself.
About four years ago, Gye Minho had become addicted to soccer-related MiTube videos. He started watching during dinner, and with the algorithm suggesting more videos, he kept watching until dawn broke. He lived like that for about three months, watching MiTube soccer videos like a shut-in, before deciding he couldn’t control himself and deleting the app entirely.
Recalling what happened to Gye Minho, Mo Eunje judged that there needed to be something captivating about their content. MiTube consumes time instantly, making it hard to break away once you start watching. While Gye Minho followed content about soccer, which he liked, Ban Hajun didn’t have elements to draw people in, so they needed to create something artificially. They needed a differentiating power that would make viewers want to watch other videos after clicking on one of Ban Hajun’s.
