SWNOVELXO Chapter 149 - Cheating Day Chapter 149
Celebrity (2)
For reasons I don’t know, I got scolded a lot.
When Muk-ji finally managed to recover and come out, my mother approached her with concern.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. There’s no need to apologize. You shouldn’t say that.”
My mother really seems to like Muk-ji. She’s being incredibly attentive.
“I hope you didn’t misunderstand. I usually can’t eat much, but it was so delicious that I overdid it.”
Muk-ji seemed anxious, worried that my mother might feel hurt.
“See? Eun-ji was just trying to impress you, so she overdid it.”
“That’s not important. You can’t overdo it right now. When did you start? Have you been to the hospital?”
“Yes. I was going to the hospital, but I’m okay now, so I’m managing at home.”
“Then that’s not good! You need to go regularly. Eun-ji, don’t worry about me, just relax. If you need anything, make sure to tell Chan-yong, okay?”
“…….”
Muk-ji looked confused, alternating her gaze between me and my mother.
“It’s fine. Go and rest.”
My mother gently patted Muk-ji’s back and then went to the sink to grab some rubber gloves.
“No, I’ll do it.”
“No, no. Sit down.”
“I can’t do that.”
“No, now is the time to be the most careful.”
“I’ll do it.”
As my mother and Muk-ji insisted on washing the dishes, I said I would do it, and my mother nodded.
“Okay. Chan-yong, you should help out a bit. Eun-ji, go rest.”
“It’s okay. I can help too.”
“No, no. Right. It’s hard for me to relax with you here.”
“Excuse me? No, it’s not uncomfortable.”
“I know. You’re sensitive right now. Just focus on your health. Chan-yong, I’m leaving.”
“What? Where are you going at this hour? Where will you sleep?”
“I can sleep at my sister’s house.”
“It’s far, and it’ll take a long time. Just sleep here.”
“No, it’s faster to go from my sister’s house to the hospital in the morning.”
“I’ll drive you in the morning. Just sleep here.”
“Please sleep here. I’m really fine.”
“No, no.”
“What do you mean ‘no’? Is it reasonable for you to come all the way to Seoul and not sleep at your son’s house?”
“Listen to your mother. Eun-ji, I’ll see you next time. If you want something to eat, just say it.”
“I hope you sleep here.”
My mother smiled kindly and held Muk-ji’s hand tightly. She’s usually affectionate, but today she’s especially endearing.
“Then I’ll go. I’ll take you.”
“Stay home with Eun-ji. Just take a taxi.”
“Why are you acting like this? What will happen to me? And what about Eun-ji?”
“I’m fine.”
“I really don’t understand. Mom! Mom!”
Before I could stop her, she grabbed her bag and headed out, and I followed her, only for her to suddenly hit my arm.
“Mom?”
“You shouldn’t hide things like this! Why are you keeping something like this a secret?”
“What do you mean? Eun-ji?”
“Yes! And from now on, you’ll be the one to prepare the meals. Pay attention to the diet. Once the morning sickness starts, just smelling food can be tough.”
“……What?”
“Anyway, don’t worry about me. Just stay by Eun-ji’s side.”
“What are you talking about? Morning sickness?”
“Do you really not know? You just saw it.”
Now it all starts to make sense.
“Hahaha! No, that’s not it.”
“What do you mean it’s not?”
“I’m not pregnant.”
“No way that’s true! She’s experiencing morning sickness.”
“I usually eat little, but I wanted to impress your mother, so I overdid it.”
My mother looked at me silently and then hit my arm again.
“You idiot. Get your act together.”
“I’m telling the truth.”
“If you keep being clueless, you’ll be disliked. Be good to Eun-ji. She’s really a nice person. I’m leaving.”
“Wait, are you really going?”
“I was just going to make some side dishes and leave. I’ll be at my sister’s house tomorrow after the hospital.”
It seems she was looking forward to visiting Seoul.
“Okay, I’ll take you.”
“Listen to your mother!”
“I really mean it!”
“Ugh.”
“Okay, I understand. Then I’ll just call a taxi for you. Right?”
“Sure.”
“But really, it’s not true.”
She stubbornly insisted on going to her sister’s house, so I called a taxi to send her off before heading back home.
“Didn’t you go out to take her?”
“She told me to stay by Eun-ji’s side. No matter how much I told her, she wouldn’t listen.”
“I made a mistake.”
“No, it’s not your fault. Your mother thinks Eun-ji is pregnant.”
“Really?”
“She says it’s not true, but just look at her morning sickness.”
“…….”
Muk-ji fell silent.
“……Is it true?”
Surprised, I asked again, and she shook her head.
“No, it’s not right. I’m wondering if it’s okay to send you off like this. Maybe it would be better to call you back now.”
“You’re not listening. It seems she originally intended to go to her aunt’s house, so let’s talk about it next time.”
“I was going to talk about it next time, but something like today happened.”
“I’ll discuss it again tomorrow.”
Muk-ji nodded.
I transferred the remaining food into airtight containers, put the dishes and cups in the dishwasher, and donned rubber gloves to wash the pots and frying pans by hand.
“How about we go visit your mother on a day off this week? Would she have time?”
“I’ll ask her.”
Muk-ji came over and dried the pot with a cloth after rinsing it. Then, without knowing who started it, we both burst into laughter.
***
└ Where the heck is that?
└ The octopus salad looks delicious.
└ The side dish person asked what kind of octopus salad, but is it poetry? Hahaha.
└ PD Park looks confused because things aren’t going as planned.
└ That’s hilarious.
└ If they ask questions that are too difficult, they all get it wrong, but these guys get everything right, right? Hahaha, who walks around memorizing the number of volumes in the Eighty-thousand Tripitaka? Hahaha.
└ Baek Woo-jin has a ton of trivia knowledge.
└ I thought that was normal, but Cha Ji-chan is even weirder, right?
└ Yeah, can he really calculate that in his head?
└ He mentioned tutoring on a broadcast before. He must be good at math.
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└ It’s not mental math. He said it’s a famous problem, so he just knows the answer.
└ Cha Ji-chan is picking up trash while doing lunges, hahaha.
└ Pick it up properly, haha!
└ The three of them following and teasing him is so funny, hahaha.
└ The side dish person, but I didn’t recognize him at first. I really didn’t know.
└ He lost a lot of weight.
└ He lost over 40 kilograms. If you compare him to old videos, he looks like a completely different person. His features are more defined.
└ These days, he’s also doing skin care and posture correction. He’s even getting his hair done.
└ The importance of maintenance.
└ These days, I find this kind of stuff enjoyable. Traveling with close friends and joking around.
└ Me too. Since I can’t travel, I feel satisfied living vicariously through them.
└ I prefer the atmosphere of just hanging out like that with close friends over traveling.
└ They’re quite consistent. They’re doing a lot of good deeds, starting from the lunch boxes. Picking up trash too.
└ Baek Woo-jin is said to be managing his image.
└ What’s wrong with that?
└ It’s true that doing good things is right.
The first broadcast of “Baek Banchan Season 2” recorded a viewership rating of 7.6%, hinting at a promising start.
Although this rating was somewhat lower than Season 1, it wasn’t a significant issue considering that Season 1 was a short format between news and dramas.
On the contrary, it was remarkable that a one-hour show composed of four YouTubers rather than famous celebrities achieved a 7.6% rating right from the first episode.
The analysis skills of PD Park Sang-cheol, who recruited four people with good chemistry based on the accelerating trend of personalization, and the nationwide recognition built by Baek Seung-yong’s individual broadcasts, lunch box business, and long-distance trekking were key factors.
It was the result of the synergy among Joo Ji-seung, Cha Ji-chan, Ban Chan-yong, and Baek Woo-jin.
“I don’t understand.”
Na Yoon-ho, a PD from WTV and a junior to Park Sang-cheol, tilted his head.
“What don’t you understand?”
“It’s a work from my senior, but I wasn’t sure it would be successful.”
“Ha ha ha. Look at you!”
“To be honest, it’s true. While they have recognition, they’re not A-list celebrities. Traveling has been a good item for a few years now, but it’s not like they’re showing something special. I couldn’t figure out why it’s doing so well.”
“Go ahead and tell me.”
PD Park Sang-cheol asked.
He never gave answers first when teaching. After working with such a senior for over a decade, Na Yoon-ho brought forth his own conclusions.
“The first reason is that they’re riding the current wave.”
PD Park Sang-cheol quietly listened.
“I thought about why that could be, and while they became famous through their individual YouTube channels, the successful ones are doing good deeds.”
Na Yoon-ho recalled the broadcasting trends of the early 2020s.
“Until now, we’ve shown how successful people live. That worked well. Whether it’s parenting, observation, or travel, we’ve seen good things. But I think people are getting fatigued with that.”
PD Park Sang-cheol nodded slowly.
“But they’re also donating lunch boxes and doing good deeds, right? Isn’t that part of what’s working?”
“Do you really think the world is that kind?”
“What do you mean?”
“Donating and volunteering are great, but that alone doesn’t lead to such success.”
“Then what does?”
“What does it mean? It has to be entertaining.”
PD Na Yoon-ho tilted his head.
“Nowadays, not many people focus intently on one thing. Most just have it on while they’re washing dishes, folding laundry, or playing games. Some have it on while working, or they don’t do much else but have it on while idly scrolling on their phones.”
“That doesn’t sound good, does it?”
When producing a program, keeping the audience engaged was the most crucial element.
It was essential to create a captivating experience that continually provided entertainment without missing a beat.
This was something he’d been told repeatedly by his seniors since he was a junior.
“Programs like that are fine, but they can become tiresome. Don’t you feel that way? Watching a drama takes a lot of commitment.”
“That’s true.”
“Part of the reason leisure time is getting shorter is that life is hard, and people don’t have the energy to focus on long stories. In the midst of all this, it feels wasteful to just work and sleep; they want to experience and do something. That’s why ‘Baek Banchan’ was perfect for that. Why? You can enjoy it just by listening, even if you’re not watching. Cha Yong’s storytelling is great, not to mention Ji-seung, Ji-chan, and Woo-jin—they’re all funny yet relaxed.”
“……That makes sense.”
“If they had the same kind of exaggerated reactions as those in this industry, it would get tiring after a while. Baek Seung-yong doesn’t do that, though. It feels like just hanging out with close friends.”
Na Yoon-ho nodded.
“Having done live broadcasts for a long time, they communicate often. That builds familiarity, so they come to mind when people feel bored.”
PD Park Sang-cheol focused particularly on Baek Seung-yong.
He especially took note of Ban Chan-yong’s engagement rates.
From the time he had 100,000 subscribers, Ban Chan-yong had consistently received a lot of comments on his videos.
This indicated a close relationship between him and his viewers.
He was someone people could casually visit anytime. And since he has a knack for storytelling, cooking, exercising, discussing, and delivering information across various content, viewers kept getting drawn in without ever getting bored.
“Just wait and see. Baek Seung-yong is going to do even better than now.”
PD Park Sang-cheol confidently proclaimed.