Cheat day

Sadang (4)

The next restaurant recommended by Baek Woo-jin was a small tonkatsu place in front of Suncheon Station.

“…….”

The restaurant is on the second floor, but the stairs leading up are narrow.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover; it’s really delicious.”

“That’s not it. We came all the way to Suncheon; shouldn’t we try the local specialties?”

At my comment, Ju Ji-seung and Cha Ji-chan nodded in agreement.

“This place’s tonkatsu is a local specialty of Suncheon.”

Baek Woo-jin confidently climbed the stairs.

Since a local said it, we decided to take his word for it.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was surprisingly nice. The open kitchen gave a clean impression, and the wooden furniture created a calm ambiance.

The solo seats were in front of large windows, providing an expansive view. If it weren’t for the filming, I would’ve loved to sit there and enjoy a leisurely meal.

Looking at the menu, I noticed a note.

The owner operates the place alone, and it mentioned that the cooking time might take a bit longer, but he would do his best, which felt genuine.

“The loin is delicious, and the tenderloin is great too.”

“I’ll go for the tenderloin.”

“I’ll have the loin.”

“Me too, the loin.”

“Owner, we’ll have two loin and two tenderloin, please.”

After placing the order and waiting, the owner brought rice, pickled radish, miso soup, and dressing.

“How did you find this place?”

“I usually take the train when I come back to my hometown. You take the train back too, right?”

“It’s perfect to grab a bite before heading back since it’s right by the station.”

“Yeah. Usually, when you eat near the station, you think you’ll just grab something quick. But this place is genuinely delicious.”

Baek Woo-jin’s enthusiasm raised my expectations. Given my current state, it would take something extraordinary to impress me, so I was curious about how it would turn out.

There are so many famous tonkatsu places across the country.

“Here comes the tonkatsu!”

The loin tonkatsu I ordered arrived.

Bathed in the late afternoon sunlight, the tonkatsu glistened golden on top of the finely shredded cabbage.

It looked clean, tidy, and most importantly, appetizing.

“Let’s eat well!”

I picked up a piece of tonkatsu.

I could feel how crispy the batter was from the very tip of my chopsticks. Once I put it in my mouth, it was indeed expertly fried tonkatsu with an excellent crunch. The surprising part was the meat.

Underneath such a crispy batter, the loin was incredibly moist.

The technique of maintaining such juicy meat while perfectly frying the outside is undoubtedly the secret to this place’s success.

“This is so good!”

“Right? I love how thick and juicy this tonkatsu is!”

“The outside is crispy.”

Everyone was marveling at the tonkatsu as they ate.

I took another bite and drizzled some sauce on the cabbage to eat with it.

There was a note suggesting to sprinkle a little sauce since the flavor was strong, but it was just right for me.

“The rice here is good too.”

At Cha Ji-chan’s comment, I took a spoonful of rice, and it was perfectly fluffy and really whetted my appetite.

With rice this good, I could easily finish a bowl with just kimchi.

“Salt.”

Before dipping into the tonkatsu sauce, I tried some with salt.

The savory flavor enhanced the natural taste of the tonkatsu.

The mustard that came with it refreshed my palate after the greasy food, and the tonkatsu sauce was more flavorful than any sauce sold in stores.

Just a tiny bit of it brings out an extraordinary taste.

After alternating between the tonkatsu, rice, and cabbage, I took a sip of the miso soup, and it made my stomach feel comfortable.

I think I understand why Baek Woo-jin recommended this place.

The tonkatsu here has the power to soothe the stomach of someone starting a long journey or returning from one.

“This is delicious.”

Now, whenever I think of Suncheon, this place will likely come to mind first.

***

The next day after finishing the second shoot of Season 2 of Rice Bowl.

When I turned on the broadcast, viewers expressed their dissatisfaction about not being able to air on Tuesdays starting next week.

└You’ve gotten too comfortable.

└Isn’t the broadcast too infrequent lately?

└It’s a five-day broadcast, and you guys are really something, haha.

└Not airing on Saturday and Sunday is excessive.

└I thought you were reading from the Wikipedia to celebrate 1 million subscribers. When’s that happening?

└They said they’re filming, haha.

└Aren’t you neglecting YouTube lately?

└Fact: Shorts channel is increasing, and video uploads are daily.

“I know you all are aware of this. There are few YouTubers as diligent as I am. I’m currently uploading one video a day; what more do you want? Should I work nonstop every day?”

└Yeah, for sure.

└Your health doesn’t matter here.

└Seriously, please focus on the broadcast instead of your health.

└LOL, you’re all too much, haha.

I’m truly at a loss for words; it’s ridiculous.

“I’m really working hard these days. I can’t do more, so get used to it. I mean, who wants to watch the entire show from start to finish while demanding more broadcasts?”

└I watch!

└I’m watching the live broadcast and YouTube videos!

└Want to make a bet?

“Stop lying. You all must have lives too, so how can you watch all my broadcasts and keep up with the edited videos? Make sense.”

└Ah…

└Why hit me?

└Hahaha, do you think we have friends and hobbies?

└For real, lol.

└I’m disappointed. I’m going to unsubscribe.

└Are you acting like you have friends?

└You were pretending to be an outcast, but you hang out with Ju Ji-seung, Cha Ji-chan, and Baek Woo-jin all the time.

└At least I don’t have a girlfriend.

└Yeah, just showing up during Christmas and Valentine’s Day is enough to be grateful for.

“…Ahem. Then let’s read the Wikipedia page I was going to today.”

I searched for Ban Chan-yong and was immediately directed to the “Ban Chan-yong” page.

“Real name: Ban Chan-yong. Born October 11, 1989. Age 34. Born in Donghae, Gangwon Province. Ah, that’s wrong. I was born in Chuncheon; I moved when I was young.”

As I scrolled through the profile, it listed my height and weight.

“My height is 184 cm, which is correct. It says my weight is 94.8 kg, but I’ve lost a bit more. Now it’s 93 kg. This is sensitive, so the person who wrote this, please fix it right away.”

└It’ll just go back up again, so let’s fix it slowly.

└But honestly, you do look slimmer lately.

└Slim? What’s slim about being over 90 kg? Lol.

└You’re tall, though.

└With a lot of muscle mass, it doesn’t look like I weigh over 90 kg. You can see my jawline now.

└Did you get plastic surgery?

└Get out of here. What plastic surgery?

└Ban Chan-yong is good-looking.

“Ah, stop exaggerating. What plastic surgery? Who just said I got plastic surgery? You know my email address, right? Send me an email with your ID verification. I’ll send you a chicken gifticon.”

└Wow, so handsome.

└The Won-bin of pigs, lol.

└Chicken, oh my god.

└Ban Chan-yong is honestly the best-looking among pigs.

└I genuinely thought Ban Chan-yong was good-looking. For real.

“Yeah, it’s late. Life is all about timing.”

I started reading the next section.

“My educational background includes Jungang Elementary School, Gwanghui Middle School, Bukpyeong High School, and Soongsil University, which is correct. But wait, how do they know I worked at this company?”

└Did you mention it in a past story broadcast?

└You talked about it when you reached 100,000 subscribers, pretending to be pitiful.

└Pretending to be pitiful, lol.

└For real, now you make 30 billion a year.

“No, don’t say that. Are you crazy? How could I make 30 billion? Even if I live for 30,000 years, I couldn’t make that much. Make sense. Don’t say things like that. Some people actually believe it.”

I read the summary section.

“A diabetes patient in South Korea and an internet broadcaster?”

I was incredulous and read it again.

“A diabetes patient in South Korea and an internet broadcaster? Are you kidding me? Is being a diabetes patient my job? Who wrote this?!”

A diabetes patient in South Korea and an internet broadcaster.

Graduated from the Computer Science Department at Soongsil University and worked at a small video production company called ENNP.

Afterward, I worked as an editor for various YouTube channels and became recognized as a top-tier video editor among internet broadcasters by growing channels like Jimkkun, Woojinus, and Banya Sikgyeong, eventually transitioning to a full-time YouTuber in 2023.

“Delete this. I clearly stated, ‘A diabetes patient’? What do you mean by that! Who wrote this introduction like this? How do I fix it? Can I not do this?”

As I got angry, the viewers were absolutely loving it.

This is truly devilish.

Looking at the history section, it detailed my early broadcasting days as a mukbang YouTuber more thoroughly than I expected.

I was surprised to find content that I had forgotten about.

“I cried while narrating the life of pigs during a pork belly mukbang. Yes, that happened.”

└Ah, I remember now, lol.

└What was I supposed to do while crying and eating? Hahaha.

└It was a real cognitive dissonance, lol. Feeling sorry for the pigs while shoving pork belly in my mouth, haha.

└Delicious things are unavoidable, lol.

“No, everyone, it’s not something to laugh about. We need to understand the life of pigs. Only then can we truly appreciate it. We can’t just eat without thought. That day, I thanked the pig that became my meal with tears. I’m serious.”

Pigs are typically slaughtered around six months of age.

A young pig separated from its mother has its tail cut off, and the tail is a means of emotional expression for pigs.

Like dogs, they wag their tails when they’re happy, and it’s incredibly cute to see.

However, pigs raised for food experience a lot of stress, which causes them to bite each other’s tails, so their tails are removed to prevent infection.

When that happens, the pigs spin around their stubbed tails, and I’ve mentioned how heartbreaking that is during a broadcast.

“Growth of the side dish store…”

The next section detailed how the side dish store grew.

In summary, I leveraged the connections I built up over time (Jimkkun, Banya Sikgyeong, Woojinus, etc.).

However, it can also be viewed as something only possible due to my own skills. The content that succeeded based on the banter I developed from being hit by viewers was precisely the “Banchan Debate.”

└Hahaha, “straw,” lol.

└Ban Chan-yong is a legend, lol.

└Seizure button ON!

└Seriously, who wrote this? Quickly issue an apology; you might get sued, lol.

“…This is accurate.”

Viewers started posting question marks and “Keke” at the same time.

“But these people offered to help me first. At first, I declined because I felt bad. But on the day I first collaborated with Ji-seung, my subscriber count increased by ten thousand in just one day.”

I raised both hands.

“Could you all handle that? Your subscriber count is multiplying!”

└Oh my god, lol.

└Ah, my subscriber count is multiplying, haha.

└I can’t handle it, lol.

“Yeah. I’m a person too. It felt good to see things going well. From that point on, I openly asked Ji-seung, Ji-chan, and Woo-jin for help. And I wrote it well. If I hadn’t been interesting, would anyone have helped me to reach 1.1 million subscribers like I did? Absolutely not.”

└Oh.

└That’s true.

└Go Ban Chan-yong!

└I feel this every time we do the Banchan Debate—this guy is a devil.

└Stop tormenting Baek Woo-jin.

└Why am I feeling so emotional? This guy used to be such a total loser, but seeing him with such high self-esteem is kind of touching.

└Yeah, right.

Amid the rapidly scrolling chat that was almost too fast to follow, one message caught my eye.

The moment I saw his words, I felt a lump in my throat, and a heaviness settled in my chest.