Supermarket Switch Dreams
Shopping at a big supermarket with anyone other than my parents for the first time felt amazing. I was genuinely thrilled. And now I was the one pushing the shopping cart… I couldn’t stop smiling. I was going to stuff this thing full.
I started tossing things in like a runaway train. Rice cakes went in, meat went in, even the expensive Hanwoo beef went in. It’s my parents’ money anyway!! So piling it on should be fine… right?!
Oh. While I’m at it… that’s right. “Moddeok. Moddeok. Could you hold this for a second?”
“Why? Where are you going? More importantly, where’s Mina?”
“I just need to grab one more thing real quick. Please? I’ll be right back.”
This was peak fever-time shopping. When else would I get to buy this much stuff? I had to do it while someone else was paying. Heh heh heh. Maybe I should upgrade my monitor too? And while I’m at it… a new graphics card? A really good one? My computer’s already decent, but still. What about a keyboard? I bought one before, though. Mouse? Mine’s fine. And… that other thing I wanted. The game console. The one with Mario and Pokémon. A Switch!! Yeah, a Switch. Heh heh. Score!!
I left the cart with Moddeok and headed straight for the electronics section.
There it is!! It’s here. I’ve wanted one for so long!! I’m finally a Switch owner too. Honestly, I could buy it with my own money. But something about spending my own cash always makes me hesitate. Like I’d regret it later… like it’d just sit there collecting dust. So I talk myself out of it every time. But if it’s my parents’ money, I’ll actually use it properly. “Thank you!!”
Since I’m already thanking them… should I grab the games too? Can’t just buy the console without anything to play, right? The cartridges… whoa. They’re actually expensive. Yeah. These are going on the parents’ tab too.
I grabbed five game cards. All for streaming, obviously. Not because I personally wanted them. Really. I gave myself a mental pat on the back. If I didn’t, it would feel like I’d done something wrong!! I was buying these purely for work.
Arms full of console and games, I went looking for Moddeok. “F-found you!!”
She was examining ingredients for rice cake soup. I carefully approached and dropped everything into the cart.
“Where did you run off to?”
“I… went to buy a game console.”
“A game console? What’s this stuff?”
“Ah…!! The console.”
“I can see it’s a console. Why’d you buy it?”
“Because I want to play it!!”
When in doubt, answer with confidence. If I started stuttering, she’d just tell me to put it back.
“You don’t have one?”
“I… don’t!! So I’m buying one.”
“Oh… then just take mine. Put that back. I’ve got plenty.”
“Y-you’re giving me one?”
“Yeah. I’ve got three of the exact same model.”
“Why?”
One should be enough, right? Why so many? I was genuinely curious. Is she… a spendthrift?
“I get a lot of gifts.”
“From who?”
“Viewers.”
“Aha…!!”
Of course. She really is the original soup stock channel. Getting showered with presents!! Incredible. But… is it okay for her to just give one to me? I’ve got a bit of soup-stock sensitivity myself. Wouldn’t the person who gifted it feel bad if she just handed it off to someone else?
I ran the scenario through my head. Suppose I sent a gift to my favorite streamer. Then that streamer turned around and gave it to someone else… I’d be… “Mad… I’d be so mad!!”
I bit my lip hard. Morally speaking, I couldn’t accept this. I almost teared up just thinking about it.
“No thanks. I can’t take it.”
“Why not?”
“It’d make me upset.”
“Me? What did I do?”
“I put myself in a viewer’s shoes and it just feels sad… You give someone a present and they pass it to someone else… mmph.”
I scrunched up my face. It really would sting. When I thought of it as a streamer receiving gifts, it was only mildly sad. But imagining I gave a gift to a friend, and that friend decided they didn’t need it and gave it to another friend instead… That’s just too much!! Friendship over.
“Puhaha! Hahaha!”
“Please don’t give stuff like that to other people… It actually makes me sad.”
“No, the viewers specifically told me to give it to a friend. They said if I wanted to play with someone, I should pass it along. The problem was that I hadn’t done it yet.”
“Oh…!! Really?”
My expression brightened instantly. That changed everything. Actually, that was an incredibly wholesome situation. So some viewer gave my friend a gift and said, “Give it to your favorite friend.” And now my friend was giving it to me. Which basically made us besties!!
“Really. I don’t lie.”
“Thank you. What about the games? Do you have any?”
“Wh-who even uses cartridges anymore? Most people just buy digitally.”
“How do you play without the card…?”
“Like on Steam. You buy it from the eShop.”
“…The electronic store?”
There was a system like that? Since when? You could play without a physical card?
“Yeah. That’s how everyone does it these days.”
“Without the cartridge? Then do they give discounts? Since there’s no card, is there a sale?”
“Hmm. Not sure. But it’s definitely more convenient than cartridges. Don’t you have to keep swapping them in and out? I’ve never actually used one, so I wouldn’t know.”
“Ah, I’ll just stick with the cards.”
I’d just had a stroke of genius. One of those rare, brilliant impulses. If I didn’t buy the physical versions, I’d be at a disadvantage. Since it was my parents’ money, there was zero guilt. But if I bought digitally… I’d have to connect my own card, right? Then it would actually be my money!! I couldn’t just splurge like that. I’d end up watching YouTube videos trying to justify the purchase, overthinking whether it was really worth it for days. This was the perfect moment to buy!!
“Sure. It’s your money anyway.”
“It’s not my money. It’s Dad’s.”
“Aha…!!”
If it had been Mom, she would’ve interrogated me with perfect logic. Thank goodness it was Moddeok.
“By the way, where’s Raming?”
At my question, Moddeok leaned in and whispered, “Don’t say Raming. Call her Mina. Her name’s Mina, so Mina. Sounds nice, right?”
“Ah… why?”
I covered my mouth and whispered back like her.
“She gets embarrassed.”
“Ah…!! Because it’s her username?”
“Yeah.”
“Then what about you, Moddeok?”
“My name’s Jihyun. Call me Jihyun. Didn’t I tell you before?”
“I don’t remember!!”
“Well, now you know, right?”
“Yep!! Ah! I’m Seon-a.”
I grinned and nodded. Got it!! Calling someone by their username could be embarrassing. Fair enough. Jjang-i. Try calling me that and see how awkward it feels!! Heh heh.
I whispered again, even quieter this time. “Then I’ll go find Mina. Okay?”
“Sounds good. Go ahead.”
Far ahead, I spotted Raming.
“Ra— Mina!!”
I almost said Raming again. I walked over to where she was standing blankly. She was staring at the fish tank, completely zoned out. Even when I got right next to her, she didn’t notice, so I tapped her shoulder a couple times. Only then did she register my presence.
“Oh. What? You done shopping?”
“Mina!! Not yet.”
“Huh? How do you know my name?”
“Mod— Moddeok told me!!”
“Ah. Okay.”
“Yeah. I’m Seon-a.”
“Hahaha. I know.”
Just in case she forgot. I was refreshing her memory. People sometimes blank on names, so repetition helps, right? Like, even after being told someone’s name, you still go “uh, friend… yeah, friend.” That would be mortifying to hear.
“Right!! What are you doing?”
“Me? Looking at the turtles. Aren’t they cute? Look. The tiny ones are splashing around.”
“Mm… I see.”
I had no idea. What was cute about them? They were just swimming… Hmm. Still, I had to respect my friend’s hobby. I crouched down beside her and watched the turtles too.
Raming was completely absorbed, not even making a sound. Incredible focus. I was already getting restless. How could anyone stare at the same thing for this long? It was driving me crazy. Not everyone walks the same path. I had to follow my own. I wanted to look at things I actually liked!!
I shot back up. “So you guys were here. Need anything else?”
Just as I was about to start a new journey, Moddeok appeared.
“Huh?”
“Anything left to buy? I’ve got all the ingredients.”
Then let’s just go home. That sounded way better.
“I’m done. Nothing else.”
“Me too.”
“Then let’s head out.”
“Yep!!”
“Oh, right. Why didn’t you put this back?”
“Put what back?”
I walked over to the cart. Moddeok pulled out the Switch.
“Weren’t we going to return this? You said you would.”
“Oh… ah!! Right.”
But I’d changed my mind. I wanted a brand-new one, not a used one. Economically, inheriting something secondhand was smart. I knew that. Still… I wanted to be the one to tear open the box. Like those unboxing vlogs. I wanted that moment.
“I’m buying it.”
“Why?”
“I want to open a new one.”
“It’s brand new. Sealed box and everything. Just take it.”
“Uh… it’s really new?”
“It’s completely new. The box hasn’t even been opened. There’s dust on it.”
Really? My eyes sparkled. I couldn’t wait to rip it open.
“Thank you!! When can I have it?”
“Hmm… I’ll probably mail it to you next week.”
“I can’t use it until then?”
“Right… You were planning to play it on stream anyway, weren’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you’ll need time to set it up too. You know how to do that?”
Set it up? Obviously not. But I wasn’t worried. Viewers, help me!! If I posted a long, detailed thread, the tech-savvy ones would drop massive guides. I could just follow those step by step. Or beg the chat to walk me through it live.
“Don’t worry. There’s always a way. Hehe.”
“Oh. Really? That’s a relief.”
“Then I’ll go put this back.”
“Okay. Good choice. We’ll be at the checkout.”
“Got it!!”
I returned the Switch to its shelf and headed for the registers.