Chapter 45
Chapter 45
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Clarification
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Haneul, check this out.”
I was rolling around on the bed when Sis came over and showed me her phone. She’d been grinning ear to ear just moments ago, but now her face was dead serious.
“What’s up?”
“Kim Su-il posted some shady video.”
It was Kim Su-il’s channel. The latest upload had a super clickbait title right from the jump.
At a glance, it could pass as him saying the flood of customers and nonstop orders wore him out physically after so long. But the thumbnail zeroed in on a drinking party scene with a mosaiced figure front and center.
That’s me, no question.
“What went down?”
“Nothing. Seriously, nothing.”
Thinking back, there was zero ammo for him to snipe me. I’d clocked him as that kind of guy from the start, so I barely exchanged words with him.
A little chat with Jin Jun-hyeok, sure. But mostly, I’d stuck with Park Su-han.
I hit play on the video.
The video kicked off with a weary tone.
The content? Straight-up wild.
It opened with the idea meeting: him, Park Su-han, and Jin Jun-hyeok hashing out the broadcast format. Brainstorming, refining, booking— all good up to there.
Trouble brewed when some mystery guy crashed the after-party drinks.
Mosaic and beeped name, but so sloppy anyone with eyes could tell it was me.
From there, it was a masterclass in devilish editing. Me supposedly ignoring Kim Su-il, dodging his chit-chat, cutting him off mid-sentence— all fabricated.
Plenty of footage since I’d met up with Park Su-han often to help out.
The video wrapped by claiming his event-day flubs stemmed from my bullying stressing him out, leaving no time to practice…
“Man… that’s next-level.”
“Devil edit, right? Should I clap back?”
“Totally an edit. I only care about you anyway, Sis. But hold off on responding for now.”
“Why? The backlash is brutal.”
Kim Su-il’s video was flooded with comments. As a big 1M-sub YouTuber, most folks didn’t know me, so hate poured in.
Lmao so funny. Why even include a guy like that?
Who is he anyway?
I hit report on that last one and powered off my phone.
“Don’t stress too much. Once Jun-hyeok and Su-han drop their full footage, the tide’ll turn.”
I got where Kim Su-il was coming from, kinda.
Best cook of the three, but his food truck tanked sales-wise and ratings too. Must’ve cracked his chef pride wide open. So now he’s scapegoating me to weasel out.
Full vids from the other YouTubers will hit him with backlash hard. Why pull this? Better to blame bad condition.
One way: sync stories with the other two and stitch a custom edit.
I pulled my fretting sister into a tight hug. Rolling on the toasty electric blanket bed, I whispered,
“I’ll draft the clarification and handle it, so stay off YouTube for a bit, Sis.”
“Nah, can’t let you shoulder it alone.”
“It stems from my actions anyway. I hate seeing you hurt by hate cuz of me.”
That’s what I couldn’t stand.
She deserved only delicious eats, good vibes, constant joy— not wallowing in others’ trash emotions.
Sis finally nodded at my firm stance.
“But when you gonna let go? It’s getting hot.”
“Not letting go.”
I squeezed tighter, like don’t even try. She gave up wriggling free, surrendered her body, shut her eyes, and drifted off with soft breaths in the warm glow.
I gently laid her on the bed and got up. Stepped outside and dialed Park Su-han.
Riiiing.
“Just saw Su-il’s vid. Did he float some weird proposal to you by chance?”
Su-han said he’d send the raw footage— just in case for any follow-up clarifications.
“You guys tight with Su-il?”
He was kicking himself— his event turning messy like this.
I thanked him and hung up.
In the face-exposure, money-making game of YouTube or media, public snipes and shade are dime-a-dozen. Celebs drop diss posts on Bestla all the time; worst case, they drag reporters along.
Past life, I ate that stuff up.
Why?
Snipes draw eyes, eyes mean promo for the restaurant. Refute the BS lies? Free publicity.
Even now, Kim Su-il’s shot didn’t faze me much.
But Sis was hurting in the crossfire.
That I couldn’t abide. No letting this slide.
How to crush him?
I mulled it. Weight class-wise, I’m outmatched. No fame, rep’s decent but not stellar. Evidence or not, one big PR hit wouldn’t stick.
Best case? He posts an apology, comeback stream, done. Happens all the time.
To wound deep, had to go nuclear.
Ideally… drag his full-backing MCN into it.
Wonder if the boss digs cats.
I texted the MCN handler.
The trio YouTubers’ charity bash drew massive subscriber buzz. First announcement in the community tab? Mixed vibes.
Bro, your cooking concept weird food or what?
Lmao heading to freakshow eats, hold up.
Folks side-eyed the lineup.
Kim Su-il: cooking YouTuber. Jin Jun-hyeok: mukbang plus cooking. Park Su-han? Can’t cook. His cooking vids banned the word “weird food” outright.
Post-event, weird posts popped up.
Restaurant cred a bubble?
Spun out. 30min line for this taste? Sell shit instead.
Results flipped expectations.
Su-han’s “should suck” toast? All raves. Su-il’s menbosha? Pure trash. Jjajangmyeon was edible early, but tanked by day 4.
Then Kim Su-il dropped a vid.
Claimed some jerk deliberately iced him out, sabotaged his biz, human trash stressing him— tanked his event condition.
Public exploded.
Prime-era 1M YouTuber snipe nearing 1M views. Viewers swallowed it hook, line, sinker.
My longtime fans? Losing it.
As fans hoped, clarification dropped soon.
But no proof, so sentiment stuck with Su-il.
He was drowning in every slur under the sun when Park Su-han uploaded.
Variety-show vibes. Mirrored Su-il’s start at the meeting but quick-cut edited. From my join-in? Full, unedited footage.
Su-han and my back-and-forth was gold— vid was a riot.
But curious folks fixated on me in the full cut.
Casuals cleared up fast; haters picking nits threw in the towel.
Why?
Me answering Su-il’s questions. He was the one butting in. I was slammed giving Su-han fiery feedback— no gripes to grab.
Too funny lmao Park Su-han crying?
Opinions flipped? Where’d Haneul haters go?
Backlash hit hard from the hate swing. Furious viewers dissected Su-il’s history.
His vids? Hate-only. Diehard fans tried shielding, but futile.
Su-il’s subs plummeted. Sky and Kite’s soared.
Sensing winds, even Jin Jun-hyeok dropped a pro-Haneul-ish vid. Su-il couldn’t continue.
He posted a black-screen white-text apology.
At that point, Kim Su-il had no clue.
The hits so far? Mere jabs.
A heavy champ-downing haymaker was incoming.