Camping
Camping
Today, we had gathered not for our usual chatter, but for work.
Recently, Lee Min-ho's Qtube had been growing at a rapid pace,
so the purpose was to brainstorm together about what kind of event he should hold.
An event, huh...
Honestly, I had never really thought much about events like that,
so I couldn't come up with any particularly good ideas.
"Would a fan signing event be too over the top?"
"You'd need at least 10 million subscribers, like you..."
"If I, with only 300,000, said I was doing a fan signing, I'd just get laughed at by the community."
Since I also didn't think it was a great idea, I sipped my coffee and spaced out.
Anyway, these two were coming up with all sorts of ideas.
Like making simple merchandise to give away, or, since he's a review and mukbang Qtuber, making something like soy sauce dishes to hand out.
Quite a variety of ideas were coming out.
"Speaking of soy sauce dishes, there are those with intaglio engravings where a shape appears when you pour a little soy sauce in."
"That's trending in Japan."
"Hey, have you thought about how much money you'd bleed if you custom-ordered those? Just go with printing, printing."
"Hmm... it would be expensive, wouldn't it?"
Considering that a soy sauce dish with an engraved cherry blossom or Mount Fuji costs about 30,000 won,
I thought it might be too expensive for free giveaway merchandise.
"Or how about talking to the Director to make cards?"
They sell fairly well, and they're quite popular among fans.
With differences between products sold overseas and domestically, and varying rarities,
they seemed to be fueling people's desire to collect.
"As for the MCN, Seong-hwan, you're the only one in it, so it probably won't work."
"I'd rather not, since it would be sad to have them treated as junk cards and liquidated."
I could see that happening.
It would be a little sad to think of cards with your own face on them being sold off cheap or not becoming collectibles.
No matter how much I dislike standing out, I'd prefer my card to be treasured rather than thrown away.
"Wouldn't something like a keyring be just right?"
"Yeah, things like T-shirts are a headache because of the embarrassment factor, so something like a keychain would be better."
"Then I should look into this factory."
Having reached a decision of sorts, Lee Min-ho let out a sigh of relief
and took a sip of his cold coffee.
He said he'd been agonizing all night without finding an answer, so he asked us for help...
Was this really something to agonize over that much?
"You might not know this, Big Star, but for a small-time Qtuber like me, it's a big deal."
"What do you mean, 'Big Star'..."
If I was a big star, what on earth would you call A-ra?
More accurately, I was probably just seen as a somewhat famous person.
"You're probably the only one who can film one video, split it into two uploads a month, and still maintain your popularity."
"That alone makes you a Big Star."
"Stop hyping me up, I'm ordering another coffee, anyone else want one?"
"I'll have an iced caramel macchiato."
"An Americano with an extra shot."
I nodded at their orders, placed the empty cups on a tray, and stood up.
Since we had been sitting for quite a while, there were two cups each, six in total,
and it was a little precarious to carry them all at once.
"Hey, I'll carry half the cups."
"I said it's fine, I can at least carry something like thi............"
"Uh."
The moment 'Uh.' came out of Jeong Hwan-yi's mouth as he stood up.
Someone walking from behind tapped my shoulder and walked off without a word.
Then, the cups I was holding couldn't withstand the impact and lost their balance,
and the glass cups began to fall toward the floor.
Making my hope that they might not break feel foolish,
I heard the light, crisp sound of them shattering.
*
"I'm so sorry..."
"Oh dear, you've even paid for all the damages, so there's no need to be sorry. The person who tapped your shoulder and walked off is the one at fault."
After we finished cleaning up, there were even marks on the cafe's wooden floor where the cups had broken,
so I compensated for everything.
The owner said I didn't need to worry about the marks on the wooden floor,
but how could I not worry?
I was very sorry, and to prevent any unnecessary trouble from this incident,
I paid for the full amount of the damages and came outside.
"Hoo..... Since I've already spent the money, should I just go on a shopping spree out of frustration?"
Watching the money pile up every day had been fun, but this incident left a sizable dent in it.
So, wouldn't it be okay to enjoy the fun of spending for once?
"Then, do you want to go buy some clothes? It's about time to get some spring clothes."
"Clothes? I have a lot of clothes."
"Yeah, you do have an insane amount..."
With the dressing room crammed full of clothes, it's awkward to buy more.
"Then... right, didn't you say you received a watch as a gift?"
"Yeah."
"Then how about giving a gift to your wife this time?"
Was this the whole 'give and take' thing?
But isn't that not very good for a married couple...
Our relationship isn't about giving and taking.
It's about taking care of each other.
"Ah, whatever. I'll just head to the department store first and think about it."
"Will you come with me?"
"Of course. What fun would it be if you went alone?"
Honestly, wouldn't it be no fun?
Shopping is always the most fun when you're talking with someone.
Going alone isn't browsing, it's searching; it's not buying, it's procuring.
***
I bought a few cheap outfits, the kind I rarely see at home now, and came to the food court.
It was to treat the two who had accompanied me shopping to a meal.
Seizing the opportunity, the two of them ordered a mountain of food. I worried if they could finish it all,
but they were true to form.
Unlike typical men, these two were big eaters,
and they showed off their incredible ability to stuff all that food into their stomachs and even eat dessert cake.
They were almost A-ra-level monsters.
I wasn't very hungry, so I made a meal of mushroom soup and a small piece of bread.
As expected, the department store food court isn't bad.
"Seong-hwan, when is your birthday?"
"Me?"
Jeong Hwan-yi asked out of the blue, wiping his lips.
Come to think of it, my birthday was soon...
For me, who was abandoned in a baby box as an infant,
nothing was left behind except my name and birth date.
According to Mom, there was just a single piece of paper with my birth date and name on it inside the baby box,
and nothing else.
"January 9th?"
"What, that's next week?"
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"I don't really like my birthday itself."
Other people are blessed for the day they were born, but for me, it's the day I was born and then abandoned.
There's no way I could like it.
"Then what about your anniversary.... your wedding anniversary?"
"January 10th?"
"Huh? Why is it the very next day?"
"Because A-ra noona proposed on my birthday, and we registered our marriage the very next day."
"Wow... Is it because she's A-ra? Her follow-through is no joke."
I was a little flustered too, but I thought it wasn't a bad thing to do it quickly, since we were doing it anyway.
I think I agonized longer over who to get the witness seal from for the marriage registration form than over the registration itself.
"So, are you not going to do anything for your wedding anniversary?"
"I should do something..."
"Want me to recommend a good place?"
"A restaurant?"
"No, you idiot. Since it's your wedding anniversary, you should go on a trip."
"Hmm...."
It had been half a year since the trip to Japan, and about a month since the ski resort.
More than that, I wondered if A-ra's schedule would allow it....
"A-ra-nim has a schedule cancellation in January."
"You stalker-like bastard..."
"Calling a fan a stalker, should I record this and expose you on Qtube?"
"A... alright! Alright!"
I had to be careful because Lee Min-ho was a guy who would actually do it if he said he would.
After calming down Lee Min-ho, who looked like he had wires short-circuiting and sparking in his head, I sat back down.
"How about going camping?"
"Camping? We don't have a tent or anything."
"These days, there's something called glamping, where the company prepares everything in advance and you just have to go."
That sounded perfect for us.
A while back, when we went to see the sunrise, I had thought I wanted to try camping,
but I gave up because there were too many things to buy.
So, just as I was looking into caravans, thinking I'd just go all in and do it properly, he recommended camping.
On top of that, he said it was a camping setup where everything was already prepared.
Wasn't this a revolutionary product that completely compensated for the drawbacks of camping!!?
"Not bad... it was called glamping, right?"
"Yeah, I'll send you a link later."
"Thanks."
As expected, a rich young master who had enjoyed many things seemed to know a lot.
*
"Noona, I heard you have a hole in your schedule this time?"
"Huh? How did you know? A hole opened up because of an actor replacement."
Apparently, the lead actor of the drama she was filming had caused trouble and dropped out.
So, the directors' heads were throbbing like they would explode, and a hole appeared in this month's schedule.
"So, you're resting then?"
"Probably?"
"Then, do you want to go camping with me?"
"Yeah, I'd love to!"
She immediately agreed, beaming a bright smile, and hugged me.
She said she'd go even though I hadn't even told her where or how.
My wife really seemed not to think too much about the aftermath.
Was it because of her mindset that everything would work out somehow?
It's not exactly a bad thing, but I wanted to let her know that there are things more precious than money.
Though it's an irony of this world that even those precious things can be solved with money.