New Content
New Content
[Please do something other than meat!]
[I want to see content with things like crustaceans too.]
"Hm... different content..."
After uploading the video, I was browsing the comments, and comments asking for something other than meat started to catch my eye.
My Qtube channel's main content was meat, so at first, I'd just scroll past them as if I hadn't seen them,
but recently, similar comments had grown quite a bit, so it was getting hard to pretend I hadn't seen them.
"Content other than meat, huh..."
Personally, I had wanted to film videos handling fish as well.
Since A-ra likes them so much, I get frequent chances to handle them, and if I partnered with Jeong Hwan-yi's fisheries center, it seemed like I could produce a lot of decent videos.
On top of that, since Jeong Hwan-yi's mother had once sent an inquiry about advertising,
it'd be a win for the brother-in-law and the brother-in-law's husband, wouldn't it?
"But if I do that, the concept..."
Right now, my channel was so heavily biased toward meat that you could think its catchphrase was 'The Infinite Possibilities of Meat.'
But if something other than meat suddenly appeared, I couldn't be sure some viewers wouldn't feel disillusioned.
In the end, I had run into a bizarre and utterly frustrating situation where I was agonizing no matter which way I looked at it.
"Umm..."
"What are you thinking about so hard?"
"I was reading the comments..."
"Is it because of malicious comments?! Should Noona hunt them all down and beat them up for you?!"
A-ra, who had been wearing an expression like a baby kitten, instantly started making a face like a tiger.
The look on her face, as if she would kill them all if she caught them, was truly scary.
"No... it's not because of malicious comments..."
"It's not? Then what's the matter?"
"Umm... the thing is..."
I explained what was on my mind about the Qtube comments and community sentiment to A-ra:
it wasn't a bad thing, but I was worried about how to adjust things so viewers could enjoy it even more.
Was it because A-ra was in the entertainment industry before becoming an idol?
When I said I was agonizing over showing something to people, she dropped all traces of laughter and started seriously thinking about it.
"So, your foundation is meat, and what made you popular is meat, so you're asking if it's right to only upload meat videos?"
"That's right."
"People probably come to see you more than the meat videos, though..."
"Pardon?"
"Hmm... what to do about this..."
A-ra brought her finger to her chin and started pondering.
She pouted her lips, closed her eyes, and began to think deeply again.
"Noona's channel, I just upload whatever I feel like uploading, okay?"
"You do. You uploaded a celestial body video just the day before yesterday."
"Hehe. Fun, right?"
Seeing as some comments even said she was expert-level, A-ra really seemed to pursue her hobbies fiercely.
How did something she started as a hobby become expert-level?
"It was fun. But, Noona."
"Yeah?"
"My Qtube started as a cooking Qtube, you know."
"Was it?"
When I signed the MCN contract with the agency, it was clearly stipulated as a cooking Qtube channel.
Because of that, I couldn't just upload anything I felt like doing, the way A-ra did.
"Then, should we go to the agency and ask the writers or PDs?"
"Jeong Hwan-yi?"
"No, there are lots of people besides Jeong Hwan, right?"
"Yes."
"There's no need to ask just one person, is there? We're all family at the same agency."
"...You're right. Then I'll go now and see."
"Go and come back. Noona will rest a bit."
I let out a small laugh as I watched A-ra wave her hand languidly and lie back down on the sofa.
She seemed a little tired lately from having more shoots, but since they were the type of programs she liked, she also seemed happy about it.
"When I come back, I'll do the grocery shopping. Is there anything you want to eat?"
"Umm... butter-grilled abalone?"
"Anything else?"
"No!"
"Got it. Then I'll be back."
I stroked A-ra's hair and went into the master bedroom.
Would I be able to find an answer today?
***
"Oh my, Seong-hwan-ssi, what brings you here?"
"Hello."
As soon as I arrived at the company, I went straight up to the room where the writers were.
It was a quiet room where only the sounds of keyboards and mice could be heard, but the moment I walked in, all eyes focused on me at once.
"Did you have something you wanted to consult about?"
"A consultation? I'm happy to listen, no matter how long it takes. Please, have a seat here."
Writer Kim sprang up from her seat and walked over to the table in the center.
Maybe because it was familiar now, I quietly followed her.
"Have a seat here. It was orange juice for you, Seong-hwan-ssi, right?"
"Thank you."
She pulled the chair out for me, so I gave my thanks and sat down.
But she really didn't need to give me a beverage too.
I'm not even a guest or anything.
"Here, have one of these."
"Thank you."
I poked the straw in and took a long sip.
The cold, sweet orange juice went down my throat, and it felt refreshingly cool.
"Hoo-ah... that's refreshing."
"It's really hot outside, isn't it?"
"It's only July, but it's already been really hot."
"I know, right. The heat should be moderate, at least."
Still, the air conditioning in the company was blasting, so it wasn't hot.
Rather, it was so cold that I wondered if I might catch air-conditioning sickness if I sat for too long.
"Well, that's because there are only women here. It certainly could be cold for men."
"It's not that cold, so it's fine."
"Thank goodness. The people here complain about the heat if I don't turn it down this much."
She smiled brightly, saying she was sensitive to the heat.
Seeing that smile, I smiled slightly back and finished the rest of the orange juice in the carton.
"But what kind of consultation is it? Is it something very difficult?"
"No... it's nothing like that."
"Then... a shortage of ideas?"
"It's not that, either..."
"Really? Then what's the consultation about?"
"The thing is... recently, in the channel comments..."
This was the first time I was consulting about the channel with anyone other than A-ra, my friends, or the Director, so I was very nervous.
Since I hadn't really exchanged content in depth with the writers before.
I worried that the identity of my channel might waver for no reason.
"Hmm..."
"As expected, is it difficult?"
"So, Seong-hwan-ssi, you want to keep the Qtube channel's identity but also want to try other things, right?"
"Yes, that's it."
"Then it's simple."
"Pardon? Really?"
Even though she hadn't heard the details properly yet, she started smiling as if she had a solid idea.
She was wearing an expression that seemed to say, 'I can't believe you didn't think of something this simple.'
"You can just create one more Qtube channel, can't you? A channel where you upload only different types."
"Ah..."
"We'll edit and manage that channel for you as well, from our side. Honestly, you were seriously agonizing over something so strange."
In less than a minute, she resolved the dilemma I had been agonizing over.
As expected, writers had a special talent.
I just needed to create one more Qtube channel.
"Huh..."
"If Seong-hwan-ssi's channels increase, my salary will probably increase too~ since I'm the one editing Seong-hwan-ssi's videos."
"Thank you..."
"No need for thanks. In return, could I maybe appear in the second channel's videos?"
"Of course. I'll call you right away."
I immediately bowed my head to express my thanks.
She pierced right through this utterly frustrating feeling in one go, like a plunger.
I felt like I might even be able to call her in for every video I filmed.
Why hadn't I thought of something this simple?
If I couldn't do other things on the meat channel, I could just create another channel and upload them there.
After all, other Qtubers typically operated multiple channels.
"First, for the first video..."
"How about something like bouillabaisse?"
"French haemul-tang, huh..."
"Putting it that way makes it sound incredibly familiar."
Of course, it was a dish with enormous differences, but
if you put it simply, wasn't it French seafood stew?
It seemed like I was getting a good idea on top of everything else.
"Thank you, Writer-nim. Then I'll be going now."
"You're leaving already?"
"A-ra Noona is waiting at home."
"Honestly, there's no devoted husband like you."
I bowed my head deeply in greeting and walked out.
First, I needed to go to the supermarket and buy the ingredients before going up.
***
"Phew... filming's all done."
I filmed the video as soon as I got home.
I stopped by Costco because I had a lot of different things to buy, and since they had almost everything, I didn't need to wander around here and there, and it was so convenient.
No wonder people go crazy for foreign warehouse-style marts.
"Bouillabaisse is done too... and the butter grill..."
I finished preparing the abalone that was taking a shower in hot butter as well.
Maybe because it was such rich, delicious butter,
the kitchen was filled with the scent of butter rather than the bouillabaisse.
"Noona! Let's eat!"
I shouted loudly enough to be heard everywhere.
Maybe because she had been waiting, she came running to the kitchen with a pitter-patter sound.
"Butter grill!"
"Today's main dish isn't the butter grill, though~"
"Huh...? You didn't make butter grill?"
"No, it's not that I didn't make it. Come on, have a seat."
A-ra became sullen at the words that the main dish wasn't the butter grill, even though the smell of butter was heavily permeating the air.
She was making such a cute expression, like a rabbit, that I wanted to pet her, but if I stayed like this, the bouillabaisse would get cold.
"First, starting with the butter grill."
"Oh... ohhh! Butter grill...!"
A-ra cheered the moment the butter grill appeared.
I knew she preferred eating abalone raw, but it seemed she had been craving butter-grilled abalone today for some reason.
"But this isn't the main dish?"
"Today's main dish is... bouillabaisse."
"Bouillabaisse? What's that?"
"It's just seafood stew."
Calling it the seafood stew French people eat wasn't exactly accurate, but.
Still, wasn't A-ra a woman whose eyes flipped upside down at the mention of haemul-tang?