Chapter 10, Advertising Offer
Chapter 10, Advertising Offer
I set the heavy grocery bags down on the kitchen island.
"Ugh. My arms are gonna fall off."
If my Jageun-noona hadn't given me a ride, I don't know how I would've gotten all this heavy stuff home.
Just thinking about it is horrifying.
I filled the fridge and pantry with the groceries I'd bought.
The Korean beef tenderloin went into the fresh produce drawer.
The fruit and snacks went where they'd be easy to see.
As I was busy moving around, a languid voice drifted in from the living room.
"Our youngest. Make your noona a bowl of ramen, will you?"
I turned my head.
My second older sister, Kim Jae-min, was sprawled out on the sofa, flipping through TV channels.
Her posture is a work of art.
It's not even her house, so how can she be so unreservedly one with the sofa?
Anyone watching would think she'd deposited her ramen here for safekeeping.
"Noona. I just got back from grocery shopping and haven't even caught my breath yet. What am I, a ramen-cooking machine?"
"Then who am I supposed to ask, our cute youngest? The nieces who are twenty and fifteen?"
What kind of logic is that?
Honestly, I'd rather have her make my lovely nieces do it instead of me.
"Haa..."
I let out a deep sigh and took out a pot.
What can I do? If noona says jump, I jump.
Besides, she is my savior who rescued me from those heavy bags.
I filled the pot with water and put it on the stove.
I turned on the burner and started racking my brain.
'Should I try to milk this for all it's worth?'
I was discharged a few days ago, but I haven't received a proper discharge gift yet.
The living expense card I got from my Keun-noona is for household maintenance.
And the 10 million won I got from Baek Ha-rin was for equipment setup.
'Let's try to get a cheap used car out of her.'
Struggling with heavy bags every time I go to the mart gets old fast.
She has more than enough money to happily buy me a decent mid-sized used car, right?
I should ask her to pay for the insurance, too.
Since I'm in my early 20s, the insurance is expensive.
"Noona. How many eggs should I put in?"
"Two. Don't beat them, keep the yolks intact and make them soft-boiled."
Her picky appetite hasn't changed.
When the water boiled, I added the noodles and soup base, then cracked two eggs in at the perfect moment.
I even topped it with chopped green onions and set it up nicely.
"It's done. Get up and eat."
"The smell is amazing."
I put the pot and a plate of kimchi on a tray and placed it on the living room table.
Only then did my Jageun-noona get up from the sofa.
Sitting cross-legged, she picked up her chopsticks and smiled with satisfaction.
"As expected, the ramen our youngest makes is the best."
She grinned and flipped the aluminum pot lid over to use as a plate.
Then she scooped up the chewy noodles and started slurping them down.
I sat down across from her and watched her inhale the ramen.
"But noona. You said you were going to leave right after dropping me off at Keun-noona's house earlier. Why are you still here eating ramen?"
My Jageun-noona popped the soft-boiled egg yolk and answered my question.
"I was planning to, but after I parked, I realized it had been a while since I'd seen the nieces. So I came in to see them and give them some pocket money."
"What about me?"
"You've seen me, so that's enough."
That's not what I meant.
Did she exclude me because I said I couldn't handle it earlier?
'Ha-young hit the jackpot.'
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Given my Jageun-noona's personality, she's not the type to just hand over a few ten-thousand won bills and call it a day.
She'd start at the 100,000 won level at minimum.
"I wish I were a niece, too. You treat your discharged younger brother like a ramen-cooking machine."
I pouted and grumbled, and my Jageun-noona snickered.
Beep-beep-beep-beep.
Click.
The sound of the front door lock rang out.
Looking at the time, it was exactly when Baek Ha-young would be getting home from school.
Sure enough, the front door swung open, and Baek Ha-young came running in with a loud, chaotic clatter.
"Imoooo!!!"
She must have noticed her Jageun-imo was here after seeing the silver sports car parked in front of the house.
In our family, only my second and fourth older sisters drive cars like that.
Dashing into the living room in her school uniform, Baek Ha-young threw herself into my Jageun-noona's arms.
She wagged her tail like a puppy meeting its owner.
"Oh my. Did our little puppy get here?"
"Hehe. The little puppy is here~."
My Jageun-noona slid the ramen pot aside and hugged Ha-young tightly.
Then she started the butt-patting that is our family's way of showing affection.
"Ha-young. I told you to wash your hands when you get home."
I chided her, but it seemed like she couldn't hear me over the emotional reunion.
My Jageun-noona kept patting Ha-young's butt.
"Our cutie. Did you miss Imo a lot?"
"Yes! I missed you so, so much! Imo, you've been so busy with work lately that you haven't even shown your face, that's mean!"
Wow, so girls can act that cute.
Seeing her nuzzle her face into her aunt's arms was actually quite adorable.
My Jageun-noona smiled warmly and stroked her hair.
"I'm sorry. I was busy with a project. Instead, I'll give you a generous amount today so you can buy something delicious, Ha-young."
As soon as she finished speaking, my Jageun-noona took her smartphone out of her pocket.
Right, kids these days don't get pocket money in messy cash.
Sending it via bank transfer is the standard practice.
"Ha-young, your account is the same, right? I just sent it. Buy what you want and eat something delicious."
Ding.
An alarm sound rang from Ha-young's school uniform pocket.
Ha-young checked her smartphone screen, and her eyes widened as if they were going to pop out, and her mouth stretched from ear to ear.
"Gasp! Imo! I love you so much!"
I couldn't see the amount, but judging by the intensity of her reaction, it seemed to be at least 200,000 or 300,000 won.
Baek Ha-young gave my Jageun-noona a peck on the cheek and ran out into the hallway.
"I'm going to wash my hands and change!"
Humming a tune while carrying her bag, she dashed up to her room on the second floor.
My Jageun-noona and I were left alone in the living room again.
Just then, the door to Baek Ha-rin's room on the first floor opened, and Baek Ha-rin walked out.
It seemed she had been holed up in her room all day, waiting for Shorts edits or filming new videos.
"Oh? Imo, you were here?"
As Baek Ha-rin approached the living room with a dazed look, my Jageun-noona, who was putting on her coat, waved.
"Oh, Ha-rin. Imo's leaving now. I've seen your faces, so that's enough. Check your account. I sent you some pocket money."
"Thank you. I'll put it to good use."
Baek Ha-rin didn't make a fuss like Baek Ha-young, but she smiled and nodded.
Having checked on both nieces, my Jageun-noona walked toward the entrance.
I smacked my lips in regret.
My used car plan had gone up in smoke just like that.
As my Jageun-noona was putting on her shoes at the entrance, before grabbing the doorknob, she suddenly looked at me as if she'd remembered something.
"Oh, right. Kim Jae-jun."
"What."
"Did you stop by Mom and Dad's?"
"...No, not yet."
My Jageun-noona's brow furrowed sharply at my answer.
The affectionate look she had when seeing the nieces was gone, replaced by the look of an older sister scolding her youngest brother.
"You're the eldest son; if you've been discharged, the first thing you should do is go to your parents and properly report your discharge. What have you been doing until now?"
"No, I've been busy with this and that, so I've been out of it..."
"Don't make excuses, go see them tomorrow. They'll be waiting for you, craning their necks."
"Ah, okay..."
"Once you get back, I'll look into a used car for you, so keep that in mind."
"Oh, really?"
My Jageun-noona asked if I'd ever seen her lie, flicked me on the forehead, and went outside.
I rubbed my forehead and returned to the living room.
I should pack some side dishes and visit my parents' house tomorrow.
Being the eldest son is exhausting.
As I was grumbling to myself like that, I saw Baek Ha-rin peeking her head out from the living room door.
"Did Imo leave?"
"She just drove off. Why are you hiding and acting so cautious?"
Only after hearing my answer did Baek Ha-rin pop out, looking relieved.
She was clutching her smartphone tightly in her hand.
"Samchon. There's something I want to discuss with you."
"What is it? I've uploaded the video to the computer, so wait a second."
"Not about the editing."
She swallowed hard, then turned on the screen of the smartphone she was holding and shoved it in front of my face.
"Look at this."
What was on the screen was the inbox for the official business email account registered to the Harin-geongdyu channel.
"An email? Did someone write a long malicious comment and send it?"
"No. It's not a malicious comment... It's a sponsorship offer."
"Oh... a sponsorship..."
I narrowed my eyes and read through the body of the email.
[Hello, Harin-geongdyu-nim.]
[We are the marketing team at Daehan Electronics.]
[We were impressed by the trendy and energetic videos uploaded to Harin-geongdyu-nim's channel.]
[We are contacting you because we would like to collaborate with Harin-geongdyu-nim to promote our company's new product, which is targeted at university students in their 20s.]
[If you respond positively, we would like to support you by sending some of our latest products as a sponsorship so you can use them for reviews and video production.]
[We would like to coordinate the detailed contract terms through a meeting.]
[Please reply.]
After reading the whole thing, I stared blankly into space.
"...Is this for real?"
"I checked the email domain, and it really is the official Daehan Electronics account."
Baek Ha-rin's voice sounded like she couldn't believe it either.
It wasn't some red ginseng ad or something like that; it was an email sent directly from the marketing team at the headquarters of Daehan Electronics, a top-tier conglomerate that every Korean knows.
"A major corporation is giving you a sponsorship? Why, for a channel that just dances?"
"What's wrong with my channel! It's super hot among kids my age these days, you know? The view counts are popping off, so they sent it for target marketing!"
I stroked my chin and sank into deep thought.
With about 300,000 subscribers, it's not strange for sponsorships to come in.
But if the other party is Daehan Electronics...
This wouldn't be a simple sponsorship where you get a few million won to do homework.
"Hmm..."
My calculator was running fast.
If it's a major corporate ad, the unit price would be huge, and the mention of the latest product sponsorship in the email was tempting.
"What do you think, Samchon? Should I reply and say I'll do it?"
She tugged at my sleeve, looking nervous.
"I've never tried meeting with people from a major corporation or writing contracts on my own. What if I get scammed or mess up the contract and have to pay a penalty?"
"Hey. What are you scared of? Your Samchon is right here."
I smiled confidently and tapped her shoulder.
"We're definitely doing this."
"Really?"
"I'll support you with the complicated stuff like contract reviews and meetings, so just think about how to promote the product."
Ha-rin's face brightened at my confident answer.
"For real? I'm counting on you, Samchon!"
"Yeah, yeah. But, I don't know if I should call it a trade-off, but there's one condition."
"Condition? What condition?"
Baek Ha-rin tilted her head.
If I don't get what I want at a time like this, when will I ever be able to?
"That product that's coming in as a sponsorship."
"Yeah. Why?"
"That laptop is mine."
"What? Is that all? Take it. I'm not interested."
The product that received a sponsorship offer for the Harin-geongdyu channel this time.
It was none other than a lightweight laptop, an Ultrabook.
"To think they'd give us an EunhasuBook 5 sponsorship."
While worrying about how to do a laptop ad with dancing, I'll also have to think about how to use this EunhasuBook 5.
"Busy, busy."