Chapter 160
Chapter 160
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 160
Chapter Title: The Pig's Head Mukbang
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Chapter 160.
The enjoyable after-party came to an end, and I escorted the Answer members to the car.
“I just can’t.”
“Where are you going?”
“Just a second!”
Seul-bi, who was the last to get in the car, suddenly dashed toward the elevator.
“…Is she going to grab some of the rice cakes or pig’s trotters?”
I took advantage of the brief pause to speak.
“Thank you so much for the car. I was starting to feel like I needed one.”
“Just this morning, you said you didn’t really need it,” Yi-na said, a playful look on her face.
“And thank you so much for the ring I wasn't expecting.”
“You can stop now. We’re the ones who are more thankful, you know?”
Seol-ah gave me a gentle smile, putting my mind at ease.
“But Oppa, I didn’t see you this way, but you’re really ruthless. How could you even think of selling the ring?”
In Yi-na’s eyes, I must have looked like a cold-blooded monster with no heart.
“Actually, I did go back to look for it, but it had already been sold. I could have found it if I really tried, but I figured I wouldn't survive here without a ruthless mindset.”
“…When you put it like that, you do seem a little scary, don't you? You’re only warm to us.”
The members smiled in agreement at Yi-na's words. I didn’t think I’d been particularly warm to them, but… if that’s how they felt, then that was a good thing.
The ring was one thing, but for them to gift me an expensive car with their first official paycheck in years was an unreal gesture. It was as if the Answer members were acknowledging that none of this would have happened without me.
And when the articles spread about how they’d used their hard-earned money, after a long period of hardship, to buy a gift for the manager who had struggled alongside them, it would be great for Answer’s image too. It was a win-win for all of us.
“I’m so glad I was put in charge of you all.”
Though, I didn't really have a choice because of the quest.
“We just met each other at the right time, yeah.”
Everyone nodded with a smile at Yi-na’s words.
After a short wait, Seul-bi came running back, carrying a heavy bundle wrapped in gold cloth.
“Look at that. I told you she was getting food.”
“You’re just going to try and steal some, aren’t you?”
“Huh? No? I’m supposed to be managing my weight.”
Seol-ah chuckled at Yi-na’s comment.
“How’s the gym going?”
“My weight is almost the same, but my skeletal muscle mass has increased a bit!”
Seol-ah said, clenching her fists.
“You’re doing great. Building muscle will not only make your figure look better, but it will also help you perform the choreography more powerfully.”
Ro-si opened the car door, and Seul-bi climbed inside. The rich smell of boiled meat filled the air.
“Don’t eat it with rice. You’ll gain weight.”
“Don’t worryyy.”
“Here we go.”
I started the car.
“Did you only bring the meat?”
“Yeah.”
Yi-na took the golden bundle from Seul-bi’s hands and partially unwrapped it to peek inside.
“Gah!”
Thump. Thud. Roll.
“Aaaah!”
Yi-na’s scream made Ro-si and Seol-ah scream along with her.
“Are you crazy! Why would you bring this!”
Yi-na cried out, on the verge of tears, as the bundle rolled into the space between her and Seul-bi’s seats.
“Aah! Ack!”
Ro-si, realizing the contents were a pig’s head, shrieked and pushed the rolling head away from her.
“Seriously! Why are you guys like this with food!”
Seul-bi picked up the bundle with a dissatisfied look. However, even she seemed to find it disgusting.
“Why did you bring that?”
“You said they were throwing it out tomorrow. Somewhere in the world, no, even in our own country, there are people dying because they have nothing to eat. The unseen, marginalized people. And this pig, too. It’s so unfair if it died just to be thrown away without being eaten!”
“……”
We were all speechless at Seul-bi's earnest declaration. Every word she said was true.
Is Seul-bi deeper than I thought?
Though it seems to be limited to the topic of food.
“…You’re not thinking of carving that up on the live stream tonight, are you?”
Seol-ah asked with a worried expression.
***
When they arrived at the dorm, Seul-bi tried to put the pig’s head in the refrigerator, but it wouldn’t fit. With a sigh, she brought it to the living room table.
“Ack! Where are you going with that!”
“It doesn’t fit in the fridge.”
“That’s why you should have thrown it out! Why did you bring it here!”
Faced with Yi-na’s fierce opposition and Ro-si’s repulsed expression, Seul-bi sighed.
“How can you throw away food!”
“Unni, you’d probably eat a snake’s head, wouldn’t you?”
“…Sigh.”
With a bitter smile, Seul-bi placed the pig’s head on the kitchen sink.
“It’s almost time for the live stream. Let’s wash up later.”
“Okay, okay.”
The Answer members checked their reflections in the mirror, preparing to interact with their fans.
“Going live?”
“Good.”
“…Whoa! There are over 3,000 people waiting?”
“Awesome.”
The members were thrilled by the growth of their live stream audience, which had started with only a few hundred viewers.
“Hello, everyone. We’re back in the dorm today after a while.”
“Hellooo.”
- Ugh, they’re still in that dorm? JD is the worst, seriously.
“No, no. The company is preparing a beautiful new dorm for us. We’re finally moving to a place with two bathrooms.”
“Woooow!”
The Answer members cheered happily at Seol-ah’s announcement.
- Heek. You guys were living with four people and only one bathroom?
- One bathroom all this time? That’s way too hard for four people.
- Ugh… what about the smell lol
- How did you guys manage to shower and stuff?
“Haha… We just took turns. When we were in a hurry, we used the sink.”
- Ahhh
- Our Answer really lived through some hard times.
“Thanks to all the love you’ve given us, we’ve been really happy lately.”
“Thank you! We’re so happy!”
As Seol-ah bowed, the other members also bowed to the camera.
- Btw, I enjoyed the viewable radio today. It was hilarious.
- I know, right. That handsome manager turned out to have debuted as a girl group member? lol
- Looking for an anime titled: Former Fire Emblem Member. Debuts as a Girl Group Member.
- That video was so funny.
- Isn’t that manager getting involved in too many things? He’s on the news, on variety shows, in fancams. Something smells fishy.
- Why is there a troll even in the live stream?
- Stop ruining the mood and get lost.
- Stop being so pathetic and screw off.
The pleasant atmosphere of the chat suddenly caught fire because of one troll.
“We’ve come this far thanks to that Timjang-nim.”
- Where did this parasite crawl in from?
- If you’re a Your Girl fan, just get lost.
- Can’t believe there are still people stanning a failed group.
“……”
- Seriously. Seol-ah-nim is talking. Can you all just be quiet?
Seol-ah and the members tried to change the subject to calm things down, but the atmosphere didn’t settle easily. The fans were probably even more furious, remembering how they had been deceived by Your Girl’s scheme and had criticized Answer.
“Haaa…”
Seul-bi let out a deep sigh and stared at the bundle on the sink.
‘If I say I’m doing a mukbang with that, it would definitely draw attention… but would I get branded as too unlikable?’
‘But people of all genders eat cheek meat and jowl meat from a pig’s head, don’t they?’
Seul-bi, who had been through two difficult situations because of the old club incident, was filled with a sense of anxiety.
She was always cautious about her good intentions leading to bad outcomes and had resolved never again to let her actions cause trouble for Answer.
Seul-bi quietly opened a browser tab and searched for pig’s head mukbangs. Surprisingly, many YouTubers had tried it, and contrary to her fears, the reactions were overwhelmingly positive, with viewers finding it novel and entertaining. After confirming that a pig’s head was clearly recognized as food, Seul-bi steeled herself.
Quickly returning from the kitchen, Seul-bi loosened the cloth, revealing the relatively intact pig snout. Then, from behind the members, she silently held up the bundle.
The chat instantly froze.
- Ugh!
- It’s a pig’s head.
Feeling an uneasy premonition from the chat, Yi-na and Ro-si turned around, shuddering as they moved away.
Seul-bi began to speak in a low voice.
“An article will probably come out soon, but we’re in a really good mood today. It’s the day we gave a meaningful gift to our manager, who has worked so hard for us.”
“Seul-bi, why are you being so gross? You’ll make the fans uncomfortable.”
- No, no, we’re not uncomfortable.
- No way, a pig’s head mukbang? lololol
- That’s awesome. A pig’s head mukbang is a great idea! Let’s do a mukbang today!
- Wow, she’s not even a flop idol, and she’s doing a pig’s head mukbang. This broadcast is gonna be legendary lol
Seol-ah tried to stop Seul-bi with a worried look, but the chat was buzzing with cheerful excitement. Seeing this, Seol-ah decided to watch rather than intervene.
Seul-bi unwrapped the bundle more, revealing the pig’s head more clearly. Except for the snout, the head, with its irregularly carved-off meat and skin, resembled a zombie’s face.
- Ugh!
- What’s with that.
- They turned the pig into a zombie lol
- The disaster caused by a regular person trying to carve cheek meat. That’s a job for a professional butcher.
- They’re commonly called meat cutters, not butchers.
Ignoring the chat, Seul-bi maintained her serious demeanor.
“We received our first paycheck this time. And the very first thing we did with it was buy our manager a car.”
- I’m jealous.
- That manager is so lucky.
- I heard some artists slap their managers, but he’s really blessed. He even got a car as a gift.
“No, we’re the ones who are blessed. Without him, we might have already disbanded with a mountain of debt. He’s a truly grateful and capable person.”
At Seul-bi’s sincere words, even Yi-na and Ro-si, who had looked disgusted, now had calm expressions.
“This is the head left over from the ceremony, and even though it looks gross, I just couldn’t bring myself to throw it away. There are still people in our country who die from poverty, you know. And from the pig’s perspective, even if it has to die, being thrown away without being eaten is just too cruel. To think a life was born just to end up in a trash can.”
- Whether it’s in a person’s stomach or a trash can, it’s dead either way… but I feel like I’ve been living my life wrong.
- Seul-bi-nim is so kind ㅜ
- A moment of silence for the pig who has blessed us with sustenance through its sacrifice.
With a bittersweet smile, Seol-ah went to the kitchen and brought back spoons, a knife, and plates, setting them on the table.
***
Back home, I was monitoring Answer’s live stream.
What in the world are they doing?
When Seul-bi brought out the pig’s head, I flinched, thinking it would be a broadcast disaster, but the mood was actually turning for the better.
The live stream had suddenly transformed into a mukbang, and the sight of Seol-ah’s skillful knife work and Seul-bi scooping out meat from hard-to-reach places with a spoon was bizarre yet solemn, as if they were on a mission.
My members are truly unique. A group of such unique people was bound to succeed as long as they got exposure.
“Wow… so this is cheek meat.”
Yi-na’s face lit up with admiration after trying a piece dipped in ssamjang.
“The jowl meat is also incredibly soft and delicious.”
Ro-si’s face also showed surprise after she tried a piece of jowl meat dipped in salted shrimp.
It looked grotesque, but in terms of nutrients and taste, the meat was undoubtedly as good as, if not better than, pig’s trotters.
- Wow, it looked so gross, but now it looks delicious. What is this?
- It’s gross, but my mouth is watering. What’s happening? lol
- lololol I really want to try that cheek meat.
- Is the jowl meat the same as regular hangjeongsal?
- Where does hwangji-sal or hangji-sal come from?
- Hangjeongsal, duhangjeong, hwangji-sal, hangji-sal are all the same thing.
- Really? Did they just make up a name for a non-existent cut?
- It’s not non-existent, it just went viral through regional dialects or something.
- I think the pig’s ear is the most delicious part!
- lol Let’s push for Seul-bi to get her own mukbang show on a broadcast network lol It would be fun to watch her being so serious.
- Hmm. Seul-bi definitely seems to be sincere when it comes to food.
The reaction was better than I ever could have imagined. It seemed like a great opportunity for a popular group to show off their down-to-earth charm.
There’s a time and place for everything… They’re busy with events, but it seems like I need to have them show something through a mukbang as well.