One Sheep a Month
A new video was uploaded to the Sekki House channel.
The title of the video was Jwibulnori at the Closed School.
Unlike the title, which was rather plain except for the word "closed school," the video drew an explosive response the moment it was uploaded.
"Uncle, what's jwibulnori?"
The cute girl who appeared at the very start of the video instantly captured the viewers' hearts.
And the viewers realized why a jwibulnori video had suddenly been uploaded.
This little girl was the culprit behind it all.
Their suspicion turned into certainty as the conversation continued.
"It's homework for Korean school. The teacher told me to find out about it."
"Ah..."
The girl who kept launching heart attacks, and the flustered voice of The Baek reacting to her.
After a brief conversation, the two eventually...
"I want to do it too."
"Huh?"
"Jwibulnori. I want to do it. Please let me."
"Well, now you have to let her," the Bandit King answered naturally while watching the video.
Of course, he didn't even realize he was talking to his screen.
He was simply focused on the video, a warm fatherly smile plastered across his face.
And that smile only deepened as the video went on.
"Fire, fire! It's fire..."
Her fussing over the burning fire can, and her completely losing her mind when the sparks flew from it—
"Wo-Wow!"
—it was all just too adorable.
But what dealt the final blow to his heart was something else.
"Daddy! This is delicious! It tastes like meat! Give me more!"
"Oh my, look at that! She eats so well. Hahaha."
Watching Sun-jam eat the sweet potatoes pulled from the bonfire after the jwibulnori was over, the Bandit King finally crumbled, turning into a complete fool for her.
Having finished the video in the blink of an eye, he immediately left his room.
Crossing the living room, he stopped in front of another door and knocked without hesitation.
*Knock, knock.*
"Are you inside?"
"Ah, Hyung! Yes!"
"I'm coming in for a second."
At the reply from inside, the Bandit King opened the door.
"What brings you here, Hyung?"
Looking at the man who was built similarly to himself, the Bandit King barely managed to suppress a frown.
The man seemed to think he was acting natural, but the Bandit King, who was sharper than he looked, had noticed the monitor screen change.
I clearly told him not to play games during work hours...
The man was a junior from the Bandit King's hometown and served as the manager for the Meat-Grilling Man channel.
Lately, however, the Bandit King was starting to regret putting his junior in the manager position.
I should have kept business and personal matters strictly separate.
They had known each other since they were kids, and he had trusted the junior because he was the one who stayed by his side when times were tough.
In the beginning, the junior seemed to have his head on straight, but as the Bandit King became a massive YouTuber, his old habits were starting to resurface.
Should I tell Bang-ho to take him back?
The name of his hometown friend and absolute best friend came to mind, but the Bandit King shook his head again today.
He recalled the conversation he had with his friend when he first brought the junior along.
"Jeong-wang, please take good care of my little brother."
"Don't worry, man. I remember everything you and your mother did for me when I was struggling. I'll look after Shin-ho."
Instead of his irresponsible parents, his friend and his friend's mother had become his true family.
Jeong-wang had also worked hard to support his new family.
Bringing Shin-ho along and making him the manager, even though he lacked the capability, was done in that same spirit—to at least give his friend's freeloading brother a way to make a living.
But lately, Jeong-wang—no, the Bandit King—worried that this job was actually ruining his junior.
"...No reply from The Baek yet?"
Suppressing the sigh that wanted to escape, the Bandit King asked the reason he had come.
Ever since the collaboration with The Baek—or more accurately, with Sun-jam—requests to bring Sun-jam back on the channel had been pouring in.
Although Shin-ho and the junior staff handled the video comments, even the Bandit King couldn't help but notice this particular demand.
Just yesterday, the moment he started his live stream, comments asking for Sun-jam flooded the chat.
It wasn't just yesterday either.
Since Sun-jam's name came up during every single broadcast, it would be stranger if he didn't know about the reaction, even if he didn't read the comments himself.
So he had told Shin-ho to arrange a second collaboration, but for some reason, it wasn't happening.
"Well, still no reply," Shin-ho said.
"Still? It's been about two weeks, hasn't it?"
The Bandit King tilted his head at Shin-ho's words.
Even if it wasn't his main content, the Bandit King had done quite a few collaborations.
Among them, there were certainly guests who didn't fit the broadcast or didn't vibe well.
But even they had never taken this long to reply.
"That's strange. It's not a personal contact, it's a business inquiry. How can they be this unreachable?"
"Well, they probably have their own reasons. You saw it last time. No matter how much we tried to get her to talk, she just ate meat without saying a word. Maybe that kid just hates being on broadcasts?"
"..."
The Bandit King's head tilted even further at Shin-ho's words.
Hates broadcasts?
The child who was just spinning a fire can so excitedly and eating sweet potatoes so deliciously?
Even if she was shy around strangers, that didn't seem to be the case.
His growing suspicion was more than enough to spur the Bandit King into action.
"You have The Baek's contact info, right? Give it to me. I'll contact him myself."
"Huh? You, Hyung? What for? It's not like we're the ones desperate here."
Perhaps because the Bandit King's words were so unexpected, a look of bewilderment crossed Shin-ho's previously relaxed face.
But to the already suspicious Bandit King, that reaction made it look like he was hiding something.
"Haven't you seen the comments lately? Everyone is looking for Sun-jam on the stream. It would be a waste to just let this slide. If we're the ones who want it, we should be the ones to reach out."
"...Sigh, fine. I'll try contacting them again. You have the pride of a giant YouTuber to maintain, Hyung. How can you recruit him directly?"
"No, it's fine. I might as well save The Baek's number while I'm at it. He seemed like someone I could talk to when we met last time."
Rejecting Shin-ho's suggestion, the Bandit King shook his head and held out his hand again.
He was asking for the contact information.
Normally, I wouldn't go this far.
The old Bandit King wouldn't have even brought it up.
Even if he had, he would have backed off when Shin-ho said he would handle it.
But today was different.
He was determined to speak with Do-jin directly, no matter what.
"Seriously, Hyung, did you forget who you are? Please realize your status. You're a giant YouTuber. Even if our subscriber counts aren't that different, don't lower yourself to the level of a guy who just made a name for himself a few months ago."
Did he finally realize the situation was strange?
Shin-ho finally brought out his ultimate card.
Until now, he had used those words to block the Bandit King from communicating with others.
When their subscriber count was low, he claimed he would handle things so they wouldn't get ignored.
Once they grew big, he tied the Bandit King's hands by telling him to maintain his status.
But today, no shackles could hold the Bandit King back.
"Shin-ho."
"Ah, seriously. Why are you acting like this when you don't even know the collaboration protocols? Just go wait. I'll get a date for the collab by next week..."
"Give it to me. Am I speaking a foreign language?"
"..."
Shin-ho's mouth, which had been running non-stop, shut tight.
He felt it too.
Nothing he said would work on the current Bandit King—no, on Jeong-wang.
In his entire life, Shin-ho had only seen Jeong-wang in this state twice.
Once was when his older brother, Bang-ho, came home after being beaten up by school bullies.
The other was when he himself got caught smoking in middle school.
Gulp.
Just remembering the Jeong-wang of those times made his knees shake.
Back then, he was the definition of terror.
The bullies all ended up in the hospital.
And Shin-ho himself had to undergo surgery for a broken right arm and left leg.
And now, Jeong-wang was glaring at him with those exact same eyes.
"...H-Here."
Clutching his racing heart, Shin-ho quickly found the contact info on his phone and handed it over.
Only after receiving the contact details for both The Baek and his staff did the Bandit King turn around.
Just as he was about to step out of the room...
"Shin-ho."
"Y-Yes?"
"...You didn't do anything stupid, did you?"
At the Bandit King's words and his piercing gaze, Shin-ho answered defensively.
"O-Of course not! Don't you know me?"
"...I trust you."
With those final words, the Bandit King left the room.
But before the door closed, Shin-ho froze upon hearing his last remark.
"But if there's anything you need to confess, you'd better do it quickly."
"..."
*Click.*
With those quiet but terrifying words, the door shut.
*Bzzzz.*
The phone on the desk had been ringing for a while.
It was his friends calling, looking for him after he went AFK during a game.
But Shin-ho couldn't bring himself to answer.
The final look Jeong-wang had given him refused to leave his mind.
While the Bandit King was having a tense stand-off with his manager, Do-jin was having a dispute of his own with an employee from a wholesale meat center.
"No, really, I'm telling you it's fine. We're not a restaurant or a business, so why would we need regular meat deliveries?"
"Haha, what makes a business a business? If you regularly consume more than a certain amount of meat, that makes you a business. We found out that you purchase a massive amount of meat at the end of every month. Just take a look at this."
With those words, the man pulled a brochure out of his folder.
It was a confidential brochure listing the types of meat and wholesale prices handled by their center.
"Well... we do buy a lot of meat, but..."
Though Do-jin politely declined, his eyes naturally drifted to the brochure.
It was a habit he had developed from buying meat every month.
Wholesale is definitely cheap. Hanwoo beef is two-thirds cheaper than in the city. Depending on the cut, pork is half the price...
Flip, flip.
Once it caught his eye, it didn't take long for him to get sucked in.
Before he knew it, Do-jin was reading the brochure as intently as if it were a newspaper.
"..."
Seeing Do-jin's reaction, the sales representatives from the meat center let out a sigh of relief.
They exchanged glances, communicating silently.
We have to secure a contract here.
The quantity doesn't matter. The important thing is opening an account. Once we start trading, we can increase the volume anytime.
Seriously, we must land this client.
Do-jin didn't know it, but Sekki House had long been famous in the area.
It wasn't a factory zone or an industrial complex, yet nearly a hundred people lived there.
They didn't commute; they lived on-site, meaning their private cafeteria consumed an enormous amount of food supplies every month.
Moreover, rumors had spread that the quality and quantity of those food supplies rivaled the cafeterias of major corporations.
Eventually, these rumors reached the ears of the largest wholesale meat center in Paju City.
"We have to land them!"
At one executive's exclamation, the face of another executive sitting across from him filled with hesitation.
"I know such a place exists, but on what grounds are we going to do business with them?"
"Exactly. They have a cafeteria, but it's not a commercial establishment. From what I've gathered, they buy their groceries online or from the local supermarket."
"What kind of place they are matters too. We know there are many people, but we need to know what they actually do before we can supply them, don't we?"
Skeptical remarks poured from the department heads responsible for the center's management and production.
They knew the center was struggling, but given the nature of their work, they preferred stability and certainty over taking risks.
"That's exactly why it's an opportunity!"
"Do you think they'll just send us a supply order if we sit still?"
"Everyone is struggling because of COVID-19! We won't survive unless we move proactively!"
On the other hand, the sales and product development teams had a different stance.
Responsible for revenue and direct operations, they knew all too well that the center would soon go under at this rate.
The executives, who had been raising their voices, turned their gaze to the head of the table.
Ultimately, the decision lay with the center director, who was also the CEO.
"..."
The CEO, who was already deep in thought, sighed and turned his head toward someone.
It was the director in charge of the center's sales.
"Let's make light contact first."
"Director!"
"I know what you're all worried about. But we all know the center will have to close its doors if we keep going like this. We are already in a crisis."
"..."
"Still, we can't just blindly pitch to them without any information. Director Shim, form a dedicated team and make contact. Find out what they do, if they can trade with us, and if so, how much they can handle."
"Yes, sir."
The special team formed in this manner quickly began investigating Sekki House.
However, the more they investigated, the more shocked they became.
For a place with fewer than a hundred people, their meat consumption was absurd.
"Seriously, what do they do there? That's the kind of volume consumed by a cafeteria in a decent-sized industrial park."
"The volume is one thing, but the frequency is key. They place bulk orders every two weeks at the earliest, or once a month at the latest."
They had gone out to pitch because the center was struggling.
Normally, they wouldn't need to pitch to a place with fewer than a hundred people.
But once they opened the lid, they found a volume of meat that would normally be consumed by a cafeteria of three to five hundred people.
"Are they raising wild beasts or something? Unless there's a black hole sucking in meat, this makes no sense."
"Does that even matter, Director? We need to sign a contract right away. If other places find out, they might snatch them up first."
This hasty visit was the result of the subordinate's urgency.
They had barged in after making only a single phone call.
Normally, it would have been incredibly rude, but the employees who had verified Sekki House's consumption were in no position to be picky.
With the center's survival on the line, they couldn't afford to care about such formalities.
"Hmm... the prices and quality don't seem bad..."
Every time Do-jin flipped a page of the pamphlet, the employees' hearts skipped a beat.
They still couldn't believe this massive deal depended entirely on the decision of the young man before them.
"Oh! You have duck too."
"Our center's duck boasts the highest quality! We use antibiotic-free duck meat, so it's safe for allergies. Most of all, we manage everything strictly, having obtained HACCP certification for both slaughtering and processing!"
"Ah, is that so? This might actually be good. The duck meat from the local market wasn't enough to sustain our gatherings..."
"Please trust us and place just one order. You won't be disappointed."
"Hmm, I see..."
As Do-jin flipped the page while listening to the director, his hand suddenly flinched.
On the page after the duck, there was lamb.
Having recently eaten more lamb than he had in his entire life, Do-jin's hand couldn't help but tremble.
However, seeing this, the director misunderstood.
"Ah, are you interested in lamb as well? Our center handles everything from young lambs to fully grown sheep. Not long ago, we shipped a large quantity of whole sheep, and we've been getting steady online orders ever since."
"...So it was here. Ah, damn it."
"Pardon?"
The director, who hadn't caught Do-jin's muttered words, asked again, but Do-jin merely shook his head.
Instead, he spoke with a sharp gaze that differed from before.
"We'll sign the contract. However, I have one condition."
"Yes! Just say the word. We can adjust the price to some extent."
"No, not the price. Please adjust the quantity."
"Pardon? Ah, yes. How much do you need?"
Meeting Do-jin's serious eyes, the director replied with equal gravity.
But Do-jin's next words were enough to plunge him into utter confusion.
"One."
"...Pardon?"
"One sheep will do."
"..."
Realizing he hadn't misheard, the director's face began to turn red.
He thought the young man in front of him was mocking him.
If he hadn't had decades of sales experience, some choice words might have flown out of his mouth right then and there.
However, he managed to maintain his poker face, and he was rewarded for it.
"First, please deliver fifty kilograms each of Hanwoo beef tenderloin and sirloin this Saturday. And bring thirty—no, fifty ducks and chickens each. Size twelve."
"...Pardon?"
"Let's start with that. We'll decide whether to increase the volume later after checking the quality of this delivery."
"..."
This is just the start?
While the director was reeling from the unexpected scale of the order, Do-jin repeated his condition.
"Instead, you must keep your promise. For that household that keeps ordering whole sheep... do not sell them more than one sheep a month. Absolutely not."
As he spoke, Do-jin recalled the party from two weeks ago.
The gesture was meaningful, and he was incredibly grateful that they regarded them as family, but...
Honestly, Mongolian-style lamb dishes are a bit much for me to handle right now.
Traditional Mongolian lamb was still a difficult hurdle for Do-jin to overcome.
Sorry, Shanhu. For now, please eat it among yourselves.