What Did You Say Their Name Was?
Your destination is 30 meters ahead.
Ending route guidance.
"Is this the place?"
Confusion flickered in the eyes of the Bandit King as he checked his GPS.
And for good reason.
No matter how he looked at it, the destination was a school.
"W-what is this? Did they give me the wrong address?"
In truth, both the address and the GPS guidance were perfectly accurate.
Anyone who regularly watched Dojin's channel would have known this, but the Bandit King, who only ever paid attention to his own broadcasts, was completely in the dark.
Just then, the car driving ahead of him turned on its indicator and pulled into the school.
Naturally slowing down, the Bandit King immediately turned on his own indicator and followed it inside.
He had spotted a familiar child in the backseat of the car entering the school.
"They did a collab, but do they actually live together?"
The child sitting in the car seat in the back was Sun-jam, the girl he had done a joint broadcast with.
Despite being the center of attention lately, very little information was known about Sun-jam.
Seeing her enter this place was enough to completely wash away any doubts the Bandit King had about the location.
"Please stop for a moment."
The Bandit King slowly brought his car to a halt at the sound of a voice ahead.
He had intended to follow the car ahead straight in, but he couldn't because people had suddenly appeared to block his path.
"Hello."
"Yes, hello. Do you have an appointment today?"
Returning the Bandit King's greeting, a member of the security team asked while looking at a visitor log.
Scheduled visits were recorded there.
"Yes. I'm the Bandit King."
"Ah, here you are. Confirmed. You may go in. Just follow this road straight to the parking lot."
"Yes, thank you."
With the security guard's words, the closed gate swung open.
The Bandit King, who had been distracted by Sun-jam, looked around in bewilderment.
For a place where a mere YouTuber lived, something was highly unusual.
"Living in a school building, hiring security, staff, and even having a cafeteria? Is The Baek born with a silver spoon?"
It was a situation that anyone who didn't know the details would easily misunderstand.
Because of this, the Bandit King was starting to feel increasingly anxious.
"Sinho, you idiot. Who on earth did you mess with?"
The reason the Bandit King had come here today was to confirm the crime his employee had committed.
No, actually, that was just the surface reason.
His real goal was to beg for forgiveness on his own terms and wrap this matter up.
Although he could no longer keep his hometown junior as an employee, he wanted to prevent The Baek from filing a formal police report.
That was the final consideration he could show to the junior who had shared his ups and downs.
But...
"Will they even listen to my plea in a place like this?"
He fully intended to apologize and pay compensation.
In fact, he had prepared double the amount of the original sponsorship money.
"I even came prepared to get down on my knees if necessary..."
The more he learned about The Baek, the more his confidence crumbled.
It wouldn't be surprising if a young master straight out of a drama appeared with a dream team of lawyers, saying, 'We don't need that. My pride is more important.'
"Whew."
"Huh?"
After parking, the Bandit King got out of his car. He turned his head at a voice behind him and froze.
Sun-jam was pointing at him with a surprised expression.
Ah, now that I think about it...
He had been so distracted by the surroundings that he had temporarily forgotten he had followed the car Sun-jam was in.
It must have taken some time to get her out of the car seat.
He thought he had completely lost them while getting cleared at the gate, but the timing turned out to be perfect.
Just then, a massive shadow stepped between him and Sun-jam.
"Sun-jam, who?"
The man asked Sun-jam, his eyes locked onto the Bandit King.
Covered in muscle, the man stared without even blinking, radiating an incredibly intimidating aura.
Gulp.
Even the Bandit King, who prided himself on his physical presence, tensed under the man's gaze. That was when Sun-jam gave an unexpected answer.
"Daddy, don't. He's the meat guy."
"Meat?"
"Daddy?"
At Sun-jam's words, the man—Chanarshanhu—and the Bandit King questioned at the same time.
The Bandit King, in particular, looked back and forth between Sun-jam and Chanarshanhu, unable to recover from the shock.
How could a daughter like this come from a face like that?
He couldn't believe that Chanarshanhu, who looked like a bandit, and Sun-jam, who was cuter than a doll, were father and daughter.
Of course, he had no idea that he himself bore a subtle resemblance to Chanarshanhu.
Then the bandit—no, Chanarshanhu—opened his mouth, rubbing salt into the Bandit King's wound.
"Ah. The guy who invited us for meat but ran out halfway through?"
"A-ah, no! That was..."
The Bandit King tried to make an excuse, but he ended up just opening and closing his mouth, unable to say a word.
He had a lot he wanted to say, but in the end, Chanarshanhu was entirely correct.
No matter how much other meat they had, the fact remained that they had run out of the specific meat they promised Sun-jam, causing her to leave.
How guilty had he felt when Sinho later told him she had left?
Thinking this was a good opportunity, he bowed his head to Sun-jam and her father, Chanarshanhu.
"I'm sorry. I invited you back then but was poorly prepared."
"..."
"..."
Sun-jam looked up at Chanarshanhu, surprised by the sudden apology.
Chanarshanhu was equally flustered by the situation, but prompted by Sun-jam's gaze and the man's sincerity, he managed to speak.
"...Stand up. It's in the past."
"Thank you. I'll make sure nothing like this happens again... Huh?"
Raising his head at Chanarshanhu's forgiveness, the Bandit King trailed off, staring at Chanarshanhu.
To be precise, he was staring intently at the object Chanarshanhu was carrying.
"Meat?"
He hadn't noticed earlier due to his distracted state, but Chanarshanhu was carrying a whole slab of meat on his shoulder.
And having hosted whole-meat cooking and mukbang livestreams for years, the Bandit King could identify the type of meat at a single glance.
"Mutton?"
"...You know mutton? No, do you know it?"
Surprise flickered in Chanarshanhu's eyes when the Bandit King recognized it instantly.
Not many people could tell mutton apart at a glance.
Even at the butcher shops in town, few people recognized it as mutton just by looking.
This meant that in Korea, there weren't many people who knew about mutton, nor were there many places that sold it.
Consequently, Chanarshanhu's goal of buying mutton while out in town had ended in failure.
Under the circumstances, he couldn't help but be surprised by the Bandit King's instant recognition.
"Yes. I ate some on a broadcast not long ago. It looks like a whole carcass of lamb, and the quality is excellent. It's usually hard to get something like this unless you go through a wholesaler or a livestock center."
"...It was hard. I barely managed to buy this. One carcass a month."
"Excuse me?"
This time, it was the Bandit King's turn to be surprised.
Even if mutton was less popular than pork or beef, it shouldn't be so scarce that one could only get a single carcass a month.
He doesn't seem to be teasing me because he thinks I don't know any better...
Seeing the regretful look on his face and how gently he patted the meat on his shoulder, it didn't seem like a joke.
Ah, wait. Could it be?
An idea flashed through the Bandit King's mind.
If things went well, he might be able to win back the favor he had lost with Sun-jam and Chanarshanhu in one fell swoop.
"Boss!"
Dojin tilted his head at the sound of Chanarshanhu's voice from outside the door.
Unless there was a specific reason, Chanarshanhu rarely came to the office.
"I wonder what's going on?"
"Oppa, go check it out quickly."
Seung-wan and Do-hee seemed to share Dojin's thoughts.
Both of them looked at Dojin, silently urging him to go out.
Dojin nodded and headed toward the door.
What is it? I hope nothing major happened before the meeting.
He had just received word from the security team that the Bandit King had arrived.
He had been preparing for the meeting, so being called out at a time like this naturally made him anxious.
However, his anxiety turned to sheer bewilderment the moment he opened the door.
"...Huh?"
"Hello, Mr. Baek. I'm the Bandit King, the one scheduled to visit today."
"Ah, yes..."
Greeting him back reflexively, Dojin looked at Chanarshanhu standing next to the Bandit King.
With a satisfied smile on his face as if he were in high spirits, Chanarshanhu explained the situation to Dojin.
"He said he was looking for the boss, so I brought him here. We met in the parking lot."
"Mr. Chanarshanhu was incredibly kind. Thanks to him, I didn't get lost."
"..."
Dojin fought to keep his facial expression under control.
If he let his guard down for even a second, a mixture of shock and confusion would instantly wash over his face.
But soon, there was no need to hide it.
Because at Chanarshanhu's next words, the expressions of Dojin, Do-hee, and Seung-wan all froze in unison.
"This man introduced me to a wholesaler. Now we can buy lots of mutton, so we can have a feast."
"...Ah... I see."
"A mutton... feast..."
"...Congratulations, Mr. Chanarshanhu."
The gazes of Dojin and the two women slowly turned toward the Bandit King.
Flinch.
The Bandit King took a step back under their murderous glares.
He was more flustered than he had been in a long time.
"D-did I do something wrong...?"
Well, he had done something wrong.
Wasn't that the very reason he had come here to beg for forgiveness?
But he was fairly certain that the glares threatening to slice him to pieces weren't because of the sponsorship money.
The voices of the three reached his ears.
"...No. Please, come inside and let's talk."
"Yes... Let's have... a little chat."
"Hehehe..."
Dojin naturally pulled the Bandit King into the office and shut the door behind them.
Whatever happened inside would now remain a secret known to no one else.
Two hours after the Bandit King arrived at Sekki House, he was offering a sincere apology to Dojin and his companions.
"I'm so sorry. I've caused you all a great deal of trouble."
"Whew."
Dojin and the others let out a sigh as they watched the Bandit King bow deeply in apology.
The issue regarding the sponsorship money had already been neatly resolved.
Since the Bandit King promised to handle the matter cleanly on his end, Dojin agreed to let it go and keep quiet.
Dojin had also received the original sponsorship amount plus additional compensation, so it wasn't a bad deal for him either.
If it were just me, the original amount would have been enough, but this is Sun-jam's money.
Thanks to that, the issue concluded with a resolution that satisfied everyone.
There had been an unpleasant incident in the middle, and someone had to fire a trusted employee because of it, but at least the ending was clean.
The problem lay in what came next.
"I never imagined you had intentionally made it difficult to buy mutton. I only did it because I felt bad for Sun-jam..."
"I know. I know you did it out of goodwill, Mr. Bandit King. It's just that dealing with the consequences is our job..."
Stopping the repeatedly apologizing Bandit King, Dojin sighed and continued.
"Actually, it might be for the best. We couldn't keep deceiving Chanarshanhu forever anyway. I should take this opportunity to talk to him and work something out."
They could either cook it in a way that suited people's tastes better than the traditional style, or just have Chanarshanhu's family eat the mutton dishes themselves.
Neither option was an easy topic to bring up.
But for everyone to live together harmoniously, it was something they had to address at least once.
"Ah, and as for the collaboration, I don't think it will be possible right now. I hope you understand."
Once the compensation issue was settled, the Bandit King had cautiously brought up the topic of a joint broadcast.
After pondering for a moment, Dojin decided to reveal Sun-jam's condition.
Since he specifically wanted Sun-jam, Dojin couldn't keep hiding it forever.
Hearing this, the Bandit King immediately dropped the subject of a collaboration.
"Yes. If Sun-jam has such difficulties, we must be more careful. Come to think of it, it would be hard for me to do a collab for the time being anyway. I need time to sort out my internal affairs."
Everyone in the office nodded in agreement with the Bandit King's words.
An employee who wasn't just a regular staff member but held the title of general manager and oversaw operations was leaving.
There would be more than a few gaps to fill.
"Sigh, that idiot Sinho. I told him so many times to be careful about who he hangs out with. Tsk!"
"You seem certain that your junior's downfall was because of a friend."
At Dojin's remark, the Bandit King nodded weakly.
"It's not really my place to say this given the situation, but Sinho isn't the type of guy who has the guts to pull off something like this on his own. Even back in school, he only went astray because a friend egged him on."
"..."
Dojin simply listened to the Bandit King's words.
It was a common excuse made by the families of criminals, but there was no need to point that out to the Bandit King.
"Last month, I went down to my hometown for a school reunion. I met an old friend of his there, and that guy was running a YouTuber agency too. I didn't pay much attention to it since a guy who got expelled from high school for causing trouble was the CEO of a company..."
Gulp, gulp.
Perhaps his throat was dry from talking, as the Bandit King gulped down the coffee in front of him before continuing.
"Whew. But that idiot Sinho must have seen it differently. Seeing someone stupider than him living well as a CEO, he must have asked around. And that's how he learned. How to make money while running a company."
"...And you're saying that was embezzlement."
The Bandit King nodded at Dojin's words.
"Where on earth did he learn such garbage! Anyway, I feel sorry for the kids that guy manages. I heard he recruits children and runs a specialized kids' YouTuber agency... I wonder if the parents even know what's going on..."
Dojin tilted his head at the Bandit King's words.
For some reason, something about the Bandit King's story felt off.
A kids' agency? A CEO embezzling?
It overlapped far too much with the situation of a certain famous YouTuber he knew.
Dojin spoke up, just in case.
"By any chance, do you know who those YouTubers are?"
"Ah, those YouTubers? I used to know... For starters, they were elementary schoolers, and the kids were really cute..."
Elementary schoolers, cute YouTubers.
With this additional piece of information, Dojin's heart began to race.
And at the name that slipped from the Bandit King's mouth, Dojin finally bolted upright.