Revelations and Gifts
"Phew... I'm exhausted."
"Good job today."
A soft kiss landed on his cheek.
Dojin stared at Dohee, his eyes wide with surprise.
He had only just stepped out of the shower; he never expected this kind of welcome waiting for him.
"W-what was that for?"
"What do you think? It's a Christmas present. Consider it a reward for doing so well on today's broadcast."
Despite her explanation, Dojin could only daze-facedly stroke his cheek.
It was the exact spot she had just rewarded.
"Pfft!"
Dohee burst into laughter at his unusually blank expression before continuing.
"Today's broadcast wasn't easy, after all."
"The live stream... Yeah, it definitely wasn't easy."
To put it nicely, today's live stream had been "eventful." To put it bluntly, it was an absolute circus.
"Well, shall we grill some meat while we talk? The kids need to eat, and so does Mr. The Baek. I actually brought some special 1++ grade Hanwoo beef today..."
Jung-wang, who had been in the middle of talking with Dojin, suddenly drifted off to the side to slice and grill meat.
"Yes, I'm fine. I wasn't beaten or anything. Ah, actually... I don't really like jelly. I only ate it because they told me to... Ah! But the ones you sent were still delicious... No, really, it was fine..."
Then there was Chang-su, who suddenly confessed his food preferences, turning the comment section into a confessional of collective guilt.
"I don't really know. My brother takes care of everything... Gulp! Fortunately, Uncle Jung-wang is now... Guuulp!"
And Hui-su, who stared intently at Jung-wang while licking her lips, gulped so loudly it was hard to tell if she was speaking or just swallowing her spit.
Still, up to that point, the broadcast had managed to maintain some semblance of structure.
The real problem was Sun-jam.
Munch, munch.
Chew, chew, chew.
Nom, nom, nom, nom.
"..."
"Sun-jam, is it good?"
She gave Dojin a single nod in response to his question.
Then she slid her empty plate back to Jung-wang to get a refill.
"Oh, Sun-jam. This one's fully cooked too. It's chuck flap tail. You've had this before, right?"
Nodding vigorously at Jung-wang's words, she went back to it.
Munch, munch.
Chew, chew, chew.
Nom, nom, nom, nom.
She began vacuuming up the meat with her tiny mouth.
At least she isn't demanding specific cuts today.
Perhaps she had decided not to be picky about the cuts this time, or maybe the meat was just exceptionally delicious overall, as Jung-wang said. Sun-jam simply chewed away at whatever was grilled for her.
She ate with such gusto that the Chang-su siblings, Jung-wang, Dohee, and even Seung-wan couldn't help but salivate.
Growl~
Hui-su, who already couldn't tear her eyes away from the meat, had a stomach that had been staging a loud protest for a while now.
There was no way a broadcast could proceed normally in this kind of atmosphere.
"Let's just eat while we do this. At this rate, someone's going to report us for starving the kids," Seung-wan called out from off-camera.
Jung-wang and Dojin nodded simultaneously at her suggestion.
They had been thinking the exact same thing.
As a result, both of their hands grew busy.
Jung-wang sliced and grilled the meat, while Dojin transferred the cooked pieces.
Once hungry children start eating, you can forget about running a normal broadcast until their bellies are full.
"Hui-su, try this! It's super tasty!"
"Okay! Chomp, chomp! It's yummy, hehe."
"..."
"Sun-jam? Don't sneakily pull the plate toward you... You have one in front of you too."
Caught in the act of subtly dragging the plate closer, Sun-jam froze.
She seemed to have genuinely believed no one would notice.
Finding her reaction adorable, Chang-su chuckled and transferred a well-grilled piece of meat from his own plate to Sun-jam's bowl.
"...!!"
Was it because he had willingly given up his own meat? As Sun-jam stared at him with wide, startled eyes, Chang-su continued in a worried tone.
"Here, I'll share some. But you should eat some vegetables too. You're eating way too much meat."
Sun-jam's head shook in firm refusal.
No matter how nice Chang-su was for giving her meat, vegetables were out of the question.
At her reaction, Chang-su glanced at Dojin and whispered to Sun-jam—though his microphone picked up every word for the broadcast.
"Uncle Dojin doesn't like picky eaters. He might get worried if you only eat meat."
"...!!"
Sun-jam's eyes widened even further at Chang-su's warning.
She hurriedly turned to look at Dojin, but at that exact moment, he was wrapping a piece of meat in lettuce.
Inside the lettuce leaf, which was larger than his hand, he had packed green onion salad, bean sprouts, chili peppers, garlic, and kimchi. It was loaded with all kinds of vegetables.
Dojin popped the wrap into his mouth without a moment's hesitation—a combination that made Sun-jam grimace just by looking at it.
"...!!"
Sun-jam's eyes widened for a third time. This time, they didn't just widen; her pupils shook violently in sheer shock.
"Pfft! She's so cute!"
Dohee and Seung-wan whispered from behind the camera, but Sun-jam didn't hear them.
Only the viewers, Dohee, Seung-wan, and Chang-su—who had orchestrated this—were aware of what was happening.
Glancing back and forth between Dojin and the table, Sun-jam squeezed her eyes shut and dragged a side dish toward herself.
It was seasoned bean sprouts.
Choosing a side dish she had at least tried a few times at restaurants, Sun-jam picked up a few strands and put them in her mouth.
The moment the new food entered her mouth, which had been busy breaking down meat—
"...!!"
Sun-jam's eyes widened for the fourth time.
"Oh my goodness! Can I please go in there and pinch those cheeks?"
Another commotion broke out off-camera.
This time, the noise was loud enough for Sun-jam to hear, but she still didn't react.
Right now, she was completely overwhelmed by the new harmony exploding in her mouth.
Chew, chew.
It's delicious.
She had only ever eaten meat. Meat was the best. She didn't need anything else. But eating bean sprouts with meat for the first time delivered the greatest shock of her five-year-old life.
The sweet and tangy flavor of the bean sprouts amplified the savory richness of the beef. It felt as if even the slightest hint of greasiness left in her mouth had vanished! At this rate, she could eat even more meat than usual.
And so, the mukbang locomotive derailed and began to run wild.
Naturally, she checked out of the broadcast.
Although she remained on screen, she didn't answer any questions, only moving her fork with intense focus.
Sigh.
Dojin and Jung-wang watched Sun-jam with complicated expressions.
While seeing her eat so well was incredibly heartwarming and lovely, from the perspective of hosts trying to lead a broadcast, she was a total loose cannon.
Since she did nothing but eat regardless of what was said around her, they had no choice but to proceed without her input.
However, the problem was that there were other loose cannons besides Sun-jam.
"Oppa, this meat is tastier than the one we had last time."
"Ah, you mean from Shinyeom Pork? But that was pork."
"No, not there. Chungju Daewoo. We did a beef commercial for them, remember? Back then, the meat smelled weird and tasted sour, but this is so good."
"Huh?"
"What?"
Dojin and Jung-wang's gazes snapped toward Chang-su and Hui-su.
They hadn't realized it at first, but the direction of the conversation was starting to sound highly alarming.
Unfortunately, by the time they noticed, it was already far too late.
"Ah, Chungju Daewoo! That place was seriously awful. It was even worse than Shinyeom Pork."
"Hey, guys...?"
"The quality of the meat was worse at Shinyeom Pork, though. The meat was spoiled."
"Right. That's why we had to run to the butcher shop to buy meat instead."
"Kids, hey, kids?"
"I thought nothing could be worse than Weill Chicken, but..."
"Weill Chicken? That place was actually better. At least they delivered it fully cooked. Hongshin Smoked Duck sent us expired meat..."
"Wait, hold on a second."
"M-meat is ready! Eat up quickly!"
Dojin and Jung-wang scrambled to stop the conversation, but the siblings' dialogue had already been broadcasted loud and clear through their microphones.
And that wasn't the end of it.
"Honestly, I hated the toys made by Bangsil Industries."
"Right? Whenever we played with them, we kept getting cuts on our hands. They weren't even fun."
"Yeah... I wanted to tell people not to play with them in the video, but the CEO got mad..."
"I know..."
A brutally honest review of the toy that had supposedly seen a fivefold increase in sales thanks to the siblings' "joyful play" was aired.
"What was that one jelly again?"
"Ah, Baba Jelly?"
"Yeah. That weird-looking jelly. I had diarrhea for three days after eating that."
"Me too. It left stains on my hands that wouldn't wash off."
"It smelled weird too. We really ate too many things we shouldn't have."
The issues of a hit product once hailed as a "miracle of small businesses" poured out without any filter.
With these bombshells dropping every time they let their guard down, Dojin and Jung-wang's mental stability rapidly evaporated.
Jung-wang, who had more live streaming experience, handled it slightly better, but even he had rarely encountered a situation like this.
Ultimately, they changed their plans and wrapped up the broadcast in just one hour.
They had originally planned to eat slowly and do a Q&A session over two hours, but the hosts were in no condition to continue.
The viewers were highly disappointed, though.
From the viewers' perspective, it was only natural. How could they not find it hilarious when Dojin and Jung-wang visibly panicked every time the siblings spoke?
In fact, there were countless comments begging them to stream longer.
Cruel people. You all saw how close Jung-wang and I were to a mental breakdown.
Deliberate exposures at least gave warning signs, but innocent revelations struck out of nowhere. For those left to clean up the mess, it was enough to drive them mad.
"Phew..."
"You look devastated. Go inside and get some rest."
"I'm sorry... and on Christmas Eve, too..."
"Don't be. It was a fun day. Besides, I'm a bit tired today too."
With those words, Dohee planted a goodnight kiss on Dojin's lips. Smooch!
"Merry Christmas. I love you, Oppa."
"Yeah, I love you too."
"Break it up and get in here!"
Sensing the sweet atmosphere between the two, Seung-wan's voice drifted out from the women's lounge, which they were using as their quarters.
Chuckling at her shout, the two parted ways to their respective rooms.
At that moment, none of them had any idea what a massive storm that single one-hour broadcast would unleash.
Screeech!
Cawww!
"...Sigh..."
Dojin dragged his heavy body out of bed at the sound of the hawk trio crying outside his window.
"When will I ever get to wake up to the sound of sparrows chirping again...?"
He used to hear them often when he first moved into Sekki House. But at some point, mornings at Sekki House had begun to start not with the chirping of sparrows, but with the screeching of the hawk trio.
"Ughhh!" Crack.
As Dojin stretched, his joints popped and cracked. It was the sound of his body loosening up after stiffening during sleep.
"...Time to get up."
Despite stretching, his mind remained groggy, but he forced himself to stand. He wanted nothing more than to sleep for just one more hour, but today, that was out of the question.
*Pitter-patter! Thud, thud! Flop!*
Even while Dojin was lingering in bed, it was quite noisy outside. It wasn't the sound of the security team's morning jog, as they had been given the morning off.
The commotion he heard now was just pure excitement. The kind of noise made by people unable to contain their excitement on a special day.
"Everyone's excited because it's Christmas."
Dojin checked the time on his phone.
"...Right on time, as always."
The hawk trio's morning screams were always at this exact hour. It was so consistent that he wondered if they had an internal alarm clock. At least this was an hour later than usual, thanks to winter.
"Let's get ready and head out."
There were no official events scheduled for today. However, there was one unofficial event that everyone knew about: the Christmas gift presentation at 8:00 AM. Dojin had planned to give presents to Sun-jam and the Chang-su siblings.
Normally, they should wake up to find gifts left by Santa the night before, but...
That wasn't Dojin's job.
The role of Santa belongs to their respective guardians.
Wasn't it an unwritten rule that parents or guardians played Santa? It was absolutely not because Dojin, having grown up in an orphanage, failed to understand childhood innocence and refused.
"Mmm... Oppa, you're awake?"
"Yeah. Merry Christmas."
"*Yawn*, Merry Christmas."
After greeting Dohee in the hallway, Dojin hurriedly headed to the shower. He had spotted Seung-wan glaring at him from the doorway of their quarters.
Her eyes, sharper than usual, seemed to say, Don't you dare act lovey-dovey today.
...Let's behave ourselves today.
No matter how much Dojin enjoyed teasing Seung-wan, he wasn't about to risk his life for it.
By 8:00 AM, the lobby of the main building was packed. Everyone except the security team members on duty had gathered to celebrate the children receiving their gifts.
Smiling at their warm consideration, Dojin looked at the three children standing before him. Though they differed in age, gender, and even race, they were all children who had formed a special bond with him.
So this is how the director felt.
Hye-seok used to watch them closely before handing out gifts. Dojin could finally understand that feeling now.
"These are the gifts I prepared for you. I hope you like them. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas!"
At Dojin's words, a chorus of "Merry Christmas!" rang out in unison, as if they had rehearsed it. They, too, shared Dojin's sentiment.
"...Thank you."
"*Sniff*, thank... *hic*..."
"Thank you... Uncle."
Perhaps sensing the warmth of the adults, the children's faces lit up with pure happiness. Watching them bow politely to everyone gathered, Dojin gave a nod to Dohee and Seung-wan.
At his signal, they walked up to certain people carrying gifts.
"Team Leader Hong. Thank you for all your hard work this year."
"Jung-wang, this is for you."
While everyone's eyes widened at the sudden gifts, Dojin handed a pre-prepared present to Shan-hun.
"Shan-hun, Merry Christmas."
"Oh. Huh?"
After handing gifts to the representatives of each group, Dojin opened the door to a first-floor classroom. Inside the usually empty room, piles of gifts that Dojin and his companions had spent an entire day wrapping were stacked high.
"I wanted to hand them out to everyone individually, but we'd be here all day. Please find your gifts in here."
Dojin had already delivered gifts to the nutritionists, kitchen staff, and medical clinic staff beforehand. Once the people gathered here received theirs, the distribution would be complete.
"I think it would be best if the representatives of each group come up and distribute the gifts to their members."
At Dojin's suggestion, Shan-hun and Eun-seop, who had just received their gifts, stepped forward. Normally, Jung-wang would have had to step up too, but since Dojin had already personally given gifts to Chang-su and Hui-su, he was excluded.
"Oh! It's a scarf! A cashmere blend! It's so warm!"
"I got gloves! Thank goodness, my hands were freezing lately."
"Wow, a heating pad for the back. My herniated disc has been acting up since it got cold."
Joyful voices echoed from all around as people unwrapped their gifts. Just as satisfied smiles were about to spread across the faces of the three who had spent hours wrapping them—
"Um, Representative."
"Yes?"
"This is... a small Christmas present from us. I prepared it with the kids."
Jung-wang, who had been standing aside from the gift distribution, presented an unexpected Christmas gift to the trio. But that was only the beginning.
"Oh? Actually, I have one too..."
"Me too!"
"Mine is a bit modest, but..."
Those who had been busy unwrapping their own gifts stopped what they were doing and crowded around Dojin's group. They held gifts they had hidden away, and there were so many that Dojin's group couldn't possibly hold them all.
Ultimately, Dojin opened another empty classroom and stepped inside. It was the room right next to the one where he had stored the gifts.
"P-please bring them in here for now."
"Me first!"
"Mine is smaller. Please take this one first!"
"Wait, hold on. Please take your time. You might get hurt."
The gifts prepared by the security team were small, just as they had said. Most were cafe vouchers or low-capacity USB drives, and there were quite a few heartfelt letters. However, when there were many of them, they quickly piled up.
The avalanche of gifts showered upon Dojin, Dohee, and Seung-wan finally stopped only after filling half the classroom.
"...When are we going to unwrap all of this?"
"We have to keep all these letters, but where are we going to store them?"
Unlike the outside world, which was growing increasingly desolate due to COVID-19, Sekki House was filled with a warmth that made it feel as though spring had already arrived.