27
# Chapter 27 – Guest House and YouTube
Source:
"What...?"
"One hundred thousand views...?"
Seeing the view count on my guitar performance video, I froze for a moment before tilting my head.
"...Is one hundred thousand a lot?"
I didn't really know much about YouTube.
It had been roughly two weeks since I uploaded that guitar video.
Was one hundred thousand views in ten days a lot?
Or was it actually low?
"Hmm... Korea has fifty million people, and Seoul alone has ten million..."
Bad with numbers as always, I tried to judge the significance of my video's views by comparing them to the population.
"So one hundred thousand means roughly one out of every five hundred Koreans watched it? Or one out of every hundred Seoul residents..."
At first, the number had seemed quite impressive.
But according to the old lady from the restaurant I met in Yeosu, these days practically everyone watches YouTube.
After gathering all the information and finishing my calculations, I arrived at a conclusion.
"Oh. So one hundred thousand views isn't actually that high."
Well, who would willingly watch a twenty-second video thrown together on a channel that had also been made on a whim?
The shock I felt at seeing the number quickly faded.
Honestly, if too many people had been paying attention to me, it might have felt a little burdensome.
Fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.
"Huh? People left comments too. Should I read them?"
My guitar video with one hundred thousand views had around seven hundred comments.
Curious that people had actually taken the time to leave feedback on my performance, I began reading through them one by one.
Most of them said similar things.
* Wow, what song is this? It's insanely good.
* Channel owner! Please tell us the title of this song. I want to add it to my playlist.
Most were asking about the melody I had played.
Seeing countless comments asking what song it was, I unconsciously chuckled.
"...I made it myself."
Some people had figured that out.
* I searched everywhere and couldn't find it. I think the channel owner composed this himself.
* Please finish this song. It's so damn good.
* If the riff alone is this good, the full song would be amazing no matter how it's developed.
* Upload more videos, please.
Seeing all the comments begging for more performances, I happily picked up my guitar.
"...Alright. Maybe I'll record and upload the version I played today too."
Was this the real charm of YouTube?
Even if the numbers weren't enormous, the fact that people were subscribing to my channel and waiting for my videos made my heart race.
"Okay, let's fix the phone here..."
Just like with the first video, I adjusted the camera angle so my face wouldn't appear and started playing.
♪♪ ♬
Unlike the first version, this performance was brighter, fresher, and more rhythmic.
"It's the same melody, yet the atmosphere is completely different."
If I ever turned it into a full song, I could use the acoustic melody from the first video for the first verse and this refreshing version for the second verse...
"Ah, that's probably going too far."
Composing wasn't something that could be done after strumming a guitar a few times.
Even You Are the Story I Want to Tell by The Slacking Band had already been mostly completed by the band members.
I had merely added a little seasoning.
"Still, if I keep developing it like this, maybe I'll create a complete song someday."
Chuckling to myself, I uploaded the second performance video to my creep1234 channel.
[Untitled 2 – 0 seconds ago]
[Channel Name: creep1234]
[Video Uploaded]
By the time I finished playing guitar, reading comments, filming, and uploading the video, an announcement echoed through the ferry.
"Our ferry will soon arrive at the Jeju Port Passenger Terminal."
"Oh, looks like we're here."
As a child, I had traveled to numerous countries while attending exhibitions and competitions.
Yet somehow, this was my first time visiting Jeju Island.
'I wonder what kind of journey awaits me here.'
Looking toward the gradually approaching island, I smiled with anticipation.
---
"Hey! Are you alright? Here, drink some water!"
"...Th-Thank you."
Perhaps I had underestimated Jeju.
'...I didn't realize it would be this hot.'
Located farther south than the Korean mainland, Jeju was far hotter than Seoul, where I had lived all my life.
While walking along the scorching asphalt roads of Jeju, I collapsed from heatstroke, just like I had back in Dalsol-ri, Jangseong County.
If this hyung hadn't spotted me lying by the roadside while driving his Porter truck, things could have gotten dangerous.
"Whew, your body's like a hot pack. Here, drink some more water."
"Thank you. I don't know how I'll ever repay this kindness..."
"Kindness? Forget that. Focus on recovering first. Do you need to go to a hospital?"
While drinking water, I looked up at the man who had saved me.
He appeared to be in his late twenties, with dark bronze skin uncommon among Koreans.
He looked genuinely concerned.
"No, I think I'll be okay. The dizziness has mostly gone away."
"That's good then. Judging by your backpack, you're traveling. Where's your accommodation? I'll drive you there."
"I haven't decided on a place to stay yet."
At those words, he widened his eyes before laughing.
"Oh? Then how about staying at our guest house tonight?"
"Guest house...?"
"Guest house. You don't know? It's basically like a boarding house."
After that, he briefly explained guest houses to me.
They were similar to inns, but guests often gathered for parties in the evenings, and accommodation was relatively cheap.
Because of that, they were especially popular among backpackers.
"...Oh? That sounds really fun. I'd like to stay there."
"Haha, then come with me. The guest house is pretty far away, so hop in the truck."
And just like that, I loaded my luggage into his truck and headed toward the guest house.
Thus began my first unexpected connection in Jeju.
---
While expertly driving the truck, the man spoke to me.
"My name's Lee Hansu. I'm twenty-nine. What about you?"
"Ah... I'm twenty-six. Just call me whatever you're comfortable with..."
Because of my past trauma, I still felt uncomfortable telling people my name.
Not that it was likely, but I couldn't help worrying that someone might recognize me.
Thankfully, Hansu hyung seemed to understand.
"Hmm? Got some circumstances, huh? Alright then. I'll just call you little brother from now on."
"Ah, yes. Please speak comfortably too."
"Sure thing, little brother. You can just call me hyung."
Hansu hyung possessed absurdly good social skills.
Even someone as shy as me felt comfortable talking with him after only fifteen minutes.
And through our conversation, I learned something unexpected.
"...What? The guest house doesn't belong to you?"
"Yep. I'm a guest too."
"..."
He had spoken so naturally about staying at his guest house that I had assumed he was the owner.
"...I thought you were either the owner or an employee."
"Ah, I see the misunderstanding. I am an employee."
"Huh? Didn't you just say you're a guest?"
"I'm a long-term guest. At guest houses, long-term guests often help with work instead of paying full fees. This truck belongs to the guest house too."
"Ah..."
Like me, Hansu hyung was originally from Seoul.
He had already been staying at this Jeju guest house for two years.
"You've been living there for two years...?"
"I never intended to stay this long. But before I knew it, two years had passed. Haha. I just really love it here."
A warm smile appeared on his face.
He genuinely seemed happy with his life here.
'He's handsome... fit... drives well... he seems like a really cool guy.'
Watching him focus on driving, I finally asked something that had been bothering me.
"Hyung, there's something I've been curious about."
"Hm? What is it? Ask anything."
"What exactly are you recording with that phone?"
The phone fixed to a mount seemed to be filming continuously.
Even when he rescued me earlier, he had been holding a phone.
"Oh, this? I guess I never mentioned it. I'm filming a vlog."
"A vlog?"
"Yeah. Don't worry, your face isn't being recorded. Ah, I should've asked earlier. Is it okay if your voice appears in the video?"
"Sure, as long as my face doesn't show. Wow, more importantly, this is the first time I've met someone who actually makes vlogs."
A vlog.
Videos documenting someone's daily life.
I had only heard about them before.
It felt strangely fascinating to meet someone who actually created them.
Besides, I was technically a YouTuber myself now.
Meeting someone from the same profession made me happy.
"So you upload them to YouTube, right? How long have you had your channel?"
"About six months. You're interested in YouTube too, little brother?"
"Yeah. I made a channel recently too. Not many people watch it, though. Haha."
"That's how it is at first. I started the same way."
There was a subtle pride in Hansu hyung's expression.
Like a veteran YouTuber who had seen it all.
"Wow. Then you must have way more subscribers than me. And probably a lot more views too."
"Hehe. As a matter of fact, one of my videos set a personal record just last week."
Judging from how proudly he said it, the number must have been impressive.
After all, he'd been running the channel for six months already.
Compared to my two-week-old channel, we weren't even in the same league.
'My first video got one hundred thousand views... How many does his get? Five million? Ten million?'
Curious, I asked.
"Congratulations, hyung. So how many views did it get?"
"Haha, don't be shocked. I've only been running the channel for half a year, but my latest video reached..."
"Reached...?"
"9,800."
"...!"
I nearly jumped in surprise.
"Ninety-eight million? Wow, that's incredible..."
"What are you talking about? Ninety-eight million?"
Something felt off about his reaction.
"Huh? Didn't you say 9,800?"
"Yeah. 9,800. Not 9,800 ten-thousands. Just 9,800."
"Ah... just..."
...Just 9,800?
As I froze from cognitive dissonance, Hansu hyung proudly grinned.
"Surprised, huh? Haha. YouTube's a red ocean these days. Getting this many views is actually pretty amazing. I've already got 1,500 subscribers too. In only six months."
"...H-Haha. Congratulations."
Awkwardly smiling, I opened my phone and checked my own channel.
[Untitled 2]
[Views: 50,239 – 3 hours ago]
The second video I had uploaded only three hours earlier had already surpassed fifty thousand views.
"Little brother, what's your channel name? I'm in a good mood today. I'll subscribe."
"...It's okay, hyung. It's a tiny, insignificant channel. Haha..."
...Thank goodness I hadn't revealed it.
Otherwise he might have thought I was showing off.
And only then did I finally understand what one hundred thousand views actually meant.
'So one hundred thousand views wasn't low at all.'
For someone who had only just started a channel, it might actually be an unbelievably high number.
Meanwhile, the views on my first video continued climbing higher and higher.
[Untitled]
[Views: 120,643 – 2 weeks ago]
[Subscribers: 10.2K]
Not only were the views increasing, but my subscriber count was steadily growing alongside them.