042. Restaurant-Hunting Mukbang
042. Restaurant-Hunting Mukbang
A beautiful natural park situated along the city's riverside.
A woman wearing two prosthetic legs was taking small steps, walking across the green lawn for rehabilitation therapy.
Her name was Gu Min-ji.
She was the woman who went by the nickname 'Min-ji' on Gye Se-hun's stream.
‘Was Se-hun taking another day off from streaming today...’
Even while doing her rehabilitation therapy.
Min-ji's mind was filled entirely with thoughts of Gye Se-hun.
In the past, she used to lose her balance and fall at the slightest stray thought, but now she had grown accustomed to her prosthetics and could walk while letting her mind wander freely.
‘Surely he hadn't started streaming right now? I should have brought my phone at least...’
Min-ji had an entry code that let her join the stream at any time, but if possible, she wanted to watch from beginning to end.
Gye Se-hun's stream had already become a part of her life.
‘Ah. I wanted to see Se-hun's face soon.’
It was at that moment, while Min-ji was grinning broadly as she pictured Gye Se-hun's face.
In front of her.
A little girl came to an abrupt halt.
It was a child holding tightly to her mother's hand.
The child pointed her finger at Min-ji and asked her mother.
"Mom! Why are that lady's legs like that? Is she a cyborg?"
"Shh! You don't say things like that in front of the disabled!"
The woman, who had hastily covered her child's mouth, looked at Min-ji and smiled awkwardly.
Then she gave a perfunctory nod and apologized.
"Sorry. My daughter is still young..."
"...Yes. It's fine."
Min-ji didn't get angry at all.
Instead, she smiled kindly and accepted the apology.
But it was a smile tinged with a certain bitterness.
‘Disabled...’
When she was a sergeant in her final year of service.
The word she had often heard after stepping on a landmine and losing both legs. Disabled.
No matter how many times she heard it, she couldn't get used to that word.
‘Hoo-ah... I should just ignore it... It was not as though I had heard it only once or twice... Forget it. Forget it.’
Min-ji shook her head and chased away the stray thoughts.
It felt like negative thoughts were about to surface.
‘And I was disabled, so... It was better than being called "differently abled." That clumsy, softened language meant to sound considerate felt worse anyway.’
She had to think about everything in a positive direction.
She had no choice.
If negative thoughts persisted, she would eventually end up fearing every single person's gaze to the point of being unable to go outside.
That was also why she had dyed her hair pure white.
It was to brainwash herself into believing that she was the type of person who didn't care at all about what others thought.
‘I was still pretty even if I was disabled, so it was fine. Didn't Se-hun admit that my looks were outstanding too?’
After deliberately putting a smile back on her face.
Min-ji got into her wheelchair and hurried home.
Ignoring all the painfully piercing gazes around her.
*
After returning home, Min-ji sat down in front of her computer without even washing up.
Then her mother approached carefully and asked.
"Our Min-ji, are you going to watch that stream again, by Cheerful Namsu or whatever it's called?"
"No. That stream was just something I watched briefly a while ago."
"Huh? Just briefly? Didn't you even make your nickname Cheerful Min-ji and donate an enormous amount?"
"It was just because there wasn't anything worth watching. I watch a different stream now. I've found a place to settle down for good."
"...I-I see."
While diligently answering her mother's questions, Min-ji checked whether Gye Se-hun's stream was on.
"Oh? The stream's on!"
A full bloom of laughter spread across Min-ji's face.
Her mother wore a surprised expression at the sight of her daughter's bright smile, which she hadn't seen in a long time.
It was a natural reaction.
Because Min-ji was always expressionless, not just in daily life, but even when watching Cheerful Namsu's stream.
"...Min-ji."
"Yes?"
"It's fine to like a streamer, but you still need to donate in moderation, okay? Right now it might end at tens of millions of won a month, but tens of millions can quickly become hundreds of millions or billions. I've always told you, the more you fall for a man, the blinder you become. That's how your mom ended up losing five buildings."
"Ah. Don't worry! Our Se-hun doesn't really like receiving donations from viewers. He's different from those male cam streamers who discriminate based on donation amounts. He curses everyone out equally."
"...He curses at you?"
"It's affection."
"I see... Well, as long as you're happy, Min-ji."
Her mother gazed at Min-ji with fondness.
Seeing her daughter looking happy made her feel happy too.
"Then Mom will go check on a building for a bit."
"In person? Which building?"
"You know the building near Samjeon Station? I heard the small business owners there were complaining to the manager that things are tough lately. So I'm going to talk to them in person and lower their rent a bit."
"Ah... I can watch the stream on my phone too. Should I come with you?"
"No. Our daughter should rest comfortably at home."
Her mother said that and left Min-ji's room.
And she resolved that as long as she was alive.
She would do everything she could to make sure her daughter wouldn't have a hard life.
Thinking that Min-ji had lost her legs while protecting the country, she fully deserved such treatment.
Meanwhile, Min-ji, who remained in her room, entered the entry code and joined Gye Se-hun's stream.
『'Min-ji' has entered.』
【Min-ji】─Hello there!
『'Plum Tree' has been banned.』
【Min-ji】─??
[This fucking bitch Plum Tree, I told her to find a good restaurant and she just sat there without typing a single thing?]
Gye Se-hun's stream was lively as ever today.
***
Five minutes passed.
The viewers looked up good restaurants one by one.
Reverse-Rape Maniac.
Plum Tree.
Everyone except these two.
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─Oh dear. I don't know the address there, you see...
"That's your problem."
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─Just a moment T_TWT_T I just talked to my daughter on the phone,,, she says she wrote the address on a Post-it. I didn't see it stuck to the monitor;;; I'm sorry, but could you wait just a little longer? (T_T_T_T)
【Reformed Guburi】─Why does that fucking bitch keep doing this stupid-ass concept?
【Hottie Licker】─fr lol the emoticons are puke-inducing.
【Reformed Guburi】─(.)(.) Should just do this kind of thing instead.
【Hottie Licker】─What's that?
【Reformed Guburi】─Tits.
【Hottie Licker】─o.o
【Yoho】─Couldn't she actually be a real mom?
【Qkrnfl892】─No way. There's no way a mom would let her daughter run around with a nickname like that.
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─;;; Reverse-rape is a wholesome preference. I've preached it to my daughter.
【Dick Lover】─If that's true, then mother and daughter are both crazy bitches.
"Maniac. Stop spouting bullshit and find the place already. It's been more than five minutes, but if you find it before Plum Blossom, I'll let it slide."
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─Understood! (｡◕‿◕｡)
After a little more time passed.
Reverse-Rape Maniac also searched for a nearby good restaurant and came back.
But Plum Tree didn't type a single thing to the very end.
『'Min-ji' has entered.』
【Min-ji】─Hello there!
『'Plum Tree' has been banned.』
【Min-ji】─??
"This fucking bitch Plum Tree, I told her to find a good restaurant and she just sat there without typing a single thing?"
Just as I'd warned.
I banned Plum Tree without mercy.
And just then Min-ji entered the room.
"Welcome, Min-ji."
【Min-ji】─Yep! hehe!
【Reformed Guburi】─Plum Blossom cut! You're not telling Min-ji to find a restaurant?
【Min-ji】─What restaurant?
【Yoho】─The host commanded us to each find a good restaurant.
【Min-ji】─Ah. I'll find one right away!
"Min-ji, you don't have to find one. You just got here."
【Min-ji】─Ah okay!!
【Reformed Guburi】─oh? Giving her such special treatment? Playing favorites?
"Got a problem?"
【Reformed Guburi】─Nope.
"Then shut the fuck up."
【Reformed Guburi】─ok sex. OTO
【Hottie Licker】─What's OTO now?
【Reformed Guburi】─Nuts and dick.
【Hottie Licker】─Lick.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─But hey Se-hun. Do you seriously have dementia? Plum Tree was chat muted. lol
【Dick Lover】─Now that you mention it, she was chat muted.
【Yoho】─Gasp.
"Ah."
【Hottie Licker】─Ah the fuck lol Is he insane?
Seeing Defense Force's chat, I remembered.
That Plum Tree had been chat muted.
For a full thirty minutes, no less.
"No. If she's chat muted, she should say so, then maybe I'd let it slide."
【Hottie Licker】─?? He really is a crazy bastard.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─lololol
【Qkrnfl892】─That's ugly, Se-hun...
【Bubblegum Collector】─Wakyapya. Se-hun did nothing wrong! She should've sent a donation message!
【Qkrnfl892】─You can send donation messages even when chat muted?
【Reformed Guburi】─Depends on the settings. Given that she couldn't send a donation message, it looks like Fucker Se-hun set it so donation messages can't be sent during chat restriction either.
I couldn't remember what settings I had configured.
I considered checking, but it was too much of a hassle so I just let it go.
"...Gyejipsa. When you banned Plum Blossom, you did a regular ban, right?"
【Gyejipsa】─Hahaha!
"Then she can come back in. She has the entry code."
【Hottie Licker】─How is a conversation even happening?
【Yoho】─Hahaha! That seems to be an affirmative answer.
【Reformed Guburi】─She probably can't come back right away though. There'll be an entry restriction for an hour. You can change it in the settings, but.
"Really? Why do you know so much about this? Did you used to stream?"
【Reformed Guburi】─nn I looked into all sorts of things and studied to become your manager. But I ended up getting fired. Sob sob.
【Yoho】─T_T
【Hottie Licker】─sob sob the fuck lol
"Anyway, changing settings is a pain, so I'll just leave it as is."
I decided not to touch the settings.
Gyejipsa was still inexperienced at managing the stream, after all.
"She'll just come back on her own in an hour, I guess."
【Reformed Guburi】─Fucking bastard. Completely blowing me off.
【Bubblegum Collector】─Wakyapya. Se-hun is so cold!
【Drift AI】─I speak. Reformed Guburi reveals the truth that she once broadcast a game stream. She says she gave up on streaming because she had zero viewers.
【Reformed Guburi】─?? Shut the fuck up. Don't make shit up.
【Dick Lover】─lol Guburi streamed too?
【Drift AI】─I speak. She says she went by the nickname 'Curly Hair on Your Lip.'
【Hottie Licker】─lololol
【Se-hun Defense Force】─lolololol
【Yoho】─Good grief. How vulgar.
【Qkrnfl892】─Guburi! Explain yourself!
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─That nickname is really;;;
【Bubblegum Collector】─Wakyapya! Guburi's going into hiding!
Guburi's chat cut off abruptly.
Seeing that she had put herself into chat mute, it seemed Drift's words had been true after all.
‘So Guburi streamed too. No wonder she knew the stream settings so well.’
I didn't bother prying further.
I wasn't really interested in Guburi's past.
‘She might cry if I tease her too, so I'd just pretend I didn't see the chat and get going.’
I entered the address into the GPS and pulled out of the garage.
***
While I was driving.
I glanced sideways at the chat window.
【Hottie Licker】─Where are you going?
【Yoho】─Aren't you going to the place I recommended?
【Qkrnfl892】─?? You recommended a restaurant where the main dish is mint-pineapple-skate bibimbap, you fuck. Who the hell would go there.
【Bubblegum Collector】─Wakyapya. Yoho miraculously hasn't been banned yet.
【Dick Lover】─Why the hell does a restaurant like that even exist?
【Min-ji】─Se-hun. Which restaurant are you going to?
【Drift AI】─I speak. She says the route is headed toward the gukbap place I recommended.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─Where are you going~ Tell us!
The viewers were wondering which restaurant I was heading to.
They were probably secretly nursing some hope.
Even though they'd been forced to recommend restaurants, given the choice, they would want me to go to the one they picked.
But unfortunately,
"A Pyongyang naengmyeon place."
【Hottie Licker】─Who recommended that one again.
"Huh? This is a place I looked up myself. While I was waiting for you all to find places, I did some searching too."
【Yoho】─?
【Dick Lover】─oh?
"What."
I had no intention of going to any of the restaurants the viewers recommended.