20
20. Mariana Spicy
10,000 subscribers.
Honestly, I didn't know whether that was a lot, but there were probably plenty of YouTubers who desperately wanted to
reach that number.
But now that I had actually passed 10,000 subscribers, I couldn't help but feel flustered.
“Why is this popular?”
“Why do you think it wouldn't be popular?”
“Well..... Because it's boring?”
At those words, Mina let out a sigh.
“Do you only watch YouTube for entertainment?”
“Is there another reason?”
“Of course there is! These days, there are so many useful videos on YouTube about education, healing, music, and all
sorts of things!”
“Ah..... I suppose that's true.”
Come to think of it, I listened to music on YouTube whenever I wrote.
Of course entertaining videos were popular, but there were plenty of other types of videos that were popular too.
“Your videos are bound to be popular. Healing, everyday life, and a rural village overseas?”
“.....Why emphasize the rural village?”
“Isn't that obvious? Major cities overseas are introduced all the time, but rural areas overseas aren't shown very
often. They're dangerous too.”
“Hmm.....”
No matter how much you loved a country, traveling all the way to its countryside was difficult.
You didn't know what dangers you might encounter, and if you didn't know the language or culture, you could easily
offend someone.
Since unfamiliar countries were even more dangerous, videos showing Korean culture in foreign rural areas were extremely
popular.
It was commonly known as national pride content.
“An oppa whose body is great but whose face isn't shown, Shin-yong oppa, who looks so shabby that people really think
you're a country bumpkin, and even cute Emma. Of course it's popular! The characters are this distinct.”
“......Forget everything else, why do I look shabby?”
“Look at yourself right now.”
“Hmm.....”
For the record, the clothes I was currently wearing weren't even mine. They were clothes Jeongmin had thrown away.
I didn't particularly want to buy clothes, and I wanted to save the clothes I'd brought from Korea, so I didn't wear
them.
“If you keep making videos like this, you'll reach 100,000 subscribers in no time!”
“But I'm going to Korea next week.”
“.....What? When?”
“Thursday.”
“Then how are you going to film videos after that?”
“I was thinking about filming in Korea too..... but I'm not sure. I might just take a few months off.”
“Your views have gone up this much! If you miss this timing, you might never get another chance!”
“Never.....”
I was still young.
I hadn't lived very long, but there was one thing I'd learned from living my life.
“Another opportunity will come.”
There was no such thing as “never” in this world.
Just as there was always a way to survive no matter how difficult things became, you couldn't recklessly predict what
life had in store.
That was one of the reasons I had been unable to endure the anxiety I'd felt while writing.
‘I always thought the future was uncertain whenever I wrote..... But all of that worry was unnecessary.’
It was good to start running toward the future from this moment on, but there was no reason to tremble in fear when I
didn't even know what I would become in the future.
“If I just work hard every day, another opportunity will come.”
If we simply lived each day diligently, the path would appear before our eyes again.
“But still.....”
“You can do it without me in the first place, can't you?”
“That may be true..... but you're the main character, oppa.”
Come to think of it, even the title made it clear that I was the protagonist. There was no way they could make videos
using only the supporting characters without the protagonist.
“Come back as soon as possible.”
“Is it already certain that I'll come back?”
“Yes. Or, better yet, build a house right next to ours. Make it your house.”
“Come on, that's a little..... Actually, it is kind of tempting.”
I'd wanted to have my own house since I was young.
I didn't know if I could just build one wherever I wanted, but plenty of people renovated sheds or dug into the ground
to make their own secret bases, so it probably wasn't impossible.
“But can I really decide something like that myself?”
“Mom and Dad will allow it.”
At those words, I looked toward Mother, who was watching television.
“Well..... I'll lend you about thirty pyeong of land, so if you want to build one, go ahead. You can even build it next
to the stable.”
“......”
I had received permission, but honestly, I didn't really want to do it.
‘Building a house isn't easy.’
I would have to install electricity and internet.
It was much more convenient to simply live here like someone renting a place.
“So when are you coming back?”
“I don't know.”
I didn't think it would take me very long to return.
That much I was certain of.
---
‘A title.....’
The very beginning of everything.
Just as we looked at someone's face first when meeting them, the first thing we saw when looking at a book was its
title.
That was why it was important to clearly understand what made a good title.
“What title?”
“Ah. Nothing. Anyway, what are we eating for dinner today?”
Since we ate outside every three days, today we would be eating inside the house.
Mina said she was going to make the most of even that and film the food we ate inside.
“Emma isn't here today, though.”
Emma was currently checking the final manuscript, and she didn't usually come over unless it was a day when we ate in
the yard.
“That's fine. The videos revolve around you anyway.”
“.....Who would watch someone like me?”
“They might. You eat a lot, after all.”
That was true, but I had wanted to eat comfortably today, so I felt a little uncomfortable about being filmed.
‘Well, I'm going home soon anyway.’
There wasn't much time left before I returned home, so I decided to just go along with Mina.
“Today's food is just ordinary spicy braised short ribs.....”
Among the ingredients they had bought from Costco were whole beef ribs.
They were untrimmed ribs, but I had soaked them in water for an hour or two earlier, so most of the blood had already
been removed.
“Are we going to eat these whole?”
“They're short ribs, but shouldn't we cut them?”
There were two options: cutting them along the grain or braising them whole in the sauce.
There was a lot of meat, so I wanted to braise them whole, but separating them along the grain would make them easier to
eat.
‘Either way, as long as they taste good.’
After removing the blood from the ribs, I removed the membranes and cut them along the grain.
Then I carefully placed them inside a large pressure cooker and poured in water, various vegetables, and commercially
sold galbi sauce.
“We don't need to make the sauce, right?”
The store-bought sauce could taste better than homemade sauce, so I didn't feel the need to make one.
“Let's just add a little more seasoning.”
“Okay.”
When it came to Korean seasoning, garlic was the obvious choice.
I added several more whole cloves of garlic before closing the lid and sealing it tightly.
“Twenty minutes over medium heat.”
“That fast?”
“That's the advantage of a pressure cooker.”
There wasn't much to do for twenty minutes, so I sat down on the sofa.
“You should rest too.”
“I'll film a little longer.”
Mina filmed the pressure cooker boiling for quite a while.
I sighed at the sight and looked at Bori, who was playing with a toy nearby.
“Where did you get that toy?”
Jeongmin, who was on his phone, answered casually.
“I bought it at the market on the way. Mom told me to get it.”
“.....It plays well by itself.”
I didn't know whether raccoons were more closely related to dogs or cats.
Either way, I was glad it was playing by itself.
“Kyaaang!”
“What is it?”
Bori suddenly noticed me while playing, grabbed the toy in its mouth, and came over.
“Kaang!”
It then placed the toy it had been playing with right in front of me.
“.....Does it want me to play with it?”
“Maybe? It didn't even move when we were waving the toy around earlier.”
Even if I wanted to play with it, I had no idea how to play with a raccoon.
After thinking for a moment, I picked up the toy and waved it above its head.
“Kyaaang!”
Bori stood up on its hind legs and waved its paws after the toy.
“Is playing with it similar to playing with a cat?”
“Probably similar to playing with a dog too.”
“.....”
Since nobody in the house knew anything about raccoons, none of us could say for certain.
As I casually waved the toy around, Mina, who had been filming the braised ribs, suddenly came over.
“Oppa. Wave it a little more.”
“What? The toy?”
“Yes. Make it look a little cuter.”
What did she mean by waving it cutely?
Just in case, I clenched my fist and brought it up to my cheek.
“I don't mean you should become cute, oppa. I mean make Bori behave more cutely.”
“.....Oh. Really?”
“Yes. Hurry.”
I had no idea how to make Bori look cuter.
I thought about it for a moment before raising the toy even higher.
“Kaang!”
Bori stood up on its hind legs and desperately tried to grab the toy.
Mina focused even more intently on filming it.
“Should we open the braised ribs now?”
Since leaving them in the pressure cooker too long could cause them to burn, I decided to stop playing with Bori for
now.
“Bori. Play by yourself now.”
I casually placed the toy in Bori's paws before getting up and approaching the pressure cooker.
“What do we do now?”
“What do you mean? We have to release the pressure inside.”
Opening it while it was still pressurized could be dangerous, so we first had to release the air inside.
Fwoooooosh!
Steam erupted like lava.
We couldn't open the lid until all of the steam had stopped.
‘Lava.....’
Seeing the steam erupt suddenly reminded me of the title I'd been thinking about earlier.
One of the titles Aaron had recommended was [A Woman Like Lava].
‘It does fit..... It does fit, but I wanted to add something that made it clear she was a woman.’
Mariana, the protagonist who was willing to do even dirty things for success.
It was interesting to express Mariana's passion as lava, but something felt lacking.
‘It's good because lava represents a passion greater than fire..... but I feel like it needs something more.’
The central goal of this story was success as a human being.
It was about showing that inner success was more valuable than outward success.
In other words, rather than focusing too much on success itself, I wanted the title to capture the idea of succeeding as
a human being.
‘As a human being.....’
Among the recommended titles was [Mariana].
It felt more boring than [The Woman in New York], but it allowed readers to infer the situation to some extent through
the protagonist's name and the cover.
The title [Mariana] did stand out as a title about a person, but I wanted something with a little more quality.
“Can we open the lid now?”
“Huh? Ah. Let's open it.”
While I was lost in thought, the steam had stopped escaping.
“Be careful.”
“Yes? Why?”
“Sometimes the pressure inside makes a loud noise.”
“Ah..... Okay.”
I carefully opened the pressure cooker.
Pop.
The sound of the remaining pressure escaping could be heard, but it wasn't particularly loud.
‘Mmm..... That smell.’
Along with the aroma of the spicy and slightly sweet sauce, I could see the meat submerged in a sea that looked almost
like hell.
It was a sight that would make any Korean swallow their saliva, but someone who disliked spicy food might have been
horrified.
‘Spicy.....?’
Spiciness was pain, and liking spicy food ultimately meant enduring that pain.
A woman who had to endure every bit of pain that came her way in order to achieve success.
A woman addicted to success despite all of it.
The word “spicy” suited her perfectly.
“[Mariana Spicy].”
The title had been decided.