The man checked his phone pocket and sighed. No phone. He’d been traveling for two hours on the subway, and when he opened his bag, all he found was his backup foldable phone. He was supposed to start streaming at 10 AM, and it was already past that.
So he just went live anyway, with whatever he had. “I’m in Gwangju, actually,” he said to the chat. “I was going to do a market stream, but I forgot my phone. So this is what you get.
”
The viewers were quick to respond. Some joked that he was already down five stacks, a term his community used for donation goals. Others asked if he was going to at least buy some food. He laughed and said he’d been planning to grab tomatoes at the market, but now he wasn’t sure if he could even navigate without his phone.
He kept asking the chat for directions, and they kept giving him a hard time. “Just go right and keep walking,” someone wrote. He thanked them and started moving. The sun was hot, and he was wearing a short-sleeve shirt that looked a little wrinkled.
He made a joke about it, then asked if anyone had watched male streams before. The chat laughed and teased him. His goal was simple. He wanted to interview a local shop owner for his segment where he talks to small business owners.
He’d done it before, and it was usually well received. But first, he had to find the right shop and get a little support from the chat to keep the energy up. “If we hit plus 60,000 won, I’ll buy a tomato and maybe some sliced raw fish,” he said. “But we’re at minus five stacks, so I need some help.
”
The chat teased him more. Someone wrote that he should just eat first and then talk about the market. He laughed. “You’re all like my mom,” he said.
“Fine. Let’s find somewhere to eat. ”
He came across a small café. It looked newly opened, with a clean interior and a playlist that was surprisingly heavy on hip-hop.
He walked in and saw a young woman behind the counter. She looked like she was in her early twenties, maybe even younger. He asked if she wouldn’t mind a quick interview. “It’s not a weird stream,” he explained.
“I just talk to small business owners about how they got started. Around 110 people are watching right now. ”
She hesitated, then agreed. He asked her age.
She said she was 22. He was surprised. “You look so young,” he said. She explained that she’d opened the café about a month ago.
Her mom had always wanted to run a café, so she helped her get it started. She did most of the work herself, from the interior to the menu. “What’s your best seller? ” he asked.
“Waffles,” she said. “But they don’t sell that well. ”
“Which flavor? ” he asked.
“Vanilla. I don’t have chocolate. ”
“Then I’ll take a vanilla waffle,” he said. “Might as well try it.
”
While the waffle cooked, he kept chatting with her about the business. She said she was open every day from 9 AM to 8 PM. He asked if she had any plans to change the menu or the playlist. She said she just played what she liked.
He paid for the waffle, which brought his total down to about 6,000 won spent. The chat was still teasing him about the negative stacks, but he said it was worth it. He wanted to try the waffle and keep the interview going. “This is a new food for me,” he admitted.
“So I’m not sure if this counts as part of the challenge. ”
The woman brought out the waffle. It was warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. He took a bite and nodded.
“It’s good,” he said. “Simple, but good. ”
He thanked her for the interview and stepped outside. The chat was asking if the stream had cut out at any point.
He said it hadn’t. Then he checked the time. “I should head to Busan tomorrow,” he said. “Maybe I’ll go to Haeundae and grab some shrimp.
”
He laughed to himself. “Anyway, let’s keep going. I still owe you guys a market stream. And maybe I’ll actually buy that tomato this time.
”
He started walking again, the foldable phone still in his hand, the chat still typing away, and the afternoon sun still beating down on his wrinkled shirt.