I climbed into the taxi just after two in the afternoon, the weekend stretching out ahead of me. There was a cosplay tournament today, a League of Legends event, and I was already running late. I’d been up until six in the morning, and now I had maybe twelve minutes to grab a bite before the CEO’s broadcast. “Beef tartare,” I told the driver, almost to myself.
“I need some beef tartare before I go in. ”
Someone on the call laughed. “Dr. Hong, aren’t you worried about the raw meat warnings from last year?
”
“Would I get sick? ” I grinned. “They use fresh meat. I’m a regular.
”
The truth was, I never got tired of it. Beef tartare was my thing—soy sauce, gochujang, it didn’t matter. I loved it all. This year I’d finally tried stone flounder for the first time, the soft cartilage crunching between my teeth.
It had opened my eyes to a whole new world of sashimi. “Have you been to Dongbu Center? ” I asked the driver and the others in the chat. “Large serving for only 30,000 won.
Best deal around. ”
I checked the time. I had to be at the studio by four. The plan was simple: eat quickly, say hello to the people at the meat shop, and get to the tournament.
I’d seen Seeun streaming from home earlier, and I was already late. Someone mentioned Coolgang was doing an amazing cosplay today. “Solidarity,” I laughed. The traffic was heavier than I expected.
“Can we move to the first lane, please? We don’t have much left. ”
“About a kilometer,” the driver said. I looked out the window, thinking about the week ahead.
There was a new female streamer I planned to talk to at dawn, and another one who’d stopped broadcasting. I’d reached out to wish her a happy birthday. “If you return, we should do a broadcast together,” I’d told her. “Oppa, you keep reaching out, so we should,” she’d replied.
Winter was only four or five months away. I laughed bitterly. “I don’t know if I’ll even be alive in four or five months, damn it. ”
But I kept planning anyway.
I wanted to invite people to Noryangjin for a meal, have some sashimi for the first round, and then slip away. Just a subtle exit. The CEO could handle the second round at a café. “If you’re paying, should we set a date?
” I asked. “Maybe around the third week of August. ”
We drove past the hair transplant clinic, and I remembered how I used to get medicine there. “The holy land for hair transplants,” I joked.
“I used to come here a lot. ”
“Beach, it’s been a while,” someone said. “Half a year already. ”
“Has it?
” I shook my head. “Time’s moving fast. ”
Then I remembered the good news. “Oh, in February next year, I’m planning to get a car.
A lease, probably. A Tucson. It’s like paying rent—about 600,000 won a month. But my travel expenses will be lower.
If I just leave an hour earlier and take the subway, I can make it work. ”
“Do you know how much taxi fare costs? ” I asked. “Eighty thousand won round trip for most days.
That’s about 400,000 a month. If I get the car, it’s the same money, but I own something at the end. ”
“Please drop me off here,” I said as we approached the market. “By the fresh meat place.
”
The driver pulled over. “Thank you. Stay safe. ”
I walked in, greeted the owner, and sat by the window.
The place had a familiar feel. I’d ordered something different today—a soy sauce beef bibimbap instead of my usual gochujang one. “I’m really craving Ggaebi-hyung’s recipe,” I admitted. “His meat is on a whole other level.
Why doesn’t he do a beef tartare mukbang? If he did, he could eat it legally. ”
I mixed the beef tartare with the rice, keeping it neat. “You’re good at everything,” someone in the chat said.
I laughed. “I have to eat quickly. The CEO might be watching, and I have a broadcast at five. ”
The chat asked about an old unit I used to watch.
“How did you know about that? ” I asked, surprised. “Gwangwoo Military Academy? That’s from way back.
”
“Those jokes are a bit aggressive,” I admitted. “I think I learned them wrong. I have some rough edges because of it, and I’m trying to move past that side of me. ”
I glanced at the time.
Half past three. I had to go. “Thank you to Sodan-noona, Mu-noona, Wanggeon Apeum-hyung, and Alright-nim for making today’s broadcast enjoyable,” I said. “Thanks to Hunnam-nim and Jjeria-nim as well.
I’ll see you on the representative’s broadcast. ”
I stood up, grabbed my bag. I still needed to buy an umbrella—the weather forecast said rain after six, and I was planning to take the subway home. I’d left my balcony door open the night before, and my chair was probably ruined.
“Have a great weekend,” I told everyone. “Be careful driving in the evening. I’ll be going now.
“