Chapter 32
…Am I an idiot?
After waking up and wolfing down the breakfast he prepared, I mull over why I acted that way yesterday.
But no matter how much I think about it, the only explanation for what I did is that I was an idiot.
Obviously, I shouldn't believe a word Kang Ju-hyeok says, even if he says he can make meju from beans.
What were you thinking, nodding your head like that, you moron.
“Ha-eun, finish eating and come to the room with the soundproof booth. I'll properly explain what I mentioned yesterday.”
“….”
I watch Kang Ju-hyeok's back as he carries the dishes to the sink while moving the conversation along brusquely.
Should I at least be grateful that, unlike yesterday, he's wearing a T-shirt and shorts? Is this really something to be grateful for?
I knew that, too, but when he tossed out an option I'd been reluctant to consider, I strangely wanted to take it.
I know, I know.
If I show my face and figure, I know it'll get at least a few more views.
…I know, but I chose not to.
Because I'm afraid the numbers would barely go up.
***
After feeding the extremely troubled-looking Ha-eun, I go into the soundproof booth first and wait for her.
I'd expected a very professional environment, but the interior is surprisingly barren.
Apart from a guitar, a music stand, and a chair, there's really nothing here.
A place meant for nothing more or less than playing guitar.
As I wonder what I could cram into this ambiguous space to make it work as a background, she eventually slips into the booth, fidgeting.
“Ah, sit down, Ha-eun.”
“….”
I stand up from the chair I'd been sitting in and seat her in my place.
I look down at Seo Ha-eun, sitting politely with her legs together, and imagine how she'd look holding a guitar here.
…With breasts that size, I don't think we even need to shoot from above.
Maybe shooting her straight-on would be better.
“Hmm, Ha-eun. You know what I asked you yesterday? Whether you were thinking of taking YouTube seriously.”
“…Yeah.”
“If you're serious about it, I'll give you some advice from an ordinary viewer's perspective. Want to hear it? As you know, with your figure, there's no way you could fail even if you died and came back to life. I'm serious.”
Seo Ha-eun is so damn hot even when filmed haphazardly on a phone that throwing on a few rags wouldn't make that appeal disappear.
If anything, depending on the clothes, she could be several times hotter than she would be naked.
She doesn't need anything fancy; put her in just a tank top and dolphin shorts, and at least ten thousand subscribers are guaranteed.
Cosplay would get her around a hundred thousand subscribers.
A woman's breasts are an appeal that works in every country, so the view count would probably be even higher than the subscriber count.
“…Hey, Kang Ju-hyeok.”
“Yeah.”
“What do you stand to gain by trying to make me do this?”
Seo Ha-eun's question, bluntly getting straight to the point, has a simple answer, too.
Why am I trying to help this woman even with her YouTube channel?
Well, obviously…,
“It's not like I'm thinking about some benefit. I'm just saying something because it's fucking frustrating. You're wasting your time with that figure, and I can at least pay attention to it, can't I?”
“…Ha. Now?”
She'll be even hotter if she succeeds.
Surely a celebrity with a million subscribers would be much hotter than a jobless shut-in, wouldn't she?
“What do you mean, now? I've cared about you from the beginning. Even when I picked a fight with you years ago, I was just saying something for your sake, I told you.”
“Seriously…. I don't believe you. Not anymore. I won't believe anything you say now.”
“Believe me or not, that's your freedom, but listen first. I'll tell you right now how to make money without showing your face.”
If I can get Seo Ha-eun and myself financially entangled in the process, jackpot.
If not, even if we at least grow closer, then with a deep bond between us, just having sex would honestly earn me far more than my investment.
No matter how little use I have for money, I'm not blowing two million won a month just to spend six months eating meals with a woman.
I invested because I had a way to recoup it all.
“Ha-eun, can I be a little more honest when I explain? Is that okay?”
“…Do whatever you want.”
“Ah, right. For starters, this is your channel, isn't it? The username is Sophia. The channel name is Sophia. Every video uploaded is just a guitar recording.”
Reviving a tiny YouTube channel with fewer than a hundred subscribers isn't difficult.
You can throw a cat into the frame for no reason,
“For now, leave this video up, buy even a cheap phone tripod, and just film and upload things the way you've been doing. Wear whatever you want.”
Or shove a woman's breasts into the frame for no reason, and usually you'll get something out of it.
I know that all too well, since I'd considered becoming a baseball YouTuber myself when it started becoming clear my rehab was going to fail.
Content where a sweaty man is watched by men is hopeless,
but content where a sweaty woman is watched by men sells well.
There's a decent audience for the reverse, too.
“…So you're saying I should film my body and upload it.”
“Hey, we're only getting started. Started. Washing the rice doesn't mean you've cooked the whole meal.”
That works when you're crawling up from the basement floor, but to climb higher than that, you need more sophisticated techniques.
“I listened to you, and you're actually pretty good at guitar. So play guitar diligently and upload videos instead of audio recordings. You don't need to use sex appeal.”
“Sex….”
Men generally prefer women who tease as if they won't take their clothes off, then gradually do so, over women who show up naked from the start.
In dating, that's called push-and-pull, and in this line of work, it's called managing your image.
Even idols start with pure, girl-crush, cute, and all sorts of other bullshit, then switch to sexy when nothing else works.
It's exactly the same.
“At your level, you don't need to rush into showing skin or anything. Just film normally and upload normally. Even so, your views will increase tenfold.”
“And what if they don't?”
But if an actor rejects even a role this easy to accept, there's nothing left for a director to ask them to do.
I don't know why she's hesitating so much, but Seo Ha-eun has to flaunt her breasts, even if I have to needle her pride myself.
If she can't, she'll spend her whole life holed up in this room, living off the meals I provide.
That wouldn't be so bad in its own way, but…,
I prefer dogs to cats.
If possible, I'd like to take her for walks, too.
“I'm telling you they will. Wanna bet? You could wear…, say, the suit you used to wear for the baseball club and film yourself, and see whether you get ten thousand views.”
“…Ten thousand?”
“I'm telling you, you'll get them. Absolutely. Ten thousand, at least.”
“Wait, you know how many views I'm getting right now…?”
“Around a hundred, right? Your best was, what, eight hundred? If it goes up about tenfold from your best, you'll hit ten thousand.”
“Can you take responsibility for that…?”
“Why wouldn't I be able to? It's obviously going to happen.”
Seo Ha-eun looks at me suspiciously, but this is obviously going to happen.
To be honest, unless she films herself in that shabby outfit she wore to the gym yesterday and uploads it, a video of her in the suit she wore when she worked for the club is guaranteed to take off.
We don't even need to get as far as algorithms and all that.
“…Hey, Kang Ju-hyeok. You really mean that?”
“I told you, I'm serious. Why can't you believe me? I'll take responsibility.”
“…Fine, bet me. That will never reach ten thousand views.”
Even so, as I wondered how I could take advantage of Seo Ha-eun, who was voluntarily jumping into a pit of fire,
“What are you betting?”
“Anything. …Except touching me, I'll do whatever you ask.”
“…Hey, you're insane. This is insane.”
“Hurry up and promise. Ah, we're recording. We're recording this, so promise.”
I didn't even need to bait her.
She'd delivered herself right to my mouth, smoked to a nice golden brown.
“Fine, I promise. If I don't get ten thousand views, I'll do one thing—anything—you tell me to.”
“If you break this promise, I'll kick you out of the house.”
“If that's the condition, why not make getting kicked out the wager?”
“….”
“…Whatever. Fine. So if I win, you'll do one thing I tell you to do, too?”
“…A-as long as you don't touch me, I'll do it.”
“Got it. I won't touch you.”
Wondering what on earth gave her the nerve to propose such a ridiculous contest, I studied Seo Ha-eun's eyes closely.
…Anxiety.
The eyes of a novice fidgeting for fear her bluff would be called.
I briefly wonder if I'd overlooked something, then speak first because we haven't set the most important detail.
“Ah, by when?”
“…B-by the end of March.”
“Oh, that much time means it's guaranteed. And we're uploading it to your channel, right?”
“……Yeah.”
“We can't delete it or make it private afterward, obviously?”
“…….”
…I was afraid that might be the case, but
I can't believe this was such a half-assed plan.
Of course, she wasn't planning to delete it the moment it went up, but she was saying she'd close the channel and escape if things started looking dangerous.
It was too absurd to be anything but cute, so I didn't press her any further and smoothly continued the bet.
“Uh…, and for the video itself, I'll buy you a tripod, so you can just put your phone on it and film something decent. Wear the suit you used to wear for work. Okay?”
“….”
“Answer me. You were the one who suggested recording this.”
“Ah, o-okay….”
Whether she lacked confidence because she had no confidence in herself,
or lacked confidence because she had confidence in herself,
Seo Ha-eun's attitude was impossible to decipher,
but one thing was certain: either way, I was going to win the bet.
…There aren't many sites that reject pictures of a hot woman.
Viral marketing or whatever.