[I think I know which restaurant Noel went to. It's near my house.]
"There's a place near my apartment that serves generous portions of yukgaejang. You see plenty of places like that around, but based on the side dishes and the price of the yukgaejang, I think that's the place she went to."
*[photo]*
"I'm going to eat there too, haha."
- TearingRipper: "Though to be fair, Noel does eat slowly... but there was a TON of meat."
- ThisWinterAlsoSolo: "How's the taste? I mean, it's hard for yukgaejang to taste bad, but still..."
- SundaeWithChojang: "That's exactly it. It's not like some heavenly flavor or anything, but it tastes decent and they give large portions, so if I'm craving yukgaejang, I go there."
- ThisWinterAlsoSolo: "How does it compare to instant food? You know, that popular instant yukgaejang."
- SundaeWithChojang: "Does that even have any real ingredients in it?"
- ThisWinterAlsoSolo: "Well, if you mix it with rice, it makes for a quick meal... though honestly, you're not eating it for the ingredients, haha."
- SundaeWithChojang: "I'd rather eat here than have two of those instant packs."
- SundaeWithChojang: "Of course, if circumstances don't allow or if you need something small, the instant stuff works fine..."
- ThisWinterAlsoSolo: "Wow, it's that good?"
[I came to scold the owner who bullied Noel]
*[photo]*
"I was annoyed that they gave Noel such a generous portion when she eats so little, haha. I came to teach them a lesson by spending my money here.
Looks like they didn't give her special treatment because she's a streamer. Sometimes restaurants give extra to celebrities or streamers, but they seem to give everyone the same generous portions.
The taste isn't particularly special, but that's enough.
If everything tastes the same everywhere, I'd choose this place. The most important thing is getting a large portion, haha."
- SundaeWithChojang: "It's not a franchise, and the owner sources all the ingredients himself rather than using commercial products."
- SoupMaster: "What? He sources everything himself and it tastes like this?"
- SundaeWithChojang: "That's why it's cheap, haha. Without middlemen in distribution, he still makes a profit."
- SoupMaster: "Wow, respect then."
[One day before Noel's health checkup]
Until today, when Noel claimed she was healthy and not skinny-fat, we've rarely seen her demonstrate proper lifestyle habits.
Now, with her health checkup just one day away, the sound of wind and dreary rain beats against the office windows.
The calm before the storm.
The health checkup results will reveal whether Noel's health is poor or if Noel herself is just inadequate.
- SilverPanthea: "KingdomGodTech still suffering..."
- TearingRipper: "Honestly, I think she's right that she's not skinny-fat right now."
- TearingRipper: "Should we have told her to stop drinking a month ago after her checkup showed she was skinny-fat? Haha."
- HungryBubbleTea: "For real, haha."
"Wow, today was really tough."
"I know. Why was there suddenly such a rush of customers? It's not even the usual busy time."
After an unusually busy day, Youngjin and Seungyoon looked at each other in confusion.
It was normal to be busy during office workers' lunch hours or after-work dinner times. Those were the expected meal times, after all. But the lazy afternoon hours until 5 PM were typically quiet. For some reason, people had been coming in waves today.
It wasn't overwhelmingly busy, of course. But for a time slot that usually saw only one or two tables filled, the influx of customers made Youngjin grateful he hadn't regretted hiring a part-timer.
Originally, he'd wondered if it might have been better to call someone in only during peak hours, occasionally feeling the hourly wage was a waste. But at times like this, having help was definitely worth it.
"On tough days like this, shouldn't I get a bonus?"
"Did I ever cut your wages when there were no customers?"
"Haha, no, that's true."
"I'm just kidding. You worked hard today. I should give you an extra ten thousand won on days like this."
"Wow, thank you!"
Youngjin did intend to take care of Seungyoon, despite the expense. Before his military enlistment, the young man could have just been hanging out with friends, but instead, he was working to save money, which was admirable.
Of course, his slacking was a bit annoying sometimes. With only a ten-year age gap, Youngjin wondered if he really needed to look after him so much. But Youngjin considered it image management. If you don't take care of people during tough times, who would want to work for you?
"Oh, by the way, don't you think? That female streamer who came a little after lunch? She probably has quite a few subscribers."
"Does that actually work? I've never watched livestreams."
"Well, if even 1% of her viewers think 'that looks delicious' and come check it out, that's one person for every hundred subscribers. Considering how many people came today, I'm guessing maybe a thousand people were watching her stream."
"Is a thousand a lot?"
"Honestly, it's on the lower side, but having that many live viewers is still pretty good."
"Then I guess we have her to thank. Come to think of it, I did notice more people taking photos of their food today."
Neither Youngjin nor Seungyoon watched internet broadcasts, so they didn't recognize Noel. But that was the only unusual thing that had happened that day. They were simply glad to have made a good impression on a customer.
They had no idea that this was just the beginning. People who watched Noel's broadcast would continue to visit out of curiosity. Those who lived nearby would become regulars thanks to the kindness, generous portions, and decent quality of the food.
Seungyoon couldn't quit after receiving a bonus, and Youngjin couldn't close the business, so they would have to tearfully serve the growing number of customers despite the difficulty. Such was the fate of people who didn't consider themselves particularly virtuous.
"Hmm. I wonder if I ate too late today. Or maybe I overate. I still feel full from what I ate earlier..."
It's common knowledge that you need to digest your food after eating. Whether it's to avoid weight gain or indigestion, there are various reasons for this. From my perspective, the biggest reason is that it's uncomfortable to lie down when your stomach feels bloated.
Some people say it's hard to fall asleep on an empty stomach and that you should eat something before bed. In my case, however, feeling too full is actually worse.
So that yukgaejang I ate at two or three o'clock... it's still not fully digested by eleven, and I still feel bloated.
"Was it the portion size that was the problem, or am I just bad at digestion? I thought I burned plenty of calories. I played ranked games for seven hours today."
- NoelConscienceThief: "Does... Noel even have a conscience?"
- SilverPanthea: "Haha, no, playing games isn't exercise."
- TearingRipper: "Tenryeon, if gaming made you lose weight, there wouldn't be any obese people in this country."
- WatchingStreamSpring: "But aren't many pro gamers really skinny?"
- TearingRipper: "That's because they don't eat."
- Emocode: "But not gaining weight can also be genetic."
- GFE2047: "True, genetics are important... I'm fat because I inherited it from my dad."
- Emocode: "Yeah, if it were just genetics, I would have spent money on fitness training and plastic surgery and enjoyed everything I could."
- QueenLexia: "?? That was genetics?"
- Ayes: "Now that I think about it, it makes sense... the theory of genetic determinism seems right."
During my 7-hour gaming marathon, my arms and shoulders ached from the intense effort. And think about how much brainpower I used! Predicting my opponents' moves, understanding the overall flow of the game, and seeking the best plays in situations that change by the hundredth of a second.
As my rank increased, the fatigue from each match grew. It would be too unfair to say this didn't burn any calories.
"No, think about it. The brain uses a tremendous amount of energy. That's why I didn't gain weight even when I was studying without exercising."
- TearingRipper: "Noel didn't gain weight because she wasn't eating properly..."
- SilverPanthea: "But what the host says makes sense. In that manga where writing names kills people, all the geniuses were super skinny."
- Dedica: "That's just a manga..."
- audgus2957: "But it's true that the brain uses a lot of energy. It consumes a ton of sugar."
- Haeryebon: "But I think Noel is just skinny and short because she doesn't eat enough..."
Hmm. Given my appearance, viewers don't seem to believe me. But I can't keep pushing my logic when even Gabi gained a little weight during her senior year of high school.
Well, that was because Gabi ate too much chocolate. And she didn't exercise either, so expecting not to gain weight would be unreasonable. If she had eaten normally like me, she wouldn't have gained weight.
But making this argument in my female form would probably lack credibility. So I just scratched my head once.
"Hmm, maybe so. Well, genetics and environment both play big roles. Anyway, my digestion isn't great, so should I play a few more games? Or should I try to get some sleep? It won't be a problem if I go to my health checkup with an undigested stomach, right?"
That aside, what I brought up was whether to sleep now or not. Honestly, I was feeling tired after going out twice today. I was just worried about whether this bloated feeling would affect tomorrow's health checkup.
- TearingRipper: "If you stay up all night before a health checkup, it'll immediately show that your body's in bad condition, haha."
- SilverPanthea: "Oh! Then if you go in worse condition than usual... you can keep insisting that you shouldn't do unhealthy things?"
- woghks11: "Great, for the sake of your future health, let's play League of Champions all night!"
- BAMF: "Yeah, you should definitely stay up all night, for real, haha."
But the viewers were one step ahead of me. As they suggested, sleeping with undigested food is probably worse for your body than staying up all night. I don't know exactly what side effects there are, but it's true that the worse your condition, the worse your health checkup results will be.
So even though they're telling me to stay up all night on the surface, they're actually telling me to be healthy. So I decided to pretend to be contrary while gratefully accepting their affection.
"Hmm, now that I think about it, I am feeling a bit tired. Going out twice in one day is really exhausting. It's always best to take care of all your errands in one trip. Anyway, you're all so kind to worry about me. I'll go to bed now. Have a good night, everyone."
- TearingRipper: "No? I'm not nice?"
- Sistato: "I'm totally mean! I'm going to make ramen tonight!"
- SoSleepy: "Then I'll order chicken, haha. Ordering chicken during overtime is a privilege only for bad people, haha."
- CorporateSlave: "Aww..."
- SilverPanthea: "I'm going to put rice in cold noodles for my late-night snack."
- QueenLexia: "No, that's genuinely evil."
These people are contrary too. Before ending the broadcast, I burst out laughing at the farewell messages where everyone pretended to be bad.
Anyway, if I sleep now, I should wake up refreshed by nine at the latest, even without setting an alarm. Gabi said she'd go with me, so we can leave together then. I headed to bed, reviewing tomorrow's schedule in my mind.
Oh, before I close my eyes, I should message the lady downstairs. I feel bad that I keep missing meals, but I need to let her know I can't eat breakfast tomorrow because I'm going for a health checkup.
I worried briefly about contacting her so late at night, but she must have still been awake because she replied wishing me well with the checkup. Good, now I can sleep peacefully. Even though my stomach still feels bloated.