Chapter 3 · 7 min

Chapter 3

The Shock of a 300,000-Subscriber YouTuber

“Hello, everyone! Today I’m exploring a provincial city outside Seoul that feels full of real Korean atmosphere!”

American travel YouTuber, Michael.

Channel name.

Michael Bites.

With 300,000 subscribers, he was popular for showing hidden local restaurants and cultures from around the world raw and unfiltered.

Today marked one week since he arrived in Korea.

Until now, Michael’s schedule had focused on Seoul.

From putting live wriggling raw octopus in his mouth at Gwangjang Market and screaming in shock, to eating spicy street tteokbokki in Myeongdong and shedding tears, to enjoying trendy nightlife under Gangnam’s flashy neon signs.

He had vividly delivered Korea’s dynamic and sophisticated urban culture to his subscribers all week.

Just as he was growing familiar with Seoul’s glamorous scenery.

He grew curious about real Koreans’ daily lives and the raw, rustic local flavors.

So he randomly boarded a train from Seoul Station, left the forest of buildings, and arrived at this quiet provincial city.

“Wow, the vibe is different from Seoul. Look at those signs! This is the real Asian vibe I’ve been looking for!”

Current live viewers: around 4,000.

While tasting various simple street foods and walking, Michael’s eyes stopped on a comment pouring in real-time.

-If you’re in Korea, just eat jajangmyeon without asking! It’s food that moves the soul!

“Oh, jajangmyeon? Black noodles! I’ve seen it in Korean dramas! Okay, today’s lunch is jajangmyeon!”

Michael shouted boldly and looked around while holding the camera.

“Let’s see, where’s a Chinese restaurant? I heard there’s one in every alley in Korea.”

He scanned the street with his phone lens and walked on.

But when he actually looked, Chinese restaurants weren’t easily visible.

There were plenty of flashy franchise cafes and samgyeopsal places, but no restaurant selling the jajangmyeon he sought.

Tilting his head, he left the busy street and walked into a quiet inner alley.

“Hmm······ Is there no Chinese restaurant in this neighborhood? Should I pick another menu··· Oh! There it is! Finally found it!”

A restaurant sat alone in a remote alley.

The exterior formed a strange mismatch.

A newly installed sign above clearly indicated it was a Chinese restaurant, but the building itself was faded and old.

“Wow! Everyone, look at that exterior! A raw restaurant that doesn’t care about fancy decoration! Isn’t a place like that a real hidden local gem only neighborhood residents know?!”

-Stop making a fuss and go inside.

-Something feels off. The vibe is bad.

Despite the viewers’ uneasy reactions, Michael paid no mind.

Rather, he put on a determined expression like an adventurer and boldly opened the glass door.

“Then I’ll go in!”

Ding!

The moment he stepped inside the restaurant.

Quiet stillness.

“...”

An empty restaurant hall.

Only one young man sitting crookedly on a dining chair entered Michael’s view.

‘Shop owner? Or employee?’

Michael tilted his head while holding the camera.

The man didn’t move an inch with unfocused eyes.

“...”

While Michael blinked in confusion and alternated the camera between the man and the interior, the quiet live chat began rolling fiercely.

-There are almost no customers in the shop? Only flies flying. What’s the local time now?

-Korean time is 12:30 PM. Isn’t this peak lunch hour when office workers come out to eat?

-Empty during lunch? Must taste bad. Just go somewhere else.

-100% gonna be disappointed.

-Run! Michael, run right now! That’s a trap!

The chat was all about stopping him, but Michael rather smiled mischievously and winked at the camera.

“Hey everyone, to find the true local taste, you need this kind of adventure! Nothing ventured, nothing gained!”

Despite the chat’s discouragement, Michael didn’t give up his stubbornness.

He looked at the characters stuck on the wall with his smartphone and ran the translator.

“Okay! Found it. Jajangmyeon!”

Michael wore an exaggerated smile all over his face and approached the young man sitting crookedly on the chair.

Then he pointed at the ‘jajangmyeon’ characters on the menu board on the wall, and with the other hand made a chopsticks gesture.

“Slurp! Slurp!”

“...”

The young man staring blankly up at the noisy Michael.

“Jajangmyeon?”

Michael raised both thumbs and nodded.

“Yes, jajangmyeon!”

The man with an indifferent expression finally slowly stood up from his seat.

A blank face that looked like he might yawn any moment.

He disappeared toward the kitchen with slow steps.

At that sight, the chat became noisy.

-Huh? That young-looking kid is going into the kitchen? Completely ruined.

-Isn’t he a part-timer serving the hall? Where’s the real chef, and this kid is cooking?

-Crazy. There was a reason no customers and it’s going under.

-Normally a real local Chinese restaurant has a middle-aged uncle with a bulging belly between a white undershirt, towel around his neck, flipping the wok, right? What cooking can a blank-looking kid like that do!

-Crazy... bulging belly white undershirt...

-Michael, you wasted your money. Congrats.ㅋㅋㅋ

-I’ll look forward to your reaction eating something tasteless!!

Only then feeling uneasy, Michael held the camera and carefully scanned the restaurant interior again.

“Man... the restaurant is quite empty.”

-ㅋㅋㅋ Look at him getting anxious.

-That’s why you should’ve run.

-It’s not too late even now, get out quick.

-Hey... if you leave now it’s dine and dash, dine and dash! What if you get caught like Johnny something! ㅋㅋㅋ

“...”

The tension cooled rapidly.

Just then.

Hwaaaaaaaaak!!

A tremendous roar came from inside the kitchen.

“...!”

Startled, Michael slightly raised the camera and peeked toward the kitchen.

“Oh my······!”

Michael’s mouth fell open.

The young man who had looked blank until just now was lightly tossing a large wok into the air.

Every time the pot moved once, a pillar of fire poured down and seemed to swallow the ingredients as it wrapped around them.

At that moment, the chat began heating up like crazy.

-Did you see the fire pillar just now?! Not special effects?!

-Crazy, look at that wok flipping. That’s a total expert! At least 20 years experience?!

-Hey, he looks about 20. Did he cook since birth?!

└That much skill, you idiot!

-Wow, it was a hidden master’s restaurant! Michael’s intuition jackpot!!!

Amid the viewers’ fuss making the chat chaotic, the kitchen fire subsided and the young chef walked out alone holding a bowl.

His expression was indifferent, as if everything in the world was bothersome.

Tak.

Watching Lee Jin-myeong’s back as he placed the bowl on the table without a word and turned away again, the live broadcast burst into laughter once more.

-Look at the chef’s expression ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Completely no intention of doing business? ㅋㅋㅋ

-Expression is like eat and get out quick level ㅋㅋㅋ

-Ah, not a single kind smile ㅋㅋㅋ

-I get why there are no customers.

-Charming, young chef! My style!

└Crazy, are you gay?

└I’m a woman!

-Hurry and eat, hurry! I’m curious!

“...”

Michael also let out a hollow laugh and pulled the camera close to the jajangmyeon on the table.

Glossy jet-black sauce flowing.

At least the appearance passed.

But something was strange.

“Everyone······ it’s too bad it doesn’t come through the screen. This smell, wow, the smell is really driving people crazy?!”

It wasn’t an ordinary smell.

Explosive fire aroma and savoriness.

As he sniffed and got excited, the chat reaction split again.

-Looks like just an ordinary common jajangmyeon?

-Isn’t Michael making too much fuss? Jajangmyeon tastes similar everywhere.

-They say jajangmyeon isn’t like it used to be. Koreans don’t eat it much either. Tastes like factory sauce.

-I love jajangmyeon a lot, but the comments above are right. Korean Chinese restaurants these days taste terribly bad. All tastes have been leveled down.

-Still, seeing the fire show cooking just now, this place might be different. Hurry and eat, Michael!

Watching the pouring comments, he picked up the metal chopsticks and mixed the black sauce and noodles.

The pleasant sound of the sauce sticking tightly to the noodles was transmitted through the broadcast.

“Okay, I’ll eat!”

Michael wrapped the noodles on the chopsticks and pushed them into his mouth.

“······!!”

In an instant, Michael’s two eyes forgot even the act of chewing and widened round as if they would pop out.

An illusion as if the taste cells were completely paralyzed.

Behind the deep and rich salty taste of chunjang, the crazy sweetness inherent to the onion surged up. The sauce holding extreme fire flavor perfectly became one with the chewy noodles and was toying with the tip of the tongue.

Michael swallowed the noodles he had put in his mouth and muttered with wide eyes.

“Waa... oh my···”

Soon all kinds of exclamations began bursting out.

“Crazy! This is unbelievable! Wow! Oh my god! Everyone, what just happened in my mouth?! This is crazy! This is overwhelmingly number one among all noodle dishes I’ve eaten in my life! No, this is just art!! Damn, how can it taste like this!!”