Fame (7)
Ten days later.
As soon as I leave the hotel, I am surrounded by bodyguards.
Since I wore a mask and hat before coming out of the hotel room, walking a bit wouldn’t have been an issue, but Monica chose to increase the number of bodyguards, strengthening the security.
During the ride from the hotel entrance to the store in Marco's car, I had time to talk with only a few approved people. This time is very precious to me now.
"Marco, did you have breakfast?"
"Yes, Ban! I did, you had breakfast at the hotel, right?"
"Yes, I did."
"I'll prepare Korean food for lunch. I'll leave it secretly. You know there are no cameras in the break room, right?"
"Yes, I know."
The location of the live broadcast in the store is a complete secret. All windows are covered with black stickers, and the front of the store is blocked by trucks.
They even removed all writings of 'press vehicle' to disguise it as a broadcasting truck. So, like when I painted the pond picture in the head office, there was no crowd gathering.
Marco, meeting my eyes through the rearview mirror, said,
"Ban."
"Yes?"
"Could you give me an autograph?"
"Why an autograph all of a sudden?"
"My mom is a fan of Ban. She watches the broadcasts."
"Oh, really? People really watch this broadcast."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Haha, just wondering who would watch it."
"Huh, Ban! Are you serious?"
"About what?"
"Haha."
The store is very close to the hotel. As we arrived during our conversation, Marco parked the car and winked at me.
"People do watch, so keep up the good work. It must be frustrating to be confined there."
"Phew, it is frustrating. But I guess a few more days of hard work and I'll be done."
"Things might look a bit different once you're out."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Haha, oh, there comes the PD."
Turning my head, I see the broadcasting PD coming through the bodyguards, who are vigilantly guarding the surroundings. The PD, smiling broadly, is carrying a few boxes.
I greeted him as I got out of the car.
"Good morning, PD."
"Oh, Ban. Did you get a good rest?"
"Yes, thanks to the bodyguards, I couldn’t go out and had nothing to do but rest in the room, haha."
"Haha, thank you for today's work. Until what time do you plan to work?"
"Maybe until 10 pm?"
"Planning to paint until a similar time tonight?"
"I want to finish it quickly. It's suffocating to be confined."
"Understood, and here."
"What is this?"
The PD handed me the boxes he was carrying.
"Donuts, coffee, pizza, and a few drinks. It would be great if you could make sure the boxes are visible on camera."
"What?"
What is he talking about?
Seeing my puzzled expression, the PD laughed and said,
"It's all PPL. Thanks to Ban, the station's advertising has been a huge success."
"What?"
"Please give a taste review when you eat. Preferably a good one. Now, please go in."
The PD gestures towards the inside. Only the staff entrance was open, and the entrance was guarded by bodyguards. If I go in there, I’ll be confined for another 12 hours.
But PPL means companies expose their brands in the broadcast, right?
PPL in this kind of broadcast? Not even art supplies ads but food? That's a strange system. Anyway, it's good if they’re giving it to eat.
I shrugged my shoulders and took the boxes into the store.
The store was still empty.
The only change since the beginning was that the work on the front wall was all done. Now, if I color the pre-drawn sketches on both walls, this work will be finished.
Having repeated this work for ten days, I familiarly stood in front of the nearby camera and said,
"Hello, everyone. Marco's mother! Are you watching the broadcast? You asked for an autograph, right? I was busy this morning but will surely do it this evening. Thank you for watching the broadcast. I'm surprised people actually watch such a boring show. You have a unique taste, haha."
I showed the boxes to the camera angle and said,
"I had breakfast at seven, and now I'm already hungry. Shall I eat something simple? Oh, do you know what a mukbang is? It’s Korean for eating broadcast. It's weird, right? Why would someone watch others eat? Honestly, I don’t understand it either."
I opened the donut box and showed the brand.
"Lago Ciambelle? Am I pronouncing it correctly? Oh, there are cocoa donuts."
I held up the most appetizing donut, weighing it in my hand and nodding.
"It seems to be filled with a lot of cream; the donut is heavy. I'll give it a try."
As I took a big bite, cream burst out of the donut. I quickly covered my mouth to prevent spilling it, laughing.
"Wow, that's a lot of cream. Tasty, though. But honestly, I still don’t understand why people watch this kind of broadcast. Doesn’t watching someone else eat just make you hungry? If you're on a diet, maybe switch the channel for a bit, because I might just nibble away at all of these. Haha."
Delicious, but I really don't get it.
Why do people watch broadcasts of others eating? It just makes you want to eat, what's the benefit?
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It’s a guilty pleasure watching a stream of someone doing work/chore and even mukbang
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