Cheat day

Walking (2)

After walking in the rain for nearly ten hours and taking a hot shower, the sundubu jjigae (soft tofu stew) I ate while enjoying the air conditioning was extraordinary.

With each spoonful of the spicy broth, the accumulated fatigue melted away.

“Ah, this is good.”

As I scooped up more stew, the soft tofu hidden beneath the broth revealed its white flesh.

I placed it on top of my rice and mixed it all together; the combination of the broth-soaked white rice and tofu was exquisite.

“Isn’t this just too delicious?”

Everyone nodded at Cha Ji-chan’s comment.

“Is this really sundubu jjigae?”

In response to Baek Woo-jin’s question, I took a closer look at the stew. It did contain soft tofu, but I noticed there were more eggs and beef.

Above all, the flavor was much stronger, similar to gochujang jjigae (red pepper paste stew).

“Why?”

“I don’t have any soft tofu.”

“That can’t be.”

When I looked into Baek Woo-jin’s stone pot, it was true—there was no soft tofu, only eggs, beef, and zucchini.

“Is this beef stew then?”

“There’s no such thing as beef stew.”

“Why not? In Gyeongsang-do, they eat beef stew.”

“Then did we order it wrong?”

I asked, and as Baek Woo-jin answered, Cha Ji-chan countered.

None of us could find the answer, so we looked at Ju Ji-seung, who provided a clear response.

“Can you wait until the food comes again?”

“No.”

“No.”

Normally, we would say that it seemed the order had been mixed up, but right now, none of us had the courage to ease our hungry stomachs.

Baek Woo-jin seemed to accept it as he furiously scooped up the stew, which was still a mystery.

“Phew.”

He finished a bowl of rice in no time and leaned back in his chair.

Ju Ji-seung, Cha Ji-chan, and Baek Woo-jin all had happy faces despite their exhaustion.

“What time is it tomorrow?” Ju Ji-seung asked.

Tomorrow, we planned to visit the orphanage with the toys we had prepared in advance.

“9 o’clock. We need to leave by 8 at the latest, right?”

I checked the time in response to Cha Ji-chan’s comment.

It was just past 9 PM.

Maybe it was because we had experienced a whole day.

Although we set out with high spirits, I felt overwhelmed about whether we could reach our destination, Dongtan, by tomorrow.

Baek Woo-jin, sharing the same sentiment, suddenly fell silent.

“Are you okay?” Cha Ji-chan asked Baek Woo-jin.

He seemed worried, having struggled throughout the day and just moments ago fainted after taking a shower.

“Do you think I’m okay?”

Baek Woo-jin responded sarcastically.

“It’s raining. I’m sweating. It’s humid. It’s hot. On top of that, my legs hurt. My shoulders hurt. I feel like I’m dying.”

“Ha ha ha.”

Ju Ji-seung chuckled at Baek Woo-jin’s complaints.

“But what can you do? We can’t quit now.”

Everyone looked at Baek Woo-jin.

“You saw how the people who were supposed to join us promoted us today. Thanks to that, we hit 40,000 viewers. How can we give up this opportunity?”

“……”

For a moment, Baek Woo-jin was at a loss for words, and then he laughed.

“Pfft!”

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s just so you. So that’s why you’re doing well with the broadcast?”

Baek Woo-jin seemed to have somewhat expected that YouTubers, streamers, and BJs would help out.

“Of course! Do you think I’m crazy for doing this?”

Curious about what he was going to say next, I looked at him, and Ju Ji-seung and Cha Ji-chan silently waited for his response.

“I’ve said it before. If you want to support, you just send money; if you want to volunteer, you can drive comfortably and give it your all. There are only two reasons to walk to Busan: to support WH and for the broadcast.”

Baek Woo-jin took a sip of water.

“Yeah, that’s not wrong.”

Cha Ji-chan pursed his lips, deep in thought, before finally speaking up.

“Isn’t it cool, though?”

“What’s cool?”

“Doing it even without a reason. Just because you like it. It’s a dream, right?”

“More like a delusion.”

Even as Baek Woo-jin grumbled, Cha Ji-chan merely smiled.

“What about Chan-yong?”

Ju Ji-seung asked.

“Me?”

“Yeah. You must have some reason for doing this.”

At Ju Ji-seung’s question, Cha Ji-chan and Baek Woo-jin turned their heads toward me.

“I don’t really have a reason.”

“See? He knows what romance is too.”

“I don’t think so.”

When I refuted Cha Ji-chan’s statement, Baek Woo-jin chuckled softly.

“I used to wonder why I did things like exercise. It was just hard work, and I often questioned the point of it.”

Baek Woo-jin nodded vigorously.

“But since I was kind of forced to do it, I started feeling better. You guys and Woo-jin know, but I was dealing with depression pretty seriously, right? Ever since I started exercising, I’ve been feeling really good.”

“I know. You actually move your body.”

As Baek Woo-jin tried to explain something again, he was interrupted by Ju Ji-seung.

Thanks to that, I could continue the conversation.

“Also, during my 20s, I really didn’t have any friends. While others went on MTs and trips to the beach or ski resorts during college, I just stayed at home. I felt it was a bit regretful. It’s not bad, but wouldn’t it have been nice to have experienced those things at least once?”

Cha Ji-chan smiled at me.

“Helping others is nice, but I also worry about whether I can handle the difficulty, yet in the end, I really want to give it a try. I’m curious about the romance you mentioned, Ji-chan.”

“So, how is it?” Ju Ji-seung asked.

“It’s tough.”

I feel like I’m dying.

***

The next day.

Maybe because I slept like a dead person, I didn’t feel as bad as I expected.

It seems like all the exercise I’ve been doing wasn’t for nothing.

Once I finished getting ready and stepped outside, I found Ju Ji-seung and Cha Ji-chan already waiting, but Baek Woo-jin was nowhere to be seen.

“Good morning.”

“The side dishes look fine?”

“Yeah. They’re better than I thought. What about you?”

“Do I even need to say?”

Cha Ji-chan puffed out his chest and lifted his chin.

“Is it raining?”

I glanced outside, but it was dark, so I couldn’t see clearly.

“Yeah. It’s drizzling a bit.”

“Ugh. If it wouldn’t rain, I think we’d be okay.”

“Hello.”

I let out a sigh as PD Ahn Sang-kyu, driving the safety vehicle, walked into the lobby.

Since there were a lot of staff around, he decided to help us out by taking care of things we needed, like distributing disposable raincoats, the electrolyte drinks for our journey, and making reservations for our accommodations and meals.

“How are you doing? Is it manageable?”

PD Ahn Sang-kyu asked.

“Yeah. Surprisingly, it’s going well.”

“Really? Wow, it seems like Chan-yong isn’t the only one who has improved.”

“Have I really improved?”

“Ahn-kyu, don’t spoil him. Don’t say things like that.”

“What do you mean spoil? Compliments help him stay motivated.”

I shot back at Cha Ji-chan, and PD Ahn Sang-kyu nodded with a grin.

“You really have improved.”

“Woo-jin.”

Just as I was feeling good from the unexpected praise, Ju Ji-seung called out to Baek Woo-jin.

When I turned my head, I saw Baek Woo-jin walking out with a disgruntled expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“I got a blister.”

Despite wearing stockings to avoid blisters, it seemed that it was all for nothing.

Worried, I checked on him as he straightened his back.

“Ugh, I really hate this. Let’s get moving already.”

“Then pretend it doesn’t hurt.”

“How can I pretend it doesn’t hurt when it does? And it’s not pretending; it really hurts!”

“From the way you’re yelling, it seems like you’re still okay.”

Cha Ji-chan chuckled as he practically snatched Baek Woo-jin’s backpack.

“Oh, I’ll carry it.”

“Shut up, will you? Just keep up with us. Let’s go.”

On our way, we bought and ate kimbap rolls, and we soon arrived at the orphanage.

The director and teachers welcomed us warmly, but when we went to see the kids, it felt surprisingly awkward.

I didn’t expect an overwhelming welcome, but I didn’t think there would be no reaction at all.

“Didn’t they say they were waiting for us?”

Baek Woo-jin whispered to Cha Ji-chan, nudging him in the side.

“Yeah. Um, do the kids know this uncle?”

Cha Ji-chan tried to start a conversation to break the ice, but there was no response.

Most of the kids just stared blankly or seemed completely uninterested.

“Seung-jun, you said you were excited to see the uncle from the delivery team.”

“No!”

It seemed there was at least some response. The teacher spoke to a child named Seung-jun, who denied it, seemingly shy.

“You’re Seung-jun, right? You said you wanted to play soccer with the uncle.”

As Cha Ji-chan blurted out nonsense, I jabbed him in the side and gestured out the window.

Seeing the raindrops hitting the glass, Cha Ji-chan awkwardly smiled.

“What should we do? We can’t play because it’s raining.”

The expression on Seung-jun’s face grew increasingly glum.

We realized how naive and careless we had been to think the children would automatically be happy and welcoming just because we brought gifts.

“It seems the kids are shy. They were looking forward to this so much. Come on, kids, it’s the delivery uncle!”

Despite the teacher’s efforts, there was still little reaction. It seemed awkward for the teacher to see the kids being distant with the sponsors, and she cautiously asked a few of them.

“Hi-joo, haven’t you watched the diabetes uncle’s YouTube?”

The child named Hi-joo nodded.

She looked to be in middle school.

“Really? You watched my broadcast?”

I couldn’t help but raise my voice a little out of excitement.

“…Yes.”

“When did you start?”

“Baekban Discussion. With chocolates and candies.”

“Really? Thank you so much! I was really struggling back then. Your support meant a lot to me.”

Hi-joo looked back and forth between me and Baek Woo-jin and pointed to Baek Woo-jin.

“I like Woo-jin uncle more.”

“See! Even she knows who makes the discussion dirty! Right?”

Hi-joo laughed and nodded.

“Who makes it dirty! Speak without any gunk in your eyes!”

I shouted at Baek Woo-jin, and the kids started laughing.

Once the laughter started, it was enough to break the tension, and the kids bombarded Cha Ji-chan with questions as if nothing had happened.

“Uncle, what did you do with the octopus you caught?”

“I ate it.”

“Eek!”

“That’s mean!”

“Wasn’t the uncle next to you pretending to be an octopus?”

“Ha-ha!”

Ju Ji-seung’s expression, caught off guard, was so funny that we all burst into laughter.

“What do we do, hyung? You’ve been found out.”

“Found out? What do you mean found out?”

The kids surrounded Cha Ji-chan and Ju Ji-seung, while Hi-joo approached Baek Woo-jin to take a picture.

One child came up to me.

“…”

They spoke so softly that when I leaned down, they whispered, “Uncle, you were on TV, right?”

“Oh! Did you see it?”

The child nodded.

“I went to Gangneung when I was little with my mom.”

Hearing the child say “when I was little” made me feel a surge of emotion.

*Starting this month, I’ve begun regular small donations.

I wanted to contribute, even in a small way, to the actions of those creating a warm society. I feel embarrassed that it’s too late and too insignificant.

But slowly and steadily, I will take bigger actions from now on.