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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: The Baby Mukbang Star
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*Ding-dong—*
"Daddy's home, Seojun!"
Seojun, who had been playing with his dolls on the soft mat in the living room, turned his head at his mother's words. The door opened, and his father appeared in the entryway.
Seojun scrambled toward the front door. Or rather, he tried to crawl, but his chubby belly rubbed against the floor.
The baby's arms and legs slapped against the floor as if he were rowing a boat.
Lee Minjun, who had just managed to get off work on a Saturday evening, scooped up his son who was trying so hard to crawl toward him.
"My boy!"
Seojun welcomed his father with outstretched arms. Lee Minjun held his son in a tight embrace and kissed Seo Eunhye on the cheek as she stood beside them.
He also kissed Seojun's rosy cheek.
"A kiss for you too, son!"
"Go wash up first!"
At Seo Eunhye's words, Seojun pushed Lee Minjun's cheek away with both hands. Minjun laughed. This was always a warm home to return to.
After quickly washing up, Lee Minjun held Seojun and played with him while Seo Eunhye prepared dinner. As she set out the side dishes, Eunhye recounted the events of the day.
"So when Seojun started drinking his formula, all the other babies started copying him. Can you believe it?"
"That's amazing!"
"I know, right? You know Mina's mom is a vlogger, don't you?"
At Eunhye's words, Minjun recalled Mina's mom's videos. There were videos where she made fusion dishes combining American and Korean home cooking, and others where she introduced small interior design items.
"Yeah. You showed me before."
"Right. Well, Mina's mom saw our Seojun and called him a mukbang star. The mukbang star of the baby world."
Seo Eunhye said, her voice laced with laughter. Lee Minjun also laughed heartily as he watched his son playing with his dolls.
Seeing his son play so happily filled him with joy, but looking at the dolls made him want to sigh without even realizing it.
The dolls his son was playing with were ones a friend of his had made when Seojun was five months old… In truth, Minjun found it strange that his son played with them at all.
He and his wife had wanted to throw them away, but their son, who had never thrown a tantrum before, had cried and wailed so much that they had given up.
Minjun's friend loved games and had a knack for making things, so he often created figures, dolls, and miniatures. These dolls were his handmade creations.
Monster dolls, as they were called.
An ugly green orc and an ogre, a two-headed troll… and even a dragon with massive wings. The dragon was so well-made, with every single scale detailed, that it looked utterly terrifying, and the other dolls weren't particularly cute either.
'Is this what they call a waste of talent…?'
His son often played a game where the orc would defeat the dragon, and he always looked so thrilled that they couldn't bring themselves to stop him. It was the same now. He was holding a tiny slime in one hand and striking the dragon doll with it.
"Kyaaaaah!"
He seemed completely ecstatic.
"Should I… stop him?"
Lee Minjun worried his son might develop a violent streak. Seo Eunhye, having finished preparing dinner, came out to the living room.
"It's fine. Seojun is a total sweetheart."
"You think so?"
"Today, I looked away for a moment and he got buried under the other babies. But he didn't hit any of them; he just stayed still."
"Buried?!"
Lee Minjun was startled. Buried? An image of his son, pinned under a pile of babies, unable to move and suffering, flashed through his mind. Sensing his thoughts, Seo Eunhye picked Seojun up and shook her head.
"No, not like that. It was more like he was so popular they were all clinging to him."
"Oh, phew. That's a relief."
Minjun headed to the dining table. A wonderful meal of savory soybean paste stew, rolled omelets, and more was laid out. Seojun was also seated in his high chair. Although Seojun sat with them, he wouldn't eat now; he would eat after his parents finished their meal.
He had just finished avenging himself on the dragon that killed him when he was born as a slime. Well, a model of it, anyway. It seemed like tonight's dinner would be especially delicious.
Seojun, brimming with excitement, flailed his arms.
"Hee hee hee!!"
"Looks like someone's really excited."
Minjun poked the baby's cheek. The sight of the baby's beaming smile made him smile automatically. Seo Eunhye brought the rice, and the meal began.
"So, I filmed him drinking formula earlier, but I think you'll have to film him eating baby food. It's hard to film while feeding him since I don't have enough hands."
"Got it. I'll eat quickly and film for you."
Lee Minjun replied, taking a large spoonful of rice.
--
After dinner, it was the baby's turn to eat.
Seated in his high chair, Seojun watched his father searching for the camera in a drawer. His mother returned with warmed-up baby food.
'So I have to use the sparkle, right?'
Seojun remembered what had happened during the day.
Even while buried under the other babies, he had heard the mothers asking Seo Eunhye for help because their children wouldn't eat.
'I never thought the sparkle would be used like this…'
He had thought that because his skin and hair sparkled, he would be popular with the other babies. He never imagined that feeding himself to quiet the wailing infants would lead to this.
"Seojun, time to eat!"
Seojun sighed inwardly and looked from his mother to his father. His parents had no worries since he ate and slept well, but he knew it was different for other parents. The face of Jiyun's mother, who had burst into tears, came to mind.
'I guess I have no choice.'
The problem was that [Fairy's Sparkle] was on the palm of his hand. If it had been on his finger, he could have just wiggled it slightly without the camera noticing… But to shake his palm, he had to wave his arm.
Besides, it would definitely look strange if he only waved his right arm, the one with the sigil.
'Is raising both arms the only way? I've never raised and waved both arms while eating before…'
Hoping his parents wouldn't find it too strange, Lee Seojun looked at his father, who was calling his name.
--
-*You've got a Talk! Tok-tok!*
"It must be here!"
"Is it?!"
Jiyun's mother, Lee Soyoung, still hadn't eaten dinner. Neither had Jiyun's father, who had just come home from work. That was because their precious only daughter was refusing to eat again.
"Still, it's a relief she ate once during the day…"
At her husband's words, Soyoung felt like she was about to cry. But she blinked back her tears and quickly opened Bananatalk. Seojun's mother had posted two videos in the group chat.
-This is the formula version.
-And this is the baby food version. Sorry for the delay!
Soyoung quickly typed a message.
-Not at all! Thank you so much!
Then, she immediately played the video. Of the two, she opened the more nutritious baby food version. Her husband, who had heard the story from Soyoung earlier, watched as well.
Seojun was sitting in his high chair, looking at the camera. A man's voice could be heard softly, "Seojun, look this way!" It seemed to be Seojun's father.
At his father's voice, Seojun's eyes turned to the camera. A small baby bowl was placed in front of the giggling Seojun. Seo Eunhye held a small baby spoon.
-Seojun, let's eat!
At Eunhye's words, Seojun's mouth opened wide. The spoon disappeared into his mouth. *Chomp!* His closed mouth moved as he chewed. Just then, both of Seojun's hands shot up and waved.
-Huh? Are you that excited? Is it that delicious?
At Eunhye's words, Seojun opened his mouth again. The baby food was already gone. Eunhye put another spoonful of baby food into his mouth.
The video, which was about ten minutes long, showed Seojun eating.
Seeing the well-shot video, Soyoung said.
"Alright! Jiyun, time to eat!"
At his wife's words, her husband rushed to the kitchen to warm up the baby food. Even as they prepared to feed their child, the couple was half in doubt whether the video would actually work. But, desperate enough to clutch at straws, they hurried to their daughter.
They propped the smartphone up in front of her and sat Jiyun in her chair.
"Eung."
Jiyun began to fuss. Her father quickly placed the baby food on the table. Soyoung scooped up some of the moderately cooled food with a spoon and pressed play on the video.
-Seojun, look this way!
Seojun's father's voice came from the phone. At the same time, Jiyun's father said.
"Jiyun, look this way!"
Jiyun turned her head toward the sound of her father's voice. The smartphone came into her view. Seojun was inside it.
Soyoung quickly held the spoon in front of Jiyun's mouth.
Jiyun saw it. Seojun, with his arms raised, sparkled again. And for some reason, she wanted to copy him. The simple baby mimicked what she saw before her.
When Seojun opened his mouth, Jiyun opened hers too. When Seojun took the spoon and chewed, Jiyun took the spoon as well. There was baby food on the spoon. As the food entered her mouth, Jiyun chewed for a moment and then swallowed.
She ate!
Soyoung clenched her fist.
"She ate!"
Jiyun's father, about to shout in joy that his daughter had finally eaten, choked back the sound as he felt his wife's hand on his thigh. His wife was glaring at him, eyes blazing.
She whispered, barely moving her lips.
"Be quiet! She has to finish the whole bowl!"
"Got it."
The couple quietly fed their daughter. As if all their past struggles had been a lie, Jiyun finished a whole bowl of baby food in an instant. Had she ever eaten so willingly before…? Tears welled up in their eyes.
Soyoung patted Jiyun's back. Having eaten her fill, Jiyun's eyes slowly closed. Watching their daughter drift off to sleep, tears formed in the couple's eyes.
They had been so worried when she wouldn't eat that they had even taken her to the hospital. They had tried making or buying every kind of formula and baby food that was said to be popular with babies. All had failed. With each failure, they had felt a growing sense of inadequacy, as if they weren't qualified to be parents.
Now able to smile, Soyoung said to her husband.
"We should buy Seojun a gift."
"Let's do that! And send a message quickly! Tell them Jiyun ate well. And thank them."
"Oh, right."
After putting Jiyun to bed, Soyoung picked up her smartphone. The group chat was already flooded with messages. It was Mina's mom and the twins' mom.
-Seriously! What is happening! Mina ate everything! Without any fuss!
-The twins ate everything too! In a flash!
Soyoung, Jiyun's mom, also left a message.
-Jiyun ate too. It's only the second time she's eaten today. Really… thank you so, so much!
Seo Eunhye, who read the message, spoke to Lee Minjun, who was putting their son to sleep. Having eaten his fill, their son was half-dozing before falling asleep on the soft blanket. His chubby cheeks were adorable.
"They're all saying it worked."
"Hmm… Maybe they were just hungry?"
For Lee Minjun, who had only ever seen his son eat well, a baby who refused to eat was a somewhat foreign concept. Seo Eunhye had friends who were mothers, so she understood their feelings, at least a little.
"A baby who won't eat really won't eat. Jiyun's mom said she even went to the hospital."
"To the hospital?"
Only then did Minjun realize the gravity of the situation and patted Seojun's stomach. He thought about how their son was truly a gentle and good child.
"I hope it works tomorrow and the day after too…"
"I know."
As the couple wished, Seojun's formula mukbang and baby food mukbang worked like a charm the next day, and the day after that.
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