Chapter 110

Chapter 110. Either Way, Breaking a Pledge Is Still a Sin

Three months of filming for 〈Luna Noodles〉 had finally come to an end.

Since one episode aired every week, Aran had climbed onto the food truck a total of twelve times.

Now that filming was over, everyone was slowly packing up the equipment.

The show had gone through plenty of trouble, but just as many good things had happened, so everyone seemed reluctant to say goodbye.

Aran, however, wasn't particularly sad.

And it wasn't only because there were already plans for Season 2 of 〈Luna Noodles〉.

Even though four months had already passed, the fact that she'd been the sole regular star of a variety show by PD Na Young-hwan still felt like a dream.

Until now, Aran had always thought the only talent she possessed was eating.

Serin unni had successfully finished acting in both 〈Introduction to Unrequited Love〉 and 〈Good Pro〉, and rumors about how well she'd performed in 〈The Stranger〉 were already spreading throughout the company.

Youngchae unni wasn't appearing on any programs right now, but she'd become a proper PeopleStar influencer.

Aran had glanced at her phone the other day and seen tons of invitations from places like aesthetic seaside cafés asking her to visit.

Whenever Aran looked at the photos Youngchae took, everything in them seemed so beautiful and full of life that it made her feel the world was still worth living in.

Like some kind of beautiful immortal.

And Anna unni didn't even need explaining.

Aran had listened to her rap plenty of times before, but honestly, she hadn't realized Anna was that good.

Now Anna had built a reputation for having rap skills far beyond ordinary idol level.

People were already saying the championship was practically hers.

So when Aran first joined Na Young-hwan's variety show, she'd thought maybe she could become hugely successful in her own field just like her unnies.

And 〈Luna Noodles〉 really was doing well.

Her personal mukbang account was already approaching one million subscribers.

Still...

Could eating really be called a field of expertise?

It wasn't like she could eat a million won's worth of beef like the truly serious mukbang Nutubers.

Nor did she have the business sense or cooking skill to actually run a food truck.

Everything she'd achieved had only been possible because of CEO Do Jun-hyeok's promotion skills and PD Na Young-hwan's sense for variety shows.

Of course, that didn't mean she intended to fall into an inferiority complex.

She already knew how incredible CEO Do Jun-hyeok and PD Na Young-hwan were.

And how talented her unnies were as idols.

Especially the CEO.

If he'd poured this same obsession into some other hobby, he probably would've become number one in the world at it.

If he'd liked soccer, he'd be in Argentina by now.

If he'd liked writing, he'd probably already have a Nobel Prize.

Aran's nickname on the show might have been Buddha, but the CEO was the one who seemed to receive actual divine revelations, predicting the entertainment industry's direction one thing after another.

The best Aran could do was make sure she didn't embarrass the program he'd gotten for her.

And she hadn't embarrassed it this time.

So she was allowed to feel good about herself.

"Luna, how do you feel now that filming is over? Do you have any plans after this?"

"Nope. Ah, I'm so depressed and sad that it's over~."

"Really?"

Na Young-hwan smiled warmly.

Apparently, working with Luna had left quite an impression on him.

"Oh! I heard your mukbang account already has a million subscribers?"

"What? No. I think it's around eight hundred ninety thousand right now. I still have a while before I hit a million."

"Eight hundred ninety thousand? That's still enormous! If all of them gathered in front of Seoul City Hall, we'd have to control traffic all the way to Gwanghwamun, wouldn't we?"

Would it really be that much?

The roads around City Hall were huge.

"We're thinking about expanding into Nutube ourselves. But apparently you can't just pay money and have subscribers gathered for you, right? How did you get eight hundred ninety thousand?"

"Gasp! You're starting Nutube?"

"Yes. Waiting around for broadcast scheduling is just too inefficient."

Both the CEO and the members often praised Aran for keeping her mukbang channel alive.

But it hadn't required some incredible level of effort or talent.

She'd uploaded videos consistently for a whole year while she had fewer than a hundred subscribers.

The channel had only started exploding after the CEO began coaching her.

And lately, she hadn't been uploading only mukbang videos either.

She'd also been sharing content involving the other members.

"I just... kept uploading, and then when Blue Moon became popular, my channel kind of rose with us. But PD Na Young-hwan, you're already super famous. If you make one, you'll probably hit a million immediately."

"Because people will hear that Na Young-hwan started a Nutube channel?"

"Yes."

Na Young-hwan thought about it carefully.

"Come on. You don't have much to say either, Aran. I'm not a celebrity. Sure, I'm fairly famous, but in the end, the important thing is who appears on the channel. There has to be something like, if a certain mukbang guest appears during a certain period, subscriptions rise, right?"

"No! I really think that's enough. Just call it Na Young-hwan TV and say it's Na Young-hwan's official Nutube channel. Tons of people will subscribe."

People always said that if PD Na Young-hwan was making a variety show, they could trust it without even knowing the details.

If he created a Nutube channel, wouldn't everyone subscribe first and watch afterward?

"If you're really worried it won't work, you could make some ridiculously crazy pledge. Two winters ago, I said I'd eat ten hotteok if I reached ten thousand subscribers, and I hit ten thousand right away!"

"Oh... Really? Eating ten hotteok is impressive, but is it really that crazy? Did you finish all ten?"

"No. I only ate two, so my unnies helped me."

Aran had chosen hotteok precisely because she was terrible at eating them.

For some reason, people seemed to love absurd goals paired with equally absurd pledges.

"Let me tell you one I just thought of. Hmm... If I reach one million subscribers, I'll go to Mars. How's that?"

"Wow. I'd subscribe."

"That's good? So something like that works? Ah! Then let's make it the moon. If I reach one million subscribers, I'll take Luna and make a moon-exploration video!"

Could they actually explore the moon?

Still, people would probably love the idea.

One thing Aran had learned while working on the show was that viewers seemed happiest whenever PD Na Young-hwan was in trouble.

"If you use that pledge, I think you'll definitely hit two million."

"Two million? Who even has two million subscribers?"

They checked together.

A science experiment channel that dropped Mentos into cola appeared, along with a daily-life channel about raising a Samoyed.

"These people look incredibly famous. Two million might be too difficult. Should we just make it one million?"

"Hehe... You don't think you can do it?"

"I'll be busy if I'm doing broadcasts at the same time."

PD Na Young-hwan was underestimating just how famous he was.

Aran made a suggestion.

"You said the pledge should be ridiculous anyway, so let's make it two million. If the goal is too low, it might not have any effect."

"Ah, right. You said it had to be ridiculous. Okay, then two million..."

Once it was decided, the staff burst into laughter and started teasing him.

"Mr. Two-Million Nutuber~"

Things like that.

But in Aran's opinion, two million subscribers was completely achievable.

They would soon find out whose prediction was right.

And they would also learn an important lesson.

No matter how ridiculous it is, breaking a pledge is still a sin.

"Welcome~! You're Mr. Do Jun-hyeok, the one who called us, right? This way!"

The animal protection association was located in a rented office in Jangchung-dong.

A large banner covered one side of the wall.

[People Who Protect Dogs]

[PWPD]

Serin had said even a gentle dog could try to bite someone who had continuously abused it.

Even someone like me, who knew nothing about animals, could understand that reasoning.

But that child hadn't even been very tall.

He was so young that even if he charged Denver ready to kill, he wouldn't have posed much of a threat.

Yet if the animal protection association's number had appeared as the free opt-out number, there had to be some element of animal abuse hidden inside that future video.

Following Serin's advice, I decided to ask someone more knowledgeable about Denver's symptoms.

And if I was going to ask someone, the animal protection association was the obvious place.

After sitting in the chair an employee showed me to and waiting for a while, a middle-aged man who looked fairly senior approached.

"Sorry for the wait. Mr. Do Jun-hyeok? Oh! I think I've seen you on television a few times!"

"Really? You must watch an incredible amount of television. Hahaha."

He introduced himself as a director of the Seoul Animal Protection Association.

Apparently, no one here had been involved in animal-rights work longer than he had.

That meant he was quite an authority.

"I'd like to report possible animal abuse. The problem is, I've never actually seen anyone hit the dog, so I'm not sure. The dog has shown some unusual behavior a few times, and I wanted to hear your opinion."

"Of course. Animal abuse exists in so many different forms throughout our everyday lives that we always need to remain suspicious. You're doing exactly the right thing. If all of us pay attention to animals, worry about them even when they're not our own pets, and show them interest, I believe we'll soon have a world where both people and animals can live happily together."

As expected from someone involved in social activism, he talked a lot.

That was fine.

I'd come here planning to spend plenty of time anyway.

I'd already prevented the Denver incident.

Since I was here, I might as well hear as much as I could.

"First, the dog is a German Shepherd. But even for a German Shepherd, he's extremely affectionate. He loves people so much that he stops whenever he sees someone. Apparently it makes taking him for walks difficult."

"Oh, absolutely. Some dogs are affectionate regardless of breed. He must be adorable~."

You'd scream if you saw the wound on my arm.

"But there's exactly one person he starts barking at and tries to bite. If nobody stopped him, I'm pretty sure he would've bitten that person."

"And it wasn't just once? It's always that same person?"

I hadn't observed Denver for very long, so I couldn't be completely certain...

Still, judging from the Shin brothers' reactions, it seemed like they'd never seen anything like that before.

And considering Denver had locked onto that child and charged straight for him inside a crowded supermarket right before the holiday...

I was about ninety-nine percent sure.

"There's a high chance the dog was abused. Barking and biting are active defensive behaviors for dogs. Unless they're attacking for food, dogs rarely display meaningless aggression. They usually bark or bite when they believe the attack itself is necessary for their defense. Even toward someone who abused them, fear will often make them bite once and immediately stop. Of course, even that is serious."

Denver hadn't just tried to bite once.

He'd looked ready to kill the child.

In other words, according to this man, Denver had probably been abused by that child.

"But the person is a toddler who can barely walk. The dog is trained too."

"A toddler? Then could there have been some smell on the child that triggered the dog? Something connected to a traumatic memory, for example. Dogs can remember the smell of a dog butcher who abused them for a very long time."

Let's think simply.

Suppose Denver could smell the person who abused him on the child.

The child obviously couldn't have been the abuser himself.

Which meant the smell belonged to someone else.

Then had the abuser deliberately covered the child in their scent?

As some kind of planned murder?

That was going too far.

"Has the dog received professional training?"

"Yes. Practically constantly. And the trainer is extremely famous. You know Trainer Ma Cheol-seong, right?"

The moment he heard Ma Cheol-seong's name, the director paused.

Then he sighed.

"Why?"

"Trainer Ma Cheol-seong is... Haa. This is difficult."

Was he worried about speaking carelessly about a famous person's dirty secret?

If it turned out not to be true, he'd be the one responsible.

The director hesitated.

Then finally spoke.

"The truth is... we've received multiple reports that Trainer Ma Cheol-seong abuses dogs."

"What? That can't be right."

"Would you like to see?"

Ma Cheol-seong was hugely beloved on television as something of a dog genius.

And now this man was telling me he hit dogs?

The director pulled out a tablet and showed me a folder.

It contained reports and emails from dog owners.

There were supporting materials attached.

Stories about energetic dogs suddenly becoming extremely timid.

Injuries appearing where there hadn't been any before.

Veterinary behavioral evaluations.

Things like that.

There were so many reports that it really did seem as though Ma Cheol-seong had been abusing dogs.

"Trainer Ma Cheol-seong originally trained police dogs and military dogs. And that was back in the 1990s. Look at this."

Next, the director showed me an old news article.

It described controversy after Trainer Ma caused the death of a police dog, along with his supposed deep remorse.

The article said he'd been forced into choosing the wrong training methods because he'd been given an absurdly short period to train the dog.

He admitted his mistake and promised nothing like it would happen again.

"Wait. But the person Denver tried to bite was...!"

Denver had attacked a child.

And that child was Ma Cheol-seong's son.

I thought I understood now.

If Denver really had been abused by Ma Cheol-seong...

Then he'd smelled Ma Cheol-seong strongly on his son.

Except the son was far weaker and couldn't force Denver into submission.

So Denver had tried to kill him.

"Haa... I think you're right."

"Change the trainer immediately. We're currently preparing an exposé, but it will take some time."

According to the director, Ma Cheol-seong was scheduled to appear on a new dog-training program for a broadcaster called MVN.

He apologized to the broadcasting staff in advance, but the association believed the most effective approach was to release the accusations when the public impact would be strongest.

So they were actually waiting for the program to begin airing.

MVN.

Could there be another reason for this?

MVN was the network broadcasting 〈Luna Noodles〉.

The final episode of 〈Luna Noodles〉 would air soon.

If the animal protection association's exposé caused Ma Cheol-seong's new program to collapse...

Could they possibly extend 〈Luna Noodles〉 instead?