Chapter 7 : Second Vlog (1)
by fnovelpia
“Mmrmrmph! Mmmrmrmphrmph?”
“What are you saying? Swallow what’s in your mouth before you talk. I get that you’re excited.”
Since we couldn’t keep talking in the lecture hall while looking at her phone, I brought her to a café on campus.
We sat next to each other at a table, and Chaeryeong, with a bagel in her mouth, insisted on showing me the stats so far.
“Mm… gulp. So, honestly, I was kind of scared too, so I didn’t check until today?”
She said she skipped lunch, so she must’ve really been hungry.
Watching her talk with a bagel stuffed in her mouth was like seeing a puppy chewing on a bone.
I half-expected her to start barking soon.
While I was off in that silly thought, she suddenly snapped at me.
“Yoon Taeo. Are you even listening to me?”
“Yeah, of course. I’m listening.”
Maybe the reason I keep zoning out like this is because it all feels surreal.
I’ve never actually done YouTube before, and I don’t know much about the field, but the first video supposedly hit 100,000 views?
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything like that.
“I should’ve checked it on day one! We got 30,000 views the first day. Then 50,000 the next. And now it’s the third day and it’s already at 100,000! Looks like we got picked up by the algorithm!”
The graph was split into three segments.
The views from the day before yesterday, yesterday, and today.
The steep, upward-sloping line was anything but ordinary.
Chaeryeong’s excited voice was practically overflowing with enthusiasm.
“Plus, our subscribers already passed 9,000—we’re almost at 10,000!”
“Is that… really that amazing? I mean?”
“Of course, you idiot! We’ve already far exceeded the monetization requirements. And in just three days! There are tons of people who can’t even reach that in months!”
“But you’ve never even done YouTube. How do you know all this?”
That part really puzzled me.
No matter how interested she is in YouTube, this was her first time doing it as a creator.
“Well… I’ve been preparing for it. I read a lot. Communities, blogs, stuff like that…”
“Oh, so you’re an armchair expert? If you knew so much, you should’ve started earlier.”
“I didn’t have a good idea back then, okay? It’s working now, so that’s what matters! All my hard work is finally paying off.”
Chaeryeong turned her head away, probably stung by my jab.
Well, I know how hard it is to actually start something.
So I decided not to nag her any more about it.
And honestly, she wasn’t wrong that her efforts had paid off.
If it wasn’t that, then no matter how lucky we got, there’s no way things would’ve gone this well this quickly.
At the very least, I knew that her content planning and editing cues were surprisingly professional.
“…More importantly—monetization?”
I couldn’t help but perk up when money was mentioned.
I wasn’t clueless—I knew tons of YouTubers were making a fortune.
I just never thought we would be one of them, so I didn’t get my hopes up.
But now that it was actually happening, I couldn’t help getting excited too.
“Yeah, that’s right. Monetization! Can’t leave that part out. Anyway, we’ve met all the requirements, so I already applied. But it might take a little time. It’s not instant.”
“Really?”
“Yup. And like I said before, we’ll split the earnings fifty-fifty.”
“Fifty-fifty? It’s your YouTube channel. You even paid me an upfront fee.”
Honestly, I never thought she’d actually give me half.
I thought she was just saying that for now and would change it when the money started rolling in.
I figured she’d maybe throw in a bonus or something.
I mean, I’m not even that involved in the channel. It’s not under my name either.
And since I already got an upfront payment of 10 million won, asking for more felt kind of shameless.
“Yeah, but you and I are doing pretty similar amounts of work, right?”
“You mean the division of labor?”
“Yeah. I come up with the content and handle the editing direction. We both act in the videos. You film and edit. That’s roughly half and half, isn’t it?”
“…Well, numerically, yeah, I guess.”
“So half. Deal? And once money comes in, you’ll be more motivated to take this seriously too, right?”
“…Can’t deny that. True.”
“Greedy.”
“What was that?”
“Hm? Nothing. I didn’t say anything.”
In any case, from both a motivational and workload perspective, she seemed to think splitting it half and half made sense.
And honestly, she’s not the type to get greedy about money anyway.
Her family’s loaded, and for her, this was more about self-fulfillment.
“Fine by me. Works out well.”
“Then it’s settled. No backing out later, okay?”
“You’re one to talk. Don’t go complaining about the split later. I won’t change it.”
I grabbed her laptop’s mouse and started scrolling through the video comments.
I was curious—what were people thinking when they watched this?
[The girl is so pure and genuinely cheerful—she’s beautiful.]
[This is the first time I’ve been jealous watching a couple YouTube channel. They’re so lovable.]
[It’s hilarious how flustered the boyfriend gets when the girlfriend suddenly acts up LOL]
[The camerawoman is pretty, and the guy is handsome too. Damn it, you’re my enemy now. I’m jealous.]
[Ten minutes? That’s too short… Please upload more!]
[This is the hardest-to-watch couple video I’ve seen lately… sigh… I hope you’re happy.]
Aside from a few weird ones, most of the comments were positive about us and the video.
And then there were a lot of comments like these:
[When they were drawing together, that two-shot was crazy. They’re such a perfect-looking couple… It’s like a dream.]
[Are these people even normal? Why aren’t there people like this at my school?]
[The guy is insanely handsome. I wish he was my boyfriend.]
[Wow, that girl is so pretty. Like a celebrity…]
They were about our looks.
Reading those reminded me of what Chaeryeong had said the other day.
“What do you think? The comments are full of praise, right? Hehe.”
I didn’t know why she was so proud, but she looked thrilled.
“Yeah. More than anything, I’m kind of surprised. What you said really worked.”
“Right?”
“Yeah. ‘Good-looking couple,’ ‘meant to be,’ ‘visual couple’—turns out a lot of people do enjoy that kind of content.”
“…See? I told you. I’ve got the vlogging world figured out.”
She puffed her chest and raised her shoulders, looking smug but kind of admirable.
It showed how well she understood what people wanted.
Maybe Chaeryeong actually had a talent for being a YouTuber.
The flood of reactions.
The views turning vague hopes into concrete results.
And even the early signs of revenue, though not huge yet.
Now that we were seeing results, I couldn’t help but feel a surge of motivation.
For the first time in a while, something exciting had come into my otherwise dull daily life.
…Should I take a break from gaming and focus on YouTube for a while?
That thought was starting to feel real.
“So?”
“Hm?”
“So we’re not stopping here, right? What’s the plan for the next video?”
Chaeryeong looked slightly flustered at my question, then gave me a cute grin.
“What the? Yoon Taeo? You were so lukewarm about this before, but now that things are going well, you’re having fun too, huh?”
“Hmm. Yeah, something like that. So, what’s the next plan?”
“I’ve got a few ideas… but nothing’s finalized yet.”
“Then show me the ideas. Let’s work on it together.”
“Okay, okay. When the team member is fired up, the leader’s happy too. Let’s go, Yoon Taeo. We can become million-subscriber YouTubers too!”
“Alright, from now on, we’re uploading at least one video a week. Got it?”
“Of course! I’m not making any more weekend plans from now on.”
And just like that, getting all hyped up, the two of us stood shoulder-to-shoulder planning the next video.
It was a pretty satisfying start for rookie YouTubers.
***
“…And so, here we are filming our second video. Everyone, thank you so much. Hey, come on, say your thanks too.”
“Thank you so much. We’re really grateful for all the attention and response from the first video.”
“A lot of people praised the editing, too. They said it didn’t feel like a beginner’s work. Are you a pro editor or something?”
“Professional might be pushing it, but I’ve edited a few short clips before.”
Though really, it was just occasional editing of game streams or videos I filmed myself.
When I politely expressed our gratitude to the camera, she looked at me with a satisfied smile.
That’s it. Good job.
It kind of felt like being praised for training a puppy — a weird feeling.
“Anyway, they say to row when the tide comes in, right? So I, the humble Chaeryeong, didn’t miss the chance and came right here to film the next video.”
She rambled on like a reporter from a quirky broadcast show.
She’s so talkative in front of the camera. She’d probably be great at livestreaming too.
“Cameraman, what comes to mind when you think of spring?”
“Spring? New semester events? Limited edition spring skins?”
“Ugh, you totally killed the vibe…”
“What? Spring events are full of romance! They shower returning and new users with gifts.”
You wouldn’t understand a man’s heart.
I shook my head at her with a look of pity.
Chaeryeong, giving me an exasperated look, continued speaking.
“When you think of spring, you think of cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms! That’s why we’re here. At the cherry blossom festival. Show them!”
“Ta-da.”
I smoothly turned the camera to capture the road lined with cherry blossoms in full bloom.
After much brainstorming with her, we had decided that our second vlog would be at the cherry blossom festival.
A flower-viewing date fit the couple vlog theme, and it was something you could only show during spring.
Chaeryeong had strongly pushed for it, saying we couldn’t skip seasonal content.
“Pretty, right, everyone? The colors are just… wow, so pretty. Let’s film while walking down this path. If you miss this, you’re missing half your life.”
Chaeryeong gazed at the cherry blossoms in awe.
As I looked at the flowers through the camera with her, I remembered when she had asked me about the meaning of flowers last time.
So I said:
“Chaeryeong. Did you know what cherry blossoms symbolize?”
If Ezreal’s flower meaning was “no need for a support,” then…
“Ooh, what’s this? Yoon Taeo, did you seriously look up the meaning of cherry blossoms just for this day? I’m kind of excited. What is it?”
She looked at me, half curious, half expectant.
“The meaning of cherry blossoms is… midterms. You’re a student. Go study.”
I was teaching her the true meaning behind cherry blossoms.
“Aaah—seriously! Don’t ruin the mood by bringing up midterms all the way out here!”
…And just like that, our second vlog began.
0 Comments