Cheat day

Sugar Man (19)

Two months ago.

“What’s the number of applicants?”

“We currently have 43,733. About 37,000 have had their documents verified.”

“Stop other work and let’s check the application documents first. We need to finalize them by the end of this week.”

From early morning, the Sugar Man Entertainment office was busy.

Due to the large number of applicants for the Sugar Man project, all employees had to verify the application forms.

Sugar Man Entertainment required applicants to submit documents that met certain criteria, including glycated hemoglobin, and although some automation was in place, it still required manpower to ensure that the submitted documents were valid.

‘Everyone is busy.’

As Baek Woo-jin looked around the office, he noticed the announcement for the Sugar Man project.

‘The deadline for applications is today.’

He understood why the employees were so busy, especially since scriptwriting and casting were happening simultaneously.

It had become common for team leaders to work late into the night.

“Ugh. I really shouldn’t be worrying about others right now.”

Baek Woo-jin entered his own office.

While Cha Ji-chan, Joo Ji-seung, and Ban Chan-yong were focusing on the Sugar Man project, Baek Woo-jin was preparing ways to utilize content from his own projects: Jjimkkuk, Banchan Store, Banyasikgyeong, and the Ujinious channel.

Though he had a comparatively lighter workload, the fact that he was handling everything alone added some pressure.

‘I can use the existing scripts as a basis for the manuscript, so that’s not an issue. The problem is where to publish it. Should I ask WK?’

Publishing wasn’t a major concern for him.

‘Will the clothes sell? I’ve heard it’s tough. It might be better to collaborate with a production company rather than starting from scratch. No, but will there be any profit left?’

There were so many considerations for producing goods.

Starting from scratch was difficult due to a lack of facilities.

However, collaborating with existing companies raised concerns about quality and price.

Since he was selling to subscribers, he wanted to keep the price as low as possible, but involving a middleman would likely increase quality but complicate pricing.

As Baek Woo-jin pondered, he decided to call a close YouTuber for advice.

“Hey, Woo-jin.”

“Hyung, who did you work with to make your hoodies?”

“Are you going to do it too?”

“I’m inquiring about it.”

“Hold on. I’ll send you what I have over text. But it’s not easy.”

“How so?”

“Everything from design and sizing to sales is an issue. You can’t cater to everyone’s taste with design, right?”

“True.”

“But honestly, a designer’s work is better than what I can create.”

“Yeah, true.”

“So if you hire a designer, the unit cost goes up.”

“That’s true.”

“Sizing is also a problem. I thought S to XL would be enough, but I actually increased it from just going to L.”

“Right.”

“But wow, you should see how many people complain about not having XXL or XXXL. It’s scary.”

“Does increasing sizes cost a lot?”

“A ton. Honestly, I’d prefer not to increase them, but I can’t guarantee how much I’ll sell. Even with surveys, there are a lot of people who say they’ll buy but don’t actually do it.”

“Right.”

“Hold on. I have some organized notes… Just hang up, and I’ll find them and send them to you.”

“Okay, thanks.”

After finishing the call and making himself a coffee, Baek Woo-jin received a document outlining the merchandise production process.

He slowly began to review the document.

Time passed, and before he realized it, it was already lunchtime.

‘Is Ji-hye skipping lunch again? I should invite her to eat together.’

Baek Woo-jin stepped outside and glanced around the administrative team’s area.

It seemed that everyone had already gone out for lunch, except for a few employees who were getting ready to leave.

“Did Ji-hye go out to eat?”

“Hello.”

“Hello.”

“The team leader went into the break room with Team Leader Mukunji five minutes ago. They’re having ramen.”

As Baek Woo-jin nodded, the employee bowed in greeting and left the office.

‘What kind of ramen? They should be eating rice instead. …Should I have sesame ramen?’

As Baek Woo-jin approached, he could hear a conversation between Lee Ji-hye and Mukunji coming from the break room.

“Beef jerky?”

“I was thinking about what Chan-yong couldn’t refuse, and that came to mind.”

“Ahaha! That’s really funny, Eun-ji.”

“It’s the result of serious consideration.”

“Yeah. The fact that you thought seriously about it is funny.”

“Is that so?”

‘Oh, this sounds like an interesting story.’

They were discussing how Banchan-yong and Mukunji got engaged.

Just as Baek Woo-jin was about to enter the break room, he paused to listen carefully.

“What did you find so appealing?”

Lee Ji-hye asked.

This was a story Baek Woo-jin was very curious about, and he clenched his fist in encouragement for Lee Ji-hye.

“Are you talking about Chan-yong?”

“Yes.”

“At first, he seemed like a strange person, but the more I got to know him, the more I realized he was just as strange and fragile.”

Baek Woo-jin stifled a chuckle.

“But it’s impressive to see someone so timid and weak striving to improve.”

“Ah.”

“Even now, he struggles with diabetes. Because he can’t eat his favorite foods freely, he sometimes gets depressed.”

“He didn’t seem that way at all.”

“That’s right. Despite the difficulties, getting back up again is what makes Chan-yong amazing.”

Baek Woo-jin pursed his lips and rolled his eyes, then nodded slightly.

Although he didn’t want to admit it, Banchan-yong somehow inspired confidence that he would be there for you no matter how tough things got.

“I think I understand.”

“Being with someone like that makes me think I could become a better person, too.”

“Eun-ji, do you feel that way too?”

“I had a lot of worries, just like Chan-yong. I tried to overcome them, but sometimes I felt empty. There were times I spent worrying about why I was living.”

“Hmm.”

“But after meeting Chan-yong, I stopped asking those questions. I realized I had been trying to work and play and laugh together.”

“That’s so cool.”

“Don’t you feel that way, Ji-hye?”

“Me?”

“You seem to have a good relationship with Director Baek Woo-jin.”

Baek Woo-jin’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Baek Woo-jin?”

“I don’t have many old friends, so you two seem to have a nice relationship. It’s nice to see you getting along so well.”

“Ahahaha! No, that’s not it. Woo-jin and I aren’t like that.”

Lee Ji-hye’s definitive statement eased the tension that had built up in Baek Woo-jin’s chest.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, absolutely not. That will never happen.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Woo-jin really loves his work. He studies and makes videos about it, and he writes novels based on that knowledge. He always seems to be doing something.”

“With multiple jobs, that makes sense.”

“Yeah. I guess you could say he has a strong sense of self-love or maybe a strong desire for achievement. He’s been like that since he was young. He’s not interested in anything other than what he loves.”

“Since when did you know him?”

“Elementary school. We went to middle school together, but high school was different. We graduated from the same university too.”

“That’s fascinating.”

“Right? In fact, Baek Woo-jin was really good at studying. I was completely surprised when we ended up at the same university!”

“I guess there are connections like that.”

“More like a bad connection! Do you have any idea how much I supported him? I had to drag him out of the library all the time to eat. I even cleaned his dorm room. And despite all that, he didn’t do any study that would help him get a job; I had to make him take the TOEIC exam!”

“But you’re good at English, right?”

“I am. They say studying English greatly expands the range of knowledge you can access because there are so many books that aren’t translated into Korean.”

“That’s true.”

“I wanted to study, not just to take tests like TOEIC, TOEFL, or TEPS. So I didn’t actually take the exams. Isn’t that funny?”

“That’s so like Director Baek Woo-jin. But I guess that’s why he can work on a global channel now.”

“That’s true. He’s a really interesting guy. He doesn’t follow the usual paths.”

Mukunji looked at Lee Ji-hye intently.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Do you like Director Baek Woo-jin?”

“No?”

“Is that so?”

“Absolutely not. No way.”

Mukunji didn’t say anything, but Lee Ji-hye’s overly strong denial made her look very awkward.

“I mean, he keeps eating unhealthy food even though he’s not in good health. He doesn’t exercise either. It drives me crazy.”

“That must be worrisome.”

“Worrying? That’s his fate.”

“It looks that way.”

Lee Ji-hye let out a deep sigh.

“He may be young now, so his body can endure, but they say complications will come eventually. What if he lives like that and suddenly collapses? He recently fainted from low blood sugar and still hasn’t gotten his act together.”

“Chan-yong worries about that a lot too.”

“Really?”

“Since we’re married, if he gets sick or dies quickly, I’ll be the one suffering. So he exercises every single day.”

“That’s impressive. I guess that’s why it happened in just a year. Baek Woo-jin should learn from Chan-yong.”

Mukunji checked the time.

“I’d love to talk more, but I have a lot to do today. Is it okay if I leave first?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I kept you for too long, didn’t I? Everyone hates it when I say we should eat ramen in the break room. I wanted to get to know Eun-ji better too.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re the only one who lets Chan-yong brag about himself.”

“Ahahaha! Let him go on! It’s so much fun to listen to Eun-ji.”

Baek Woo-jin moved slowly before Mukunji left the break room.

“Average HbA1c is 9.0! Sweet and confident contestants are here to compete for the final grand prize of 100 million won!”

“South Korea’s first blood sugar management survival show!”

“The Sugar Man Project!”

The filming for Week 4 of the Sugar Man Project began.

There were a few people looking anxious during the waiting time; it seemed their blood sugar levels weren’t good when they checked themselves.

It had been a while since filming started, and since the participants were just people, it was a time when they could start to get complacent.

I remember regretting it after eating a bunch of bread about a month in.

They needed to get through this period well.

“Today, 10 Sugar Men will be eliminated.”

Woohang-seon and Jawang-taek followed the script to host the program.

As a result, most of the participants who had bad expressions ended up getting eliminated, and surprisingly, YouTuber Choi Yang-jun survived yet again by the skin of his teeth.

His parents must be strong.

“This is unexpected! Contestant No. 71, Choi Yang-jun, who was a strong candidate for elimination since Week 1, has survived today, finishing exactly in 70th place!”

“Last week, he tied for 79th with Shim Beom-woo, but he survived by answering 11 questions correctly during the quiz mission.”

“Yang-jun, how do you feel?”

Choi Yang-jun took the microphone.

“I thought it was a team competition last week, so I only relied on Woo-jin. But wow, I ended up getting eliminated on the first question!”

“Hahaha!”

All the Sugar Men laughed loudly, turning Baek Woo-jin’s face red.

“It seems like Baek Woo-jin has something to say. Let’s hear it.”

Jawang-taek gave Baek Woo-jin the floor.

“Everyone’s been looking down on me since I got eliminated last week! My fasting blood sugar this week is 172! I’m in 10th place!”

“Oooh.”

“Right? In Week 1, Baek Woo-jin was right in the middle, but his blood sugar levels are decreasing the fastest among the Sugar Men.”

He really was working hard, and it showed.

Comparing absolute values, being 10th means he has a high chance of remaining among the final 10, and with his blood sugar dropping quickly, he might actually be getting closer to victory.

“I’m telling you, I’m going to win!”

Baek Woo-jin paused for effect before shouting.

“I’m going to confess after I win!”

The filming set buzzed with excitement.

As someone who is active on a global channel and has celebrity-like recognition domestically, it was no surprise that there would be a reaction to Baek Woo-jin’s confession.

“Yeah! Finally, he’s earning his keep!”

Cha Ji-chan, who was responsible for the livelihoods of over a hundred people, cheered.

“Was there someone Woo-jin liked?”

Joo Ji-seung reacted normally.

“Of course, it must be Ji-hye.”

Cha Ji-chan whispered so that the people around him couldn’t hear, and Joo Ji-seung nodded.

“More than that.”

As I opened my mouth, Joo Ji-seung and Cha Ji-chan turned to look at me.

“To say you’re going to confess after winning. Isn’t that a death flag?”

Cha Ji-chan and Joo Ji-seung exchanged glances and nodded.