LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Eric Smith had a 15-month-old son who had just started to utter words.
He was overjoyed when his son said mama and papa.
“Maria…”
But now he felt like crying.
His son, Jack Smith, refused to eat anything in the morning and had clenched his mouth shut.
It had been only two days since he had been left alone with his son.
He was flustered by this unprecedented situation.
He had been trying to feed his son for 30 minutes.
He had regrets.
‘Why didn’t I learn from her then?’
He remembered how his wife had struggled to feed their son just one more spoonful.
“Nooo!”
He looked at his son who was sitting in a baby chair and banging the small table with both hands.
He felt like he was going to be sick.
He had tried everything from airplane games to train games with the tiny spoon in his hand, but nothing worked.
He finally resorted to his last option.
“I didn’t want to bother you…”
But he couldn’t let his son starve.
[Honey, Jack won’t eat 🙁
[What should I do?
-There’s some yogurt in the fridge that Jack likes. Try that.
[He won’t eat that either 🙁
Park Maria, who was on a business trip in France, sighed as she read her husband’s message.
“Two days…”
Her son was very picky about his food.
That’s why she had stocked the fridge with only the foods that Jack liked before she left, but they had run out in just two days.
She had also bought the things that he didn’t eat when she was there, but they were useless.
“What should I do…”
She had to stay in Paris for three more days.
No, only if things went well. But now.
“Manager! This hasn’t arrived yet!”
Someone shouted and waved a paper.
That startled the manager who jumped from his seat and picked up the phone.
He dialed a number quickly and waited for the other person to answer.
He shook his leg nervously and showed his impatience.
Beep-
‘Hell…’
“What do you mean, now? If you don’t send it now, what are you going to do? We don’t have much time left, don’t you know how important this is?”
He interrupted the other person before they could speak.
Maria rubbed her face with both hands as she saw the manager ranting on the phone.
“I can’t go back even after a week at this rate…”
Was this what they called stress?
Park Maria let out a sigh from within. Then she sent a message. The recipient was Eric Smith, her husband.
-You can do it, you’re his papa 😉
[Honey?!
“Maria? Maria?!”
Eric shook his smartphone.
It was a futile scream, but he couldn’t give up on his last resort.
He hoped that his voice would reach Paris as he shouted.
“Maria!!”
“Nooo!!”
Eric collapsed on the table in frustration.
Jack was still hitting the table.
Tears welled up in Eric’s eyes.
Tears welled up in the baby’s eyes too.
Eric looked at Jack who was sobbing.
He wondered if he missed his mom or if he was hungry.
“If you’re hungry, just eat…”
Eric lifted a spoon.
It was yogurt, Jack’s favorite.
Jack knew the sweet taste of the white yogurt, but he didn’t open his mouth.
He shook his head vigorously.
As Eric and Jack were about to start their second round,
-Ding dong!
An alert sounded.
Later, when Maria came back home after finishing her business trip for two weeks, Eric told her that the alert sounded like heavenly bells.
Of course, not now.
It was an unnecessary alarm.
“What is it?”
An alert came from the PinePad on the table.
It was the PinePad that Maria used for cooking or working at the table.
The screen showed that one of the YouTube channels that Maria subscribed to had been updated.
[LALA’S DAY-New video has been uploaded.]
It was a YouTuber that Maria sometimes referred to when she made fusion dishes of Korean and Western cuisine.
Eric hesitated for a moment. He had been trying to feed his son for over 50 minutes.
“Okay. Jack. Son. Let’s have a truce for a moment.”
Eric raised both hands.
Jack also pouted his lips and muttered to himself.
He decided to watch the video for a change of mood.
“This YouTuber’s daughter has been eating well lately…”
He recalled what Maria had said.
They were YouTubers and subscribers who were raising babies together and trying various methods to feed them through comments and broadcasts.
But these days, Maria said she was envious of the YouTuber’s daughter who ate very well.
The YouTuber had posted a formula-only sold in Korea so she had to order it overseas-and he bought it and tried making the recommended baby food, but it didn’t work for Jack.
“I wonder if she’ll share any tips on how to feed babies well.”
Eric pressed the start button. There was no ad unlike usual.
“Huh? Two minutes?”
It was only a two-minute video.
He had hoped to relax for about 30 minutes while watching the video, but he looked at it with an awkward expression.
[Hello! This is LALA!]
He thought it was a bit strange, but he didn’t stop the video.
It was a stroke of luck.
He thought it was really lucky that the alert sounded then.
And he thought that watching that video was the best thing he had done after marrying Maria and having Jack.
[Today’s video is short. I want to recommend you a YouTube channel.]
LALA held the camera with her hand and seemed to be filming herself.
The screen was shaky and she spoke with a serious face.
[My daughter has been eating very well lately. You all know that, right?]
Eric nodded.
[Um. I said that, so you must know.]
She paused for a moment and opened her mouth.
[I brought you the secret.]
“What?”
Eric was surprised.
A secret?
The people who were watching her video around the world were also surprised.
LALA bowed her head slightly.
She looked sorry.
[Actually, the formula and baby food are true that my daughter likes them. But they weren’t the only reason why my daughter started to eat well. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before.]
“What?”
He remembered the formula that he had waited for hours until it was restocked and barely bought it.
The quantity was limited and he barely managed to buy it before it sold out.
And the ingredients that he bought to make baby food, which were piled up in the fridge.
He looked at the fridge with a dumbfounded expression.
LALA had just said ‘recommend’ and Eric, he didn’t believe her 100 percent, but he felt like he had been scammed.
Eric opened the comment section to see what other people thought.
There were already many comments.
-What do you mean, it wasn’t because of the formula and baby food?
-I had to go through so much trouble to get that formula… They don’t even ship overseas hereㅜㅜ
-I even paid extra money for it…
-LALA just recommended them, that’s all.
-Exactly. Her recommendations might not suit other babies. It’s not LALA’s fault.
-But she said there was another secret. That’s why we’re disappointed that she hid it.
-Maybe it’s something related to her personal life?
There were no comments with swear words because they were all LALA’s fans, but there were many comments that blamed and felt let down by her.
There were also many comments that defended her. It seemed like a fight was about to break out.
As he scrolled down the comments, he heard LALA’s voice and saw subtitles.
A plane icon appeared at the top of the screen.
[The video with the icon on the screen right now is the secret.]
A title appeared. [Baby food version]. He could watch it right away by clicking on it.
“What is this?”
He couldn’t tell from the title alone.
LALA’s video continued.
[Let me tell you briefly, this is a video that my friend uploaded. We originally intended to watch it among ourselves, but I persuaded her to post it on YouTube.]
He wondered what kind of video it was that she had to persuade her.
[This video is for the kids, not the parents. My daughter did too. Set it up so that your baby can see it well and try feeding them formula and baby food. They’ll eat very well.]
Several photos of LALA’s daughter eating while watching her smartphone were uploaded.
He turned his head and looked at Jack, who still had his mouth shut.
[The formula and baby food were my personal recommendations, but these videos are a must-watch. Really, absolutely essential! I’ll see you soon in the next video! Bye everyone!]
With that, LALA’s video ended.
The only thing left was the video that LALA recommended.
He hesitated for a moment and decided to try as she said. His last resort, Maria, had left everything to him.
He placed the PinePad where Jack could see it well and heated up Jack’s baby food.
It was food made with LALA’s recommended baby food recipe.
He thought that if it was her recommended baby food, he would eat better while watching the video.
“Will this really work?”
He doubted it, but seeing Jack who hadn’t eaten for an hour, he had no choice but to try.
Jack clenched his mouth shut and he sighed. He placed the baby food in front of Jack.
He sat next to Jack and decided to feed him while watching the video together.
“Please eat…”
The video started.
A baby with black hair appeared on the screen.
A younger baby than Jack, who looked like he wasn’t even one year old yet, was sitting in a baby chair.
He was a cute baby with chubby cheeks and distinct features.
Then a small sound was heard.
It was a man’s voice.
‘Daddy? Jun?’
The channel name appeared.
[JUN].
It seemed like the baby’s name.
A woman’s hand came out and showed the white baby food on the small spoon she was holding.
He also scooped some baby food on Jack’s spoon.
And he sneaked a peek at his son.
His son’s expression softened slightly and he stared at the video.
‘Oh!’
He held his breath and waited for the timing.
The baby in the video, Jun, opened his mouth and the spoon went in.
Jun waved his arms happily.
Jack’s eyes widened.
He saw a mysterious baby with shiny hair eating baby food.
Very deliciously.
Yum yum.
He felt like he wanted to follow him for some reason.
“Ahh! Ahh!”
Jack opened his mouth.
He noticed it.
Now!
Swoosh!
The spoon went into Jack’s mouth.
Jack chewed and swallowed without spitting it out.
His eyes widened.
Oh, ohh, ohhh!!
He felt like shouting with emotion, but he held back.
There was still a lot of baby food left.
“Papa! Papa!”
Jack, who had eaten a whole bowl of baby food, hugged Eric and kept calling him papa.
He felt like tears were blurring his vision.
“No, this is not the time.”
He quickly took out his PinePad and wrote a comment on Jun’s video.
He quickly subscribed and pressed the like button.
He made sure he could play it easily next time he fed Jack.
-He ate everything! It really works!
-My daughter ate everything too! I recommend this for babies who don’t eat!
-I tried for an hour but couldn’t feed him anything, but as soon as he saw the video he ate everything! Jun! Thank you so much!
And he also went to LALA’s video that introduced Jun’s video.
The short two-minute video had many disappointed comments, but they were gradually deleted.
It wasn’t LALA who deleted them.
The people who wrote the comments voluntarily deleted them.
-Thank you! Please tell your friend that it was really helpful!
-Thank you for persuading her! My son eats really well!
-I’m the mom who wrote a comment earlier. I’m sorry. Really… Thank you for uploading the video.
Ding dong-!
-Did you feed Jack?
It was Maria.
He wrote a message with a bright face. He also sent a picture of the empty baby food bowl.
He did it for his wife who was working hard and worrying about her son and husband who were having trouble feeding him.
[Mission complete! He ate everything! 🙂
-How did you do it!? You’re amazing!
He laughed.
He planned to keep Jun’s video a secret until Maria came home.
He wanted to show off how well he could feed him without her. Of course, he would be found out as soon as she came back.
[I’m good, aren’t I!! 🙂
Eric Smith, just like the viewers, who watched [LALA’S DAY] and [JUN]’s videos and fed their babies formula and baby food increased.
The comments and likes of the two videos also increased.
24 hours after the video was uploaded.
The number of views was close to one million.