Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 397

“Is our Garam… in a very bad condition?”

Kwon Yunchan lifted his head from the phone screen at the sound of his mother’s trembling voice. 

His face was as pale as Jung Garam’s, who looked almost identical to him.

The doctor who had given the emergency treatment opened his mouth.

“I don’t know what happened, but it would be better to postpone the transfer today. We’ll decide when he recovers his condition. And be careful not to shock him again. He’s lucky that he regained some strength, but it would be dangerous if he gets another shock in this state.”

The mother nodded her head repeatedly with her mouth shut. 

When the medical staff left the room, Jung Garam’s figure, which had been hidden by their white gowns, came into view.

His face was bloodless and white, and his expression looked like he was having a nightmare even in his sleep. 

Kwon Yunchan asked in a trembling voice.

“What happened?”

“He was looking at his phone… and suddenly…”

She felt dizzy just thinking about it.

“…He stopped breathing…”

Kwon Yunchan gasped.

He clenched his shaking hand and felt Jung Garam’s phone in his grip.

“I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Okay.”

The mother sat down weakly next to the bed.

Kwon Yunchan went outside the room and checked the phone to find out what was going on. 

There were not only the articles that Jung Garam had seen, but also others.

The viewers frowned at the provocative headlines that were written to lure clicks.

There were other YouTubers besides Jung Garam, but Kwon Yunchan only saw the two letters of ‘Garam’ in his eyes.

He bit his lip as he read the articles that criticized Jung Garam. 

His heart pounded and his throat tightened. 

He felt choked.

Kwon Yunchan muttered a curse.

The articles of the copy-and-paste journalists were full of criticism and he couldn’t find out the exact situation. 

He gritted his teeth and went to YouTube to find a video that someone had summarized. 

Of course, Jung Garam’s incident was also there.

Kwon Yunchan sat on a chair in the hospital corridor, hunched over his phone screen.

[The suspicion of manipulation by YouTuber ‘Garam’ started from his live broadcast.]

A mechanical voice came out.

[At first, one of the viewers who watched the live broadcast wrote a post to tell the story of YouTuber Garam who saved a person who was trying to commit suicide. The reaction was good until then. But as the post spread, a comment raised the suspicion of manipulation.]

-I was there at that time and it didn’t seem like he was trying to commit suicide. The person who fell into the sea had a towel prepared beforehand. And they talked and left together.

-What? So they knew each other?

-Yeah, it seems so.

-Is this manipulation?

Kwon Yunchan couldn’t take his eyes off the video with trembling eyes.

[The comment started the suspicion of manipulation. Suicide was a sensitive keyword more than anything else, so it spread quickly.]

Posts with pictures of the beach covered the screen and the comments attached to them were translated into subtitles. 

The viewers who knew the truth felt wronged by the harsh comments.

[As the controversy arose, there were also talks about his previous videos. Except for the first day when YouTuber Garam visited the night opening, he did not move according to the planned schedule.]

-He said he was going to see the night sky? He didn’t go?

-He didn’t show up at Hwaseomun either.

-Why did he only go to Gyesan Cathedral in Daegu?

[Some viewers pointed out that he lost interest in getting views because of his low views on his poorly made videos.]

Not every trip goes according to plan, and not everyone can upload perfect videos from the start. 

It was obvious for those who just started YouTube, but some people were tearing apart even things that could be overlooked.

-He goes to our school but he hasn’t shown up since a while ago. He got kicked out because he was a bully.

-What;;; Did he drop out?

-He lied too?

As soon as it became a topic, another comment appeared and the comments that were not even verified spread everywhere and became controversial again.

“Sigh…”

Kwon Yunchan turned off his phone and closed his eyes. His hand holding the phone was so tense that it hurt.

He felt suffocated just thinking about how Jung Garam felt when he was so frustrated himself. 

The most painful and difficult thing was that this incident started with Kwon Yunchan’s own story.

“Yunchan. Garam woke up.”

“Ah, yes.”

Kwon Yunchan quickly got up from his seat and entered the room.

He tried to force a smile on his face at the sight of Jung Garam’s shadowy face. But Jung Garam noticed it right away.

“…Did you see it?”

“…Yeah.”

The two boys were silent.

“…Are you going to leave it like this?”

“Hmm.”

Jung Garam pondered with a haggard face. Kwon Yunchan said impatiently.

“I know you don’t want to reveal your illness, but… this is not it. You have to tell people that it’s not manipulation.”

He tried to speak calmly, without getting too emotional.

“That way you won’t be wronged.”

“Are you okay?”

“Me? Why me?”

“They’ll find out about you too.”

‘They’ll find out that you tried to kill yourself.’

Kwon Yunchan snapped at him with a surge of emotion.

Who was worrying about whom!

“What does that matter!”

“You’ll live even if I die.”

His heart sank.

Kwon Yunchan looked at Jung Garam with trembling eyes.

Jung Garam’s expression was indescribable. He looked like he had given up on everything, and he also looked like he had made up his mind.

“…Who said anything about dying…”

“Yunchan. Please don’t let mom and dad see the articles.”

“Who said anything about dying!?”

“Hmm. No. Maybe that’s too hard for them.”

“Hey! Jung Garam!!”

The eyes of Jung Garam, who seemed to have decided to bury everything, and Kwon Yunchan, who was ranting, met.

Kwon Yunchan clenched his teeth and ran out of the room.

Jung Garam leaned back on the bed and looked at his back with a sad expression.

***

Kwon Yunchan sat in the hospital lobby and tapped his phone with a serious face. His fingers were shaking as he pressed the keyboard.

-I am Kwon Yunchan, who attempted suicide in the live video of YouTuber ‘Garam’. I lost my mother when I was in elementary school and moved to Busan with my father. The place we arrived was Daldongne near the sea in Busan_

The story that he didn’t want to tell anyone, the story that he had hidden deep in his heart, was flowing out so easily.

Have you ever thought about it? Wanting to die, but not having the courage to do it. I felt the same way. The best I could do was to enter the sea with strong currents, since I didn’t have the courage to die. But I didn’t want to reveal that to anyone, so I always prepared for failure. That was why I had a towel.

Tears fell down in drops.

-YouTuber Garam, or rather Garami, ran to save me without any hesitation. He came to rescue me without caring about his own body.

I wanted to clear his injustice, even if he would be angry at me later.

-YouTuber Garam is terminally_

Kwon Yoonchan pressed the backspace key.

Garam would not die.

-YouTuber Garam is in a very bad condition right now. He dreamed of becoming a movie director, so he decided to go on a trip before the surgery to cheer himself up. But his condition worsened slowly as he traveled to Suwon, Cheonan, and Daegu. That’s why his videos were poor.

Kwon Yoonchan had a lot to say, but he tried to write down as much as he could without his emotions. But he couldn’t help writing a long post.

-YouTuber Garam did not manipulate his videos.

He posted that on Garam’s YouTube channel.

It seemed to be a hot topic, as articles and comments were posted soon. Kwon Yoonchan’s post was moved to other community sites.

[An explanation posted on YouTuber Garam’s channel?]

-Nope. I don’t believe it.

-What kind of trip is that when you’re sick?

-I don’t think it’s unreasonable, but… I’m neutral for now.

-Is that so? Like when the chaebols go to the investigation in wheelchairs?

-lol true lol

-It’s hard to believe with just words. Any other evidence?

Kwon Yoonchan read the comments with a serious face and tapped his forehead.

“Evidence… evidence… ah!”

He had the unedited travel videos.

He knew that Garam would be angry if he uploaded them, but he wanted to clear Garam’s injustice. 

It was not good for Garam, who wanted to be a movie director, to have such a controversy.

He searched Garam’s phone for the videos and tapped his forehead again. His vision went dark.

“Ah… he deleted them…”

He couldn’t help swearing.

***

The manipulation controversy flared up again as if Kwon Yoonchan’s post had added fuel to the fire.

But Garam, who decided to bury it, didn’t look at his phone and focused on recovering his condition. Kwon Yoonchan, who had no more ways to do it, gave up and tried to make him feel as light as possible by his side.

When there were more than ten comments from reporters who wanted an interview on Garam’s YouTube channel, Garam’s transfer date was set.

Then, a post was uploaded on a community site.

[I think I bought YouTuber Garam’s laptop secondhand.]

<Hello. I think I bought YouTuber ‘Garam’ ‘s laptop secondhand.>

The audience who were shedding tears at the unfair ending opened their eyes wide.

<I’m going to college next year and my father bought me a secondhand laptop as a gift (a bit early though).>

The video played silently on the screen with the comment.

A shabby but clean house.

A man who brought only a laptop without a box or charger handed it over to his daughter with a happy face. 

The daughter’s happy face was shown.

<I bought a charger and turned on the laptop. It turned out that this laptop was too expensive for my father to buy. He said he bought it from someone he met briefly at work.>

The back of the man who handed over the laptop and the man who handed over the money were shown.

<The laptop was clean, so I thought it was formatted, but it wasn’t when I checked today. There were videos and editing programs.>

The mouse clicked on a file and then another file.

There were several video icons.

<I don’t know why there are these videos on the secondhand laptop you sold, but I hope this helps in this situation and upload them.

(I tried to ask if it was okay to upload them on YouTube channel, but it was buried)

I hope you get well soon!>

The video that was uploaded with that post was shown.

The video was long because it was not edited at all, but it was easy to watch because the writer wrote down the important parts by time zone.

The reaction that flowed toward manipulation slowly split into two as they saw Garam’s condition throughout the trip that did not look good.

-Wow. He must be really sick

-Is that also manipulation?

-But why did he manipulate from the beginning to get views? He looked sick from the Suwon video.

-I was at the Hongdae Science Museum that day, and there was a kid who looked pale.

-That’s why… there was no food in the travel video.

-222 Travel=Food is not.

-He must have been too sick to eat

-This is real.

One by one, comments from people who knew Garam started to appear.

No, the comments that were buried in criticism started to get attention.

-Honestly, who starts YouTube with a plan? It becomes your main job when you do it well.

-Travel is the same. There’s no such thing as a perfect trip.

-Bully? Even a passing dog would laugh He studies all day long. That’s why he’s the top of the school. He’s also very kind and has a lot of friends. I got better grades thanks to him.

-Are you a freshman? Everyone in our grade knows he’s sick. He’ll die if he gets caught?

-Everyone knew but kept quiet…

A new flow was created.

The new flow met the existing flow and clashed with each other, creating a huge wave. The huge wave attracted more attention and eventually made it to the news.

[As YouTuber Garam’s story becomes a hot topic…]

On the day Garam was transferred to Seoul Hospital, Kwon Yoonchan, who came up to Seoul with him, saw the news in the lobby. He had been avoiding TV because of YouTuber Garam’s story, but the story was going strangely.

“What is this?”

He ran to Garam without any time to be surprised. Garam and Kwon Yoonchan entered their YouTube channel for the first time in a long time. 

There were tons of supportive comments and comments from reporters who wanted an interview.

“You should thank your father.”

Garam said and Kwon Yoonchan frowned.

“That’s not it. If we had the laptop, we would have uploaded it sooner.”

“I think the manipulation story would have continued if we uploaded it.”

Garam’s condition improved enough to have surgery as the situation turned around.

Kwon Yoonchan looked at his phone with a grimace. 

He didn’t know where it came from, but there was also a rumor that Garam was terminally ill.

“Are you okay with that being known?”

“Well, it’s not like I made it up. If I was worried about being known, I wouldn’t have done YouTube in the first place. I didn’t know I would be this famous. Oh. The director is on!”

Garam brightened his eyes as he watched TV.

[The editing needs more work, but… The composition is good. The building looks very nice. I’m curious how you shoot when there are people. There’s a limit to selfies.]

Kwon Yoonchan sighed.

It was a current affairs program, but they broadcasted about YouTuber and manipulated video, and then the change of reaction about YouTuber Garam that was revealed this time. 

At the end, they broadcasted a movie director evaluating Garam’s video, who dreamed of becoming a movie director.

“They really have nothing better to do. The broadcasting station too.”

“Why? I like it. Huh. When will I ever get such advice from a director?”

Just then, the door of the hospital room opened.

Garam’s mother came in with a tearful face.

“Garam, let’s have the surgery.”

Garam and Yoonchan looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“We decided to have the surgery, didn’t we?”

“Professor Kim will do it for you.”

The mother explained.

Her voice was choked with emotion and she was not coherent, but Garam and Yoonchan understood right away.

A renowned doctor who felt sorry for Garam’s story offered to perform the surgery himself.

According to the doctor in charge, he had unparalleled skills in Garam’s disease and he had been researching a new surgical method with a foreign hospital that showed promising results.

“The success rate of the surgery has increased almost twice…”

The mother said with gratitude.

It was still barely over 10% from a single digit, but what did that matter?

Garam and Yoonchan tried to smile while holding back their tears, but they ended up crying.

***

[Hello. This is YouTuber Garam.]

<Hello. This is YouTuber Garam.

I’m going to have surgery now. Thank you so much for your support.

I’ll come back healthy and go to shoot the sunrise video that I couldn’t finish.

Of course, I’m going to do a live broadcast, so please come.>

The comment section of the announcement was filled with cries. There were comments wishing for a successful surgery and comments saying they would wait for the live broadcast.

Thinking that it might have already spread to other sites, Garam handed his phone to Yoonchan.

Then he turned his eyes to his mom and dad who were holding his hands tightly. The bed he was lying on was hard and cold, making him a little scared, but the warm hands he held made him feel relieved.

“You’ll be done when you wake up.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t be nervous.”

“I know.”

Seeing his parents who couldn’t say anything because of worry, Garam turned his head and looked at Yoonchan. Yoonchan, who had tears in his eyes, opened his mouth. His voice was hoarse.

“Let’s go see the sunrise.”

“Yeah.”

He didn’t know how many times he had missed it properly.

Garam smiled faintly.

“Let’s go see it for sure.”

The hands on both sides that were holding him let go at the nurse’s words that they had to move him.

Rattle.

Garam’s bed went into the big operating room.

The couple and Yoonchan couldn’t take their eyes off him for a moment.

Clang.

The door of the operating room closed tightly.

[In surgery]

The light came on and the couple and Yoonchan clasped their hands and prayed.

The screen that reflected their image slowly moved back. 

And the screen gradually darkened and turned black.

***

The speaker was silent and so was the audience.

‘Is this the end?’

As their chests were filled with regret, a sound of typing came along with white letters appearing on the black screen.

[This winter.]

[We decided to go on a trip.]

[Our destination was the sea.]

It was a flowing font.

Soon the screen brightened and a boy’s back appeared.

The boy was looking at the sea. White snowflakes fluttered. 

His hair flew in the sea breeze and smoke-like steam came out of his mouth in the cold weather.

The sun rose in front of him.

The round sun burned red and rose up.

As he watched the sunrise like a statue, someone called him.

“Hey! Garam!”

It was Yoonchan’s voice.

At that call, the boy slowly turned around.

The audience held their breath and watched his every move as if they were engraving it in their eyes.

On the full screen.

Garam smiled brightly, his cheeks red from the sun.