MCDS 02

Chapter 2

Come to think of it, she could see it now.

Inside the bag were the coffee that Ye-in always drank and the potato chips that she had once said were her favorite snack.

Ye-bom lifted her tear-covered face and looked at Ye-in carefully. Even in this situation, she seemed curious about whether her mother liked it or not.

Ye-in gently wiped her wet face. She looked directly into her child’s eyes and spoke sincerely.

“Thank you so much. But Ye-bom, Mom only needs Ye-bom. It’s okay even without things like this.”

“The lady next door said that Mom is pitiful because she doesn’t have a husband, so she can’t even get seaweed soup on her birthday.”

“……What?”

“She said a young person raising a child alone must have such a hard time…… So Ye-bom wanted to make seaweed soup for Mom’s birthday……”

Ye-in lost her words.

Only now did she understand why Ye-bom, who had never once disobeyed her mother, had done something like this.

Thinking about how much she must have heard those words from behind her back, and what kind of thoughts the child must have had because of them, made Ye-in feel as if her chest had been hollowed out.

“If I have a dad, Mom doesn’t have to struggle?”

“Huh?”

Ye-in froze.

Two years ago, after the day Ye-bom had asked, “Why don’t I have a dad?”, this was the first time those words had come out of her mouth again.

“I won’t get birthday presents anymore. I don’t need Children’s Day presents or Christmas presents either.”

For a child who had just turned six, birthdays, Children’s Day, and Christmas presents were something much bigger than adults could imagine.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that children spent an entire year looking forward to those days with excitement.

“But instead, I want a dad. So Mom can work less, sleep more, and smile a lot.”

But even that reason was not for herself.

It was not because she wanted a dad.

It was because she hated seeing her mother struggle.

Ye-in felt complicated emotions.

She had failed to let her child grow up like a child.

In every word Ye-bom said, Ye-in saw herself.

A mother who only worked, could not sleep enough, and did not smile often.

She had tried so hard not to let Ye-bom feel the absence of a father.

But instead, she had made her feel the absence of her mother.

I was living my life wrong.

Perhaps sensing that Ye-in was strangely quiet, Ye-bom tugged lightly at her clothes.

Ye-in met her eyes.

“No. I’m sorry. I was just joking. I don’t need a dad. I only need Mom.”

Ye-bom smiled widely.

But it was not a real smile.

It was a smile from reading the situation.

A smile from giving up.

Why?

Why was a six-year-old child making that kind of expression?

Ye-in hid her sadness and asked gently.

“Should we? Should we make a dad for you?”

“Really? How?”

“If Ye-bom wants it. Jumi, what was that thing you asked me to go on? I’ll join.”

“Where…… the dating program?”

Jumi was shocked.

“Yeah, I’ll try it. You said you passed and only needed a friend to apply with, right? How about it? If Mom appears on TV, it’ll be really interesting and fun, right?”

Ye-in deliberately smiled playfully.

“Wow! I like it!”

Ye-bom hugged Ye-in’s arm.

Ye-in stared at her child’s smiling face.

Over that smile, a man’s face overlapped.

The eyes that curved when he smiled looked exactly the same.

Her biological father.

……He should be fine, right?

She heard he had gone abroad and had not returned for a long time.

The rumors said he had already gotten married.

Even if he saw me on the show, he probably would not care.

Maybe he had completely forgotten that I even existed.

So it should be okay.

<Couple Village 5> Participant Open Recruitment

If you are with a friend, can love become more honest?

< Couple Village 5 > is recruiting participants who will apply together with one friend.

※ The friend applying together does not have to be the same age. Anyone who fits the dictionary definition of “friend,” meaning someone close whom you have known for a long time, is eligible.

※ Detailed information regarding major conditions such as appearance and withdrawal will be provided separately during the final contract process.

Application Period: 20xx. xx. xx.
Application Method: Apply through the official Netflix Korea Instagram application link.

♥73,000 💬4,217 ⇄1,188 ✈210,000

al_dos 6 hours ago
@00lee You should go lol

@al_dos 6 hours ago
No way, I can’t wear a bikini so I can’t go 😂

kimmyyya_ 6 hours ago
Is the next season already happening? The last season did well, so they’re rowing while they can.

sojun7_22 7 hours ago
Please pick people with sincerity this time, not wannabe influencers.

197.99T 6 hours ago
If they pick ordinary people, people won’t watch because they’re ugly anyway. If you want ordinary people, watch I Am Solo.

take.jjh_ 10 minutes ago
Dating shows are seriously boring. People are obsessed with romance.

nvoees 7 hours ago
@sa_jjin Hey, Couple Village is happening again. Let’s watch together again!!!

greeny_day_ 1 hour ago
My dopamine is coming back. And PD Lee Eun-hye is joining this season too? The best. With those two together, this is going to be insane!!! I’m so excited!!!

dsfklj1221 1 hour ago
Hurry up and start it.

sowhat_ 3 minutes ago
Casting spoilers are already spreading? They all seem disappointing.

“Ye-bom, always be polite to Grandma. Don’t eat too much jelly. Wash your hands well after going outside. Okay?”

“Yes.”

“Brush your teeth three times a day, and do your homework early.”

“We’re going to be late.”

Jumi urged Ye-in.

She had already been nagging Ye-bom for quite a while.

“I’ll call often.”

She hugged Ye-bom tightly.

Since Jumi’s mother would take care of her, there was no need to worry.

Even so, this was the first time she would be away from her child for this long.

Her feet refused to move easily.

“Ye-bom is mature, but her mom isn’t. You’re going to cry, aren’t you?”

“I’m not crying.”

Ye-in stood up.

Her eyes were filled with tears, but she could not cry in front of her child.

“Mom, go safely.”

Ye-in nodded and got into the waiting taxi with Jumi.

When she lowered the window, she saw Ye-bom standing beside Jumi’s mother and waving her hand.

“Call me anytime you miss me, okay? Even if it’s in the middle of filming, I’ll come.”

“Yes.”

The taxi started moving.

Ye-in leaned her head out and watched Ye-bom become smaller and smaller.

Only after her child disappeared completely from view did Ye-in collapse back against the seat.

Watching Ye-in’s expression carefully, Jumi cautiously spoke.

“They said you can meet her during filming. It’ll be okay.”

“I’m okay though?”

“Huh?”

“Ye-bom will do well too. If I wasn’t okay with it, I wouldn’t have said I’d go in the first place.”

The filming period was ten days.

It was a short time if you thought about it.

Since she was leaving her child behind to go there anyway, she wanted to achieve her goal within that short period.

“Hong Jumi, are you going to wear that?”

“Yes. Isn’t it pretty?”

“No, you can’t wear that. Change. You have that light green dress, right? Wear that.”

“Why?”

“To get attention in your first appearance, you need to wear bright colors. They show better on camera, and they usually give those people more screen time.”

“……How do you know that?”

“I studied.”

“Studied? What?”

“Couple Village.”

Sun Ye-in was someone who did things properly once she decided on something.

She knew dating programs were popular.

But she had never understood the appeal, so she had never watched one.

Why watch other people date?

What exactly was fun about watching that?

But after becoming a participant herself, Ye-in now had a clear reason to watch dating programs.

After deciding to appear on Couple Village, Ye-in organized her tightly packed tutoring schedule one by one.

She used the free time she created to analyze the program.

After deciding to appear on Couple Village, Ye-in watched every previous season.

Not only that, she also watched five other dating programs, completely finishing a total of nine series.

Ye-in reviewed what she had analyzed.

Couple Village.

Although new dating programs continued to appear, Couple Village maintained strong popularity and had continued all the way to Season 5.

Ye-in analyzed that there were two main reasons for its popularity.

First.

In Couple Village, every participant appeared together with a friend.

There were many chances to create explosive moments.

Helping a friend’s romance and being misunderstood, or friends liking the same person and their relationship falling apart.

It created endless opportunities for raw dopamine.

Second was the fast editing and broadcasting schedule.

Without exception, from Season 1 onward, Couple Village aired its first episode only three days after filming began.

After the first episode, it increased to one or two broadcasts per week.

Compared to other dating programs that had about a six-month delay between filming and airing, it was an extremely bold system.

The fact that the participants did not know what would happen next, and that even the final choices had not been decided yet, made viewers more immersed.

Of course, countless staff members would have to work themselves to exhaustion for that.

Anyway, since she was going on the show, Ye-in wanted to make Hong Jumi the main character of this season.

She wanted to help her open not just a bakery, but a bakery department store.

Then she planned to confidently demand a lifetime discount on bread.

And Ye-in herself.

She had never had a proper relationship before.

She wondered whether she truly had no romantic feelings at all, or whether they were just hiding somewhere.

Until now, she had barely even met other people, let alone men.

In this place designed specifically for romance, she planned to find out.

For Ye-bom’s sake more than anyone else.

Of course, the fact that she had a child would become a major obstacle.

‘Don’t worry. Couple Village originally has all kinds of people. There have been people with children before too. The most popular male participant from the last season was also divorced, and now he’s almost like a celebrity.’

Jumi said that optimistically.

But of course, it would not be easy.

Who would want to have a child from a simple, casual relationship?

Still, she had to try.

Because her Ye-bom said she needed a dad.