“And~ start!” Nayoung shouted.
The moment she did, I began to stuff my mouth with hotdogs. Nayoung did show me a certain way to eat them, but I decided to just eat them how I wanted to. I just stuffed them into my mouth.
Nom.
I opened my mouth as wide as I could, taking half a hotdog into my mouth at once, then chewing and swallowing like you wouldn’t believe. Since it was just bun and hotdog, you’d think I’d get thirsty, but I didn’t feel any of that.
“Here Sian, have some water,” Nayoung said to me, so I took a sip. And then, I just kept eating and eating. I had already eaten three. Then four…five…six…seven…eight…ten.
“How many minutes?” I managed to ask despite all the hotdogs in my mouth.
“It’s been one minute. You’re doing great! Keep going!”
“….”
I just stared at her. Seriously, what’s with this girl? So what if she was the daughter of Saman Group? I just ate ten hotdogs in one minute, but she didn’t seem shocked at all. In fact, she’s just telling me to keep going. Anyways, I continued to eat. And pretty soon, ten minutes had passed.
“Ah~ Much better.”
I had come out of the bathroom after relieving myself. How is that possible? I had actually finished the 100 hotdogs long before the ten minutes was over. That gave me plenty of time to go to the bathroom before my time was up.
“Amazing!” Nayoung said, raising her two thumbs up. Then all of a sudden, her face became serious.
“But 100 isn’t enough.”
“….”
This girl really is insane.
“How about 150 more? I bet you could do it in ten minutes.”
‘You do it then.’
Luckily, I’d managed to keep that last part to myself.
“Um…is that really necessary? The record for most hotdogs eaten by a woman is 37…I just ate 100 and still had time to go to the bathroom. I think this is enough for me to win.”
“No way,” Nayoung said, shaking her head firmly. What is she saying? Was she stupid?
“Once the competition starts, you’ll get nervous. It’s not just your outer body that reacts. Your organs will as well. That means you’ll eat a lot less than you usually do. 100 isn’t enough.”
“Um…”
What do you mean it wasn’t enough?
“So let’s go again.”
And with that, Nayoung rang the bell and Ji-chun appeared within seconds.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Can we have 150 more hotdogs, please?”
“Alright! 150 coming right up!”
With a tap on my shoulder, Ji-chun skipped down the stairs again.
“150…”
“Yep. Let’s go!”
Well, clearly Nayoung was excited. I, on the other hand, swallowed nervously.
Nayoung Kim…she was rather terrifying.
***
We ended up staying at the restaurant for around three hours already maybe? I lost count of how many hotdogs I had eaten. Let’s just say no one could possibly imagine the number.
“Mmmf!”
I almost threw up my last hotdog, but I managed to swallow. So this is what it truly feels like to eat until you throw up.
“Ugh…only two…”
In the end, Nayoung was rather disappointed that I had only managed to clear two platters. Then again, I doubt there will ever come a time when I can truly win over this girl. She’s just too rich. Nothing can beat having that much money…or maybe there is. Whatever it may be, I don’t have it right now.
“Bye, Sian~ Let’s meet again before the competition, okay~” Nayoung said with a bright smile and a wave.
I forced a smile and waved back at her. As soon as she was out of sight, I waddled away in my direction. I was so stuffed that it was hard for me to walk. I tried to do some exercises that were supposed to be good for the digestive system, but these hot dogs seemed to be stuck for the time being.
“Let’s take a break.”
In the end, I took a seat at a table on a café terrace.
“Burp~”
After letting out a long burp, it seemed to help a little. If anyone were to see me right now, they’d think I was pregnant.
“Still. I did eat it all,” I said, looking down at my stomach. And that’s when I made a decision. I was never going to meet with Nayoung again. Just then, I saw a pig walking in the distance. No, not a real pig. Just a fat person. His body was well…he could beat Si-dong. I’d say the guy was about 1.5 times bigger than Si-dong, and he was heading right towards me.
“What’s with him?”
Why is he coming towards me? He’s not planning on hitting on me, is he? Then again, all guys are the same, so the chances are high. Soon enough, the guy was right in front of me and just as I expected, he spoke to me.
“Excuse me?”
“Yes?”
I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but I refrained.
“Are you Sian?”
“Oh.”
Was he a fan? But based on the way he was speaking to me, it didn’t seem like it.
So I asked, “Who are you?”
“I’m Jinwoo Lee.”
“And?”
So what?
“I hear you’re competing in the Food League as well,” Fat Jinwoo said.
Wait, how does he know that? I was sitting up straight so he couldn’t see how far out my stomach was. And so, I asked again.
“How do you know that?”
“The competitors’ names were released.”
“Oh.”
Well, that explains it.
“I’ve always wanted to compete against you.”
“Right. But what’s with that tone? Kind of rude, don’t you think?”
It’s only our first meeting after all.
“Oh, sorry,” he said, speaking more politely.
“But you’ve always wanted to compete with me? Why?”
I asked because I was really curious. And I didn’t mean to, but my tone came out rather short as well.
“The amount of food you eat is impressive, at least from what I’ve seen. A master can recognize another master any day.”
“I see.”
If he was able to recognize me for who I am, then that must mean he is a true master. Like he said, a true master recognizes his own. But wait…
“But you’re a guy…and I’m a girl.”
Men and women compete in different competitions, so there’s no way he and I would end up competing against each other.
“I know you’re going to win the women’s portion by a landslide.”
“Well, you’re definitely right there,” I said, rubbing my stomach, but he continued.
“But I bet you can’t beat me.”
“And why is that?”
“I can eat 80 hotdogs in 10 minutes. It’s not an official record, but it beats the one that is.”
“Oh, nice.”
Eighty in ten minutes. Unfortunately, I had eaten 100 and still had time to go to the bathroom. Of course, I didn’t tell him that. I didn’t want to discourage him at our first meeting. He’s waited so long to compete against me. I didn’t want to be the one to crush his dreams.
“Anyways, I’ll definitely win the men’s section, and then I’ll go onto Asia. After that, the world championships.”
“You have big dreams,” I said, clapping for him. Too bad though, because I wasn’t going to let that happen. Not that it’s my fault. He had the misfortune to be born in the wrong time.
“So is that why you came to see me? To tell me that?”
“Oh, I just happened to see you as I was passing by. Anyways, just keep that in mind. I’ll see you at the competition.”
“Okay.”
With that, the guy walked away with a wave. I too, stood back up and began to walk back to the dorms. Or to be more exact, waddled.
***
As soon as I arrived at the dorms, Jia and Yoo-jin greeted me. They actually bought 40 hotdogs as they’d promised.
“Shit.”
“Huh? Did you just curse?”
“Matte Kudasai~ Just a moment, okay? Let me go wash up.”
“Okay, but Sian.”
“Yeah?”
“Why is your stomach so swollen? You look pregnant.”
“….”
I mean, I thought that as well.
“I just met with Nayoung.”
“Oh, did you have lunch then?”
“Nah. Just hotdogs,” I said, patting my stomach. I wonder how many hotdogs were in there. I had eaten 100, then another 150, so altogether, that was 250 hotdogs in total. No, wait. Since I was digesting it all, that meant I probably only had 50 left in there. Anyways.
“Oh. Then will you be able to eat the ones we brought?”
“Um…”
I stared at the hotdogs Jia had bought. They looked really good. Unlike the plain New York style hotdogs, these were fully set with all the condiments.
Gulp.
I wanted to eat them, but I was still full.
“Then you can eat them for dinner, Sian.”
“But they’ll get cold…”
“Then do you want them right now?”
“But I’m full…”
“Then let’s wait until dinner,” Jia said. She took the forty hot dogs and dragged them to one side of the table…and I followed. Jia blocked me.
“No, Sian. If you eat them now, you might throw up.”
“Just one.”
“No. Look at your stomach. It looks like it’s about to explode,” Jia said.
I looked down at my stomach. It really did look very swollen. I bet if I took my finger and poked it, it really would explode. Or maybe it will fly all over the place like a balloon losing its air.
“Hey, Sian,” Yoo-jin said.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know if you stand a chance at this competition.”
“Huh? Why?” I asked. Why would she say that?
“I saw the roster and the competitors seem pretty strong. You know Jinwoo Lee?”
“Yeah, I do.”
He’s the guy I saw today. That pig.
“He recently came out on a show where he ate 70 hotdogs in ten minutes. He broke the world record.”
“Oh, really?”
Didn’t he tell me he ate 80? Did he lie and add ten then? Sounded quite suspicious to me.
“But Jinwoo will be competing with the men, so it doesn’t matter. Of course, the women are no joke, either.”
“How are they?”
“A woman named Gayeon Kim was on a show recently as well. She ate 45 in ten minutes. She beat Black Widow by eight hotdogs. Isn’t it cool?”
“I had no idea Korea had so many talented people.”
“Right? But their records are still unofficial. It’s certain that they’ll definitely all go for the world championships at this competition.
“Yeah,” I said. For now, let’s just worry about me. We chatted a bit more and before I knew it, time had flown by.
***
The days passed quickly and before I knew it, it was the day of the Food League competition. During that time, I met with Nayoung three times and set an unofficial record of 120 hotdogs in ten minutes. So even though the competition hadn’t started yet, I knew I was going to win.
“Go, Sian!” all the group members cheered for me.
“Thanks guys! If I win first place and receive the prize money, let’s go out and eat sashimi.”
“Okay!” everyone shouted. The prize money was 5 million won. With that money, we could eat out the entire restaurant.
Finally, I left the dorms and climbed into the van waiting outside. Unfortunately, none of the members could come with me. They all had other schedules.
“Don’t worry, Sian. I’ll be there cheering for you,” Hak-gyu said. Well, at least I had that.
“Thanks, Manager Lee.”
“Let’s go!” Hak-gyu said, stepping on the gas.
But just then, a flashy sports car came out of nowhere and cut off the van. Upon closer look, I saw it was a Lamborghini. A Lamborghini Gallardo.
“Wow, that looks amazing!”
Seriously. My Genesis couldn’t even compare, but Hak-gyu wasn’t listening. He was too busy yelling at the car from his front seat.
“You fucking bastard! Learn to drive, you stupid shit! You could’ve killed me!”
Hak-gyu was clearly furious. Then again, considering we could’ve gotten into an accident, it was understandable.
But just then, the driver opened the door and climbed out of the Lamborghini. A female driver. One I knew all too well.
