Eric Smith had a 15-month-old son who had just started to utter words.
He was very happy when the boy said "mama" and "papa."
"Maria..."
Now, he felt like crying.
His son, Jack Smith, had refused to eat anything since morning, keeping his mouth tightly shut.
It had only been two days since Eric was left alone with his son, and he was already at a loss. He had been arguing with his son for 30 minutes and was now regretting it.
āWhy didnāt I learn this earlier?ā
He could vividly recall his wife's efforts to make the baby eat just one more spoonful.
"NOO!"
Seeing his son, who was sitting in the baby chair and banging the small table with both hands, made Eric feel like he was about to get sick.
Holding a small spoon, Eric tried every method, from airplane games to train games, but finally resorted to his last resort.
"I didnāt want to interfere..."
But he couldnāt let his son go without food.
< Honey, Jack isnāt eating :(
< What should I do?
> Thereās yogurt in the fridge that Jack likes. Try that.
< He wonāt eat that :(
Maria Park, who was on a business trip in France, sighed when she saw her husband's message.
"Only two days..."
Her son was a picky eater. She had stocked the fridge with all the foods Jack liked, but it seemed to have run its course in just two days.
She had even brought a lot of sweets that Jack usually didnāt eat, but it was no use.
"What should I do..."
She had to stay in Paris for another three days. Or, if things went well, three days. But now...
"Director! This hasnāt arrived yet!"
Someone shouted, waving a piece of paper. The director, startled, jumped up and grabbed the phone.
Dialing the number quickly, he waited for the other party to pick up, his leg shaking with anxiety.
Click-
-Hello...
"Wait, what? If you donāt send it now, what are you going to do? Thereās not much time left, and you know how important this is, right?"
Before the other party could speak, the director was already firing off questions. Maria wiped her face with both hands.
"At this rate, I wonāt be able to go even after a week..."
Is this what stress feels like? Maria sighed deeply and sent a message. The recipient was Eric Smith, her husband.
> Figure it out, youāre the dad, right? ;)
< Honey?!
"Maria? Maria?!"
Eric shook his smartphone. It was a futile cry, but he couldnāt give up on this last resort. He shouted, hoping it would reach Paris.
"Maria!!"
"NOO!!"
Eric lay face down on the table, defeated. Jack continued to bang the table.
Tears welled up in Ericās eyes, and in Jackās eyes too. Eric looked at Jack, who was sniffling. Was he missing his mom or was he hungry?
"If youāre hungry, just eat..."
Eric picked up the spoon. It was Jackās favorite yogurt. Jack knew the sweetness of the white yogurt but refused to open his mouth, shaking his head.
Just as the second round between Eric and Jack was about to begin...
-Ding!
An alert sounded.
Later, when Maria returned home after a two-week business trip, Eric told her that the alert sounded like a heavenly bell.
Of course, at the moment, it was just a useless alert.
"What is it?"
The alarm sound came from the Pad placed on the table. It was the Pad Maria used when cooking or working at the table.
Looking at the screen, an alert appeared, indicating that one of the YouTube channels Maria subscribed to had been updated.
[LALAāS DAY - New video has been updated.]
LALA was a YouTuber whom Maria sometimes referred to when making fusion dishes of Korean and Western cuisine.
Eric hesitated for a moment. Checking the time, he realized he had already been arguing with his son for over 50 minutes.
"Alright, Jack. Son. Letās have a temporary truce."
Eric raised his hands. Jack pouted and mumbled to himself.
To change the mood, he decided to watch the video.
"This YouTuberās daughter is said to eat well these days..."
He remembered what Maria had said. As fellow parents, the YouTuber and her subscribers had tried various methods to make their babies eat, sharing them through comments and broadcasts.
Maria had been envious of the YouTuberās daughter, who was said to eat very well these days.
He had bought the formulaāonly sold in Korea, so he had to order it internationallyāand tried the recommended baby food, but it didnāt work for Jack.
"Does she not share the secret to making babies eat well?"
Eric pressed the start button. Unlike usual, there was no ad.
"Huh? 2 minutes?"
It was only a 2-minute video. Eric, who had planned to take a 30-minute break, watched the video with a puzzled expression.
"Hello! This is LALA!"
It seemed a bit strange, but Eric didnāt stop the video.
It was a stroke of luck. Eric thought that the alert ringing at that moment was truly fortunate. Watching the video was the best thing he had done since marrying Maria and having Jack.
"Todayās video is short. I want to recommend another YouTube channel."
LALA, holding the camera with her hand, spoke seriously in the shaky footage.
"These days, my daughter eats very well, as you all know."
Eric nodded.
"Well, since I said that, you all must know, right?"
LALA paused and then continued.
"I have the secret to that."
"What?"
Eric was surprised. A secret?
People watching her videos worldwide were also surprised.
LALA bowed her head, looking apologetic.
"To be honest, my daughter does eat well with formula and baby food, but thatās not the only reason she eats well. Iām sorry for not sharing this earlier."
"What?"
He remembered waiting for hours for the formula to restock and then buying it just before it sold out. The quantity was limited, and he had barely managed to get it.
Moreover, the ingredients he had bought to make baby food, which filled the fridge. Eric looked at the fridge with a bewildered expression.
LALA had just said it was a "recommendation," and while Eric, like other viewers, didnāt fully trust her, he felt like he had been scammed.
To see what others thought, Eric opened the comment section. Many comments had already been posted.
-You mean it wasnāt because of the formula and baby food?
-How did I manage to buy that formula... Itās not even available for international shipping, and I struggled to get it. :(
-I even paid extra...
-LALA just recommended it.
-Thatās true. It might not suit other babies. Itās not LALAās fault.
-But there was another secret, and thatās why everyone is disappointed.
-Is it related to her personal life?
Since they were all LALAās loyal viewers, there were no profane comments, but many blamed her and expressed disappointment. On the other hand, many defended her. It seemed a fight was about to break out.
While scrolling through the comments, LALAās voice and subtitles appeared. A plane icon appeared at the top of the screen.
"The video you see on the screen now is the secret."
The title <Baby Food Version> appeared. Clicking it would start the video.
"What is this?"
Eric, who was about to write a comment, paused and tilted his head. The title didnāt reveal much.
LALAās video continued.
"To be honest, this is a video uploaded by my friend. It was originally meant to be seen only by our friends, but I managed to persuade her to upload it on YouTube."
Curiosity arose about what kind of video required persuasion.
"This video is meant to be seen by the babies, not the parents. My daughter also watched it. Set up the screen so the baby can see it and try feeding them the baby food and formula. They will eat very well."
Several photos of LALAās daughter watching a smartphone while eating appeared. Eric turned to look at Jack, who still had his mouth shut.
"The baby food and formula were my personal recommendations, but this video is a must-watch. Really, itās essential! Iāll see you in the next video! Everyone, bye!"
With that, LALAās video ended. The only thing left was the video she recommended.
After a moment of hesitation, Eric decided to follow her advice. Maria had left everything to him, thinking it was his last resort.
Eric placed the Pad where Jack could see it and heated up the baby food. It was made using the recipe LALA recommended. He thought Jack might eat better while watching the video.
"Will it really work?"
Despite his doubts, seeing Jack not eating for an hour left him no choice but to try.
Jackās mouth was still shut, and Eric sighed. He placed the baby food in front of Jack and sat beside him, deciding to watch the video together while feeding him.
"Please eat..."
The video started.
A baby with black hair appeared on the screen, sitting in a baby chair. The baby looked younger than Jack, not even a year old.
The baby had chubby cheeks and distinct features, looking very cute. A small sound was heard, a manās voice.
"Is it the dad? Jun?"
The channel name [JUN] appeared. It seemed to be the babyās name.
A womanās hand appeared, holding a small baby spoon with white baby food.
Eric also put baby food on Jackās spoon and glanced at his son.
The babyās expression had slightly softened, and he was staring intently at the video.
"Wow!"
Eric held his breath, waiting for the right moment.
In the video, the baby Jun opened his mouth, and the spoon went in. Jun waved his chubby arms.
Jackās eyes widened. The baby with the shiny hair was eating the baby food, and it looked very delicious. Jack felt like he wanted to do the same.
"Ah! Ah!"
Jackās mouth opened. Eric noticed. Now!
Swoosh! The spoon went into Jackās mouth. Jack chewed and swallowed without spitting it out.
Ericās eyes widened.
Oh, oh, oh!!
He wanted to cheer but held back. There was still a lot of baby food left.
Ericās savior, Jun, was enthusiastically eating the baby food, and Jack was also eating enthusiastically, waving his arms.
One spoon, one spoon. Following Jun, the bowl was quickly finished.
"Papa! Papa!"
Jack, who had eaten the entire bowl of baby food, was full and kept calling for Papa, hugging Eric. Eric felt tears welling up in his eyes.
"But this isnāt the time for that."
Eric quickly took out the Pad and wrote a comment on Junās video. He subscribed and recommended it, making it easy to play the video when feeding Jack next time.
-He ate it all! It really works!
-My daughter also ate it all! I recommend this for babies who donāt eat well!
<After 1 hour of arguing, he ate everything after watching the video! Jun, thank you so much!
He also went to LALAās video, which recommended Junās video.
The disappointed comments on the 2-minute video were gradually being deleted, not by LALA but by the commenters themselves.
-Thank you! Please tell your friend that it really helped!
-Thank you for persuading her! My son is eating very well!
-Iām the mom who wrote the comment earlier. Iām sorry. It really... thank you for uploading the video.
Ding!
> Did you feed Jack?
It was Maria.
Eric, with a bright face, quickly wrote a message and sent a photo of the empty baby food bowl.
For his wife, who was working hard and worrying about her husband struggling with a picky eater.
<Mission accomplished! He ate everything! :)
> How did you do it!? Amazing!
Eric chuckled. He planned to keep Junās video a secret until Maria returned home, intending to show off how well he could feed Jack without her. Of course, it would be revealed as soon as she got home.
<I can do it!! :)
Just like Eric Smith, more and more viewers of [LALAāS DAY] and [JUN] were using the videos to feed their babies baby food and formula. The comments and recommendations for both videos were increasing.
24 hours after the video was uploaded, the view count was approaching 1 million.