Bobby Kim works cafe part-time to afford daughter's formula

Singer Bobby Kim has taken up a cafe part-time job after becoming a father at age 53. A veteran singer who has earned his living through music for many years, he now takes orders, cleans the shop, and earns an hourly wage. After receiving a daily wage of just 44,000 won, he headed to the mart to buy formula for his daughter. It was a moment where the phrase 'I have to earn money' felt like a very concrete reality.

A video titled '53-year-old dad earning formula money through cafe part-time job' was recently released on Bobby Kim's YouTube channel. From the beginning, Kim showed signs of parenting in the video. He showed the condition of his mouth, saying, "I developed stomatitis from looking after the baby," and even confessed that he has experienced circular hair loss.

Kim shared how his life has changed since becoming a father at a late age, saying, "My wife actually has a harder time, but perhaps because of my age, things are breaking out on my skin and my hair is falling out." Beyond just complaining that parenting is difficult, he was saying that his physical strength and life rhythm itself have changed from before.

Kim married a non-celebrity who is 15 years younger in 2022. The two first met during Kim's concert tour in 2010, later grew close, and became a married couple. He became a father at age 53 after welcoming his daughter, Hye-mi, this June, rather than last year.

The daughter who arrived late has even changed his sense of economy. In the video, Kim said, "I still do events and occasionally appear on broadcasts," but added, "Now that I have a family, since there is a baby, I have to earn twice as much as I am earning now." He expressed his determination not to be picky about the type of work, saying, "Now I will do whatever comes my way."

The job he chose was exactly a cafe part-time position. Kim started his 'work'—which was not a typical commute—by making a video call to his young daughter and repeatedly telling her, "Daddy is going to work hard."

It was an unfamiliar labor site for a singer who has stood on stage for decades, but on this day, his role as a father to a child took precedence over his status as a star.

Once he entered the cafe, reality was not easy. Kim expressed difficulty in front of the POS terminal, which requires handling orders, payments, takeout discounts, and point accumulation. When the owner, acting as a customer, ordered an iced americano, he asked, "Please speak slowly," only to be corrected that one should not speak to customers that way.

Even in the midst of that, he could not hide his singer instincts. Listening to the music in the shop, Kim personally recommended his own song, saying that if his representative song "Whale's Dream" were played, the cafe atmosphere would become more sophisticated. It drew laughter as the singer, who once moved thousands of spectators on stage, was seen personally promoting his own presence inside the shop to sell a single cup of coffee.

When customers were sparse, he even went out to the street to solicit them. He shouted, "The best coffee shop in the world!" to attract customers, and actually succeeded in bringing a customer back to the shop.

It was a scene far removed from the glamorous daily life of a celebrity, but because of that, Kim's realistic side was highlighted.

The person he thought of most frequently while working was, of course, his daughter. Even while cleaning, he talked to his daughter, and even when being corrected by the young owner, he made jokes like, "Daddy is working this hard."

It was a process where the responsibility born through parenting was transformed into the driving force for labor.

The reward for working four hours was 44,000 won. This was the actual daily wage he received based on an hourly rate of 11,000 won. The cafe owner handed him the money and told him to use it for the baby's formula, and after receiving the money, Kim rejoiced, saying, "Hye-mi, did you see? Daddy earned this."

The reason this scene feels even more peculiar is that Kim is a singer who previously revealed that he 'lived on royalties.' He has mentioned in a 2019 broadcast that during his four-and-a-half-year hiatus, the royalties coming in from "Whale's Dream" were a significant part of his income.

"Whale's Dream" is a song with great symbolism in Kim's musical life. Released in 2004, this song became a representative repertoire that imprinted his name on the public, and Kim participated in the composition himself. On the other hand, he explained that "Love... That Guy" does not bring as much royalty income because it is not a song he created.

After debuting in the music industry in 1994, Kim built his own musical world with songs such as "A Year Like a Day," "Whale's Dream," "Pine Tree," and "Love... That Guy." In particular, his unique, soulful vocals have carved out a distinct space in Korean popular music. For a man who has made music his livelihood for over 30 years, royalties were not just a side income, but the result of long years of creative labor.

The fact that Kim is learning to use a POS terminal, selling coffee to customers, soliciting people on the street, and using 44,000 won to buy formula is therefore deeply symbolic. It is not labor to earn a large sum, but labor to confirm that he is taking responsibility for his family in the way he can.

Most of all, this video contains the duality inherent in the term 'late-blooming father.' As a child born at a later age, the physical burden may feel relatively greater, but it is also clear that the child has completely shifted his life's priorities. When Kim said, "I have to earn twice as much," it was less a calculation of income and more an expression of the magnitude of responsibility he feels after becoming a father.

Ultimately, the 44,000 won Kim earned that day is by no means a large sum compared to the income he has earned through his musical activities. However, the moment he took that money to buy formula and diapers for his daughter, it took on a meaning far greater than its value.

While he is a singer who has received applause from audiences for a long time on stage, at home, he is someone just beginning a new role as a father. The reason this veteran musician, who once lived on royalties, smiled the widest after receiving the smallest daily wage of his life may be because the value of that money has changed.