Why Mystic Messenger characters ask you whether you’ve eaten or not
I’m sorry if this question has been answered already, but I’d just like to explain in case it has not.
A lot of people have been commenting on the strangeness of how often the characters ask them about their meals and whatnot. There’s a reason for this:
In Korean culture, it is proper manners to ask whether or not you’ve eaten, especially to a higher up, whether it be a boss or an elder. It is most used amongst adults as a form of respect. It is basically a polite way of saying “How are you”. Usually young people/friends don’t do this as a form of respect unless they are genuinely curious whether or not you ate something. However considering the characters in mysme ask you whether you’ve eaten extremely frequently, it can be seen more as an act of kindness. When older people do it to younger people it’s because they care about their health. Someone in a relationship might ask their S.O, because if they say yes it shows that they’re taking care of themselves. (Partly the reason why the characters sound relieved or happy when you say “yes”)
Back when Korea used to be a hunger-stricken country, just asking about your meal was basically asking how you were. Meals were (and still quite are) very important here.
There are even many ways to ask “have you eaten yet” in different formal forms depending on who you’re talking to. The most common form is “밥 먹었어요/먹었나요?” (bap meokutseoyo/meokutnayo?) or “bap meokutseo?” (this would be what Yoosung and Zen usually asks.) You can also replace “bap” with whatever meal fits in that particular time (breakfast, lunch, dinner). “bap” is the least formal, then “식사" (shiksa) then “진지" (jinji), but they all mean “food” in general. You would also use “드셨어요/드셨나요" (deoshutseoyo/deoshutnayo) instead of meokutseoyo to be more formal. (This is what Jaehee usually asks).
tl;dr I just wanted to let you know that they aren’t weird, they aren’t creepy and they aren’t obsessed with meals, it’s a culture thing, it’s just them being polite to you and showing good manners ^_^
(I once got yelled at by dad for not asking “Grandmother, have you eaten yet?” immediately when she called me, this is how important this is. lol)