“Sigh. Still, at least the building looks presentable. The road in was rough, so I was a little worried.”
The manager said this as he came out of the lone building planted in the middle of nature.
A flashy building that did not match its surroundings.
It was the very excellent solution PD Han had been proclaiming, meant to break regional imbalance and draw people into rural villages.
It was also both the filming site and the lodging where they would shoot for the next week.
And it was the destination where the kidnapped Rowoon had been carried.
“The interior is spotless and the facilities are excellent.”
“Right? I told you not to worry. Do you know how much care we put into preparing this? It is not just us, we are doing this together with some important people in the government, and, well…”
Leaving the dazed Rowoon behind, the manager and the PD chattered back and forth among themselves.
Using their voices as background music, Rowoon looked around.
“…”
Here… people can actually come here, right?
They had said it was a program to leave the city for a quiet suburb, eat good food with nature as a companion, and heal.
That was only half true.
“I did not know a quiet suburb would be this quiet.”
Chirp chirp!
Maybe because the only signs of human life were the cast and crew.
He could hear nothing but birds.
He immediately understood why PD Han aimed to turn this program into a tourism product.
At the same time…
“No, but for it to be a tourist spot, people still need to be able to come, do they not?”
A river flowed out front and a mountain stood behind.
It was a perfect feng shui site with a mountain at the back and water in front, yet…
There was barely a proper road, and there were only two neighbors at most.
Everything else was wide fields, rice paddies, rice paddies, and more rice paddies.
The bigger problem lay elsewhere.
“You will be running this place.”
“…Pardon?”
“Mr. Kang Chaheon, Mr. Lee Rowoon, and one more person who will join soon, the three of you will run this shop!”
In other words, that flashy building before his eyes was a shop.
A shop that Rowoon himself had to operate.
“So the regional tourism product is… this.”
He had never imagined they would have to make that “regional tourism product” with their own hands.
Good grief.
Rowoon pressed his forehead.
They were to run a restaurant.
Looking back, the words had not been wrong.
It really was “a program to leave the city for a quiet suburb, eat good food with nature as a companion, and heal.”
He simply had not known that he, Rowoon, would be the one providing that good food.
“Is this program really fine like this…?”
Rowoon was bewildered, but a cast member’s confusion was none of their concern.
PD Han only looked at the bewildered Rowoon with a pleased face.
“Rowoon, I am going now, all right? I will be in the village, so do not worry.”
At some point the manager had finished talking with PD Han and, wearing an awkward expression, said goodbye to Rowoon.
“…”
“Ahem. Could you not look at me like that? You need a refresh too, Rowoon. You have been busy with projects, ads, and all that, right? The air here is good and it is quiet. It looks perfect for resting, so get some proper rest.”
“…”
“A-ahem. Ahem. W-well then I will be off now…?”
Step by hesitant step.
Like a man with a guilty conscience, the manager began to edge away.
Normally, Rowoon would have at least told him to take care, but not this time.
Bringing him to such a remote mountain valley out of nowhere had the gentle manager’s fingerprints all over it.
“How could you not say a single word beforehand!”
If he had given even a slight hint, Rowoon could have prepared.
At the very least, he would have brought a cleansing foam.
He had not imagined he would be dragged straight here the very moment he said yes.
“So you will appear for us, right?”
“Yes. If I can be of help in the good work you are doing, by all means.”
The moment he said that, PD Han’s gaze had flashed.
Like a hawk that had caught prey.
“Then shall we depart now?”
“Pardon?”
At first he thought he had misheard.
“Right now?”
But no.
“Yes. They say to pull the ox horn while it is still hot, do they not? The sun sets early there, so it is better to leave as soon as possible. It is where you will be staying for the next week anyway, and it would be good for you to get attached to the place quickly.”
“Pardon? O-okay…?”
He did not know what was good about that, but while he was saying ah, ah, he was abruptly loaded into a car as if abducted.
“Is this… right?”
He looked at the also-loaded Kang Chaheon and asked with his eyes and received a sigh in return.
From the way Chaheon shook his head, he seemed to have expected this to some extent.
Dragged here in a daze, and then…
“I packed most of the necessities, but if you need anything else, call me. I will bring it. All right…?”
In a place where nature was so lush it felt eerie, the manager was waiting.
He was even holding Rowoon’s suitcase, stuffed to the brim.
Brutus, how could you…
It was no coincidence that the old Roman emperor’s last words came to mind.
He had been keeping a straight face for so long with that innocent look.
“They say there is no one you can trust.”
Tsk.
Kang Chaheon clicked his tongue as he passed by Rowoon.
He, too, had a manager waiting with a bag.
“…Traitor.”
“Erm… Rowoon. This is all for the sake of a greater cause, so try not to be too shocked. I will drop by once in a while, all right? I believe in you. Our Rowoon, fighting!”
Even as he stepped into the car, the manager kept spouting excuses or something like them, and vanished.
“No wonder he told me to stop by the salon before we left.”
Rowoon had wondered if his manager had come down with a celebrity’s disease that even he did not have, but now he knew why.
Chirp, chirp!
Again, the quiet sounds of nature came.
“Well… the process is a bit, very, unusual, but since I agreed, I should do it well.”
He felt a bit swindled.
Still, now that he had been dropped here, there was only one thing for Rowoon to do.
“A shop…”
It would be a miracle if he did not run it into the ground.
He was about to experience small business, something nowhere in his destiny.
“That is why I told you not to be completely taken in by PD Han.”
“You could have said it a little more strongly…”
“I did not expect her to act this recklessly either. Well.”
Even the Kang Chaheon who never lost his pace seemed to be an exception this time.
He pressed between his brows and shook his head wearily, looking very tired.
He had never expected to feel a sense of kinship with Kang Chaheon in a situation like this.
“Everyone~!”
PD Han came briskly toward the two of them with steps as lively as could be.
She was the only person here with any spark of life.
“You must have been very surprised to hear you suddenly have to run a restaurant, right?”
“…”
“…”
Even with the audio empty because the cast said nothing, PD Han did not bat an eye.
“I understand your worries very well. A restaurant has to serve food. But you are probably not used to cooking, are you? So, for your sake, I have brought someone who will be in charge of the cooking!”
She even went so far as to play a fanfare on her phone.
Beside her, the camera crew, assistant directors, and writers joined in, adding harmonies to the melody.
“…”
“…”
Not exactly giving the disease and then the cure.
Rowoon no longer fell for PD Han’s outward impression.
That clumsy look was all part of a calculated plan.
Realizing too late that an enormous scheme lay beneath it had been his downfall.
“Sigh…”
Kang Chaheon let out a deep sigh.
Right then, they heard a car.
“Looks like they have arrived. Please welcome them with applause!”
A man stepped out of the car parked before them, looking thoroughly bewildered.
It was the complete opposite of PD Han’s lively reaction.
“What is this…? Where is this place…? Huh? Kang Chaheon? Oh? Oh oh? Yikes? Is that Lee Rowoon?”
In the middle of it, he even recoiled when he saw Rowoon.
“…”
Clutching a big piece of luggage with both hands, the man kept glancing at Rowoon and sidled away in small steps.
From the direction, the car was clearly his destination.
However,
“Uh, uh?”
The car that had dropped him off drove away mercilessly without so much as a glance back.
“Oh dear, Mr. Bonggeun, you are here!”
“P, PD-nim?! Where is this, exactly? You said it was a program to treat people to a warm meal! Did you not say it was a cooking variety show?”
“Of course! From now on, Mr. Bonggeun will serve a warm meal to customers here!”
“Wha… Customers, what? Customers? Why would customers be here?”
My thoughts exactly.
The man, called Bonggeun, still had not grasped the situation, his bewilderment obvious.
“…Somehow this does not feel like someone else’s problem.”
He was a stranger, yet Rowoon felt a sudden surge of kinship.
At the same time, he felt he could clearly see the grueling path ahead.
The trio, suddenly abducted by PD Han, gathered in one place.
“For the next week you will be living and working together, so you should introduce yourselves in advance!”
It was PD Han’s fault that they had been herded into the lodging above the shop and told to unpack and socialize.
An awkward air drifted about.
“At this rate, a whole day could pass with none of us saying a word.”
It was understandable enough.
But the milk had been spilled.
They had been forced together, but they were professionals, so they had to do something.
The problem was that Kang Chaheon was not exactly sociable either.
On top of that,
‘I do not know why, but he keeps watching me and acting wary…’
Kang Chaheon looked like a difficult type at a glance, but why was this other man looking at him and acting cautious?
“…Shall we at least exchange names? I am Lee Rowoon. I filmed one movie. That is where I met Mr. Kang Chaheon… I answered a call to come out and found myself here.”
With no other choice, Rowoon opened the floor.
There was no helping it. Otherwise, they would end up with zero usable footage.
Perhaps that was the right move, because the last to join introduced himself with a somewhat relieved air and gave his name.
“H, hello? I am TV personality Kim Bonggeun. I mostly do bit parts or supporting roles, and I did some acting for a time. I also do comedy. These days I am active on variety shows and YouTube… I am doing another variety with PD Han… She said she would push me as the main on a food show, so I came. And it is here.”
He let out a monk-like hollow laugh.
Next was Kang Chaheon.
Rowoon gave him a slight nudge, and after making a ridiculous face, Chaheon clicked his tongue and obediently spoke.
“I am Kang Chaheon. I work as an actor.”
Contrary to Rowoon’s worry, it was a perfectly normal introduction.
“…I was tricked into coming too, so please do not look at me like I am some traitor. PD Han clearly told me the casting was not finished yet. She said she wanted help persuading Lee Rowoon.”
“Persuasion is not the same as kidnapping, Mr. Kang Chaheon.”
“If it were, would I be here? I am dumbfounded too.”
“So everyone here really has been dragged out without warning?”
“Seems so.”
It was hard to tell if these were introductions or a session to share their mutual grievance.
“Whooo…”
“Sigh…”
Maybe because they shared the same absurdity.
The wariness faded quickly.
A strong camaraderie already seemed to be budding.
“PD Han has never been this reckless without a plan.”
“She must have worked things out with the companies, right?”
“Most likely. Otherwise, the managers would not have packed our bags like this.”
Hoooo…
All three sighed in unison again.
Only for a moment, though.
Rowoon said,
“We cannot just stay like this, so shall we get moving? Like it or not, we have to be here for a week, and we should unpack.”
He felt some surprised eyes turn toward him.
“Your recovery is pretty fast.”
“Well… it already happened. I am a bit shaken, to be honest, but I do not think spacing out will help.”
When Rowoon stood up first, the other two rose to their feet, gathering their things.
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