The meeting among the three picked up speed.
It was thanks to Rowoon’s idea playing a decisive role.
“I want to put in noodles in anchovy broth. Whenever I went to the countryside, my grandmother always made them. You can make the broth in advance and just boil the noodles to order, so it does not take a lot of work and it is good.”
Kang Chaheon wrote down the suggestion Kim Bonggeun offered.
“Mr. Kang Chaheon, do you have anything that comes to mind from your childhood?”
“Bungeoppang1.”
“Hm?”
“I think I ate bungeoppang.”
“That would be perfect for dessert. Right, I heard there are far fewer people selling bungeoppang these days. Even if you carry cash to buy it, you cannot find a place selling it.”
Dessert was decided in an instant.
“What about you, Rowoon? Anything you ate as a kid?”
“Hmm…”
Childhood memories.
‘… Ramen?’
His father was always out and about.
His mother was busy working to take care of her two sons in his father’s place.
Even his only brother was always home late from cram school and the like.
There were not many options for a young Rowoon left by himself.
‘I used to think I was sick of eating two meals a day off one packet of ramen. I never thought I would end up doing the same thing again as an adult.’
He would set the water at just the right amount so as not to break the balance of salt, fish out the noodles first and eat them, then throw in the dried cold rice and simmer the remaining broth down. Thanks to the reduction it turned into a fairly tasty meal.
‘… But if I say that now, it will make things a little weird.’
“I do not really have anything that comes to mind. More than that, how about we also use local produce?”
“Noodles alone would feel a bit plain. Then how about bibimbap? Gangwon-do is famous for gondre greens.”
Along with gondre, bracken, gomchwi, dried radish greens, and deodeok were also famous.
“I am guessing the direct sales market will carry them. We will have to go see.”
Two main dishes were already decided, just like that.
“It would be nice to have an appetizer.”
“Isn’t soft tofu famous here?”
“Oh, right. Soft tofu. If you add julienned cucumber and season it slightly on the salty side, it is really good. It is healthy too.”
If served cold, it would be a healthy and tasty appetizer.
“I should check if we can source soft tofu.”
After a few more ideas, the notes Kang Chaheon was taking were full.
“Ah, PD Han is going to be jealous if she sees this. She probably did not expect us to decide this easily.”
The way he chuckled made it clear he held quite a grudge about being kidnapped by PD Han.
“Then let us go with about this much for the menu, and we can decide what to add or drop after we make it.”
There were four days left.
In that time the three of them had to be reborn as people fit to run a restaurant.
“By the way, do either of you think you could assist me? Looking at the menu, I think I could handle it alone, but it would be nice if someone could help in case we need it.”
At Kim Bonggeun’s words, Kang Chaheon’s and Rowoon’s eyes met.
Whoever won here would be promoted to sous chef to assist the head chef.
If not…
‘Then you are the odd-job guy.’
With so few people, everyone except the head chef, Kim Bonggeun, would have to multitask anyway.
“… Guys? Your eyes suddenly look like they are on fire.”
And so it began.
Their out-of-nowhere cooking skills showdown.
To speak only of the results:
Rowoon was kicked out of the kitchen.
That was after he nearly stained the production’s fancy, top-of-the-line cookware with bright red blood.
“Rowoon, you… must never, ever think of picking up a knife. Got it?”
With a face gone white, Kim Bonggeun earnestly pleaded.
“… If you give me one more chance… I think I could do it well…”
“Stop saying insane nonsense.”
Even Kang Chaheon joined in.
While chopping, Kang had snatched the knife away in horror after Rowoon blithely nearly sliced his own finger.
“Still, Rowoon seasons things amazingly well.”
Kim was a fair judge in his own way.
“As for Chaheon… hmm…”
From knife work to every cooking step, Kang was perfect.
If there was one thing he lacked…
“Let Rowoon handle the seasoning. All right?”
Every finished dish tasted strangely middling.
Even though he used exactly the same ingredients, followed precise measurements, and cooked in the exact order down to the timing.
‘… What is this?’
After a single bite, there was something that made you tilt your head.
Conversely, although Rowoon’s cooking process was a mess and his prep was a disaster, the results were quite decent.
“If I could split you two in half and mix the parts, it would be perfect.”
Clicking his tongue, Kim wondered how their stat points could be so completely dumped into different places.
“Hyung, that is a scary thing to say.”
“Do not say such horrifying things.”
“… You two know you look oddly, no, blatantly friendly, right?”
In any case, since Rowoon had no knack for cooking, Kang would act as sous chef when needed.
Rowoon’s talent shone elsewhere.
“Rowoon, your hands are really neat…”
They discovered that during cleanup after the match of the century.
Rowoon turned the messy kitchen spotless in a flash.
The dishes stacked in the sink squeaked clean, and the floor gleamed.
The counters sparkled without a single water mark, as if they had never been messy.
“Then Rowoon, when you have time, help tidy the kitchen too.”
Before they knew it, each person’s roles were decided one by one.
‘Surprisingly… this is not bad.’
He had thought it would be rough going, what with meeting a stranger for the first time and having Kang Chaheon there too.
PD Han’s casting ability was better than he had expected.
They clicked together unexpectedly well.
Things were going more smoothly than he thought.
The framework was roughly set.
When they checked the time, it was already late afternoon.
“Guys. Let us eat something first.”
As they seemed close to finishing up, Kim said with a tired face.
Perhaps because the series of steps had brought them closer, his tone was much more casual than at first.
“We do all this to eat and live, so I should feed myself first. I am about to crash from low sugar.”
“Ah. Right. When did it get so late?”
“Since you worked hard just getting here today, let us start practicing tomorrow and eat something good first. PD, we have to cook dinner ourselves too, right?”
Declared on strike and sprawled out in the living room, Kim asked PD Han.
From the moment the three put their heads together to discuss, she had quietly come over, settled in nearby, and watched with interest.
Just in case, he asked.
“Yes, that is right. Procure the ingredients yourselves and cook your meal.”
She answered as if it were the most natural thing.
“… Let us go.”
Even Kang, who never seemed to feel tired even during all-night shoots, looked worn out for once.
“When you shop from now on, use this card.”
PD Han handed a card to Kang.
It had the local mascot on it and was a payment method loaded with currency valid in that region.
“Will this be fine? You are not going to make it come up as zero at the register, right? Or tell us to earn and top it up…”
Maybe because they had been blindsided so many times.
Distrust rose on its own.
“Oh? That is a good idea. Mr. Rowoon, you really have such…”
“Lee Rowoon. Mouth closed.”
“… Yes.”
All three fell silent as if they had agreed beforehand.
“Come on, everyone? Hello? The audio is empty.”
“…”
Whatever.
‘Do not give her an opening.’
Strange.
He was filming a variety show.
Yet somehow it felt like they were shooting a survival program.
The sense that things were smooth did not last.
Rowoon felt a crisis creeping up, as if he might be crushed by a disaster of his own making if he was not careful.
Villains were everywhere he looked.
Thankfully, the card from the production had no special limit.
“PD. Are you really doing this?”
“I did not think you would actually worry. Would I be that vicious?”
Yes…
But Rowoon flexed his brain and said nothing.
Giggling, the PD was already a devil incarnate.
‘With that PD, she would absolutely go further.’
He had gotten a decent read on PD Han in this short time.
They decided to shop at a food material market that sold local agricultural and marine products at wholesale prices.
It was a vendor established to minimize distribution fees by direct-supplying produce from each farm.
Thanks to that, consumers could also purchase quality produce at reasonable, low prices.
Good for everyone.
Truly a place that was a win-win.
In that good place, a strange tension began to flow among the three.
It started right when they were about to pay after finishing the shopping.
For one reason.
‘Can we really trust this card?’
Having dealt with PD Han, both Kim and Kang showed strong suspicion.
‘She might slap on some real-time mission and conditions.’
‘Or lend us money and tell us to pay it back.’
Kang even quietly informed them that he had set aside a card to pay himself if it came to that.
‘PD Han… just what kind of person are you…’
They said she was a very nice person ordinarily.
But if it involved a program, she showed things beyond anyone’s imagination.
“Hey now. I am not that vicious. But that is a good idea, so I will consider it next time.”
No sooner had the members confirmed the payment went through fine and breathed a sigh of relief, than PD Han came up smiling, teasing them.
‘… I did not think you were like this.’
Annoying.
A person could be this annoying.
That homely impression he had of her felt like a past life.
Aside from the heart-fluttering moment right before paying, the shopping was enjoyable in its own way.
‘They said it was part of a campaign to revitalize the region. This can be content too.’
He had wondered why a personal camera operator was following even for simple dinner shopping.
It seemed the plan was to film the large market interior in detail.
The items the members put in their carts were no exception.
The camera operator assigned to Rowoon checked what he had placed in his cart and made sure to get separate insert shots.
“What is going on here?”
“Must be a celebrity.”
“Is he famous?”
Big, tall, good-looking men sweeping through the market drew curious eyes.
People gathered to look, and some even recognized the party.
One elderly person was so startled to see Rowoon that they came over.
“My, who is this? You are not sick anymore? Oh, how admirable.”
They were so surprised, as if they had seen someone come back from the dead, and even said how very proud they were of him.
- Bungeoppang is a fish-shaped pastry stuffed with sweetened red bean paste, which originated from the Japanese taiyaki. ↩︎
(T/N: I LOVE THIS!)
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