“Oh dear, it’ll get cold. Hurry up and eat. Eat.”
As if embarrassed by the outpouring of praise, Kim Bonggeun waved his hand dismissively.
Even that gesture seemed profoundly dignified, leaving Rowoon repeating his admiration.
Kim Bonggeun’s hands were large too, and several cast and crew members gathered around the huge table.
The moment they started eating, Rowoon gasped in surprise.
“Whoa.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s… so delicious…!”
“What? Rowoon, you’re quite the character!”
Laughter erupted from the production crew.
‘I’m dead serious.’
The flavor was on a completely different level from anything he’d ever cooked at home.
Kim Bonggeun, who already seemed to have an aura about him, now looked like a legendary heartthrob.
“Yeah. Eat up. If there’s anything else you want, just say the word. I’ll make it happen if I can.”
What?
He’d make something this delicious again?
And that trustworthy look, telling him to just ask…!
Was that why?
“Hyung, I love you…”
He felt affection welling up inside him.
“Hahahaha!”
Kim Bonggeun burst out laughing upon hearing Rowoon’s words.
“Seriously, Rowoon, you’re hilarious! I don’t even know why I worried about you at first. If I’d known you were this fun, I would’ve fed you delicious food from the very start!”
Wait, why are you laughing?
Rowoon was serious.
“Well, this guy does tend to get misunderstood easily. But deep down, he’s a simple, pure-hearted soul.”
This time, Kang Chaheon said something strange.
‘What? Taking my side? Why is this guy suddenly acting like this?’
A quick glance showed Kang Chaheon’s bowl was almost empty.
A sense of crisis washed over him.
“…What is this? That suspicious look? Lee Rowoon, why are you hiding the bowl? Wow. What does he take me for?”
“Alright. But just one spoonful…”
He conceded.
He was grateful for the support, after all. This much he could concede.
Rowoon pushed the bowl he’d been carefully hiding his disappointment over back toward Kang Chaheon.
“Wow, what does he really think of me… Ha. This is ridiculous. Just one spoonful?”
“One spoonful.”
“Okay.”
Rowoon watched.
The magic of his carefully saved fried rice disappearing by half.
“……!”
Rowoon stared down at the fried rice, now halved in an instant, with utter disbelief.
What just happened?
His brain refused to process it.
“Hahahaha! Wow. You guys are really close! Actually, I’ve been sensing it since earlier, but now I get why Producer Han cast you two together. Ah, just watching you two is hilarious. I feel like I’m gonna cry right now.“
In reality, Kim Bonggeun was sobbing uncontrollably, almost to the point of tears, after laughing.
Kim Bonggeun wasn’t the only one who burst out laughing.
Everyone present, including the production crew, was smiling, whether big or small.
“Oh dear, this is gonna make the kid cry.”
Kim Bonggeun, who had laughed the hardest, brought over a large wok.
“There’s more, so don’t be shocked. You can eat as much as you want. Got it?”
“…Hyung.”
“Ugh! Rowoon, you’re so cute!”
Seeing Rowoon’s eyes light up at the generously piled fried rice, Kim Bonggeun burst out laughing again.
“Mr. Rowoon, is it that good? Can I have a bite?”
A PD chuckled and approached Rowoon to ask.
“…There’s more in the wok over there.”
“Ah, that’s too bad. I just wanted one bite.”
Fortunately, after that, no one else coveted Rowoon’s fried rice.
Instead, after the meal, they subtly offered snacks like cookies and chocolate, saying things like, “This is tasty too.”
‘…Maybe they aren’t such bad people after all.’
Even though he’d been suddenly kidnapped and given the insane mission of running a shop.
Seeing them give him food like this, they didn’t seem like bad people.
‘Right. It’s just the nature of the program. It’s not like they’ve done anything wrong.’
Even the PD who orchestrated the kidnapping turned out to be a pretty decent person.
He specifically handed Rowoon a bag of jelly, saying, “You eat this alone.”
It was a bit odd that he insisted on filming that scene while telling him to eat alone, but whatever.
“Clap the slate~!”
And so, the first day of filming wrapped up.
* * *
He didn’t know when or how he’d fallen asleep.
Rowoon woke up groggily and scanned his surroundings.
He’d intended to get up early, but seeing the empty seat beside him, it seemed Kang Chaheon had gotten up first.
“…Huh?”
Then, his eyes met the camera director holding a camera in one corner of the room.
“Good morning…”
He greeted reflexively, then realized his mistake.
His head felt foggy, probably from just waking up.
He belatedly remembered what one PD had said: there would be cameras everywhere, but not to worry about them.
“Right, I shouldn’t have greeted you, huh?”
Nod, nod.
The camera moved quietly left and right.
“Ah. Is that okay?”
Nod, nod.
“Then… Good morning.”
Nod, nod.
This time too, the camera moved up and down as if returning the greeting.
Rowoon gave an awkward smile and rose from his seat, still disheveled.
‘They said it was a 24-hour reality show…’
He hadn’t expected them to film him waking up.
Of course, he only learned about the 24-hour personal camera following him after arriving here.
‘Guess I should wash my face first.’
One fortunate thing was that his body wasn’t the type to get puffy in the morning.
Looking in the mirror, his hair was just a bit messy, not in a state that would make him look like he’d been stuffed and turned into an embarrassing meme.
He went ahead and washed his hair too, wrapping a towel around it.
As Rowoon opened the door to step out, he paused.
That’s because a writer holding a sketchbook was waiting next to Rowoon’s assigned camera director.
[Please introduce Mr. Rowoon’s morning routine.]
“My routine?”
Seeing the writer hastily shake his head, it seemed I shouldn’t answer.
‘Ah. Is this like a self-cam thing?’
Though someone else was filming, it seemed to proceed in a similar manner.
As Rowoon rummaged through his carry-on, the camera moved closer to film inside.
“This is my pouch. Inside… there’s nothing much.”
The first thing he did was take out his toner and swipe it onto his face.
Next was lotion.
After applying lip balm for his easily chapped lips, all preparations were complete.
[That’s it??]
“Ah. I used to apply cream too, but I haven’t been using it lately.”
Rowoon answered earnestly and diligently.
‘…Is this it?’
You’d have to have done a reality show to know.
He’d explained quite thoroughly, yet for some reason, the camera director and writer’s pupils were dilating like they’d sensed an earthquake.
Rowoon pondered briefly before quietly standing up.
“Um… I think they’re waiting downstairs. I’ll go ahead.”
He didn’t forget to politely wave goodbye to the camera.
When he went downstairs, Kang Chaheon and Kim Bonggeun were already bustling about.
“Oh, Rowoon. You’re up already?”
“Good morning, hyung. Did I come out too late?”
“No. Our shoot doesn’t start until 10 anyway. It’s not even 7 yet. What’s late about it? You’re way early. Forget it, go back and get some more sleep.“
“I’m wide awake. But hyung, what are you doing this early?“
The large, wide countertop was piled high with things.
When Rowoon asked, Kim Bonggeun replied.
“I’ve been thinking… maybe we should add something more distinctive. I’ve been pondering it.”
“Distinctive?”
“Yeah. Seeing what you ate yesterday gave me an idea.”
Yesterday was when Rowoon experienced culture shock from the dazzling plating he’d never seen before.
“You know how they say ‘rosy memories’? So I thought I’d add a little extra polish to that nostalgic dish. Meaning, style it up a bit more.”
The menu they decided on was this.
For appetizers: a chilled soybean milk soup with soft tofu, and crispy pancakes made primarily with potatoes, a local specialty.
For the main course: noodles simmered in anchovy broth, and bibimbap made with five kinds of wild greens.
They added nostalgic fish-shaped buns for dessert.
It seemed simple, but considering there was only one main chef, it was just the right number of dishes.
‘They also made good use of local specialties and farm produce.’
With the theme so clear, it was the perfect menu.
“Everything was good, but honestly, it felt a bit lacking? I mean, it’s the kind of menu you can find anywhere.”
Even though they used fresh, flavorful ingredients sourced directly from local farms.
The menu itself was actually quite ordinary.
“It just felt like something was missing. I kind of wanted to do something special. But then, just yesterday, I remembered you, Rowoon!”
“…Could we just forget about that?”
Maybe it was because I’d never realized such beautiful food existed before.
I think I got too excited.
“No, why? Thanks to you, I realized what was missing. Wait here. I’ll make something right now. Chaheon, make me one egg roll, please.”
“Yes.”
Kim Bonggeun started moving busily.
He turned on the stove, put water on to boil vigorously.
He opened the rice cooker and scooped rice into a large brass bowl.
Splash!
As the water bubbled, Kim Bonggeun dropped the somyeon noodles into the pot.
While waiting for it to boil again, he pulled out a stainless steel bowl from the fridge, the kind you’d find in a restaurant.
“Didn’t you sleep, bro?”
He couldn’t fathom when he’d prepared all this.
Surely he hadn’t seen the ingredients until last night?
“Couldn’t sleep, so I got up early and seasoned it.”
Kim Bonggeun smiled sheepishly as he scooped out small portions of the seasoned greens.
Then, starting from the center, he began arranging them neatly in a radial pattern.
And then…
Plop!
A bright yellow raw egg nestled perfectly in the center.
The result looked like a colorful sun rising inside the brass bowl.
“Wow…”
While Ro-un marveled, Kim Bonggeun poured a splash of cold water into the pot, just as the boiling foam threatened to overflow.
As the subsided surface began boiling fiercely again, he finally poured out the contents with a strainer.
Splash!
He ran cold water over the noodles to cool them, then tapped them vigorously to remove excess water.
Using chopsticks, he rolled them neatly into a pretty shape and placed them in a bowl.
He carefully poured in the anchovy broth, steeped overnight.
But it wasn’t over yet.
“Chaheon, is it ready?”
“Yes. Here you go.”
“This time it turned out perfectly smooth. Your skills are improving with each attempt.”
One essential element for festive noodles is the garnish.
Simply slice the bright yellow omelet thinly and scatter it on top.
But Kim Bonggeun began slicing the omelet differently.
To be precise, he cut the rectangle horizontally and started making even slits at regular intervals along the middle.
‘What on earth is he doing?’
He folded the scored omelette in half and rolled it up.
A fully bloomed yellow flower blossomed.
To keep the shape intact, he secured it with spaghetti noodles, then gently placed the beautifully formed noodles on top.
The yellow flower peeking out over the pale golden broth captured the eye.
In an instant, a dish both pleasing to the eye and delicious was whipped up.
“How about it?”
“Bro… Did I ever tell you I think you’re a genius?”
Rowoon’s mouth fell open in admiration.
T/N: Still trying to understand the purpose of this arc… besides the Karma points.
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