“Our program does not allow mass-produced goods.”
That meaningful smile he had worn as he handed over the bungeoppang mold.
It was because of PD Han, who applied the strange rule that you could buy ingredients but finished products were forbidden.
Up to that point, it was understandable.
“You must not forget the original purpose of our program.”
He had also said it was part of revitalizing the local economy, so it was not wrong.
Even just for the food ingredients, he had gone so far as to ask them to use, as much as possible, local specialties or things produced in this area.
So it is not wrong. It is not wrong, but…
Who would have thought that was what he meant.
On top of that, PD Han took it a step further.
“If we are doing this anyway, would it not be more meaningful for the people who come all the way here if Mr. Kang Chaheon personally makes it from beginning to end?”
When you heard it, that sounded plausible too.
I just did not know that meant making everything yourself, from the batter to the red bean filling.
Ah, PD Han is doing that again because he cannot stand seeing the cast take the easy way!
Up until then, no one took it very seriously.
They just thought he was doing it to get some slightly troublesome but fun footage again.
Everyone thought of it only to that extent.
That thinking changed from the moment Kang Chaheon began making the batter under the coaching of Kim Bonggeun.
When he failed the first time, I thought, well, that can happen, but I did not think it would keep going until now…
No one could have known.
Since the red beans would take a long time to boil, we were just going to lightly make the batter first and try making some as a test.
That was where it all went completely wrong.
But we could not just leave the red beans that were boiling, so in the confusion Rowoon ended up taking charge of them.
“Um, Chaheon? This is our fault. I am getting a sense of crisis that we are about to be cursed out terribly by Kang Chaheon’s fans.”
In the end, the first to raise both hands in surrender was PD Han.
“Just this once, we will make an exception for you!”
However, his opponent was Kang Chaheon.
“No. I cannot do that. For the people who are coming, I will definitely succeed and serve them delicious bungeoppang.”
At that answer, Rowoon and Kim Bonggeun let out a sigh.
There were two days left from now.
They still had an incredibly long way to go.
“Tomorrow is the opening. Ugh. I am nervous.”
Before they knew it, time had flown by and the opening was just around the corner.
Once today passed, starting tomorrow for a few days, customers were scheduled to come to this space they had polished and prepared.
“Are you really nervous, hyung?”
“Rowoon, are you not nervous?”
“I am more worried about whether customers will even come.”
“…Ah.”
Except for the bungeoppang commotion the other day, preparations were still going as smoothly as a sailboat with a favorable wind.
On top of that, showing his characteristic persistence, late last night at last, Kang Chaheon succeeded in making perfect bungeoppang.
After that, he made it a few more times and became perfectly used to it, as if he had been that way from the start.
Dozens of notes and measurements to create the best batter.
He had even used a stopwatch to adjust the flame and count the baking time and managed to find the optimal method.
If it were me, I might have just roughly compromised with the production staff. I guess he is not a top star for nothing.
I had just thought of him as a quirky guy who poked at people for no reason.
It was a moment when Kang Chaheon appeared in a new light.
Maybe he was proud while pretending not to be, because he kept making bungeoppang, and thanks to that they even had a bungeoppang party yesterday morning.
As a bonus, they shared some with the neighbors on both sides, with whom they had become acquainted, and ended up receiving loads of potatoes and sweet potatoes in return.
“Right. This place is pretty out of the way. But PD Han is not someone who says things that are not true, so I do not think there will be no customers… as long as people do not decide this is not it and turn back on the way here.”
The words he added somehow sounded uneasy.
Just then, PD Han came into view in the distance.
“PD, have some potatoes before you work!”
“Oh, what is this?”
Seeing the potatoes with their pale, fluffy surface, PD Han asked.
“The neighbor next door shared them with us, so we made some as a snack.”
“Try some first. You are going to be so, so surprised.”
When Rowoon urged him, Kim Bonggeun chimed in beside him.
PD Han carefully bit into a steaming hot potato, and his eyes grew round.
“How is it, good right? This is our Rowoon’s handiwork.”
“It is delicious. Wait, is this really a potato? It feels like I am eating some high-class gratin. The sweet-salty golden ratio is insane.”
My hand goes back, goes back. It just keeps going back.
It was a taste that brought to mind a certain snack’s commercial jingle.
“So that is why you two have gotten all chubby these past few days, because you have been eating stuff this good all by yourselves!”
PD Han muttered “traitor” as he looked at the camera director in charge of Rowoon and Kim Bonggeun.
“Can we not put this on the official menu too? I feel like it would sell well.”
“Come on. I am not as skilled as Bonggeun hyung, how could I do that.”
“No, why not? People pay to eat rest stop potatoes; at this level of quality, I would go out of my way to pay for it.”
“There are so many other delicious things; it would be a waste to fill up on potatoes.”
“Well, that is true, but…”
“By the way.”
Kim Bonggeun slipped into the conversation.
“PD. Our customers… they are coming, right? They really are coming?”
“Oh, of course. We have already taken reservations in advance by lottery.”
Right. It seemed the production team did know, after all.
That unless they took reservations beforehand, there would not be a single person who would come all the way out here.
“You do not need to worry about having no customers. Do you know how many applicants there were? There is Mr. Kang Chaheon, and there is rising star Lee Rowoon; it would be stranger if there were no people.”
PD Han clicked his tongue, saying that even selecting the applicants had not been easy.
“It is fine. Do not worry. Our staff will go out in advance and guide them. All you have to do is run the shop without worries.”
If everything up to now had been the appetizer, starting tomorrow would be the main dish.
“As long as you keep doing just what you have done so far, there should not be any big problems. You are all so good. Although from a PD’s perspective, it is actually more fun when problems break out.”
“Words might become seeds. PD, you should not say such scary things, okay?”
“Come on. Bonggeun, you really are the type who goes looking for things to worry about. Of all the sets I have seen so far, this place is number one for being smooth. It was to the point that yesterday the writer and I even worried about the airtime. By the way, these potatoes are so addictive. Can I pack a little to take with me when I go?”
At PD Han’s words, Rowoon nodded.
The potatoes the elder next door had given them still remained in such quantities that they might as well have been a whole sack.
I hope it goes well.
The first variety show.
On top of that, it was part of a project that had begun with several good purposes.
A sense of responsibility of some sort settled on his shoulders.
“Let us wrap up quickly and rest today. Starting tomorrow, you will be so busy you will not have a moment to breathe.”
With D-day looming right there tomorrow, the filming was quickly wrapped up as well.
And then the long-awaited first day of business dawned.
As if the worry that there would be no customers had been unfounded.
Customers poured in as soon as they turned the sign at the entrance to “Open”.
“Gasp… there are so many people.”
Kim Bonggeun, who had been secretly watching from the kitchen, clutched his heart.
“Do not worry, hyung. We worked really hard getting everything ready yesterday.”
“Ah. Right. We did.”
Rowoon calmed Kim Bonggeun, who usually did not like crowded places and called himself a homebody, as he started to get nervous at the sight of so many customers.
Just as they had been informed beforehand, the customers’ behavior was courteous.
They could not stop the gazes pouring toward Kang Chaheon, but no one asked for personal conversation, photos, or autographs.
The customers who had taken their seats began to place their orders one by one.
“One sundubu soybean broth, one janchi guksu, one bibimbap, one jeon. Order is in.”
Through the window connected to the kitchen, Kang Chaheon passed on the order.
Rowoon took the slip of paper, stuck the order sheet on the blackboard, and told the details to Kim Bonggeun.
“I will take out the sundubu. Hyung, please do the janchi guksu and the bibimbap.”
“Okay.”
After that, orders kept coming in.
“How many janchi guksu and bibimbap do we have in total?”
“Eight of each. And ten jeon.”
“Okay. Confirmed.”
There were eight tables in the hall in total.
It was not a large number, but it was not small either.
It was a number chosen by the production team, who had spaced the tables widely with their first time running a business in mind.
“Okay. Rowoon, you just send out the sundubu first.”
“Yes.”
For being nervous, it was a very decent start.
Their spirits were up, and their preparations had been thorough.
It helped a lot that they had prepared all the base ingredients and plating ingredients in advance.
Of course, since it was their first time in actual service, it did not go as smoothly as during practice.
There were various mistakes as well.
For example.
“The egg garnish, the egg garnish, where did I put it?”
He sometimes forgot where the ingredients were.
“Ah. What do I do if this breaks now!”
After going to the trouble of making it, he accidentally broke the egg yolk that was supposed to go on top of the bibimbap.
“It is in the second container there.”
“It is okay. I scooped new rice, so just put the namul on top. I will separate the yolk and serve it.”
Although there were these and other minor issues.
Overall, things were proceeding fairly well.
Above all, the customers’ affection for Kang Chaheon, who was in charge of serving in the hall, was sky-high, which was a huge help.
Small mistakes or slight delays did not even stand out.
At last, when the final customer of the first seating finished their meal,
“We will close the first seating!”
A staff member shouted the announcement they had been waiting for.
“Ugh… it is finally over.”
The first to flop down was Kim Bonggeun, who had been in charge of the kitchen.
“Wow. This is not as easy as I thought. Even so, at this level it feels doable.”
There were, admittedly, parts where they made small mistakes.
Even so, for their first time running a business, it felt like things had gone by smoothly without any big blunders.
“Chaheon, how was your side? It seemed like there were quite a few people ordering bungeoppang.”
“There were more orders for bungeoppang than I expected. I think I need to make more batter.”
Rather than ordering one per person at the table, quite a few people had been ordering several more on top.
From the standpoint of profit, it was something to welcome, but for Kang Chaheon it was not.
He had to take orders, handle payment, and make bungeoppang.
He had been unbelievably busy.
On top of that, since Kang Chaheon was truly serious about baking the bungeoppang, he had the critical weakness that he could not really multitask while they were baking.
“Lee Rowoon. If you do not have anything to do, come out here and help me.”
At those words, the one who sprang to his feet was not Rowoon but Kim Bonggeun.
“What? What are you talking about? The kitchen cannot do without Rowoon either. Since you, Chaheon, cannot come into the kitchen because you are doing bungeoppang, Rowoon is playing the assistant role in there too!”
No, wait.
What is with you two?
Suddenly he had a flower in each hand, no, work in both hands.
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