Chapter 67
Chapter 67
Translator: Penny
Chapter 67
I forgot Gyeon Hajun's birthday? Not Seo Yehyeon, not Kim Dobin, but Gyeon Hajun's birthday—the one I'd meticulously celebrated even before my regression?
"Wow, Eden Hyung, I knew you were a bit aloof, but this is next-level! How could you forget your friend's birthday?"
Ryu Jaehee's teasing left me speechless. Gyeon Hajun stepped in to defend me.
"It happens. He's been swamped lately."
Jun-a, please don't... I checked social media and saw Jaehee had already posted his birthday wishes.
If you keep covering for me like this, I'll look like a total jerk—too busy to remember or celebrate my friend's birthday... even though I didn't even have any personal schedules.
Thank goodness I'd planned to make Seo Yehyeon's birthday my last congratulatory post.
From now on, we're going to push for posting birthday celebration messages at 11:59 PM.
The problem is that we'll have to stay up until then for every member's birthday.
The only consolation is that it's only 2 PM right now.
While the post itself just requires a selfie before midnight, letting Gyeon Hajun's birthday pass like this felt wrong, especially since it was too late to get him a proper, thoughtful gift.
I decided to ask him later what he needed and started brainstorming what we could do now.
I needed to figure out a way to celebrate his birthday with Kim Dobin and Seo Yehyeon, who, like me, had also failed to prepare anything.
The answer was OA Live.
Recalling a video from a popular OA Live broadcast before my regression, which the System had forcibly given me via a Random Ticket and which had garnered a surprisingly high number of views, I typed a search query into the internet:
How to Make Seaweed Soup
I screenshotted the list of ingredients I needed to buy and scrolled down.
So all I had to do was soak the seaweed, stir-fry it, add water, and boil? It seemed simple enough.
Even someone as clueless about cooking as me should be able to manage this.
The sentence at the bottom of the post, "Even beginners can easily succeed~," gave me even more confidence.
Since moving everyone together would be a hassle, I decided to take Ryu Jaehee, the most convenient errand boy, to the nearby supermarket.
"Hyung, can I buy snacks?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
"If I get chocolate snacks, Yehyeon Hyung will probably scold me, right?"
"Who cares what he says? Just buy what you want."
"I'll just trust you, Hyung."
No matter what Seo Yehyeon said, if I wanted snacks, I could always play the youngest member card.
Besides, his scolding didn't feel particularly threatening anyway...
After finishing our shopping, I casually asked Jaehee on the way back to the dorm, "Hey, Jaehee, how do you remember all the members' birthdays so well?"
"I save them in my phone calendar. If I set reminders, I get notifications too."
It suddenly struck me that while I had saved my friends' and Underground hyungs' birthdays in my calendar, I hadn't done the same for the group members.
I hadn't bothered with Gyeon Hajun's birthday because it was easy to remember, but completely forgetting today showed that saving it would be a better idea.
Confronting the fact that my past self had truly seen this group as just a stepping stone for my own growth left me feeling rather uneasy.
"When's your birthday?"
"September 14th."
"That's still a ways off. What about Kim Dobin's birthday?"
"May 26th."
"When was Yehyeon Hyung's birthday again? December..."
"17th."
I entered all the members' birthdays into my calendar app, returned to the dorm, and rolled up my sleeves.
"Dobi! Come here and start an OA App Live stream and film!"
"Dobi is a free house elf—"
"You brat, I told you not to say that! Want a sock?"
Kim Dobin, pouting, trudged into the kitchen, phone in hand.
"If Hyung didn't call me Dobi, I wouldn't even say that."
"Shut up, Dobi."
Seo Yehyeon, peering into the kitchen and asking what he could do, was told to sit still and wait for the birthday feast with Gyeon Hajun.
The already cramped kitchen would become even more crowded with Seo Yehyeon around.
I also wanted to clear things up beforehand, just in case he started demanding that all the dishes be made diet-friendly.
Can you believe the prime beef brisket I'd bought might have to be replaced with frozen chicken breast because of this guy?
"Seriously? My birthday was ages ago. Why are you making a birthday feast now?"
Despite his words, his expression wasn't displeased. He must have been secretly disappointed about not getting a proper birthday celebration.
Next year, I'll at least get him instant seaweed soup, I thought, nudging Seo Yehyeon toward the living room.
"Starting the live stream now. Three, two, one," Kim Dobin announced, raising his phone.
As the countdown ended, I waved at Kim Dobin's phone, greeting the viewers.
"Hello, Daydream."
"Hello, Ilmongs! Long time no see!"
"Ah, wait a sec. I haven't turned it on yet. Oh, there it is."
With the camera now live, Kim Dobin couldn't glare at Hajun and had to repeat his greeting.
"Today, in celebration of Hajun's birthday, we'll be attempting to prepare a birthday feast. Chef Yoon Eden, assistant Ryu Jaehee, and cameraman Kim Dobin."
"Where's Yehyeon Hyung?" Kim Dobin asked, reading a comment from the chat as he pulled out a large bowl.
"Out of consideration for the eldest member, he's resting in the living room. Since it was his birthday recently too, he'll be joining Hajun for the birthday meal."
He also retrieved a dish for the beef and lined it with a kitchen towel before continuing.
"Today's menu will be beef seaweed soup, rolled omelet, and spicy stir-fried pork."
"Isn't that a bit too simple?"
"What matters is the sincerity," I replied, pulling out a cutting board and placing an onion and six cloves of garlic on it.
"First, soak the dried seaweed in water to rehydrate it. Hey, it says to soak it for 10 to 15 minutes?"
"We can work on other things while it soaks, like the spicy pork stir-fry."
"Ah, right. I'll mince the garlic while you soak the seaweed, youngest member."
"Got it. Will this much be enough for five people?" Ryu Jaehee asked, showing me the bowl with two handfuls of dried seaweed.
It looked a bit too little to me, so I tilted my head.
"Doesn't that seem a bit short?"
"Then I'll add this much more."
Another handful of dried seaweed went into the bowl. Kim Dobin, who was monitoring the chat, relayed a message.
"Eden Hyung, Jaehee, dried seaweed expands a lot when soaked in water."
"Of course we know that. Isn't that common knowledge? Raisins swell up when you soak them too."
"But is the amount right?"
"It should be about right, don't you think?"
We need at least this much. If we use less, it'll be barely enough to taste.
I chopped the garlic with the same fervor as if I were julienning it, but the minced garlic didn't look like what I'd seen before. I summoned Gyeon Hajun.
"Jun-a! Is this how you mince garlic?"
Hajun casually came over, glanced at the garlic over my shoulder, and offered a solution.
"Crush it with the handle."
Ah, right. I shouldn't keep chopping it. I need to use the end of the handle to crush it.
Gyeon Hajun returned to the living room, and I finished mincing the garlic before reading the next step in the recipe.
"Put the brisket, minced garlic, and sesame oil in the pot and stir-fry. We'll make the seaweed soup after the seaweed has soaked. Let's start with the stir-fried pork first."
Since the seaweed hadn't fully soaked yet, we set aside the seaweed soup for later and moved on to the stir-fried pork.
I should have soaked the seaweed beforehand, but I didn't realize it would take ten minutes. It was my mistake.
"Chop the onions... Can I just stir-fry the pork and onions together?"
"Hajun Hyung! Do I stir-fry the onions and pork together?"
"No, stir-fry the pork first. When it's about halfway cooked, add the vegetables and sauce, then stir-fry everything together."
Gyeon Hajun, who had rushed back to the kitchen, gave us the correct order and then returned to the living room.
Predicting a roughly 90% chance of failure if we made the sauce ourselves, we simply bought a pre-made sauce from the supermarket.
"Machines are more accurate than humans, right? 'Handmade' only matters if you're a skilled cook."
"Store-bought sauces are the way to go when cooking. By the way, this isn't a paid promotion."
As I poured the sauce, covering the brand with my hand, Kim Dobin suddenly shouted urgently, "Hyung! Eden Hyung! It's overflowing! It's overflowing!"
"Holy shit, what's happening?!"
I turned my head to where Kim Dobin's finger was pointing and saw seaweed overflowing from the bowl, spilling onto the counter.
It looked like I'd created some kind of monstrous life form.
I stared blankly as the seaweed escaped the bowl with the water, dripping onto the floor.
Was it because I'd filled the bowl with too much water to make it expand faster? Or because I'd added an extra handful?
For someone who only knew how to make instant ramen and Tornado Omelets, seaweed soup was proving to be a high-level challenge.
I shouldn't have blindly trusted the claim that even beginners could easily make it. If I'd known it would turn out like this, I would have just bought seaweed ramen, discarded the noodles, and boiled the broth.
"I told you it would expand a lot!"
"You didn't say it would expand this much!"
The sheer volume was clearly enough for more than five servings, an overwhelming amount that left me paralyzed. I couldn't even fathom how to salvage the situation, so I frantically called for Gyeon Hajun.
"Jun-a! What do we do about this?!"
Gyeon Hajun arrived immediately at my call, his voice flat as he stared at the bowl that had transformed into a seaweed farm.
"You really let it expand too much... I should have measured out exactly how much to soak..."
With practiced ease, he drained the water from the bowl, retrieved another container, and transferred a reasonable portion of the seaweed into it before handing it to me.
"Use only this much."
"What about the rest? Should we throw it away?"
"Why waste it? We can store it in the fridge and make cucumber cold soup or seaweed salad with it soon."
After Gyeon Hajun had perfectly cleaned up the mess and returned to the living room, we resumed cooking.
We hadn't even finished one dish yet, but I already felt like I was about to collapse from exhaustion.
"It says to stir-fry the beef brisket and minced garlic with sesame oil. We have sesame oil in the dorm, right? Go get some, youngest member."
Ryu Jaehee, who had been rummaging through the cupboard at my instruction, paused and tried to smooth things over with an awkward laugh.
"Ah, right. We ran out last time when Dobin Hyung and I made soy sauce egg rice."
"Then you should have told me at the grocery store. I would have bought another bottle."
Tsk tsk. For someone so young, his memory is already so unreliable. It's too late to go buy some now, so we'll have to use a substitute.
"Can we stir-fry with olive oil instead of sesame oil?"
"Isn't that a bit much?"
"It's still oil, right?"
"Hajun Hyung! Is it okay to put olive oil in seaweed soup?"
While Gyeon Hajun was on his way, Eden picked up his phone, which he had set aside, and searched online.
"Hey, look! There are recipes that use olive oil too."
He confidently shoved the search results in Ryu Jaehee's face, just as Gyeon Hajun arrived and declared, "You can stir-fry it. It just won't have as much of that nutty flavor. By the way, Eden, the meat's burning! Turn the heat down to low."
After drizzling olive oil into the pot, Eden diligently stir-fried the brisket and seaweed before adding water and checking the next step in the recipe.
"It says to add a tablespoon of soy sauce? Is that soup soy sauce? Is it different from regular soy sauce?"
"It's next to the dark soy sauce. Oh, that's soup soy sauce."
Gyeon Hajun didn't return to the living room sofa but remained in the kitchen.
"Hyung, you should go rest in the living room."
"No, I feel more at ease here."
Gyeon Hajun shook his head, looking utterly exhausted.
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny