Chapter 59: Festival
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 59: Festival
"Three jeyuks and two tuna rice balls!"
Choi I-seo shouted the order toward the kitchen. At her words, I immediately grabbed the marinated meat and dumped it into the frying pan.
The pan, already smoking hot, began to sear the meat rapidly, while the girl assisting me started diligently slicing tofu.
Word must have gotten out that our pub was the place for stir-fried pork, because the jeyuk was selling like wildfire.
Because of the rush, Senior Ju-hee had assigned me an assistant for what was originally a one-man job. She had been on the tuna rice ball team, but Ju-hee dragged her over here, saying they didn't need that many people over there.
Naturally, she had started out with a pout, refusing to even exchange a word with me.
However, as I focused on the busy work and gave her calm, steady directions, her irritation toward me seemed to have softened.
"You're getting good at slicing that."
"Right?"
At first, she couldn't even slice the tofu evenly, so I showed her a few tricks. Now, she was doing a fine job.
When I praised her, the girl grinned and proudly placed the tofu next to the jeyuk.
Three plates were ready in an instant.
I handed them off to the servers who came to pick up the food.
One for Seo Ye-rin.
One for Senior Han-gang.
One for Choi I-seo.
Once they were out, I stretched and stole a glance at the time. It was already 7:00 PM.
I’d heard the guest performances would start at 8:00 and run until 11:00.
"Do you know who the guest singers are today?" I asked while prepping for the next batch of stir-fried pork.
The girl answered without hesitation.
"Ha-i is coming today."
"Ha-i?"
I frowned, wondering what kind of name that was, and she looked back at me with wide, surprised eyes.
"You don't know Ha-i? He's a famous rapper."
"The rapper's name is Ha-i? Then is there a 'Ba-i' too?"
"Lame."
"Ahem. Just get the tofu ready."
When I spoke sheepishly, the girl let out a faint laugh as if she found it funny and immediately started opening a large block of tofu.
Just then.
"Hyun-ah! Where did you put the can opener earlier?"
The girls who had been working hard on the tuna rice balls approached us.
So the girl next to me was named Hyun-ah.
Until a moment ago, Hyun-ah had been upset, feeling like she’d been kicked off the tuna rice ball team, but now she seemed over it as she answered quickly.
"Oh? That was borrowed from another department, so they took it back."
"Re-really?! But we need it to open this!"
"Didn't you open them all earlier?!"
The girls stood there, helpless, holding a massive 1.8kg can of tuna. Commercial-sized tuna cans don't have pull-tabs like the ones in stores, which led to this disaster.
It looked like they’d tried poking at it with chopsticks or a knife, as there were some dents, but they hadn't managed to pierce it.
"Bring it here."
Since no jeyuk orders were coming in at the moment, I reached out. The girls gave me a skeptical look but hesitantly handed over the can.
"Give me a knife."
Taking the knife used for slicing tofu, I placed the tip against the edge of the lid and slammed the top of the handle with my palm.
Thwack!
The knife pierced right through the lid.
It was a scene reminiscent of a hammer hitting a nail.
I pulled the knife out, moved it slightly to the side, and repeated the process.
Once it was about halfway done, I pried the lid up with the knife, and it opened naturally.
"There. And you, go wash that knife."
I handed back the tuna can and the knife, and they took them with dazed expressions. No one said thank you.
It looked like they wanted to say something, but...
"An order came in! What is the tuna rice ball team doing? You're falling behind!"
At the sharp reprimand from Senior Ju-hee, who was in charge of the rolled omelets, the girl holding the tuna can bolted away.
"Where did you learn to do that?"
"Hey, the knife! Put the knife down before you talk!"
"Ah... sorry."
Hyun-ah had drifted closer. Since she was asking while still holding the knife, I gestured with my chin for her to put it down before answering.
"When I first started living alone, I thought it’d be good to stock up on Spam and tuna cans, so I bought a bunch of those big ones."
"...You ate those by yourself?"
"With my girlfriend."
"Ah."
Hyun-ah’s expression faltered slightly, seemingly aware of Oh Yun-ji, who had been in our department before taking a leave of absence.
She looked like she thought she’d stepped on a landmine.
"Anyway, I didn't have an opener back then, so I looked it up on Neutube and learned."
"I see..."
Hyun-ah nodded as if convinced. Just then, I felt a sudden weight behind my knees, and my body buckled backward involuntarily.
"Wha-hugh!"
I let out a pathetic yelp and barely managed to steady my posture. Seo Ye-rin, who had snuck up behind me and was now standing at my side, spoke with her usual good-natured smile.
"Two jeyuks."
"...What was that just now?"
"Hmm? What was what?"
She’s going to play dumb?
I gave her an incredulous look, but Seo Ye-rin vanished in a flash. I let out a sigh and reached for the prepared meat.
The eyes of everyone in the kitchen were fixed on me. It was likely because of the scream I’d just let out.
"Ah, damn it, Seo Ye-rin."
I forced myself to hide my face, which was slightly flushed from embarrassment and the heat of the pan, and started stir-frying the pork.
Hyun-ah, who had been watching blankly from the side, asked me with a look that suggested she’d just seen something entertaining.
"What was that? Ye-rin is hilarious."
"Hilarious? I'm dying of embarrassment."
"I didn't know you and Ye-rin were that close. I thought things would be awkward between you two because of all those rumors."
"Well, rumors are just rumors."
There had indeed been quite a few rumors circulating about me and Seo Ye-rin. In the end, they had all been proven false.
"Slice the tofu. This needs to go out now."
Hyun-ah sliced the tofu and placed it on the next plate. I piled the jeyuk next to it and set the plate on the pickup table near the hall.
The servers would take it from there.
I thought it might be another short break, but just then, the sound of singing drifted in from the outdoor stage.
I’d heard that some students were participating in a singing contest, and this was likely it.
I also heard some people were going up to promote their department or club booths.
"Someone from our group is going up, too."
Hyun-ah spoke up, noticing I was focused on the music drifting in.
"Huh? Really? Who?"
"I-seo, Ye-rin, Hyun-ho, and Senior Han-gang."
"...What kind of combination is that?"
The four of them were going on stage together?
"Originally, only Hyun-ho and Senior Han-gang signed up, but the other two decided to join them to promote the pub."
"Are they good at singing?"
"I-seo is actually pretty good. Well, they're not going up because they're amazing singers anyway; it's just for promotion, so it doesn't really matter. And besides..."
Swish, swish.
She waved her hand in front of her face and grinned.
"The four of them have the looks, don't they?"
"That's true."
It was thanks to Seo Ye-rin and Senior Han-gang going out to promote earlier that we had so many people now.
In fact, the 'hunting' had been so intense that Choi I-seo had posted a huge sign in front of the booth telling people not to ask the staff for their numbers.
"Um, excuse me."
Just then, someone from the tuna rice ball team came over to me with a serving of tuna rice balls on a disposable plate.
"A-about earlier... thanks."
"Eat this while you work."
Was it okay for me to just eat this?
I stole a glance toward Senior Ju-hee. She looked at me, smiled, and looked away, pretending not to notice.
'As expected of Captain Ju.'
Her flexibility was truly impressive. If she were a man, I would have asked her to enlist with me.
'Should I try asking?'
I’d probably get slapped.
"The place is packed right now, so people are mostly ordering drinks rather than food. Let's eat quickly."
The girls chattered excitedly about eating the tuna rice balls. I watched them for a moment before I started stir-frying some jeyuk as well.
"Let's have some of this with it."
Finally, the jeyuk and tuna rice balls were ready.
It felt a bit awkward for everyone to huddle up and eat inside the kitchen, so we stepped outside the tent.
The cold wind hit us, and the distant stage came into view. It was a bit far, but not a bad spot to watch from.
Since I ended up holding the main plate for some reason, everyone naturally gathered around me to dig in with their chopsticks.
Considering the reactions I’d gotten when the pub first opened, it seemed the perception of me had changed at least a little.
As things slowed down inside, the other kids came out and gathered around as well.
"I made this. It just melts in your mouth, right?"
"Blegh! I think it's burnt?"
"Is it okay for us to be eating like this?"
"Who cares? Did you come here to work a part-time job? We're here to enjoy the festival."
One by one, they gathered and chatted, and there I was, right in the middle of them.
I wasn't necessarily talking to anyone in particular, but just being near the guys and girls laughing and talking felt surprisingly good.
A festival night.
You could call it a unique moment of bonding that only the kitchen crew of a pub could feel.
"Try some of this."
Senior Ju-hee came up beside me. On her plate was a rolled omelet filled with cheese, which she seemed to have made herself.
"Mmm! The cheese and egg harmonizing into one...!"
"Stop talking nonsense and just eat."
Senior Ju-hee cut off my exaggerated praise. Still, seeing her smile as she spoke, she didn't seem to be in a bad mood.
Just then, our pub's four "visuals" were called by the organizers and hurried toward the stage.
It was Seo Ye-rin, Choi I-seo, Ahn Hyun-ho, and Senior Han-gang, going to sing just as Hyun-ah had said.
"Oh, there they go!"
"Good luck!"
"English Dept, go crush it!"
"They look like actors! So pretty and handsome!"
The English Department students cheered at the top of their lungs, and the four of them waved back as they headed off, bolstered by the support.
Certainly.
I felt a sense of belonging, a feeling I didn't usually experience.
As my emotions heightened strangely, I felt like I was truly part of something.
I knew that once the festival was over, everyone would go back to how they were as if nothing had happened.
And that was exactly why.
'Because it's a festival.'
It wasn't so bad. I would simply enjoy this time—a time that would never come again.