Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Rural Life (3)
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If it were Executive Director Joo, he'd probably chew me out for mentioning the group name in a place like this. Whatever, that wasn't my business. It had only been a month since our debut. Spreading the word was more important than worrying about being classy.
"Can we do one more song?"
"Can I spin it one more time?"
Oh boy.
There were already tons of people inside and outside the butcher shop. They were peering in like meerkats.
No helping it.
"Alright, one more song it is. Next up is 'Is Love Only for You?'"
"Oh my! A good one!"
I picked up a spoon again and started singing. The three beauties covered their mouths with their hands, staring at me in a daze.
'Are they embarrassed?'
Makes sense. I'll respect their shyness.
I kept singing. That's when Yoon Mihyeon, winner of five Best Actress awards, suddenly stood up and extended her hand.
'Want it back?'
I smiled with my eyes and raised her hand high. Yoon Mihyeon spun around once and laughed like a schoolgirl.
'Wow. Is it for the cameras, or does she just want to?'
Either way, doesn't matter.
The camera diligently captured the moment.
"Love~ I do it too~"
As I sang the final line, thunderous applause erupted. I bowed my head.
"Thank you. That was Cha Dowon of Zenith."
The rural ladies who'd danced laughed merrily as they headed out. There were still crowds outside the door, but the butcher shop returned to normal.
Now for the main event.
'So, what are they gonna give me?'
But asking for too much here would be too obvious.
"Young man! What should I give you?"
I didn't answer.
"Give me whatever you want to, ma'am."
"Hang on. I'll give you some beef loin."
Wow. Nice lady.
I tried to back off a bit.
"No, you don't have to..."
"Come here."
The owner scooped meat into a plastic bag from the display.
"This is for stew, this is bulgogi, this is sirloin."
What a generous soul. Big portions too.
"Don't put in too much."
"At your age, you need to eat a whole cow!"
In the end, she handed me two heavy bags. I took them, pretending to be at a loss.
"You gave me too much."
"Take a lot!"
Just giving her ten thousand won felt too stingy. But the big-handed owner gladly took the money and shooed me away.
"Thank you."
The cast all bowed deeply as we left. Yumi and Eun Seongju split the heavy beef between them.
Shooting paused briefly to return the cameras. I shook my head, gauging the weight of the beef.
"She really gave us a ton."
Yumi nodded.
"Yeah. Way too much."
"Sorry about this. Manager hyung!"
The nearby manager rushed over.
"Settle it with my card later. If it were just a few ten thousand won, I'd take it, but this is too much."
"Sure, got it."
"No."
It was Yoon Mihyeon who stopped him.
"Ma'am?"
The actress in sweatpants spoke up.
"Manager! Pay with the card on the sly."
A man nodded as if he understood and bowed.
Wow.
"We can't make our savior pay for the meat."
"You don't have to do that."
"We came to buy it because we wanted to eat, right?"
Yoon Mihyeon patted my head.
"Good boy."
Well, letting her misunderstand like that wasn't bad.
"I'd heard from Hyeon-kyeong that you were polite, but I was skeptical. Turns out you're a really good kid."
I shook my head with a smile.
"I'm sorely lacking."
"Aigoo. How great it would be to have a son like you."
She was lavish with her praise. Yoon Mihyeon linked arms with me again.
"Let's go home."
"Yes."
I walked down the country road with her arm in mine. After about ten minutes, a small question popped up.
'Wasn't the meat supposed to be on the broadcasting station's tab from the start?'
What the hell is this.
'No wonder Yoon Mihyeon tried to back out of season 4.'
Cut it out, you broadcasting station jerks.
As I pondered how to grill the meat and looked around, Yumi, walking beside me, spoke up.
"Ah, that's our field!"
I looked at the field she pointed to. Cabbages and various veggies were visible.
"Can I pull some cabbage?"
"Yeah! It's tasty, no problem. But I don't want to eat it for a while."
Why? Did they live on cabbage alone?
"We only ate steamed cabbage for two days."
Wow.
"Why not add some soybean paste and make stew?"
"We did, but something went wrong—it was bland and greasy. But at least that was edible."
Oh dear. They must've skipped the green onions, garlic, and peppers. Even then, why greasy? Did they fry it in oil and then add water?
Come to think of it, I was curious.
"Ma'am, did you try searching online?"
In a world with smartphones, why live so primitively?
"Oh, we're banned from internet searches here."
Wow.
'The devils.'
Even so, not feeding them properly? Come on.
I felt bad for the three beauties.
"I'll harvest from the field first and grill the meat for you."
"Aigoo, such a pretty boy. I'll help too."
The middle-aged actress pitched in beside me. I told her to rest, but she insisted on moving around out of propriety. The other two were the same.
'I need to make it really delicious.'
The field had plenty of veggies. I pulled some waterdropwort from the ridge.
"What's that?" Yumi asked.
"Waterdropwort."
"It's edible!"
"Yeah. But you have to clean it well and add coins to the water. Leeches might be there."
Scared of bugs, Yumi backed away quickly. I laughed and gathered various veggies.
"There were onions, green onions, peppers, and lettuce in that field earlier. I'll go pick some."
"I'll do that. You just focus on cooking, Dowon!"
Her passion for food was palpable.
"Haven't you still got lunch in your stomachs?"
"Nope."
"No."
"Our stomachs are all empty!"
Who did this to them? It went from pitiful to downright sad.
***
Honestly, everything besides the food was fine with the three of them.
They handled the dishes, fire, and table setup in a flash. All hardworking, no slacking.
'Food was the only issue.'
Viewers must've laughed at that.
I soaked the waterdropwort in a basin with a brass spoon and started on cabbage stew with the stew meat first.
I set the other ingredients aside and shoveled rice into the remaining furnace.
"Both fires are full."
What to do.
'No choice.'
I flipped the lid of the stew pot—it was pretty heavy.
'Let's try.'
I laid the thinnest beef on top. Soon, the sizzle and aroma filled the set.
Yumi cheered while washing lettuce.
"Oh my god, meat!"
"It'll be done soon. I'll bring some right over."
The table was already piled with lettuce and perilla leaves. As soon as I brought over a few pieces, the three devoured them like chameleons.
'Keep it coming.'
There weren't many thin slices left. Just as I thought of grilling something else, a lettuce wrap suddenly appeared before me.
Yumi held it out.
"Dowon-ah. Ahh~"
"Thank you, sunbae-nim."
"Sorry. You must be hungry too."
Ah, got it.
"I forgot to eat."
I'd been so focused on feeding the pitiful three that I forgot about myself.
Yumi's eyes sparkled as she looked at me.
"Oh my god. You forgot to eat while feeding us?"
Good reaction. Nodding would ruin it. I turned my head shyly.
"My stomach wasn't empty yet. I had a hearty breakfast."
"Sorry. You should've eaten first. Thinking back, we wolfed down that kimchi fried rice like possessed demons. Really sorry."
As Yumi apologized, Eun Seongju chimed in.
"Possessed demons for sure. Sorry. We're not usually like that. But when we see food, our eyes glaze over."
Oh dear.
"I'll make you wraps!"
Yumi scurried to the table like a squirrel and started making wraps.
'She really feels bad.'
I quietly grilled the meat. There was enough that even I could eat plenty.
"I'll eat later. You go ahead."
"No way. How could you?"
Now all three were making wraps. It looked like a factory line, so I turned away and laughed.
"You really don't have to."
"We're doing this so we can all eat."
"Yeah, yeah."
Oh boy.
'I want to take good care of them.'
The sight of Korea's top three actresses wrapping like mad was hilarious. The cameras knew it too—several were already filming.
I glanced at Lee Ji-yong. He was grinning ear to ear, satisfied.
'Devil bastard.'
I portioned meat onto plates, and a dozen wraps arrived. I ate with a smile and grilled more.
'The sun sets early.'
The sky was already dyed red with sunset. I extinguished the fire under the rice pot. Time to steam it.
***
Waiting for the broadcast was like waiting for rice to steam.
'This episode airs in three weeks, right?'
By then, our promotions would be wrapping up.
'Wish it'd be sooner...'
Would it be good timing for CF fishing or not?
I shook my head and sat on the large porch. The lit set was full of flying insects.
No cameras. I stretched my legs and pulled out my smartphone.
Lee Ji-yong hadn't taken my phone. Search ban, huh? Why?
'Damn.'
Answer was simple: no internet signal.
'That's why the three beauties couldn't search.'
Geez. Back to the stone age.
I looked around. Paper and pen were nearby, luckily.
As I lay on my stomach writing cooking methods for veggies,
"What're you doing?"
It was Yumi. I stood up.
"Not sleeping?"
"Can't sleep."
Insomnia again?
'Will Cheat work?'
Yumi sat beside me.
"The insomnia's better. Tonight, it's just... I can't sleep."
Cheat heard it fine. I chuckled.
"Too much food?"
"Yeah, partly. But we have to eat now. Once you leave, we'll go back to that hellish diet. So, what're you writing?"
I showed her what I'd written.
"How to prep greens?"
"Leaving the basics at least."
"Eek. Why are you so nice?"
All for my image, sunbae-nim.
'But it's not bad if she thinks that.'
I kept writing methods quietly.
"Thanks for today."
"Anyone seeing that would've done the same."
"I was pretty weird today, huh?"
I didn't answer, just smiled a bit. Honestly, she looked like a war orphan.
"Hunger is scary."
"Starve a few days, anyone goes nuts."
"Saying it like you know."
I chuckled.
'I do know.'
Before regression. I played a starved junkie in a movie. Starved myself to death to get the body right, barely filmed it.
'The shoot was satisfying.'
Totally edited out, though.
I'd starved before, so I knew how it drives you mad. But couldn't say that.
I lied straight-faced.
"No such experience."
I'm Cha Dowon of Zenith now, not extra Cha Dowon.
"You don't have to starve to know."
"True."
I kept scribbling cooking tips.
"You know it's been a while since we talked?"
"Is it?"
"You've grown a lot."
Picking a fight?