Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: High-Class Chef
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Na Gang-in had appeared in a beverage commercial, but an accident occurred during filming, leaving sound engineer Gwak Yu-seon electrocuted.
After her discharge, she reached out to Na Gang-in and set up a dinner date—the very day the commercial was set to air.
At the restaurant, she said,
"I wanted to treat you to at least one meal. I'm just so grateful."
"I did what I could in that situation. Anyone would have."
"But out of all those people, you were the only one who saved me, Mr. Na."
"Out of all those people, I was the only one capable of saving you, Ms. Gwak."
Gwak Yu-seon laughed.
"Pfft. I could tell that day—you're a funny guy."
Na Gang-in glanced around the restaurant's interior.
"This place seems a bit pricey for a sound engineer's salary, though..."
The space wasn't particularly large, but the atmosphere was incredibly upscale.
'Feels similar to that seventh-floor restaurant in the building from before. The view here's even better.'
The restaurant occupied a prime spot high up in a skyscraper. The expansive view from the windows stretched far into the distance—even the Yeouido skyscrapers were visible on the horizon.
Gwak Yu-seon spoke up.
"It's the least I can do for my lifesaver. And..."
She flashed a bright smile.
"I'm paying with my big brother's card anyway. This is pocket change for him."
AI Jeon Ji-in chimed in.
- We haven't had many chances lately to enjoy someone else's treat at a high-end spot like this. Just dig in.
Na Gang-in got to savor delicious meals, and Jeon Ji-in shared in the flavor through him.
"Well then... thanks for the meal."
AI Jeon Ji-in suddenly reported.
- Actor Kim Yu-chan detected.
Na Gang-in had just spotted him too.
Kim Yu-chan entered the restaurant. The head chef and owner, Jeon Dong-seon, came out personally to greet him.
"Yu-chan. Come on in."
Kim Yu-chan smiled as he took his reserved seat.
"President, I'm really looking forward to this."
"We've got some excellent ingredients today. You'll love it from the first course straight through to dessert."
"Ah, speaking of dessert, I know this insanely good one... Huh? Hold on."
Kim Yu-chan shot up from his seat and strode over to Na Gang-in's table.
"Gang-in? Whoa, talk about a surprise running into you here. What's the occasion?"
"Just here for dinner."
"Ah, so even a chef like you eats out at other spots. Researching the competition?"
"Nah, this lady offered to treat me today."
"I see."
Kim Yu-chan gave a slight bow toward Gwak Yu-seon, who sat across from Na Gang-in.
Gwak Yu-seon returned the greeting with demure poise.
"Hello. Big fan."
"Hahaha. Appreciate it."
Kim Yu-chan asked,
"Didn't realize you had a girlfriend. Eun-ha finds out, and she'll have the funniest reaction..."
Na Gang-in waved it off.
"Nothing like that. I helped her out a bit recently, so she's treating me."
"Ah, gotcha—not the case."
Gwak Yu-seon smiled as she said,
"It wasn't just 'a bit.' I'm alive because of you."
Kim Yu-chan hadn't recognized her at first. But her words jogged his memory.
"Ah, you're the sound engineer from the CF shoot?"
"Yes."
"Sorry. You collapsed so suddenly, I didn't get a good look at your face."
The restaurant's owner and head chef, Jeon Dong-seon, approached and asked,
"You're a chef?"
Kim Yu-chan boasted,
"Gang-in's food and desserts are seriously next-level. Once you try them, you can't forget that taste. Hahaha."
"Then for our place..."
He wanted to ask if they were scouting, but he wasn't foolish enough to say it outright.
Besides, gathering intel by dining at competitors was something Jeon Dong-seon did himself. A chef calling that out would just lose face.
Still, he had no intention of just smiling along. He'd picked up from Kim Yu-chan's tone that the guy thought Na Gang-in was the superior chef.
'Who is he? Some hot young chef from overseas who just came back?'
Jeon Dong-seon asked,
"Where'd you train?"
AI Jeon Ji-in noted,
- Field Tactical Cooking was developed collaboratively by Earth Union's top chefs, scientists, and engineers.
"Just experimented on my own with this and that."
The corner of Jeon Dong-seon's mouth twitched upward.
"Ah. I see."
He thought, 'Amateur home cook at best. Figures an actor like Kim Yu-chan would overhype it.'
Kim Yu-chan said,
"Man, that food truck meal from before? I still crave it sometimes. And the dessert—killer."
Jeon Dong-seon asked,
"Food truck?"
"Yeah. Gang-in drove one up to Gangwon on the first day of our movie's extra shoots. That's how we met."
"Ahh, so you're in the food truck game. No wonder."
Jeon Dong-seon smirked as he said,
"KMTV's cooking contest is coming up soon. Why not give that a shot? With Yu-chan's connections, you could get in easy."
Kim Yu-chan beamed.
"Oh! Planning to enter? Want me to go all-in? I could even judge as a celebrity and straight-up rig it..."
"No thanks."
Kim Yu-chan's corruption talk was obviously a joke.
"Makes sense. To compete with your cooking, the other entrants would need to cheat."
"Not entering, period."
Jeon Dong-seon lectured,
"Tsk tsk. How's a guy selling food gonna pass up TV exposure? If you wanna succeed, fix that mindset. Swallow some pride."
Kim Yu-chan hesitated.
It wasn't a universal truth, but solid advice in many cases. And whether to take it was Na Gang-in's call.
The reason Kim paused wasn't that, though. He'd caught the slightly obnoxious edge in Jeon Dong-seon's tone.
Lighthearted as Kim was, he wasn't clueless.
'Huh? Talking like he's the boss, not a guest? When'd they meet?'
He recalled the smirks and lip curls whenever the food truck came up.
Kim Yu-chan chuckled deliberately as he said,
"Chef, you saw Sunny Day, right?"
"Of course. Caught it in theaters—really fun."
"Action scenes were killer, yeah?"
"Real deal—no joke. Hahaha."
"Gang-in was the martial arts director on it."
Jeon Dong-seon faltered.
"Pardon?"
"He choreographed every action sequence."
Jeon Dong-seon's eyes wavered.
"You just mentioned food truck..."
"He did bring the truck—for catering. Ended up handling our action."
"No, wait—don't they hire martial directors separately? Even if he wanted to, the director and producers have to approve, right?"
"They begged Gang-in to help."
"I-is that so?"
Gwak Yu-seon, across from Na Gang-in, asked wide-eyed,
"Whoa. Killer chef and action director on that film? You the Shaolin head cook or something?"
"Just lent a hand."
She nodded.
"Ah, yeah—just 'lent a hand' there too. Like when you saved me. I can picture the vibe."
The restaurant door swung open as Oh Gyu-cheol entered. He raised a hand toward Jeon Dong-seon.
"Hey."
Oh Gyu-cheol ran Penelope, the restaurant on the seventh floor in Gangnam—the one recently seized by an international mercenary group.
Today was Penelope's day off. He always ate out on off days.
To escape the awkwardness, Jeon Dong-seon hurried over.
"Bro! You're here?"
"Heard you got good stuff today? Pumped. Ah, Yu-chan's already here?"
Oh Gyu-cheol was a frequent TV chef. He and Kim Yu-chan were acquaintances from broadcasts. Kim was treating today, so he'd come.
Jeon Dong-seon craved TV time too. Hoping to impress top star Kim Yu-chan with industry ties, he'd prepped the best view seat.
He guided him there.
"Bro, have a seat here."
"Why? I'm here to eat with Yu-chan. He's over..."
As Kim Yu-chan shifted aside, Na Gang-in came into view behind him.
Oh Gyu-cheol startled.
"Gasp!"
He rushed over to greet Na Gang-in.
"Hello! Never dreamed I'd see you here."
"Uh..."
AI Jeon Ji-in explained.
- Oh Gyu-cheol, head chef of Penelope—the restaurant occupied by the international mercenary group.
"Ah, you're the guy from that restaurant."
"Yeah, head chef there. Haha. We owe you our lives."
Gwak Yu-seon, from the front table, cautiously asked,
"You helped him out too, by any chance?"
"Yeah, something like that."
Oh Gyu-cheol grinned wide.
"'Helped'? You saved our lives."
"Oh my. Gang-in saved my life too."
"Ah, armed robbers for you as well?"
"No, high-voltage electrocution."
"Ahh. Don't know the details, but I get the gist."
"Armed robbers, though?"
Oh Gyu-cheol froze.
The police hadn't released Na Gang-in's name. Official story: government agents took down the Jackal crew.
Oh Gyu-cheol had seen Na Gang-in with his own eyes, so he knew the face. But even he didn't know the exact identity.
"Uh... yeah. H-haha."
Oh Gyu-cheol pulled up a chair at Na Gang-in's table outright. Kim Yu-chan scooted over to join.
Na Gang-in asked,
"Restaurant doing alright?"
"Fully repaired and back in business. Off today, so I swung by here. Ah."
Oh Gyu-cheol whispered,
"Left the bullet holes as-is. Customers love the story. Haha."
"Glad it's fine."
"Swing by my place sometime—I'll treat you right."
AI Jeon Ji-in suggested.
- Can't snub the gesture. Head over tomorrow.
Jeon Dong-seon regretted his earlier snide advice. Eager to smooth things over, he proposed,
"Bro, this guy's a talented cook. Mind pulling strings for the KMTV cooking contest?"
"Why bother entering that?"
"Huh?"
Oh Gyu-cheol's eyes lit up as he pitched to Na Gang-in,
"Guest on my show? There's a segment where guests cook."
"I'm good."
"Ah, TV's not your thing, huh..."
Jeon Dong-seon's eyes shook harder.
'What? Bro's begging him? Just how big a deal is this guy?'
A new arrival entered the restaurant.
Composer Gwak Chan-seok had hit traffic, arriving late to his appointment. He'd sprinted from the parking lot. He caught his breath in the elevator, but was still huffing.
Chef Jeon Dong-seon recognized him.
Desperate to flee the mess, he approached while saying,
"Ah! Composer Gwak Chan-seok. We were waiting..."
"Hold on."
Gwak Chan-seok hurried straight to the table with Na Gang-in and Gwak Yu-seon, bowing in greeting.
"Sorry I'm late."
Gwak Yu-seon shot him a glare.
"Big bro. Really?"
Na Gang-in said,
"It's fine. We just got here ourselves."
Kim Yu-chan boasted from the side,
"I was hanging out with Gang-in."
Gwak Chan-seok blinked in mild surprise at Kim Yu-chan. The two exchanged nods whenever paths crossed.
"Ah, Kim Yu-chan. You know Na Gang-in?"
"Know him? We're tight. Hahaha."
Head chef Jeon Dong-seon had known about Gwak Chan-seok's reservation. But since a staffer had seated Gwak Yu-seon, he hadn't realized she was the composer's sister.
As chatter filled the air, Jeon Dong-seon quietly retreated to the kitchen. There, he checked the reservation log.
[Composer Gwak Chan-seok +2]
'So he's the one footing the bill?'
Na Gang-in's group's orders arrived. Head chef Jeon Dong-seon personally delivered and plated them.
Kim Yu-chan and Oh Gyu-cheol had ordered the same dishes.
Kim Yu-chan compared his table's portions to Na Gang-in's and tilted his head.
"Huh? We ordered the same, but theirs looks way better plated."
Oh Gyu-cheol said,
"Tons of extra service over there."
"Huh?"
"Sucking up?"
Kim Yu-chan realized why the service differed.
"Ah... Don't half-ass mine."
"Pardon?"