Master's Guest Seat (4)
"Let's eat, the two of us."
The moment I said it, Han Byuri looked at me in surprise.
"Uh, you're fine with showing your face?"
"I'm a regular person anyway, aren't I? It's not like I'm some celebrity or broadcaster with a complicated backstory."
"That's not the point. Being a regular person is exactly why you should be more careful."
My face was destined to get out next year the second I debuted anyway. If a team that recognized my value moved fast enough, I'd end up in the articles even sooner. So a face reveal was neither here nor there — but her reaction was just too funny.
"I don't mind… well, if it makes you uncomfortable, Unnie, I won't."
"Ah— no! When did I ever say I was uncomfortable? I was worried about you."
"Then shall we eat together?"
"Then how about mala tang? Or pasta?"
Mala tang and pasta — just hearing those two dishes made me sick of them already.
Every single time we meet…
Unlike my previous life, I'd managed to build actual, functional friendships this time around. That meant hangouts were frequent, and those two dishes were what we ate every single time.
"Then rose—"
"I don't like tteokbokki."
"Really? Then is there something you want?"
"Hmm… how about gukbap? Or jeyuk?"
"Huh? You're fine with that?"
Han Byuri shot me a worried look — the kind that said she was fretting I might be forcing myself for her sake. My thoughts, however, were entirely different.
Those two are perfect foods. Decent macros, you get vegetables with them…
And they tasted good. They never got old. Compared to whatever mala-rose nonsense, they were a hundred percent better.
"Ah! Then how about meat?"
"Meat?"
"I got some as a gift last week. Hang on a sec."
A few minutes later, Han Byuri came back carrying—
"Wow, isn't this expensive?"
"My parents said they had leftovers last time and dropped it off."
It was a gift set from a meat restaurant famous for being absurdly pricey.
"See that, everyone? I'm the kind of person who gets gifted stuff like this."
"Alright, then we need to set things up first…"
Normally, a proper mukbang started only after all the food was fully prepped. Most of the mukbangs on Master's Guest Seat used delivery food, so setup was easy — but this was different.
"Then should I grill it?"
With raw meat, someone had to cook it.
"Ah, no — I'm the homeowner. I should do it."
"I'm good at grilling meat."
Honestly, I had zero faith that Han Byuri could grill meat properly. The workshop in my previous life where she'd burned every single piece of meat had been a full-blown catastrophe.
"Then should I bring the burner over and grill it here?"
"A burner?"
"Yeah, I bought one for camping a while back. Should still be around."
"Alright, then let's move the keyboard and mouse over here."
Maybe it was the pro in her — Han Byuri started setting up like it was second nature. The monitor with the cam went to the back, the secondary monitor for checking chat went to the side. Keyboard and mouse got shoved into a corner, and she brought the burner over and set it in the middle of the table.
"We're having rice, right?"
"Koreans run on rice power."
While Han Byuri went to heat up the instant rice, I finished the rest of the setup. All those meals at the team dorm had finally paid off. Even I had to admit the arrangement was perfect.
"Oh? See, pretty people are good at organizing too."
Han Byuri came back, nodded, and started portioning sauce onto the plates I'd laid out one by one.
"This sauce is really good, and they give you packaging with it too. Nice."
I set a frying pan on the burner and waited for it to heat up properly. From the other room, the microwave beeped that it was done.
"Hold on."
Han Byuri, halfway to standing, looked at me.
"How old were you again?"
"Me? I'm fifteen…"
"Unnie is twenty-five. I put the rice in over there, so go get it."
It was a bit I'd been on the receiving end of a few times in my previous life too. I stood up with a smile.
"You're not mad, right?"
"If anything, I'm happy I get to eat with you, Unnie."
"No, then that just makes me sound like a terrible—"
I left her hanging mid-sentence and vanished from my seat.
You've got to be kidding me… two packs need three minutes. Why would you set it for two.
I restarted the microwave, marvelling once again at Han Byuri's legendary life skills — still undefeated in this life. While I waited, I heard a presence from the room across the hall and went to check.
"…Nice."
There was her dad, holding his breath as hard as he could, completely locked into a game. I'd assumed he'd gone to some nearby café or something.
Come to think of it… Han Byuri's hobby was collecting retro games.
In my previous life, she'd invited me over a few times to play. She'd always said she only collected them and never had time to actually play, so she'd rope in anyone who showed even a flicker of interest. Watching him like that, I didn't want to interrupt — so I turned back, pulled out the finished instant rice, and returned.
"You're back? How's it look? Good enough to start grilling?"
"Seems like enough heat to me?"
"Going on? For real, going on…?"
Sizzle — that satisfying sound as the meat started cooking—
"Wait, why is there so much smoke?"
"Right…? Cough."
Looking around, we'd been grilling meat with both the door and the windows shut. Being around her again after so long must have been contagious — I felt like my own IQ had dropped a few points. Before the fire alarm could go off, I threw open the windows, vented the smoke, and finished grilling.
"Wow, doesn't this look perfectly done?"
The gift set was composed of flower ribeye, raw galbi, and tenderloin. Of those, what Han Byuri had grilled was the flower ribeye — yes, that famous, delicious, expensive flower ribeye.
Whatever happened to that ribeye overflowing with marbling — what exactly was sitting neatly arranged on the plate now? Calling it something that had burned to death in hell wouldn't have been an overstatement.
"…Looking at it again, it might be a little burnt?"
A lit…tle…?
"May I try grilling some?"
"Uh, uh… sure."
I timed the exact moment public opinion hit rock bottom and smoothly took the tongs from her hands. That cool, solid weight in my grip. It was time for the official LCK team-building event head chef to return.
.
.
.
"Kimchi's set out… sauce is ready, rice is good to go."
Han Byuri shifted the plates around so the food would frame nicely on camera. Broadcasting really wasn't easy, after all.
"Shall we eat, then?"
"Sounds good. You first, Unnie."
"…Wow! It's delicious. You really grilled this well."
Only after watching the look of pure enjoyment on Han Byuri's face did I finally pick up the chopsticks sitting next to me.