Chapter 38
Chapter 38
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Irresistible Injeolmi Snowflake Bingsu
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Ugh. My head hurts~.”
Shim Chaeyun clutched her pounding head and got up from her seat.
Probably from drinking too much yesterday. Her vision was spinning in circles. Shim Chaeyun squeezed her eyes shut tight and waved her hands around.
“Hey. Get up.”
“Ugh......”
The friend lying next to her let out a small groan and tossed and turned. Watching that, Shim Chaeyun staggered to her feet.
“Ow. I’m so thirsty. Hey, how late did we drink until yesterday? My memory’s completely blank.”
“You really don’t remember? You crawled all the way home on all fours.”
“For real?”
“Yeah. I’ve got it all recorded on my phone.”
“You’re insane.”
Shim Chaeyun giggled and casually opened her friend’s fridge to grab a bottle of water.
“Take it slow and sip it.”
“Yeah.”
Gulp, gulp. As she drank the water, the burning thirst started to fade a bit. Only then did Shim Chaeyun feel her mind clearing up.
“What time is it now? Holy crap. Even if I rush, I’ll be late for morning class.”
“That’s why I told you to skip the morning lecture. You weren’t going anyway.”
“If you hadn’t dragged me out yesterday, I would’ve made it to class today.”
Shim Chaeyun let out a deep sigh. Should’ve just dropped it. At this rate, she’d end up in summer school.
As she mulled over her attendance record and roughly calculated her grade, her friend moved first. She rummaged around, changed clothes, and slipped on some slippers.
“What’re you doing?”
“Hangover cure.”
“Let’s just boil some ramen. Too lazy to go out.”
“Nah, there’s an awesome gukbap spot around here. We gotta go now before it gets crowded. By ten, it’s packed to the brim.”
At her friend’s words, Shim Chaeyun wrinkled her nose.
“Gukbap again? You seriously need to lay off the gukbap. Don’t you ever get tired of it?”
“Insane value for money, and it’s so filling~.”
“Ramen’s the king of hangover cures.”
Shim Chaeyun grumbled but followed along, pulling on a cap backward and throwing on her coat.
Because the places her friend called “delicious” never let her down.
She steadied her queasy stomach and managed to start walking. It wasn’t long before they reached their destination.
“Here it is.”
[Hapjae Neighborhood Gukbap 0212]
That was the name of the gukbap joint her friend had brought her to.
It was 9:30. Even at this awkward hour, the place was pretty full.
“Huh? Isn’t this near where we were drinking yesterday?”
“Yeah. Right across the street.”
The sign for [Happiness Snacks] flashed by. Those chicken feet there had been good. Thanks to them, Shim Chaeyun remembered clinging to the toilet and puking her guts out.
“The signs look similar. Same owner?”
“No idea.”
Whoosh.
They slid the door open, and a man wearing a nameplate that read “Owner/Kim Jongchun” greeted them with a smile.
“Welcome~. Table for two?”
“Yes, two please.”
“Oh my, our regulars are here.”
Kim Jongchun even recognized her friend. Shim Chaeyun’s eyes went wide as she stared at her friend.
“Two gukbaps here.”
“Got it. Please wait just a moment!”
The second Kim Jongchun turned away, Shim Chaeyun whispered to her friend.
“What’s up with that? You and the owner are buddies?”
“I came like three or four times, and he remembered me right away. Great personality.”
Her friend replied nonchalantly. Shim Chaeyun curiously glanced at Kim Jongchun’s bustling back as he moved around.
It wasn’t long before two steaming bowls of gukbap appeared.
One spoonful in,
“Kuh~.”
“Tasty, right? Right?”
“Yeah. My stomach’s totally settled.”
Shim Chaeyun kept shoveling it in. With each slurp of broth, she felt her churning gut calming down.
Yep, nothing beats soup for a hangover. Shim Chaeyun thought she’d have to come back sometime.
She polished off the bowl in no time. Perfect.
“Ah, that hit the spot.”
“Didn’t expect you to stop at just one bowl.”
“Still got a headache. No appetite.”
“Huh.”
Her friend snorted in disbelief. But Shim Chaeyun felt justified. She really had no appetite, so one bowl it was.
“It’s still amazing no matter how many times I see it. Where does it all go?”
“I work out, you know?”
“It’s not about working out. Sometimes the way you eat is straight-up gross. Like you’re scarfing down as much as your whole body weighs.”
“Pretty much.”
Her friend shot her a horrified look. Shim Chaeyun just shrugged.
“Let’s get going. Gotta make afternoon class.”
“Can I shower at your place first?”
“Just throw on the cap. Won’t work with your long hair.”
“Ugh~.”
The two bantered idly as they stood at the counter. Kim Jongchun smiled and greeted them.
“How was the meal?”
“Yes. It was delicious.”
“Glad to hear it. Here, take this~.”
What Kim Jongchun handed over was a small coupon. It boldly read “Snowflake Bingsu Tasting Ticket.”
“What’s this? Snowflake bingsu?”
“You see that cafe right up ahead?”
Following where Kim Jongchun pointed, sure enough, there was a small cafe. But instead of a cafe sign, it said “Hapjae Gukbap Waiting Area.”
‘Wow, business must be booming.’
Shim Chaeyun was impressed to see they even had a separate waiting spot.
“Customers have to wait so long, so we felt bad and set up a little waiting area up front. We give them some light snacks there too. Right now, as a trial, we’re handing out tasting tickets to folks who ate here.”
Bingsu?
Shim Chaeyun thought it was a bit random. Did restaurants really go that far?
“For real? We can just go eat it?”
“You’re customers of ours.”
“Wow~.”
Her friend was already hooked on the “free.” When Shim Chaeyun nudged her side with an elbow, she shot back with a “What?”
“We’ve got class.”
“Does class give out bingsu?”
“Ugh.”
“Thanks, boss! We’ll enjoy it~.”
In the end, Shim Chaeyun got dragged across the street to the cafe, clinging to her friend’s hand.
“Bingsu’s not really my thing.”
“Why? It’s delicious.”
“My teeth are sensitive.”
“Pfft. How old are you to already have sensitive teeth?”
What was she supposed to do about it? Shim Chaeyun added, “Eating it too fast gives me brain freeze.”
“Whatever. It’s free.”
“That’s true, but...”
Shim Chaeyun smacked her lips.
“Anyway, I probably won’t eat much, so you can have most of i......”
“Injeolmi snowflake bingsu out~.”
The server plunked it down, cutting their conversation short.
“Huh?”
Because the bingsu was in a form she’d never seen before. Seeing the mound of roasted rice powder piled high, her first thought was that something was wrong.
“Is this really bingsu?”
“Yes, it’s the injeolmi snowflake bingsu we’re trialing right now~. As you can see, it’s made by layering roasted rice powder over finely shaved milk ice. When you eat it, drizzle some of this condensed milk and add more to your taste.”
The server with the nameplate “Staff/Song Wooyeon” explained it all smoothly, like flowing water.
“I heard you’re not a big fan of red beans, so I left them out, but if you’d like some, I can add......”
“?”
Song Wooyeon met Shim Chaeyun’s eyes and paused for a second. His face looked slightly surprised before he quickly composed himself.
‘What?’
Why did he look at her like he knew her? Shim Chaeyun found it odd but brushed it off quickly.
‘Must resemble someone he knows.’
“......them anytime, so just let me know.”
Song Wooyeon said that, gave a quick bow, and stepped away.
“Wow, it looks so unique. Right?”
Her friend whipped out her phone first.
“Yeah. Super distinctive.”
“Let’s snap some pics for Facebook~.”
Click, click. After the shutter sounds rang out, her friend picked up her spoon first.
“What’re you doing? Dig in.”
“Yeah.”
Up to that point, Shim Chaeyun hadn’t had high expectations. It looked unusual—that was about it.
But the moment she took one bite, her mind changed completely.
It was delicious.
“Wow!”
Her friend exclaimed beside her.
“It melts in your mouth so smoothly~. Amazing. This is killer. This place is a bingsu hotspot.”
Shim Chaeyun didn’t even have a chance to reply. She couldn’t stop her spoon.
Making her earlier “I’m not into bingsu” claim look ridiculous.
‘Delicious. So delicious!’
By the time she snapped out of it, the bowl was scraped clean.
“Hey.... Damn! Anyone’d think you starved for three days! Why eat so fast? You made me rush too, scared you’d polish off mine!”
She’d wanted to savor it more! As her friend grumbled, Shim Chaeyun finally came back to her senses a bit.
“Wow. It was so good I totally lost control and shoveled it down. Must’ve gone crazy.”
Bingsu of her life!
Shim Chaeyun gazed wistfully at the empty bowl. Ah, she wanted more.
“If I go back to the gukbap place and order six bowls to get six tickets, that’d be too much, right?”
“I’d get blacklisted and banned too.”
“Ugh.”
It was right then, as Shim Chaeyun smacked her lips.
“Did you enjoy the snowflake bingsu?”
Song Wooyeon approached with a smile and asked. Right—this was the way! Shim Chaeyun nodded vigorously.
“Yes! It was so good~. Do you sell bingsu separately by any chance? It was that good—I want more bingsu!”
“It’s still a trial menu item, so we can’t sell it yet.”
“Ah......”
No dice, huh. As Shim Chaeyun pouted, Song Wooyeon brought up something else.
“To be honest... I saw how much you enjoyed it, so here’s what I’m thinking.”
Song Wooyeon’s eyes gleamed.
“Do you do any broadcasting by any chance?”