Summer's Table (2)
"Hey, I've only just put the oil in."
Jun-ho rinsed the vegetables at the outdoor faucet while Yeon-woo took them from him, set a cutting board on the wooden platform, and began prepping.
Chop-chop-chop-chop—
Ohhh!
Yeon-woo displayed unexpectedly polished knife work as he trimmed the vegetables, drawing a chorus of impressed sounds.
"Whoa! Yeon-woo, where did you learn to cut like that?"
"Just around the house, every now and then."
Jun-ho asked in surprise; Yeon-woo answered as if it were nothing special.
He had spent more than twenty years living alone on overseas assignments, cooking for himself in country after country. Italy and India alone had accounted for several of those years. In places where delivery culture barely existed, he had cooked local dishes as a matter of course—and Korean food whenever homesickness hit. His cooking was never flashy, but he knew how to make something perfectly edible.
Yeon-woo smiled and handed the bowl beside him to Han So-hyun.
"Noona, could you scoop some rice into the big bowl for me?"
"Got it!"
She ducked into the kitchen and came back with enough rice for the four of them.
"All right—time to stir-fry."
He tipped the rice and the chopped vegetables into the oiled cauldron lid, added soy sauce, sugar, and the rest of the seasonings, and began tossing everything together. Cooking over the open fire pit meant the heat was fierce; the flames leapt up of their own accord, giving them a free fire show.
Son Jin-uk had built the fire so well that the kindling inside the pit blazed hard. Yeon-woo did not even have to try for style—the spectacular scene simply happened, and the staff and cast alike let out gasps of delight.
"Hey, that shot's gold. We're using it for the trailer."
The more Yeon-woo cooked, the busier the production team's hands became, scribbling notes.
"There we go—done. Shall we try our first meal?"
"Waaah, Ryu Yeon-woo, you're the best!"
A clean, delicious fried rice had come together in no time.
"Hang on a second—let me grab an insert."
The cameras hurried to capture Yeon-woo's fried rice before it could cool.
"Okay, dig in? Yeon-woo, thanks for the food!"
"Thanks for the meal."
The actors chorused the greeting with matching smiles, mouths already watering. As the eldest, Jin-uk lifted his spoon first; everyone else followed and tasted.
"What is this—it's insanely good!"
"No joke. You can actually cook."
They kept exclaiming over Yeon-woo's cooking.
"Come on, we've been on the go since morning. You're all just starving."
Yeon-woo deflected with an embarrassed smile, claiming hunger was the best seasoning. The actors, however, were not merely reacting for the camera; genuine happiness lit their faces as they ate.
By then the staff were curious too.
"Heh—sorry, crew only."
Jun-ho teased them playfully. His deadpan delivery set the courtyard laughing again.
"Man, this cast. Just putting their faces on screen would pull ratings, and they're actually fun. We're set. We're so set."
In the corner, the PD and main writer quietly applauded the unexpectedly strong chemistry and Yeon-woo's surprise performance.
After lunch they left the dishes to the volunteers—Jin-uk and So-hyun—and spent the rest of the break either resting or filming individual interviews.
Before long the sky had begun to darken; it was time to think about dinner.
"Wow, lunch feels like it was five minutes ago and we're already prepping dinner."
"Guess that's why they call it Summer's Table. Is this show just a cooking show?"
Jin-uk nodded along with Jun-ho's remark. Since arriving on the island all they had done was prepare food, eat food, and now prepare food again. The director had sold him on a healing variety show during production, yet once they landed Jin-uk had not taken a single step beyond this house—had not even seen the island scenery.
Then Yeon-woo, who had been resting in a corner, appeared.
"Shall we check the fish traps before it gets too dark?"
At his words So-hyun stood up from the courtyard.
"I'll go with you, Yeon-woo."
"Yeon-woo, take a basket."
Jun-ho handed him a rubber tub. The traps had been set near the house, so they reached the shore in no time.
"Wonder if anything actually got caught."
"Might be empty. It's only been a few hours."
Yeon-woo hauled on the trap line while So-hyun watched beside him, eyes sparkling with anticipation.
"Hmm? Feels pretty heavy."
"Ooooh."
He pulled the trap up quickly. The bread they had used for bait had dissolved completely—and something was definitely inside.
"Whoa, what is it? Too dark to see."
At So-hyun's complaint a camera operator switched on the light mounted on the camera and shone it into the trap.
"…Looks like an octopus?"
"Wow! Jackpot!"
Yeon-woo shook the trap out, extracted the octopus, and dropped it into the tub So-hyun was holding.
"Eugh—it's scary but also amazing. Yeon-woo, let's go back right now."
She was both frightened of the octopus in the tub and desperate to show it off to the staff and the rest of the cast, bouncing with excitement. Yeon-woo released the small fish that had come up with it and collected the now-baitless trap.
Even without bait, things still wander in sometimes. No point letting something die if we're not going to eat it.
Seeing So-hyun practically vibrating with the urge to return, he said,
"Let's go, noona."
"Okay!"
So-hyun marched back and began boasting about the octopus from the front gate, loud enough for the whole courtyard to hear.
"Whoa, what—did you actually catch that?"
"The crew didn't sneak that in, did they?"
Even Jin-uk was so startled by the huge wild octopus that he automatically shot a suspicious look at the PD.
"Aigoo, no, no. We don't pull stunts like that."
PD Lee Gyeong-sik waved both hands in protest of his innocence.
"But how do we cook this? I can't clean it."
Jun-ho, too scared to even get close, said it, and every gaze swung naturally toward Yeon-woo.
"I'll do it. I've cleaned them before."
"Amaaazing. Ryu Yeon-woo can do everything—he's the best."
From a distance So-hyun gave him a big thumbs-up. The sight sparked a mischievous impulse in Yeon-woo.
"Woooow, noona, look at this octopus."
He lifted the octopus out of the rubber tub and advanced on her.
"Kyaaaaah!"
Hahaha!
Watching Yeon-woo and So-hyun's pure, childlike antics set the courtyard laughing all over again. And from the very first day, so much usable footage had already piled up that PD Lee Gyeong-sik was happily fretting over what he would have to cut in the edit.
Once the commotion settled, Yeon-woo got down to serious work cleaning the octopus. His hands moved with such practiced speed through the cleaning and rinsing that even the camera director shooting inserts was impressed. Before long the other actors had clustered around him, providing running commentary.
"Jun-ho hyung."
"Yes, Chef?"
When Yeon-woo called, Jun-ho answered like a playful sous-chef.
"Haha—could you check the garden out back for perilla leaves? Or any vegetables we could use for a salad."
"Yes, sir!"
Jun-ho dashed off to carry out the order.
"Next, So-hyun noona."
"Yeah! What do I do?"
"Go into the kitchen and grab tomatoes, olive oil, seasoned soy sauce from the ingredients the crew brought…"
"Got it! I remember everything."
So-hyun headed for the kitchen to fetch the items Yeon-woo had listed.
"Jin-uk hyung, put a pot of water on for me."
"Okay!"
Under Yeon-woo's direction the members moved in perfect coordination.
"Wow, he really is a leader."
"Right? Completely different picture from what we expected—but it's turning out even more fun."
And once again the PD and main writer kept exchanging opinions and scribbling notes. PD Lee Gyeong-sik drew a second circle around the memo that already read "Captain Ryu."
After blanching the cleaned octopus and sliding it into the refrigerator, Yeon-woo's cooking proceeded at a brisk, confident pace.
"Ideally you'd chill it for a few hours, but it'll still be fine like this."
"Your hands are so fast! What are you making?"
To So-hyun's question he only smiled and told her to wait and see. He had never imagined he would be cooking, on a variety show, a dish he used to make for himself all the time while living alone in Italy.
With the ingredients So-hyun brought, he whipped the dish together in moments—substituting what was missing with the closest available items and adjusting the seasoning by taste. Then he took the blanched octopus back out of the fridge and sliced it thin, almost like sashimi.
"There. Now just pour the sauce over the top and it's done."
The set filled with awed murmurs at the restaurant-level plating Yeon-woo had produced.
"Yeon-woo-ssi, what did you just make?"
"Octopus carpaccio. It's a common Italian home-style dish."
Answering the PD, Yeon-woo smiled to himself. In truth it was more often eaten as a drinking snack. Given that actors rarely ate heavy dinners, this amount would be more than enough.
"I seasoned it a little strong, so it should go well with rice too."
Missing some of the usual spices and ingredients, he had substituted what they had on hand, which left the flavor a touch saltier than classic.
"Amazing, amazing! It looks like a restaurant plate."
"Let me grab a few inserts."
Faced with a dish rarely seen on Gaeya-do, So-hyun's face and the camera lens competed to get closer at the same time.
"All right—let's try Yeon-woo's gourmet cooking!"
Jin-uk approached with chopsticks; So-hyun and Jun-ho sat down after him.
"Thanks for the meal!"
This was already their second meal filled by Yeon-woo's cooking since arriving on the island.
"Wow! It really melts in your mouth. Sweet and tangy and so good."
Jun-ho's reaction was no exaggeration; the other two actors' eyes went round as well.
"This is insane, Yeon-woo. Next time you come over, cook for us. I'll stock every ingredient you need."
"Hahaha. Got it, Jin-uk hyung."
Yeon-woo sat down among the members and began eating too.
"The chemistry between these actors is seriously great."
"Thanks to that, the footage is turning out incredible."
The directing team, suddenly drowning in usable shots thanks to the cast chemistry and Yeon-woo's unexpected performance, could not stop grinning.
After the meal, once Jin-uk—who had taken dish duty—joined them in the room, the four actors sat in a circle and chatted quietly. Funny episodes from filming, Jun-ho's first impression of Yeon-woo at the audition, all the little behind-the-scenes stories the actors shared would be edited beautifully and make the broadcast even richer.
The next morning dawned. So-hyun, who had risen early, insisted breakfast was her responsibility and used the leftover tomatoes and eggs from the day before to make tomato-and-egg fried rice.
The production team had originally assumed young actors would not cook well and had planned the show around games that would let them win ready-made food. But when the four of them—looking like they had stepped out of a painting—started creating actual meals that fit the title Summer's Table perfectly, and when that image proved far more on-trend, the crew hastily stripped out most of the games and pivoted hard toward a true healing variety show.