Chapter 72
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Cheonggukjang for the Family
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Through the frame capturing the restaurant's exterior, the sound of washing dishes drifts in.
Clink, clink.
The restaurant after the lunch rush has passed.
The owner is busy clearing the empty bowls left on each table all by himself.
Ding-a-ling.
At the sound of the bell on the door, the owner pauses while carrying dishes and looks toward the entrance.
"Welcome! Oh? Wooju, isn't it? It's been a while."
"Hello, Auntie."
"Yes, yes. Go sit over there where I cleared a spot. By yourself again today? Will your mom come a bit later?"
Seeing her longtime regular customer after so long, the owner smiles warmly and welcomes the child.
Wooju heads familiarly to the spot the owner pointed out and takes a seat.
"Cheonggukjang for one like usual? I'll add another when your mom gets here."
"Uh, no."
"Hm?"
Her confusion at the child's unusual demeanor lasts only a moment.
Following Wooju's hesitant gaze toward the entrance, the door opens once more.
There stands Han Jihye holding one child's hand, and beside her, an unfamiliar man smiling faintly.
"Huh...?"
"No, today I came with Mom... and Dad and brother."
"No way... the whole family?"
The owner, who had been wiping down tables busily, glances at Wooju's beaming face and asks again.
At those words, Wooju orders with the happiest smile in the world.
"Yeah, so cheonggukjang for four today, please!"
At the mention of cheonggukjang, Ji Haeseong's face falls.
For Haeseong, who normally hated beans, cheonggukjang was one of the foods he really didn't want to eat.
The smell wasn't great either.
"Um, I... don't like cheonggukjang."
It just so happened to be the day he had declared they'd go wherever his little brother wanted to eat.
He had said it was the best restaurant in the world... but they end up at a cheonggukjang place.
Seeing his brother make a sour face, Wooju states firmly.
"This place has the best cheonggukjang."
"...I'm not good at eating it."
Having promised before coming that he'd eat whatever his brother ordered, his protest comes out small.
And sure enough, at his brother's words, Wooju's lips already start to pout.
Han Jihye, who had been watching the brothers, finally steps in.
"Wooju, order something else for your brother."
"But cheonggukjang is the best here."
Wooju squirms, upset that things aren't going his way, and falls silent.
The owner, who had been listening from the side, smiles brightly and says.
"Aw, looks like your big brother doesn't care for the cheonggukjang smell. How about Auntie makes some tasty kimchi stew?"
"Yes! Yes!"
Ji Haeseong answers loudly, as if he's been saved.
"Alright, just wait a bit."
Having mostly tidied up the restaurant, the owner brings water and hurries back to the kitchen.
Soon, clinking sounds come from the kitchen, and a savory aroma begins to spread.
"This is Wooju's regular spot?"
"Yeah, I met Big Uncle here."
"Oh, this is where you met our brother?"
At Wooju's words, Ji Hyunwoo looks around the shabby shop in surprise.
How did he even know about a place like this... He mutters to himself, clearly unfamiliar with the neighborhood.
"Yeah. Back then, Hyeonseongwait, no, Uncletook really good care of me, he said."
"Our brother doesn't like cheonggukjang much either."
"He ate two bowls that time?"
He doesn't like cheonggukjang?
Wooju's eyes go wide in shock at those words.
Ji Hyunwoo and Ji Haeseong are equally startled.
"Really...?"
"Wow, Big Uncle's awesome...."
Ji Hyunwoo marvels that the stubborn man ate two bowls of something he didn't even like.
Beside him, Ji Haeseong is stunned at the thought of eating two bowls of something that doesn't taste good to him.
"Never thought I'd come back here."
Han Jihye, who used to frequent this regular spot often when visiting hospitals in Seoul, speaks wistfully, lost in memories.
Seeing this, Ji Hyunwoo's eyes narrow slyly.
"What, now that we're back at your old Seoul haunt, you're getting all nostalgic?"
"Are you jealous or something?"
"J-Jealous? What...!"
The two sons cover their mouths and chuckle at Ji Hyunwoo's flustered jump.
"No, I thought maybe you were jealous for a sec."
"Uh, w-well...? Ahem, no. Maybe a little."
At their parents suddenly slipping into their own little world, Ji Haeseong sneaks a glance at Wooju and says.
"There was a gacha machine out front."
Wooju peeks toward the kitchen, confirms the food will take a while, and stands up.
"Let's go!"
"Sure."
The two brothers slip out of the shop unnoticed.
"You're pretty sly yourself, bro."
"I can step up when I need to."
Chuckling, the pair step outside and look up at the sky.
But Wooju's eyes, gazing at the sky, grow a little misty.
Under the restaurant's eaves, the owner's cacti stand in neat rows.
"Look at this, Wooju."
"Hm? Whoa."
At his brother's call, Wooju hurries over to admire the cacti basking in the sunlight.
Among them, one cactus bears a cluster of tiny red flowers.
"Cacti bloom flowers too."
"Yeah. They're really pretty."
A sunny afternoon.
The two brothers look at each other and smile brightly.
"Cut! Okay!"
As they beam at Nam Yeonsu, Cha Ilnam calls out cheerfully.
I spring up and wipe my eyes with my sleeve.
"Siwoo... why are you crying?"
"I-I'm not!"
I snap irritably at Nam Yeonsu's worried question.
I don't know myself.
This scene didn't call for tears; it wasn't even sad.
But from the moment Kang Sujung and Choi Taewoo leave the restaurant, tears welled up.
Afraid they'd stream down, I stared at the sky, forcing myself not to blink.
Was it because this was the final scene?
Or relief that my tumultuous Wooju had reached a happy ending?
"You two were perfect. The scene came out beautifully right to the end."
"Really?"
"It's because the director worked so hard. Thank you."
We bow our heads to Cha Ilnam as he approaches with praise.
"Haha, I'm the thankful one. Thanks for sticking with our stubborn choice to cast you two child actors as leads."
Cha Ilnam, who had endured much stress knowingly and unknowingly since production was greenlit, smiles broadly at us.
With the hard-to-produce drama succeeding, the Cactus Team's faces grew brighter by the day.
"Hehe, filming with Siwoo was so much fun."
"I had fun acting with you too, hyung."
"Really?! Sniff, thanks Siwoo...."
W-What?
My words must've been too touching.
Nam Yeonsu suddenly bursts into tears and clings to me sobbing.
"H-Hey? H-Hyung! What's wrong? Don't cry...."
Flustered, I glance at Cha Ilnam.
He just chuckles heartily and slips away.
Hey! You can't just leave a crying kid!
As I flounder, the staff pass by laughing at us.
...Guess I acted too maturely around here.
No one helps me even through this trial.
"Don't cry, Yeonsu hyung.... Stop!"
"Waaah."
In the end, I have to pat and comfort Nam Yeonsu, who's bigger than me.
Only after Kang Sujung and Choi Taewoo come out laughing, snapping photos of us, does Nam Yeonsu stop crying.
"Siwoooo, we won't see each other anymore now?"
"I'll miss acting with Siwoo so much...."
After that, many staff shed tears looking at me.
The wrap of my first drama in this life turns into a sea of tears.
My heart softens all on its own.
I won't forget these people for a long time.
The memories from this drama will probably carry me through life for quite a while.
Tap tap tap.
Tap tap tap tap.
In a quiet corner of the office, the loud typewriter sounds from furious typing refuse to stop.
This is the variety department office at LSB (Life Style Broadcasting) station.
LSB was a cable TV network that had only recently launched.
Though cable, LSB had started producing its own comprehensive content, weathering early ups and downs but now steadily building its foundation with decent internal programs.
"What are you up to now, making all this racket?"
Park Haesoo, CP of LSB's variety department, approaches from behind the man hammering away at his keyboard.
Ignoring him, PD Kim Sanho keeps typing.
Shrugging it off as usual, Park Haesoo stands right behind and peers at the monitor.
"Observation travel variety? What's this scheme now, you punk."
"Be quiet, please. It's the idea I'm obsessed with lately."
At LSB, they said you couldn't rein in Kim Sanho no matter what.
Knowing he had to see his obsessions through to feel satisfied, Park Haesoo sighs deeply, figuring it'll soon land on his desk for approval.
"Not listening to the bosses again?"
"Of course. Sure thing."
As of 2007.
The variety world was dominated by "extreme realism" and "real variety."
Viewer fatigue from repetitive formats had ushered in an era of breaking molds with spontaneous gags.
LSB was under constant pressure to produce programs fitting the trend.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Don't you know imitation is the mother of creation, Sanho?"
But peering at what Kim Sanho was pounding outkeyboard nearly breakingit looked like he was just typing what he wanted again.
"Just create something killer without imitating. No problem."
"Hey, you're still an employee. When they say jump, you jump a bit, you know...."
As expected, Kim Sanho doesn't yield.
And why would he? His last docudrama had notched LSB's first-ever viewership over 1.
Back when he first pitched it, he'd faced heaps of opposition and criticism.
"Hey, hyung. Who was the PD with last quarter's top ratings?"
"...So you're dead set on this observation thing?"
"Yes. It'll blow up for sure. The next trend is observation. What's the point of blindly following what the higher-ups say forever? How can you be the best making the same old stuff?"
"I'm one of your higher-ups too, you know...? Do whatever. You never listen anyway."
Park Haesoo just sighs more at Kim Sanho's utter confidence.
Travel? Fine.
Travel content sells year-round.
But observation?
That'd definitely get slammed as voyeurismgo see a doctor.
"I wash my hands of it. Just tell them later I tried to stop you. So who are you observing? Domestic travel or overseas?"
"Quiet, CP. Can't focus."
After getting an earful from Kim Sanho, Park Haesoo grumbles but rummages through his desk.
No intention of leaving despite the cold shoulder.
Fingers flying, Kim Sanho seems determined to finish the proposal today.
"Huh...?"
Then Park Haesoo spots a Post-it on Kim Sanho's desk.
He can't help but be shocked by the note.
Because written side by side are the names of the two hottest actors right now.