* * *
Na Kang-In entered the PC bang kitchen.
Shin Eun-ha quickly followed and asked, “Where should I wait? What kind of dish are you going to make?”
“If you’re at a PC bang, sit at an empty spot, look at the monitor, and place your order.”
“Huh? Order?”
“Today’s dish has a lot of meat, so I’ll need to charge you ten thousand won. Did you bring any money?”
Shin Eun-ha was flustered.
‘Didn’t he call me here to make a special dish for me…? No, he didn’t.’
Thinking about it, Na Kang-In never said he’d cook for her. She just followed him.
‘But I can’t order like everyone else in front of the monitor. That wouldn’t be special.’
She wanted to eat a dish that Na Kang-In made especially for her.
She gave a cute smile and slightly shook her head from side to side.
“Oppa, can’t I eat without paying? Please?”
“You can.”
“Oh! Thank you!”
“Since I can’t kick you out for not having money, you can pay for the meal in another way.”
***
Yoon Ah-reum admired the kitchen.
“Wow. Today is the first time I’m seeing a celebrity, and it’s also the first time I’m seeing a celebrity working in a kitchen.”
Cha Eun-seo said, “It’s my first time too. That unni doesn’t seem like the type to do this kind of work.”
Shin Eun-ha, wearing rubber gloves, was peeling potatoes with a knife in one corner of the kitchen.
She was working as a kitchen assistant to pay for her lunch.
While peeling the potatoes, she muttered, “This isn’t right….”
Yoon Ah-reum asked Cha Eun-seo, “What if she cuts her hand while working?”
Cha Eun-seo wasn’t worried.
“That unni has handled knives before, so she should be fine.”
Na Kang-In scolded Shin Eun-ha, “At that pace, when will you get to the onions?”
Shin Eun-ha was startled, “Huh? I have to peel onions too?”
“Yes. Your hands should move faster.”
Grumbling, Shin Eun-ha sped up her potato peeling, “This really isn’t right….”
***
Na Kang-In made a braised meat dish. Instead of using synthetic capsaicin for the spiciness, he used Cheongyang and red chili peppers.
AI Zijin commented.
[The field cooking skill uses whatever is available, but when supplies are plentiful, it’s recommended to use good ingredients. The same cooking skill produces better taste with quality ingredients.]
Na Kang-In placed the newly made dish in front of Shin Eun-ha.
“This is in place of your part-time wages.”
“What is this dish called?”
“It’s a spicy braised meat stew in galbi-jjim style. It helps soldiers relieve combat stress.”
“Spicy braised meat stew.”
She gently moved her chopsticks over the dish and picked up a piece of meat.
Initially, she tasted the greasy flavor mixed with spiciness. Then came a deep flavor, like the bits scraped from the bottom of a pan.
“Wow, this is delicious.”
She picked more pieces of meat. With each bite, the spiciness intensified on her tongue.
Sticking her tongue out slightly between her red lips, she blew on her hand, “Ah, it’s spicy.”
It was spicy but delicious.
Next to her was a bowl of white rice. It was loosely served, not tightly packed.
She scooped some rice into her mouth. The spiciness subsided a bit as the rice entered. The clean sweetness of the rice came through with each chew.
“This rice tastes even better this way.”
Her chopsticks reached for the braised meat stew again.
AI Zijin noted.
[She’s only eating the meat.]
Na Kang-In said, “Eat a balanced meal.”
“Okay!”
This time, she picked up other ingredients.
Shin Eun-ha usually preferred meat, but this dish made the other ingredients taste good too.
The potatoes she peeled had a spicy, rich flavor from the braised meat.
The onions she peeled added a soft sweetness, balancing the spiciness.
Na Kang-In, watching Shin Eun-ha blow on her food to cool it, said, “You must be stressed from the reshooting. This dish should help relieve some of that stress.”
It wasn’t just the reshooting stress he wanted to relieve with this dish. It was also the stress she endured yesterday when the set in Gangwon-do Province collapsed, and she was in the middle of it.
‘She doesn’t show any signs of major shock, but she might have a scratch on her heart.’
Shin Eun-ha asked, “Can I have more rice?”
The dish was so delicious she wanted more, but her tongue was almost giving up on the spiciness. To continue this battle, she needed more white rice.
Cha Eun-seo quickly brought more rice.
“Here you go, unni.”
Shin Eun-ha mixed the remaining braised meat stew with the rice in a bowl. She took a big spoonful into her mouth.
Even this way, it was delicious. The rice helped to moderate the spiciness that spread in her mouth.
A bit of sweat formed on her forehead. The cool breeze from her hand felt refreshing.
“Ah, this is really delicious. The stress just melts away.”
She ate until the bowl was clean.
Then, she gulped down the cold water next to her.
“That was really tasty. Ah, I’m so full. I’m so full I can hardly breathe….”
Realizing she was too full to breathe properly, she became aware of the reality around her.
In front of her were two empty bowls and an empty dish that had held the braised meat stew. The generously served dish was completely gone.
“What have I done?”
Looking at Na Kang-In with a panicked expression, she said, “What do I do? I have another shoot tomorrow, but I ate too much. I must be crazy.”
Na Kang-In assessed her belly.
“Hmm. Your belly is indeed….”
“Shut up.”
“Exercise. I recommend cardio. If you work out from now until dinner, your belly will go down.”
“That’s because I don’t have the stamina to do it for that long!”
“If you’ve eaten that much of the spicy stew and rice, you should have gotten a strong stamina buff. You can do it.”
Cha Eun-seo delivered spicy stew and rice to the PC bang customers who ordered lunch. Night shift worker Yoon Ah-reum and college student hacker Ahn Sung-hwan helped with the delivery and then ate together.
Ahn Sung-hwan, while eating the spicy stew and rice, said, “I came here because I heard Na Kang-in was cooking lunch today. Good thing I did. I was debating whether to come, but it was the perfect choice.”
Cha Eun-seo scolded him. “Are you just here to eat for free without doing any work?”
“Why are you only picking on me? What about Ah-reum?”
Yoon Ah-reum, who was scooping another bowl of rice, turned her head and blinked. She had been living in a jjimjilbang recently because her apartment had burned down.
Cha Eun-seo said, “No, Ah-reum. Eat up. Eat a lot. Uncle said it’s okay to eat a lot.”
* * *
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