Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: Rxel
Chapter 105
As soon as the first mission was revealed, everyone started to comment.
“A cooking mission?”
“Are we really going to cook? I remember watching an episode of Around the World With Dice where they had to gather firewood and cook over a fire pit.”
“No way. We’re probably going to serve a meal to the elders.”
The main PD, Gu Jaeyong, explained, “The first mission is to serve a delicious meal to the elders. You will be divided into three teams. The team that gets the most customers will win.”
Then, Yang Okbun, the teacher, frowned her wrinkled forehead.
“Director Gu, what about the recipes and stuff? There must be at least a dozen people here who can’t cook, like me.”Everyone nodded, and PD Gu Jaeyong answered as if he knew.
“Yes, we anticipated that you might have such concerns, so we prepared the recipes for you. The assistant directors will hand out one copy to each of you later. You just have to follow the instructions.”
He added, “Of course, we won’t impose any restrictions on the recipes. You can call your mother or someone you know. You can also use the recipes from the internet blogs.”
“This is too nice to be true.”
The comedian, Oh Hyungseok, furrowed his brow.
“You’ve never been so lenient before. What’s the catch this time?”
“Yes, there is a catch.”
The members of Around the World With Dice sighed as if they expected it, and the guests listened attentively.
“There is no limit on the recipes, but there is a limit on the ingredients.”
“…Ingredients?”
“We bought the ingredients that you will use for cooking. But to get them, you have to visit the elders’ houses. There is a map with the ingredients marked on it… Where is it? Hyungseop! Oh, right.”
The assistant director appeared with a large sheet of paper.
It was a map of the village, with the names and ingredients of each household where the elders lived.
[Kang Chilbok, Lee Geumsoon – pork] Like that.
It looked like a game map that indicated where you could buy potions from NPCs.
“The ingredients are ready like this. There is enough quantity, so you don’t have to worry too much. However, to get the ingredients, you have to complete the missions given by the elders of each household.”
Things like changing light bulbs or working in the fields.
They were missions based on the hardships of the elders who lived alone in the village.
PD Gu, who was looking around the cast, clapped his hands.
“Then, before we start the first mission, I’ll give you some time to discuss with your teams.”
***
Inside the spacious village hall.
Thirty cast members were divided into three teams.
“First of all, let’s split our team into three groups.”
Ye Heeyeon, the leader, wrote ‘Task Allocation’ on an A4 paper. Then she wrote down each item.
Ingredient Gathering Team (8 people).
Cooking Team (2 people).
“First, let’s find someone who will stay and cook. Is there anyone here who has some experience with cooking?”
“Me.”
Bijoo raised his hand cautiously.
The team members’ attention was focused on him, and Bijoo smiled shyly.
“I’m not very good at it, but I’m confident that I can do my best. Cooking is my hobby.”
“Bijoo is just being modest.”
Woojoo added.
“He’s really good at cooking.”
“Really?”
“Yes, he’s better than my mom. …Uh, can you edit that out of the broadcast?”
The youngest’s remark made the team members and the VJ laugh, and Ye Heeyeon wrote Bijoo’s name in the cooking team.
“Then, how far can you go?”
“I know how to do basic cooking. I don’t know much about foreign cuisine, but I can handle Korean food to some extent…”
“Did you learn it by yourself?”
“Yes, I learned from watching YouTube or reading cookbooks.”
The team members looked a bit skeptical at the word ‘self-taught’.
“Well, as long as you can do basic knife skills, that’s fine,” Ye Heechan said calmly. “It’s the same for the other teams. Even if someone says they’re good at cooking, there are only two or three out of thirty here…”
That was true.
The other teams were also arguing over who would cook.
Especially the Team B, which included six girl group members, looked gloomy as if they had no one who could cook.
On the other hand, the Team A was cheerful.
Heysion asked.
“Why are they so happy over there? They look like they’re having a feast.”
“Wait a minute.”
SNS celebrity Maxi raised his hand to his ear.
As they tilted their heads at his sudden action, a languid voice conveyed the situation.
“Mr. Seo Jihyung, you’re opening a restaurant? You have a Korean cuisine license too? Wow, you’re our team’s savior. Savior. Yeah, Jihyung! Yeah, you should do something other than comedy… he says.”
“You can hear that?”
Lee Gyeonwoo asked in surprise, and the celebrity nodded.
“I’m good at listening to other people’s conversations.”
How did he hear that?
It was amazing that he caught the dialogue from that far away through this noisy crowd.
Woojoo tried it once, but it didn’t work.
The comedian who announced that he had a Korean cuisine license was smiling proudly as his teammates cheered for him.
But then, applause erupted again from Team A.
The target was none other than Han Yeoreum, the rookie actress who greeted them before the opening.
Maxi leaned his ear again.
“She graduated from CIA.”
Everyone blinked.
“CIA? Like in the TV show?”
“Isn’t that like a spy agency?”
“Wow, awesome.”
“What, then she’s not Korean?”
Junghyun tilted his head.
“But can she say that she came from that kind of organization? In movies, they have to hide their identity and stuff.”
“Maybe she was an office worker?”
As they exchanged silly stories, the true identity of CIA was revealed.
It was an acronym for a very famous cooking school in the US, similar to the Central Intelligence Agency.
They all coughed as they saw the internet search results.
Heysion licked his tongue.
“They won’t have any trouble with cooking there. They have someone who graduated from a famous school, and a restaurant owner too.”
Judging by the atmosphere, Team A had already secured their victory.
Teacher Woo Jaeyong was in high spirits and laughed heartily, and Oh Hyungseok praised Seo Jihyung.
Their teammates encouraged Bijoo.
“Don’t feel too pressured.”
“Yeah, don’t try to beat the people who learned cooking professionally. We’ll do our own thing.”
“The elders might prefer home cooking more.”
“Bijoo, you don’t know the outcome. If we work hard, we can be first. So cheer up. Okay?”
But they didn’t seem to think that their second would cook well.
He looked refined and moved gracefully, so he didn’t match well with cooking.
They probably thought that he liked cooking as a hobby.
That wasn’t wrong.
Bijoo did enjoy cooking.
But his skill was not just at a hobby level.
Woojoo always noticed it when he chopped vegetables or stir-fried rice. His movements were extraordinary, to say the least.
Woojoo thought he could learn how to cook by watching him instead of YouTube videos.
Objectively speaking, their second brother was a good cook.
But judging by the people’s reactions right now, it felt like their expectations were below zero.
Bijoo blinked and looked at Woojoo. Woojoo smiled at him.
They would find out soon enough.
***
They decided on the menu quickly.
Japchae, bulgogi, and soybean paste stew.
The other teams were similar.
They all chose a stew as the basic dish. Team A’s main dishes were steamed fish and bossam. Team B’s were bulgogi and various pancakes. Team C’s were mountain vegetables and rice cakes.
Since they were catering to the elderly, the food had to be soft and familiar. And since other residents would also come to eat, they had to prepare large quantities.
That was why there weren’t many dishes that met both criteria.
The only thing left was the ingredient war.
“Okay, you have two hours to get the ingredients. You have plenty of time and plenty of ingredients, so don’t just focus on the mission. Have a good time and chat with the elders.”
The mission started with PD Gu Jaeyong’s words.
“Good luck!”
“Make sure you get all the ingredients you need!”
As their second brother and Ye Heeyeon waved their hands, their Team C split into three groups.
“See you later, Hyung.”
Heysion and Junghyun went to the right fork.
“I’ll do well!”
Jiho left with Lee Gyeonwoo and Ye Heechan to the left fork.
And the remaining three of them walked down the middle road.
Woojoo, Rihyuk, and Maxi. Maxi was walking in the middle, but Rihyuk circled around and stuck to his left.
He seemed to think he was moving subtly, but it was obvious to anyone.
The one who noticed it blinked his eyes. Then he asked in a sullen voice, “Hey… do you hate me?”
“…Huh?”
“You moved away, so I thought you hated me….”
It was so straightforward that they both were flustered.
Rihyuk waved his hands in surprise.
“No, no, it’s not like that at all!”
“Then come here. Let’s talk and walk.”
“…Uh, okay.”
As Rihyuk returned to his original spot, Woojoo laughed.
“He’s very shy, you know.”
“Aw… I see. I’m very shy too.”
…said the person who had eye makeup like an Indian.
Rihyuk snorted at Woojoo’s words.
“I’m not timid. Not at all….”
“Your ears are so red, they look like ketchup up close.”
“Do you want me to tell you how to make them redder?”
“Oh, how?”
“Just compliment him.”
Rihyuk shook his head.
“Don’t say weird things. It’s just hot, that’s all. These ears have nothing to do with embarrassment…….”
“Your voice is really nice. It makes me feel good when I hear it.”
“…….”
“Your proportions are amazing too. Do you want to be a fitting model for my online store?”
“…….”
“Wow, you’re really shy.”
His sweet voice and bright tone made Woojoo feel curious.
Maxi.
He was a famous person on SNS for his selfies and online store.
He first appeared as a guest on a cable TV show, and then became popular everywhere because of his unique character.
He was known for his concept of speaking without filtering his brain.
Well, he might go home and say, ‘Geez, it’s so hard to make a living’ but he looked the same as he did on TV.
A VJ with a 6mm camera followed him all morning, so he had no chance to give up his concept.
He asked, “Where are we going first?”
“We’re going to get the bulgogi ingredients first. We’re going to the people who are not doing the mission right now.”
There were three houses marked with beef on the map.
Woojoo gave up on the first house right away, as he could see VJ’s face and hear the noisy sounds beyond the wide-open gate.
The second house was about four minutes further away, and the sun was so hot that his face felt burning even though he applied a lot of sunscreen.
Their main vocal, who was famous for his pale skin, had turned into a ripe strawberry.
“Ah, I’m dizzy…”
“Are you okay?”
“Don’t worry about me. It’s just because of the heat.”
Woojoo should have brought something like a straw hat. He felt worried as he whined.
Maxi, who was walking next to him, pointed at a house in the distance.
“Is that it?”
“No, you have to turn left from there. That house is…”
Woojoo checked the map and said, “It’s a different house. An old man lives there, and he gives turmeric as an ingredient.”
“Turmeric?”
“It’s an ingredient for curry,” Rihyuk answered.
“…There’s no dish that uses turmeric.”
Just like you couldn’t make chocolate with cacao beans, you couldn’t make curry or anything with that one ingredient.
Turmeric.
The other houses had ingredients that could be used for cooking, like tofu, chives, beef, etc., but that house only had one useless ingredient.
A house that looked fairly neat, unlike the other old houses.
They passed by it, and Maxi looked at it with pity.
“Aw, poor guy. No one would visit him with that ingredient.”
“I know, right?” Woojoo said, “Then how about we stop by later?”
“I’m in.”
“Me too. He must be lonely living by himself, so let’s say hello to him later.”
Soon they arrived at their destination, the second house.
“Excuse me.”
Woojoo lifted the door handle and knocked with a thud.
The door opened soon, and an old lady came out in her slippers.
“Oh, you’re here! Come on in!”
Her name was Im Soonhyun.
She said she had been waiting for them, as her friend from the senior center had called her and bragged that the people from the broadcasting station had come to her house.
She was happy to see them two at first, but when she saw Maxi behind them, she looked a bit surprised.
This guy with thick eye makeup and leopard print pants.
Im Soonhyun seemed to have a culture shock for a moment. Then she decided to give him a compliment.
“Oh, you… You look brave like a lion.”
Woojoo couldn’t help but laugh at the awkward praise.
Anyway, they exchanged greetings in a friendly atmosphere.
Woojoo asked for permission to hold her hand, and then he held both of her hands and looked into her eyes with a smile.
Woojoo deliberately pronounced more clearly than usual, and he was glad that she seemed to like it.
After the VJ took off his shoes and entered, they followed him into the house.
A brown Pomeranian in the living room ran towards them with a bounce.
“Wow, how cute.”
As Maxi and the VJ smiled broadly, Woojoo also laughed because it was adorable.
“…”
Rihyuk was standing still in his place, hunching his shoulders as if he was glued to the spot.
The puppy ran around Rihyuk as if it was happy to see him, but he only rolled his eyes without moving a muscle.
The VJ, who had been frowning because of the sunlight and the filming equipment, showed a faint smile for the first time.
“Are you afraid of dogs?”
Grandma Im Soonhyun snickered and picked up the dog.
Then she led them to a place with her awkward gait.
The living room.
To be precise, it was more like a storeroom than a living room.
Grandma looked embarrassed and said, “Is it messy?”
“No, no.”
“My back has been hurting so much lately that I couldn’t clean up. That’s why, can you please help me with this a little bit… Do you think you can do it?”
“Cleaning?”
And then, Rihyuk, who had been groaning as if he was going to faint from anemia, suddenly straightened up.
He looked like a squid with a developed erector spinae muscle.
Their fourth member’s eyes sparkled.
“Do you mean we can help you with cleaning?”
He looked at the stuff piled up in the living room with Grandma, and while wiping the dust with a tissue, he gave an estimate like a person who was very excited.
As Woojoo approached Rihyuk, who was asking Grandma if this would be okay, Maxi whispered to him, “Does he like cleaning?”
“He goes to a vacuum cleaner expo on his days off.”
“Geez… There are all kinds of weird people.”
‘I know, right. Geez.’
But thanks to him, Woojoo had a feeling that the mission would be relatively easy.
As Woojoo walked towards Rihyuk, who was gesturing for him to come, he thought of the other members.
He wondered how they were doing.
***
At the same time.
Junghyun and Heysion, who had succeeded in getting tofu for their mission, were heading to another house.
The two men, who had been exchanging rap verses with rhymes about the ingredients for soybean paste stew, heard a strange sound.
“Ahh! You scared me!”
With a scream, the Team A members ran out of a house gate.
One of them, the model Han Sora, looked completely flustered.
As Junghyun tilted his head, Heysion asked, “What’s wrong with you guys?”
“We had to do a mission, but it was too fierce… Oh, you startled me!”
With a scream, something leaped onto the wall.
It had glossy black fur, sharply curved horns, and a massive body that was larger than any large dog.
The creature that boasted a regal appearance was none other than…
“A black goat?”
A black goat roared with dignity from the top of the wall.
-Baa!