The first day of selling hotteok in San Diego.
Even before opening time, the PD gave us the briefing with a broad grin.
“Everyone, don’t forget! You’re going out to have fun tomorrow~”
“…….”
Our remaining debt was one thousand dollars.
Last season, after getting trapped in the endless cycle of debt and sales, we had even suffered a miserable defeat in the final desperate drawing of lots, finishing the season as debtors.
Which meant that unless we earned around fifteen hundred dollars today, the moment we went out to have fun tomorrow, going back into debt was guaranteed.
It’d make for better footage if we managed to pay everything off around here.
If the money kept piling up, the lack of tension became a problem, but constantly remaining in debt wasn’t much good either.
Wasn’t it better to have rises and falls?
But maybe the PD bastard had gotten too immersed himself, because he wasn’t leaving us any openings.
“We have to show our Korean conscience, right? You can’t just double the price because you added one piece of dalgona~”
“Tch.”
“Hmm? Who went tch just now?”
Can’t be helped.
The only things I could rely on now were our ability to draw customers and…
Cha Eugene’s existing connections.
Right on cue, Cha Eugene shot both arms into the air.
[All my high-school friends say they’re coming! Let’s make every person order three menu items!]
“No, it’s fine.”
At that point it would be coercive selling.
Rather than have controversy posts go up about it, we were better off just working hard at attracting customers.
It was about time to reorganize the job assignments too and squeeze some fresh entertainment out of that, but we needed practiced skill today, so after discussing it, we postponed the change.
As a result, today’s lineup was similar to the previous one.
Cha Eugene and Seon Ahyeon, who were fluent in foreign languages, took orders.
Ryu Chungwoo and Big Sejin handled the final plating and serving.
However, one person’s position had changed.
“I’ll work hard.”
Bae Sejin had been assigned to the cooking team.
The superficial reason was that adding dalgona had increased the workload…
But the real reason was something else.
Last season, Bae Sejin had fallen into self-loathing after a single mistake, so I had pulled him out and made him a floater under the guise of an all-purpose position.
The response had been pretty good.
People went crazy calling him cute.
The production team had done such a good job through editing of highlighting how hard he worked that his image became, “It doesn’t look like it, but he’s actually doing one-and-a-half people’s worth of work.”
And this time, by assigning him a proper position based on that image, we could create the satisfaction of watching him get promoted.
It might be even funnier if we could get footage of him interacting with foreigners more often.
I dropped the idea because Bae Sejin’s stomach would probably melt from stress.
“I’ll work hard too! Let’s make and sell perfect hotteok today!”
“…Okay!”
“Yes. Shall we do a cheer before we start?”
“Yeah!”
I had a feeling the next cut would come with a caption like, They were still full of energy at this point, but for the sake of the footage, we did one anyway.
Next…
The toppings we needed to prepare immediately before opening.
“Moondae-ssi, what are you doing right now~?”
“Preparing the dalgona in advance.”
Big Sejin began pointing a handheld camera at the frying pan.
They would probably use it in the separate recipe clip.
Although calling this a recipe was honestly embarrassing.
“After melting enough sugar, I’m going to add baking soda and create plenty of air pockets.”
“Oh~ What does that do?”
“It makes the texture softer.”
Using three enormous frying pans, I made some absurdly huge pieces of dalgona.
Then I handed them over one by one to Bae Sejin, who was waiting nearby.
“Me! I’ll eat it!”
“…Here.”
Bae Sejin, who had been diligently breaking the dalgona apart, awkwardly held out a large piece to Cha Eugene.
It looked like someone feeding a wild beast, but in the actual broadcast, it would probably be framed as a heartwarming moment.
Then, just then, Kim Raebin, who had been carefully portioning all the crushed pieces of dalgona, suddenly made a noise.
“Uh, uh, uh!”
“What’s wrong?”
“A-Are you hurt…?!”
Even Seon Ahyeon, who had been arranging tables outside, came running in.
“No! I would merely like everyone to pay attention to this once!”
Then Kim Raebin excitedly began putting the dalgona portions he had separated…
onto a scale.
30 grams.
The exact target amount, without any margin of error.
Don’t tell me he made that noise because he wanted to brag about this.
“Yeah. That’s exact.”
“And this one too!”
Kim Raebin hurriedly placed another portion on the scale.
Thirty grams again.
“Oh.”
“This one as well…!”
Kim Raebin kept placing different packs of dalgona on the scale.
30, 30, 30, 31, 30…….
“…??”
“Whoa.”
Even the production staff began murmuring.
The PD hurriedly asked,
“Raebin-ssi, did you portion all of these without using the scale, just by feel??”
Kim Raebin clenched both fists.
“Yes!!”
Good grief.
“Waaaaaaaah!!”
“What’s with Kim Raebin’s hands!”
The members surrounded Kim Raebin and started making a huge fuss.
Apparently, even if Kim Raebin had gone into a lab instead of the arts, he would have made an excellent slave…
No, graduate student.
“Amazing! Amazing!”
At some point, even the staff joined in, and suddenly the atmosphere was like someone had scored a goal in the World Cup.
[The malfunctioning hotteok machine]
[suddenly began operating normally]
Hmm.
Something like that would probably be edited in right after this.
The only question was whether what followed would be, Things had been going strangely well…, or The dream team is deployed.
Today’s sales performance will decide that.
At the art team’s request, I changed aprons.
It was almost time to open the shop.
Read only on MUGEX
Near La Jolla Beach on a day with pleasant weather.
A woman returning home with comics she had bought from a nearby comic shop caught a delicious smell.
Cinnamon?
At the nutty, sweet fragrance, she turned her head and spotted a small shop around the corner.
I think that used to be a taco place.
She had never gone in before, so she couldn’t be sure, but drawn by the pleasant smell, her feet naturally carried her over.
Jingle!
[Welcome~]
[Um, hello.]
Even at this awkward hour, there already seemed to be quite a few customers inside.
The people who looked like employees moved effortlessly between the tables serving food, greeting her as they worked.
Then one of them approached first.
[Would you like to try one?]
[Ah, um, sure.]
A tall man with a lively voice held out a sampling plate.
His broad, cheerful smile was pleasant to look at.
Without thinking, she picked up one of the pieces on the plate.
[It’s a sweet snack with a little cinnamon~ The texture is nice. With ice cream or….]
[Table three, two dalgona!]
[Yeah, got it! Um, ma’am, try it, and if you like it, call me!]
The man grinned and seemed about to add something else, but when someone called from the kitchen, he left only the smile behind and ran off.
The person who had called him from the kitchen was another man around the same age, with clear skin and neat features.
They’re all handsome….
There was a vibe you could feel regardless of race.
Standing blankly near the entrance, she chewed the piece of hotteok.
Hot, sweet cinnamon syrup burst out from inside the crisp outer layer.
“…!”
This is good!
She had already been lured over by the smell, but now her mind was made up.
Looks like I’ve found today’s snack.
She immediately headed for the counter where the menu board hung.
The man leaning against the counter suddenly straightened and addressed her.
[You’re ordering, right?]
Uhhh?
At the familiar face beneath the unfamiliar hair color, her mouth fell open.
[Whoa! You! Eugene!]
[Huh?]
The other person looked puzzled.
When he raised his head, his striking features and canine teeth became even more visible.
Her memory was right.
It was Eugene!
[Um… Have we met before? Middle school? Elementary school?]
Of course, she should have expected this reaction too.
He had been such a popular, successful guy at school that the only point of contact he’d had with a straight-A nerd like her was when she showed him her homework and received some snacks in return.
[Ah… I’m Hannah Hamilton. We were in the same class in middle school.]
[Ah~ Hannah! Nice to see you. How’ve you been?]
Wow.
Still, it was encouraging that he actually recognized her!
Hannah gave a dry laugh and replied.
[Couldn’t be better. You?]
[Awesome. Ah, are you going to order?]
[Huh? Uh… Um.]
While she hesitated, new people entered the shop.
[You bastard, you came back to San Diego??]
[Oh~ Good to see you!]
Ugh.
They were former middle-school classmates she didn’t know personally.
Uncomfortable, Hannah stepped backward.
And bumped into someone behind her.
[…! I’m sorry!]
[It’s all right.]
Another employee.
A French accent colored his speech.
And astonishingly, this one was handsome too.
…What is this?
What on earth was happening in this tiny shop?
When their eyes met, the elegant-looking employee smiled and asked,
[…Would you like to order?]
[…Yes! Um, do you happen to have any vegetarian options?]
[Of course. We do have… a vegetarian option. Would you… take a look here?]
The polite, refined employee recommended a vegetarian hotteok topped with cashew-vanilla ice cream.
By the time her order arrived, Eugene came back over.
[Hannah~ Huh? You already ordered!]
They exchanged a short conversation while she ate.
And one part of it nearly made her choke.
[Y-You’re a K-pop singer?]
[Yeah!]
It was something she never could have imagined.
It might sound strange to say, but hearing a popular guy who used to play football talk about becoming a K-pop singer felt bizarre!
It was true that some K-pop singers were famous, but overall, it still felt closer to a subculture.
Eugene, however, was completely unfazed.
[You didn’t know? We’re filming right now! Everyone here is on my team.]
[…!!]
At his words, Hannah looked around.
Sure enough, there were camera lenses visible here and there.
There were notices placed around the shop too.
- Filming for a Korean broadcasting station is currently in progress. Thank you for your understanding.
She had been so distracted by the food and the employees that she hadn’t noticed them.
I run into my old classmate who used to be a quarterback, and now he’s a K-pop star selling snacks…
The situation felt so unreal that she silently went back to chewing her food.
Even then, the hotteok she had ordered was extremely good.
They’d probably do well even if they just kept selling here.
On top of that, near the end of the meal, she was unexpectedly given a drink.
[Um, it’s called a “dalgona soy latte”! That hyung says it’s on the house for my friend.]
[Hyung?]
She followed Eugene’s gesture and turned toward the kitchen.
The expressionless man she had seen earlier nodded from inside.
Then gave a slight smile.
…That’s cute!
She nearly smiled stupidly and nodded back before barely managing to change course halfway through.
[Really? Thank you. He’s very kind.]
[Yeah, he’s a good hyungnim!]
Hannah unconsciously drank the new beverage while talking to Eugene.
…!
This was quite good too.
Reflexively raising her head to look toward the kitchen again, she saw the man who had given her the free drink controlling the kitchen as a whole.
He’s a singer, but he cooks this professionally?
Maybe cooking was actually his main job, and he was simply filling a position as a not particularly prominent member of the band as well….
…Should I ask for his number?
No.
Forget it.
There was no way he would give it to her.
She stopped the pointless thought and picked up her smartphone instead.
Click.
She photographed the shop’s menu board and uploaded it to her comics-fan social media account.
[Found this place by chance. Apparently a KPOP boy band is running it, but the food tasted professionally made (chin-resting emoji)]
There was no particular meaning behind the post.
It was just a record.
Still, it really is good food. …And the employees are cute.
In the end, she even ordered three sets of hotteok to take home.
The man in the kitchen happily witnessed the entire sequence of events.
Good. Sales are going smoothly.
At this rate, they were on the verge of breaking their highest-ever total.
Park Moondae was privately satisfied in the kitchen.
That night, Hannah discovered that the post she had uploaded to social media had received an unbelievable amount of attention.
TeSTAR’s fans had flooded into her replies, practically crying as they begged to know the shop’s location.
- Please please please tell me please where is it??
- Oh my god I was at La Jolla Beach yesterday ;(
- You lucky person (GIF of Cha Eugene staring at Park Moondae’s hotteok)
Oh my god.
In the end, after watching a few of TeSTAR’s music videos and their appearance on an American talk show, she realized that her old classmate had become far more successful than she had imagined.
And after floundering through WeTube for several days, she would end up wanting to turn back time because she “should have gotten an autograph.”
“Phew.”
I sat down on the edge of the bed assigned to me.
It was the night after successfully finishing our first day of business.
- Today’s sales… 1,627 dollars!
- WAAAAAAAAAH!!
Giving low-cost drinks as freebies to customers who had come through personal connections and using them to encourage additional purchases had worked even better than expected.
Cha Eugene’s friends were big spenders.
Sold out.
And after a noisy dinner with Cha Eugene’s family, we were finally given some time to rest.
Unfortunately, I had ended up sharing a room with Cha Eugene again.
Damn it.
So much for getting any peace tonight.
Even now, Cha Eugene was talking nonstop.
“Hyung! Let’s think of something cool for our unit stage!”
Still, I hadn’t heard this particular line in a while, not since our unit stage had been confirmed for the encore concert.
Well.
It was about time we started discussing it.
“What?”
Cha Eugene slapped my bed.
[I’ve thought about it a lot, and I still think the circus is the best choice!]
Is that so?
Looking at my smartphone, I answered,
“Sure.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s do the circus.”
“Whoa!”
Cha Eugene shot both hands into the air.
And a short while later.
[Wouldn’t diving be more shocking after all??]
Knew it.
I need to manage the preparation process carefully.
I could say this with certainty.
A unit stage with Cha Eugene would either be a massive hit—
or a complete disaster.