God-Given Business Genius

“Chef Song, hello! It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

I smiled brightly at the person greeting me.

A skinny frame with round, thick glasses. A bare face without a hint of makeup. Eyes weary from who-knows-when she last slept, and hair pulled back tightly into a bun.

Anyone would recognize her as a broadcast writer at a glance.

“The pleasure is mine. I never imagined I’d appear on ‘Infinite Challenge’ like this.”

“Haha. We’re all about keeping it real. Thanks to you being next to Chef Bong when Jung Jun-ha called, this connection was made.”

Indeed.

After a brief call with Jung Jun-ha, I was immediately brought in for filming the next day under the pretext of “recipe transmission.”

You could say it was a connection made through Bong Kang-min. It seemed that what should have been Bong Kang-min’s appearance somehow ended up coming to me.

“I enjoyed watching ‘Raid the Refrigerator’.”

Ah. No wonder she called me ‘Chef’ Song.

I don’t have the background to warrant the title ‘chef’. She must have naturally thought of me as ‘Chef Song’ after watching ‘Raid the Refrigerator’.

“You did so well there that I’m not worried, but let me explain a few things…”

The writer pushed up her glasses and explained various precautions. Meanwhile, some staff members approached to attach a microphone to me.

“…so that’s what you need to be careful about.”

“I understand.”

“We’ll add your introduction and background as captions. Also, due to time constraints, we probably won’t include much of the recipe transmission scene. So please go straight into explaining the recipe.”

“Will do.”

“Then we’ll start filming right away!”

Busy, busy. Right, didn’t they say they’d film the business scene tomorrow right after receiving the recipe today? No wonder they’re in a hurry.

Watching people rushing around busily, I was newly impressed by how many hands it takes to create a broadcast.

As they announced we’d start filming soon, Jung Jun-ha, who had been waiting in the distance, had already approached.

“I look forward to working with you!”

“Likewise.”

After a brief greeting, filming began immediately.

“Jung Jun-ha-ssi.”

“Yes?”

Jung Jun-ha seemed a bit surprised that I took the lead. He probably thought he should lead, given his greater broadcasting experience.

But not at all.

“Do you know what the key to business is?”

I’m quite adept at sprinkling MSG, you know.

Whether in cooking or broadcasting.

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Jung Jun-ha, who usually loves to eat, decided to sell food, playing to his image and forte!

He seeks help from Song Woo-yeon, a superstar in the food industry and a professional business manager who’s been making waves on ‘Raid the Refrigerator’ recently…

This was the story outline that Kang Ga-young, the ‘Infinite Challenge’ writer, had conceived.

Depending on what recipe Song Woo-yeon would share, she might have to completely change the broadcast outline afterward.

That’s not much of a problem. Kang Ga-young is an experienced broadcast writer, after all.

But when a scene unfolded that completely defied expectations, she couldn’t help but gape.

At the end of Kang Ga-young’s gaze were Song Woo-yeon and Jung Jun-ha.

“Do you have a menu in mind?”

“Um… since I’m not very good at cooking, I was thinking of something simple, and since I’ll be renting a food truck, I thought of something like toast…”

“Toast is fine. But selling regular street toast that everyone knows won’t be distinctive. You need to boost sales in just one day, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then you need to catch people’s eyes enough to make even passersby turn and think, ‘Huh? What’s that?’ We can’t build a regular customer base over months, so we need to create buzz.”

Watching Song Woo-yeon expound on business secrets, Kang Ga-young saw a different charm from the ‘Chef Song’ shown on ‘Raid the Refrigerator’.

‘She speaks interestingly too. I found myself absorbed without realizing it.’

You could call it charisma. She had the power to captivate even Kang Ga-young, who had no interest in the food industry.

“Toast, huh… Ah, I have a recipe I thought of before. It would be fun to try that.”

Song Woo-yeon grinned as she spoke.

“It’s called ‘Calorie Bomb Toast’.”

With that, she began pulling out ingredients from the kitchen.

Bread, so far so normal.

But the subsequent parade of ingredients was far from ordinary.

White chocolate, banana, mozzarella cheese, and even peanut butter.

Jung Jun-ha’s eyes widened involuntarily.

“These are toast ingredients?”

“Yes. You know what they say? Calories are the power level of flavor. This Calorie Bomb Toast is incredibly delicious. It’s just that you gain weight along with it.”

Then Song Woo-yeon winked playfully at the camera filming her and said:

“I’ll only recommend this to those looking for a quick bulk-up~”

She looked so much like a seasoned broadcast performer that Kang Ga-young found herself doubting Song Woo-yeon’s appearance history.

‘Did she do something like child modeling when young? How is she so natural in front of the camera? Usually, non-professional performers freeze up.’

She had shown a witty side on ‘Raid the Refrigerator’ too, but Kang Ga-young hadn’t expected her to be this good.

“Now, first spread a thick layer of peanut butter on the bread~ Make sure to cover it completely.”

Song Woo-yeon showed the side profile of the bread and peanut butter to the nearest camera, giving an idea of the quantity.

“Slice the banana as thinly as possible, and grate some chocolate on top. I’ll add the cheese now too.”

A white banana blanket and chocolate piled up on the peanut butter.

“Put another slice of bread on top, and slowly grill it on low heat in a buttered pan. You want the cheese and chocolate to melt, you know? If you use high heat, the bread will burn first~”

Before long, Song Woo-yeon had whipped up a toast.

“There, done! Try it.”

As she sliced the toast with a knife, the cheese could be seen stretching.

‘Wow. I wonder what it tastes like.’

Kang Ga-young could hardly imagine it. She found her gaze following the toast without realizing it.

“Here you go.”

Jung Jun-ha took a piece of toast and stuffed it into his mouth in one go.

“Oh…!”

His eyes widened involuntarily. Jung Jun-ha looked at Song Woo-yeon with a surprised face.

“This is really delicious!”

“Right? But you shouldn’t eat too much~ The calories are no joke.”

“Whew. I can imagine. Wow, I thought it would just be super sweet, but with the cheese and banana, the balance seems just right.”

“As expected, you know your food. People who’ve eaten a lot really understand food, you know? Jung Jun-ha-ssi, you’re spot on.”

As the two bantered back and forth, what mattered to Kang Ga-young now was that remaining toast!

‘Will the staff eat the leftovers? Could I get a bite too?’

To Kang Ga-young, exhausted from grueling overnight work, that high-calorie toast was exactly the energy source she needed right now.

Whether it was an illusion or not, she even felt like her body was craving that toast.

As she stared blankly without realizing it, Song Woo-yeon seemed to read her mind and looked towards the staff.

“Would anyone else like to try? Since Jung Jun-ha-ssi eats so well, viewers might doubt the taste.”

“I’ll try it.”

Kang Ga-young seized the opportunity and jumped up from her seat.

“Here you go.”

Song Woo-yeon popped a bite-sized piece of toast into Kang Ga-young’s mouth.

Chew.

The moment she bit into it, flavors seemed to explode in her mouth. The intense taste filling her dry mouth made her head spin.

“……!”

As she stood with her eyes wide open, unable to speak, Song Woo-yeon grinned and asked:

“Delicious, isn’t it?”

Kang Ga-young nodded immediately. Her mouth was still busy chewing the toast, unable to answer properly, but her whole body expressed affirmation.

She could feel her body welcoming the calorie bomb toast. As sugar rushed through her body, she felt her energy returning.

She felt like she wanted to eat this toast every time she had to pull an all-nighter from now on. Kang Ga-young decided she would order bread and peanut butter tonight.

Of course, it would be difficult to toast it with cheese, but adding banana and chocolate should make it taste similar enough.

As Kang Ga-young sat back down, envious glances poured in from around her. Jung Jun-ha, still unable to contain his excitement, ate another piece and said:

“Wow, this is really amazing. If we sell this, we’ll become rich for sure, right?”

“Haha. Let’s hope so.”

“It’s so delicious!”

Jung Jun-ha gave a thumbs up and enthusiastically began receiving the recipe.

The cooking itself wasn’t too difficult, as it only involved stacking ingredients and grilling briefly.

“Make sure to get first place.”

“Yes!”

Song Woo-yeon finished transmitting the recipe with a small encouragement and a bow.

“……Cut!”

“Good work, everyone!”

As the cut sign was given, the surroundings became boisterous. That was the end of filming.

Song Woo-yeon could be seen busily greeting people around her. Kang Ga-young also squeezed through the crowd to greet her.

“Thank you for your hard work today, Chef Song.”

“Ah, Writer Kang. You’re the one who worked hard. I just cooked as usual, that’s all.”

“Thanks to you, we might have some interesting footage. You’re quite good at broadcasting.”

“Haha. Is that so?”

As Song Woo-yeon smiled broadly, Kang Ga-young rummaged in her pocket and pulled out a crumpled business card.

“This is all I have right now. Please accept it anyway.”

Song Woo-yeon accepted Kang Ga-young’s card and handed over her own.

Song Woo-yeon. CEO of .

Kang Ga-young decided to remember those three syllables well.

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I thought that would be the end of my appearance on ‘Infinite Challenge’.

Until the day the business started,

When a call came through on Jung Jun-ha’s phone.

“Hello?”

“Chef Song…!”

Startled by the tearful voice, I gripped the phone tighter.

“What’s wrong?”

“We’re in trouble. The toast…”

“?”

“The toast isn’t selling!”

What did he say?