NOVEL NEXT 85
One of the customers in line expressed their puzzlement.
“Huh? That voice sounds really familiar…”
“!”
At those words, I perked up my ears while making toast. Jung Jun-ha also seemed slightly flustered.
“Where have I heard it before?”
“It’s definitely someone I know…”
“Ah!”
The customers looked at each other and exclaimed:
“It’s Jung Jun-ha!”
We’ve been found out.
‘What do we do now?’
I hoped those two would quietly keep it to themselves and pretend not to know, but that would be unreasonable for people excited about meeting a celebrity for the first time.
With sparkling eyes, they asked Jung Jun-ha:
“It’s Jung Jun-ha, right?!”
“Wow. Can we get your autograph?”
Oh no. Their voices were quite loud.
This caused others nearby to start murmuring.
“What? Who’s Jung Jun-ha?”
“Oh, oh, it is! That’s Jung Jun-ha!”
The murmurs spread rapidly. Even those who initially asked “Who? Who?” soon glanced at Jung Jun-ha at the front and nodded, saying “It is him!”
His height, a head taller than others, was proving to be quite troublesome now.
“No, well, that’s…”
Jung Jun-ha stammered, unable to continue. As people around him insistently demanded “Autograph, please!”, he finally picked up a pen with a dejected expression.
At the same time, a staff member who had been hiding nearby revealed themselves and shouted:
“Jung Jun-ha, disqualified!”
What? Disqualified?
‘What does that mean? There’s even disqualification?’
I thought it would be at most a penalty of a few percent off the sales. But completely out?
I turned my head sharply to look at Jung Jun-ha, who was scratching the back of his head as he explained.
“If our identity is revealed, we’re immediately out…”
Come on, you should have told me that earlier!
I momentarily stopped my busy toast-making hands. There were still plenty of ingredients piled up, and the line was incredibly long.
People far down the line, hearing shouts of “It’s Jung Jun-ha!” and “Jung Jun-ha is selling toast!”, were joining the queue one after another.
Watching this scene, I asked dejectedly:
“So we can’t sell toast anymore?”
“No… According to the rules, once our identity is revealed, we can’t add to our sales from that point on…”
“……”
This can’t be happening. We were so close to winning.
I silently gazed at the long line, then blurted out:
“But it just won’t be added to the sales, right?”
“Huh? Oh, that’s right.”
“Sigh.”
I let out a deep sigh, then carefully counted the remaining slices of bread. About 100 slices left, I guess.
We could make 50 more.
“Were you planning to take the leftover ingredients home?”
“Ah, no?”
“Then leave them here. I’ll finish up.”
“What?”
When Jung Jun-ha asked as if he didn’t understand, I answered once more, clearly:
“The line is long. I think we can give toast to everyone already in line. We still have ingredients left, and they’ve been waiting for so long, how can we just tell them to go?”
“But, that’s…”
Jung Jun-ha looked bewildered. My sudden statement clearly left him unsure how to respond.
“It’s just that I’d feel bad otherwise. This is a promise between people, how can we just cut it off because the broadcast is over? We still have ingredients left, and it’s not even late yet.”
It’s only 7 PM.
“You go ahead. Don’t you have more filming to do? I’ll take care of returning the food truck and cleaning up. Oh, how many number tickets do you have left? Just give out enough for 50 more customers…”
“Hey. I’ll stay and help too!”
“?”
This time, it was my turn to look puzzled.
Jung Jun-ha-ssi, why?
“Ah, how can I just leave? When you’re staying behind like this. If I go alone, I’ll look like the bad guy~!”
He says it jokingly, but he’s grinning as he does.
“Let’s sell the rest well. I’ll make the number tickets, so please start making the orders that came in first.”
“Oh, okay. But don’t you have more broadcast filming left?”
“Today’s filming is done anyway, and we’re just gathering tomorrow to tally up the results.”
Well, if that’s the case, it should be fine.
I was a bit confused because this was purely due to my stubbornness, and there was no reason for Jung Jun-ha to struggle along with me.
But Jung Jun-ha seemed to have already made up his mind, striking a fighting pose and saying, “Let’s do this!”
I responded with a “Fighting!” of my own.
And so, our toast business continued into the night.
“Here we go, our last customer!”
“Wow!”
“This is the 50th and final toast. Enjoy~”
“Thank you!”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Thank you for waiting.”
I smiled brightly and playfully added:
“I put in more peanut butter than usual, you know? Watch your blood sugar~”
The customer laughed cheerfully at my words, bowed slightly, and walked away.
“Phew.”
Finally done. I collapsed onto a chair behind me. How long has it been since I worked directly like this?
With my youthful face, it’s a minus to be seen coming and going in the kitchen, so except for developing new menu items or during training, I rarely took direct command like this.
Food trucks aren’t my specialty, but I think I did a pretty good job nonetheless.
“Good work.”
I casually tossed those words to Jung Jun-ha sitting next to me.
After handing out all the number tickets, he assisted me in the kitchen, but due to the low ceiling of the food truck, he had to work in a hunched position.
All he did was refill ingredients when I mentioned we were running low, and keep customers entertained while they waited by giving autographs and fan service.
But even that must have consumed considerable energy.
“I thought I was going to die… Wow, this is not something to be taken lightly.”
“I told you, business isn’t easy.”
“I felt that deeply today.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at Jung Jun-ha’s whining.
“Still, thanks to you, we finished earlier than expected. Thank you.”
“Ah, it’s nothing. This food truck started because of me, so of course I had to help.”
Although we’ve only met for two days, perhaps because we went through this together today, I felt closer to him.
“Let’s have a meal together sometime. You worked hard because of my stubbornness, so I’ll treat you.”
“No, no~ You appeared because I asked, so I’ll treat you!”
“Then how about we have the root of all this, Chef Bong, treat us?”
“That sounds good.”
We both nodded in agreement, then faced each other and exchanged greetings.
“Good work today~!”
It was finally over.
Until then, I had no idea in my wildest dreams.
What kind of repercussions this broadcast would bring about.
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[Jung Jun-ha’s toast from Infinite Challenge is insanely delicious]
It’s really crazy good, you must try it
Sharing for the public good
[Ah, Song ○○ looks so cute in this scene]
You know that meme? The raccoon washing cotton candy lolol
(Broadcast screen capture with the caption “So we can’t sell toast anymore?”)
This expression lololololol
[But the mindset is amazing]
Subject is Song ○○ from Infinite Challenge
She said she’d sell everything alone even after the broadcast ended because it was a promise with customers
Really seems like a true chef;;
Honestly, I liked her on Raid the Refrigerator too, doing well with Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Western cuisines
Became a huge fan after watching Infinite Challenge
As I looked at the string of posts, I felt a strange mix of emotions.
“Is all this about me?”
“Yep. That’s what I’m saying!”
Jung Da-on nodded as she spoke.
“I watched Infinite Challenge live too. The broadcast came out really well and was entertaining. You hit first place in sales but then got your identity revealed and ended up in last place.”
“I didn’t know I came in last.”
I’ve been in occasional contact with Jung Jun-ha since then, but we were just that kind of acquaintances. I hadn’t heard anything specific about the competition results.
Did he intentionally not mention it? It would be a bit embarrassing to say you came in last after all that hard work.
“After watching that, I thought, ‘Ah, people might react to this!’ so I looked it up. And sure enough, there were many people talking about you!”
Jung Da-on seemed extremely excited. I’m not sure why you look happier than me.
To be honest, while I might understand the press, I’m quite unfamiliar with these kinds of online communities. Even just looking at what Jung Da-on showed me, there was so much I didn’t understand.
“I’m telling you, this ‘can’t sell toast anymore’ meme is replacing the cotton candy washing meme.”
“Can’t sell toast anymore?”
“‘Can we not sell toast anymore?’ This one.”
“And what’s cotton candy washing?”
Speak in a way I can understand, will you?
“There’s this famous meme. Raccoons have a habit of washing everything before eating. So even if you give them cotton candy, they try to wash it in water.”
“It’ll dissolve.”
“That’s what makes it funny.”
“?”
What are you talking about?
Seeing that I totally didn’t understand, Jung Da-on continued, sounding a bit exasperated.
“Anyway, the important thing is that people are paying more attention to you than when you just appeared on Raid the Refrigerator! And you showed how knowledgeable you are about various cuisines on Raid the Refrigerator, right?”
“I did.”
When I rattled off related knowledge, even the chefs would look at me with wide eyes.
“But that’s because chefs mainly study their own specialties, while I research a bit of everything…”
“To viewers, that looked incredible! You’ve created an image of a cooking ‘expert’.”
Oh ho. I didn’t know it would have that effect. I just answered questions and added interesting tidbits of information.
As I nodded in agreement, Jung Da-on emphasized once more.
“Do you know what that means?”
Her eyes looking at me were mixed with equal parts goodwill and reverence.
“It means ‘Song Woo-yeon’ herself is becoming a brand.”
This was quite a remarkable thing.
The public likes familiarity, and the more they see something, the more they unconsciously trust it.
What does it mean for ‘Song Woo-yeon’ herself to become a brand?
‘It means it’s not Song Woo-yeon of The Song, but The Song of Song Woo-yeon.’
It means people won’t consume my brand by seeing The Song, but they’ll choose the store by seeing my face on the signboard.
‘That was exactly the power I wanted most.’
The power to protect myself from Hyeonmu. Drawing public attention to me and making them support me.
Fortunately, it seemed I had achieved that intended goal.
“…It’s time to move on to the next stage.”
That’s right.
The Song is no longer a small business not worth Hyeonmu’s attention.
A rookie that appeared like a comet in the food service industry. And as far as I know, if it’s them…
They’ll soon come to trample me.
‘Let’s see what you’ve got.’
I’ve been waiting.