Chapter 9: Irim’s Bibimbap

It was 9:30 AM.

As usual, Irim arrived at Narae Snacks 30 minutes early.

“Good morning.”

His greeting was met with a nod from Kim Soonyoung, who was sweeping the floor in the hall.

“Glad to see you, Irim-ssi. Ho ho.”

Kim Soonyoung was thirty-eight years old.

Always approaching things with a bright smile, she was a housewife with two elementary school sons and worked here as a server.

“Good morning, Soonyoung ajumma.”

“Ajumma? Call me noona. Noona.”

“Ah…… Yes, noona.”

Oh Chunsik, at the counter, chimed in as Irim chatted with Kim Soonyoung.

“Irim-ssi, if you’re here, hurry to the kitchen. The head chef doesn’t like you lingering in the hall. Don’t you know his temper?”

“Sorry.”

Irim scurried to the kitchen, and Kim Soonyoung wrinkled her nose.

Such a fuss in a small diner.

She swallowed the words she couldn’t say out loud.

“Good morning, Chef.”

Irim’s greeting was met with Kim Daewon’s silence.

It was as if he had decided not to engage in personal conversation with the kitchen assistant.

Irim took it in stride and went about his tasks.

While washing and preparing ingredients, Oh Chunsik poked his head into the kitchen and asked Kim Daewon.

“Chef, how’s Irim’s skill at frying eggs?”

The sudden question made Kim Daewon furrow his brow.

“Why are you asking that out of nowhere?”

“I’m the owner, can’t I be curious about that?”

Oh Chunsik was a bit irritated by Kim Daewon’s brash attitude.

At that, Kim Daewon slightly backed off.

“…It’s good enough to serve to customers.”

“Alright.”

As Oh Chunsik, now in a bad mood, was about to leave the kitchen.

Tatatatatat!

The sound of something being sliced at lightning speed assaulted his ears.

Oh Chunsik’s gaze turned to the source of the sound.

It was the sound of Irim julienning potatoes.

Oh Chunsik’s mouth slightly opened as he watched the skill.

What’s so fast?

Irim’s potato-julienning skill was extraordinary.

At a glance, it seemed like he was just moving the knife quickly, but on closer inspection, the julienned potatoes were uniform in size.

Oh Chunsik, poking his head out from the kitchen, was amazed.

I thought he was only good at frying eggs, but his knife skills are impressive too?

Suddenly, he recalled the resume Irim brought on the interview day.

It mentioned winning awards at some obscure cooking competitions.

Oh Chunsik still assumed those were small-scale, unknown competitions.

If he had won at famous competitions, why would he work as a kitchen assistant at a place like this?

Those weren’t even proper competitions, just some minor awards, right?

Oh Chunsik felt a bit less reluctant about the money paid to Irim.

As lunchtime arrived, customers flooded in.

More than half were customers who had come yesterday at lunch.

As order slips piled up in the kitchen, Kim Daewon had Irim fry eggs.

Today, orders for bibimbap and fried rice dishes were particularly high.

Because customers who were satisfied yesterday brought their friends to reorder.

“Three bibimbaps are ready.”

“Okay!”

Yoo Mirae took the dishes Irim finished and served them.

The bracelet she wore yesterday was no longer on her wrist.

Gulp!

During the short time of taking food from the order table to the customers, Yoo Mirae’s gaze couldn’t leave the fried egg on the bibimbap.

It looks like it’s about the same quality as the fried eggs Rice-nim made.

Yesterday, after finishing work and logging into Real, she reunited with Rice, whom she adored.

And in exchange for helping with his business, she got to eat lizard skewers and a fried egg.

Yoo Mirae was none other than Melina.

The lizard skewers were delicious, but the fried egg was the best for her taste.

She loved egg dishes in general.

But the fried egg Rice made was the best among the recent ones she had tried.

The taste from yesterday kept lingering, making her crave Irim’s fried egg even more.

I’ll definitely ask him to make one for me later.

Yoo Mirae resolved firmly in her mind.

***

“Huh? It tastes different from yesterday.”

Oh Chunsik, near the counter, perked up his ears at a male student eating bibimbap at a nearby table.

Huh? Different from yesterday? Did the quality drop again?

Then, a female student sitting across nodded.

“Yeah. It’s even tastier than yesterday?”

Hearing the female student’s words, Oh Chunsik’s eyes widened.

Tastier?

He hurriedly went to the kitchen to check the situation.

It was the same as yesterday—Kim Daewon cooked, and Irim only finished the dishes.

Irim was frying the eggs too.

Nothing’s different?

Oh Chunsik thought the college students were mistaken.

But then.

“Oh, it’s tastier than yesterday.”

“Right? How does it improve day by day?”

“Wow, this place is a real bibimbap gem. Approved.”

The customers who ordered bibimbap were all saying the same thing.

Moreover, customers who ordered fried rice dishes with eggs were sharing the same sentiment.

Even further, customers eating jeiyuk deopbap and kimchi tuna deopbap praised the upgraded taste.

What, why did the deopbap dishes suddenly get tastier?

Those weren’t touched by Irim, nor did they come with fried eggs.

Yet the taste improved?

Oh Chunsik was baffled.

Did the chef have some grand awakening?

There was no other way to explain this situation.

Oh Chunsik didn’t know.

Today’s rice wasn’t cooked by Kim Daewon but by Irim.

Because the quality of the rice itself was different, customers eating rice-based dishes felt the taste had improved.

Even with the same rice, Irim knew how to cook it more deliciously.

The rice he cooked was perfectly fluffy yet sticky, with an exceptional chewing texture.

Happiness bloomed in the mouths of customers eating the rice.

It was 3:30 PM, after the peak time.

Before leaving, Irim prepared additional ingredients needed for the evening business.

For the remaining 30 minutes, it was quiet, and Kim Daewon handled the occasional customer orders alone.

Time to get ready to leave.

At 4 PM, Irim took off his apron.

At that moment, a customer entered the diner.

Ding-a-ling

“Welcome!”

“Hello.”

The one who politely returned Yoo Mirae’s greeting was a white-haired elderly gentleman.

He sat at an empty table and ordered without looking at the menu.

“One bibimbap, please.”

Yoo Mirae brought water and side dishes, then took the order to the kitchen.

“One bibimbap~!”

Kim Daewon was about to prepare the bibimbap.

But then, his smartphone placed aside vibrated.

Bzzz-

Irim instinctively glanced at the screen, which read ‘My Love Suji-ssi’.

It was quite far from the image he had of Kim Daewon.

Kim Daewon’s face flushed as he checked the caller.

He picked up the phone, fidgeting, and asked Irim.

“Assistant, you can handle bibimbap, right?”

“Huh?”

“Can you do it or not?”

Kim Daewon asked with intensity in his eyes.

It was an unspoken pressure to say he could do it.

Irim thought for a brief moment.

Bibimbap was just putting pre-prepared toppings on rice and serving.

Even though Irim had lost his sense of taste and smell, he felt he could manage that and nodded.

“Yes, I can do it.”

“Good. I’m counting on you.”

Kim Daewon hurriedly exited through the kitchen’s back door.

Through the closing door, the sound of “Aigo~ Suji-ssi” could be heard.

Irim chuckled and prepared the ordered bibimbap.

He scooped the rice he had cooked into a bowl and added appropriate amounts of various vegetables and beef toppings.

Kim Daewon always piled on the toppings so generously it seemed excessive.

Many came for the bibimbap because of that.

But more isn’t always better.

You need to know how to balance the texture and taste when the ingredients are mixed with the rice.

Moreover, a dish that looks good tastes good.

Irim arranged the bibimbap toppings colorfully and beautifully.

He drizzled sesame oil, added an appropriate amount of gochujang, and topped it with a half-boiled fried egg.

“Bibimbap is ready.”

Irim placed the bibimbap on the order table.

“Okay!”

Yoo Mirae cheerfully responded, came over, and transferred the bibimbap to a tray.

But it looked different from the usual Narae Snacks bibimbap, starting with its appearance.

Wow.

The colorful vegetable toppings arranged like a painting in the bowl, the glossy fried egg in the center, and the subtle aroma of sesame oil intensely stimulated the appetite.

“Did the chef oppa make this?”

At Yoo Mirae’s question, Irim smiled awkwardly and answered.

“I made it. He said to do it because he got an important call.”

“No way. It looks really delicious.”

“It’s just the same ingredients arranged a bit more neatly. Oh, and I made an extra fried egg. Serve the bibimbap and come eat it.”

“How did you know I wanted a fried egg?”

“I have that much of an eye.”

“I’m touched.”

Yoo Mirae’s eyes sparkled brightly.

After serving the bibimbap to the elderly gentleman’s table, she came back like the wind.

Irim handed her a small plate with a fried egg.

“Wow. I finally get to eat this.”

“Don’t expect too much. It’s just a regular fried egg.”

“No! It’s different. I can tell just by looking at it.”

Yoo Mirae confidently picked up the egg with chopsticks and put it in her mouth.

Her cheeks puffed up from the egg filling her mouth, looking as cute as a squirrel.

Seeing this, Irim couldn’t help but laugh.

“Haha.”

Yoo Mirae, oblivious to Irim’s laughter, was fully immersed in the taste of the fried egg filling her mouth.

No way. It tastes exactly like the fried egg Rice-nim made.

It was believable that the same person made it.

Gulp!

After thoroughly chewing and swallowing the fried egg, Yoo Mirae clenched her fists near her chest and looked at Irim with an emotional face.

“It’s really delicious.”

“Thank you.”

Watching Yoo Mirae eat, Irim couldn’t help but think of Melina.

She had eaten the fried egg like a squirrel in the same way.

“Oppa, could you teach me how to make fried eggs sometime?”

“It’s not something worth teaching.”

“Come on, don’t say that~”

While Yoo Mirae was having a short conversation with Irim, the elderly gentleman was mixing his bibimbap.

The egg white broke, and the yolk popped, seeping into the rice.

The other toppings mixed harmoniously with gochujang and sesame oil.

Is it as delicious as the rumors?

The elderly gentleman took a spoonful of the well-mixed bibimbap and put it in his mouth.

He had no special expectations.

Rumors are often exaggerated, after all.

Besides, he already knew the level of Narae Snacks’ bibimbap.

But he visited out of curiosity after hearing that the bibimbap’s quality suddenly improved yesterday.

The elderly gentleman slowly savored the bibimbap in his mouth.

His jaw moved once, twice, three times.

And then,

“…My.”

The elderly gentleman’s eyes widened.