Chapter 59: The Taste of Thaengmopan

Irim seriously wondered how on earth KoreanFoodKing managed to work in the food industry at all.

Melina, standing beside him, leaned in close and whispered.

“You saw it, right? It’s a total disaster.”

Because Melina had come so close, her chest pressed firmly against Irim’s arm.

Startled, Irim quickly stepped sideways and pretended to look elsewhere.

“Y-Yeah… Anyway, I think I need to log out for now.”

“Already? That’s too bad. You’ll log in tomorrow too, right?”

“Yes.”

Irim nodded.

Mio, who had been lying on top of Irim’s head, bobbed up and down with the motion.

Melina’s eyes widened.

“Wait a second, Rice-nim! This adorable creature is a cat!”

Her eyes sparkled brightly.

“That’s right.”

“Since when has she been here?”

“She was with me even the last time we met at the Tirko Village restaurant.”

“How did I miss her? She’s so cute! What’s her name?”

“Mio.”

“Mio~ Can I pet her head?”

The instant Melina asked, Irim remembered Maengho trying to touch Mio and getting pummeled by nyang-nyang punches.

Yet Mio showed no resistance to Melina’s hand.

She even rubbed her face against it and started purring ~gorogoro~.

Irim couldn’t help but think:

‘Is this little one actually a male?’

While Melina happily stroked Mio, Irim asked a question that had been on his mind.

“Melina-nim, by the way… did you get a profession?”

“Yes~ I did!”

“What profession?”

Melina grinned as she played with Mio’s jellybean paw pads.

“Server.”

***

Sunday.

The usually closed Narae Snacks opened its doors early in the morning.

Oh Chunsik stepped inside.

He turned on the lights and looked around as Kim Daewon arrived for work.

“Good morning.”

Kim Daewon greeted him, but Oh Chunsik barely acknowledged it.

He was clearly in a foul mood, his brow deeply furrowed.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

Kim Daewon shrugged and went into the kitchen to start preparations.

Oh Chunsik suddenly asked him,

“Daewon-ah, have you ever heard of the Mir Korean Cuisine Management Competition?”

“What’s that?”

As expected, a clueless answer.

If he were the type to care about such things, his cooking skills would have improved steadily long ago.

His skills had stagnated for years.

No progress.

And he could only properly make Korean dishes.

At best, he could fry tonkatsu.

While checking the ingredients in the fridge, Kim Daewon said,

“You’re not thinking of sending me to some cooking contest, are you? I absolutely hate that stuff.”

“If you can’t even talk properly—”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

Oh Chunsik was burning inside.

He wanted to shout that Irim had been a goose that laid golden eggs.

But if he did, that prideful guy might throw a fit.

‘Ugh, I don’t even want to open today.’

In the end, Oh Chunsik kept his mouth shut.

***

Irim woke up early, took a shower, and recalled his conversation with Melina in the game.

She had said her profession was “Server.”

‘They even made a profession like that.’

He couldn’t help but marvel again at how incredible Real was.

She currently had two skills: Megaphone and Customer Luring.

Melina had freely shared her skill windows with Irim.

[Megaphone E (Passive)]  

Maximum vocal volume increased by 15%, pitch raised by 2%.

[Customer Luring E (Active)]

Infuses voice with enchantment to bewitch the listener’s mind. Bewitched targets fall into “Charmed” state and are controlled for 1 second. Effective on monsters 2★ and below. Consumes 50 satiety.

Melina had grumbled that Customer Luring seemed completely useless.

But to Irim, it looked like a cheat skill that would become insanely powerful once its rank rose.

If the control duration even reached 5 seconds, hunting monsters would become dramatically easier.

“Phew.”

After finishing his shower, Irim dressed quickly and hurried to Jeongmyeong Restaurant.

“You’re early.”

10 a.m.

Im Jeongmyeong was already there.

“Did you sleep well?”

***

“Of course~ Oh, right, Soonjae called. He said thank you so much for yesterday. He wants to bring everyone for a staff dinner when he has time.”

“He paid so generously—I’m the one who’s more grateful.”

While talking, Irim entered the kitchen.

It was packed with ingredients needed for business: buckwheat noodles, seaweed, perilla oil, sesame oil, sesame seeds, cucumbers, and more.

“Boss, you went shopping?”

“I have a food supplier I’ve dealt with for ages. I called them, and they delivered at dawn. Vegetables came from Cheolho.”

“So you had a connection.”

“That place was introduced by Soonjae too, so they won’t mess with the quality.”

“Yes.”

“Anyway… can we start business today?”

“Yes, we can.”

Irim had felt truly alive while cooking for the guests at Yoo Soonjae’s exhibition.

For the first time, he felt he was truly living.

It was the moment he realized once again that being a chef was his calling.

Seeing Irim’s slightly flushed face, Im Jeongmyeong smiled warmly.

“Good. I think you’ll do great. It’s a bit hot—want a cold drink? I’ll run to the convenience store and grab one. You keep preparing.”

“Boss, just stay here. I’ll make you something delicious.”

“Hm? We don’t have any drinks here.”

As Im Jeongmyeong looked puzzled, Irim opened the freezer.

He took out the watermelon he had frozen two days ago—cut into cubes, seeds completely removed, rock-hard and releasing cold air.

Irim put it into the blender.

“I wondered why you froze the watermelon—turns out you wanted to make shaved ice.”

“Something similar, but a little different. Do you know what thaengmopan is?”

At the word “thaengmopan,” Im Jeongmyeong clapped his hands. Clap!

“Thai watermelon juice!”

“Exactly. Normally, people cut fresh watermelon and blend it with ice, but that dilutes the watermelon flavor. Freezing the flesh itself and blending it makes the taste much richer and deeper.”

“Oh ho.”

While explaining, Irim closed the blender lid.

If the watermelon wasn’t sweet enough, he could add sugar.

But this one was so sweet it could be described as drinking sugar water.

Whirrrrrrrrr—!

The blender blades spun furiously, grinding the frozen watermelon flesh.

Solid frozen chunks don’t blend easily.

So he had to stop the blender several times, open the lid, and press the flesh down firmly with a spoon.

Only after several rounds of effort did the watermelon turn into perfect slush.

100% pure watermelon thaengmopan was complete.

Irim poured it into two glass cups.

Im Jeongmyeong, who had been watching the whole process, unconsciously swallowed. Gulp.

“Here, try it.”

Irim handed one glass to Im Jeongmyeong.

He took a hopeful sip. Slurp.

The cold, sweet watermelon slush with tiny ice crystals burst into his mouth, filling it with refreshing fragrance.

Gulp!

Im Jeongmyeong’s eyes shot wide open.

“Haa… goodness.”

He gazed happily at the red watermelon juice in his hand.

“How is it?”

“It’s really delicious, Rim-ah.”

With just this one glass, he felt he could stand under the blazing midsummer sun and not feel hot at all.

No—he’d actually want to enjoy the scorching sunlight while drinking it.

“You should try too—”

Im Jeongmyeong stopped mid-sentence and quickly shut his mouth.

He often forgot that Irim had lost his sense of taste.

Feeling awkward, Im Jeongmyeong received surprising news from Irim.

“Boss, it’s okay. I still can’t taste anything, but when I focus all my nerves, I think… I can smell a tiny bit now.”

Im Jeongmyeong’s mouth fell wide open.

“Is… is that true, Rim-ah?”

“Yes. It’s still so faint that I’m not sure if it’s real or just my imagination, but I’m trying to think positively that it’s slowly getting better.”

“Yes, yes! That’s the right mindset. This is wonderful. Really wonderful. Heh heh heh.”

Im Jeongmyeong hugged Irim tightly as if it were his own joy.

Irim, who had rarely been embraced by anyone, felt flustered at first, but soon his heart grew warm.

Im Jeongmyeong patted Irim’s back gently.

The touch felt exactly like a grandfather comforting his grandson.

When he finally let go, tears welled up in Im Jeongmyeong’s eyes.

Irim quickly handed him a tissue. Wiping his tears, the old man laughed awkwardly.

“Aigoo, when you get old, the tears just come easily. Anyway, Irim-ah, keep that positive spirit. The future is unknown, so it’s better to look at it optimistically than pessimistically. That way good energy keeps coming to you. Got it?”

“Yes, boss. Thank you.”

“Let’s drink our thaengmopan before the watermelon melts.”

“Shall we?”

Irim happily savored the fragrance of the thaengmopan, took a sip, and swallowed. Gulp.

Then he froze like a stone statue.

‘……Huh?’

What was that? Did I imagine it? Or…?

Irim took another sip.

This time he held it in his mouth without swallowing.

Im Jeongmyeong looked at him curiously.

“Rim-ah, what’s wrong?”

Gulp!

After swallowing, Irim spoke in a trembling voice.

“…I can feel it.”

“Feel it…? Rim-ah, don’t tell me—”

Irim slowly nodded.

“Just… really, really faintly… but I tasted sweetness.”

“Ah… Aah!”

Hearing this, Im Jeongmyeong finally let tears stream down his face.

Seeing him cry, Irim cried too.

Im Jeongmyeong kept rubbing Irim’s shoulders with both hands, repeating, “You’ve been through so much.”

To Irim, this moment felt like a dream.

Lunchtime.

***

Customers were slowly trickling into Narae Snacks.

Kim Soonyoung, who was serving, said to Yoo Mirae,

“It’s definitely quieter than before, right?”

“No kidding. Lunch used to be almost full.”

Yoo Mirae took orders and passed them to the kitchen.

“Two jajangmyeon over rice, one kimchi jjigae.”

At that moment, Oh Chunsik spoke to Kim Daewon and Yoo Mirae.

“Head chef, Mirae—how about we close early tonight and go for a staff dinner?”

Yoo Mirae’s eyes widened.

“You’re only doing lunch today?”

‘Hell yeah!’ she swallowed the words and kept them inside.

Oh Chunsik let out a deep sigh.

“I just want to rest today. Isn’t there a place with good side dishes?”

Kim Daewon muttered,

“Perilla oil makguksu with a glass of makgeolli would be perfect.”

Hearing that, Yoo Mirae asked in surprise,

“Oh! Head chef, you know perilla oil makguksu too?”

“What do you mean? You’ve had it?”

“Of course.”

“Where?”

“In Chuncheon. And I even know a place that sells it really well.”

“You know where?”

“Yes. Want to go together tonight? I’ll guide you.”

Kim Daewon looked at Oh Chunsik.

At those pleading eyes, Oh Chunsik nodded.

“Fine. Let’s go eat that perilla oil makguksu or whatever it’s called!”