Cheat day

Following the Meal (5)

“Thank you for your hard work.”

We successfully completed the first filming.

Everyone was tense, but perhaps because we had worked together for a long time, our lines came out naturally as usual.

Park Sang-cheol PD seemed satisfied too; when our eyes met, he smiled and nodded.

“Writer.”

“Yes?”

“Where’s the garbage bag? The tongs?”

“Huh?”

“I want to fill one up before we go back.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Come on, let’s do something good.”

The writer glanced at the camera operator.

“You don’t have to film. We’ll just do it among ourselves and head back. We’ll leave the car in the broadcasting station’s parking lot.”

“Uh….”

“Here it is!”

While the writer hesitated, Baek Woo-jin found the tongs in the props car.

“Woo-jin, you don’t have to do it. We’re heading up,”

Park Sang-cheol PD said to Baek Woo-jin.

“We agreed to do it from the start.”

“Well then, don’t guess.”

“That way, it’ll look like we’re reluctantly doing it. I need to manage my image, so don’t worry and go back.”

“There’s no camera, so what image are you managing?”

“There are people watching us here.”

Baek Woo-jin looked around.

We all thought the same thing, urging the production crew to head back first.

Park Sang-cheol PD chuckled and sent the other staff away, holding a small camera.

“What about you?”

“You guys need to be filmed.”

“No. How are you going to get back?”

“I can just get in that car, right?”

“Oh, it’s too cramped. What if you get in too? Hurry back.”

“I can squeeze in. Don’t worry and just do your thing.”

The little red Casper looked pitiful.

Anyway, holding the garbage bag, we slowly walked along the coastline from Geumjin Port, picking up trash.

“What’s that side dish?”

Cha Ji-chan asked.

“A sunshade hat.”

Even though it was late afternoon, prolonged exposure to the sun can be bad for the skin.

I had been diligent about applying sunscreen during the national walking event, but my skin had still taken quite a beating, so I wore a sunshade hat that farmers often use.

It covers not only the face but also the neck and shoulders.

“I should bring one next time,”

Baek Woo-jin said as he picked up trash.

“You’re worrying about the oddest things.”

“You have to. When we reach our age, we need to take care of our skin.”

My mother told me to pay attention to my skin since I was on TV, so I started going to a skincare salon once a week about a month ago.

I used to be too lazy to apply lotion.

Now, I wash my face with cleansing foam every night and apply toner, essence, ampoule, lotion, and cream.

At first, it was cumbersome, but after a month, I’ve been told by those around me that my skin looks better, so I’m paying attention now.

“Right. You should do it before it’s too late. When Chan-yong lost weight and started taking care of himself, he looked good,”

Joo Ji-seung said, to which Cha Ji-chan shook his head and picked up trash while lunging. He moved so quickly that he missed a lot of trash.

“Really? Do I look okay?”

“Ehehe, yeah.”

“Stop indulging me like that. With you saying that, I might really think I’m good-looking.”

Baek Woo-jin chimed in.

“Chan-yong is good-looking, though.”

“Wait a moment.”

I took out my wallet from my back pocket. I had 20,000 won in cash, so I took it all out and handed it to Joo Ji-seung.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a thank you. I’ll ask you again next time.”

“Haha!”

Joo Ji-seung laughed heartily.

As I put the money back in, Baek Woo-jin turned to Park Sang-cheol PD and said,

“Hyung, if you’re going to keep the quiz going, you should leave out the nonsense.”

“Why?”

“You can’t win against him in wordplay. You saw ‘Following the Meal’.”

I felt proud.

“Do you usually think of that kind of stuff a lot? Or do you watch it a lot?”

Park Sang-cheol PD asked.

“Back then, when I wasn’t getting along well with people, I studied.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I met people, I didn’t know what to talk about. So I looked for funny stories, and they turned out to be interesting.”

A bite of an apple tastes like pineapple.

The money my grandfather likes is from my grandmother.

I remembered things like the king mumbling that he didn’t want to go home, and I planned to use them.

“Tell me one.”

“Our topic for ‘Following the Meal’ next week is Subway vs. Quiznos, right?”

“Yeah.”

I was supposed to debate from Subway’s side, while Baek Woo-jin would take Quiznos.

“I was thinking of casually responding and then attacking like this. Here’s a quiz: Do you know where Quiznos is located?”

“It’s everywhere.”

“Nope. Quiznos. Nos. North. It means it’s in the north. You’re not going to say you support the north again this time, are you?”

Baek Woo-jin’s mouth dropped open.

He pointed at me and appealed to Park Sang-cheol PD and Joo Ji-seung.

“Look at this! He’s out of his mind!”

“Quiznos is going to sue you.”

Joo Ji-seung shook his head as well.

“Was that too much?”

“Don’t do it. Don’t do it. You’re famous now. Every word you say can be taken out of context.”

“Oh, come on. Everyone knows it’s a joke.”

Though I said that, I thought I should still be careful.

***

{Just left} 3:17 PM

{It’ll take about 3 hours}

{See you at home} 3:18 PM

At 3:19 PM, I received a message that Chan-yong had set off. Since work wrapped up early and I had some time left, I thought I should finish organizing my things at home.

“…”

The expected arrival time is right at dinnertime.

Since I’m someone who makes sure to eat three meals a day, I need to prepare dinner so that it’s ready to eat right away, but it’s been bothering me that I’ve only been eating salad for several days.

I often want to do something for Chan-yong, who sometimes prepares breakfast and dinner for me.

“…”

Since I don’t cook often, I couldn’t think of anything specific.

Chan-yong usually makes the side dishes, so I just need to prepare the main dish.

***

As I thought of the food that Chan-yong often eats, I quickly found a simple answer.

I searched for how to make boiled pork and took a screenshot before heading to a nearby mart.

I went to the meat section and picked out some pork belly for boiling.

Chan-yong usually eats about 300g per meal, and since I eat about a quarter of that, I figured I’d need around 750g to prepare until tomorrow morning. Thinking I’d buy a little more, I almost got 1kg but decided to get an extra 1kg just in case I might mess it up.

The remaining ingredients were garlic, onion, green onion, bay leaves, pepper, and doenjang (soybean paste).

Since I wasn’t sure what ingredients I had at home, I couldn’t tell what I was missing.

Since Chan-yong often makes these dishes, I figured most of them would be stocked up, but I couldn’t be sure, which made me anxious.

In situations like this, it’s better to buy all the necessary ingredients. Any excess can be used later, but if something is missing, I can’t cook.

“Green onion…”

Looking for green onions, I found that a bundle of 10 dirt green onions costs 37,000 won, while a cleaned bundle costs 17,600 won.

It was clear that buying the dirt green onions was more economical at a glance.

I added a bundle of 10 dirt green onions to my cart.

“Onions.”

I looked around and spotted some onions in a net.

The cleaned onions were packaged at 380g for 2,480 won, which is 653 won per 100g.

On the other hand, the unpeeled onions were 2.5kg for 5,250 won, making it 210 won per 100g.

Even accounting for the weight of the skins, the price difference was significant—more than six times in quantity but only one-third the price, so buying the unpeeled ones was a better deal.

I added a 2.5kg bag of unpeeled onions to my cart.

“Garlic.”

I quickly found the garlic as well.

This was my first time grocery shopping, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy.

Processed ingredients are more expensive due to labor costs, and bulk products tend to be cheaper per unit weight than small packages.

I compared the unpeeled garlic and selected the one with the largest volume, confirming my guess was right.

I added a half bag of garlic to my cart.

“Bay leaves.”

I had a little trouble finding bay leaves.

Looking for the product with the cheapest price per 10g, I spotted a 230g container in plastic and added it to my cart.

“Doenjang (soybean paste).”

I remembered that Chan-yong had made doenjang soup for breakfast yesterday.

I had also used pepper as a dressing for salads, so I didn’t think I needed any other items.

It felt a bit awkward, but overall, this was a reasonable and economical shopping trip.

“…Huh?”

As I was paying and trying to unload my cart, I was surprised by how heavy it was. Not only was it heavy, but the size made it difficult to lift properly.

With all my strength, I barely managed to get into the taxi, feeling drained. I never realized grocery shopping could be this tiring.

“Phew.”

After dropping off my things, I opened YouTube to search for a boiled pork recipe.

The top video was from the Banya Sikyung channel, and when I clicked on it, Joo Ji-seung was pouring cola into a pot.

“…I don’t have cola.”

The ingredient list I had searched before shopping didn’t include cola.

I wondered if zero cola would be okay, but as soon as I opened the fridge, I remembered that I had disposed of all the zero cola.

Chan-yong had overindulged in zero cola and frequently had stomachaches, so I had listed all the cola at home and in the office on Carrot Market.

Just then, as I was reluctantly looking for another recipe, someone rang the doorbell.

Checking the intercom, I saw an elderly woman standing at the entrance.

“Who is it?”

Oh? Ah, I’m sorry. I must have come to the wrong place.

“Yeah.”

I returned to the kitchen to watch another video, but the doorbell rang again. This time, it was the same woman.

“Hello. What can I do for you?”

Um, isn’t this 1303?

“That’s right.”

This is my son’s place. Who are you?

I was momentarily at a loss for words.

I hadn’t heard anything from Chan-yong, so I never imagined his mother would come by.

However, there was no time to think as I hurriedly opened the front door.

She stood there with her hands full of bags, looking at me suspiciously.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Mukgeunji (pickled radish).”

As I bowed my head to greet her, she quickly smiled.

“Oh, so you’re the PD. Chan-yong has told me a lot about you.”

I took her bags and guided her inside.

“But where’s Chan-yong?”

“The director went to shoot in Gangneung today. He’ll be back in about an hour.”

“Oh, really? But why is the PD here?”

“Well, that’s…”

As I panicked, unsure where to start, she began checking out the kitchen.

“Oh my goodness. What’s all this?”

“He likes boiled pork, so I was preparing it.”

She squinted her eyes and frowned.

“Does Chan-yong make you cook?”

“It’s not like that. Um, yes. I did it because I wanted to.”

“Oh my goodness. How much does he eat? He said he’s trying to lose weight, but he’s eating this much?”

“No, he strictly follows his diet. I just ended up buying a lot because I found good deals.”

“Still, did you really buy all this on your own? My goodness.”

“No, I didn’t.”

The mother narrowed her eyes once more.

“See? You’re lying. No, I mean, I did come by myself, but it’s not what you think.”

I didn’t even know what I was saying. I needed to sort out the situation first, but I had no idea where to begin.

“Oh my goodness. When are you going to eat all this?”

I couldn’t tell what was wrong, but it seemed like something displeased her.

“Um, um, ma’am.”

“Yes?”

“I think I made some mistakes since it was my first time grocery shopping. I may be lacking, but I will learn properly moving forward.”

“Um… okay. Good luck?”

“Yes.”