Chapter 155 - Cheating Day Chapter 155
Sadang (3)
“Hey! Who dares to stick out their tongue when your elder hasn’t even had a bite yet!”
Just as I was about to take a bite of my fish cake udon, Baek Woo-jin shouted at me.
“That tongue is certainly quite wicked,” the treacherous minion 1 said, rubbing his hands together.
“Hmm. I had long known that tongue of yours was both crafty and treacherous,” Baek Woo-jin nodded with his arms crossed, as treacherous minion 2, who had received a chicken breast hot bar, placed his hands over his chest and proclaimed,
“Just give the word. I will slice that tongue off!”
“That’s too cruel, isn’t it?”
“Then how do you want to dispose of it?”
“Just pull it out completely!”
At Baek Woo-jin’s commanding order, the treacherous minion prostrated himself and pushed the bowl of udon forward.
“Please kill me.”
“Since you’ve served up this udon, how about showing some mercy?”
“Should I?”
“Since you love fish cakes so much, how about taking the noodles and just giving him the fish cakes?”
“Let’s do that.”
When I raised my head, Ju Ji-seung, Cha Ji-chan, and Baek Woo-jin had taken all the noodles, leaving me with just the fish cakes in my bowl.
“Here you go, you rascal.”
“…… This is too much.”
“Hey! How dare you speak informally to His Majesty!”
“Aren’t you my hyung?”
“How dare you call me ‘hyung’ in front of His Majesty!?”
“Quickly ask for forgiveness from the esteemed wallet!”
It seems the wallet ranks higher than His Majesty or the Emperor.
“No, I can’t accept this. It’s one thing to eat udon, but if you leave me with only broth and fish cakes without noodles, it’s not worth it.”
“Scoundrel!”
Baek Woo-jin shouted.
“Have you forgotten that I still have 281,700 won left?”
“So what? You’re not going to buy me anything again.”
“Is there such an irreverent scoundrel? Listen here!”
“Yes!”
“You two go buy something else to eat, one for each of you! Except for that rascal!”
“Thank you for your grace.”
***
After passing the Suncheon IC on the Namhae Expressway, we soon arrived at Jorye-dong, Suncheon.
“This Lake Park is really well done. They were going to fill in the reservoir in 1991, but the citizens opposed it until the end. It wasn’t until 2004 that it was decided to turn the entire area around the reservoir into a park. Now, there are many people walking their dogs and exercising; it’s being used very well. In the end, the citizens were right.”
“Woo-jin hyung knows so much.”
“How can you be so smart?”
“Erhem.”
Baek Woo-jin puffed up with pride. The way he tilted his chin and smirked reminded me of a foolish king being showered with sweet words from his minions.
“But where should we go?”
Baek Woo-jin asked.
“Well, since it’s your hometown, you should know better, right?”
I asked, and he tilted his head.
“I haven’t eaten here much since I went to university. Do you want to go to the restaurant my dad often goes to?”
“If it’s a recommendation from your father, it should be trustworthy.”
Adults usually know the best places to eat. More often than not, someone who has lived in the area for a long time knows better than most food bloggers.
Baek Woo-jin parked the car in front of a shabby building near a gas station.
Inside B Restaurant in Jorye-dong, Suncheon, was much cleaner and larger than it looked from the outside.
It felt more like a café than a diner, but the menu featured familiar items like bulgogi rice, grilled fish rice, crab soy sauce rice, and sashimi rice.
“Owner! I’ll have one bulgogi rice, please!”
“Only one?”
The owner asked in surprise.
Four burly men coming in and ordering just one rice dish could understandably bewilder anyone.
“Yes! Just one!”
“Hey! That’s not what we discussed!”
Cha Ji-chan shouted angrily.
“Hey? Are you mad at me?”
“Come on, you said if you called me ‘hyung,’ you’d buy me food!”
“Well, if you’d just been on my side from the start, we wouldn’t be in this situation. Who said to side with Chan-yong? Just give me one!”
“That’s quite the attitude.”
“I’m sorry, owner. He doesn’t know any manners.”
“It’s okay. I’ll give it to you for free.”
The owner smiled and went to the kitchen.
“Woo-jin, you can’t do that.”
Ju Ji-seung also stepped in.
“There’s no such thing as this kind of burden on others. We’ve run a business before, you know.”
“Because of your stubbornness, you’re dragging us into trouble. Didn’t you just say earlier that you wouldn’t do anything embarrassing anymore? Tsk tsk.”
“Exactly! Because of you, we all ended up causing a scene.”
As the three of them scolded him, Baek Woo-jin looked like he was about to cry.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“Why? It’s because you’re being childish.”
“There’s a limit to how much you can play along for the show. How can four of us come to a restaurant and only order one dish?”
“Hyung Sang-cheol, if we keep this up, we can’t film. If this goes on the air, people will ask why Baek Seung-yong gets one serving while we only order one!”
“Let’s leave.”
“Let’s go. Get out.”
As I stood up abruptly, PD Park Sang-cheol looked panicked.
“If we back down here, it’s going to be disastrous. I know that Ji-seung, Cha-chan, and I all understand that,” I said, leaving without looking back, and PD Park followed us out.
“Wait a minute. Ji-chan, Chan-yong, Ji-seung!”
We stood in the parking lot in front of the restaurant.
“What are you doing leaving like this? We still have to film.”
“I told you, I can’t do the show like this. What’s there to avoid in a restaurant?”
“Right. We’re not going to cause trouble for others, so we’re going back to Seoul from here.”
PD Park looked at Ji-seung, who was the most sensible among us.
“Ji-seung.”
“PD, it’s my first time doing a variety show, but this doesn’t feel right. We’re all really angry, so let’s cool down our feelings and talk later.”
Ji-seung’s acting is impressive. I wonder if it’s because of his experience playing various bald characters like Gung-ye, Krillin, Saitama, and the Anpanman.
“Please don’t. If you leave like this, what about the broadcast?”
“Oh, I don’t know. If our image suffers because of the broadcast and this restaurant gets hurt, will you take responsibility, PD?”
PD Park ruffled his hair, looking troubled, and Baek Woo-jin peeked out slightly.
“……I ordered three more dishes.”
“Good. Eat up.”
That meant he ordered food for us, but I pretended not to know.
“Come on, let’s eat together…”
“Why should we?”
“Because I’m hungry.”
“No. We’re going out to eat something else and then heading back to Seoul. We’re out of money and out of options.”
Baek Woo-jin shrugged.
“Ah! Just eat! You said you wanted to eat!”
“I don’t want to cater to your whims!”
“Just eat!”
“No!”
“Wait a minute. Wait a minute.”
PD Park stepped between me and Baek Woo-jin.
“Don’t fight, you two. People are watching.”
“Hyung, stay out of this. I need to teach this kid some manners.”
When I pushed back, PD Park turned pale and tried to stop me.
“Chan-yong, wait. It’s outside. Just bear with it for the sake of your hyung. Huh? Chan-yong? Ji-chan, what are you doing? Stop Chan-yong!”
Cha Ji-chan turned his head and ignored PD Park.
In the midst of all this, I took a step forward, and even the writers stepped in to stop me.
The production team, successfully separating me from Baek Woo-jin, began to calm both me and Baek Woo-jin down in the parking lot and inside the restaurant.
“This is what happens in variety shows when we pursue some fun. I know Chan-yong’s pride has been hurt.”
“Stop trying to teach me. Do you even know who caused this mess?”
As I lost my temper, the writer trying to soothe me turned away with a sigh.
“Chan-yong, I know you’re angry. But let’s calm down and talk rationally. Okay?”
“……Hyung.”
“Yeah.”
“I have diabetes. If I go too long without food, I get hypoglycemia, and if I get hypoglycemia, I could die. Do you know that?”
“I know.”
“If I eat the wrong food, my blood sugar spikes, and I could pass out. But shouldn’t we take this seriously?”
“I know. I know.”
“Chan-ji and Ji-seung also have diabetes. The three of us are trying to manage our health, and we can’t be acting like this. We came together to support each other, and we shouldn’t hurt each other’s feelings.”
“Right.”
“I’ll make it clear: this is your fault. You knew I, Chan-ji, and Ji-seung all have diabetes.”
“……Hmm.”
“No, wait. It’s not your fault. It’s that jerk Baek Woo-jin’s problem. Sorry, hyung. My head’s not really working right now. Baek Woo-jin! Get out here! Come out!”
As I shouted and walked toward him, PD Park Sang-cheol grabbed me from behind.
“Chan-yong! Chan-yong! Wait! I’m sorry!”
“What are you sorry for? The real issue is that Baek Woo-jin isn’t giving us food just for his own sake!”
“No! No! It’s my fault. I was too greedy. Chan-yong!”
“……Do you really think so?”
“Yeah. I was wrong. I was so embarrassed, but I couldn’t focus on that and just acted like I always do. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry to Ji-chan and Ji-seung too.”
Ju Ji-seung and Cha Ji-chan turned their heads away as planned, ignoring him.
“I won’t turn this into a game about food anymore. Really. I won’t mess around with my allowance. I promise.”
PD Park held my hand tightly and pleaded, but I couldn’t find any humor left in me.
“Woo-jin! He said he won’t play games anymore!”
“Really?”
Excited, I shrugged my shoulders and went back into the store, taking a seat as the bulgogi rice bowl was served.
Here, the side dishes are served in a sieve on the table. For 9,000 won, the quality of the side dishes is excellent.
Every single item on the table is neatly presented.
“This is a great deal.”
“Right. My dad eats lunch here all the time.”
“The japchae is super delicious. They didn’t just put this out for show, did they?”
“Are you serious? This is 9,000 won? They even give you lettuce!”
“Unbelievable.”
While eating, I turned my head to see PD Park with a dazed expression watching us. The other production staff looked the same way.
“Look at Sang-cheol.”
“Kuhuhuh.”
“What’s going on here?”
PD Park asked.
“What do you mean, what’s going on? We’re eating.”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“Come on, take it easy. You keep trying to torment us, so we just thought we’d have a little fun like we used to in past variety shows.”
“Hey, we can act a bit too, you know?”
PD Park and some of the staff opened their eyes wide in surprise.
I didn’t expect that our plan to sneakily get back at the production team for bothering us would work so well.
In the past, similar concepts were criticized for putting participants in excessively harsh conditions.
But it turned out to be really fun to set up this scenario to fight back against the production team that had been tormenting us.
“Since when have the side dishes at a rice bowl restaurant been this good?”
“I know! It’s so delicious.”
“Who are they trying to keep from eating this?”
“Who said that? Seriously, it’s so annoying.”
As I continued to eat the rice bowl while bashing the production team, PD Park and a few staff members couldn’t help but laugh and shake their heads in disbelief.