Chapter 162: After Kimjang, Of Course… (1) After the Festival period came to an end, Lee Jinseo wrapped up a turbulent year on the Francia Continent and served tteokguk as a special New Year's dish on January 1.
Most of those connected to the food truck gathered together to eat tteokguk and prayed that the newly beginning year would also bring success to their bunsik business.
After that, Jinseo remained in Korea for a while and entered a period of rest.
However, this rest did not mean that he lay around idly at home doing nothing; it only meant he was not selling bunsik in the other world.
Now, to purchase ingredients not only for Falstead Castle and Dwarf Town but also for Selphier Castle and the branch in the Holy Land, he drove the food truck all across the country.
At the same time, he visited famous bunsik restaurants to study their flavors and stopped by various ordinary restaurants in search of dishes to newly add to the menu.
After spending a busy month touring the country like that, Jinseo met Jungkook, his former military junior, again the day before returning to the Francia Continent.
"Hyung, I'm really sorry."
"It's fine. If you couldn't find it even after going for an entire week, then I'm the one who should feel more sorry for asking in the first place."
Jinseo patted Jungkook's shoulder as he began apologizing the moment they met.
"It's cold, so let's go inside first and finish talking."
Their meeting place was the same barbecue restaurant they had visited last time, and as soon as he sat down, Jinseo ordered a Korean beef assorted platter.
Sizzle.
At the sound of Korean beef cooking on the grill, Jungkook licked his lips, and Jinseo smiled at the sight of his former junior.
"Go ahead and order as much extra as you want today. Don't worry about the money."
"Wow, really? But hyung, is business going well? These days the economy's bad and everyone's having a hard time…"
"It's so-so. I've got quite a few regular customers now."
Although Jinseo's bunsik had grown so popular that he had set up branches not only in a nation's capital but even in the Holy Land of a continent-wide Order, it was obvious Jungkook wouldn't believe him even if he told him, so Jinseo brushed it off lightly.
"Then I'll eat well!"
Picking up a perfectly grilled piece of Korean beef with his chopsticks and putting it into his mouth, Jungkook smiled with his eyes and tilted his soju glass.
Gulp, gulp.
"Kuh, when the meat's this good, anything you drink goes down smooth. Hyung, want a glass too?"
"Hey, hey, I drove here."
"Oh, right. Then I'll drink your share too!"
Excited, Jungkook quickly emptied half a bottle of soju. As before, Jinseo drank cola instead of alcohol and fully enjoyed meat grilled by someone else for a change.
"By the way, do you know what I've been through lately? Seriously… I mean, even if you don't like someone that much!"
Starting from a blind date that ended in less than ten minutes after they began talking, Jungkook's story continued into complaints about how a new recruit had joined the private investigation office but quit before lasting even a month, leaving him to suffer.
"You had it rough in the army too because the guys under you weren't that great."
"Still, it's better than the army. At least they pay well. Anyway, after getting burned badly once, I tried to treat the next new recruit properly, but… haah…"
Jungkook didn't stop lamenting his lot in life and kept emptying his soju glass.
Still, as he also talked about good news—like his younger sister passing the civil service exam, and a lottery ticket he bought a month ago winning third prize—his previously distorted expression gradually relaxed.
Jinseo kept filling Jungkook's glass and mostly just listened to his stories.
From Jinseo's perspective, having spent most of his time in the other world after obtaining the food truck, he couldn't talk about what had happened there.
"Hyung, I need to use the restroom."
When Jungkook stepped away after quickly finishing two bottles of soju, Jinseo took out his smartphone and began looking through the photos he had taken in the Girvante Kingdom and the Holy Land, one by one from the beginning.
I wonder how those five are doing.
The five wandering chefs who had challenged him to a cooking competition, only to become captivated by bunsik and follow him instead.
Imagining them working hard with Marco at Selphier Castle to run the branch, Jinseo put a perfectly grilled slice of beef brisket into his mouth.
I'm glad things between those two were resolved somehow. It felt a bit anticlimactic since it was settled so easily, but still, good is good…
A smile formed on Jinseo's lips as he looked down at a photo of Fedora Artran and Veronica standing side by side.
Originally, he had planned to print the photo with a mini printer and give a copy to each of them, but the printer had malfunctioned at that moment, so he ended up keeping the photo to himself instead.
Next time, I should bring a Polaroid camera.
Jinseo moved his hand to Fedora Artran's face on Veronica's left and zoomed in greatly.
With her pale skin, sharply defined nose, and jewel-like blue eyes, Fedora Artran's face would easily be considered beautiful even by Korean standards.
"Someone you know?"
"Hm? Who? Ah, this person?"
Jungkook had returned at some point and was staring at the smartphone screen over Jinseo's shoulder.
"Is she your new girlfriend?"
"No. Just… someone I got to know through social media."
"Wow, she's pretty. But the outfit… what was it called, cosplay? Is she one of those girls who do that?"
"Looks like it was taken during Halloween. Probably. Here, drink some more."
"Doesn't seem like you're just acquaintances… She's really not your girlfriend? I caught that pause earlier."
Unlike before, Jungkook narrowed his eyes and kept asking who the two women in the photo were, but Jinseo just laughed and brushed off his probing.
The drinking session resumed, and it only ended after Jungkook emptied four bottles of soju and Jinseo drank three cans of cola.
"Hyung, thanks for the meal again today. I feel bad always getting treated."
"It's nothing… Oh right, I made some kimchi. Want me to send you some? Give me your address."
"Huh? Really?"
"Ah, before that, try the taste first. If you end up receiving kimchi that doesn't suit your taste, it'll just become food waste."
Jinseo went into the parking lot and took out well-fermented kimchi from the Additional Trailer of the food truck he had driven there.
"How is it?"
"It's amazing!"
"Really? You're not just saying that?"
"Come on, hyung! You know my personality. I can't lie about food. Because of that, I got teased a lot by your batchmates in the army…"
Jungkook even sucked the red pepper powder and seasoning off his fingers, as if he truly liked Jinseo's kimchi.
"With skills like this, I almost wonder why you didn't come as a cook in the army."
"I was sick of cooking back then."
Though Jinseo always missed his parents who had passed away first, before enlisting he hadn't been on the best terms with them.
At the time, while worrying about and resenting his parents who stubbornly stuck to running their bunsik shop, Jinseo had developed an aversion to cooking itself and enlisted.
Recalling those memories, Jinseo looked down at the kimchi container in his hand.
Jungkook did not ask any further and instead pulled out his smartphone and tapped away.
"Check your messages. I sent my address—and another one too."
"Someone else needs kimchi?"
"No, it's the address of the junk shop I went to. The owner wasn't there every time I went, but just in case, try stopping by later."
After finishing a month of rest that wasn't rest in Korea and returning to the Francia Continent, the first thing Lee Jinseo set about doing was kimjang.
By Korean standards, kimjang season had already passed, but because he had been traveling here and there for various events since October, he had missed the proper timing last year.
In the end, only after a full year had passed and it became February did Jinseo decide to make the kimchi for use in the food truck in the other world.
Kimchi still remained a food that divided opinions in the other world, yet it was nevertheless an indispensable ingredient for the food truck.
For bunsik, kimchi was naturally essential—whether for kimchi fried rice, one of the menu items, or stir-fried kimchi, which along with pickled radish was one of the two main side dishes served at the food truck.
Above all, since it was one of the essential ingredients in budae-jjigae—one of the two most beloved drinking dishes in the other world alongside Half-and-Half MuMani—there was more than enough reason to teach how to make it properly.
Although he had once presented a version of budae-jjigae without kimchi, strangely enough most people in the other world preferred the version with kimchi.
"Alright, is everyone ready?"
Wearing red rubber gloves, Jinseo looked over those gathered to make kimchi.
Jason and Aston Hamilton from the food truck, and Paulo.
Dozens of chefs in charge of the bunsik street.
Some members of the Raven Mercenary Group staying at Raven Lair, and even clergy members from Kaysus Cathedral were mobilized for the kimjang.
"Then let's begin."
As Jinseo clapped his gloved hands, napa cabbages piled high behind him and various kimjang ingredients were distributed in plastic basins.
The food truck's helpers and the chefs from the bunsik street, who had already learned how to make kimchi in advance, joined the groups making kimchi for the first time and began instructing them.
The kimchi being made this time was not limited to the common napa cabbage kimchi.
It became a large-scale kimjang that included not only kkakdugi, young radish kimchi, green onion kimchi, but also godeulppaegi kimchi and dongchimi—enough for the food truck and all three branches.
"Sir Jinseo, is this about right?"
"You can pack a bit more seasoning between the cabbage leaves."
"I see? Then… just a moment."
Fedora Artran, who was participating in kimjang for the first time, packed more of the red seasoning tightly between the layers of cabbage and held it out to Jinseo.
"Yes, that's good. But aren't you tired?"
"I'm still fine, but it seems others are not."
She was rather enjoying her first time taking part in kimjang.
However, as time passed, just as Jinseo had expected, voices of fatigue began to be heard here and there.
"This makes my back ache. I thought we'd be doing it sitting comfortably, but it's anything but comfortable."
Oswald Hamilton, who had joined the kimjang, stood up from his spot and rubbed his lower back with a grimace.
Meanwhile, the chefs, accustomed to preparing various dishes in their daily work, made kimchi skillfully without much strain. Among them, Paulo in particular stacked the kimchi he made neatly into plastic basins faster and more accurately than anyone else.
He was one of the few in the other world who truly knew how to enjoy kimchi properly.
He had long looked forward to the day he would properly learn how to make kimchi from Jinseo, and after entering intensive training a week earlier, he was now able to take part in kimjang alongside many others.
Sitting in front of him, Owl carefully recorded the entire kimchi-making process using the CCTV function.
"Jinseo, how is it?"
"It seems you're making it even better than I am."
"Hoh, is it that good? To hear that from you, who comes from kimchi's homeland, makes my shoulders rise on their own."
"The video of you making kimchi will be a great help to Marco."
"If that's the case, nothing could make me happier."
In truth, Marco had succeeded in making kimchi with his own recipe, but in many ways it lacked cost-effectiveness and was unsuitable for large-scale production, so he had intended to properly learn how to make kimchi from Jinseo.
Marco had planned to participate in this kimjang as well, but due to local circumstances at Selphier Castle, he was unable to attend.
Instead, Jinseo devised a plan to indirectly teach Marco and the people at the Selphier Castle branch how to make various types of kimchi through the upgradable functions of the food truck.
If he simply applied the additional TV installation that allowed the videos broadcast from the food truck to be shown identically at the branches, there would be no need for Marco to travel all the way to Dwarf Town.
"I had no idea kimchi came in so many varieties."
Fedora Artran clicked her tongue in amazement as she saw the various kinds of kimchi being made all around her, the likes of which she had never seen before.
"In Korea, there's even a saying that anything edible can be made into kimchi. What I showed today is still only a portion of it."
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