“Oh, it looks like that team is done too.”
“There are no teams that haven’t finished now, right?”
“I think so. Right now there are… one, two, three, four, five, six… ah, twelve. That’s right.”
The male participant who was said to be the CEO of a startup company smiled and counted the number of people, then organized the atmosphere.
“So should we start preparing the meal now? We’ve already finished trimming all the ingredients.”
It was kind of funny how he said that as if showing off. It’s not like the other people were just playing around. If anything, Sungjin was the one who did the hardest physical labor. However, it was also tiring to argue about who had it harder in this situation.
Sungjin nodded obediently. Yuwon also seemed to agree without any particular reaction this time. The speaker placed in the center of the meeting room led the proceedings on behalf of the production team.
[Thank you to all participants who worked hard for the dinner party. We hope you enjoy the dinner party from now on as much as you worked hard.]
“Ooh.”
“It looks delicious~.”
“I saw earlier and the meat looked really good.”
“Really? Ah, I’m looking forward to it.”
Of course, the way of enjoying was passive. From lighting the fire on the grill to grilling the meat, the participants had to do everything themselves. Sungjin obediently joined the ranks of those grilling meat. For some reason, Yuwon, who he thought would help with cooking along with the participants who disliked physical labor, also approached the grilling side.
‘Does this person even know how to grill meat?’
Looking at how he was chopping firewood earlier, it seemed like he’d never done physical labor in his life except for exercise. Sure enough, Yuwon couldn’t even properly light the charcoal.
He held the torch set to maximum heat directly against the raw charcoal, and charcoal pieces started flying tremendously. The way he flinched every time a spark flew clearly showed he’d never done this kind of work before.
Since he had no know-how, far from catching fire, his white forearms were turning red from the heat coming from the torch and he was on the verge of getting burned. Sungjin put down his tools and urgently headed to the grill where Yuwon was standing.
“I’ll do it. Give it to me.”
Did those words touch his pride? Yuwon bit his lips tightly and glared at Sungjin with a dissatisfied expression.
“It’s almost done, so it’s fine.”
No. It’s not done at all. The charcoal was clearly in a state where it would cool down the moment Yuwon removed the torch. I hope he doesn’t insist unnecessarily and just doesn’t get hurt. Sungjin began to calmly persuade Yuwon.
“I think it’ll be faster if I do it. Originally, lighting fire is hard without know-how. I do it often, so I can do it quickly.”
Sungjin wasn’t particularly fond of group activities, but due to the nature of his department, he often went on regional field trips with his classmates. Among the department professors, there was one who wanted to have a barbecue at the lodging even at his own expense, so thanks to that, he was able to master fire-starting long ago. It was because the role of lighting the fire was more comfortable than rubbing shoulders with other students to prepare ingredients and cook.
Anyway, it was better for him to finish it quickly rather than letting him do something he’d never tried and getting hurt and ending up in the hospital with burns. However, Yuwon showed no sign of readily handing over the torch.
“I said I’m almost done.”
“It’s not done. Even if it seems lit now, it’ll go out quickly when you remove the torch. You’ll get hurt, so turn off the torch and give it to me.”
“……”
At Sungjin’s words, Yuwon, as if his pride was hurt, moved the torch far away to check if the fire had transferred to the charcoal. Then, just as Sungjin predicted, the flame immediately died down.
“……”
For a moment, a long silence that seemed like it would never end arrived. However, they couldn’t just keep standing like this. Sungjin quickly sensed the crisis and pondered how he could finish this situation while stimulating Yuwon as little as possible. To Sungjin, Yuwon was already like a sensitive time bomb that could explode at any moment. Ah, that should work. Sungjin finally squeezed out a solution and carefully began.
“Then shall I teach you? How to do it. It’s easy once you know the trick.”
So it’s not because you’re incompetent at not being able to light a fire properly, but because you’re missing something easy. It seemed like saying it that way would hurt his pride less. And as if that thought was correct, Yuwon stared at the cooling charcoal for a while, then turned off the torch and held it out to Sungjin.
“…So how do you do it?”
It’s fortunate that he seems to understand there’s nothing to gain by being stubborn. Sungjin let out a sigh of relief without realizing it and smiled.
“It’s easy. When lighting fire, it’s good to have something that can act as a fire starter. Ah, and a hand fan too.”
Sungjin brought some leftover cooking oil, poured a little on the charcoal, then torched it as is and turned on the hand fan. The charcoal and flame, which had been separate like water and oil when he only used the torch, instantly mixed together stably. It was the moment when everything Yuwon had been struggling with alone until now became completely useless.
“Fire catches better when oxygen supply is smooth. It becomes much faster with this one thing.”
I didn’t originally bring this with that intention, though. Anyway, it was fortunate that it was used usefully.
Yuwon silently stared intently at Sungjin’s face, then moved his gaze to the flames that began to blaze brightly.
“And when it’s lit like this, it’s good to grill fatty things first, right? Because the oil that drips from the meat keeps the fire burning well….”
As soon as Sungjin finished speaking, Yuwon brought pork belly and presented it right before his eyes.
“Ah. Thank you.”
He’s still an incomprehensible person, but. Maybe he’s not a very uncooperative or antisocial person. Like when he tried to help chopping firewood earlier, and although it wasn’t particularly helpful then or now, he didn’t seem like the type to sit still and expect others to solve everything.
Soon he put the pork belly on the grill, and although he cut the meat to the level of almost mincing it, in his own way he actively tried to do something.
“Ah, it’s better to cut it a bit bigger than that. As the moisture escapes, the size shrinks….”
When Sungjin cautiously advised, the way he obediently corrected himself was cute in its own way. Sungjin, who had been unconsciously watching Yuwon concentrate on cutting the meat, suddenly came to his senses and raised his head.
It’s natural that Lee Yuwon is pretty. If a person who captures attention with their appearance even while doing nothing is struggling earnestly to accomplish something they’re not even good at, one can’t help but look more. He was still a difficult person to deal with and scary like handling a glass cup, but after seeing his clumsy side repeatedly, he felt somewhat more familiar.
‘Even a person who looks this pretty and perfect has things they can’t do.’
Sungjin almost lost himself staring again but quickly brought the trimmed vegetables. After grilling things like green onions, mushrooms, and onions so they could absorb the charcoal aroma well, the meat was soon cooked enough to eat. Jiyoon, who had approached nearby at some point, asked.
“Oh, is the meat all cooked?”
“Yes. I think we can start eating soon.”
“That side too. Ah. Can I try just one of these? It’s really well grilled.”
On the other side that Jiyoon mentioned, other male participants were grilling beef short ribs.
“Ah, yes. I was just thinking about trying it once, so please try it, Jiyoon, and tell me if it’s okay.”
When Sungjin nodded and gave permission, Jiyoon opened his mouth like a baby bird without hesitation and made a sound.
“Ahhh~.”
“……?”
Sungjin was momentarily flustered. Jiyoon was the first person in his life to make a sound like “Ahhh~” asking to be fed. Yuwon seemed equally surprised as he dropped the piece of meat he was holding with tongs directly onto the grill. When Sungjin was so surprised he couldn’t react at all, Jiyoon rather threw a tantrum.
“Ah, what. Are you going to embarrass me? Quickly quickly, ahhh~.”
That momentum was so powerful that Sungjin decided it would be better to quickly feed him and send him away. So he quickly put down the tongs, grabbed the pork belly with chopsticks next to him, and threw the meat into his mouth as if carrying out a mission. Only then did Jiyoon smile with a satisfied face, close his mouth, and chew the meat.
“Ah, it’s really delicious! Move this to a plate and switch. Muncheol hyung said to do a baton touch.”
It seemed he had already decided to become hyung-dongsaeng with someone. It was an activeness that Sungjin could never possess even if he died and came back to life.
“Yes. Thank you….”
However, Sungjin’s ordeal didn’t end there. As soon as Jiyoon left the two people’s side, a frightening gaze was felt from somewhere.
“……?”
Sungjin raised his head and looked in the direction where he felt the gaze. None other than directly in front of him, on the opposite side of the grill, Yuwon was glaring at him with terrifying eyes.
“……?”
Why is he like that again? The stare that looked at him intently as if he had something to say made his spine run cold.
