Ch.233Happy Reunion Time

“I’d like to do that, but… you know, the schedule is already set.”

Edward’s manager calmly refuted his statement.

I understand your eagerness.

But it’s too early now.

Even at the earliest, it would be 8 weeks before the match started.

They needed to wait until February 2020, next year.

All they could do now was interviews like before.

But doing those too frequently would reduce their impact.

They needed to space them out by at least 3-4 months.

From that perspective, what Edward could do now was…

“Then what can I do?!”

“…Just wait and train.”

All he could do was vent his anger alone.

“AAAAARRRRGGGHHH!”

Edward hated everything about the current situation.

But what he hated most was the piano sound from Evelyn Queen Ember’s “MEET.”

He could avoid watching the music video.

But he couldn’t avoid hearing the song.

Whenever he played the song to hear her voice,

that unbearably sweet piano sound tickled his ears.

“Damn it! Damn it! Until next year! Wait until next year, Kim Donghu!”

That had become an indelible wound for Edward.

+++++

At the same time Edward was fuming.

“At this rate, we might hit 100 million views before a week is up! That’s what they’re saying!”

-Congratulations. I’ve been listening to your music video too, it’s really good.

Evelyn was jumping on her bed while talking to Kim Donghu.

“If there’s one thing I regret, it’s that even though it’s my music video, people talk more about you.”

-Haha, that’s not true. They talk about you much more.

“No! No! If you look at the most popular comments, they’re all about the piano man.”

Click.

Click.

Evelyn checked the comments in real-time.

“Since you showed your face openly, people are saying it’s like seeing Tarzan and Jane’s private life.”

-Private life?

“To be precise, um… like they met and now work together in modern times?”

-Ah, I think I understand.

“Or like Tarzan and Jane were their past lives and this is their current life… something like that.”

She didn’t know why her face was turning red saying these things.

Evelyn fanned herself and naturally continued the conversation.

“So what’s your schedule like now?”

-Now I… soon a filming crew from Korea will be coming.

“What are they filming?”

-Well, I’ll be driving a food truck around in America.

“You?! Really?!”

Evelyn’s voice shot up at Kim Donghu’s answer.

‘He cooks well too? Well enough to drive a food truck?’

Of course, driving a food truck doesn’t necessarily mean being a good cook.

There were terrible places, and often people who couldn’t cook at all.

But.

‘If Donghu is doing it… does that mean he’s perfect at it?’

She wanted to go.

That was Evelyn’s first thought, but.

‘Since they’re coming from Korea… they’re probably doing it with Korean members.’

She quickly grasped the reality.

-Yes, I’m quite good at cooking. No lie.

“If I say I don’t believe you… will you cook for me?”

-Well, I don’t know.

“Tarzan, didn’t I tell you I don’t like it when you talk like that?”

-Oh, Jane… did you? I haven’t learned that yet.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Her heart raced madly during conversations like this.

Wondering if he felt the same way.

Desperately hoping so while pretending to be calm as she continued.

“Then I’ll teach you now, repeat after me.”

-What?

“Evelyn, I’ll invite you to the program, come taste my cooking.”

-I can’t say that unless it’s to Jane.

“…Try again, Tarzan. I’ll cook just for you, Jane.”

-Jane, I’ll cook just for you.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

She couldn’t hold back anymore.

Even pretending to be calm was too much.

She couldn’t bear the sweet voice tickling her ears.

In this moment, Evelyn clearly understood what love was.

“…Uh, um… I, I have something urgent to do, so I’ll hang up now?!”

-What? Haha, okay.

Click!

She couldn’t remember exactly what mental state she was in afterward.

She vaguely recalled mumbling something and hastily putting down the phone.

That night.

The night felt unusually warm.

And the world after the call ended felt pale.

‘…So this is what they call love.’

Evelyn learned love from Kim Donghu.

+++++

Time passed quickly.

The pre-meeting day for “Will It Work Here?”

“The reaction is insane, isn’t this crazy?”

“Is it?”

“Of course! It’s so simple but cool! Good luck, right? Like in Taken?!”

“That’s right, it feels like I’m the villain.”

I was talking with Seokho hyung.

Waiting for the “Will It Work Here?” filming crew in the conference room.

“Honestly? I don’t understand why everyone thinks you’ll lose.”

“It’s probably because I have fewer matches, I honestly get it.”

Seokho hyung frowned deeply at my answer.

“No, do they judge by number of matches? It’s like… everyone’s underestimating you too much because you’re Asian.”

Seokho hyung seemed still angry about the news he read yesterday.

I seized the opportunity to continue.

“I get that Edward is good, but… we’re better, you know? I heard illegal betting sites already set odds! We’re at 5 to 1! As underdogs!”

Even when we should be evenly matched or slightly favored.

To be treated as automatic underdogs just because we’re Asian.

Even if they’re creating a narrative, this treatment was too much.

“Objectively speaking, we are the challengers, but it’s different! What rookie debuts against a champion!”

In most photo compositions, Edward was positioned above.

With me looking up at him.

Of course, we never took photos like that.

Journalists just edited and pieced them together that way.

Just from the composition, I could tell which way public opinion was flowing.

‘The complete underdog.’

Foreigner, scarecrow, primitive, Asian.

Various derogatory terms were being attached.

But honestly, I wasn’t particularly moved.

‘I can’t do anything about it until April next year anyway.’

Reacting to each of these would be endless.

And I needed to prioritize my immediate schedule.

“Don’t worry too much, it’ll all be sorted out next year anyway.”

“No, but this…!”

“Should I be more aggressive in the next interview? More forceful?”

“Good! Good! Just put him in his place…!”

As we continued our conversation.

Click.

“Oh! You’re here! Hello! I’m Lee Hyungwoo!”

The door opened and the PD of “Will It Work Here?”,

Lee Hyungwoo, entered.

And behind him.

“Haven’t you risen too high since I last saw you? Haven’t you become too cool?”

My long-time twin-tailed tsundere childhood friend came in.

Still maintaining her brown twin tails.

The way she stuck close to me with that prim face was so cute I could die.

‘I almost hugged her instinctively.’

Sujin glanced at me and naturally extended her hand.

Seeing that, I unconsciously interlocked our fingers.

“Wh-what?! What are you doing! Th-that was for a handshake.”

“Oh, right, it was a handshake?”

A startled Sujin and me calmly extending my other hand for a handshake.

“Y-you’re crazy! Look at your face! Playing jokes as soon as we meet!”

“It’s fun.”

“Th-there are other people here, you idiot…”

Sujin’s startled reaction when teased was always the cutest.

After that brief joke, I looked around and realized.

“…Hahaha, Sujin and I have been friends since childhood.”

Everyone was quietly watching us.

It was like…

A feeling of not wanting to interrupt?

Noticing this atmosphere, Sujin quickly spoke up.

“That’s right! Hehe Doctor! From back then, we have a connection! I was just so happy to see him!”

“We know, we know! That’s why we all kept quiet at your reunion moment!”

“Right, haha, you know, these dramatic reunions are NG if you interrupt!”

With their quick situational awareness,

comedians Kim Hyunjun and Ahn Suhwan quickly smoothed things over.

They glossed over the atmosphere with jokes.

And simultaneously laid groundwork for the meeting to proceed.

‘So that’s why they say comedians are smart.’

While I was admiring that.

“Then shall we start with introductions? Nice to meet you all!”

PD Lee Hyungwoo took control of the conversation flow.

And started the business meeting with self-introductions.

“As I mentioned before, our filming will take about 4 weeks.”

Total filming time: 4 weeks.

They were planning 12 episodes, with an expected broadcast date around August.

Exactly as written in the contract.

“The schedule is… yes, and the most important thing now is what menu we’ll sell.”

“Korean food has many categories.”

“Yes, and honestly, Korean food isn’t completely unfamiliar anymore.”

This was the most important part of “Will It Work Here?”

What food to sell.

There had been many considerations.

Countless item meetings.

But nothing particularly compelling had emerged.

“Hmm….”

While everyone was pondering.

“How about potato stew fried rice, rice soup… and cheese potato pancakes?”

My thoughts popped out.

“…Shall we go with that?”

Suddenly, the direction was decided.

+++++

The planned meeting period was about a week.

We could think leisurely until then.

“Good work everyone!”

For today, we were satisfied just having come up with items.

Actually, there was another reason the first day’s meeting ended quickly.

Not because we had time to spare.

Rather, because we had ‘no time to spare’ that we ended quickly.

Because.

“We have so much to talk about, right?”

Since I was meeting Sujin after a long time.

We needed to enjoy our happy reunion.