Makgeolli and Pajeon (1)

“Makgeolli?”

Lee Dojin blinked. Suddenly alcohol appears. He was about to answer that alcohol might be a bit much, but then he looked at the sky.

The clear blue sky had already changed to a sky with reddish sunset settling down. He didn’t have anywhere special to go anyway. And he could push away the intoxication anytime by using his inner power.

“Okay, let’s try it.”

“Cool! The club vice president said he brought it from his family home. Apparently it used to be a famous makgeolli business in the past, but he said it just tastes like commercially sold makgeolli to him.”

Choi Bit-na raised both hands at Lee Dojin’s decision and started going deeper inside the food stall.

Then she brought out a round white container. It definitely gave off the feeling of homemade makgeolli.

Choi Bit-na took out paper cups and poured makgeolli from the container.

Lee Dojin drank a full cup of makgeolli in one go.

“Oh.”

Lee Dojin felt the unique aroma and heaviness that came rushing in. And he savored it.

“It’s delicious. I think it tastes better than commercial ones.”

Unlike the strange tteokbokki he just ate, it had a taste full of fundamentals with proper balance of acidity and spiciness.

“Really?”

Since Choi Bit-na had never tried makgeolli before either, she opened her eyes wide at Lee Dojin’s words and took a sip of makgeolli.

Choi Bit-na’s eyes opened round.

“Wow, it really is delicious.”

Lee Dojin approached Kim Taek-sung, the club president who was stirring tteokbokki on the huge pan.

“We need pajeon rather than tteokbokki.”

Kim Taek-sung immediately grasped the context of Lee Dojin’s words and asked back.

“Is the makgeolli that delicious? I haven’t tried it yet.”

Lee Dojin held out the paper cup containing makgeolli.

“Yes, I don’t think it’s time for you to be making tteokbokki.”

“…If you’re confident enough to say that, there must be something to it.”

Kim Taek-sung finally got up and stood next to Choi Bit-na. And with an expression without much expectation, he drank the makgeolli.

“Huh?”

Kim Taek-sung’s eyes widened round.

“I-I feel like something just flashed through my mind.”

Senior Kim Taek-sung seemed to have seen a ray of light.

“…Damn, we do need pajeon.”

It was an expression that seemed to have had many realizations.

---

Excluding Choi Bit-na and the club president, there were a total of 4 members inside the food stall booth.

As a natural progression, the cooking club members who didn’t know how to properly make tteokbokki had never made pajeon either.

“Do you do any cooking club activities?”

Lee Dojin couldn’t help but voice the obvious question in his mind.

Kim Taek-sung clicked his tongue.

“The senior who graduated last year was passionate about cooking. The problem is only that senior was like that, and the rest were members pulled in just for show so the club wouldn’t collapse. Me too. It was more of a gourmet exploration club than a cooking club, mostly.”

But suddenly this year, an official document came down asking to prove club activities. So they were planning to sell snacks cheaply at the festival to prove that the cooking club had been active.

But even if they tried to sell snacks just for show, they didn’t even have the basic sense to carry out that show.

Cooking Club President Kim Taek-sung made up his mind.

“The taste of the makgeolli is amazing. And I just talked to the vice president, and this guy says it’s possible to keep bringing makgeolli for the next two days. So if we ditch all this damn tteokbokki and fried food and just have pajeon, it seems like it would be perfect.”

The problem was that there wasn’t even anyone who could make pajeon. There wasn’t even a place nearby to bring in pajeon from.

“…Should we bring in one of the ladies from the cafeteria?”

Choi Bit-na, who had been listening to the seniors’ conversation, suddenly stuck her face out. The ends of her short hair draped over Lee Dojin’s shoulder. This was because Choi Bit-na was sticking to Lee Dojin’s back like glue.

“Pajeon, pajeon. Isn’t it just mixing green onions and flour and spreading it out?”

At Choi Bit-na’s words, two club members shook their heads.

“Usually, things that seem like they can be made roughly taste bad when made roughly.”

“Have you ever seen delicious pajeon sold at the front of occasionally held local festivals?”

Choi Bit-na was persuaded by the seniors’ examples.

“…I haven’t.”

Rustle-

After muttering like that, she completely hid behind Lee Dojin’s back. She seemed to be already drunk after gulping down three or four cups of makgeolli.

Zing-

Lee Dojin’s phone vibrated. Lee Dojin immediately checked who the caller was. It was Yeon Simun.

-Where are you, junior?

“I’m at the cooking club booth. It doesn’t seem like there’s anyone who can cook… anyway, a food stall has opened.”

-Is that so? I called to see if we could have dinner together.

Lee Dojin asked without much expectation.

“Do you know how to make pajeon by any chance?”

-Pajeon?

It was a very out-of-the-blue question from Yeon Simun’s perspective.

-Do you mean pajeon made with your mouth while drunk, or real pajeon?

“Real pajeon.”

Was it too out-of-the-blue a question? Lee Dojin was about to add that she should just come drink makgeolli.

But in that gap, Yeon Simun’s voice was heard again.

-I know how to make it.

“What?”

Why do you know how to make it?

-When I was young, my grandmother ran a jeon shop. She’s passed away now. Anyway, she was a bit sick even then, so I helped a lot. But why?

It seems that.

She wasn’t just playing the role of a gourmet, but was actually one.

“There’s makgeolli here that tastes amazing.”

-If I make it, what, will you pay me part-time wages?

A very realistic money talk flowed from Yeon Simun’s mouth. Lee Dojin thought it was a naturally curious question.

Free labor didn’t exist in this world.

“It seems we’ve found a cook, can we share the profits?”

At Lee Dojin’s question, the club vice president blinked.

“We can give if there’s profit. Did you find a pajeon chef?”

“Yes, they say they’re experienced.”

Kim Taek-sung alternately looked at the tteokbokki writhing on the grill and the club members listening to his and Lee Dojin’s conversation with blank expressions of not understanding anything.

And he let out a deep sigh. Then he spoke again.

“…Bring them in.”

He seemed to have judged that no answer would come from these guys no matter how much he thought about it.

Lee Dojin nodded his head greatly.

“I’ll go bring them, senior.”

-Alright.

Lee Dojin immediately moved towards the martial arts club.

Lee Dojin brought Yeon Simun directly to the cooking club booth, the food stall.

“You don’t need to pay much attention to the grandmother story I mentioned earlier.”

Yeon Simun said as if in passing. She seemed to feel bad about adding a somewhat heavy story.

“No, I’m glad to know a little more about you, senior.”

Yeon Simun opened her eyes wide.

‘Anyway.’

There’s a side to him that subtly makes people’s hearts flutter.

Yeon Simun, who arrived at the food stall, stared intently at Kim Taek-sung.

And she slowly opened her mouth.

“I feel like I’ve seen that face somewhere before?”

Kim Taek-sung didn’t immediately respond to Yeon Simun’s question and looked at Lee Dojin.

“…Why did you bring the student council vice president?”

Lee Dojin answered nonchalantly.

“We’re friends.”

“Wow, as expected of the first-year student representative. Your friend is the student council vice president.”

Kim Taek-sung, who simultaneously sneered and marveled, faced Yeon Simun again.

“Of course the student council vice president wouldn’t remember. Because I was one-sidedly beaten by you in the first round of last year’s martial arts competition. Only the one who got beaten up remembers so clearly.”

Yeon Simun grinned. Because she felt a very cute inferiority complex. Yeon Simun walked up to Kim Taek-sung.

“I said I thought I’d seen you before. Doesn’t that mean I remember? Now that you mention it, I remember clearly. Your tiger-like movements were quite threatening, friend.”

“…Thank you. Yes. For remembering. I was surprised by the sudden appearance of such a busy person, so my words came out a bit sarcastic.”

Choi Bit-na patted Kim Taek-sung’s shoulder.

“There’s still some sarcasm left, meow.”

“Isn’t it a fact that the student council vice president is busy? And how many cups have you had to be in that state already? Why are you meowing?”

“I feel… floaty.”

Choi Bit-na, with a reddened face, buried her face in Lee Dojin’s broad back again.

Yeon Simun saw that and chuckled, then scanned the kitchen.

“I don’t work as the student council during the festival period. It’s bothersome to control the kids.”

And she walked into the kitchen.

“We have most of the ingredients.”

Yeon Simun first made the dough by taking out flour and salt.

Tak-! Tak!

And she skillfully prepared the green onions and onions.

She poured cooking oil into the pan and turned on medium-low heat.

Sizzle!

Soon, a golden-brown pajeon was completed.

“Try it.”

Yeon Simun placed the pajeon on the table.

The chopsticks of the cooking club members slowly tilted towards the pajeon.

Crunch!

Kim Taek-sung shuddered at the thrill surging in his mouth.

“Oh… oh, damn. This works.”

A member beside him hurriedly reached for the makgeolli.

Gulp!

“Wow, this is crazy.”

The members who had eaten a few pieces of pajeon bowed their heads towards Yeon Simun.

“You really were a chef.”

“Just tell us what you need. Chef.”

Yeon Simun spoke firmly.

“50-50 split on pajeon profits. Of course, you provide the ingredients.”

The club members thought it was an unfair distribution from the club’s perspective, considering they should divide the profits by n.

But no one objected. It wasn’t a booth opened with the purpose of making money in the first place.

“Get a promotional board or something and put it in front. In front of the food stall. That’s what you need to do business.”

Yeon Simun began to take command.