Chapter 1010: It Was Beautiful From Far Away.. (22)

There was an angel and a devil standing before me.

The main dancer with the face of an angel whispered softly,

“Hyung. Should we explain the situation to the customers even now? Tell them only children under twelve can order it, and ask adults to order a regular milanesa menu instead....”

Beside him, the devil wearing Seo Ri Hyuk’s face spoke crookedly.

“No. This is our fault. If it wasn’t allowed, we should’ve said so beforehand.”

“.......”

“And we don’t even have a regular milanesa menu in the first place.”

Sadly, Ri Hyuk was right.

If we were going to do that, we should’ve explained during ordering:

“Only children can order this!”

As the restaurant owner, I quickly organized the staff.

“Alright. We’ll accept orders for this current time slot, then change the rules starting from the next one. Ri Hyuk, can you handwrite a notice onto the menu board? Separate the adult menu and children’s menu.”

“I’ll fix it right away. What should we call the adult menu?”

“Hmm.......”

A phrase tempting enough to lure people in suddenly flashed through my mind.

“Let’s go with ‘Milanesa Made with Pyeongchang Korean Beef.’ Add ‘beef cutlet’ in parentheses underneath.”

“That’s like saying ‘ATM machine.’ The ‘don’ in tonkatsu literally already means pork.”

“Then write ‘beef sirloin cutlet’ or ‘beef katsu.’”

“Ah, that works.”

After saying that, I sent Junghyun off with instructions.

“Since frying the milanesa takes time, Junghyun, keep circulating around the hall and make sure customers don’t get upset. Ri Hyuk, help out whenever you have time.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Got it.”

“Alright, Biju. Let’s go fry some meat.”

Milanesa was similar to Korean pork cutlet.

The difference was that it used beef.

At first, we’d all been horrified and cried out with the soul of true Koreans:

-How could anyone fry precious beef instead of grilling it?! This violates the sacred laws of gastronomy!

-Beef in Argentina costs around one dollar per hundred grams.

-Then obviously you fry it.

Argentina was twenty-seven times larger than Korea to begin with.

And in general, beef was extremely cheap throughout South America.

Anyway, milanesa was famous not just in Argentina but also throughout Brazil, Chile, Mexico, the Philippines, and many other countries, so we’d included it on Goblin Restaurant’s menu.

The only problem was that because it used beef, the ingredient cost was high, so we’d intentionally made the portions smaller and turned it into a children’s menu item.

Of course, it was only labeled as a children’s menu because of the smaller size. There were technically no age restrictions.

But because the Bulgogi Steak portions were already huge, we’d never imagined adults would order this too....

“My mistake. This is all my mistake....”

Wasn’t this all because I’d tried giving fan service to a child with Rabbit Uncle and ended up tempting the adults too?

While checking whether the oil temperature had reached exactly 170 degrees with an infrared thermometer, Biju spoke.

“Shouldn’t we think about this positively? Sales increased because of your Rabbit Uncle performance.”

“I feel bad for you guys.”

“Don’t. The better business is, the better things are for us too.”

Truly, only Biju would say something like that.

Just as Biju smiled brightly as though saying, “I’m on your side, hyung.”

Ding dong!

Ding dong!

“Two more Children’s Milanesas!”

“.......”

Without a word, Biju started frying more milanesas, while I preheated the oven to 180 degrees and slid the cooked cutlets inside.

Mozzarella cheese melted over the golden-brown beef cutlets, blending into the tomato sauce.

Glancing toward the hall, I saw Ri Hyuk telling stories to the customers.

“To be precise, what we prepared is called milanesa a la napolitana. As the name suggests, it originated from a dish that started in Milan, Italy, then evolved into a Naples-style preparation.......”

Beginning with the fact that many Argentinians descended from Italian immigrants, Ri Hyuk launched into a knowledge-filled lecture that completely mesmerized the guests.

His elegant pronunciation sharpened through all those years studying Spanish.

His endless knowledge accumulated through reading countless books.

Truly our kid whose bucket list included giving a TED Talk.

While Ri Hyuk bought time like that, the dishes Biju and I prepared were rapidly served by Junghyun.

I hurried out myself to help serve too.

[All our grown-up children should enjoy their food too!]

“Thank you, Uncle...!”

The group of college students greeted Rabbit Uncle with emotional expressions.

Meanwhile, a middle-aged couple looked apologetic.

“We’re sorry. We’re acting ridiculous~ insisting on eating what the kids eat.......”

“No, not at all. The more orders we get, the happier we are. We started this place to do business, not to take it easy.”

“Th... then could we get the rabbit too.......”

I made Rabbit Uncle wiggle around while saying:

[In rabbit years, we’re the same age! Nice to meet you, friends!]

The couple burst into laughter.

After finishing the serving rounds—

I cooled myself down with a mini fan and looked around.

“So good...!”

“I had this in Mexico once and it tastes exactly like this. But the seasoning’s perfectly Korean.”

“This is insane... could we get some kimchi too?”

Even though they should’ve been full already, the customers were scraping every last drop of sauce clean.

Eventually the meal orders started settling down, and Jiho busily collected dishes.

Ri Hyuk approached while wiping sweat away with his apron.

“I finished updating the menu.”

“Did you do it well?”

“Check it yourself.”

The menu board now read:

And underneath, in smaller writing:

(Beef Sirloin Cutlet)

After giving him a thumbs-up for the beautiful handwriting that absolutely didn’t match his evil personality—

“Ri Hyuk hyung! Dessert orders!”

“Oh, one second.”

With the meal orders ending, dessert orders now began pouring in.

Now Biju and my time was over.

And dessert specialist Ri Hyuk’s time had begun.

Thump thump.

As they waited for dessert, the guests whispered excitedly.

“Ri Hyuk’s desserts....”

“I seriously wanted to try the desserts most. After watching New Universe, my expectations got insanely high.”

From the distance, Seo Ri Hyuk darted busily between machines like a sparrow.

Scooping shaved ice.

Skillfully operating the coffee machine’s complicated buttons.

“Wow.......”

The fragrant aroma of coffee spread through the restaurant, naturally drawing smiles from everyone.

Scenes from New Universe’s gourmet special resurfaced in people’s minds.

World-famous Brazilian barista Raul Silva calling out Ri Hyuk’s name and praising him.

-Ri Hyuk.

-Yes.

-You possess excellent qualities as a barista.

-!!!

An idol who had always genuinely loved coffee and whose senses of smell and taste were refined enough to carefully choose coffee beans.

Everyone remembered Ri Hyuk undergoing harsh training after receiving praise from the world’s number one barista.

Apparently he truly did have talent, because Seo Ri Hyuk had learned how to brew incredible coffee astonishingly fast.

And combined with his meticulous personality—

He’d even mastered latte art.

-If only your stomach had been stronger, you would’ve become an excellent barista.

-Ah... ahh.......

People recalled scenes of Ri Hyuk sadly suffering acid reflux symptoms after practicing coffee alone.

“You know how people online always joke that if there’s a barista academy nearby, there’s probably an internal medicine clinic next door too?”

“Seriously, foreigners drink espresso constantly and stay fine.......”

“Their hardware is just built different.”

While the guests chatted—

“Your coffee is ready.”

“Wooooow.......”

Kim Junghyun served the coffee with disciplined movements.

Smiling warmly like a handsome part-time employee, Junghyun spoke.

“It’s a balanced blend made from 40% Brazilian Santos beans, 30% Colombian Medellín beans, and 30% Yemeni Mocha beans. Ri Hyuk hyung— no no, don’t repeat literally everyth— guh.”

The guests turned around.

Far away, Seo Ri Hyuk was mouthing the lines word-for-word while clutching his forehead like he’d developed a headache.

The customers burst into laughter.

Meanwhile, Junghyun smiled warmly.

“Yes. Apparently that’s what it is~”

Unable to endure it any longer, Ri Hyuk personally came over to explain.

“The Brazilian Santos beans create the base and stabilize the overall balance. Medellín beans are similar to Colombian Supremo beans. You could compare them to ginger tea older people drink. And then the Yemeni Mocha beans.......”

The guests admired him.

‘I have absolutely no idea what he’s saying!’

‘He really studied coffee seriously, huh.’

‘His voice is amazing.... He could probably become King of Singers just by reciting poetry.’

After explaining like a university professor, Seo Ri Hyuk smiled kindly at the customers.

“Did everyone understand?”

“We understood perfectly!”

“Heh heh.”

The guests, who absolutely did not want a second explanation, and the idol who personally felt he’d explained things brilliantly exchanged equally satisfied smiles.

Meanwhile—

“Wow.......”

“The coffee smells incredible.”

“It’s really good. Totally different from franchise coffee.”

The coffee lovers savored the aroma happily.

Watching from afar, Seo Ri Hyuk turned toward the members.

‘Did you see that?’

‘Our barista is the best!’

Wooju, Biju, and Jiho all gave him thumbs-ups.

Ri Hyuk’s lips twitched with delight at all the praise.

This time, he started preparing desserts.

“Here’s your Seori Shaved Ice.”

“Wooooooow...!”

A fruit shaved ice dessert covered in colorful toppings.

Like the rest of the desserts, it heavily featured Gurye County specialties, including sansuyu fruit.

“So pretty.......”

“Wait wait, put your spoon down. Let’s take pictures first.”

The decorations and plating were beautiful enough to make people gasp in admiration.

Beside a proud-looking Ri Hyuk, Junghyun explained,

“Ri Hyuk stayed up all night practicing this.”

“Oh, really?”

When asked if Ri Hyuk had also developed the dessert menu himself, he shook his head.

“We appeared as guests on Pastry Korea in Taiwan before... yeah, PatKo. This dessert was something we learned from Pastry Chef Myung Sejin there. The process of developing it will appear later in the broadcast....”

“Ooooh.......”

The guests looked unsure who Pastry Chef Myung Sejin was.

From farther away, Wooju silently mouthed something toward Ri Hyuk.

Ri Hyuk instantly caught on.

“He’s the person who helped develop the recipe for Souffle Bread.”

“Ahhhhh!”

Pastry Korea was the dessert survival show broadcast on TBC back in late 2014.

The guests nodded after hearing the dessert came from the winner of that show, who now operated a famous dessert shop in Hapjeong.

‘This is seriously good.’

It wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet, making it exactly the kind of flavor Koreans loved.

After fully enjoying dessert, the guests slowly rose from their seats once their one-hour dining limit ended.

“That was amazing~!”

“Ah, thank you so much. Fighting, our Black boys!”

“Boss, thank you for the meal~”

The customers greeted Wooju and the members smiling at the register before heading out.

Then Producer Gu Jaeyoung, who had been monitoring the outside situation, came in and asked:

“How was it?”

“Hm?”

Producer Gu Jaeyoung looked at the members clearing dishes.

“I mean pacing. How much time should we leave between customer groups?”

“I think we could let them in right away. Though twenty minutes later would probably be ideal.......”

“Twenty minutes? Got it.”

The members and production staff had agreed to use the first service as a test run before deciding future operations.

While Producer Gu Jaeyoung relayed instructions over his radio—

And while minor cleanup wrapped up—

“Woooooow.......”

“Waaaah!”

The next group of guests entered immediately.

The industrial dishwashers ran nonstop while NewBlack prepared to take the next round of orders.

“Phew.”

Jiho wiped away sweat while organizing dirty dishes.

“Still, I think this round’ll be easier than before. We probably won’t get flooded with milanesa orders like earlier.”

“Right.”

Since only children could order the Rabbit Uncle children’s menu now, everyone laughed, thinking the orders would naturally decrease.

Then, while Junghyun confirmed the pre-selected menus with the incoming guests—

Something suddenly caught their eyes.

The newly attached menu board.

“Pyeongchang... Korean beef cutlet......?”

“Pyeongchang Korean beef??”

The guests looked up at Junghyun.

“Can we add extra orders?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Wow, this is insane. Pyeongchang Korean beef... turned into cutlets.......”

The bait was simply too powerful to ignore.

Ding dong!

Ding dong!

Ding dong!

While NewBlack cooked Bulgogi Steaks according to schedule, they stared blankly at the incoming tsunami of milanesa orders.

Their leader—the one who insisted the menu absolutely needed the words “Pyeongchang Korean Beef” attached if they wanted it to sell.

Thanks to their leader’s exceptional PR instincts, sales were skyrocketing.

The members stared at him with moist eyes.

“.......”

“.......”

Faced with those resentful stares, the leader clasped both hands against his chest and squirmed.

“Guys....”

“.......”

“Hyung’s sorry again....”

“.......”

“I’m really sor.......”

The underlings’ eyes glistened with tears at the doubled workload.

The first day of business was an overwhelming success.

“How much did we make today?”

“A little over twenty million won.”

An absolutely enormous amount of revenue.

Even after expenses, the net profit was better than expected.

Of course, we’d already promised to donate the profits toward developing Gurye County’s Goblin Street project, but it still felt good.

The only problem was—

Tremble tremble tremble-

Tremble-

—our entire bodies were shaking.

Because we’d consciously forced ourselves not to show exhaustion in front of customers, my cheeks were now cramping.

Even now, while holding chopsticks, my forearms trembled.

“Uwaaaaah.......”

“Gwaaaaah.......”

The members slurped ramen while making zombie noises.

At last, business had ended and evening arrived.

Normally we never skipped meals carelessly, but now we were eating instant ramen for dinner.

Even Biju—who’d asked whether he should cook something proper—had quietly sat back down the moment we told him we were fine.

That alone showed how exhausted everyone was.

“You guys seriously worked hard today.”

Producer Gu Jaeyoung burst into hearty laughter.

“Now we only have to do this three more days.”

“!!!”

Seeing our violent reactions expressed purely through eye movements, Producer Gu Jaeyoung continued.

“We warned you guys over and over before starting. Why make it this long? Three days is enough. We said three days alone would already provide more than enough footage, but you guys.......”

“PD. I think we’re gonna choke on our ramen.”

“Sorry.”

Eating ramen with kimchi Kim Deoksun had sent us, we stared gloomily at the ceiling.

It was truly a day that made us feel the limits of our stamina.

“PD. Do you think it’ll at least turn out entertaining?”

“It’s incredible.”

“Then that’s good enough.”

‘Then it’s fine.’

Thinking that, we stared blankly upward again.

‘This is hopeless.’

‘And this is only day one.’

After gulping down ramen broth, the maknae spoke.

“I suddenly want to practice choreography.”

“Same.”

“Ah, seriously. I really want to practice.”

Normally, practice was something we endured because we had to.

But now, like rebellious children, we suddenly desperately wanted to do it.

Biju asked,

“What about you, hyung?”

“Inspiration’s exploding. I keep getting ideas for songs.”

The others burst into laughter.

I showed them my phone.

“I think I seriously recorded like twenty voice memos today. Melodies just kept coming to me.......”

“What an unexpected positive side effect of restaurant work. Album creation.”

“I seriously want to write songs so badly.”

At my words, Biju tore apart kimchi and said,

“Wooju hyung really did record a lot. Every time I wondered where he went, he’d be hiding in a corner recording something.”

“Ah, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° I saw it too. The melodies were genuinely amazing, but Wooju hyung kept attaching weird lyrics. ‘I wanna run away... wanna run away... run run run... run to Deoksun’s heart~’”

I laughed while jabbing Jiho in the side for mockingly imitating me.

Still, maybe because we’d finished service without any disasters, the atmosphere remained warm and cheerful.

We asked,

“Nothing happened outside, right?”

“There were a few incidents here and there.”

“Hmm.......”

Apparently a lot of things had happened.

But if we started worrying about all those issues now, it felt like our mental energy would completely collapse, so we decided to hear about it later.

“Alright. Let’s wrap up and head home... no, back to the lodging.”

We repeatedly double-checked the finances to make sure everything balanced properly.

With hollow eyes, we prepared ingredients for tomorrow in advance.

Without mentioning it to customers, we reviewed all the tiny mistakes we’d made and discussed improvements.

By the time the heat of summer had completely faded into night—

“Waaaaaaaah!”

We thanked the people who’d waited around just to see us before climbing into the car to head home.

Even if it wasn’t as bad as the morning, the roads were still packed with vehicles.

Colorful headlights filtering through the windows painted our faces in shifting colors.

Biju spoke worriedly.

“Won’t tomorrow be even worse?”

“.......”

Just as our heads began hurting from thinking about tomorrow morning’s commute—

Jiho suddenly said,

“Can’t we just ride bicycles again?”

“I think people will specifically gather because they heard about that.”

“Ah.......”

We were still talking when Junghyun suddenly spoke up.

“Then what if we don’t use cars or bicycles?”

“Then how are we supposed to get there?”

“Well... then.......”

A single word left Junghyun’s mouth.

He’d spoken carelessly without much thought—

But all of us suddenly looked intrigued.

The next morning.

[Real-time Goblin Restaurant commute]

People clicked the post with curiosity-filled faces.

Then a video appeared.

“?”

“??”

A boat cutting across the Seomjin River, throwing up white spray.

[Hello!]

[We’re on our way to work!]

The NewBlack members waved at the camera in life jackets, making everyone burst into laughter.