novelraw Chapter 231: Holidays are for Cherished Ones (1)
Chapter 231: Holidays are for Cherished Ones (1)
Spark’s schedule was relentlessly packed.
I had no intention of repeating UA’s mistake of missing the right time to paddle ahead during a long hiatus in the past, and the members of SPARK didn’t resist my opinions because they didn’t have enough ego.
Therefore, on top of filming the Chuseok ISD special, Spark decided to film an additional self-cam. All dressed in vibrant hanbok. To make holiday food, of all things.
‘Holiday food?’
‘Will we be able to handle it?’
It wasn’t that long ago when they struggled just to bake cookies. Choi Jaeho and Lee Cheonghyeon, who relied purely on forearm strength for everything, looked concerned.
It was Park Joowoo who calmed everyone down.
‘Iwol hyung is good at making holiday food…!’
Feeding him well last Chuseok paid off. I’d considered making songpyeon, but I had a vision of us just making and eating a massive batch of songpyeon and calling it a day, so I abandoned the idea.
The members more or less accepted my idea, and the plan for ‘Spark Makes Holiday Food’ passed without much resistance.Just cooking wouldn’t be entertaining, so I added a concept:
‘Six brothers reunited for the holidays after six months apart living away from home’.
Considering age and birthdays, I became the eldest. As if being in an idol group with these guys wasn’t enough, now I had to play their big brother, too. But I resolved to be a professional.
However, one member had zero sense of professionalism.
“Hey, should I take out the donggeurangttaeng now?”
That was the third time Choi Jeho had called me ‘hey’. He’d at least feigned remorse the first time, but now he seemed to have completely forgotten the concept.
“Don’t ‘hey’ your older brother. Show some respect for the hierarchy.”
I didn’t care for seniority, but it was the concept for today. He was undermining the family structure.
Choi Jeho frowned at my sudden scolding.
“Can’t we just be twins?”
“We need to actually resemble each other to be twins.”
“We could be fraternal.”
Oh, so now he’s arguing back?
“If that’s the case, this house must have three sets of twins. What a mystical twin-producing bloodline we’ve got.”
“Could be. Who’s to say it’s not?”
“Keep that up, and you’ll be cracking eggs all day by yourself.”
Choi Jeho’s gaze shifted to the stacks of egg cartons in the living room.
We were prepping food for about 20 people. Naturally, we had a mountain of eggs.
“…Hyung, should I take out the donggeurangttaeng?”
Thus, Choi Jeho obediently accepted the concept. He even took on the arduous task of retrieving the frozen donggeurangttaeng from the freezer. A true older brother.
The eggs Choi Jeho had forsaken were entrusted to Jeong Seongbin. He and Lee Cheonghyeon were whisking eggs while peering at a recipe on a small phone
As Jeong Seongbin cracked eggs, Lee Cheonghyeon diligently disposed of the shells and picked up chopsticks.
“Cheonghyeon, what are you doing?”
“I’m the designated eggshell disposer and emergency shell fragment retriever.”
Lee Cheonghyeon was utterly serious. His commitment to the bit was so intense that I couldn’t interrupt.
Kang Kiyeon, who was slicing ham for the skewers, called him out,
“Hyung, Seongbin hyung knows how to use chopsticks, so just come help with the skewers. Can’t you see the ingredients piling up?”
Indeed, the skewer ingredients were overflowing the tray. When did Kang Kiyeon become so proficient with a knife?
In the end, Lee Cheonghyeon was dragged away by Kang Kiyeon and reassigned to skewer duty.
“I told you to put the firmer ingredients on the sides.”
“But the colors won’t look as nice.”
“Are you gonna be the one frying them?”
Despite his increasingly questionable way of addressing Lee Cheonghyeon, Kang Kiyeon was managing the skewer project efficiently.
And while everyone was busy, Park Joowoo had, remarkably, started seasoning the pollack all by himself!
“Joowoo, you didn’t use sugar, did you?”
“No…!”
Park Joowoo shook his head, his face pale. Still, he double-checked the seasoning he’d set out. Thankfully, we avoided a pollack-dalgona catastrophe.
“You even added pepper.”
“Because I made it with hyung before… This is easy.”
Such a commendable boy. This oldest brother is… uh… which number is he again…? Too many dongsaengs. Anyway, this oldest brother is incredibly proud of the third or fourth dongsaeng.
On the other hand, there was another dongsaeng I wanted to banish under the Chuseok moon.
“Why are you scattering flour everywhere?!”
“You told me to shake it off! Hey, Kang Kiyeon! Do I look like a joke to you?!”
“You’d have to be making me laugh to be a joke! Look at this mess on the floor; does this look funny?!”
Lee Cheonghyeon, being scolded despite diligently playing the older brother, and Kang Kiyeon, who was perfectly behaved as a buddy but became rebellious when treated like a younger brother.
I was starting to think that riling up his older brothers was a fundamental part of Kang Kiyeon’s personality.
“Just put down some newspaper. Don’t get so worked up.”
Thank goodness for Jeong Seongbin. What would you guys do without him?
In comparison, Choi Jeho, who lifted the tray of flour and asked someone to lay out some newspaper under his spot too, was really just… I have a lot to say, but I’ll keep it to myself.
I finished preparing the vegetables, rolled up my sleeves, and said,
“We’re going to start frying soon, right? Let’s close all the doors to contain the oil smell. And open the balcony window.”
“Yes, hyung.”
Jeong Seongbin quickly jumped up and closed the doors. Watching him, Lee Cheonghyeon remarked,
“Sigh… Back in my day, if the maknae was still sitting around when the older brothers told him to do something, there’d be hell to pay… Kiyeon, you’re so lucky to have such nice older brothers.”
“Do you and I have different brothers or something?”
Kang Kiyeon looked dumbfounded. Lee Cheonghyeon’s eyes, however, were glistening.
“Our second oldest brother… when we cooked with the fireplace, everyone would call for him to chop wood because he was so good at it… but now, with technology, he’s become useless… It breaks my heart to see him like that.”
Jeong Seongbin struggled to suppress his laughter, biting his lip so hard he looked pained. Park Joowoo and I, being in the kitchen, avoided the carnage by turning away.
Patting Jeong Seongbin’s trembling shoulder, Lee Cheonghyeon continued,
“I always knew our third oldest brother would be successful.”
“And what did I become?”
“You became the village head! I get treated with respect when I go out because I’m the village head’s brother! It’s a joy to walk around these days~!”
Park Joowoo was now hiding behind me, crying. He must be so proud to be the brother of a village chief. Such touching sibling love.
“So, uh, what about our fourth oldest brother?”
Kang Kiyeon asked, stifling his laughter.
“You don’t know? How can you be so indifferent to your siblings?! We may not see each other often, but we should never forget each other in our hearts!”
“Oh, please.”
Kang Kiyeon closed his eyes with a sigh. Gasps of suppressed laughter filled the room. But Lee Cheonghyeon was unstoppable.
“Our fourth brother has been trying to win a stuffed animal by shooting arrows at the persimmon festival for years! And you, as his younger brother, don’t even know!”
Shocked by his brother’s plight, Choi Jeho spat out the water he was drinking. Even Choi Jeho wouldn’t have imagined his brother working so hard for a stuffed animal.
This family must have had a chaotic childhood. Shaking my head, I was about to sit down and start cooking when Lee Cheonghyeon caught my gaze. He beamed at me.
“Still, I have no regrets now that you, as the eldest, have made such a big decision.”
“What decision?”
“You retired! That’s not an easy decision to make. I truly admire your decisiveness!”
What exactly did I retire from in Lee Cheonghyeon’s world? Did I hand over the village head position to Jeong Seongbin? Or my part-time job at the persimmon festival arrow game?
I was now afraid of what Lee Cheonghyeon would say next. And he effortlessly surpassed my expectations.
“You used to stand at the village entrance as a jangseung (Korean totem pole)! We were so worried about you, exposed to the wind and rain… But now, it’s finally over.”
Laughter and cries erupted from all directions. Jeong Seongbin choked on his laughter and coughed, scattering flour everywhere. Kang Kiyeon was rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach. The room was a chaotic mess.
‘This Chuseok is much noisier than last year’s.’
I remembered last Chuseok, quietly cooking jeon with Park Joowoo, leaving the empty dorm to relax at a cafe, and then returning.
Compared to then, the atmosphere had certainly changed a lot.
***
Besides frying jeon, there was plenty to do. While I expertly seasoned the namul, Jeong Seongbin, wearing a mask (I made him wear it), grilled the beef skewers, and the younger members carefully arranged the cooked jeon on paper towels to drain the excess oil.
Park Joowoo, our resident cleaning fairy, was given the crucial task of wiping up any stray oil splatters.
And Choi Jeho…
“You want me to peel this whole bag?”
“Yes.”
…was given a bag of chestnuts.
“Why chestnuts? There are apples and pears too.”
“Because chestnuts are the cheapest.”
That was a lie. The company provided all the ingredients anyway. But the fans loved seeing him do cute things with his enormous hands, so it couldn’t be helped.
Grumbling, Choi Jeho sat down and started peeling the chestnuts.
“You look surprisingly proficient.”
“I was in charge of fruit at home.”
That was TMI that even I, Kim Iwol, the self-proclaimed Choi Jeho and Spark expert, hadn’t known.
Why did you crack walnuts with your bare hands before if you had this skill?
“By the way, I can only peel fruit, so don’t ask me to do anything else.”
“The kimchi jeon incident proved that, so don’t worry.”
“Ugh…”
Choi Jeho turned away from me completely, seemingly deciding it was best not to engage.
“If Jeho hyung is in charge of fruit, what should the other brothers be in charge of? I can do the dishes.”
Lee Cheonghyeon volunteered.
And was immediately stopped by Park Joowoo.
“Our Cheonghyeon has to play the keyboard…”
“We’ve talked about this before, hyung. I swear I’ll play at least once before I die! Promise!”
“Once?”
“…Thirty times!”
Park Joowoo smiled at Lee Cheonghyeon’s negotiation offer and finally let him go. At long last, Lee Cheonghyeon was allowed to touch water.