novelraw Chapter 293: K-Potluck Party (1)
Chapter 293: K-Potluck Party (1)
While Jeong Seongbin and I were at the bread factory, the dorm’s kitchen was filled with groceries.
Looking around, I noticed one person was missing. I grabbed Lee Cheonghyeon and asked.
“Where’s Choi Jeho?”
“He’s downstairs carrying up a bag of rice.”
“Were we out of rice at the dorm?”
“It seemed like we wouldn’t have enough to make kimbap.”
The guy was faithfully carrying out his role. It seemed he was carrying it with Manager Daeyeon, who was in charge of driving.
Since it was for the self-filmed content, I figured Lee Cheonghyeon just skipped mentioning the manager… but.
“Open the door a little more.”
“Did you carry this all by yourself?”Beyond the slightly ajar front door, I saw Choi Jeho with a bag of rice on his shoulder. Flustered, I quickly opened the door for him, and the guy delivered the rice to the veranda like a courier.
“You should have carried it together…!”
As soon as Jeong Seongbin scolded him, Kang Kiyeon pointed to the kitchen.
“Hyung, we had a hard time too.”
“…Sorry.”
The fruits, eggs, and kimbap ingredients bought in boxes were overwhelming. Moreover, the number of ingredients was more than expected.
“We’re not cooking until tomorrow, right?”
“No, we’re going to do a practice run tonight…”
Park Joowoo said as he wiped the packaging of the ingredients one by one with a kitchen towel.
“To pull off the perfect potluck party, we have to give it our all…”
I could even feel a sense of solemnity from Park Joowoo. His excellent assistant, Kang Kiyeon, also helped his hyung and busily put the eggs in the refrigerator.
While Park Joowoo and Kang Kiyeon were ruling the kitchen, Lee Cheonghyeon dragged Choi Jeho to the living room.
“Our role starts now, Jeho hyung.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Making a bouquet of strawberries of love to offer to the Berion sunbaenims.”
Lee Cheonghyeon took out a bundle of colored origami paper.
“The goal is to fold strawberries in the representative colors of each of the Berion sunbaenims. We’re going to give three to each of the nine members, so we have to fold twenty-seven. Got it?”
“Um… first, show me how.”
Then the two of them sat at the living room table and started folding colored paper. Seeing them fuss with sheets of origami the size of their palms was pretty funny.
“No, hyung! You already folded three blue ones!”
“Did I?”
“Now you have to fold the orange one… Never mind, hyung, you fold five of each.”
“Why?”
“…Just because.”
Lee Cheonghyeon trailed off.
But all of us except Choi Jeho knew why. Because Choi Jeho’s strawberry shapes were far too unique. We couldn’t possibly give our seniors strawberries that looked like they had exploded.
As the two guys folded the strawberries, Jeong Seongbin and I, who were skilled in small packaging, stuck the strawberries on wires and then wrapped them like a bouquet. We decided to attach a message card cheering for the sunbaenims inside.
That day, we shared three rolls of keto kimbap, six deviled eggs, and six crepe canapés for dinner. And then we spent a night where the excited hearts of young boys waiting for a party and the tired bodies of servants preparing for the party coexisted.
* * *
The day of the party was unusually nice. The warm sunlight of winter and the calm wind seemed to be urging us to go out.
“It’s a perfect day for a party.”
Playboy crown prince-in-training Lee Cheonghyeon, with his hair heavily curled by a flat iron, fiddled with the brooch pinned to his silk necktie.
I wondered if it was okay for an idol to have a playboy concept, but Kang Kiyeon said it was fine because in romance fantasies, the playboy was just a facade and in the end, they fall in love with one person, so I decided to let it be.
“I know, right!”
Next to him, Jeong Seongbin, with a young naval officer as his motif, wore an old-fashioned white suit setup with epaulets decorated with fancy tassels.
His silvery hair, like a winter sea on a cloudy day, fluttered in the wind. He looked so dashing that the bouquet of paper strawberries he held in his arms looked like tulips.
“Do we have enough trunk space?”
Kang Kiyeon asked, coming out with his hands full of large reusable shopping bags from a supermarket. His concept was the third son pushed out of the line of succession, so he had the top of his inner shirt slightly unbuttoned and his hair in tighter waves than Lee Cheonghyeon’s.
I also asked if it was okay for an idol to have a debauched heir concept, but he said that this type of prodigal son usually just had a slight dissatisfaction with their family; the moment they discovered a dream, they reformed overnight and worked so hard people would say, ‘That rascal ○○ turned into that?’, so I said okay.
“If it’s not enough, since we have two cars… let’s split the load.”
Park Joowoo, holding two kimchi containers full of shine muscat, smiled brightly. The large frills, befitting a mysterious successor who never left his family’s mansion, made the guy look even more refined.
Though for someone who didn’t leave his mansion, the prominent veins on his forearms showed how trained his body was, but whatever.
And…
“Why are there so many lunch boxes?”
…Allow me to present. His Majesty, Emperor Choi Jeho of our Spark Kingdom.
His velvet jacket, which looked luxurious at a glance, was full of golden embroidery. The white high-waisted pants were a perfect fit for His Majesty’s lower body. I wondered where he had gotten such a luxurious outfit, but turned out he had rented a musical costume.
He also diligently brought out a principled, cool, and noble atmosphere by revealing his strong features with an all-back pomade.
Now, if he would just keep his mouth shut, it would be great. Am I asking too much of you?
It was worth the effort of finding white outfits of all materials and styles for the ‘Snowy Outing of the Spark Kingdom’s Nobility.’ Everyone shone, white and soft.
“We were invited, so it is not polite to go empty-handed, Your Majesty.”
“What’s with that tone?”
“My role is to be a retainer who makes an early exit after getting on Your Majesty’s nerves with my frank advice…”
“You’re making me out to be a tyrant.”
Choi Jeho grumbled. If you have a complaint, you should learn the speech of a friendly service worker. I’ll give you a 3-hour crash course.
“If all our luggage is loaded, let’s go!”
“Yes!”
At Jeong Seongbin’s word, the nobles swiftly boarded the 21st-century-style carriage. The horseless carriage began to run towards the Green Line office building.
* * *
At any dress-code event, you inevitably worry about how formal to go.
On Yeouido’s finance street, you could end up the lone star actor walking a red carpet—or the one true casual newbie defying the older generation at a semi-casual company dinner.
The styling team and I had the same concern. In the end, we agreed: even if we end up looking like clowns, let’s leave behind the best picture possible.
In the end, our choice was the right one.
“Aigoo, it is an honor that you have come!”
…Berion greeted us, wearing a tweed setup with eight gold buttons each.
Though we called it a ‘noble gathering’ the early moments felt more like a holiday family reunion out of a drama.
Why did you bring so much, it’s been a while, I saw you on TV, why haven’t you been in touch, and so on. My heart ached for the video subtitle staff member’s workload.
“Come in, come in.”
Yeo Seongchan led us inside as if welcoming guests to the head family’s house. A rose petal path was spread out from the office building lobby. Green Line, you really give everything you have for your idols.
The surprise didn’t end at the lobby.
The large practice room, which we arrived at after treading on fake rose petals, had been transformed into a scene from ‘Kingdom Cafeteria ~Another~.’
Decorating the space alone probably gave them a full episode’s worth of content. Good thing Spark had also filmed our preparations thoroughly.
It wasn’t just the place that was fancy. On the long table, which was even covered with a tablecloth, everything from pasta to all sorts of other things was set out. If we had brought skewered jeon, we would have been kicked out for not matching the TPO.
“Why did you prepare so much?”
“We can’t have the food run out when we’ve invited guests.”
I had put on my polite speech again since it was going to be broadcast, and Moon Yeongyu responded kindly. It was… what Park Joowoo’s aunt used to say. This brat had gotten more mature on the inside after turning a year older.
“For the record, Heerang made the pasta. He’s our team’s official chef.”
Moon Yeongyu grabbed the shoulders of Heerang, who was hiding behind him, and proudly pulled him forward.
“Really?”
When I asked in surprise, Mr. Heerang nodded.
I couldn’t help but be surprised. Look at how many pastas there were. It would already be a miracle for the six of us to put together one pot of banquet noodles.
“…Do you like pasta?”
“Of course!”
At my answer, Mr. Heerang’s expression brightened.
Even after that, the banquet hall was noisy for a long time. Setting up the food brought from the Spark country, giving the strawberry bouquets to the sunbaenims… it was chaotic. Thankfully, Berion recognized the details in our strawberry bouquets.
By the time all the preparations were finished, 40 servings of food were on the table.
“…Hyungs, how many servings did you bring?”
Cha Sehan asked.
“Probably 20 servings. What about you?”
“Us too…”
Ah, the generosity of Korean society. No guest or host would go hungry today.
The fifteen rogues gathered under Green Line sat down before the dishes got cold.
While the camera was taking insert shots of the food, we caught up on recent news.
“Didn’t Mr. Cheonghyeon do a birthday live recently?”
“Oh? Did you watch it, sunbaenim?”
“Of course. I wanted to call, but I was on the move.”
“Oh dear, I should have timed my live better… ended up streaming when you were busy moving around…”
“Wait a minute! Why is the story going that way?”
Park Joowoo smiled with satisfaction, watching Lee Cheonghyeon buzzing around on set. He must have been very worried about what happened during the vacation.
“Isn’t Iwol hyung’s birthday coming up soon too? Spark’s birthdays are all close together, right?”
Yeo Seongchan asked. You guys sure know a lot about Spark.
“That’s right. February 14th!”
“This time, I’ll definitely congratulate you on the live…”
I was the birthday boy, but the other guys were the ones making a fuss. I chuckled and slightly cooled the mood.
“I’ll keep it casual. I ask for your cooperation so that I can have a quiet birthday.”
“Why?”
“Spark’s debut anniversary is not far from my birthday. I have to prepare for the 1st anniversary self-produced content.”
“Aah…”
Cha Seehan made a regretful expression. Both a member’s birthday and the group’s nth anniversary were important, but the scale of the nth anniversary event was much larger. The schedule was also packed on that day, from the 1st anniversary fan meeting to the evening live.
Since we need time to prepare all this, we decided my birthday live would just have call-ins from the members instead of them attending. To prevent any accusations of favoritism, the planning team promised to set up a lavish birthday table for the broadcast. I’d just have to trust them.
“When was Spark’s debut anniversary again? The 18th?”
“You almost got it right. It’s the 19th.”
“So it’s exactly 5 days apart from your birthday, hyung.”
Berion, who had recently had their 1st anniversary event, nodded in understanding. Apart from being grateful, it was inevitable that the preparation time was limited.
“Oh? So this birthday will be your first one since debut?”
Moon Yeongyu asked, in the middle of eating a canapé.
“Yes. I’m the last among the members!”
“Ooh~.”
Everyone suddenly applauded. It felt like I was receiving an early birthday celebration.
‘My birthday broadcast.’
I had been preparing for it, but as the topic came up, I suddenly felt nervous.
I resolved not to do anything strange and diligently ate the pasta Mr. Heerang had made. The food was really delicious.