***
‘What should I do?···’
Hae-jun’s eyes fell on Dong-sik, who was deep in thought.
“Good morning.”
“You’re here.”
Dong-sik, who had come to work early in the morning, was changing into his chef’s uniform. The small scars and burns on his hands were all from preparing ingredients and practicing.
Dong-sik, who had never held a knife in his life, worked diligently in this kitchen.
At first, he was clumsy with the knife, but now he was at a professional level, and the food he made for the staff meals was quite delicious. Although all the basic ingredients, including the sauce, were made by Hae-jun.
“I’ll start preparing the salad vegetables.”
Hae-jun watched Dong-sik carefully as he washed the ingredients he had brought from the dimensional farm.
He skillfully prepared the ingredients and brought out the bread that Hae-jun had baked and cut it to the size of a sandwich.
‘Is it possible? He’s never made omelet rice before.’
He thought for a moment.
But he thought Dong-sik would be able to do it.
He knew that Dong-sik had been practicing flipping pans for two hours every day after lunch service was over and staying at the store.
“Hyung-nim. Please take care of the pan today. My shoulder still hurts.”
“What? You want me to take care of the pan?”
Dong-sik asked in surprise.
“Yes. Please do it.”
“I don’t know about staff meals, but how can I make omelet rice for customers···.”
“You’ve been practicing hard. You’ll be able to do it.”
“···.”
Dong-sik hesitated for a moment.
He was afraid that he would cause damage if he tried to do it.
“Don’t worry too much. The sauce is all made. All you have to do is fry the rice and make an omelet.”
He tried to simplify it to ease his worries, but it was actually a very difficult process that required skilled skills.
Still, he thought it was better this way.
If he could overcome the difficulty, Dong-sik’s skills would be upgraded to the next level.
“Let’s start preparing for the morning service.”
They prepared the ingredients and the food.
Customers came in as soon as the store opened, and before they knew it, the morning rush was over.
Hae-jun ordered three omelet rice dishes for the staff meal from Dong-sik.
Since he had been practicing flipping pans steadily, he was able to fry the rice easily.
Now, all he had to do was make the egg omelet on top of the rice.
It was the most difficult and crucial step in making omelet rice.
“Try it once.”
“Yes, boss.”
Dong-sik took a deep breath and stood in front of the burner.
He heated the frying pan enough and swirled cooking oil twice over it. The important thing here is not to use all of the cooking oil. Dong-sik left only a little oil in the pan and wiped the rest with a kitchen towel.
He poured a generous amount of egg liquid into the frying pan, which had only a thin layer of oil left.
“Now, stir it quickly with chopsticks. Clockwise.”
“Yes. Clockwise.”
When the edges of the eggs began to turn white, he started to stir them vigorously with wooden chopsticks, turning the pan as Hae-jun instructed.
The eggs gradually heated up and became soft and fluffy like silken tofu.
When it was about half-cooked, he gently lifted the edges and folded it in half.
Now, this is where the real skill is required.
If you flip the frying pan while it is folded in half and shape it, you can make it into a rugby ball shape, but
“Oh, it burst.”
He put too much force and the center burst open.
“It’s okay. You didn’t snap it enough. Let’s start over.”
“Yes.”
He put the failed one aside and started over.
This time, he succeeded in making it into a rugby ball shape, but
“What’s wrong? The surface is burnt.”
Was it because he flipped it too carefully?
The surface of the omelet turned brown.
When he shook it, it didn’t jiggle like pudding, but was hard. That meant that the inside was overcooked.
“Should I try again?”
“Yes.”
After a few more tries.
“I did it. I succeeded.”
“The shape is good.”
He was able to complete an omelet that was shaped like a perfect rugby ball and jiggled like pudding.
Dong-sik placed the finished omelet on top of the rice and drizzled sauce around the edges of the rice. Omelet rice completed after several failures.
When he cut the omelet with a knife, a perfectly soft-boiled egg fell out.
The savory aroma wafted with the rising steam.
He mixed it with the rice and sauce and took a bite.
“It’s delicious.”
"I want to try it too."
Min-ju, who had been watching the practice process while leaning against the small window between the kitchen and the hall, couldn't bear it any longer and ran into the kitchen.
She took a spoon and took a big bite of the well-stirred omelet.
"Hmm~ It's delicious. It's really delicious, mister. It's just like the one the boss made!"
She said, raising her thumb.
Only then did a faint smile spread across Dong-sik's face.
After finishing the tasting and meal, Hae-jun left the omelet to Dong-sik.
***
11:30 AM.
Lunch time began.
Min-ju received the guests in order.
"Two Tonkatsu, two cheese Katsu, and two omelets!"
She shouted loudly, attaching the order slip to the kitchen.
"Hyung-nim. Please take care of two omelets."
"Yes, boss."
They decided to prepare their own plates.
Hae-jun put Tonkatsu and cheese Katsu in the fryer, plated the dishes in the remaining time, Dong-sik prepared the dishes first, and then started cooking.
Rumble-
Sizzle-
Hae-jun and Dong-sik's hands moved busily.
The speed increased as the two of them cooked together.
As the time it took to serve food to the guests was shortened, the table turnover rate also increased, and they were able to receive more guests than usual.
However,
"Phew, I'm tired."
"It's been unusually tough today."
It was that much harder.
Min-ju and Dong-sik spread out on the table like ice cream melted in the heat.
"I guess it's because the table turnover was so fast."
"How was the reaction to the omelet?"
"How was it? Everyone was crazy about it. They took a picture of the omelet bursting open with a knife and uploaded it to Instagram. It was exactly the same as usual. You worked hard, ahjussi."
"That's a relief."
Only then did he look relieved.
I was worried all the time I was making it in case there was a complaint that the taste was different from usual.
"Everyone worked hard."
"Thank you for your hard work, boss."
"Thank you for your hard work."
"From now on, you will be in charge of omelets, hyung."
"Me, me?"
"And let's hire one more employee each for the hall and the kitchen."
"Congratulations on your promotion, ahjussi. I'll post a job posting on the site. I'll also post a notice in front of the store."
"Haha. Thank you."
Min-ju said happily as if it was her own business, and Dong-sik just scratched his head, feeling awkward and embarrassed about the whole situation.
"We shouldn't just talk about it. Shouldn't we have a toast?"
“Should we have a dinner party in the evening?”
“I have to meet a friend in the evening.”
“I can’t drink much alcohol because of my part-time job as a designated driver.”
“Then should we do it now?”
"Now?"
"Just wait a minute."
Min-ju took something out of her bag and ran to the kitchen.
***
'Hmm. What ingredients are in the kitchen?'
Min-ju opened the vegetable compartment and looked at the ingredients.
There were potatoes, various salad vegetables, cucumbers, carrots, cherry tomatoes, lemons, and grapes for the employees to eat as snacks.
After checking the ingredients, Min-ju brought a blender and started grinding them.
Whirrrr-
"What are you doing?"
"Well."
Min-ju, who had been busy moving around the kitchen for a long time, brought out three glasses of drinks on a tray.
"What is that?"
At Hae-jun's question, Min-ju showed him a glass filled with lemon slices.
It was a much more opaque, dark yellow drink than the lemonade she usually made.
"This is lemonade."
"Lemonade?"
"What's that?"
"It's a drink made with lemon in soda water."
The identity of the item Min-ju took out of her bag was soda water bought from a convenience store for two plus one.
She cut one lemon in half and sliced it, and squeezed the juice from the other half and added it with ice. It is an easy-to-make drink that is made by adding an appropriate amount of soda water and sugar and adding lemon slices to make it look nice.
"What's the purple drink next to it?"
"This is grape aide."
"It's similar to lemonade."
The bottom of the transparent cup was dark like wine, and the gradation of light color at the top was impressive.
"It's pretty. Women will like it."
"Yes. It's prettier if you add apple mint here. And this is a fresh fruit juice made by grinding cherry tomatoes."
"Did you make that with soda water too?"
"No. I just put ice and sugar in the tomato."
She ground a handful of tomatoes with ice and sugar.
It’s easy to make, but if you make a mistake, it can become thick like ketchup, and you won’t know if it’s juice or ketchup. Min-ju made the perfect juice with the right consistency.
“It’s not alcohol, but let’s toast with this instead.”
Dong-sik had tomato juice, Hae-jun had lemonade, and Minju had the remaining grape soda.
They clinked glasses in the air and took a sip.
“How is it?”
“It’s delicious. It tastes like it’s from a real café?”
Dong-sik nodded as if he agreed.
“Didn’t I tell you? I worked part-time at that café. Hehe.”
“I remember. What was your nickname?”
“Albamon.”
“Pfft, Albamon?”
Dong-sik almost spit out the drink he was drinking.
“Yes. It’s the nickname my friends gave me because I worked so many part-time jobs in a day. I’ve worked at family restaurants, cafés, and dessert shops.”
Minju listed her part-time job experiences.
She bragged that she had worked part-time at a coffee shop that won third place in the World Barista Championship and that she knew more than 20 drink recipes because she had worked at many different cafés.
“This is a recipe I learned back then.”
“I see. Somehow…”
“It tastes different, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Hehe… Thank you.”
Min-ju smiled shyly and then exclaimed as if she had just remembered something.
“Oh! But boss. Why don’t we sell drinks?”
“Drinks?”
“We don’t even have regular cola or cider. This is the first time I’ve seen a restaurant that doesn’t sell drinks.”
Dong-sik agreed with Min-ju.
“I agree with that too. The tonkatsu tastes amazing with goat milk, but I was surprised that there wasn’t a drink that went well with the food.”
“Right? Customers keep asking if we have drinks. They look disappointed when we say we only have goat milk.”
Hae-jun had been so focused on the food that he hadn’t even thought about drinks.
It’s true that after eating something like donkasu or omurice, you usually want a refreshing drink.
“I didn’t think about that.”
They don’t get their ingredients from a wholesaler, and they don’t get drinks like cola or cider from the Dimensional Farm, so it’s something he hadn’t thought about at all.
“Should we make and sell some on this occasion? We could just make and sell lemonade and grape soda for now.”
“While we’re at it, Minju, would you be in charge of the drinks and managing the entire dining room?”
“Me?”
In fact, even though she was technically a part-timer, Min-ju was in charge of the entire dining room and store operations.
It would be an unreasonable request if she had to manage the dining room by herself, but since they were planning to hire one more dining room employee, Min-ju could be in charge of the overall management of the dining room and the drinks.
“What do you think?”
“Um… Okay.”
She thought about it for exactly 5 seconds before coolly accepting the offer.
“So Min-ju is getting promoted too? To beverage manager and dining room manager?”
“Huh!? Is that how it works?”
“Congratulations on your promotion.”
“Congratulations to you too, ahjussi.”
The dining room manager and the sous chef clinked glasses to celebrate each other.
[T/N: Sous chef means chef who is second in command in kitchen.]
***
A few days later.
“Starting today, this is Lee Kanghoon, who will be working in the kitchen. And this is the person who will be in charge of the dining room…”
“My name is Kwon Eun-jeong. Nice to meet you.”
Eunjeong greeted them brightly and cheerfully.
Min-ju had also participated in the interview when they were hiring her.
She said that who they hired as a dining room employee would directly affect their sales, so she carefully examined their appearance and personality before selecting them.
She was the same age as Minju, 20 years old, and she had graduated from high school and immediately started looking for a job.
“My name is Lee Kang-hoon. Nice to meet you.”
“You’re Soeun’s younger brother?”
Lee Kang-hoon was the younger brother of Soeun, an employee at the law firm that was a regular customer at Sunflower.
He had been discharged from the army a month ago after serving as a sergeant, and he had applied for the job at his sister’s recommendation.
“He used to be a cook in the army.”
“Oh~ A cook.”
“Yes. I’ll work hard at anything you tell me to do.”
He stood at attention as if he were a new recruit.
“Relax.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Be friendly with each other.”
“Of course.”
Min-ju, Eun-jeong, Kang-hoon, and Dong-sik greeted each other.
“Now then, shall we start doing some serious business?”
***
‘What should I do?···’
Hae-jun’s eyes fell on Dong-sik, who was deep in thought.
“Good morning.”
“You’re here.”
Dong-sik, who had come to work early in the morning, was changing into his chef’s uniform. The small scars and burns on his hands were all from preparing ingredients and practicing.
Dong-sik, who had never held a knife in his life, worked diligently in this kitchen.
At first, he was clumsy with the knife, but now he was at a professional level, and the food he made for the staff meals was quite delicious. Although all the basic ingredients, including the sauce, were made by Hae-jun.
“I’ll start preparing the salad vegetables.”
Hae-jun watched Dong-sik carefully as he washed the ingredients he had brought from the dimensional farm.
He skillfully prepared the ingredients and brought out the bread that Hae-jun had baked and cut it to the size of a sandwich.
‘Is it possible? He’s never made omelet rice before.’
He thought for a moment.
But he thought Dong-sik would be able to do it.
He knew that Dong-sik had been practicing flipping pans for two hours every day after lunch service was over and staying at the store.
“Hyung-nim. Please take care of the pan today. My shoulder still hurts.”
“What? You want me to take care of the pan?”
Dong-sik asked in surprise.
“Yes. Please do it.”
“I don’t know about staff meals, but how can I make omelet rice for customers···.”
“You’ve been practicing hard. You’ll be able to do it.”
“···.”
Dong-sik hesitated for a moment.
He was afraid that he would cause damage if he tried to do it.
“Don’t worry too much. The sauce is all made. All you have to do is fry the rice and make an omelet.”
He tried to simplify it to ease his worries, but it was actually a very difficult process that required skilled skills.
Still, he thought it was better this way.
If he could overcome the difficulty, Dong-sik’s skills would be upgraded to the next level.
“Let’s start preparing for the morning service.”
They prepared the ingredients and the food.
Customers came in as soon as the store opened, and before they knew it, the morning rush was over.
Hae-jun ordered three omelet rice dishes for the staff meal from Dong-sik.
Since he had been practicing flipping pans steadily, he was able to fry the rice easily.
Now, all he had to do was make the egg omelet on top of the rice.
It was the most difficult and crucial step in making omelet rice.
“Try it once.”
“Yes, boss.”
Dong-sik took a deep breath and stood in front of the burner.
He heated the frying pan enough and swirled cooking oil twice over it. The important thing here is not to use all of the cooking oil. Dong-sik left only a little oil in the pan and wiped the rest with a kitchen towel.
He poured a generous amount of egg liquid into the frying pan, which had only a thin layer of oil left.
“Now, stir it quickly with chopsticks. Clockwise.”
“Yes. Clockwise.”
When the edges of the eggs began to turn white, he started to stir them vigorously with wooden chopsticks, turning the pan as Hae-jun instructed.
The eggs gradually heated up and became soft and fluffy like silken tofu.
When it was about half-cooked, he gently lifted the edges and folded it in half.
Now, this is where the real skill is required.
If you flip the frying pan while it is folded in half and shape it, you can make it into a rugby ball shape, but
“Oh, it burst.”
He put too much force and the center burst open.
“It’s okay. You didn’t snap it enough. Let’s start over.”
“Yes.”
He put the failed one aside and started over.
This time, he succeeded in making it into a rugby ball shape, but
“What’s wrong? The surface is burnt.”
Was it because he flipped it too carefully?
The surface of the omelet turned brown.
When he shook it, it didn’t jiggle like pudding, but was hard. That meant that the inside was overcooked.
“Should I try again?”
“Yes.”
After a few more tries.
“I did it. I succeeded.”
“The shape is good.”
He was able to complete an omelet that was shaped like a perfect rugby ball and jiggled like pudding.
Dong-sik placed the finished omelet on top of the rice and drizzled sauce around the edges of the rice. Omelet rice completed after several failures.
When he cut the omelet with a knife, a perfectly soft-boiled egg fell out.
The savory aroma wafted with the rising steam.
He mixed it with the rice and sauce and took a bite.
“It’s delicious.”
"I want to try it too."
Min-ju, who had been watching the practice process while leaning against the small window between the kitchen and the hall, couldn't bear it any longer and ran into the kitchen.
She took a spoon and took a big bite of the well-stirred omelet.
"Hmm~ It's delicious. It's really delicious, mister. It's just like the one the boss made!"
She said, raising her thumb.
Only then did a faint smile spread across Dong-sik's face.
After finishing the tasting and meal, Hae-jun left the omelet to Dong-sik.
***
11:30 AM.
Lunch time began.
Min-ju received the guests in order.
"Two Tonkatsu, two cheese Katsu, and two omelets!"
She shouted loudly, attaching the order slip to the kitchen.
"Hyung-nim. Please take care of two omelets."
"Yes, boss."
They decided to prepare their own plates.
Hae-jun put Tonkatsu and cheese Katsu in the fryer, plated the dishes in the remaining time, Dong-sik prepared the dishes first, and then started cooking.
Rumble-
Sizzle-
Hae-jun and Dong-sik's hands moved busily.
The speed increased as the two of them cooked together.
As the time it took to serve food to the guests was shortened, the table turnover rate also increased, and they were able to receive more guests than usual.
However,
"Phew, I'm tired."
"It's been unusually tough today."
It was that much harder.
Min-ju and Dong-sik spread out on the table like ice cream melted in the heat.
"I guess it's because the table turnover was so fast."
"How was the reaction to the omelet?"
"How was it? Everyone was crazy about it. They took a picture of the omelet bursting open with a knife and uploaded it to Instagram. It was exactly the same as usual. You worked hard, ahjussi."
"That's a relief."
Only then did he look relieved.
I was worried all the time I was making it in case there was a complaint that the taste was different from usual.
"Everyone worked hard."
"Thank you for your hard work, boss."
"Thank you for your hard work."
"From now on, you will be in charge of omelets, hyung."
"Me, me?"
"And let's hire one more employee each for the hall and the kitchen."
"Congratulations on your promotion, ahjussi. I'll post a job posting on the site. I'll also post a notice in front of the store."
"Haha. Thank you."
Min-ju said happily as if it was her own business, and Dong-sik just scratched his head, feeling awkward and embarrassed about the whole situation.
"We shouldn't just talk about it. Shouldn't we have a toast?"
“Should we have a dinner party in the evening?”
“I have to meet a friend in the evening.”
“I can’t drink much alcohol because of my part-time job as a designated driver.”
“Then should we do it now?”
"Now?"
"Just wait a minute."
Min-ju took something out of her bag and ran to the kitchen.
***
'Hmm. What ingredients are in the kitchen?'
Min-ju opened the vegetable compartment and looked at the ingredients.
There were potatoes, various salad vegetables, cucumbers, carrots, cherry tomatoes, lemons, and grapes for the employees to eat as snacks.
After checking the ingredients, Min-ju brought a blender and started grinding them.
Whirrrr-
"What are you doing?"
"Well."
Min-ju, who had been busy moving around the kitchen for a long time, brought out three glasses of drinks on a tray.
"What is that?"
At Hae-jun's question, Min-ju showed him a glass filled with lemon slices.
It was a much more opaque, dark yellow drink than the lemonade she usually made.
"This is lemonade."
"Lemonade?"
"What's that?"
"It's a drink made with lemon in soda water."
The identity of the item Min-ju took out of her bag was soda water bought from a convenience store for two plus one.
She cut one lemon in half and sliced it, and squeezed the juice from the other half and added it with ice. It is an easy-to-make drink that is made by adding an appropriate amount of soda water and sugar and adding lemon slices to make it look nice.
"What's the purple drink next to it?"
"This is grape aide."
"It's similar to lemonade."
The bottom of the transparent cup was dark like wine, and the gradation of light color at the top was impressive.
"It's pretty. Women will like it."
"Yes. It's prettier if you add apple mint here. And this is a fresh fruit juice made by grinding cherry tomatoes."
"Did you make that with soda water too?"
"No. I just put ice and sugar in the tomato."
She ground a handful of tomatoes with ice and sugar.
It’s easy to make, but if you make a mistake, it can become thick like ketchup, and you won’t know if it’s juice or ketchup. Min-ju made the perfect juice with the right consistency.
“It’s not alcohol, but let’s toast with this instead.”
Dong-sik had tomato juice, Hae-jun had lemonade, and Minju had the remaining grape soda.
They clinked glasses in the air and took a sip.
“How is it?”
“It’s delicious. It tastes like it’s from a real café?”
Dong-sik nodded as if he agreed.
“Didn’t I tell you? I worked part-time at that café. Hehe.”
“I remember. What was your nickname?”
“Albamon.”
“Pfft, Albamon?”
Dong-sik almost spit out the drink he was drinking.
“Yes. It’s the nickname my friends gave me because I worked so many part-time jobs in a day. I’ve worked at family restaurants, cafés, and dessert shops.”
Minju listed her part-time job experiences.
She bragged that she had worked part-time at a coffee shop that won third place in the World Barista Championship and that she knew more than 20 drink recipes because she had worked at many different cafés.
“This is a recipe I learned back then.”
“I see. Somehow…”
“It tastes different, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Hehe… Thank you.”
Min-ju smiled shyly and then exclaimed as if she had just remembered something.
“Oh! But boss. Why don’t we sell drinks?”
“Drinks?”
“We don’t even have regular cola or cider. This is the first time I’ve seen a restaurant that doesn’t sell drinks.”
Dong-sik agreed with Min-ju.
“I agree with that too. The tonkatsu tastes amazing with goat milk, but I was surprised that there wasn’t a drink that went well with the food.”
“Right? Customers keep asking if we have drinks. They look disappointed when we say we only have goat milk.”
Hae-jun had been so focused on the food that he hadn’t even thought about drinks.
It’s true that after eating something like donkasu or omurice, you usually want a refreshing drink.
“I didn’t think about that.”
They don’t get their ingredients from a wholesaler, and they don’t get drinks like cola or cider from the Dimensional Farm, so it’s something he hadn’t thought about at all.
“Should we make and sell some on this occasion? We could just make and sell lemonade and grape soda for now.”
“While we’re at it, Minju, would you be in charge of the drinks and managing the entire dining room?”
“Me?”
In fact, even though she was technically a part-timer, Min-ju was in charge of the entire dining room and store operations.
It would be an unreasonable request if she had to manage the dining room by herself, but since they were planning to hire one more dining room employee, Min-ju could be in charge of the overall management of the dining room and the drinks.
“What do you think?”
“Um… Okay.”
She thought about it for exactly 5 seconds before coolly accepting the offer.
“So Min-ju is getting promoted too? To beverage manager and dining room manager?”
“Huh!? Is that how it works?”
“Congratulations on your promotion.”
“Congratulations to you too, ahjussi.”
The dining room manager and the sous chef clinked glasses to celebrate each other.
[T/N: Sous chef means chef who is second in command in kitchen.]
***
A few days later.
“Starting today, this is Lee Kanghoon, who will be working in the kitchen. And this is the person who will be in charge of the dining room…”
“My name is Kwon Eun-jeong. Nice to meet you.”
Eunjeong greeted them brightly and cheerfully.
Min-ju had also participated in the interview when they were hiring her.
She said that who they hired as a dining room employee would directly affect their sales, so she carefully examined their appearance and personality before selecting them.
She was the same age as Minju, 20 years old, and she had graduated from high school and immediately started looking for a job.
“My name is Lee Kang-hoon. Nice to meet you.”
“You’re Soeun’s younger brother?”
Lee Kang-hoon was the younger brother of Soeun, an employee at the law firm that was a regular customer at Sunflower.
He had been discharged from the army a month ago after serving as a sergeant, and he had applied for the job at his sister’s recommendation.
“He used to be a cook in the army.”
“Oh~ A cook.”
“Yes. I’ll work hard at anything you tell me to do.”
He stood at attention as if he were a new recruit.
“Relax.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Be friendly with each other.”
“Of course.”
Min-ju, Eun-jeong, Kang-hoon, and Dong-sik greeted each other.
“Now then, shall we start doing some serious business?”
