Cheat day

Chapter 193 - Cheating Day Chapter 193



Western-style Restaurant (1)

“It’s cold!”

On Monday, December 18th, we gathered in front of the WTV building for filming.

I felt like my ears were about to freeze off.

Baek Woo-jin hugged me from behind and shouted.

Joo Ji-seung curled up his body, and Cha Ji-chan was clattering his teeth.

“Why is Ji-chan like that?”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Cha Ji-chan at Director Park Sang-cheol’s words.

“I think that guy is crazy,” Baek Woo-jin chimed in.

Cha Ji-chan was wearing shorts under his padded jacket, and even I thought it was insane.

“Go put on some proper clothes.”

Joo Ji-seung suggested he wear something warmer, but Cha Ji-chan shook his head and waved his hands, signaling for them to continue.

“What are we eating today?”

I asked Director Park Sang-cheol.

“What did you eat on special occasions when you were younger?”

“Jjajangmyeon?”

“Chicken!”

“Chocolate-flavored supplements?”

“Banana.”

When I answered, Baek Woo-jin, Cha Ji-chan, and Joo Ji-seung spoke in order, but then the atmosphere got weird.

“Come on, hyung, that’s nonsense. Who eats a banana on a special day?”

“It’s true.”

“How much older are we that we’re eating bananas on a special occasion? Someone might think you were born in the ’60s.”

“I’m serious! In my village, bananas were rare.”

“Is there anyone here from Danyang? Lighting director? Is that true?”

The lighting director chuckled and shook his head.

“See!”

“No, director. Where in Danyang did you live?”

“Danyang-eup.”

“Eup? You lived in the town?”

The lighting director nodded.

“Hyung, where did you live?”

“Oh my, our director was from the town!”

Joo Ji-seung approached the lighting director and grabbed his hand.

Tears welled up in the lighting director’s eyes, and everyone, including the production team, looked bewildered.

Later, we found out that when the Chungju Dam was built, those who lived in old Danyang suddenly became displaced persons.

Occasionally, when there’s a drought, old Danyang surfaces, and displaced persons come to see their hometown and soothe their sadness.

“We’ll talk about hometown stories later over some soju or makgeolli, but what are we eating today!”

Baek Woo-jin shouted.

“Today, you’ll visit a Western-style restaurant.”

“Ooh.”

Since they asked what we ate on special occasions, it turned out to be a nostalgic Western-style restaurant.

“But what if there’s no Western-style restaurant in the area we’re going to?”

Joo Ji-seung asked.

“That’s something you have to figure out.”

Director Park Sang-cheol grinned. He has a special talent for getting people riled up.

We spun a wheel to decide the area we would visit, and my hometown, Donghae City, came up.

Lucky me.

“What? Isn’t that where your side dishes are from?”

“Is there a place that sells Western food?”

“There is! Just trust me.”

I jumped into the red Casper.

“Hey, how did it land on Chan-yong’s hometown?”

“Right? Can we trust you today?”

“Of course! I know Donghae like the back of my hand. Just keep quiet while I set the navigation.”

While trying to set the navigation, I couldn’t remember the name of the restaurant, and the three of them stared at me.

“Oh, I was just checking the business hours. I couldn’t remember that much.”

“Can we really trust you?”

“Yes, I’m telling you. Let’s go.”

After entering the Gwangju-Wonju Expressway, one by one, they began to share stories related to Western food.

“I went for the first time when I became a university student.”

Joo Ji-seung mentioned that he found a Western-style restaurant only after moving to Seoul.

He talks like he’s from the 1985 class even though he’s only four years older than me.

“What about Ji-chan?”

“I went a lot. They’d ask if I wanted bread or rice with the soup. It was nostalgic. Nostalgic.”

Neither of them had any particularly memorable experiences.

It seems like it would be hard to use it in the broadcast.

“Woo-jin, what about you?”

“…Huh. Should I tell a story?”

Seeing him confidently take charge, I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about the broadcast length today.

“What is it?”

“It was the summer of 2002. The world was buzzing with the World Cup. I was quite the mature kid back then.”

“Side dish, do you want some water?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Should we stop by a rest area?”

Ignoring Baek Woo-jin’s suggestion, Joo Ji-seung and Cha Ji-chan started chatting about other things.

“That girl was the best student in school. She was shy, but when it came down to it, she was the type to get things done, so she was quite popular. Oh, she was always first in the running events at the sports day.”

“Chan-yong, I’m getting water.”

“Okay.”

“Give me some after you eat.”

“Ah, come on! I’m not telling the story!”

Baek Woo-jin couldn’t hold back and shouted.

“Why? Were you listening?”

“Yeah. Keep going. This is fun.”

It was hard to hold back my laughter.

“I wanted to look cool in front of her. So I asked my mom for 10,000 won. Back then, a kid’s set meal at the Western-style restaurant in my neighborhood was 5,000 won.”

“What? Was it a date?”

Now it was getting more interesting.

“Yeah. It was her birthday. I told my mom I was going to date and that investing 10,000 won wouldn’t be a big deal if she thought of it as treating a daughter-in-law.”

“Pfft! A sixth grader?”

“I was serious back then. My mom laughed and gave me 10,000 won. Now that I had money, I asked her out really nicely after school. ‘Do you want to go have a kid’s meal?’”

“Ha ha ha ha!”

Cha Ji-chan in the back seat was laughing so hard he was holding his stomach.

“So? What happened next?”

“She was surprised but eventually nodded, right? She must’ve liked me too.”

“Oooh~”

“Ha ha ha ha!”

“Ah! Stop laughing!”

Baek Woo-jin turned around and hit Cha Ji-chan.

“But? But?”

“It was a Saturday. We went for lunch, and they had a bell there, right? When you ring it, a server comes. I wanted to look cool, so instead of ringing the bell, I clapped twice.”

Clap, clap-

Baek Woo-jin raised his hands to clap at head level.

I almost let go of the steering wheel because it was so funny.

“The manager came and placed the menu in front of me. I was lost in my own cultured image. I only pretended to look at the menu because I was going to order two kid’s meals anyway. So I killed some time and clapped my hands twice again. Then I confidently said, ‘Two kid’s meals, please.’ But she said she wanted to have a pork cutlet.”

I couldn’t say anything because it was just too funny.

“The pork cutlet was 6,000 won.”

“Ha ha ha!”

“I was flustered, but I calmly explained. Even if we ordered a kid’s meal, the pork cutlet would come out. Not just the pork cutlet, but spaghetti and hamburger steak would also come out. But she said she didn’t want the hamburger steak and wanted to eat the pork cutlet instead.”

Baek Woo-jin smacked his thigh with his fist.

“I was flustered. I only had 10,000 won, so what should I do? After some thought, I ordered one katsu and one children’s set. I said I was going to the bathroom and approached the manager to ask for a favor. And I whispered.”

Everyone was curious about what Baek Woo-jin was going to say, holding their breath.

“Excuse me, could you take off 1,000 won? You don’t have to give me rice.”

“Haha!”

“I don’t even know what I was thinking back then. All I could think about was going home to eat and watch cartoons. But she asked me while eating ice cream for dessert. ‘Don’t you have a present for me?'”

Cha Ji-chan was nearly dying from laughter.

“I had just asked for a discount on my meal for the first and last time in my life, and now she’s asking for a present? I said I didn’t have one… That was my first and last date.”

“Baek Woo-jin! Baek Woo-jin!”

Cha Ji-chan called Baek Woo-jin’s name as if leaving a last testament.

“So that trauma kept you from dating,” said Ju Ji-seung, nodding, but he also made a painful remark.

“Wait, I’ve heard this story somewhere,” I recalled having heard a similar story before.

“Was it PD Lee Ji-hye?”

Baek Woo-jin’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Why is her name coming up?”

“What’s going on?”

“Really?”

The two older brothers, who had been laughing in the back, leaned in to ask.

“……”

“It must be true.”

“What? Ji-hye was your first love?”

“Don’t joke around! Why would I like her!”

***

Entering the Yeongdong Expressway, we passed through Gangneung City and arrived in Donghae City.

The production team wanted some scenic shots of Donghae City, so we stopped by Mukho Port after exiting the Mangsan IC.

They said that this area has been increasingly popular as a tourist destination lately, but since I’ve lived in Seoul for so long, this was my first time here.

As we got out of the car and enjoyed the winter sea breeze, Cha Ji-chan was striking various poses in front of the camera.

“What’s wrong with him? Isn’t he cold?”

When I asked, Baek Woo-jin shook his head and shouted.

“Put on some pants! It’s cold!”

“What? Cold?”

Cha Ji-chan walked over, taking long strides.

I hesitated, startled, but he brought up an incident from the previous shoot while showing off his calves.

“Last week’s mission was to climb the stairs, right? Someone posted that I have weak legs on the bulletin board?”

The previous week’s mission involved the four of us racing to climb a 20-story building, and the last person had to skip a meal that day.

It was clear that the condition was targeting Baek Woo-jin, who had whined and protested but eventually had no choice but to participate.

But unexpectedly, Cha Ji-chan, who had worked out his legs the day before the shoot, ended up losing by a narrow margin.

As a result, numerous posts mocking Cha Ji-chan appeared on the viewer’s bulletin board and the Jimgun channel.

“Can you see this?”

Cha Ji-chan pointed at his right calf.

“This heart. Do you know how many standing calf raises I had to do to make this heart?”

A standing calf raise is simply the action of lifting and lowering one’s heels.

It’s a common exercise for strengthening the gastrocnemius, often done easily on a bus or subway, but for Cha Ji-chan, he does it while carrying a barbell.

He also does seated calf raises, claiming he’s working on his soleus as well, but honestly, it’s quite grotesque to watch.

“And what about the quadriceps? Do you think it’s easy to get it to split like this?”

As Cha Ji-chan flexed his right leg, the already-defined muscle lines became even more pronounced.

This was also grotesque.

“Want to see my hamstrings? Look, can you see it?”

Since his pants got stuck on his thighs and wouldn’t go any higher, Cha Ji-chan had no chance to stop himself before pulling them down.

Wearing only short tights, his lower body lines were fully exposed.

“Ah!”

“Eek!”

“Ha ha ha ha!”

Some of the production crew were horrified, while others laughed loudly, and I, Baek Woo-jin, and Ju Ji-seung were astonished as we surrounded Cha Ji-chan.

“Are you crazy?”

“You’re committing a misdemeanor!”

“What does it matter! I’m being called weak-legged! Look! Take a picture! Do you know how many leg curls I do?”

“Put on some pants, you lunatic!”

Baek Woo-jin hit Cha Ji-chan on the back of the head, and the situation finally settled down.


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