Jiyu and Yumi readily agreed. I was so happy I could jump. I could go watch a movie with my friends. Nothing could make me happier than this. I grabbed Jiyu and Yumi’s hands and prepared to charge into the movie theater.
Living in the city had its perks. The movie theater was close by. If I had still lived in the old building, I would have had to take Maru’s car. There are movie theaters on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province too, but since Jiyu and Yumi lived in Seoul…
The downside was that to watch a movie with Jiyu and Yumi, I had to come to Seoul. But now that I’ve moved, I don’t have to worry about that anymore. Their houses are just a short walk away. I started walking toward the movie theater, still holding their hands.
But just 3 seconds after we started, Yumi threw a wrench in the plan. She said, “Hana, the movie theater isn’t that way.”
“Huh? It’s not this way?”
“Nope. You have to go right, not left.”
“Uh…”
I took out my phone and searched for the nearest theater. Just as Yumi said, the theater was to the right, not the left. I’m definitely not bad with directions, but this tiny body messed up. The old me would never get lost. I used to navigate new places like a pro.
“Hana’s bad with directions!”
Jiyu hit me where it hurt. But I had no comeback, so I just kept my mouth shut. If only I had some kind of built-in GPS…
—
After all that drama, we finally arrived at the movie theater. The theater stood tall and proud. It’s always amazing how such a small-looking building can be so spacious inside. It’s like they borrowed some magical pouch or something. I confidently walked through the main entrance.
“Oooh…!”
Inside, there were various movie posters hanging. Posters of movies currently showing. There was one with a little witch wearing a witch hat as the centerpiece. I stuck to it like glue. I wanted to take that poster home!
But the posters here belonged to the theater. If I just took one, I could end up in jail for theft. I just licked my lips and stared at the poster.
“Hana’s eyes are scary!”
“She looks like a thief!”
Were my eyes really that threatening? I guess my fiery gaze still works on little kids. Feeling deflated, I turned to Jiyu and Yumi and said, “Let’s go buy the movie tickets! My treat!”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I can do that much.”
I knew movie ticket prices had gone up a lot lately. Back in the day, there were plenty of movies you could just watch while munching on popcorn. But now, even those movies are analyzed with serious faces. But that didn’t matter to me. Not only did I have money, but I also had a card with amazing benefits. I held the card with a proud expression. It was a card that oozed class.
My card, coated with gold lines, exuded its majesty.
“Ta-da!”
I pulled out the card in front of Jiyu and Yumi. They looked at me with confused expressions. Well, they’re still kids, so they wouldn’t understand the true power of this card. Like a warrior wielding a holy sword, I dragged Jiyu and Yumi along.
But something unexpected happened. The kiosk was way too tall. I couldn’t reach the buttons no matter how hard I tried. Sure, I could reach the middle of the screen by standing on my tiptoes. But the top part of the kiosk was completely out of reach.
Seriously, shouldn’t they consider kids too? Why make the kiosk so tall? I looked at Jiyu and Yumi, but even they couldn’t reach the top interface. I had no idea booking a movie could be this hard. But when you don’t have teeth, you chew with your gums!
I decided to trust people, not machines. In other words, instead of the kiosk, I’d ask the person at the ticket counter. Who knew it could be this simple!
—
An unreleased cooking show still in production, *Blue & White Chefs*. It was a massive project planned by Netflix.
It was a showdown between chefs with Michelin-starred skills and chefs who started from the bottom. In simple terms, it was a battle between chefs recognized by gourmet experts and chefs loved by the public.
In a way, it might have been advantageous for the chefs corresponding to “Baek” (white). The people tasting on the broadcast were experts, after all. But this “Cheong” (blue) chef brought in a Michelin 3-star chef corresponding to “Baek” and a popular, famous chef-entrepreneur to ensure fairness during the 1:1 tasting ratio.
The chefs advancing to the finals were chosen by these judges. In a way, it was a fair method.
‘Hmm…’
There, Lee Jaesung, a participant corresponding to “Cheong,” was fully prepared. He was a chef with three of his own stores in Seoul. Though not as impressive as the chefs corresponding to “Baek” who had followed a stellar career path, he was confident in his cooking skills. He was sure he wouldn’t be eliminated in this preliminary round.
About a hundred chefs were preparing their dishes to advance to the finals. Only 20 chefs would make it, meaning 4/5 of the chefs would be eliminated in this round.
Moreover, the chefs appearing here were all top-notch. The more successful ones had multiple stores of their own, and the truly outstanding ones had stores named after them nationwide.
In any other setting, Lee Jaesung could have walked around with his head held high. But here, he was practically a latecomer. But it didn’t matter. This show was all about the taste.
No matter how impressive the participants’ resumes were, or how much money they had, it was all useless. The only thing that mattered was winning over the judges. Lee Jaesung washed his hands and prepared to cook. Many chefs around him were already preparing their dishes.
“Sigh…”
Since it was a Korean cooking show, the rule was to make Korean cuisine. When thinking of Korean food, a variety of dishes came to mind.
If Lee Jaesung had to pick the most important one, it would be rice. Rice wasn’t unique to Korea, as it grew in other places too.
But rice was indispensable. Even if people don’t eat much rice these days, it still plays a crucial role in Korean cuisine. In Korean food, rice is absolutely essential.
In Korean cuisine, you could do without side dishes, but a meal without rice was unimaginable. It could be considered the “flower” of all dishes. Though its importance is often overlooked because it’s so common, if asked to name the most important dish in Korean cuisine, Lee Jaesung would probably pick rice.
With that in mind, Lee Jaesung pulled out a hidden bag of rice. The packaging had Japanese writing on it. Others might question why Japanese rice was being used in Korean cuisine, but this was different. It was Starlight Rice, exported to Japan by Starlight Food.
It wasn’t rice grown in Japan but in Korea. Just like Koreans working abroad, this Starlight Rice was similar. It wasn’t well-known in Korea yet because it was ridiculously expensive.
He had heard that there were no plans to lift the tariffs yet… Lee Jaesung wished that all Koreans could try Starlight Rice. He wanted to showcase its greatness through the broadcast.
He hadn’t received any advertising fees from Starlight Food, but he wanted to share the emotions he felt after eating this rice with others.
Perhaps because he gave it his all, he successfully advanced to the finals. The judges who tasted his rice seemed to know where the rice came from. Among those in the know, who wouldn’t recognize the trending Starlight Rice? The judges couldn’t finish all the dishes Lee Jaesung made because they had to taste other participants’ dishes too. After all, there’s a limit to how much one can eat.
