We headed up to the rooftop where the meat was sizzling.
“How many servings did you get?” I asked.
“25 servings of samgyeupsal, plus 25 servings of moksal,” Si-dong answered.
That worried me. Only 50 servings…with this many people?
“What? Not enough?”
“You should’ve bought 200.”
“….”
For a moment, Si-dong was speechless. Then, he spoke up.
“There’s rice as well, you know. There’s also soybean stew to go with the meat.”
“Wow…I’m disappointed in you, Si-dong…tsk tsk…”
“….”
Once again, Si-dong was rendered speechless.
“Then…” he said, “Should I go buy some more?”
“No. By the time you get back, we’ll have to pack up. We only have an hour, right? Let’s just eat what we have for now and we’ll go out for dinner.”
“I knew there was something I liked about you! Well then, let’s eat!”
We started cooking the meat and waited for them to cook, but the waiting time was cutting into our hour.
“You should’ve gotten beef.”
“…..”
“Beef can be eaten right away…hmph.”
“Alright. Next time, we’ll get beef.”
“Okay,” I said, still pouting. I know I should be grateful as it is, but still.
Soon, we were stuffing ourselves full. As I was eating, I happened to glance over at Jia. She was nibbling on her food like a little bird.
“Hey, Jia.”
“Yeah?”
“Why are you eating like that? That’s not like you.”
“I can’t have my stomach poking out before shooting,” Jia said, looking down at her stomach…or what little she had of it anyway.
“What stomach? Besides, so what if it pokes out? It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. The fans won’t like it.”
“Sheesh.”
I looked over at my other side towards Ji-hyun. I reached out and poked her a bit on her stomach. She had a bit of a stomach. Surprisingly, she still had her baby fat. It was kind of cute.
“Cute, huh?” Ji-hyun said, giving me an impish smile.
“Yes, it is.”
Very cute.
“Um, excuse me…Sian?”
Suddenly, a short, but round-looking man walked over to me. He had a huge wrap in his hand.
“Yes? Oh.”
I opened my mouth wide, then the man stuffed the wrap into my mouth.
Nom nom nom nom…wait- Ugh. Blech.
There was only one piece of meat and about 10 slices of garlic, as well as a slice of ginger, and just a dash of sauce. Fuck, he tricked me. Thankfully, I managed to keep a smile on my face.
“It’s good.” ‘Fucking bastard.’
“It is, right? It’s my favorite type of wrap. Should I make you another one?”
“Sure,” I answered. The man immediately ran off to make another one.
His name was Geunsoo Lee. He was good friends with Byung-hoon from 24-Hour Jungle, and just as popular on top of that. Oh, no wait. Geunsoo had a scandal last year. He was currently rebuilding his career, but anyways, he seemed to be doing okay on TV.
“Hey, Sian.”
“Yeah?”
“How is it good? I can smell the garlic from here,” Jia said, wrinkling her nose.
“I’ll show you later,” I said with a smile. Right on cue, Geunsoo showed up with another wrap. He plopped down next to me, holding it out.
“Here you go. This one’s even better than the last.”
“Thank you.”
I took the wrap with my right hand while simultaneously reaching for his shoulder with my left. Then, I quickly grabbed the back of his head with my left and yanked his head backwards, stuffing the wrap into his open mouth.
“You should have some as well,” I said sweetly.
But then, as the guy continued to chew, I realized that he was genuinely enjoying the taste. Oh my god, he’s insane.
“Mmm~ It’s really good,” he said, still chewing in bliss.
I stared at him. Was he a bear? How could he like garlic so much?
But just then, he happened to open his mouth as I caught sight of the wrap. It was all meat. The second wrap was filled to the brim with meat.
‘Shit.’
Clearly, I had underestimated the guy.
“Wow~ So good,” Geunsoo kept saying, bouncing his shoulders up and down. I was sorely tempted to kick his head off.
“We’re going to use the hammer today, right?”
“Yes, of course. Do you want to play the hammer game that much?” Geunsoo asked.
“Yes. Especially with you,” I said in an innocent manner.
“Hmm….I don’t know if you could win against me. I’m really good at the game. Right, Si-dong?” Geunsoo said, suddenly turning to Si-dong. Si-dong nodded in response.
“It’s true, Sian. Geunsoo is really athletic. I don’t know if you’d win.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t even try if I were you. Should I make you another wrap?”
“Oh, no. Let me make you one instead.”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll go back to my seat.”
And so, he did.
“That little…”
No one has ever gotten the better of me in anything. Well, that just meant my revenge for him would have to be bigger than most.
***
We were now on the set. The members and I waited outside for a bit as the permanent cast members filmed their parts.
“Sian, I’m shaking,” Hainan said, clinging onto my arm.
“You really are shaking,” I said, wrapping my arms around her. She must be really nervous.
“I should’ve brought some cheongsimhwan.”
“Actually, having you hug me makes me feel better.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes,” Hainan said, burying herself inside me further. It felt weird. My chest felt…hmm…well, let’s just say I’m not used to it.
“You’re like a mom.”
“R-right.”
“Me too.”
Suddenly, Jia came skipping over and gave me a back hug. I could feel her chest press against my shoulder blades…or at least I would, if she had boobs.
“You’re on in five minutes,” the producer said to us. He smiled when he saw the state the three of us were in.
“It won’t be too bad, right?” Yoo-young asked. The producer gave her an assuring smile in response.
“Of course not. Everyone in there are veterans in this. They’ll help you. You’ve all seen the show, right? Don’t worry about making it look good. We’ll take care of it during the editing process,” the producer said.
I could tell he was a good guy, very honest as well. He was certainly older than most of us. Late 20’s maybe?
Anyways, the five minutes soon passed, the producer gesturing to us after that.
“Go on in,” the producer whispered. We all stood behind Yoo-young and entered. The concept was to be casual, almost ill-mannered. That meant that manners were out the window.
“Hey, guys.”
“Nice to meet you, guys.”
“Hey.”
“What are you looking at?”
That was me. The cast members all looked away, smiling.
Finally, we were all in and stood at the front. The six men were wearing school uniforms and sitting at desks. I smiled. Just then, Si-dong raised his hand and stood up.
“Hey, new guys. What’s with the face? You look like you ate crap for breakfast.”
“Your face looks like crap,” I said without thinking. For a second, Si-dong actually looked quite offended, but he was a pro and immediately gained his composure, acting along like a sport.
“What? My face looks like what? What’s your face then?”
“A flower.”
“A flower? Ha! Yeah, right! What’s with her? She’s funny!” Si-dong said.
Just then, Geunsoo spoke up from behind him.
“Oy, Si-dong. You can’t compete with her. Just sit down.”
Si-dong did sit down but as he did, he said, “I’ll deal with you later!”
Just then, Geunsoo stood up and glared at me.
“Oy, new student!”
“What?”
Geunsoo looked rather surprised by my bad-girl attitude. That was my concept, but Geunsoo seemed genuinely shocked. Anyways, he kept speaking.
“So you like garlic in your wraps, huh?” Geunsoo said.
Everyone suddenly began to laugh. They all knew that Geunsoo had tricked me with a garlic wrap earlier.
“Yeah, I do, but I like the hammer game even more.”
“Huh? The hammer game? Pfft. Why bring that up?” he said with a shrug.
I continued.
“I hear you’re the best one around here. I want to fight against you.”
“Me? If you do, you’ll definitely lose. You won’t be able to raise your head around here again,” Geunsoo said, stretching his own neck. Ugh, it was so tempting to beat him then and there.
“Who cares. Let’s go,” I said.
“Yeah! Come on, Geunsoo! Show her what you got!” Si-dong said. Everyone cheered him on as well.
Just then, Jia raised her hand.
“Excuse me.”
“Go ahead, beautiful,” Geunsoo said to Jia.
“If we go against Sian…we might actually die,” Jia said, sounding sincerely worried.
“Hey, she’s funny as well,” Geunsoo said, pointing at Jia. The other members began to whisper to each other.
“She won’t actually kill him, right?”
“You won’t, will you, Sian?”
“She wouldn’t.”
“Not when we’re filming.”
These girls sounded genuinely worried, so I turned to them.
“Don’t worry, guys. I won’t.”
“Oh, good!” all the girls shouted.
Geunsoo looked rather offended.
“Huh?” he said. He drew his hand and gestured towards me.
“Come on, Sian. Let’s do this.”
“Okay.”
I stepped down from the podium, weaving through the desks until I was standing in front of Geunsoo. A plastic hammer and two pot lids were placed on the desks before everyone turned their heads to watch us.
“Hey, new kid. I won’t go easy on you just because you’re a girl,” Geunsoo said, stretching out his shoulders.
“Did I ask you to do so?” I said, stretching out my shoulders as well.
“Hey, Geunsoo! Show the new students what you’ve got!” Si-dong said, massaging Geunsoo’s shoulder for him.
“Ow, Si-dong! Hey! That hurts! Be gentle, will you?” Geunsoo said. It must have really hurt.
“Oh, okay. Sorry. Anyways, you have to win, okay?”
“Don’t worry,” Geunsoo said, giving me a cheeky smile. He went on.
“Hey, new girl. You’re not going to regret this, right? No hard feelings, okay?”
“You should worry about yourself,” I said.
Geunsoo’s smile became wider.
“What do I have to worry about? I know I’m going to win. You’re not going to get me,” he answered.
He sure is cocky…not that it was undeserved anyway. He may be a comedian, but he is also very athletic. He’s in his early 40’s, but he can keep up with male idols in their 20’s. Still, it’s not like they can compare to me. I’m on a completely different level. Poor Geunsoo. He’s definitely going to regret this. Anyways, he kept talking.
“Well, let’s go.”
“You’re already short, so it’s not like you have any more to lose,” I said.
Everyone snickered at that, even the ones on Geunsoo’s side. Geunsoo seemed rather betrayed by that.
“Hey, whose side are you guys on?”
“Hey, I’m not done yet,” I said.
“Fine,” Geunsoo said. Everyone laughed at that.
“Your face looks like an egg.”
Cue more snickers. Even Geunsoo himself laughed at that one.
“Hey, I said I’m not done,” I said.
“Yeah, okay,” Geunsoo said,
“I’ll make sure to turn your head into a football.”
With those words from me, all the men snorted with laughter. The Lovely Girlz members, on the other hand, exchanged worried looks with each other.
