Chapter 17

Chapter 17

17. Our Hotel Isn't That Kind of Place.

Fortunately, the misunderstanding about Sullivan was cleared up quickly.

The fact that he'd been pulling peppers was sufficiently proven by the pepper plant already in his hand when they first saw him.

And what remained was a pot of deliciously bubbling kimchi stew and ice-cold soju and beer.

“Would you like to join us?”

“Is that··· okay?”

“There's too much for just the two of us anyway.”

Of course, I hadn't made enough with doubling the number of mouths in mind.

But given the nature of stew(?), that was a perfectly manageable problem.

“Have a seat.”

“Then, if you'll excuse us.”

And so, a drinking party formed with a lineup that seemed like they'd never have reason to sit together.

A singer,

the singer's manager,

a successful tax attorney,

and finally, a hotel owner who'd won Powerball and now lived like a man of leisure.

Naturally, after the awkward introductions, there wasn't much for us to talk about.

We had exactly one topic in common: the kimchi stew I'd made.

“Mm! This is seriously delicious!”

“I had no idea you could cook like this.”

How could it possibly taste bad when it had pork belly grilled on a cast-iron lid and half an entire head of kimchi?

And once instant rice—the undefeated champion that no amount of skill could hope to beat—joined the table, their clumsy chopsticks never stopped moving.

All right, should I get things started around now?

“Do you drink?”

“I do.”

“Me too.”

Perfect.

Nothing beats alcohol for breaking awkwardness and getting the mood going!

I lined up soju glasses and beer glasses across the table.

And now was the moment for the ultimate mixing technique I'd honed during my days in sales.

- Pour.

Half a glass of soju,

then enough beer that three fingers would overlap around the glass when you held it.

The perfect ratio and amount for knocking it back in one shot without any harsh bitterness afterward.

“This is somaek, right?”

“You know it?”

“I saw it in dramas too.”

If she knew somaek, that made things easy.

“Actually, not just anyone can make this. Only licensed professionals are allowed to handle it. See this? So. Maek.”

I pulled my Somaek Certificate from my wallet and showed it to the three of them.

A Somaek Certificate.

Something issued as a promotional gimmick by a liquor company, and of course completely lacking any legal authority.

But I can say with confidence that few weapons are stronger at a drinking table.

It's practically a magical certificate that changes the atmosphere the moment you pull it out.

People who know what it is burst out laughing and ask if you seriously got one,

while those who don't look at you like some sort of expert in drinking etiquette.

Naturally, this time it was the latter.

And by coincidence, I was the only Korean there.

- Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink.

Chopsticks dipped into the evenly measured somaek glasses and stirred up bubbles.

“Go ahead. Knock it back in one shot.”

“Okay!”

“Ahh, that's so refreshing!”

Sweeteners dumped in by soju companies to hide the cheap alcohol smell,

combined with the excessive carbonation of Korean beer.

Of course it drew admiration.

After that, with a pleasant buzz and the kimchi stew simmering away, we started chatting about this and that.

The usual floating topics came up—Hawaii's weather, places worth visiting, things like that.

But whenever Korea came up, Eve suddenly became much more talkative.

“During performance season I barely get to eat because of my diet. So I watch a lot of mukbang. Tteokbokki, jajangmyeon··· what else did I watch all the time?”

“Grilled fish and soft tofu stew.”

“Right! Then I started watching dramas one by one too. Squid Game, and Gungye······.”

Mr. Kim Gu, are you watching from heaven?

A world-famous American singer is counting Korean foods and dramas off on her fingers right now.

By the time the kimchi stew was nearly scraped clean,

“How about some coffee for dessert?”

“Coffee?”

I shook the packets of instant coffee I'd brought from the kitchen.

“Coffee in a paper cup!”

“Exactly.”

Now that's how you finish a meal.

***

Back in the suite, Eve and her manager sat at the dining table savoring the afterglow.

While drinking coffee from paper cups.

“Ahh! That was seriously amazing! Right?”

“Yeah. I wasn't expecting that surprise party.”

“What? Surprise party?”

“That whole thing was an event prepared for me. Otherwise, there's no way those two would've acted so naturally.”

“Now that you mention it, you're right.”

It had felt so natural that she'd completely forgotten.

How people normally behaved when meeting Eve privately.

Overblown reactions and canned questions.

And after exchanging only a few words, they'd somehow try to get an autograph and a commemorative photo.

‘But those two weren't like that.’

It had been a comfortable meal for the first time in ages.

Almost like eating with old friends.

“You only mentioned watching Korean mukbang a few times during livestreams, but they prepared everything to match perfectly.”

“Exactly.”

And what about the set?

It really looked like they'd moved an actual tiny Korean home there.

From the menu to the setting and even the meal tailored perfectly to her tastes,

it was the best event she'd ever experienced.

Eve stared at the paper cup still half full of coffee, then smiled brightly and picked up her phone.

“Huh? Don't tell me you're going live again right now?”

“Yep. Today was such an amazing day. I should tell my fans!”

“Whoa! Wait! We need to clean the room first!”

“Too late. It's already on. Hi, guys! We just got back from dinner. It was really, really, really delicious! It might've been the best hotel food I've ever eaten in my life.”

@evesbabyy HUH???? LIVE????

@eveisreal Best thing you've ever eaten???? What was it, tell me too!

@mmmmarie OMG look at that face, it really must've been amazing LMAO

@dahlia___ MENU!!!!! MENU!!!!! TELL US THE MENU!!!!!

@sunny_side_up I'm so curious!:)

“Huh? What did I eat? Kimchi stew! With tons of pork belly! And I drank somaek too!”

@dahlia___ Huh?

@eveisreal???

@lovelyy.b Kimchi stew?

@ITSMEKAYLA_ Somaek?

“You guys know I love Korean mukbang and dramas, right? But the hotel made me my own restaurant that felt just like being inside a Korean drama! Can you imagine? And the kimchi stew was so good! Anyway, I think this vacation is going to be unforgettable. Bye!”

- Beep.

A livestream barely a minute long, no different from usual.

But to the fans who had been waiting for Eve's broadcasts, it felt entirely different.

Her bright smile and playful tone.

Every frame looked worthy of being called a perfect screenshot.

And so Eve's legendary livestream spread with an enormous number of views.

***

The next day, in the chairman's office at Waikiki Sun Beach.

“How many articles about Hawaii hotels went up today?”

“Seventy-three in total.”

“And how many about us?”

“One······.”

━━━━━━━━━━━

- [Breaking] Eve Callaway: “The Best Hotel Food of My Life”··· But the Menu Was ‘Kimchi Stew’

- Hawaii Foodies Flood Hale Makani with Restaurant Inquiries

- Where Is ‘Hale Makani’? The Small Hotel Chosen by Eve

- ‘K-Food Dinner’ Overshadows Hotel's $30,000 Suite

- “We Can't Reveal the Kimchi Stew Recipe” — Hale Makani's Silence Fuels Speculation

- [Photo] Japanese Idol Group 4X Visits Waikiki Sun Beach Hotel

- Dedicated Chef? Local Hidden Gem? Five Theories Surround Eve Callaway's Meal

- Hale Makani Flooded with Reservation Inquiries··· Website Briefly Slows

- Eve's ‘K-Food Restaurant’ Serving Kimchi Stew—Is It Only for Hotel Guests?

···

━━━━━━━━━━━

- Scroll. Scroll.

No matter how much he spun the wheel, the endless page refused to stop.

Among all of it, there was only one article containing his own hotel's name.

“Th-The NewTube video! What about that?”

Unable to believe reality, Chairman Victor asked for another lifeline.

“Here it is.”

- Slide.

━━━━━━━━━━━

▶ [Official] Hawaii's Most Expensive Suite Revealed! THE IMPERIAL CROWN SUITE Premium Tour with 4X (Full ver.)

━━━━━━━━━━━

Views 8,127 · Likes 863 · Comments 1,425

━━━━━━━━━━━

The tablet Elena held out showed a pathetic view count.

“We spent two hundred ten thousand dollars and this is all we got?”

“The timing was poor. 4X's latest album performed badly, and another celebrity scandal broke in Japan.”

“Not 4X?”

“No.”

“Damn it!”

He almost wished 4X had been the ones caught in a scandal.

At least then he could've sued for damages.

“Whew. Still, there are plenty of comments. They're singers after all, I suppose? At this rate, the views might climb later. Let's see.”

But the comments were even worse.

━━━━━━━━━━━

└ yui_4Xlove: Why do all the guys look dead inside···?

└ honolulu_walker: They're still in the entrance from 3:20 to 12:40.

└ nanami.tt: Oi oi, did they come to buy real estate? wwwww

└ はると推し_0417: Did anyone else see Ren trying not to yawn around minute 15? www

└ miyu.4X_official_fan: Is it true our boys were left standing for two hours before this? Agency, do your job!;<​

└ travel_with_mia: Wait, isn't this NOT the hotel Eve Callaway stayed at?

└ ohana_lee: ↑She went to Hale Makani next door

└ kenji_0417: ↑Oh, the hotel with the good Korean food? wwwww

View more comments ▾

━━━━━━━━━━━

At the end of all that mockery, Hale Makani had somehow even gotten a little free promotion.

“Why the hell are these bastards talking about that fucking Hale Makani even over here?!”

***

The morning after eating kimchi stew.

An unfamiliar ceiling.

No, it's the ceiling of the rooftop studio.

That was when it happened.

- Ring-ring-ring.

It's Frank.

“Yes, go ahead.”

(President Kim, we have a problem! We're being flooded with inquiries about the secret restaurant! Should we introduce it as a suite-exclusive service?)

“No. Just close it.”

(Pardon?)

“Close suite reservations and just say it's under preparation.”

Only amateurs row when the tide comes in.

Real masters throw away the oars.

Because it's annoying.

Anyone would think I built the suite to make money.

Good.

I've got nothing to do today anyway, so I'll go surfing with Sullivan.

© Kim Mangcho#1ond5