Hazardous Concentration Chapter 15

“Is that so? Then lift the water bottle over there onto the stand for me.”

“Yes! Leave it to me.”

As soon as the words were spoken, he lifted the heavy water bottle with ease. Watching this, the head chef shook his head.

“Hey, stop pushing the kid around. Eunhoo.”

The head chef gestured. Famous for being taciturn, he gave another short and punchy instruction today.

“Since a new guy has come, you take responsibility and teach him.”

Eunhoo nodded, saying he understood.

“I will. Can you come over here?”

The former was addressed to the head chef, and the latter to the new recruit. Eunhoo took the newcomer to a corner of the kitchen to explain how things worked.

“And about your hair—it’s short, but just in case, you must wear a headscarf. A handkerchief is fine too, so make sure to bring one starting tomorrow.”

“Yes!”

“The official start time is 10:00 AM, but that’s for the servers; the kitchen staff needs to be here by at least 8:30 AM. But that’s for those with some experience; to sweep, mop, and prepare ingredients properly without any issues, you really should be here by 8:00 AM.”

“I will do that. And please, drop the formalities!”

“I’ll do it slowly. For now, let me teach you which dishes go in the dishwasher and which ones shouldn’t.”

As it was a Korean restaurant, there were various types of tableware, from brass to lacquered wood. Explaining this and that, time flew by before he knew it.

Today, the main ingredient at [Songrim] was tofu. It might seem like nothing special, but depending on how you cooked it, it created various flavors.

The tofu was prepared in two textures: one was firm, and the other was between soft tofu and regular tofu. Naturally, the cooking methods were divided into two.

“This one looks more delicious to me.”

The food the new guy pointed to was spicy tofu stew. It was made by putting generous chunks of pork into firm tofu, adding red chili powder, and boiling it down thoroughly.

“Tofu stew is delicious, indeed.”

However, Eunhoo’s preference was the opposite: the clear tofu soup (dubu-jeotguk) prepared for those who couldn’t eat spicy food. Instead of pork, the clear soup used meatballs made of minced fish and was seasoned with salted shrimp. It might be bland compared to the spicy stew, but it was gentler on the stomach and tasted similar to what his father used to make when he was young.

“Is the steamed chili pepper done?”

“Yes!”

“Move it to a plate, and bring out the kimchi and salted seafood, too!”

At 11:15 AM, right on time for opening, the servers approached the kitchen pulling mobile trays. The three-tiered trays were filled with plates containing food. It would be perfect once they served the cherry wine at the end.

Eunhoo didn’t enjoy alcohol, but he sometimes felt like trying the drinks at [Songrim]. Perhaps it was because of the fragrant smell of the fruit wines, just like the pine needle wine.

Having been on his feet since morning, his legs ached, and both his arms were throbbing—it was a disaster. In the end, no contact came from his aunt. Although he had expected it, the aftertaste was bitter.

Eunhoo was rubbing his arms when the new recruit, who had joined a few days ago, was smacking his lips while looking at the leftover tofu.

“By the way, it seems like there’s leftover tofu here; what should I do with it?”

“We have to discard it.”

Regardless of the reason, any food left over at [Songrim] had to be discarded. In the early days, they had allowed staff to pack up leftovers because the ingredients felt like a waste, but then people started stealing ingredients. Since then, taking even a single blade of grass out of the kitchen without permission was treated as theft.

“What a waste.”

Eunhoo felt the same way. The tofu provided at [Songrim] was different from the mass-produced products you could easily buy at the supermarket.

It was 100% domestic soybeans, always brought in from a tofu shop the owner had trusted and dealt with for a long time. It was so savory and deep in flavor that even people who didn’t really like tofu would praise the restaurant’s tofu for being delicious.

“…Then, can I eat this?”

“Yes, well… as long as you don’t take it outside the kitchen, it’s fine.”

While packing it up personally was forbidden, he didn’t necessarily stop them from consuming it inside the kitchen.

“Then I’ll eat this.”

As he was carefully taking the tofu, a noisy commotion was heard from inside the kitchen.

“Huh? Why is this here!”

It turned out they had forgotten to take the dipping sauce for the tofu and hadn’t passed it to the servers. Because there were so many side dishes, this didn’t happen often, but it occurred occasionally.

“Eunhoo, please take this to Room 3.”

Even though a new recruit had arrived, Eunhoo’s situation didn’t improve much. In fact, he had more to do, including the task of teaching the new guy.

“Yes.”

Eunhoo left the kitchen holding the plate with the sauce.

Even though he tried not to, Eunhoo’s gaze kept drifting toward the front.

It was already his second bowl. And even after eating a mound of rice as high as a peak, he was starting to eat as deliciously as if it were his first. Watching him eat the tofu earlier, he had thought, “What a good eater,” but he was eating so much it was almost too much.

At that moment, his eyes met Eunseong’s, who was shoveling a mouthful of rice into his mouth with his spoon. Eunhoo, realizing he had been staring too blatantly, quickly cast his eyes downward, but it was too late.

“Do I eat a bit too much?”

Seeing Eunseong laugh as if embarrassed, Eunhoo hurriedly replied.

“No. It’s good to have a healthy appetite.”

“Still. I hear it from my mom every day, too. She says people won’t like it if I eat like this outside, even if it’s fine at home.”

Well, if it were too extreme, people might frown, but Eunseong was just eating a large amount—he wasn’t coveting others’ portions or eating ravenously. He just ate a lot, and it looked healthy and hearty.

“Mr. Eunseong, I’m not just saying this—don’t be self-conscious about eating. We have plenty of portions, and food always remains. And it’s good to see you eat well.”

“Really?”

Eunhoo nodded.

When he first saw him, he was so overwhelmingly big in height and voice that it was a bit burdensome, but after watching him for a few hours, his work skills didn’t seem bad, and contrary to his appearance, his personality was quite affable.

“Then that’s a relief.”

Seeming reassured by Eunhoo’s words, Eunseong resumed his meal.

“It’s so delicious. I’ve eaten countless meals at the places I’ve worked part-time, but [Songrim] seems to be the most delicious.”

Eunhoo agreed with Eunseong, who was smiling brightly.

“Yeah. The owner is quite attentive to the staff meals as well.”

Whether it was discarding leftovers on the same day, the owner of [Songrim] was truly sincere about food.

They said even on holidays, instead of resting, he spent his time researching food from prominent noble families across the country. Perhaps that was why he didn’t treat the staff meals carelessly, let alone the guests’ tables. His father had been the same. He insisted that you must never be stingy with food at a restaurant, and he always sought out only the freshest and best ingredients.

‘If your ingredients or generosity are lacking, that restaurant won’t last long.’

People only remember the success, but his father also had many trials and errors. He had run a deficit for six months after opening the restaurant. Yet, he went to the market every day to buy fresh ingredients and gave generously to every customer who came in.

“I can see that. At the place where I worked part-time before, they were really stingy with meals. Even with a single pack of ramen, they made me feel bad every time….”

Eunhoo knew it well because he, too, had felt sorrow over food. Before working at [Songrim], he had worked in many places, and the one that made him feel the most miserable was the barbecue restaurant where he had his first part-time job.

Back then, the owner would make him feel bad every time he ate lunch, saying he ate too much. But that was fine. What made him angriest was the fact that the owner had even extorted the tips he received from customers.

Since there is no tipping culture in Korea, it wasn’t a common occurrence, but occasionally there were elderly customers who gave tips because they thought a young student was working hard. Every time that happened, the owner would bark at him to hand it over as if it were natural, and in the end, Eunhoo had no choice but to give it up.