In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 181

“Phew.”

Woojoo wiped the sweat off his forehead and the back of his neck with a handkerchief.

His whole body was soaked with sweat.

It was hard enough to work, but the heat from the oven made him feel like he was going to die.

Woojoo took a breather as he watched the bread bake to a golden brown in the oven.

“Hoo…”

He held onto the corner of the kitchen table and took a deep breath. Big drops of sweat rolled down his temples.

Why was he so out of it?

His vision turned white and then colorful spots scattered across his eyes.

Woojoo sniffed as he wiped the sweat with the handkerchief.

“Bijoo, why does this handkerchief smell like a rag?”

“That looks like a rag, Hyung.”

“Ah.”

Woojoo smiled awkwardly and put down the rag. The cameraman slapped his cheek.

Bijoo handed him a glass of ice-cold juice with a smile.

“I had some spare time, so I made some fruit juice. Drink it to cool off, Hyung.”

“Thanks. What’s in it?”

“Apple.”

Woojoo quickly pulled away his mouth from the straw and looked at Bijoo’s drink.

“What’s that?”

“This is apple ade. Do you want to switch?”

“…No, no. It’s fine.”

“Please drink it and tell me how it is, Hyung.”

Their kid looked at him with sparkling eyes. He took a sip and gave him a thumbs up.

He smiled happily when Woojoo said it was good.

Woojoo peeled off his hair that was stuck to his forehead from the sweat and asked him, “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m okay. It’s fun too.”

“Tell me if you’re tired. We have priorities, you know.”

The most important thing for them was the showcase tomorrow.

It was important to do well in the variety show recording, but it would be worse if they got injured by overdoing it.

As Woojoo was watching Bijoo closely.

Min Sejin came over after finishing her conversation with Chef Park.

“How are you, are you resting?”

“Uh, yes.”

“Wow, you’re all sweating so much. I’m sorry. It’s hard, right?”

She made a sorry face, and Woojoo muttered, “I realized something. This is not something anyone can do.”

It was a sincere remark.

Woojoo realized that there was a reason why there were experts.

You had to have knowledge and theory of various desserts in your head, handle the kitchen tools well, and have a sense of aesthetics.

And strong muscles too.

Their job was to use their strength without using their brains, but that was hard enough.

Woojoo looked at Min Sejin, who had a small frame and did this work alone, with admiration.

“You’re amazing. Bijoo and I are sweating like crazy just doing this for a while.”

“You’re being modest.”

She snickered.

“You both did great. I was jealous of Woojoo when I saw him kneading the dough. How did you do that from the start?”

“Thanks to the Chef’s advice.”

“No, it’s not, it’s not…” she muttered to herself, looking puzzled. Woojoo just laughed.

Woojoo followed what the masters did, but she seemed to think he had talent.

He couldn’t tell her otherwise.

Luckily, her eyes moved to the oven and he avoided the crisis.

“…”

Her eyes seemed to sparkle more than usual because of the red light from the oven.

Woojoo asked her, looking at her affectionate gaze at the cookies and bread, “You really love bread, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

The patissier fixed her eyes on the oven and smiled.

“It makes me happy to see them. And touching the dough too. I love bread. When I’m depressed, I also relieve my mood by touching the dough. Is that how you say it?”

Woojoo understood what she meant.

It was similar to how he would make a song whenever he felt stressed.

Min Sejin, who was smiling warmly at the bread, turned her head and looked at them.

“Thank you. Really.”

“Oh, no.”

“That’s right, don’t do that. It’s embarrassing.”

Bijoo and Woojoo waved their hands with awkward faces, but she shook her head instead.

“It’s been my wish for a long time. To introduce my desserts overseas. If it weren’t for Chef Park and the New Black members, today would have been really awful.”

“…”

“Thank you for helping me.”

Seeing her sincerely thanking them, Bijoo and Woojoo waved their hands and then smiled proudly.

Woojoo felt warm and fuzzy from the sincere emotions that were conveyed.

As the atmosphere was friendly and cozy, she said, “Now we have secured enough quantity, and the rest can be done by me and Chef Park. How about taking a break and going out to the hall?”

Woojoo asked, “Are you two okay?”

“Yes, we’re fine.”

As if they had done enough for her, Min Sejin told them to take a break.

Chef Park Jaewoo also nodded and joined in.

“Good job, both of you.”

“We…”

“Quick! Go and rest a bit.”

The chef and the PT pushed them out of the kitchen.

Woojoo wondered why they kicked them out so harshly, but he realized the truth when he saw the dressing room mirror.

Bijoo blinked.

“We look like we got hit by a flour bomb. Hyung.”

“…Yeah, we really look terrible.”

Flour was decorated on their noses, cheeks, and everywhere else on top of their sweaty faces.

Bijoo and Woojoo laughed for a while and then took a selfie of their appearance in front of the mirror.

They changed into spare uniforms and put on their microphones again. They headed to the hall without a break.

It was to return to their original mission.

Bijoo asked in a worried voice, “Are they all doing well?”

“Don’t worry too much. They’re all doing fine. Do you think something will happen while we’re away?”

Woojoo smiled confidently.

He had told his siblings what they should be careful of before starting the serving part-time job.

There would be no problem if they just did as he said.

As they walked down the corridor from the kitchen to the hall, Bijoo said, “But I’m still a bit anxious. Even though Yoo Changhyun Sunbae-nim is there, Junghyun and Jiho are…”

“Don’t worry too much. They… Oh my. What is this.”

Crash!

A loud noise stopped them in their tracks.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

The first thing that caught their eye was a broken plate.

Woojoo saw their youngest, stuttering with a flustered face.

“…”

Yoo Changhyun, who was looking at him, took a plate to the kitchen and said in a frantic voice, “Clean that up quickly, guys!”

“Yes, we’ll go right away!”

Rihyuk was collecting the plate debris with a dustpan when he hit his head on a nearby table and shed tears.

“Ouch!”

Junghyun was wandering between the tables with a confused face, wondering which table ordered which menu.

As they watched this novel mess, Bijoo and hehad a dumbfounded expression.

“…”

Then Rihyuk, who had spotted Bijoo and Woojoo, came over in a hurry.

His face had turned pale as if he had lost his mind.

“…Help me.”

A short and desperate word. Woojoo asked him, “What happened? What’s this? It was fine until we left.”

“It was okay at first. At first. The atmosphere was good.”

When he heard the whole story, he realized it couldn’t be helped.

At the opening, the customers were coming in steadily, but as time passed, they came in faster and faster.

As they exceeded the normal level, their novice part-timers panicked.

One thing got tangled up and everything else got messed up.

It was like earphone cords that got twisted once and got all knotted up.

“There’s a camera and a broadcast, so the customers are smiling, but it’s about to explode right now.”

Rihyuk pointed to a table with his chin and Woojoo saw that it was true.

There were people who only looked at the time on their phone lock screens or fiddled with forks or napkins for no reason.

They had an expression that said, ‘When will the menu come out?’

Woojoo muttered.

“…We’re in big trouble here.”

In the kitchen, the baker in charge sprained her wrist, and here, their kids were overwhelmed by the customers and in a panic.

By Woojoo’s standards, this was more serious.

They were only appearing as one-day part-timers.

It was a surprise baking assistant activity, but strictly speaking, what they had to do well was this serving part-time job.

“…What should we do, Hyung?”

Rihyuk looked at Woojoo at Bijoo’s question.

They looked at Woojoo as if he would know the solution.

Woojoo turned his head at their gaze.

He quickly scanned the situation in the hall.

He figured out the main problems and asked Rihyuk to bring the others.

“Bring the kids over.”

They had to divide the roles.

After finishing the rough dishes and returning to the hall, Yoo Changhyun scratched his back of his head irritably.

‘This is crazy. This.’

He didn’t know when it started, but the hall situation had turned into a mess.

‘Why are there so many customers?’

He had experienced various part-time jobs before he passed the gagman audition, but he had never seen so many customers.

Orders came in like crazy, he went back and forth between the kitchen and the hall, and washed the dishes.

Everyone was working hard, but the more they did, the more dissatisfied the customers seemed.

“Excuse me, we ordered earlier, but they got theirs first.”

“What?”

“They got theirs first.”

“What do you mean by that…”

The biggest problem was the language.

He knew how to speak Chinese, but it was so noisy that he couldn’t hear the unfamiliar language well.

‘Jenmin should be here. But of all things, the bread god descended…’

If he wasn’t so good at kneading the dough, he would have swapped him with another member and pulled him out.

Yoo Changhyun sighed quietly so that the camera wouldn’t see.

‘What do I do with this?’

When he felt at a loss where to start and what to fix.

He saw Woojoo and Bijoo come back.

Woojoo, who had gathered the members, was whispering something to the younger ones.

“…Then let’s do it that way. Got it?”

The members all nodded and Woojoo smiled and patted their shoulders.

‘He’s really like a leader.’

He nodded at the sight of him comforting the members like an adult, but that was only for a moment. Yoo Changhyun approached him.

“Did you have a meeting or something?”

“We just did some work division.”

“Work division? What do you mean… Oh, there’s an order. Woojoo, can you go take the order from those customers?”

“Yes, Sunbae-nim.”

Woojoo gracefully walked between the tables and greeted the customers. Yoo Changhyun also moved to the call of someone from somewhere.

And then.

‘…What?’

That was when it started.

The situation that was suffocating, as if hundreds of cars were gathered across a tunnel, slowly began to change.

At first, he didn’t notice, but he felt it from the atmosphere.

The tension that was tight loosened up, and it became more friendly.

Woojoo took the orders leisurely, matching the eye level of the customers who asked for menu recommendations.

“Hahaha, did you really make this?”

“It was a lot of work to make it. Then, shall I serve you this as a side dish?”

“Yes, please!”

“What would you like for your drink? My recommendation? This is delicious and has less sugar.”

As he teased them with a hint of sarcasm that they would need a diet cola or something for their greasy menu, the customers laughed.

‘He’s good.’

At first, it seemed like it was because of Woojoo, who spoke Chinese fluently like a local.

But the more he looked, the more it was different.

The customers were still many and busy, but the work seemed to be more relaxed.

‘…Ah!’

That was when he noticed the change and remembered what he said.

-We did some work division.

Just as he said, they really divided the roles.

The first thing he saw was the notebook that Rihyuk carried around.

“Rihyuk, two injeolmi shaved ice and cream donuts for table 10.”

“Rihyuk Hyung, refill for table 8!”

As the members called, Rihyuk recorded the order of the orders like a central control tower and delivered them together.

“Bijoo Hyung, you have to serve that menu to table 7 first.”

The menu to the customers who came in first.

That alone seemed to ease the complaints of the customers.

‘Are those two in charge of simple tasks?’

Junghyun and Jiho, who were struggling with complex tasks, were given simple but important tasks.

They went over to fill up the empty cups or napkins around the customers.

Junghyun moved with a warm smile, holding a kettle.

“Do you need more water?”

“Yes…”

“I’ll give you. Water.”

“Wow. Say it again. What you just said.”

…For some reason, the customers clapped and cheered among themselves, which seemed to increase their satisfaction.

“I’ll refill it for you.”

Jiho also walked around with a bright smile, bringing the customers what they needed.

They had regained their composure after avoiding the complicated matter from before.

The customers seemed to feel more comfortable as the staff became more friendly.

‘Is Bijoo in charge of the dishes?’

As they took the customers’ orders, Junghyun and Jiho would move the plates and do the dishes.

‘And Woojoo is…’

He was everywhere.

Wherever he went, Woojoo greeted them with a gentle smile.

“Sunbae-nim~”

He was wearing rubber gloves with Bijoo at the sink when he brought the plates to the kitchen.

“Sunbae-nim~”

“…?”

When he went around to take orders, he approached the bored-looking customers and spoke to them with a soft smile.

“Sunbae-nim~”

“…”

He was about to set up a new table, but Woojoo had already laid out the forks and spoons in a flash.

He casually tossed the napkin with his hand and folded it neatly in an instant.

He looked like a veteran waiter at a fancy restaurant.

‘He’s like lightning in the east and west…’

He was like a dream come true for the part-time workers.

Then Woojoo turned his head and greeted him.

“Sunbae-nim~”

“…Tell me honestly. How many bodies do you have?”

“Um… just one.”

Don’t hesitate. You look like you have more.

He stuck out his tongue as he watched Woojoo go back and forth like a clone.

Suddenly, he remembered Ye Heeyeon’s voice.

-Do well. Do great.

He was amazed when he saw him baking, but he was even more amazed when he saw him serving.

‘…He’s really good.’

If he was an employer somewhere, he would have hired him with a high salary.

He had a great knack for work.

He learned new tasks quickly and found his own work to do when he had spare time.

“Woojoo, you’re working on the shaved ice…?”

“Woojoo, you’re filling up the dish soap here…?”

The cast looked at him with admiration as he moved like Hong Gildong.

Chef Park Jaewoo said, “That kid will survive anywhere. He’s really amazing for a newbie. I wouldn’t envy anyone if I had one like him.”

“New Black is all like that. They work well.”

Woojoo and the other members were praised together.

Of course, the other members also did well with unfamiliar tasks.

But to Yoo Changhyun, it was a result of someone leading them well.

‘They’re in sync.’

He quickly organized the tasks and assigned them to the members according to their preferences.

At first, he didn’t understand why the New Black members were so proud and trusting of their leader, but now he understood.

‘I don’t know about the other teams…’

He didn’t know how the part-time workers who went to other countries were, but to him, New Black was the best.

But on the other hand…

“Sunbae-nim~”

“Hey, you scared me!”

He felt his heart jump when Woojoo burst open the bathroom door and appeared behind him.

“…Are you in a perfume ad? Please, make some noise before you show up, Woojoo.”

“I’m sorry.”

Woojoo smiled awkwardly and moved away with a swish of his feet.

That was when he noticed his strange gait.

Come to think of it, he had been silently appearing and disappearing with that peculiar walk.

“Woojoo.”

“Yes?”

“What kind of walk is that?”

“Oh, this?”

Woojoo answered with a smile.

“It’s the Maasai walking.”

“…”

He blinked his eyes as he watched Woojoo slide away.

‘He’s not normal either.’

That was for sure.

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