Chapter 370: Comeback
“Huh? A new counter?”
As Jiang Huiyuan and Kim Minju walked into the cafeteria, the ‘King of Eaters’ immediately noticed a new counter near the entrance, with “Daegu Specialty” written on it.
“Let’s go take a look.” Jiang Huiyuan pulled the still-dazed Kim Minju to the new counter to queue up.
Since it was a newly opened counter, there were quite a few people queuing, with several people in front of them.
“Guang Bei-ssi, Minju-ssi.” The staff member in the queue turned around and greeted Jiang Huiyuan and Kim Minju.
“Hello.” Both of them returned the greeting.
As fixed NPCs in the cafeteria, any staff member who frequently ate lunch there would often run into Jiang Huiyuan a few times.
She didn’t eat breakfast because she couldn’t wake up.
The cafeteria didn’t serve dinner, so Jiang Huiyuan wouldn’t come.
For lunch, as long as she didn’t have a schedule in the morning or at noon, Jiang Huiyuan would basically show up at the cafeteria to eat.
Moreover, Korean artists’ schedules usually don’t have a “morning” to them; most start from 12 PM or 1 PM and then continue working until the early hours of the morning.
Although DM Entertainment doesn’t allow artists to film past midnight, they would still film from 1 or 2 PM until 11 or 12 AM.
Private gigs were a different matter.
Based on the above factors, Jiang Huiyuan appeared in the company cafeteria at least three to five days a week, and everyone was already used to her presence.
Among the company’s artists, there was no one else who could consistently come to the cafeteria like Jiang Huiyuan.
However, Kim Minju coming along was surprising to many; she and Jiang Huiyuan were two extremes. Almost no one had seen her eat in the cafeteria, so Kim Minju’s appearance here was truly rare.
“Why is there suddenly a new counter?” Kim Minju looked at the two Ajiaxis busy inside the counter and asked curiously.
DM Entertainment’s cafeteria hadn’t had a new counter in a long time, so one suddenly appearing was quite intriguing.
“Don’t you rarely come to the cafeteria? Why are you so surprised?” Jiang Huiyuan asked in confusion.
“I usually come in the morning,” Kim Minju explained. She indeed rarely ate lunch at the company cafeteria, but she often came in the morning to grab something to fill her stomach.
“Oh, oh. Who knows, maybe it’s a relative of some staff member,” Jiang Huiyuan said casually.
“It really is.” The staff member in front suddenly turned around and smiled at the two.
“The two chefs at this counter are Bae Joo-hyun-ssi’s parents.”
“Bae Joo-hyun unnie’s parents?” Kim Minju’s mouth slightly parted as she said in surprise.
“Yes, it’s already spread in the pantry. They say Bae Joo-hyun-ssi specifically went to the CEO, and the CEO personally approved their entry.”
It came from the pantry, so it must be true.
As everyone knows, a company’s pantry is like the Yue Lai Inn in wuxia novels or the passersby in ‘Shrouding the Heavens’—they know everything and spread everything.
All the gossip in the entire company, if you listen carefully, can be found in the pantry.
This, this is word of mouth.
“Will the taste be good then? The taste of someone with connections… is quite worrying,” Jiang Huiyuan said with some concern.
Kim Minju gave her friend a speechless look. Clearly, she didn’t care about connections; she only cared about the taste.
“I’m also here to try it. It shouldn’t be bad. I heard that even though they got in through connections, they still follow the cafeteria’s assessment system. If the taste is bad, they’ll be kicked out in a few months,” the staff member explained.
Hearing this, Jiang Huiyuan finally relaxed.
Before long, it was Jiang Huiyuan and Kim Minju’s turn.
Although they didn’t know Bae Joo-hyun’s parents, Bae Joo-hyun’s parents recognized Jiang Huiyuan and Kim Minju.
Not to mention that both were their daughter’s colleagues, simply IZONE’s national popularity meant that few people in Korea didn’t know them.
“Guang Bei-ssi, Minju-ssi, what would you like to eat?” Mother Bae greeted them warmly.
“Hello, Ahjumma.” Jiang Huiyuan nodded at Mother Bae. “We’d like one spicy beef soup and grilled beef intestines.”
“Okay, please wait a moment.” Mother Bae cheerfully agreed and operated the cash register a few times. Jiang Huiyuan and Kim Minju swiped their employee cards.
They ordered two dishes, and each person only had one special offer, so they each swiped once.
Spicy beef soup and grilled beef intestines are signature Daegu dishes. Daegu spicy beef soup is made by simmering beef bones and radish for the broth, then adding chili powder and garlic. The soup and rice are served separately, a local specialty.
Grilled beef intestines are made by charcoal-grilling beef small intestines and tripe until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, served with a special spicy sauce and rice wine—a low-fat, high-protein food.
However, generally speaking, foreigners find it quite difficult to accept the taste of grilled beef intestines, because… well, you know.
After ordering, they still had to wait a while. Jiang Huiyuan and Kim Minju took the electronic pager and went to find a seat.
During the lunch rush hour, although there were enough seats, good seats were quite scarce.
“Good seats” naturally referred to those near the air conditioning, by the window, and away from the crowd.
“I heard aespa is having another comeback,” Kim Minju shared the latest news with Jiang Huiyuan as soon as they sat down.
“Another comeback?” Jiang Huiyuan was startled. “Didn’t they just have a comeback in January?”
aespa’s third mini-album, “Girls,” released in January this year, sparked an aespa craze.
With ITZY showing signs of decline and IZONE about to disband, aespa, as the only top-tier girl group, had almost cornered the entire market.
And now, not even half a year later, they were having another comeback?
“Since when did S.M. Entertainment groups have comebacks so frequently?” Jiang Huiyuan couldn’t help but say.
“It seems to be a single produced by the CEO,” Kim Minju said.
“The CEO, huh.” Jiang Huiyuan suddenly understood.
They said IZONE was Jiang Shu’s darling, but aespa had actually received many songs written by Jiang Shu.
If you really counted, only ITZY and (G)I-DLE were the groups Jiang Shu hadn’t paid much attention to; other groups had more or less received songs from Jiang Shu.
Now that IZONE was gone, Jiang Shu seemed to be shifting his focus to aespa.
“Are they only releasing a single for this comeback?” Jiang Huiyuan asked again.
“Yes, it seems to be called… let me check.” Kim Minju took out her phone and looked at her chat history. “‘AS IF IT’S YOUR LAST.’”
“‘AS IF IT’S YOUR LAST’?” Jiang Huiyuan repeated the song title and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Just hearing the title makes it feel very aespa in style.”
“I think so too,” Kim Minju agreed, nodding.
At this moment, the pager on the table beeped, indicating that their food was ready.
“I’ll go get it, you stay seated.”
After Jiang Huiyuan finished speaking, she excitedly went to get their lunch.