Connected - Jaywon

Fried Chicken

Seon-Woo arrived at his restaurant in advance. He liked to come early to make sure everything was right before his staff coming in.

As he checked the cold room, his phone rang. He picked up and a smile spread his lips. After the phone call, he wrote a text message to Jay, letting him know the news.

His staff soon came in and he announced that he wouldn't be here during the afternoon, as he had an unscheduled tv show to record. After his speech, his second came towards him.

"Chef, why would you organize something in such a hurry?" he asked.
"I really need to film this today, the guest I'm receiving will be traveling abroad on Sunday, so their only free time was today afternoon" he explained.
"Can I ask who it is?" his second wondered.
"Nope, you guys wouldn't keep the secret" Seon-Woo replied, teasing his team with a smile.

He worked twice as hard during the morning and the lunch, so as to compensate his later absence.

~

Seon-Woo arrived on his set and put his Cooking on Sunshine apron on. The staff were running everywhere, preparing the set for the shooting. Seon-Woo always prepared his show two weeks in advance, and his work paid off today. He only had to cook what he had prepared for the following week.
Park Sunghoon was also getting ready in the make up room. The artist finished the final touches and let him go.

"It's an honor to meet you" he greeted Seon-Woo, bowing.
"Please, the honor is mine" replied Seon-Woo, bowing as well.

They started cooking and Sunghoon did well, under the careful supervision of the chef. They cooked Seon-Woo's version of bulgogi and jajangmyeon.

After hours working hard together and tasting their dishes, they finished recording the show.

"You did a really good job! I'm so happy you accepted to come cook with me" said Seon-Woo, taking Sunghoon apart to talk to him.
"I only did a nice job because you helped me, chef Kim Seon-Woo" said Sunghoon, even though he looked like he thought his good job was because of him only.
"Call me Seon-Woo, please!" replied the chef.
"You know, I was really surprised that you called me to cook with you. I watch your shows and for some reason I really wanted to meet you. I'm sorry we had to organize this so rashly" said Sunghoon.
"It's my pleasure! My manager told me you're going to represent Korea in an ice skating competition in Taiwan on Monday" continued Seon-Woo.
"That's right! I'm leaving Korea on Sunday" confirmed the ice skater.

"Would you like to eat something together now that's we're done here?" suggested Seon-Woo out of the blue.
"Yeah, why not. But are you still hungry after everything we ate during the afternoon?" asked Sunghoon, laughing.
Seon-Woo made a funny face to contradict Sunghoon. They laughed together and got out of the set.

They finally settled for fried chicken. Seon-Woo knew a place where they could enjoy delicious chicken in private. He didn't want to be interrupted by either Sunghoon's or his fans. He needed to have a serious talk with the ice skater.

They arrived and the restaurant staff brought them to a private dining room.
"Wow this is more formal than I expected" whispered Sunghoon.
"I'm sorry if it feels like it, it's because I wanted to talk to you privately" explained Seon-Woo, sitting down.

Sunghoon looked a bit confused but decided to trust the chef.
Their food arrived and just the smell was amazing.
"Wait until you try it" said Seon-Woo, non stop smiling at the food in front of him.
He was right, it was delicious.

"So, I brought you here because I need to show you something"!said the chef, taking his phone out of his pocket.
He looked through his pictures, and between two images of choco mint ice cream, he found Jay's sketch.
He showed it to Sunghoon, who froze.

The chopsticks in his hands just fell on the floor.

"How?" he said, looking dead serious into Seon-Woo's eyes, not worrying a bit about the chopsticks on the ground.

"I can tell you know this right?" said Seon-Woo, in the most comforting way he could.

Sunghoon nodded, incapable of speaking. Seon-Woo explained that this was from one of his dreams.
"And you dream about this too right?" he asked the ice skater.
"I did, but it's been a while now" he answered.

Seon-Woo showed him a picture of Jay and one of Jungwon.
"Do you know them?" he asked.
"Isn't the first a designer? I've seen him on tv I think. I don't know the second though" answered Sunghoon.
"Well, their names are Park Jong-Seong and Yang Jungwon. They also have the same dream as you and me" continued Seon-Woo.
"That's a joke right? I don't know who told you about this dream I had but... Wait did Sim Jaeyun tell you about it?" he asked, nervous.
"Who's Sim Jaeyun?" said Seon-Woo. "Is he someone you saw in this dream too?"
"Yes" replied automatically Sunghoon. "I don't really like what's happening here. Did you bring me in here because there's a hidden camera and you want to prank me?"

Sunghoon was upset. He stood up, frowning his eyebrows.

"There is no camera" said Seon-Woo, calmly.
Sunghoon turned back to face the chef. He was trying to decide if he was telling the truth.

"Look, I know it sounds weird. I know you're confused. But why would I fake all of this? I know somewhere in your mind you want to trust me because there are too many coincidences" continued the chef.

~

Jay's phone rang. He was already in bed, listening to music before going to sleep.

"Hey" he said.
"Jay, I met with Park Sunghoon today! You will never believe what happened!"!shouted Seon-Woo.
"You can tell me about it, but there's no need to sacrifice my ear please" sighted Jay.
"Sorry I'm just excited. So he came to the set, we cooked and I invited him to eat afterwards. I started telling him the whole story and he freaked out big time" he explained.
"How is that good news ?" asked Jay.
"Don't be so impatient. I eventually calmed him down and he listened to me. He told me that he hadn't dreamed about the woman since the end of his school. And in his dream, one of the people with us is a Sim Jaeyun. He's a physicist" said Seon-Woo.
"Were they close in school?" asked Jay.
"They were, you catch up quickly. They stopped talking when Sim Jaeyun moved away to study physics" finished Seon-Woo.
"High chance that this man is one of us too" replied Jay. "So we potentially have found five people, only two more to go. Do we have a way to contact Sim Jaeyun?"
"I think Sunghoon will contact him, but I'm not sure. He seemed still upset from Jaeyun moving away" replied the chef. "By the way, do you have any news of Jungwon?"

Jay stayed silent for a bit. He didn't want to talk about Wonie. The message he had received the night before had haunted him during the night and the whole day. He was supposed to meet the young man tomorrow at noon, but didn't know if he should. He was scared of exposing him to danger.
He sighed and told Seon-Woo everything.

"Are you saying someone blackmailed you? Did you find out who's number it is?" asked Seon-Woo.
"I tried calling them, but the number is no longer available. The send me the picture and the message and I think they broke the SIM card" answered Jay.
"Like in the movies?" said Seon-Woo.
"I guess. Now I don't know if I should see Jungwon tomorrow... I'm scared" whispered Jay, torn apart.
"Jay.. we haven't known each other for long, but I've seen you with Jungwon. I think you should go tomorrow. But be careful, please" replied Seon-Woo softly.
"You're right. It'll be okay" said Jay. "Am I this obvious though?"

Seon-Woo laughed.
"I think you like him more than I like food" he answered, laughing at Jay's annoyed face.