Chapter 38
“Where should I put the meat?”
“Ah, please put it here.”
As Choi Seonghyeon cleared away the surrounding dishes to make space, a plate piled high with meat was placed on top.
Pork belly, with its red lean meat and white fat layered in perfect harmony.
The meat was tender and glistening with a subtle sheen, clearly high-quality meat at a glance.
“Wow, this place has good meat.”
“I came here once before and it was great.”
Manager Hwang naturally reached for the tongs.
However, Kang Taehan picked up the tongs first.
“Oh, Mr. Taehan. I’ll grill it. You work hard every day with the massages, so just relax.”
“Hey, grilling meat isn’t that difficult. And isn’t it customary for the person who buys the meat to grill it?”
Tonight’s dinner was on Manager Hwang.
It’s only right for the person being treated to grill the meat.
Kang Taehan shook his hand with a firm expression.
“Manager-nim. Leave it to Taehan.”
“…At least pretend you’re trying to grill.”
Choi Seonghyeon was sitting next to them, laughing with his hands clasped.
When Manager Hwang chided him, Choi Seonghyeon shook his head instead.
“You don’t know. It’s not that I don’t want to grill, but the meat tastes better when Taehan grills it.”
“…How good can he be?”
“I don’t know how to explain it if you ask me that… It’s like leveling up an item rank in a game.”
“…Really?”
Although he had dinner with Kang Taehan a few times, this was the first time they came out to eat meat together.
Anyone else would say, ‘How different can grilling meat be?’, but somehow, he had a feeling that Kang Taehan would be different.
“Why are you making it sound so grand?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I bet you grill better than the owner here.”
“Don’t say weird things.”
Kang Taehan chuckled and shook his head.
But Manager Hwang saw it.
Even while talking to Choi Seonghyeon, Kang Taehan flipped each thick slice of pork belly one by one with a flick of his wrist.
“By the way, Manager-nim, you said you were reading Murim Hunter, right?”
“That webtoon? I do. I don’t read it every week, though.”
Manager Hwang nodded at Choi Seonghyeon’s words.
Murim Hunter is the name of a webtoon serialized on Korea’s most famous webtoon platform.
A work about Murim warriors becoming hunters after the gate incident in Murim.
At first, he wondered what the story was about, but the more he read it, the more engrossed he became.
He didn’t read it every week, but that was just because reading one episode at a time left him wanting more.
Manager Hwang had a deep interest and affection for the work called Murim Hunter.
“Why? Is there an interesting episode or something?”
“No. I heard it’s going on a long hiatus.”
“What?”
Manager Hwang’s face, which had been grinning, stiffened.
The work already had frequent hiatuses, and now it’s going on a long hiatus?
It was a bolt from the blue for someone who was waiting for the latest chapters to accumulate.
“…Why?”
“There’s no official word, but… There were a lot of rumors that the artist’s wrist wasn’t good before. They even had surgery, but it seems to have gotten worse again recently.”
“Ah… You can’t help it if your body is sick.”
Manager Hwang shook his head with a disappointed expression.
He hadn’t actually done any creative work, but he had heard that artists were often in very poor health.
He had even seen articles about their average lifespan being lower than other professions.
“Well, the artist must be having the hardest time.”
“That’s true… I didn’t know they were sick. I hope they get some good rest and get back in shape.”
Manager Hwang said, fiddling with the seasoned scallions.
He didn’t read many webtoons, so he was disappointed, but wouldn’t it be right to rest when you’re sick?
“It looks like it’s ready to eat now.”
Meanwhile, Kang Taehan, who had been grilling the meat, casually spoke up.
Manager Hwang’s mouth dropped open as he turned his head towards the grill.
“…Taehan, did you used to work part-time at a barbecue restaurant?”
Perfectly cooked pork belly sizzling on the grill.
The meat was thick, yet cut into bite-sized pieces, neatly lined up in three rows on the grill.
Moreover, there was kimchi and garlic grilled on one corner of the grill, perfect for accompanying the meat.
‘Good.’
It’s just good to look at.
If ‘something that can impress a person’ is defined as art, this should also be called art.
At least, that’s what Manager Hwang thought.
“Please, go ahead and eat.”
Tongs entered the frame of that art, picking up a piece of pork belly and placing it on Manager Hwang’s plate.
Manager Hwang carefully picked up his chopsticks.
“…Shall we try it then?”
Normally, he would dip it in ssamjang, but he felt like he should taste this first piece as it is.
Manager Hwang brought the pork belly held by his chopsticks to his mouth.
‘Oh.’
The chewy texture of the plump fat and the well-cooked lean meat.
The textures of the two different parts harmonized in his mouth, and the greasy meat juices that seeped out with each chew created a deep savory flavor.
“…This is delicious.”
As its name suggests, pork belly is meat with layers of fat and lean meat.
And the charm of pork belly also comes from the appropriate mixture of fat and lean meat.
In that sense… the bite he just had was like a bite that maximized the charm of pork belly.
At Manager Hwang’s simple yet honest review, Choi Seonghyeon smiled, as if he had expected it.
“See? I told you Taehan is good at grilling meat.”
“…You’re right.”
Manager Hwang nodded with his mouth slightly open.
Meanwhile, his hand was already moving to pick up the next bite.
“The meat is just good, that’s all.”
Kang Taehan himself said casually.
It wasn’t an empty compliment.
He was simply effectively bringing out the flavor contained in the meat.
It’s just… most people express that as being good at grilling meat.
“…Taehan, if you ever have plans to eat meat, let me know.”
After eating his second piece of meat and already expertly wrapping one in lettuce, Manager Hwang casually spoke up.
“I’ll buy you all the meat you want… just let me join you.”
If there’s someone who grills meat like this, he wouldn’t mind buying the meat at all.
Manager Hwang said so in a voice half-filled with sincerity.
⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢
“Huuuh…”
Kang Taehan let out a long breath as he set down the barbell he was holding.
He lay down on the bench for a moment, enjoying the warmth emanating from his lightly warmed muscles.
‘I need to keep training my body.’
Excluding martial arts and focusing solely on methods of training the body’s muscles, modern methods were much more efficient than those in the Murim era.
There were all sorts of exercise equipment available, and deep research had been conducted academically.
Thanks to this, Kang Taehan had trained his body faster than he had expected…
But he never stopped exercising.
Because muscles are not something you build and then leave alone, but something you have to consistently manage.
‘My internal energy has also grown much faster than I expected.’
He had accumulated a considerable amount of internal energy from using the Star-Absorbing Great Method while giving massages, but more importantly, the growth rate of his internal energy had increased dramatically after securing a source for elixirs.
And internal and external energy must be trained together in balance.
The fact that his internal energy had grown meant that he had to train his external body to match it.
Therefore, unless he had other work, Kang Taehan consistently visited a nearby fitness club after work to train his body.
Even a day like today, when he had a dinner appointment, was no exception.
“It’s definitely better to have a full stomach when you exercise…”
Normally, he only had a light snack before exercising because he had to consume elixirs at home afterwards, but today was an exception because of his dinner appointment.
The feeling of fullness from having a hearty meal, unlike usual.
Perhaps because of that, his workout felt more efficient.
“Excuse me, sir.”
Just then, someone spoke to him from the side.
A man shorter than Kang Taehan, but with a larger build.
He approached with a dumbbell in each hand.
“What’s the matter?”
It could have been an awkward situation, but Kang Taehan sat up on the bench and responded naturally, as if it were a common occurrence.
“I received some help from you last time… I’m sorry, but could you check my form one more time?”
“Sure, no problem. It’s just checking.”
When Kang Taehan shrugged and replied, the man bowed his head and assumed his position.
Then he moved the dumbbells up and down three or four times.
“You’re doing well. It’s much more stable than last time.”
“Really? I sometimes feel anxious when I do it alone, wondering if I’m doing it right.”
The man scratched his head with an embarrassed expression at Kang Taehan’s words.
He bowed his head in gratitude and returned to his spot, focusing on his workout.
It must have been about two weeks ago.
The rumor that Kang Taehan had increased his three major lifts from a little over a hundred to five hundred in a month spread, and as more members witnessed him exercising, people started asking him for advice.
‘It feels like it’s gotten more frequent lately.’
At first, one person, two people… But as the rumor spread that his advice was amazingly accurate, it became three, five people.
Now, Kang Taehan just accepts it whenever someone approaches him.
It wasn’t really difficult.
They weren’t asking him to check their martial arts techniques or seeking enlightenment, they were just asking him to check their form or what kind of exercise would be good for them.
“Excuse me, sir. Can I also…”
“Please take a look at mine too. I’ve been hitting a plateau lately, and I don’t know what the problem is.”
As one person received advice, others around them started to gather one by one.
They had all been pretending to work out while watching for an opportunity.
“I’ll finish my workout first.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
But even then, they would scatter as soon as Kang Taehan resumed his workout or gave them a look.
Muscle recognizes muscle.
The fact that they were asking Kang Taehan for advice meant they already acknowledged him, so these muscular young men respectfully followed his words.
⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢
As is natural, mornings in Seoul are busy.
Traffic is congested, the streets are crowded, and the subway is packed with people, leaving no room to even hold on.
In crowded areas, even the wide crosswalks on major roads are so packed with people that it’s hard to see the traffic signals.
“Oh dear…”
People start walking as soon as the green light turns on.
It’s a busy time, so they have no choice but to hurry their steps.
But there are bound to be people who fall behind in the process.
Perhaps she had strained her back while walking, an elderly woman was crossing the crosswalk with faltering steps, clutching her back.
The green light had already been blinking for a while.
But the grandmother hadn’t even crossed the center line yet.
An anxious look appeared on the old woman’s face, and her steps became more urgent, but it didn’t make much difference.
“Grandmother. Can I offer you a shoulder to lean on?”
Just then, someone approached and stood next to the grandmother, matching her shoulder height, and spoke.
“Huh, yes?”
“Excuse me for a moment.”
It was none other than Kang Taehan, who was on his way to work.
He supported the grandmother’s tilted shoulder to straighten her up, wrapped his arm around her waist, and started walking forward.
It was just that, but the posture was strangely comfortable.
At first, she seemed confused and bewildered, but the grandmother’s steps gradually became faster, and before the green light turned red, she had already reached the other side.
“Th… Thank you, young man. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.”
Kang Taehan smiled as he released his hold on her shoulder.
He hadn’t noticed while bending down to match her height, but now that he straightened his back, he looked almost twice as tall and handsome.
“Your back seems to be a bit bad.”
“That’s what happens when you get old… But, maybe it’s because you helped me, young man, but I feel perfectly fine now!”
The grandmother patted Kang Taehan’s arm and said.
“Hehe. I don’t think it’s just a feeling.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. My hands are known to be healing hands.”
Kang Taehan said, lightly shaking his hands.
It sounded like nonsense, but perhaps his sincerity was conveyed, as a smile bloomed on the grandmother’s face.
“Let me see, I’m so grateful, I want to buy you something…”
“It’s okay. I have to get to work.”
“Oh, is that so? Well then, have a good day!” Kang Taehan left after saying that.
In his experience, it was cleaner to leave the scene quickly in situations like this.
‘I need time to soak in the bath too.’
And as always, Kang Taehan couldn’t give up his bath before starting work.
