The cauldron Gu Jahan scrubbed until the backs of his hands turned red ended up producing incredible rice.

Part of that was thanks to Woo Yoonjae unleashing godlike fire-starting skills using the scraps of wood I had gathered while wandering around the low hills nearby.

I also finally understood why Odae rice was so famous. After trying it myself, the difference was obvious.

While Woo Yoonjae and I stacked up the brazier and seasoned the cauldron lid with oil, Gu Jahan got shoved around from task to task. He might have been capable of pouring olive oil into a frying pan and making gambas, but he lacked the ability to improvise meals from limited supplies.

After watching Woo Yoonjae wearing work gloves and wrestling with thick smoke without complaint, Gu Jahan quietly headed for the outdoor faucet every time dirty dishes started piling up.

"What got all over your clothes, Iwol?"

"This? Dried radish greens. There was a lot to trim."

"I see..."

Every now and then, he looked at me with an oddly complicated expression too.

Still, there was already a mountain of work to do, so instead of trying to analyze Gu Jahan’s feelings one by one, I focused on my own tasks first.

By the time we pulled out kimchi that had been sleeping beside the jangdokdae to make stew and finished frying dried radish green pancakes on the cauldron lid, a proper meal had come together.

The table was too small for three grown men to sit around comfortably, but everyone became peaceful once they sat down to eat.

"The rice turned out great, right?"

"This is insane."

After taking one bite and blurting out his admiration, Gu Jahan devoured two entire bowls.

Perhaps Woo Yoonjae felt sorry for his colleague who had ended up covered in ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ chili powder while bringing out the kimchi, because he carefully tore apart nicely fermented kimchi with a fresh pair of chopsticks and piled it in front of Gu Jahan.

The remaining dishes also became Gu Jahan’s responsibility.

Not because we forced him to do it. He volunteered first.

I sealed the leftover ingredients and wiped down the table instead.

We let Woo Yoonjae, who had worked the hardest, rest.

However, apparently sitting still did not suit his personality, because before long he had wandered into the yard and was hammering something together with a small hammer.

"Is there anything I can help with, sunbae?"

"No... I am almost done."

Two long sticks were attached beneath a thin wooden board.

Once he reinforced the sticks with thick wire from somewhere, I finally realized what he was making.

"A sled?"

"The rice field froze over... My grandfather used to make these for me when I was little."

Still seated, Woo Yoonjae quickly put together sled sticks as well.

In no time at all, a full sized adult sled set was complete.

"Let us go try it."

Woo Yoonjae stood up carrying the sled.

"Where are you going?"

Gu Jahan emerged from the kitchen, wiping his reddened hands with a dishcloth as he spoke.

After hearing Woo Yoonjae’s explanation, Gu Jahan threw on a padded vest and slipped his feet into fur-lined rubber shoes. Earlier, when I asked whether he wanted to wear padding, he had ignored me completely. Yet after only three hours in the countryside, he had already fully adapted to local life.

The frozen rice field was covered with threshed straw and rough stalk stumps left behind after harvesting.

Still, there were areas here and there where it looked possible to ride the sled.

Woo Yoonjae set the sled down on the ice and turned to me.

"Get on."

"...Excuse me?"

Me?

I am twenty-three... no, wait, thirty-something...? Hold on, should I be saying twenty-three? Anyway, I am definitely not at an age where I should be screaming with excitement over sledding on ice.

"What are you doing? Get on."

Even Gu Jahan joined in.

So now I was supposed to ride a handmade sled in front of these people going, Haha, this is so fun!

...Actually, yes.

There were cameras here.

I climbed onto the sled Woo Yoonjae had painstakingly built.

However, I could not move forward.

That would require having ridden a sled before!

"Use the stick to push against the ice... and do not lean your weight too far back."

The image somehow became even stranger once Woo Yoonjae started physically pushing me from behind because I clearly lacked experience with winter recreational activities.

The sound of sharp metal striking ice echoed across the wide frozen field.

"Iwol 씨, can I take pictures?"

"I would appreciate it if you made me look as good as possible."

"How am I supposed to make something this ridiculous look good?"

"An idol has to look good anytime, anywhere...!"

Despite my desperate plea, Gu Jahan lazily snapped photos with zero sincerity.

I did not even need to check the gallery to know his promises to “try his best” were complete lies.

"Iwol 씨, why do you not try on the fur hat too? There was one inside."

"...Should I go get it?"

"You know the room with the mother-of-pearl vanity? It is on top of that."

At some point, the two of them had even started quietly discussing how to put a fur lined winter hat on me.

I felt like I was being exploited to capture a touching conversation scene between two actors.

And so, before I knew it, I had become an overgrown child wearing a fluffy fur hat, all dignity thoroughly dissolved into kimchi stew, happily riding a sled made by my seniors.

I had never experienced such overwhelming fury in my life.

"You two should try it too. It is a rare opportunity."

"How old do you think I am?"

And I suppose I am five years old?

I glared at him while smiling, and Gu Jahan awkwardly accepted the sled stick.

The same man who had confidently walked red carpets like his own living room only weeks ago at year-end ceremonies completely fell apart atop an ice sled.

Even the production staff burst out laughing.

After watching winter sports specialist Woo Yoonjae pull off an impressive drift, we warmed ourselves beside the furnace fire.

Like marshmallows melting into hot chocolate, my entire body softened before I could even resist.

"Is the floor warm?"

Woo Yoonjae, who had been tending the fire, asked while looking at me after I had essentially collapsed inside the room.

"It is boiling hot."

I gave him a thumbs up while reporting my condition, and Woo Yoonjae removed his gloves with a satisfied expression.

Soon after, heavy footsteps approached, and Gu Jahan appeared carrying a huge tray.

"Is this all the sweet potatoes?"

Roasting sweet potatoes in the furnace required preparation.

Woo Yoonjae cut off the ends of the sweet potatoes with a knife, then Gu Jahan and I carefully wrapped each one in foil after receiving them from him.

"Who is going to eat all of this?"

"Will not the staff eat some too? Just holding one of these when it is cold makes you feel warmer."

At my words, Gu Jahan stopped complaining and continued wrapping the sweet potatoes.

In fact, once he heard they were pumpkin sweet potatoes, he even sped up.

After stuffing the sweet potatoes between the firewood, we sat gathered around the flames and chatted.

For people who supposedly made a living by showing their faces on screen, soot was smeared all over our faces.

Feeling sorry for how pitiful we looked, I heated towels in the microwave and handed them out one by one.

"Yoonjae 씨 and Iwol 씨 both seem pretty used to this. Do you not both live in Seoul?"

"My hometown is in the countryside."

Woo Yoonjae answered while poking at the firewood.

"I once filmed a variety show somewhere similar with my members."

That was a lie.

I came from weekend farm experience.

My specialties were planting tomato seedlings and building support poles for pepper plants.

"The cabbage juice Yoonjae sunbae gave you was also made from cabbages harvested directly from his home."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Did you try it?"

"It tasted good. I have been drinking it well."

"If the three of us are villains, who is the worst one?"

"Chief Go did nothing wrong. I ordered him to do it."

"No, it is the fault of fully grown adults. Young Master Yunseong was mostly shaped by his environment when he was young..."

"I feel like I somehow became the worst person here just now."

We talked about Woo Yoonjae’s gift and also about recent roles from the dramas we had appeared in.

Since this was supposedly a villain special, conversations about bad guys had to come up at least once.

Once the sweet potatoes finished roasting, we delivered them to the staff first.

Since we could only roast a limited amount at once, we spent the wait for the second batch sharing trivial stories like first impressions and old anecdotes.

"Yoonjae 씨, have you ever seen this guy angry? It is no joke."

"Haha, how could I ever get angry at sunbae?"

"Then there is a high probability Jahan 씨 was the one at fault..."

"At this point, I really am the biggest trash on this program."

"Please eat your sweet potato before your image gets any worse, sunbae."

I hurriedly pulled out a sweet potato and offered it to Gu Jahan.

Watching the flickering flames slowly relaxed my muscles.

And the sweet potatoes were delicious too.

I was just about to look for a skewer with the intention of eating one more only when Woo Yoonjae stabbed a large sweet potato and handed it to me.

Roasted sweet potatoes are high in calories...

"You probably worked hard taking care of your hyungs all day, so eat a lot."

...but how was I supposed to refuse after that?

I decided I would just run three laps around the neighborhood tomorrow morning and diligently peeled the sweet potato instead.

Sweet potatoes even made it into dinner.

At this point, Gu Jahan had fully adapted on his own, changing into a floral cardigan and fuzzy sleeping socks without anyone telling him to. He selected sturdy sweet potatoes and peeled them while I chopped them into large chunks and tossed them into the cauldron.

Woo Yoonjae prepared fresh geotjeori beside us.

I got caught staring because it looked delicious.

In exchange for feeding Gu Jahan and me pieces of sweet potato topped with geotjeori, Woo Yoonjae had us cook zucchini doenjang stew.

"We really eat well."

"You have to eat while working. Iwol 씨, you do not take care of your meals very well, do you...?"

"I do eat properly! I just control the types of food I eat."

"I thought you were skinny too, Iwol 씨, but idols are all seriously thin."

"I heard our company is not particularly strict about dietary restrictions. I am not really in a position to complain."

Our conversation quickly spiraled into topics like “essential supplements for men in their twenties and thirties” and “effective bodyweight exercises for health management.”

"Once you hit thirty, your condition drops off a cliff. Take care of yourself."

Gu Jahan warned me seriously.

Well, I had never actually experienced being over thirty, so I had no response for that.

I ended up taking care of the final dishes.

Not because of some maknae destiny or anything, but because Woo Yoonjae had gotten covered in the most ash, so he showered first.

Meanwhile, Gu Jahan, whom I thought had gone out to smoke, boiled water in the cauldron and mixed it into the cold dishwashing water for me instead.

After washing up, we lay side by side under thick cotton blankets.

Then Gu Jahan suddenly sprang upright insisting cold air was leaking in somewhere, which led to nearly thirty minutes of chaos while we stuffed towels into cracks around the doors.

"Iwol 씨, sleep against the wall. A singer cannot afford to hurt his throat."

"The floor is warm, so I am fine. I can sleep closer to the door—"

"Should I heat up a towel for you? It would stay warm if you kept it under the blanket."

My seniors’ consideration overflowed endlessly.

At the same time, none of them suggested sleeping with a sweet potato pressed against my face so I would stay warm.

A truly remarkable reminder of just how extraordinary our Choi Jeho really was.