New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 974  First Order

The bottles of brown glass were adorned by bright, fountain blue tags with the clear 'Jeju Beer Company' lettering on them, and 'Jeju Wit Ale' at the bottom were eye-catching, to say the least.

"These beers are from a local craft brewery on the island, and their citrusy flavour pairs well with an early lunchtime, so I took the liberty to get them for you. Although their price tag is a little higher, you esteemed guests don't seem like it would bother," he said, whilst pouring, with a grin on his lips.

After pouring each bottle into the six tall glasses, he served them around the table to Alex, Kary, Killian, David, Aapo, and Liu Yan before pushing the cart to the door.

"The kitchen is almost ready to take your order. If you need anything in the meantime, I will be right outside your door. Simply call out to me and I will respond in a timely manner," Jun-Seo said, taking another little bow and exiting the room.

David grabbed his glass, tilting it back and taking as long a sip as his lungs allowed him to, before slamming the glass back down, almost completely empty, with a satisfied sigh.

"Hooo. That is truly some excellent beer. A bit light to my tastes, but still not too bad," he commented, smiling wide.

His earlier pressing for expedience was gone, as he planned to fully enjoy his meal if he was going to be stuck here for the time being. But worry still lingered in the back of his mind.

Especially since he swore he could recognize this young man's face from somewhere.

But since he couldn't remember where from, he refused to speak up and alarm the others. For now, at least.

Everyone started talking in small groups, and Kary and Alex did their best to integrate everyone. Half an hour went by rapidly, the dozen of them beginning to open up a bit more to each other, for those who weren't familiar with each other.

A light knock at the door interrupted their conversations as the server came back in once more.

"I have been notified the kitchen is ready for a large order. So I have brought menus for you," he declared, passing around a dozen small scroll-like rollers.

15:55

As they unrolled the menus, a couple of impressed oohs and ahhs echoing around the table, the group started looking at the traditionally written menu, with its English translation just under, and a few of them began to salivate.

"I have been notified the kitchen is ready for a large order. So I have brought menus for you," he declared, passing around a dozen small scroll-like rollers.

As they unrolled the menus, a couple of impressed oohs and ahhs echoing around the table, the group started looking at the traditionally written menu, with its English translation just under, and a few of them began to salivate.

"I'm sure we want a bit of everything," Kary started saying, catching the young man's attention.

"How many grills and hot pots can you safely bring to this table?" she then asked him.

The young man smiled warmly at her, before replying, "Our restaurant has combo grills and hotpot stations, which we pride ourselves on.

"On a table this size, we can safely put five, usually enough to cater to up to twenty guests. Would you like us to bring five?" he asked.

She wanted to say no to five since the restaurant all charged a grill fee, which wasn't big, but could quickly wrack up. But she also knew the group had some heavy eaters present.

Two of which were next and across from her.

"Sure. Five grills should be plenty. Could you also give us three platters of every meat and vegetable on the menu to start?" she asked, making the young man raise an eyebrow.

"Are you sure, ma'am? That would mean bringing around ninety platters of meats and vegetables. That is quite a lot for a small group such as yours," he replied.

He wouldn't usually argue about it, since they charged for unconsumed food. But it felt like a colossal waste of product.

"Trust me, young man. That will just be a start," Kary responded, smiling back at him.

"Alright, then. What will the hot pot broths be? We have a selection of six broths, and the bowls can be separated into two each. Have you made a selection?"

Kary looked at the menu, and the broth names were there. But she didn't know what went in them, regardless of their names, so she went with the spice indicator.

"We'll have one of each of your spiciest, and then two of each of the others. You can separate them how you like, but please put the spiciest ones along with some more moderate ones, so whoever is in front of them has variety."

Jun-Seo noted down her instructions and looked back at her.

"Will that be all?"

Kary looked around the table, seeing that everyone seemed satisfied with her order, and nodded at him.

"I believe that will do for now. Thank you, Mr. Choi."

"Please. Call me Jun-Seo. Mr. Choi is my father," he replied, giving her a warm smile.

Kary returned his smile in kind, making Alex click his tongue.

"Alright, Jun-Seo. How long until we can expect the first of our food?" Alex asked, rather rudely.

Kary elbowed him lightly, but he ignored her.

The young man looked at him with his ever-present smile, and replied, "Maybe twenty minutes since we have to warm up to broths before bringing them. But no longer than twenty-five."

Alex nodded, waving at him dismissively.

"Thank you. You may go, now. We'll call on you if we need anything."

Kary low-growled at his rudeness, but waited for the server to be out of the room before admonishing him.

"Did you have to be rude to him? He's been nothing but nice."

Alex huffed lightly.

"Yeah. Too nice if you ask me. He's been giving every girl in here flirtatious looks. I get that it's part of his job and service, but it still pisses me off…"

Kary shook her head disappointingly, while Jin-Sil chuckled to herself.

"Men, am I right?" Kary said, looking at Jin-Sil, the oldest girl aside from her.

Jin-Sil shot a glance at Rì-Chū, who was also glaring at the door, and laughed heartily.