I Regressed and Became Too Good at Brewing - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 11. Two New Encounters (4)
Ha Jeong spoke with such confidence that her first words hadn’t been a lie.
It stung a little.
Honestly, from our perspective either, we hadn’t thought Meari’s design was perfect.
Still, it was the result of two non-professionals working hard.
Se Jun, who had also thrown himself into the work with genuine effort, seemed shaken enough to clear his throat before speaking.
“Ahem… ah… the… the label design, what exactly was—”
“Well, it feels dated! Very old-man sensibility!”
“Cough… cough—”
“I understand you wanted to paint a majestic mountain, but honestly, the design is so crude that I wouldn’t even want to touch the bottle!”
“Ugh… ack—”
Se Jun took a direct hit from her unfiltered critique and sank back in his seat, but Ha Jeong had accumulated so much to say that she began pouring it out.
“The Ink Wash Painting Technique using Korean elements was good, and the mountain as Meari’s core identity was good too, but the message wasn’t conveyed at all, and it just felt like you’d cropped some generic image—the whole thing came across as sloppy!”
So in short: the idea was solid, but the execution was technically lacking and fell short.
This was a different kind of interview altogether.
How many candidates walk into an interview room and assert their position with such confidence?
While I was thinking that, Se Jun, refusing to yield, spoke up.
“B-but it tastes good, doesn’t it? The essence of liquor is flavor, right?”
“Yes! Meari is definitely delicious! Which is exactly why the design is such a waste!”
Ha Jeong’s reply came swift.
If the liquor were ordinary, packaging wouldn’t matter.
You’d never look at it twice anyway, so why would packaging matter at all?
But if it’s a liquor you’re satisfied with, that you love?
Then you’d find yourself focusing on everything—not just the taste and aroma, but all of it?
“Great-tasting spirits build a fanbase, and fans collect bottles and packages! But Meari—the taste is extraordinary, yet nothing about the packaging makes you want to collect it!”
I nodded at that.
Separate from taste, label redesigns in the spirits industry always sparked heated debate.
Take Glenallachie, for example.
With a name meaning “rocky gorge” in Scottish Gaelic, its whisky had appealed to collectors through a design featuring lettering carved into stone.
Come 2024, they simplified the design considerably.
They claimed inspiration from the distillery’s distinctive roof shape, but fans erupted in passionate debate online.
The exceptional taste hadn’t diminished, yet the old design became known as the “vintage” version, with collectors now favoring it over the new—to such a degree.
“That’s why I applied for this position—I want to redesign Meari’s label and create a central design that embodies Songhadan’s aesthetic!”
“That’s… certainly—”
Se Jun nodded in understanding at Ha Jeong’s logical argument.
Though in truth, her comment about Meari’s superior taste seemed to have swayed him more than the logic itself.
But you can’t hire someone on that basis alone.
Ambition and plans mean nothing without the skill to back them up.
“So if you were hired and designing Meari’s bottle, how would the design change?”
“I came prepared! I’m bringing my portfolio with me!”
Ha Jeong pulled something from her bag with careful deliberation.
Well, not careful deliberation—
A book the size of a dictionary emerged with overwhelming presence.
She flipped through the pages smoothly, stopped at one particular spot, and slid the book forward.
“This is the Meari bottle design I personally conceived!”
“Oh…”
There stood a mountain rendered in ink wash.
But that wasn’t all.
Delicate brushwork revealed a refreshing alpine vista, while bold, intense texture conveyed a clean precision all at once.
Looking at the painting alone, the taste and aroma of the spirit materialized in your mind.
“This… this would definitely make anyone want to collect it?”
“You included notes and palette—was that intentional?”
“Oh! Thank you for understanding! I incorporated the notes I felt after tasting it directly!”
The design embodied the flavors and aromas we had intended.
Fresh grass and wood, flowing water alongside, delicate dew and the quiet shimmer of mist—all of it captured.
I examined the other drawings in the portfolio; there wasn’t a flaw among them.
Which left only one thing to do.
“Se Jun, bring me a bottle of the recently bottled Meari and a bottle of ‘that.'”
“Understood.”
He grasped my meaning, rose from his seat, and headed toward the Aging House.
In the meantime, he turned to Ha Jeong and asked.
“Is there a particular reason you chose our distillery specifically? I understand the label design fell short of your standards. But there must be other places with delicious spirits that need better design. Besides, frankly, we’re not exactly a large operation.”
“That is… well….”
“Please, speak freely.”
Unlike before, Ha Jeong’s words grew hesitant.
At my invitation to speak openly, she faltered for a moment before continuing.
“The truth is… I’ve grown tired of designing products I don’t want to work on….”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m exhausted by dressing up inferior products to look good….”
Ah, I understood.
Packaging design, when you stripped it down, was ultimately about making a product’s exterior look appealing and pleasant.
But the essence lay in the product itself.
No matter how fine the packaging you wrapped around a fundamentally worthless product, it amounted to fraud.
“But Meari was different. That intense flavor the moment it touched your tongue! It was the first time inspiration bloomed in my mind like that! A spirit with such taste and aroma! How could I not apply? That’s why I submitted my proposal!”
“I see.”
“Yeon U? I’ve got them.”
As I nodded at Ha Jeong’s answer, Se Jun returned and set two glasses down on the table.
Blind Test Glasses—specially tinted to conceal color for a proper blind tasting.
He offered both to Ha Jeong.
“Would you mind trying both and telling me what you feel?”
Once he provided water to cleanse her palate, she bowed her head again and picked up one glass.
This was absolutely necessary.
A designer had to know and genuinely enjoy the taste and aroma of the spirit they were designing for.
It was a personal principle of mine, truth be told.
Everyone working at Songhadan should be able to enjoy the spirits we made.
Only then could they truly love their work.
“Hmm… this is….”
“How is it?”
“Well… should I be honest?”
“Yes, of course.”
Ha Jeong’s face contorted, her lips pressing tight together.
Even from this alone, she’d already half passed the test.
I could see what she could sense in the glass—an ability Song Ha had granted me.
From the glass she held, I could perceive the fragrances reeling and collapsing as if retching.
Yes, that was a batch we’d decided to discard just recently.
“It’s the taste and aroma of a salad ordered one summer that sat for two weeks after being abandoned—completely spoiled….”
“How… how did you know that smell….”
“I tasted it last week….”
Her reason for understanding was peculiar, but it was correct.
That was exactly what I’d perceived.
Though it was for testing purposes, I apologized for having her drink something barely worthy of being called a spirit, and offered her water.
Ha Jeong immediately drank it down, rinsing her mouth clean.
And the moment she picked up the next glass and brought it to her nose—
“Oh….”
“How is this one?”
“This is….”
Without a proper response, Ha Jeong took a sip, eyes closing as she savored it.
She seemed to feel the lingering finish after swallowing, then spoke.
“It’s like… like an autumn mountain.”
“Yes. That’s what we sensed too.”
“The nuttiness from the grain… and that sweet floral fragrance…. How is this even….”
Watching Ha Jeong list her impressions, a smile rose to my face.
This was someone who loved spirits.
Someone who loved Songhadan’s spirits.
How could we not choose someone like this?
I glanced over to find Se Jun nodding as well.
Our minds were aligned. There was no reason to hesitate further.
“This is the newly refined Meari.”
“Newly… Meari… wait, then this hasn’t even been released yet….”
“We’d like you to take on the design for this new Meari. Would that be something you’d be willing to do?”
Ha Jeong stood motionless at my words.
A brilliant smile bloomed across her vacant face in an instant.
“Yes! If you’ll have me, I can start working today!”
“Ah… well, we should discuss that with the others first…….”
“Autumn! And flowers! A rustic fragrance!”
“No, wait—Ha Jeong, just take a moment…….”
And so an enthusiastic, talented, yet decidedly eccentric designer joined Songhadan.
* * *
The employment contract with Ha Jeong went through without a hitch.
This was possible only because her passion had erupted with such force that it swept away all obstacles.
Songhadan stood in the heart of a mountain valley in Yeongwol, Kangwon Province.
The location was necessary because of the water quality, but for the staff, it remained inconveniently remote.
Which was why Se Jun and I lived in the containers we’d set up there, eating and sleeping among the work.
“It was divine providence that I left two containers here, just in case.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Otherwise we never would’ve managed to keep Ha Jeong.”
“Fair point.”
When asked how she’d manage the commute, Ha Jeong said she’d move into a dormitory here and live on-site.
She added that once work began in earnest, she wouldn’t be going home anyway—that was just how these things went.
And so she came to live with us at Songhadan.
“But with only men around, doesn’t she feel a little uncomfortable being alone?”
“To be honest? I’d say we’re the uncomfortable ones.”
“Why? Ha Jeong’s got a good personality, doesn’t she?”
Ha Jeong was unconventional in her own eccentric way, but she had a kind heart.
She was always considerate of others, and her work ethic burned with genuine passion.
I didn’t think there’d be any problems.
But Se Jun sighed and offered a reason I hadn’t even considered.
“Ugh. She says she wants to draw inspiration from the craft, so she trails after me documenting the entire production process?”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“And she’s been asking me to let her taste all the spirits in aging storage. I’m honestly worried she’s going to develop cirrhosis.”
“Huh…….”
He had a point—even while I worked, Ha Jeong would shadow me relentlessly, excavating every detail of the distillery’s operations.
Once, when she visited the Aging House, Mok Tong even asked me about her.
<Where’d that new girl get off to? That one sure could drink! A fine woman, that!>
According to Song Ha, Mok Tong was a spirit-loving goblin—second only in his love of drink among his kind.
And it was Ha Jeong whom even this heavy drinker acknowledged as someone who could truly handle her alcohol.
“Ha-ha… isn’t it good that she works so hard? She’s never once drunk herself senseless.”
“Be that as it may… I worry her liver’s going to suffer. I can’t afford to lose this designer, you know.”
Se Jun unfurled several concept sketches for the new Meari that Ha Jeong had created as he spoke.
That’s right.
In just the short time she’d been here, Ha Jeong had already produced multiple designs.
“But they’re all so good—I can’t bear to discard any of them…….”
“You’d feel the same way no matter who saw them.”
Perfect designs, each one good enough that to reject even one felt like waste.
What a strangely peaceful problem to have.
It was in the midst of this happy dilemma in the office that it happened.
<Listen, we have a problem.>
“Yes?”
“Hm? Were you calling me?”
“Ah. No. I need to take a call for a moment.”
Song Ha had appeared suddenly from behind, speaking to me.
Though startled, I knew Song Ha never addressed me without reason, so I stepped outside.
Sure enough, Song Ha’s expression was unlike her usual self.
Where she always greeted me with a comfortable smile, her face now stood rigid and taut.
It was something I’d never seen before.
Something almost… displeased…….
“Is something wrong?”
<Hm… a scoundrel has come calling.>
“A scoundrel?”
<Yes. They’ve already arrived.>
“She’s arrived…….”
I couldn’t ask what she meant.
Before I could finish speaking, a shout erupted from the entrance of Songhadan.
“What’s this talk of a brewery in a pristine zone like Yeongwol!”
“We oppose this business that ignores residents’ voices!”
Dark clouds descended upon the quiet peace.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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