I Regressed and Became Too Good at Brewing - Chapter 20

Song Ha offered these words of encouragement to me.
His support had been instrumental in bringing about these changes.
For his sake, I couldn’t afford to disappoint him.
“Of course.”
* * *
“Ugh… so cold…….”
On a winter night when the bitter cold cut through the darkness like a knife.
Yoon Sung, a journalist, stood shivering on the street with his coat pulled tight around him.
The biting cold had worked its way deep into his very bones.
“Ugh… what am I doing out here…….”
He muttered complaints under his breath, but his feet never stopped moving forward.
His heart was in a hurry.
“They’re only releasing three hundred bottles? That’s insane.”
He knew Song Ha Dang wasn’t a massive operation, but still—this seemed excessive.
Yoon Sung genuinely thought so.
When he’d first heard about the Meari: Autumn through YouTube and the Song Ha Dang homepage, he’d been thrilled.
It had become famous among connoisseurs despite minimal advertising—a spirit recognized without any real promotion.
So the fact that Song Ha Dang was releasing a new spirit could only be good news.
“Hm… Meari turned out pretty good before.”
The earlier release of Meari had been a success.
It had to be.
With a flavor profile like that, failure would have required some other serious problem to be the cause.
If even someone like him, who didn’t know much about spirits, had found it pleasant—wasn’t that a good sign?
“I’m no expert, but at least it didn’t taste harsh like soju.”
Yoon Sung didn’t particularly enjoy alcohol.
Or more accurately, he was closer to hating it.
Soju, beer, wine, whiskey—you name it.
Regardless of the spirit, he had a knack for spotting that artificial aftertaste in all of them.
But Meari was different.
A smooth, clean finish.
And a refreshing aroma that didn’t burden the palate at all.
“And now Sunkyung Department Store is hosting a popup store…. This is definitely going to get views.”
That’s why he’d rushed here the moment he’d heard the news.
And tonight—the night before opening.
When he’d mentioned going to cover it, his senior had said something like this.
‘You’re going? Listen, get there the night before and wait.’
‘Why?’
‘You idiot. This is definitely going to be an opening run. You have to get there that night to have any chance of buying any.’
‘I can just take some photos and leave…….’
‘Then you’ll miss it! Go and buy some, no matter what!’
“Dammit… old fossil…… it’s so cold….. how much longer will I have to wait…….”
Even if this spirit was gaining fame for being exceptional, was it really necessary to show up this early?
As he was thinking this, he approached the closed Sunkyung Department Store.
“Huh?”
The moment he saw the front of the building, his eyes flew wide open, the cold forgotten.
Because several people were already waiting in the darkness beneath the streetlamp, shivering in the cold.
And to his shock, one of them had even set up a tent while waiting.
“Are these people insane?”
He’d come to cover the story, but he’d never imagined the excitement would run this hot.
People wouldn’t line up like this even if a celebrity were coming.
In the end, contrary to his expectations, he quietly slipped into a spot behind the people already gathered.
But the unexpected developments didn’t stop there.
“Phew… phew… isn’t it freezing?”
“That’s what I mean—why did you insist on coming…….”
“But! Meari: Autumn! And they say it’s an aged gin at that!”
A voice drifting from inside the tent.
It was a voice he recognized.
Yet it wasn’t someone he knew personally.
Then whose voice could it possibly be?
As he wrestled with the question, a man’s voice reached him.
“You… you’re a celebrity… aren’t you managing your image, Su Bin?”
“Ugh… Jung Su Bin, of all people…….”
Jung Su Bin.
An actress who’d gained considerable fame through a recently aired drama.
With impressive acting skills to match, and hailing from a former idol group, she commanded a substantial fanbase.
“What in the world is she doing here? I mean, I knew she loved drinks, but…….”
“Ah… I don’t know……. Do we have any hand warmers? Everyone else must be cold too.”
“Sigh. Yes, we do. I’ll go hand them out.”
Beneath her innocent, endearing appearance lay a personality starkly different from the characters she’d portrayed on screen—she was notorious in entertainment circles as a devoted drinker.
So passionate about alcohol that even her personal YouTube channel revolved primarily around it.
The channel name was “Jung-Su-Bin” or something like that.
Still, even accounting for that, it was difficult to imagine her waiting here outside a popup store opening with her manager in tow.
“What on earth is going on…….”
He was so stunned that he’d frozen in place, forgetting even the cold, when someone suddenly pulled him back to attention.
“Excuse me?”
“Oh. Yes, yes.”
“You’re here for Meari, right?”
“Uh… yes… that’s right?”
“Here, take this.”
The manager who’d been chatting with Jung Su Bin approached and held something out to him.
An unused hand warmer.
The man accepted it without thinking, and the manager spoke up.
“Everyone’s so cold, you must all be suffering. Please, take this at least.”
“Th… thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
With that, the manager passed by him and turned back toward the tent.
When he glanced behind, he couldn’t help but gasp.
“No… already?”
How long had he been here, and already the line behind him had grown into a snake of bodies?
Some of them had come prepared, already clutching hand warmers.
Others had even brought thermoses filled with hot tea.
Like refugees huddled together, they gazed intently at the firmly shuttered main entrance of Sunkyung Department Store.
Yet instead of frustration, every face was alive with anticipation.
‘All these people came just for one bottle of alcohol?’
His mind reeled, but he shook his head and steadied himself.
What on earth was so appealing about this drink to draw such a crowd?
‘I need to get that interview, don’t I?’
By any rational standard, he absolutely had to.
Jung Su Bin, a popular actress, willing to risk exposure and wait in a tent like this?
He looked around—no other journalists in sight.
If he stepped out of line for a moment to score an exclusive interview with her…….
“I could just move back a bit further and——yikes!”
When he glanced behind again, a sharp intake of breath escaped him.
The line had grown even longer in those few seconds.
There were still people climbing out of taxis, hurrying over with determined strides.
‘If I leave now, I’ll definitely never make it inside…….’
But… but then again.
Jung Su Bin was a major actress, after all, riding high on her current fame.
And though he’d never conducted a formal interview with her, he’d exchanged greetings with her in passing more than once.
He’d heard she wasn’t particularly difficult either—surely she’d spare him a line or two for an interview, wouldn’t she?
‘And if we just drop Jung Su Bin’s name in the article, the views are basically guaranteed!’
The moment Yoon Sung closed his eyes tight and stepped out of line, the people behind him broke into smiles in perfect unison.
Of course, Yoon Sung approached the tent ahead, biting his lip with an inexplicable sense of regret and frustration, and spoke up.
“Um… excuse me…….”
“Who… oh? Aren’t you reporter Yoon Sung? We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right.”
“Pleased to see you. Don’t tell me you’re doing an opening run too?”
Jung Su Bin’s manager, who stood at the front, was the first to speak.
He even remembered his name.
But Yoon Sung had misjudged why he was here.
“Ah… I’m here for coverage…….”
“Ah… I see. Well, you’re a reporter, so I’m sure you work hard. Still, you’ll be able to get a signature on the bottle, so the views are as good as locked in, aren’t they?”
“That’s why I came early. Haha. Though I’ve stepped out of line now…….”
“Hmm…….”
Jung Su Bin’s manager fell silent in thought for a moment.
During that brief pause, he murmured something to himself.
“Either way, word of mouth will get out eventually… I might as well get ahead of it… even if our image takes a hit, these days familiarity is what sells…….”
After a short time, he spoke again.
What came out of his mouth was exactly what Yoon Sung wanted to hear.
“Rather than waiting around, would you like to chat with us? I think Su Bin would be fine with it.”
“Wow! Seriously? I’d love that! I’d absolutely love that!”
“Then… Su Bin! It’s a reporter. Will you come out for a bit?”
“Oh, you’re a reporter?”
Jung Su Bin poked her head out from the tent.
Once she fully emerged from the tent, she spoke with a radiant smile.
“It wasn’t intentional, but the tent doesn’t have good soundproofing. Hehe. An interview is no problem! I was getting bored from waiting anyway!”
“Ah! I… actress Jung Su Bin…… this is… such an honor!”
“I’ll step over there for a moment. Keep our spot, will you?”
After asking her manager to hold their place, Jung Su Bin walked toward Yoon Sung.
She wore a long padded coat, scarf, and hat to endure the cold, yet her aura as an actress remained entirely undiminished.
And so Yoon Sung found himself with an unexpected opportunity to interview a top-tier actress.
With trembling hands, he pulled out his recorder and notepad and spoke.
“Before we start the interview… there might be things that are difficult to discuss…….”
“What could that possibly be? I’m just someone who came out to buy some liquor. Hehe.”
Jung Su Bin said there was nothing problematic about it.
Yoon Sung, drowsy with happiness at the prospect of landing an exclusive through this interview, began.
“Then the interview… whew… ah, I’m sorry. It’s just so cold…….”
“Oh, it’s fine.”
“Then I’ll begin the interview.”
It was the first moment Song Ha Dang’s name would be printed in the mainstream press.
* * *
Even as the interview continued at the front, more and more people gathered.
The sun peeked over the horizon, and as the time drew closer, everyone’s gaze turned toward the clock tower standing at the front facade of Sunkyung Department Store.
Click.
10:28.
As the minute hand ticked, the crowd stretched along the front of Sunkyung Department Store stirred slightly.
You could hear someone swallow hard.
10:29.
Beyond the still firmly closed doors, people watched the employees preparing to open and thought to themselves.
‘Straight in, then up the escalators…….’
‘No way. The escalators are too slow. Better to take the emergency stairs…….’
Soon an employee in a suit emerged from within, walking with measured steps.
This employee, whose appearance looked as though the word “neat” had been drawn as a picture, moved the red entrance control line that had been placed in front of the main entrance and opened his mouth.
“The store is now open!”
“Go!”
“It’s open! It’s open!”
The crowd surged forward.

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