READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 260
Using wooden chopsticks to flip the egg-coated pancake on the frying pan.
The holiday scent starts to fill the house, and I turn on the exhaust fan late, adding noise to the sizzling sound.
Placing the delicious pollack pancakes one by one on a brown kitchen towel over a wide bowl.
After finishing the pollack pancakes, donggrangttaeng, and colorful pancakes in order, I start making japchae with soaked glass noodles.
Galbi jjim just needs to keep boiling, so I turn up the heat and leave it alone.
“Wow, this is amazing.”
“Seriously delicious!”
While I’m still busy in the kitchen, the mascots mumble at the table, already filling their stomachs.
“Are you guys done with your work?”
As soon as I hear the munching sounds, I turn my head sharply to complain.
“Ah, geez, wait until it’s all done before eating, you…”
Turning around, I see Siyeon, who was mixed in with the mascots, already tasting the pancakes.
Startled, she flinches and stops chewing the pancake she was holding in her lips, glancing at me.
“…Oops.”
Seeing her like that, I finish my interrupted sentence with a look of disbelief.
I didn’t expect Siyeon to be mixed in there too.
Already caught, Siyeon continues to mumble as if there’s nothing she can do about it.
Sighing briefly, I continue as if there’s no other choice.
“Eat moderately, we have to eat rice later.”
“Okay.”
Hearing Siyeon’s reply, I peek into the galbi jjim pot.
The sweet aroma fills the air as the ribs boil with a rich sauce.
I stir it evenly with a deep ladle to make it tender, then cover it again.
I mix a ladle of soy sauce and bean oil into clear water and briefly boil the soaked glass noodles.
The strained noodles are then mixed into a large bowl with pre-stir-fried ingredients, tossing them together.
“Siyeon, pour a little soy sauce and sesame oil here.”
“Okay-”
“Whoa, that’s enough!”
I put in just the right amount of soy sauce, but the sesame oil poured in too much.
Panicking, I told her to stop, but the sesame oil had already disappeared, seeping into the noodles.
The sesame oil scent starts to resonate in the house, lingering with the pancake smell.
What’s done is done, I just have to go with it.
Even with all the windows open and the exhaust fan running, the holiday scent just won’t fade.
Given the season, it’s not just our house; the smell of grilling fish wafts up from other houses too.
“Is that hairtail? Or maybe dried yellow croaker?”
While sniffing the scent of other households’ side dishes coming through the window.
I wash my hands, greasy even through plastic gloves, with soap bubbles in the sink and shout.
“Get ready to eat-”
“……”
But even after being told to get ready to eat, there’s no movement.
Like a holy sword stuck in a rock in a fantasy manga, Siyeon shows no intention of moving.
She must have heard me from this distance, so I dry my hands on the towel hanging on the sink handle and ask.
“What are you doing?”
“…I’m full, hee.”
With an awkward and embarrassed expression, Siyeon says she’s full.
No wonder she’s been sitting and eating all this time.
Picking up a pair of chopsticks and sitting down, I open my mouth as if to say, ‘I knew this would happen.’
“I told you to eat moderately.”
“It was too delicious.”
Ignoring my advice to eat moderately, Siyeon ended up filling her stomach with just pancakes.
A beast-like, one-dimensional answer that she just kept eating because it was delicious.
As I thought earlier, what’s done is done.
“Ugh, then I’ll just eat this too.”
Moving the chopsticks to the assortment of pancakes on the wide bowl.
It doesn’t feel right to pull out the rice cooker alone in this atmosphere, so I join the group filling their stomachs with holiday side dishes.
Siyeon and the two mascots who were already sitting and eating while I was cooking.
Compared to their slowed movements, I sit down and start eating without hesitation.
The first chopstick naturally goes to the pollack pancake.
The flaky fish inside the egg coating rolls around on my tongue.
The heat from the frying pan hasn’t faded yet, filling my mouth with a warm and delightful savory taste.
Luckily, there were no bones.
The donggrangttaeng is a bit dry but fills the mouth like a hamburger steak.
The colorful pancake, despite having the worst combination of hot radish, is somehow delicious.
That day, we ended up devouring more than half of the pancakes we made.
Pancakes taken one by one from the basket are always delicious.
After finishing the meal and tackling the mountain of dishes, a leisurely afternoon.
Unable to lie down, I sit on the sofa, slowly digesting…
“Miss Mari, a monster is about to appear.”
Gomteng whispers in my ear, bringing news from outside.
Since I chose money over gatherings, the world doesn’t let me rest comfortably.
But this is also labor for extra pay.
Thinking that way makes me feel a bit better.
“Yeah? Where this time?”
“Hmm… it’s a bit far, around Bucheon, I think?”
When I ask where this time, Gomteng answers after a bit of groaning that it’s probably around Bucheon.
“Another neighboring town…”
“But honestly… even if I play games, I want to play with people of similar skill, not fight with top rankers in promotion matches.”
Muttering ‘another neighboring town’ like a small complaint, Gomteng adds, as if it’s obvious, using a game analogy.
“…”
Since it’s not wrong, I keep my mouth shut.
Well, if we were of equal skill, it would be one thing, but meeting a pro gamer when you just want to have fun kills the mood.
I don’t have much to say but feel the need to respond, so I grumble.
“Hey, just get in the pocket.”
“Okay.”
Gomteng squeezes into the narrow pants pocket.
The wriggling sensation against my thigh isn’t pleasant, but it’s unavoidable in thin clothes.
Grabbing my phone, I lazily head out, shouting near the front door to let the house know.
“I’m off-”
“Okay-!”
Hearing Siyeon’s lively reply, I open the front door and step outside, greeted by the vibrating holiday scent despite all the closed doors.
The harmonious voices seep outside, impossible to block even with thick iron doors.
Once outside, the noticeably cooler weather hits my skin.
It’s not completely cool yet, but it’s bearable with just a fan instead of an air conditioner.
The apartment complex parking lot is bustling with cars, from kids to adults, grandparents included, all part of the warm holiday scene, as the magical girl’s workday begins.
“Let’s stay a bit longer.”
“We’d like to, but we have to visit Yeeun’s house too…”
Before leaving the apartment complex, I see a couple busy visiting both parents’ homes for the holiday, along with the man’s parents.
“Just saying because I’m sad, go ahead… drive safely.”
“Okay, I’ll visit when I have time next.”
Listening to the natural conversation, I pause and watch the scene from afar.
The car drives off with a hum, and the elderly couple doesn’t step away from the doorway until the car is out of sight.
Wanting to stay longer but busy, the couple casually brushes it off, leaving only a ‘drive safely’ behind, their backs looking a bit lonely.
Leaving the somewhat lonely couple behind, I head to a quiet alley to catch a monster today.
From the quiet alley, my steps leave Incheon and reach Bucheon in one flight.
‘Right in the middle of the city.’
The scene I arrive at is in the middle of a bustling area.
Of course, there are no people, but with many CCTV cameras around…
“Ugh.”
With a thud, I smash its head with a single wand strike without any greetings or conversation.
With the monster’s dying ‘ugh’ and its exploded head, fluids, possibly brain matter, flow out as I quickly leave the scene.
Clean and efficient, the monster probably didn’t even know what hit it.
The situation was resolved in less than 5 seconds.
Just a simple swing of the arm to burst the monster’s head.
“Really, so careless.”
On the way back to Incheon at cloud height, Gomteng mutters briefly.
“Isn’t it better than putting effort into tormenting it?”
When I ask if it’s better than putting effort into tormenting it, as he complains about the lack of tension or excitement in the one-hit physical therapy…
“That’s not what I mean, but something more balanced would be fun to watch…”
“Hey, if it were balanced with me, it’d be a disaster… you’re talking crazy.”
Casually saying it’d be a disaster, Gomteng.
Scolding him with a few words, Gomteng awkwardly scratches the back of his head.
“Well, but…”
With a fading tone, he crosses his arms and looks up at the sky, adding a few more words.
“Somehow, it feels like there’s no sense of achievement, no vision, should I say…”
“That’s how work is, kid.”
Seeing Gomteng in a post-wise-time mode like a low-level corporate employee, I naturally add the obvious logic.
If you enjoy work and feel a sense of achievement, you’re crazy.
“Is that so…”
Listening to the answer with crossed arms, Gomteng mutters in a somewhat serious expression.
Ending that conversation, right after Chuseok.
[I’m off on a journey to find myself, please don’t look for me.]
Leaving a small note on the table, Gomteng disappears.
“Is he crazy?”