Vol. 1 - Ch. 22

I just turned my head and stared at Ja-hyun. Before I knew it, he had removed his hand from holding my shoulder and was taking a step back.“Um, so…”

For some reason, it was difficult to look at his face because I was flustered. I looked to the side and spoke with utmost difficulty.

“Thank you. I guess I dozed off.”

“…”

“I almost got into trouble. Right?”

I smiled awkwardly and added that if it wasn’t for him, I would have been seriously hurt.

“I am a little exhausted. Ah, but thanks to you. I was able to sleep well.”

I pretended to turn my shoulders and turned my back on Ja-hyun.

Then I walked a few steps and picked up the kitchen knife, which had fallen on the floor. There was no sound, so when did I drop it? grumbling inside.

“But why did you come here?”

A thought suddenly occurred to me, and I made an audible noise between my teeth.

“Ah, right. I guess you came here to eat. I am asking something so obvious. Then, go to the restaurant over there.”

Do you want to wait? I was about to ask.

“Get out of my way.”

Ja-hyun approached me without a sound and snatched the cooking knife from my hand. I was pushed by him and took three or four steps to the side, with puzzled eyes.

“W-why?”

“…”

“Why are you taking that away? I am sure you don’t plan to cook.”

“…”

“You couldn’t be? Eh, forget it. Thank you, but I will do it from here.”

I said that with my hand extended. There was no way he could do it. I was just fiddling around in the air.

“I am fully awake, so there is no need to worry. Aren’t you hungry? You go to the restaurant and wait with Eun-young. I will cook an amazing dish and have it ready for you in no time.

Despite my rant, Ja-hyun’s sullen face didn’t change.

“Right. You will be lucky if you don’t cut off your fingers.”

“…”

I wanted to say something to refute, but I had nothing to say.

“Unlike others, I don’t have a hobby of eating human flesh.”

Ja-hyun mumbled something I couldn’t hear and looked at me intently.

“So, what do I do now?”

A confident tone of voice. In addition, his slightly arrogant face exuded confidence that I wouldn’t dare do anything against him.

“…”

I felt this all the time, but I had no idea where I got this confidence from.

“Uh, um…”

“…”

“That’s right, what do I say?”

“You cannot even speak properly now?”

Let’s pretend you didn’t hear what I said. Whatever the reason, it is nice that he stepped up to help me. Right. It is amazing.

But…

An untrustworthy expression appeared on his face. I asked in a very reluctant voice.

“You want to cook? For serious?”

Has he ever tried cooking? As far as I know, he grew up in a busy atmosphere of learning to fight and turning into a murdering weapon since he was young, so he couldn’t cook food.

‘What kind of kid with a rough childhood can even cook?’

Instead of trying to refuse once more, I had to keep my mouth shut when Ja-hyun’s passionate gaze was on me.

It was because I discovered in the pitch black eyes an unspoken will to not listen to my rejection.

It seemed like he had no intention of breaking the stubbornness, no matter what I said.

‘So annoying, I guess I will just let him do whatever he wants.’

I was in trouble.

Right, whatever.

Wouldn’t it be better than having the finger cut off and almost hitting your head in a pot while you are like me? It sounded delicious, but I couldn’t do anything.

‘Right. For today…’

After a short period of thought, I decided to give up the kitchen, which had been mine since I entered Eun-ri’s body, to Ja-hyun for just today.

“Ja-hyun.”

I gestured to him with a gentle look. What I meant was, don’t just stand there; come closer.

“Right. Then, please help me.”

“… “

“First, would you mind trimming the ingredients here? I will clean the chicken next to you.”

At that time I pulled out my knife and pointed to the onions, garlic, and green onions that were on the tray. Then I think I saw Ja-hyun adjusting the knife to the left hand, but I was unable to catch anything after that.

The chicken I was about to reach out to pick up suddenly vanished. And a few seconds later.

The chicken was neatly prepped and returned to the original place.

What is it? If I blink once, the jujube seeds are spread, and if I blink again, the onions are sliced. Well, it was roughly like this.

Ja-hyun didn’t even seem to be using the cutting board. I couldn’t help but admire him, who didn’t even glance at the cutting board. Could he be slashing the food in the air?

‘Ohhh…’

I watched what he was doing with my eyes wide. But because this cooking show ends when I blink my eyes, I couldn’t even see what he was doing.

All I could see was the end result, and no matter how hard I strained my eyes, I couldn’t see the process.

“It is done.”

Less than a minute later, Ja-hyun put the knife down on the counter.

“What else can I do?”

I was speechless for a moment.

‘I underestimated Ja-hyun too much.’

I quickly finished the self-reflection.

He is the MC of a Murim novel, and I seemed to have forgotten how skilled he had to be for that. I felt so incredibly stupid, even when I thought about him. I only thought that Ja-hyun had never cooked before, but it was my reluctance to overlook the fact that cutting food ingredients would be no different from cutting people.

Before I knew it, I was looking at the neatly prepared ingredients on different plates.

If I had done this myself, it wouldn’t have taken much longer, but at least 5 minutes longer.

How much time has passed now? Has less than 30 seconds passed?

“First.”

If you think about it carefully, it was like that.

Ja-hyun. That guy is the worst at handling people, but other than that, he’s good at chopping, uses strength, and is faster than anyone I know, isn’t he? This is a completely natural worker.

Moreover, I still have the karma of holding him down last night and shouting, ‘I don’t have enough hands to work, so I will make you work for the amount you owe me!’

It seems like he’s slowly realized that I am not as much of a person as Eun-ri in the original novel, and if I keep feeding and let him fall asleep, there is a good chance of him being suspicious of me.

At least for a moment, Eun-ri in the original work had Ja-hyun do the server duties.

It is because the outcomes weren’t good, but I know that Ja-hyun never fooled around or rebelled against Eun-ri.

‘Hmm. Not that I think about it; it isn’t so bad.’

After coming to a conclusion in my head, I grabbed the shoulder without thinking twice. I could see Ja-hyun frowning as I gazed at the hand holding my shoulder.

“What is it?”

“You passed.’”

“…?”

The already cracked look turned more dirty. I continued speaking without heeding anything.

“Oh, that doesn’t mean you passed perfectly. Let us assume that this is still work in progress. We will have to wait and see whether you can be kept in the kitchen or not.”

“…”

“First, let us eat lunch and prepare dinner together. How does it sound? It is perfect, right?”

With the hand that was holding the shoulder, I patted Ja-hyun’s shoulder, who hadn’t even stopped frowning.

“Don’t”

No, more accurately, I tried to pat him.

“Ah, it hurts!”

Even though my palm was thrown away before it touched his shoulder twice.

Still, judging by the fact that he didn’t hit me the first time, it doesn’t seem like there is any chance that he will accept my offer, right?

‘The freedom before, it must be a bit of a tantrum.’

I interrupted Ja-hyun’s harsh reaction in my own way, so I grabbed the chicken that was on the cutting board and held it out in front of him so that he wouldn’t have time to think anymore.

“Then should we boil the chicken first? Now, now, put this in the pot.”

Holding a bowl on a wooden tray, I left the kitchen with Ja-hyun.

After passing through a short space that could hardly be called a hallway, I put down my foot on the doorway. From there, I saw Eun-young and Kyung-ju seated across from one another at the table in front of me.

Eun-young, who was sitting with her back to me, felt a sign of presence and turned around to see Ja-hyun walking a step ahead of me and smiled quietly.

Then, when Ja-hyun’s gaze seemed to be on me, I quickly turned my head, not pretending to see him.

Indeed.

‘Woah, I like this a lot. I guess he cannot see to this side?’

Of course, it wasn’t like I didn’t know the series of actions taking place.

I had to feel a little left out by the fazed reaction of Kyung-ju when she saw him and Eun-young, who was flapping her feet under the table, not knowing her sister was behind Ja-hyun.

No, right. They always responded that way until they got used to Ja-hyun’s face. I couldn’t get over the feeling of being left out, though.

“Unnie is here!”

I kept the tray down on the table with an announcement. Then Kyung-ju looked at me and asked.

“Who… who is that person?”

That person? So much respect? Even though Ja-hyun doesn’t look like someone to be in a shabby guesthouse like this, wasn’t this too much?

I said with a sneer hanging from the lips.

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When I said that, Kyung-ju nodded and said,

‘Ah. I never thought it was such a pretty lady.”

“…”

“Weird. However, why do I believe you stated that it was a boy? Didn’t you say that?”

She did speak to me in a low tone that only I could hear, but Ja-hyun surely could have heard it.

As soon as he turned his attention to Kyung-ju, I opened my mouth.

“That’s because it is a boy.”

“Oh…”

Kyung-ju let out a meaningless exclamation.

I took Ja-hyun’s tray, kept it down on the table, and sat down next to Kyung-ju, where I had been sitting before. And I immediately gestured to Ja-hyun.

"Avoid getting up and taking any available seat."

“I will handle it.”

Even as I said that, Ja-hyun obediently sat in the seat in front of me, that is, next to Eun-young.

Even while I was distributing cutlery in front of each person, the two women’s eyes never left Ja-hyun.

In particular, when Kyung-ju saw Ja-hyun for the first time, she seemed captivated by the prince-like appearance.

But Ja-hyun only made an arrogant look as if other people’s situations were not his business.

In the end, Kyung-ju, who was struggling alone, couldn’t hold back and let out a nervous voice.

“Hehe. This is our first meeting, right?”

“…”

“I am Son Kyung-ju. An old friend of Eun-ri and I live down there near the market.”

“….”

“I don’t know if you know.”

Perhaps out of embarrassment, Kyung-ju paused for a moment.

“Hmm… What is your name?”

“Ja-hyun?”

I spoke out because I noticed that Ja-hyun, who was standing across from me, didn't seem to be paying attention to what Kyung-ju had said.

“This kid is a bit shy. Please understand.”

“Well, that could happen. I understand.”

Fortunately, Kyung-ju seemed to understand what I was saying to some extent.

Thinking about it, I said he was a bit sick. If that’s the case, then isn’t it understandable that he might be sensitive.

Kyung-ju mumbled, but she bombarded me with questions.

“So, how old is the customer? They seem young, but couldn’t possibly be older than 15 years, right?”

“Does it look like that?”

In response to my question, Kyung-ju looked at me as if she were asking something obvious.

Then she shouted, ‘No, wait’ and then tapped my arm.

“Looking at it again, the child’s gentle behavior makes him seem more mature than he is. Over 15 then? Is that the reason why you questioned me?”

“…”

“No? Observing your eyes. I think there is no doubt about it. Around 17 or so.”

I was shocked. I couldn’t even hear any words she said after that.

‘Seeing him again, he looks mature?’

No, where is that face? He is as tall as me. When I thought that, I was about to respond back to her to convey the thoughts.

“You are all wrong.”

A low voice came through the table.

“Uh? Ja-hyun, what did you say?”

“I'm 20 this year.”

Ja-hyun, who had his arms on the table and rested his chin on it, spoke sharply to Kyung-ju, and I covered my mouth.

He was being 20 by speaking in a solemn voice, which didn’t match his cute face, and it seemed comical to me.

“Phew….”

But unfortunately, I couldn’t help the laughter that escaped through my fingers.

“…”

“I was unable to raise my head because of the stinging gazes on me. So I lowered the hand on my mouth and urged Kyung-ju and Eun-young, being careful not to look in front of them. Oh my, at this point everything will cool down.

Alright, let’s eat first.