“Are you going to sleep more?”
Dawoon gently rubbed the cheek of the cat that had closed its eyes while leaning against his thigh.
“Sleep a little. You need to sleep well at night.”
He kept talking and muttering to the cat that couldn’t even understand. Is this what happens when you raise an animal? With the awareness that he was talking to himself, he chuckled and stroked the cat that had already fallen asleep again.
“…Do you have a fever?”
Dawoon’s head gradually tilted as he touched the cat’s warm body. He thought the body had become warmer from being under the blanket. But even as time passed, the warm energy didn’t fade.
He couldn’t tell if it was because it was a kitten with an unusually warm body, or if it had a fever from being sick.
“Are you sick somewhere?”
Worried that it might be sleeping a lot because it was sick enough to have a fever, Dawoon carefully lifted the cat.
He checked the cat’s body temperature more closely by pressing his forehead and cheek against it. At this, the cat that slightly opened its eyes purred again and nestled into Dawoon.
“I thought you were sick.”
Dawoon, who was finally relieved by the energetic purring, stood up while holding him.
“Let’s eat.”
He headed toward the door while securely supporting the cat that was trying to fall asleep again in his arms. Being concerned about the cat, he had already completely forgotten about the strange dream.
“Today let’s eat moderately and have snacks too. I’ll give you churu.”
Even at the talk of snacks, the cat showed no particular reaction. It was just nestled snugly in Dawoon’s arms.
Thinking the cat would wake up if there was food in front of it, he was opening the door when—
“Hm…?”
A savory smell wafted through the open door gap.
It was the smell of freshly cooked rice that any Korean would like.
That wasn’t all. The spicy fragrance mixed with the savory smell stimulated the salivary glands in his mouth. This was definitely…
Kimchi jjigae.
Dawoon, who gulped down his saliva, hurriedly went down the stairs. His legs naturally quickened at the delicious smell that rarely came from the Sau Guild dormitory.
Someone was cooking in the kitchen. It was certain it wasn’t Go Yeoul, who had the special talent of burning cooking utensils.
Then there was only one person who could be cooking.
“Did you sleep well?”
Ryu Taeha, who was taking out green onions from the refrigerator, smiled at Dawoon.
“I was just about to wake you. Good timing. Sit down. The food’s almost ready.”
He gestured while pulling out a chair at the long dining table with telekinesis.
“Or do you want to eat later?”
As he asked while lightly washing the green onions, Dawoon immediately shook his head.
“No, I’ll eat now.”
Who would refuse kimchi jjigae with white rice? Since it was a combination he loved second only to pork belly with soju, he sat at the table as if entranced.
“I stocked the fridge a bit. Don’t go to the convenience store, just take out and eat when you’re hungry.”
Ryu Taeha skillfully cut the green onions and opened the lid of the pot vibrating with delicious smells. Along with the bubbling sound of the stew boiling, the spicy fragrance became even richer.
“Did the Leader make all this…?”
Dawoon admired while looking at the various side dishes already set on the table. He naturally thought the side dishes would have been bought, but Ryu Taeha gave an unexpected answer.
“Of course, I made it all. I said I’d cook for you.”
“Really? You made all this?”
There were more than five kinds of side dishes alone, and he made all this by himself. Moreover, each one used various ingredients and required a lot of effort.
“Has it been that long since I made it for you?”
Ryu Taeha, who laughed it off thinking Dawoon’s reaction was a joke, put the thinly sliced green onions in the pot. Just watching how he handled the cutting board and knife, you could feel he was familiar with cooking.
“Eat first. Don’t force yourself.”
“I’ll eat well.”
Dawoon, who was about to quickly pick up chopsticks, suddenly got up from his chair again.
“Why, should I get you something?”
“I was going to feed him first.”
He almost forgot to take care of the cat’s meal.
Ryu Taeha turned off the induction while looking down at the white mass held in Dawoon’s arms.
“Is that the cat you said you picked up?”
“Yes.”
So there really was a cat.
Taeha watched Dawoon preparing the cat’s food with interested eyes while transferring the stew to a bowl.
“Stop sleeping and eat, food.”
He found it curious that Dawoon, who had no interest in animals as much as people, had suddenly picked up a cat. What kind of whim struck him now? Though curious, he didn’t ask in detail.
“Won’t you eat?”
Dawoon looked worriedly at the cat that only dozed off even with the food bowl in front of it.
“Are you sick somewhere…”
He picked up the food pellets himself and brought them to its mouth, letting it smell them too. Only then did the cat that opened its eyes slowly open its mouth.
Crunch.
The sound of the food pellet breaking continued slowly. Perhaps tasting it woke it up a bit, as the cat that had been lying listlessly began to eat the food on its own. As if telling him it was fine, it tapped Dawoon’s arm with its tail while he worried.
“Are you going to keep it?”
Ryu Taeha approached Dawoon who was filling the cat’s belly before his own. He asked a realistic question while placing the stew and rice bowl in front of Dawoon’s seat.
“It’ll be alone in the dorm all the time, will that be okay?”
Dawoon, who was putting the food pellet the cat dropped back in the bowl, smacked his lips.
“……”
An answer didn’t come easily. He wanted to keep it if it were up to him, but as Ryu Taeha said, Dawoon frequently left the house.
The Sau Guild dormitory, which handled the most Gates, was almost always empty. There was plenty of space for this tiny thing to run around and play, but there was no one to play with.
When Dawoon, who hadn’t had time to think deeply about this, couldn’t answer, Ryu Taeha spoke first.
“Eat first. It’ll get cold.”
“Yes.”
Dawoon immediately returned to his seat and picked up his spoon. As Ryu Taeha said, he should eat first and then think about it.
“Only I’m eating?”
“Yeah, I’ll just watch you eat and leave. I still have work left.”
You don’t really need to watch. Dawoon felt burdened by his gaze sitting across from him, but since he was getting a free meal, he didn’t say anything and focused on the steaming hot stew.
“……”
Dawoon, who silently tasted the stew, took a big spoonful of fluffy rice, dipped it in the broth, and put it in his mouth.
Taeha pushed the side dish bowls toward Dawoon while closely watching him eat.
“How is it? Is it good?”
It was food he was making after a long time. After Ryu Jin joined the guild, he’d been busy taking care of his meals first, so he’d never cooked for Dawoon.
In the first place, he didn’t cook often. Though he knew how to make most dishes, he only showed his skills occasionally.
Dawoon, who had almost no appetite, would only look for light salads even when he cooked for him. For Korean food like this stew, he’d eat only as much as bird feed, saying he hated getting bloated.
“I was going to make what you always eat, but you seemed to be looking for stimulating food these days.”
The stew that the usual Dawoon would have stopped eating after one or two bites decreased rapidly.
Dawoon first stuck out his thumb while heartily mixing rice into the stew. His mouth was busy eating. Even the time to say it was delicious felt precious.
“Really… eating so well.”
Taeha’s eyes, which had been curved leisurely while watching Dawoon mix white rice into the red stew, gradually widened.
You might think what’s so surprising about a Korean mixing rice into kimchi jjigae, but for Jeong Dawoon, this was like the sun rising from east, west, south, and north simultaneously.
The pork that he’d cut into chunks just to add flavor, naturally thinking Dawoon wouldn’t eat it, went into Dawoon’s mouth along with the rice.
Crunch, even the cat that had been leisurely chewing its food ate a bit more actively after seeing Dawoon eating heartily. Seeing him seemed to stimulate an appetite that wasn’t there.
Dawoon quickly emptied one bowl of rice in an instant. The taste of the stew and rice was practically perfect, to the point where he had no time to turn his eyes to the side dishes.
“Tell me honestly.”
“Hm?”
Taeha, who had been staring blankly at Dawoon eating, blinked.
Dawoon, who put down his spoon next to the cleanly emptied rice bowl, asked seriously.
“You bought this, right?”
He even made a request resembling a threat to tell him the store name while he was asking nicely. It wasn’t just empty words but sincere.
“I really made it. Though it is what I’m best at.”
Though it was an ordinary menu, when asked what food he made best, Taeha always answered pork kimchi jjigae.
It was something he’d said during interviews, so it was a fact all citizens of Korea knew. The familiar dish name coming from his perfect mouth made people’s favorability toward him soar.
And now, a cat’s tear worth of favorability also arose in Dawoon’s heart as he sat at the table hurriedly eating the food. It was cooking skill enough to slightly fade the aversion toward him.
“Wow… no, this is, wow…”
Dawoon, who couldn’t even connect his words, held his forehead and savored the taste remaining in his mouth. It was a taste that would remain even after smashing the signs of decades-old Korean restaurants. It didn’t seem to have been simmered for long, so how could it have such a deep flavor?
“More rice?”
“A lot please.”
“There’s meat left too.”
“Please. Will you grill it?”
“If you want.”
Dawoon shook his head vigorously up and down while picking up side dishes. Taeha couldn’t take his eyes off Dawoon whose plump cheeks were chewing with his mouth tightly closed.
Not simply because he was pretty, but because a faint suspicion suddenly arose.
Could Dawoon not be… Dawoon?
He was insisting on convenience store food he normally wouldn’t even put in his mouth, showing motivation for work he always avoided, and now even developing an appetite.
A reasonable doubt bloomed at the unfamiliar appearance he’d never seen during the years they’d spent together. It was a suspicion worth having.
But it didn’t make sense. There was no way he wasn’t Dawoon.
Though there were ability users who could mimic others’ outward appearances, they couldn’t perfectly copy pheromones and scents. Above all, there was no ability user in this world who could deceive the S-rank-exceeding Ryu Taeha.
But to be the Dawoon he knew, he was too different, way too different.
At first, he thought it was simply a protest. When the disappointment toward him filled up to the limit, Dawoon would occasionally do things he didn’t normally do.
He thought this time was the same. A sulk that would resolve with time.
Then when he got tired of it, he’d come back on his own. Because if he just coaxed him well, he would always smile prettily again.
But this is a bit much.
Even setting aside the way of speaking and attitude, it’s strange that his eating habits have completely changed. Even if people suddenly change, there’s a limit to it— he was thinking, when.
“Leader.”
Dawoon, who held his spoon preciously, suddenly called him. At the bright voice that followed, Taeha emerged from his deep thoughts.
“It’s really delicious. I think I could eat ten bowls.”
Laughter seeped into the voice full of sincerity. Dawoon smiled as if truly happy.
With his stomach warmly filled with delicious food, it seemed all his worries and concerns had completely gone down.
Because he’d let down his guard too much, he ate to his heart’s content without even thinking that Ryu Taeha might suspect him.
“That’s a relief.”
Taeha, who was staring at the brightly smiling Dawoon, opened the rice cooker with his gaze still on him.
Definitely… suspicious.
“Please give me more rice. A heaping bowl please. I’ll do the dishes.”
That’s absolutely not the Jeong Dawoon I know…
“But why aren’t you a chef instead of a guild leader? When you cook this well.”
To deeply question it, he looked too good eating well. Taeha unconsciously pointed to the refrigerator and asked.
“There’s fish too, should I grill it?”
“That would be great.”
Dawoon, whose fortune to eat had finally arrived, even clapped his hands in joy. And his applause made Taeha’s mood dance.
Well, people can change a bit.
The doubt toward Dawoon was sucked into the range hood along with the food smell. Since Dawoon was so happy like that, he didn’t want to question anything anymore.
Because there was no way he wasn’t him in the first place.
