The everyday life of Half Sauce Half Fried.
Clu-clu-cluck.
His comb had grown with dignity and he had the great presence of a Korean chicken. He strolled around the yard catching earthworms as a delicacy.
âSeo-yoon, your meal is here.â
His life of peacefully living without any threats to his life while sharing Seo-yoonâs meal was utterly joyful. The joy of sitting between well cultivated bonsai and drowsing off! With his belly full and his back warm, there was nothing more to wish for in his daily life. As Seo-yoon stroked him affectionately, he even rubbed himself against her.
He was living as happily as a chicken can live.
However, Seo-yoon was always sorry for him.
âIâm sorry I canât be here with you.â
That was because Half Sauce Half Fried was alone when she was in the capsule or at school.
Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck.
Half Sauce Half Fried shook his head back and forth as he walked around in the hospitalâs yard.
Seo-yoon thought, âI will bring⊠a friend for you.â
* * *
Midterms, the festival, and the sports meet had ended, and now there were just a little over 2 weeks until summer vacation.
Lee Hyun grumbled endless complaints. âWhat kind of university is like this. Canât university be shortened to 3 years, or 2 years, like with military service time?â
Seeing as he had to keep paying the expensive tuition for another three and a half years, his future was dark. A convictâs feelings about reducing jail time in a concentration camp or prison would be like this.
âEven if I graduate university, itâs not like I get graduation pension, it wonât guarantee me employment by a foreign company, and it wonât provide me with free lifetime medical insurance eitherâŠâ
An endless reflection on the impracticalities of university was unfolding.
As he looked at the bars, capsule rooms, and the restaurants on the main street in front of the university, he became worried about the education world and the even the nationâs future.
âThere should only be farmland or a tidal flat in front of a school. When youâre hungry, you can help with the eldersâ rice planting and get a snack to eat, and in the fall you can help with the harvesting as well. A tidal flat⊠is always valuable food storage. You can hitch a ride on a boat and go pull up the net, too.â
On a tidal flat, a single shovel would secure food. You could catch things like fresh oyster and octopus and eat them dipped in chili paste. Since you could also catch fish by casting a net utilizing the ebb and flow, it was killing two birds with one stone!
âThere would be no need to build a separate cafeteriaâŠâ
It could be called a symbol of rural education. College students enjoying fishing while reading, and friendships that blossomed while boiling spicy fish stew. In front of the university, instead of bars, salons, clothing stores, and nail art stores, a fishing discount mart would do.
As usual, Lee Hyun went to the grass plaza during lunch time and ate the lunch lying on his seat. Seo-yoon was sitting next to him, eating lunch together.
Lee Hyun picked up a side dish with chopsticks and put it in his mouth.
âYep, itâs delicious.â
The lunch that had started from kimbap had extended into sushi, and today it was grilled short rib patties.
âItâs warm. It hasnât even cooled yet.â
Lee Hyun didnât even know about the lunchbox being installed with heat rays for keeping the food warm. He was just happy that he could try eating ribs without expense.
âSo this is the taste of short rib patties.â
In his middle school and high school days, he couldnât use the school cafeteria because he didnât pay the lunch fee. Even so, of course he couldnât go without eating, so he secretly snuck in and took in a lunch tray. He had passed his school days surreptitiously eating the stealth food that didnât go down comfortably.
How envious he was when his classmates were tearing into lunches that their parents had made with their utmost.
ââŠâ
Seo-yoon slightly bit her lips as she was watched Lee Hyun eating happily. It seemed like she would briefly smile. Her smiling face could make a person happy, but the chance to see it was truly rare. Still, Seo-yoonâs cold and frozen expression, like when he had made the first Goddess Freya statue, had almost vanished.
Seo-yoon had even brought barley tea; she poured it into a cup and handed it to Lee Hyun.
âMm, thanks.â
After taking one sip of the barley tea, Lee Hyun spoke begrudgingly, âDonât just eat vegetables; do you want to eat 1 patty too?â
Nothing is given for free. She wickedly calculated to pretend kindness by pouring him barley tea because she wanted to eat the patties too!
âThough it seems sheâs become a little nicer recentlyâŠâ
Unaware that the person secretly leaving the lunches was Seo-yoon, Lee Hyun acted like a person given an enormous power.
Seo-yoon shook her head to and fro. She was full just watching him eat.
Lee Hyun asked once again. âThen two pattiesâŠ?â
ââŠâ
âShould I give you th-three?â
Just how much was she aiming to squeeze out of him with a single cup of barley tea, she was frowning!
There was once a time when he had shared lunch with Seo-yoon and she had eaten his kimbap at random.
Memories of that time kept popping into his head.
Lee Hyun sighed. âIâm not a petty person. I should give sometimes too.â
When he was a kid, he had once gone to his friends holding just a spoon and had gotten a meal. As he recalled that plaintive feeling, he was able to understand Seo-yoonâs perspective.
âJust eat comfortably. Since Iâve never eaten much meat⊠I mean, because I donât like it that much. Eat as much as you want.â
Lee Hyun picked up one of the patties and put it in on top of Seo-yoonâs rice box.
Seo-yoon carefully opened her mouth and ate it.
It was such a lovely sight that it could snatch oneâs senses away.
After staring at that sight for a moment, Lee Hyun ate the patties too.
Munch munch.
He couldnât give her much of a side dish as tasty as these patties.
âWhy is this so delicious? What kind of meat melts in the mouth, it melts.â
The sight of him holding the ribs in both hands and tearing into them after telling her to eat as she wished!
Lee hyun emptied the lunch box cleanly, leaving not even a single grain of rice behind. Of course, he even left behind Seo-yoonâs share of one patty at the end. He had finished it off so cleanly that he was pleased with himself.
âSheâll have no complaints if she eats three patties.â
Then, as usual, he pulled out the note that had come with the lunch to read it.
âWill she tell me thanks for eating happily today too? Even if I donât know who it is, she is a truly warmhearted lady.â
But the were words written on the note Lee Hyun pulled out were different from the usual ones.
I have a request. Do you have time today after class? |
It was the summons of the veiled mystery angel who made him lunch.
How tastily had he eaten the food she had cooked. His mouth filled with saliva when lunch time rolled around. Thankfully enough, he had even gotten to eat short rib patties today.
Seo-yoon was observing Lee Hyunâs reaction with bright eyes.
âI was curious about who it is, this is good.â
With a thankful heart, Lee Hyun wrote his reply.
My class in the business hall on the 3rd floor, room B07, ends at 4. Please come if you can.
* * *
When class time neared its end, Lee Hyun became a little wary.
âWhat kind of woman is she really?â
Looking at her cooking skill, she was impressive.
âHer faults are that she uses luxury ingredients too unsparingly and that she only uses a brand-name lunchbox, but I donât think sheâll be a bad woman.â
Lee Hyun had already created his mystery angel in his imagination.
âHuhu.â
Including Choi Sang-jun, Park Soon-jo, and Lee Yoo-jung, others had heard of the mystery angel who packed Lee Hyun lunch. Since she would finally appear today, it was a prime chance to resolve their curiosity.
Choi Sang-jun shook his head knowingly. âCâmon, hyung! Canât you tell at a glance? Thereâs no way a girl who brings lunch like that is decent. Thatâs not normal in the world these days. Yoo-jung, arenât I right?â
âTo be honest⊠it is strange that she hasnât shown herself until now even while putting a lunch box in the same place for over a month. Donât expect too much, oppa.â
âHyung, you heard what Yoo-jung said, right? A mystery angel is something that only shows up in fantasy stories. She could even be a spinster professor or someone who came from a social service community.â
Even so, the smile on Lee Hyunâs lips did not go away.
That she would make a meal for him had great meaning to him.
âA person who put her all into making a meal for someone else⊠thereâs no way that sheâs a bad girl.â
Lee Hyunâs personal relations werenât all that normal either. Give as much as you receive. Since she had packed him lunch, he had simply come to the obvious conclusion that she was a good kid!
âThen, good work today. Come back with all your assignments finished.â
The professor left the classroom and the students organized their bags one by one. However, there were still students gathered in the area around Lee Hyun.
âWhat kind of person do you think will really come?â
âJust watch it be an old person. It might even be a student from the physical education department.â
That referred to the martial arts students from the PE department who bowed to Lee Hyun whenever they saw him.
The students who were about to leave the area around the classroom door stopped stock still in their positions, as if frozen.
âHot damn! Itâs senior Seo-Yoon.â
âHuh, does she take her next class here?â
University of Koreaâs official goddess!
Seo-yoon was entering the classroom. Wearing an extremely gorgeous green dress, she was carrying a lunch box in one hand.
âIt canât beâŠâ
The face muscles of the students twisted. They knew that the person who had packed Lee Hyun lunch was coming today.
âWas the Goddess-nimâs lunch mercilessly going into that hyungâs mouth?â
âThis tragedy!â
The shocked and distressed male students!
Lee Hyun also felt like he had been greatly fooled. While frequently meeting Seo-yoon here and there, much of his initial awkwardness and wariness had decreased. They had gone through the MT (membership training) and the festival, and he could even say that they had become friends of a sort while eating lunch together. Seo-yoon did often hit him on the back of the head, but now he could even let that slide with a laugh.
However, for Seo-yoon to be the owner of the lunchbox, he was inevitably tense.
âWith what kind of secret design did sheâŠâ
Lee Hyun was suspicious from the get-go. He was guilty for not putting up his guard and being defenseless while eating lunch.
âThatâs right! That was no good. It was foolish, no different from being fooled by a loan company that says itâll let you borrow money for ten days with no interest.â
A fierce self-reflection on his careless blunder!
Seo-yoon approached and extended the note.
Youâll listen to my request, right? |
Lee Hyun trembled like an aspen. âSo she was aiming for this moment! And for over 1 monthâŠâ
Pigs are also slaughtered after feeding them well. She had made him eat many lunches planned on making an excessive request by seizing that vulnerability!
However, Lee Hyun did not want to live with a debt. Interest would grow on the debt, and eventually it would be a quagmire he could never escape.
âIf itâs a suitable request within feasibility⊠Iâll listen to it.â
As if relieved, she pulled out a note she had prepared beforehand.
Half Sauce Half Fried needs a friend. |
âHalf Sauce Half Fried?â Lee Hyun tilted his head.
Wasnât that distinctive name passed down from the chickens he raised at home?
He soon realized that she was talking about the chicken she had taken at the MT.
âYou need a chicken?â
Seo-yoon nodded.
Lee Hyun didnât hide his breath-choking tension and asked again. âA female that can lay eggs?â
Seo-yoon had just wanted to bring him a friend. She hadnât thought of the gender divide in advance. However, since Half Sauce was a male, if it came down to it, bringing a female would be better. Seo-yoon nodded again.
At that, Lee Hyunâs eyes trembled. He was forcing himself to resist an incomparably anguished expression.
âA laying female is more expensive⊠the one weâre raising right now in particular is the whelp that ate up half the balloon flower root I picked up in the mountain last time.â
[T/N: Balloon flower root is a common medicinal herb.]
Even so, if he calculated the price of the lunches, a single chicken could be considered fairly inexpensive.
Lee Hyun answered in the affirmative. âAlright. Well⊠I will bring her tomorrow.â
But Seo-yoon was shaking her head.
I want to bring her after seeing her myself. |
At the contents of the note that she had prepared beforehand, Lee Hyun thought for a moment and agreed.
âFine. You can pick her yourself.â
He was under the illusion that their relationship lacked trust.
âIt seems she wants to pick the best chicken since sheâs packed many lunches. The most nutritious and expensive chicken.â
The chickens had been raised well to an extremely high caliber. The laying females would even fly around flapping their wings soon after laying an egg. Since they all had about the same value as the market price, he had permitted her to come to his house.
* * *
Lee Hyun walked with Seo-yoon all the way to his house.
The men who saw her on the street stood dumbly and rubbed their eyes several times before staring at her again. Both men and women were unable to take their eyes of them. They looked like they couldnât believe their eyes as they stared at the far too beautiful Seo-yoon. Their gazes stolen by Seo-yoon, they couldnât overcome their curiosity and studied the man who was walking by her side.
âJust what kind of lucky person is walking around with a woman like that?â
Lee Hyun was extremely normal, and was wearing a well worn t-shirt and faded blue jeans.
âWhy is a bastard like that⊠did he seize some kind of vulnerability?!â
âHeâs rich! His family is definitely rich. Heâs either a wealthy person with thousands of millions of Won at a young age or his inheritance is enormous.â
âThe power of love is great.â
Looks of jealousy and envy shot at him, but Lee Hyun stood firm whenever that happened. âAppearance isnât everything in the world. The heart is important.â He knew Seo-yoonâs true identity. She was vicious, violent, and even underhanded. The worst, as far as her humanity went!
Even if her face was so pretty that it made breathing difficult, it was absolutely no good if you fell for her because of that.
âEven if a woman can cook pretty well, has a lot of money, is skinny, has a good figure, and is pretty, wears some pretty good clothing, and is smart, itâs not necessarily good.â
If she was bright enough to get into the University of Korea, then she had to be considered brilliant. Even though they took math together, Seo-yoon solved the practice problems in the workbook way too easily. She was even quick to understand and solve parts that the class was going nowhere with.
âIn some ways, itâs more regrettable for me.â Lee Hyun walked with his head held high.
Seo-yoon was unexpectedly following him well. That she wasnât wearing high heels was part of the reason, but her stride was also quite fast. At the simple thrill of going to Lee Hyunâs house, her face was flushed to the point where it was obvious. It was her first time visiting a manâs house, and she had happy expectations on what kind of chicken she should bring as a friend.
âWeâre here.â
Lee Hyun went into a secluded neighborhood opened his own houseâs door lock by lock. There were a whole 7 locks on the front door! A separate password and even a card key were required.
As Seo-yoon approached the doorway, Lee Hyun blocked the entrance with his body.
âIâll say this in advance, but you canât go into my house and just touch things. I know where everything is, okay?â
Lee Hyun was suspicious and even treated her like a thief! That was primarily because outsiders didnât often come into his house. Choi Ji-hoon had sometimes visited while meeting Lee Hye-yeon, but she didnât bring him that often after the electronics repairs ended.
Lee Hyun was on full guard.
Seo-yoon nodded. ââŠâ
âCome in for now.â
Seo-yoon walked through the door.
Woof, woof, woof!
A big dog the size of a calf swiftly ran over, lay on his belly, and barked cutely. His adorable bark didnât match his large physique.
The charm of Dogmeat, the name that Lee Hye-yeon had given him himself!
Lee Hyun explained hurriedly, âHeâs a dog weâre raising. Heâs an extremely dangerous fellow, so itâs safer to stay back.â
When Seo-yoon extended a lovely hand, Dogmeat even wagged his tail fiercely.
A dogâs sense of smell is 10,000 better than a humanâs. He smelled the subdued fragrance of the short rib patties and the smell of the previously departed Half Sauce Half Fried on Seo-yoon and was going to be friendly with her.
Just like when dogs become instinctively wary when they see a dog meat trader, when he saw Seo-yoon, he came running in at the good feeling she gave off and was writhing in welcome. He was prancing around Seo-yoon wagging his tail as he enthusiastically marked his greeting of welcome.
Lee Hyun shouted, âHey, hey! Stop that, Dogmeat, youâre gonna bite someone again, right? Just last week you bit someone and hospitalized them. No. Go away!â
Woof, woof.
Dogmeat just wagged his tail and quietly returned to his doghouse. Even after being falsely accused of having bit someone, Dogmeat was utterly docile.
âA chicken is a few thousand Won at the market, but you can get 200 thousand Won ($~200) for a dog! Not on your life!â
Dogmeat had extraordinarily plump flesh and was exercised, so his muscles were good. They hadnât even sold him when a dog meat dealer came and offered 350 thousand Won (~$350), so there was way too much of a shame to give him to Seo-yoon.
ââŠâ
Seo-yoon approached a wire meshed enclosure with hasty steps. Within the wire mesh, rabbits were hopping around.
Seo-yoon quickly wrote on a note with a pencil.
Can I touch them? This is my first time being this close to a rabbit. |
âGo ahead. Ah yeah, be careful âcause it hasnât been long since the rabbits gave birth to babies.â
Babies? Where? |
âTheyâre inside the pen.â
Seo-yoon looked at the rabbits in fascination, like a kid eating a hamburger for the first time.
Lee Hyun was OCD about sanitation, so the inside of the mesh was very clean and in good shape. There was a generous heap of grasses for the rabbits to eat, and baby bunnies with bodies about 2 or 3 fingers wide were wriggling in a shaded corner. Even though they were just babies, they had long ears and their hind legs were moving as if to hop around on the ground!
âAahhhh.â
As if she were singing, an exclamation flowed from Seo-yoonâs lips! It was like a pretty and clear whisper.
She clung to the rabbit hutch, peering in with sparkling eyes. Unable to touch the babies because they might get scared, her expression was one of extreme regret.
âYou can touch them.â
ââŠâ
However, Seo-yoon was unable to readily touch them.
âItâs okay. Theyâre babies who havenât even opened their eyes yet.â
That wasnât why Seo-yoon was worried, but Lee Hyun put his hand through the mesh and pulled out a baby.
âHere.â
When he lowered it onto the back of Seo-yoonâs hand, the baby bunny kicked weakly as it wriggled. Seo-yoon embraced the baby bunny as if it were precious and stroked it. But she soon put it back into the rabbit hutch, because the baby bunny might feel anxious.
Even afterwards, Seo-yoon didnât leave the rabbit hutch and squatted there to no end.
âSurely she wonât ask me to give her one!â Lee Hyun became increasingly alarmed. His little sister hadnât returned from school yet. âAlone at home with a girl⊠I absolutely must be careful!â
A guy and a girl.
It was a preposterous situation.
Lee Hyun said firmly, âLetâs hurry and go see the chickens!â He did his utmost to make his intention to pull her away from the rabbits clear.
Seo-yoon wanted to keep looking at the baby bunnies that hadnât even opened their eyes yet. She had fallen in love with the adorable sight of them curled up with the mommy rabbit. The sight of nonchalant mommy rabbit with its cheeks stuffed with carrots! However, Seo-yoon left behind her great regret in order to let the rabbits rest comfortably and went to the backyard where the chickens were.
Clu-clu-cluck.
Cock-a-doodle-doo!
The Korean chickens were going up trees and flying around like birds. Chicks were toddling about on the ground.
As soon as Lee Hyun and the never before seen Seo-yoon came, they rapidly fled into a corner or above the trees. It was a sight of wholehearted wariness. As they hid in the corners, poked out their heads, and examined the movements of the humans, they didnât intend to come out.
However, through Half Sauce Half Fried, Seo-yoon was familiar with the habits of the chickens. She tore the short rib patty sheâd prepared into small pieces and sprinkled it on the ground.
Clu-clu-clu-clu-cluck!
The chickens leapt out of the trees and from the woods like savage beasts and pecked down the pieces. Even the chicks dove in with their small beaks and were tearing into the ribs.
Seo-yoon patted the chickens and chicks. Despite the fact that she was a stranger, they had quickly became friendly through the patties and stuck to her side like burrs.
âTheyâre taking a liking to me.â
Not knowing what to do, Seo-yoon petted the chickens with joyful eyes.
Lee Hyun was distressed. âThe same short rib patties that was in the lunch I ateâŠâ
A life where he had come to eat the same food as a chicken! Even so, at the sight of the nearly expressionless Seo-yoon really having fun being with the chickens, he followed suit and felt good.
She, a girl who had silently stared without being able to approach, was being touched so deeply while being with the chickens that tears were welling in her eyes.
Even Lee Hyun was getting choked up for nothing. âThis feels even stranger than the first time I fried a chicken for my little sis.â
He knew that Seo-yoon wasnât a very bad person. However, that was not easy for him to acknowledge. âWhether sheâs a bad person or a good person⊠she canât be close to me.â
Realistically speaking, they were living in circumstances that were too different. Lee Hyun could roughly estimate how expensive one of the clothes she wore was well enough. âEven the brand name clothes that show up on television are over 100 thousand Won ($~100)⊠with fabric that good, a brand called Dior, and the design, it must be at least 150 thousand Won!â
There was too big a difference in their household situations. A girl like Seo-yoon would like a great guy who Lee Hyun couldnât even compare to. âA qualified guy will show up.â It was the same with Jung Hyo-rin and other girls.
Lee Hyun made a big decision. âJust pick one. And if thereâs one you like⊠you can pick two.â
Having been petting the chickens in bliss, Seo-yoon looked back at him with happy eyes. Eyes that asked if he really meant it!
Lee Hyun gazed far off into the distance as he spoke. âSomething like a chicken⊠two or three are nothing.â
Unusually enough, Lee Hyun was showing great generosity. That was because trying to make up for the lunch price with a single chicken still made him feel indebted.
Seo-yoon chose three chickens.
Every time she picked a chicken, Lee Hyunâs face became bloodlessly pale. âThat oneâs a laying hen⊠and Boiled Chicken, and even the plump chick that shows promise for a great disposition later!â
A laying hen was of course a valuable creature. He intended on catching it when his little sister married and brought home a husband in the future. But the chickens would keep reproducing until then, and there were two other laying hens left, so it was okay⊠Even so, the moment Seo-yoon chose the laying hen, he felt a sadness and pain that broke off a piece of his heart.
Lee Hyun spoke mournfully. âIâll⊠package them for you.â
To make it convenient for Seo-yoon to take them, he tied the chickensâ legs and necks with string and connected them to each other. Looking like a chicken sled, it couldnât be any weirder, but Seo-yoon took the string.
She wrote on a note.
Iâm truly grateful. Thank you so much for listening to my request even though it was excessive. |
âItâs nothing. This much is meh. If necessary, one moreâŠâ Lee Hyun hastily revised his words. âNext time you can take one more chick.â
Really? |
ââŠâ
Seo-yoon, who wanted to take one right away when he said she could!
As Lee Hyun conversed via notes, he thought it was a little strange. âWhy doesnât she speak?â Heâd originally thought that she was hiding the fact she could speak on purpose to fool with him, but she wasnât. In the MT and the festival, he hadnât heard her speak even once. Even as they ate lunch together, she didnât speak. To be honest, that they conversed through notes after she left a note in the lunch box could be called a tremendous advancement.
âShe spoke just one word in Royal Road, but her voice was extremely nice on the ears⊠itâs probably something like her actual voice is really dry, right?â
When Lee Hyun was about to leave the backyard to see Seo-yoon off, Dogmeat approached while whining. Seo-yoon also seemed to think Dogmeat was cute because she wasnât able to move away.
Lee Hyun spoke with a trembling voice. âD-do you happen to like this dog?â
ââŠ?â
âDo you want to⊠take Dogmeat too?â
Lee Hyunâs shocking transformation! He would even give Seo-yoon Dogmeat, who he had cherished and raised for the days of summer.
[T/N: Summer is a popular time for eating dog meat, which is said to energize and revitalize. As a reminder, this is a cultural difference we hope everyone will understand.]
Can I really take him to keep? |
âYou can. Because it seems like this dog likes you.â
More than anything else, Seo-yoon looked delighted beyond measure at the words that it seemed the dog liked her. Surprised and touched, she went as far as to drip tears.
Lee Hyun spoke in a low voice. âThis rascal eats a lot, so itâs good to feed him often. Heâll overturn a food bowl thatâs too small, so prepare a big one for him, and let him go play in the backyard on rainy days. Donât tie him up at night. He hunts things like mice and weasels. He takes about a 2 hour nap, but if you want to play with him just call his name. Heâll wake up. He likes radish and carrots, so give him some now and thenâŠâ
Every single word of his explanation was like sending off his lover.
âIt feels like my heart is being ripped out.â
Even as he suffered intense agony, Lee Hyun didnât retract his decision.
When giving a gift, you mustnât show a reluctant face. Giving properly was the way to bribe!
âThe second and third S-rank difficulty quests⊠honestly, I think itâll be almost impossible for me to complete them.â
He was grinding to raise his Sculpting skill. However, he couldnât guarantee quest success.
âWith the alliance with the barbarians, the Power of the Deliverer, and the Sentence of Death, and also a lot of luck, I was able to finish the 1st step of the quest.â He couldnât hope to have always such luck in the quest. âThe 2nd and 3rd steps will be even harder.â
From here onwards, he would be in a desperate and lonely position where he had to go up against the quests with nothing.
âIf we could do it togetherâŠâ
If Seo-yoon participated in the quest with him, it would be much more reassuring for him.
Thank you very much. |
Luxury foreign cars had parked in a line in front of Lee Hyunâs house at some point, unbeknownst to him. Seo-yoonâs bodyguards had come and had been on standby. Bodyguards wearing black suits opened a carâs back door. The chickens and Dogmeat boarded the back seat. The chickens and dog were enjoying the luxury of boarding a car worth hundreds of millions of Won that even came with escorts and a chauffeur!
Lee Hyun put a false smile on his lips that concealed his bitter inner feelings as he saw her off. âSee you. Come play again next time.â
At that, Seo-yoon halted from getting in the car, hesitated for a moment, and wrote something on a note.
Can I really come play again? |
ââŠâ
Lee Hyun realized that this was exactly what it meant to be âlost for words.â Didnât that mean she still wanted more even though he had given her so much!
âSurely she wonât come again. Itâs probably just something sheâs saying out of politeness, like a common saying.â
Lee Hyun nodded. âIf you have time, come whenever you want.â
Thank you. See you next time. |
Seo-yoon got into the car and left with her bodyguards. Lee Hyun, who had been standing still in front of the door, blew out a sigh after the cars left.
He recalled the feeling heâd gotten when he met his wicked bosses while doing various jobs after dropping out of high school.
âThose who have the means are really too much.â He had gained a valuable lesson. âMeeting women is really no good.â
The expenses of dating! When you meet a woman, money is spent doing this and that. He hadnât bought Seo-yoon a meal or coffee, and it wasnât like they went to the amusement park together. However, there was the price of the chickens and dog!
âA woman is the enemy of saving money. Enemy.â
Lee Hyun ground his teeth. Animosity towards her was kindling again.
* * *
Seo-yoonâs hospital room was reminiscent of an animal farm. Dogmeat was stretched out after eating warm food and meat, and the chickens were freely flying around as they crowed. Even the yellow chick went around the room cheeping.
ââŠâ
Seo-yoon sat on a chair and read books.
âFood Dogs Likeâ
âA Dogâs Lot is the Life of Comfortâ
âA Dog Barks for a Reasonâ
They were guides for raising a pet dog.
Not only did Seo-yoonâs hospital room have a private exercise room attached, but it also had 4 rooms, a study, and was even equipped with a home bar where she could drink simple beverages. For Dogmeat and the chickens, it was no different from heaven.
Bark bark!
Dogmeat even barked while looking out the window. Though it wasnât big, he had lived in a house with a backyard, so he needed the fresh air outside.
Seo-yoon prepared to go out. âThe book âA Dogâs Lot is the Life of Comfort,â said you have to walk the dog regularly.â
Seo-yoon put a dog leash around Dogmeatâs neck. Dogmeat obediently stayed still as he stuck out his tongue and licked her hand. He was promising his faithfulness to the owner who had dramatically changed his fate as a summer meal!
The nurses looked at Seo-yoon as if it was hard to believe.
âIt seems like⊠sheâs become much brighter than before.â
âIndeed. It feels like her complexion has really blossomed, huh? She was truly beautiful before, but now she could even make a girl fall for her.â
The nurses hadnât known that Seo-yoon, who had been closing the doors to her heart despite their countless efforts, would suddenly become better like this.
Cha Eun-hee also had to acknowledge Lee Hyunâs qualities on that point. âHeâs a truly kind man.â
The teammates she hunted with in Royal Road didnât spare praises of him.
âHis warm heartedness probably thawed Seo-yoonâs frozen heart, right?â
She had also heard a lot about Lee Hyun from Jung Il-hun. How many men were there in the world who would be so dedicated to their families! That was why the fact that he spent his life engrossed in Royal Road couldnât be seen as only a fault.
âSeo-yoon forced herself to go to school, but now sheâs enjoying it. Sheâs really much better.â
That she was raising chickens and a puppy was a very positive sign. Cha Eun-hee guessed that if she was pouring out love while raising pets, the day her heart would completely open up wasnât far. Now Seo-yoon had risen to the level of readily expressing herself with notes. There just needed to be a decisive opportunity that would spring open the gates of speech.
âIs it finally time to report to the chairman?â
Cha Eun-hee had to contact Seo-yoonâs father. He was always receiving reports about his daughter through her bodyguards. If he heard news that Seo-yoonâs heart would soon be healed and that she would even be able to speak, he would definitely be happy.
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