DKM 3

“Myoha!”

Myoryeong, who had been stamping his feet in front of the inn, rushed toward me. Tsk. The waiter, who had escorted me to the door on the owner’s orders, clicked his tongue and slammed the door shut. The sound snapped me back to my senses. I ran toward Myoryeong, calling his name.

“Myoryeong!”

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“What happened?”

“He told me to start tomorrow!”

I tried my best to speak calmly, but my voice grew louder instinctively. Myoryeong’s eyes widened.

“What? Really?!”

“Yeah, but he said you should work in the kitchen. visit [unauthorized copy]our siteSince they don’t need two people out here.”

“He said I can work too?!”

“He did! He even said he’d pack us some leftovers!”

I couldn’t take it anymore; I simply couldn’t contain myself. We threw our arms around each other and screamed. People glanced at us, but we couldn’t control our excitement. It wasn’t until after sunset that we finally calmed down. I wanted to celebrate more, but we were too hungry. I held out the rice cakes I had received earlier to Myoryeong. Myoryeong greedily tore into the rice cakes.

“The owner is truly kind. Taking in two kids who aren’t even adults, and giving us rice cakes like this.”

“…….”

“Let’s make sure to repay the owner’s kindness once we’ve succeeded.”

I kept my mouth shut the entire way home. It was because of the promise I had made with Soseo earlier.

‘I’ll help you. But don’t tell your brother about me.’

When I asked why, Soseo lowered his voice and spoke as if sharing a secret.

‘Why else? Because I want us to be alone like this next time, too.’

I couldn’t help but be impressed. To think a young child of only thirteen would say something like that. If this had been a romance fantasy, and if those were lines a future male lead was saying to the female lead, I would have marveled, thinking, ‘Oh my, the seeds of an obsessive male lead are already sprouting. How desirable!’ It was a wonderful line. And his family seemed quite influential. The white-haired owner had been busy nodding his head unconditionally at Soseo’s words, despite Soseo being much smaller than him. The more I thought about it, the more Soseo was the perfect male lead material.

“But this is a martial arts worldview, and I’m not the female lead.”

“Where is this coming from all of a sudden?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing.”

What a shame. That it’s not a romance fantasy worldview. Huh? Wait. I stopped walking.

“What is it now?”

As I said, this is a martial arts worldview, and I am not the female lead. Then why did Soseo say those things to me? Just as I was about to fall into a labyrinth of confusion, I remembered what Soseo had said.

‘It’s the first time I’ve met a child my own age.’

It seemed Soseo simply wanted to play alone with the first friend he had ever made. I understood that feeling a hundred, a thousand times over. When I was little, I often felt jealous when Myoryeong played with other friends. With the mystery solved, I entered the house with a light heart.

“I love that we don’t have to worry about meals starting tomorrow.”

“Me too.”

As soon as Myoryeong reached the room, he flopped onto his back. He spun around on the floor like a top.

“Ah, we aren’t dreaming right now, are we? Pinch my cheek.”

I pinched Myoryeong’s cheek with all my might. Myoryeong yelled that I pulled too hard and flung a worn-out blanket at me. I giggled and dodged to the side. It’s truly amazing. Now that the worry over meals is solved, I suddenly have the leisure to play pranks.

“Let’s sleep early today. I have to go to the inn early tomorrow morning to greet everyone.”

“We should.”

“I should take a proper bath, too. I hate washing with cold water, but it can’t be helped. You’re washing tomorrow too, right?”

“Yeah, I will.”

I prepared for bed while chatting with Myoryeong. As I went to my room to lie down, a bowl caught my eye. A piece of rice cake remained in the bowl. It was the piece I had intentionally left behind. Ah, I forgot about this. I quickly grabbed the bowl and went back outside. I crept toward the neighbor’s house.

“……The neighbor uncle is probably asleep by now, right?”

I had figured out long ago that the neighbor, who had a fiery temper and committed all sorts of atrocities, fell fast asleep once night fell, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious. I peeked my head stealthily into the neighbor’s yard. I could hear the uncle snoring from here. Phew, he’s sleeping like the dead. Relieved, I stepped fully into the yard. Just as he had once done in our yard, I saw Yoo Seolhwa crouching and dozing off under his own wall.

“Ah, he’s here.”

I approached Yoo Seolhwa, intentionally making noise. Yoo Seolhwa slightly lifted his face from his knees. His eyes widened.

“……You.”

As Yoo Seolhwa instinctively tried to stand up, I quickly put my finger to my lips. Taking advantage of his hesitation, I first took the rice cake out of the bowl and handed it to him.

“Eat this.”

Yoo Seolhwa kept his mouth shut and whipped his head away. Normally, I would have just left it in front of him and gone, but right now, I am the clueless bastard who aggressively pushes himself onto the protagonist. I grabbed Yoo Seolhwa’s hand without hesitation. Yoo Seolhwa twisted his body in resistance, but since when did a clueless person ever respect boundaries? I forced the rice cake into Yoo Seolhwa’s hand. Then, acting as smug as possible, I said:

“Don’t refuse, just take it. I held back my own craving for this just to bring it to you. Do you know how precious and delicious this rice cake is? You’ll be surprised the moment you take a bite. That’s how tasty it is.”

How’s that? Pretty obnoxious, right? And nothing is as burdensome as one-sided kindness. I think this is enough for today. Satisfied, I gave a little wave.

“Good night.”

“…….”

Leaving behind Yoo Seolhwa, who stared at the rice cake in silence, I returned home and muttered as I lay down in my bedding.

“Today was a truly productive day.”

I got a job and made a great, kind friend. I also didn’t forget to aggressively push myself onto Seolhwa to avoid getting entangled with him.

Let’s just keep doing it like this from now on.

I made a firm resolve and closed my eyes.

“Waiter, check please!”

“Yes, coming right now!”

I put down the rag I was using to wipe the table and ran to the customer. The customer, who was quite drunk, placed a few coins in my hand and staggered out of the inn. After greeting the customer, I ran back inside to wipe the table.

“Two more bottles of plum wine here!”

“Yes!”

As soon as I finished wiping the table, another order came in. This place always had many customers, but today was exceptionally busy. Even though it was quite late, there was no sign of the crowd thinning out. Then, Jinmi, who worked in the kitchen, lifted the curtain at the entrance and shouted.

“Can I take Myoha? We’re too short-handed!”

“Noona! We’re busy to death too!”

“Oh, come on, one person is fine. Myoha! Come here!”

“It can’t be helped. Myoha, go help her out for a bit.”

“Yes.”

I gave a ninety-degree bow to the older brothers and followed Jinmi. Myoryeong was busy washing dishes with his sleeves rolled up. I quickly rolled up my sleeves and sat down next to Myoryeong.

“How’s the kitchen work?”

“Everyone is nice to me. You?”

“I’m doing okay too. Even the older brothers who were territorial at first are being nice now. I guess working hard is the answer.”

“The customers aren’t being mean?”

“The older brothers block the nuisances, so it’s fine.”

We rinsed and dried dishes without stopping. However, the pile of dishes to be washed remained like a mountain. This was because Jinmi appeared frequently and stacked them high. As I moved my hands mechanically, Myoryeong muttered.

“I want to read BL.”

I muttered back.

“I want to read romance fantasy.”

Humans are truly animals that never know satisfaction. Now that the problem of survival is solved by getting a job at the inn, we need entertainment. What should I do when I go home? I want to avoid falling asleep while lamenting how bored I am, like I did yesterday.

“Good job, you can go now.”

“Yes, Noona.”

After finally finishing the dishes, I went outside. The inn, which had been packed with people, was suddenly empty. Hanmin, who was slacking off in a chair, spoke to me.

“Finished in the kitchen already?”

“Yes. What about the others?”

“They all went to rest. You should rest too.”

“Is that okay?”

“Of course. Get some rest before the customers swarm back.”

“Okay.”

Yes! Break time. I thought there would be no break today because there were so many customers. I headed straight up to the second floor. While other waiters sleep or drink tea in their small rooms during their break, I spend my time with Soseo on the second floor. It was to keep the promise I made to Soseo.

‘Thanks to you, my brother and I got to work here. Thank you so much.’

‘No problem. You didn’t tell your brother about me, right?’

‘Yeah, I didn’t. But is that really enough? I want to give you a proper reward.’

‘What’s with the reward? Just come see me whenever you have time. That’s more than enough for me.’

I arrived at Soseo’s room. I shouted in front of the door.

“Soseo, I’m here!”

“…….”

“Soseo?”

Strange. I looked at the motionless door with questioning eyes. Normally, he would have opened the door immediately; perhaps he was sleeping? I called Soseo’s name once more.

“Soseo! Are you inside?”

“……You’re here, Myoha?”

Soseo’s voice came from behind the door.

“I didn’t think you’d come today, but you did.”

“Is something wrong?”

“……I’m just not feeling very well. I think I’ll be fine after resting for a day.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Could you just go back today?”

I stared at the still-closed door and asked.

“Can’t I just see your face once before I go? Have you eaten?”

“……Myoha.”

Soseo pleaded in a strained voice.

“I’m really okay, so could you just leave?”

“……Alright, see you tomorrow.”

In the end, I couldn’t meet Soseo and walked down the stairs. However, Soseo’s strained voice kept coming to mind, and I became worried. In a way, it was natural. Although we hadn’t known each other long, Soseo had helped us a lot. I didn’t know what was happening, but I hoped it was nothing serious. Hanmin looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Why the long face? Didn’t you rest?”

“No, I did.”

“The floor is a bit dirty. Sweep it once with the broom.”

“Yes.”

I hope I can definitely meet Soseo tomorrow. I swept the floor listlessly.