episode_0051

It was truly a coincidence that Lina, who was diligently preparing a meal for the fox-like shoes that she hated to death, caught sight of the hot chocolate powder.

‘I secretly like sweet shoes.’

And the words Do-Hoon had said while bringing back hot chocolate, which was a luxury item in the apocalypse world, lingered in Lina’s head.

You couldn’t mess around with food like seasoning it weirdly, and you couldn’t spit on toast either. But you could with hot chocolate.

It wasn’t a solution that would cause significant trouble, but it would be effective in releasing the frustration that had built up in my chest.

“퉤.”

Lina spat in the warm milk without hesitation. It was a dirty thing to do, but her conscience didn’t hurt at all when she thought of the girl who was slurping down the hot chocolate without knowing anything.

Lina burst into laughter.

“Hehehehe.”

If someone had been looking at Lina right now, they would have taken a step back without even realizing it. Lina’s face right now was not one that would make one feel good even with kind words.

*

Well well.

The outside was crispy, but the inside was moist. The savory smell of well-baked toast and a subtle sweetness lingered in my mouth.

It looked like honey had been mixed into the egg mixture, and the ham and cheese on top penetrated between the rich and sweet flavors, creating a filling meal.

Although men have strange tastes, Lina’s cooking style is within the normal category. Then she stared at the hot chocolate. It was a menu she had never seen before.

I’ve seen old men sipping alcohol before, but this was the first time I’ve seen anything like it.

“Why hot chocolate? Where did you get this?”

“Well, winter is coming, so I prepared a bit. You know, Mrs. Yeongji? She said she went to the mart on the outskirts to look for powdered milk and saw it next to the powdered milk section, so she bought it while she was at it.”

“What does what the lady brought have to do with what the man brought?”

“You can summarize it as ‘I harvested some of the blessings that were sown.’”

The old man spoke with his chest puffed out as if he was proud of himself in such a state.

“Oh, okay.”

Do-hoon was a little disappointed by Sim-deok’s indifferent reaction. He likes sweet things, and that’s probably why he likes fruits, and he really enjoyed the ones I pickled in honey last time.

‘But why is the reaction like this?’

It was a natural reaction from Danhwa’s perspective. Although Danhwa liked sweet things, he wasn’t good at eating hot things.

If this were ice cream, I would have been busy putting it in my mouth, sucking it, and eating it all up. But oh my, it’s hot chocolate.

Moreover, since he is currently pretending to be a patient and committing fraud, he cannot hold the cup with both hands and blow on it to get the temperature right.

If the hot chocolate the old man had roughly poured for her was burned on her tongue after putting it in her mouth, it would have been worse than not drinking it at all. So Danhwa just made an indifferent expression and asked for another drink.

“But Lina worked hard to make it, so why don’t you at least taste it?”

“Whether you eat it, I’ll just drink water. After you eat it, why don’t you tell me that it was as delicious as I did? And the hot chocolate tastes the same…”

Do-Hoon’s expression became strange. No, I put so much thought into saving it, and now it’s become a burden?

However, since it was not something that could be forced on someone who said they did not want to eat, the best Do-Hoon could do was to fill Dan-Hwa’s cup with a pitcher of water placed on the table near the window to meet her request.

Do-Hoon could see that Dan-Hwa’s eyes, which had been drinking water, were once again drawn to the toast. So he played with the fork and knife diligently and put a piece of toast into Dan-Hwa’s mouth, which was open like a baby bird.

Do-hoon made a satisfied expression as he watched Dan-hwa eating toast while licking his lips diligently, saying, “Om-nyum-nyum.”

If she spoke less and was quiet, she would seem really pretty and kind.

Of course, Do-hoon had no intention of demanding that Dan-hwa be affectionate. He only hoped that she would be at least half as well-behaved as Hwa-ryeon, the daughter of Cheon-deuk, or at least half as good.

From Do-hoon’s perspective, it was a situation where he wasted a lot of energy dealing with Dan-hwa, who was always nagging and acting prickly.

“Ah.”

In the meantime, there was Danhwa, who had finished her toast and opened her mouth. White teeth were neatly arranged under her soft, shiny, pink lips.

Do-hoon sighed without realizing it. Yeah, what’s the use of thinking like this? If a person changes, is that a person who is still the same? It’s wrong to ask someone who hasn’t changed in three years since we first met to change.

Of course, that was just Do-hoon’s thoughts, and from Dan-hwa’s perspective, who saw Do-hoon sighing while feeding her, Do-hoon’s actions just now were conveyed in a completely different way.

“Why, is it so bothersome to feed a kid with a sore back? Then you can just leave. I’ll just eat by myself from now on.”

If you don’t like it, you should have said so earlier. You were always making a fuss about getting sick, but now you’re suddenly sighing in front of people and making a fuss.

It was a gesture that made me lose my appetite, so the toast that had been delicious until just a moment ago felt like nothing more than a lump of sugar.

“Oh, no! That’s not it.”

“Take the hot chocolate or cocoa. I won’t drink it. Get out quickly.”

Although the words were polite, Do-Hoon, who had seen many short stories, could tell the hidden meaning between the words.

‘I’m upset, so get out.’

Do-hoon’s back became stiff. He had been thinking of useless things and had hurt Dan-hwa’s feelings. From Do-hoon’s experience, it was obvious that this would last for several days.

He had to come up with some excuse. Do-Hoon racked his brain and luckily managed to come up with a suitable excuse.

“I got a call from the dam this time. They said they had some work to do next spring. Thinking about the work, I couldn’t help but sigh.”

“Dam? Those soldiers?”

“Well, something like escort or something like that.”

Considering that Danhwa was able to solve most problems on his own in the military unit, it was not an ordinary matter for him to seek out the old man.

Those hikikomori-like kids. Even though the world has become like this, there were no major problems with the dam’s operation and the electricity was still strong.

Because the dam was located in a remote location, there was no need for zombies to gather in large numbers, and I heard that the guys were living well by farming.

If we consider the average group of survivors who could afford a small garden in the city or suburbs, the difference in level was about the same as that between the bourgeoisie and the workers.

“There’s a lot to gain and it’s good, isn’t it? Why sigh about that?”

Sometimes, whenever work comes in, you just take it and run around like crazy, and you get impatient because you can’t drag me along, but why is it like this now?

Is it because I got hurt? Hmm, I don’t feel bad about it since it seems like he’s taking care of me in his own way.

“Haha, did you say that because you were full?”

“I’m not full.”

“Ah!”

I interrupted the old man, thinking that if it wasn’t because of me that he sighed, I should probably resume eating. After hearing what I said, the old man hurriedly started slicing up some toast and putting it in my mouth.

Once again, the toast began to disappear between Danhwa’s lips. Do-Hoon sighed in relief upon seeing this. He thought that if he hadn’t been able to hide it, he would have been in trouble.

Somehow, he felt thirsty, so he grabbed the hot chocolate that Lina had brought out for the short story. It was clearly a mug, but somehow, when it came into Do-hoon’s hands, it looked like nothing more than a cup of water.

Do-Hoon felt the warmth coming from his hand and decided that he could just pour it down, so he emptied the hot chocolate in one gulp.

“Hey, who drinks hot chocolate like that? Do you want some kind of jeti?”

“Ahem, I’m thirsty. It tastes good, it’s sweet.”

“How ignorant.”

Do-hoon didn’t pay attention to Dan-hwa’s sarcasm. It was true that he was ignorant and that he had been drinking chocolate milk.

“Yes, the ignorant Dolsoe will offer toast to the madam.”

Do-Hoon put his hands on his knees, bowed his head toward Dan-Hwa, and stuffed the last piece of toast into Dan-Hwa’s mouth.

“Ugh…!”

Danhwa was taken aback by the sudden action, but he didn’t shut his mouth tightly or spit out the toast. Even though it was a rather large piece, he puffed out his cheeks and focused on chewing and swallowing it.

“I wonder if you’re not an uncle, it was the same last time, and suddenly some kind of historical drama.”

“It’s hard to understand the sentiments of Danhwa, who didn’t experience the era when historical dramas ruled the world. Poor millennials who can’t enjoy this culture.”

Danhwa’s expression turned rotten at Dohoon’s words. What the hell is this old man talking about? Even if he had seen something like that, only crazy old men like him would use it in everyday life.

“I ate everything, so clean up. I’m going to sleep.”

“Eat and sleep? You’ll get fat if you do that. But at least move around a bit to help digestion…”

“Why are you wandering around outside on a day when your back hurts in this cold winter? Don’t you think it’s a slip of the tongue?”

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

Whether I gain weight or not, it’s still my weight, sir. And how much weight can I gain if I gain weight here?

To begin with, the possibility that my chest, belly fat, or butt would change into something that far exceeded the standard just by eating and sleeping like this was close to zero.

The human body has something called homeostasis.

If people could become dairy cows by spending a few months like this during the winter, there wouldn’t be a single woman in the world who would cry over having small breasts.

As the dishes were cleared away with a clinking sound, the door opened carefully and Lina appeared.

“Ah! I’ll clean it up. Oppa! Sister Danhwa, was the hot chocolate delicious?”

Lina looked at the empty mug and then immediately made eye contact with me. Her bright smile seemed to indicate that she was expecting a compliment, so I gave her a vague answer.

‘I enjoyed the toast and the hot chocolate was sweet and delicious.’

Then, Lina smiled broadly with satisfaction and said she would do it often before picking up the tray and disappearing.

As I looked at Lina’s back, I had this thought in my head. Was she always like that?

I thought back to Lina’s old behavior for a moment. She had definitely changed. What was the trigger? Did the last time I helped her discipline a little help?

Hey, I know. Just cook some food for me.