episode_0052

[Episode 052] Lover’s Day

“So, are you saying this child is indeed Sari?”

“Uh.. I’m sure. It’s our Sari.”

“Hmm.. I knew she was smart, but I didn’t know she could disguise herself as a human like this.”

Sari is currently receiving a pat on the head from Heesun in human form.

Closing her eyes and enjoying the touch like when she was a puppy, she hums happily and enjoys Heesun’s caress.

Though her expression was neutral, the slight upturn of her lips indicated that Sari was feeling very happy right now.

If she had a tail, it would probably be wagging happily.

“Well.. even though the human appearance is a bit unfamiliar.. since it’s definitely Sari… I’ll prepare breakfast today. Take care of Sari for a while, Heesun.”

“…Breakfast?”

At the mention of food, Sari’s eyes light up and she becomes excited.

“Yes, I’m going to make breakfast. Is there anything specific you want to eat, Sari?”

“…Curry! I like curry!”

“Curry, curry again? Geez… you really love curry, huh? Alright, I’ll make curry for Sari.”

Doesn’t she get tired of it? Always asking for curry.

I like curry too, but Sari seems to have an extreme fondness for it. She’d probably eat bricks if they weren’t curry…

“I’ll leave Sari to you, Heesun.”

“Okay, got it, husband. So, Sari, what should we do together?”

“…Mom!”

“No, no, Sari, not mom, but sister! Jungsil is the eldest and Sari is now the second! Got it? You should call me sister instead of mom now, okay? Actually, Jungsil always wanted a younger sibling because she was always the youngest in heaven. Having a pretty and kind one like you as a sibling… hehe… I’m really lucky.”

“Sister? Happy?”

“Of course! Sari was so cute as a puppy, and now she’s so cute as a human too, right?”

… The conversation heard from behind felt somewhat subtle.

Feeling like she heard something she shouldn’t have, she quickly escapes to the kitchen.

“Let’s see.. Heesun must have soaked the rice somewhere yesterday…”

She lights the fire under the pot with rice placed in a corner and warms up the curry she prepared in a metal bowl by pushing it into the pot.

“I’ve been eating too much curry lately, so I should add some sausages and eggs for a change.”

Usually, I prefer to make things myself rather than buy ready-made products, but I don’t know how to make sausages, so I reluctantly ask for Doldori’s help.

“Come out, sausages!”

Turning the millstone, sausages pop out of the hole like a high-speed 3D printer.

She also takes out the kimchi she made and buried in a jar.

Hmm… this tangy smell…

Back home, I wasn’t a big fan of kimchi, so I thought I didn’t like it much.

But after ten years without even smelling kimchi, strangely, I started missing it.

I guess I’m an inevitable Korean after all.

Of course, there were water kimchi, radish kimchi, dongchimi here, but I wanted that red cabbage kimchi…

Has gochujang not arrived in Yuldo yet? Or has it already come but not become popular and is only consumed in certain areas?

Well, either way, if it weren’t for Doldori, I wouldn’t have been able to eat this kimchi until the end… I’m grateful to Doldori once again.

However, obtaining the kimchi wasn’t easy.

Since I wanted whole cabbage kimchi, how could a large cabbage head come out of the millstone hole?

Excited to make kimchi, I bought a lot of cabbages in the village and extracted plenty of red pepper powder with the millstone, but I needed to know the other seasoning ingredients…

What should I do here? I remember sitting there, lost in thought.

Of course… it was a very stupid thing that happened because of me…

Sigh… I’m saying this now, but I should have just asked for the ingredients for kimchi seasoning instead of needlessly wracking my brain trying to make each one that wouldn’t work anyway…

No matter how much I try to be cautious and restrain myself from getting too used to being a fool, isn’t restraining oneself different from acting foolishly… I truly felt my lack of creativity again.

It was a refreshing renewal of embarrassing history… Ugh… what a foolish act! Let it disappear from memory!

As I shake off my shameful past and prepare to eat, it’s almost time for the rice to be done.

By the time the rice is ready, all I need to do is add sausages and eggs to the pot.

Suddenly, I felt a slight sense of relief and thought about going back to my room as it is…

Hmm… maybe it’s better to have some girl time in the kitchen rather than going back to the room, I thought, so I just waited in the kitchen.

“Sari suddenly turning into a human… I must be so surprised, and Heesun must be too…”

In reality, more than feeling surprised, I felt a sense of regret.

I had grown fond of Sari in her puppy form…

Perhaps because I already liked dogs, I felt a bit bitter and sad, thinking that Sari might never return to her dog form.

That’s when it happened.

Knock, knock, knock.

I heard a knocking on the closed kitchen door.

“Who is it? Sari?”

It must be Sari. Heesun probably just opened the door and came in.

Upon opening the door, sure enough, Sari was standing there in front of me.

“Why? Do you want help? Or are you here to eat iron? Where’s Heesun?”

“Unnie… Can I come in here…?”

A quiet voice.

It sounded timid, yet also blunt.

I felt a sense of tension.

The dynamic between us today and yesterday was remarkably similar.

Yesterday, it was a bright moonlit night, and Sari was standing in the kitchen.

Yesterday’s Sari exuded a mature and sophisticated charm, while today’s Sari felt pure and innocent.

We faced each other with many things reversed from yesterday.

Sari slowly approached me, raised her cute fist, and scratched my chest.

Tap, tap.

As if comforting me by scratching my knees like she did when she was a little puppy.

With the same expressionless gray eyes, she seemed to ask me to embrace her.

Suddenly, tears threatened to spill.

“Yes… whether she’s a dog or a human… she’s our Sari…”

I embraced Sari tightly.

Although her appearance had changed significantly, Sari was still warm.

After a while of embracing Sari and releasing my pent-up emotions…

…

Now, I should probably… let go. The rice is almost cooked.

“Phew… Thank you, Sari. I was feeling a bit down, but thanks to you, I feel much better now. Let’s stop hugging now and eat…”

As I tried to let go of Sari…

“… Master, I like it.”

Sari hugged me even tighter.

Oh… Sari? We really need to get ready for dinner now.

I tried to gently push her away as we hugged.

“Okay, okay, I like Sari too. So, let’s stop now, okay!”

“Chu! Hoom… chewp… chew… I also… always do this with unnie… chewp…”

Suddenly, Sari pushed her face close to mine, pressed her lips against mine, and playfully stuck her tongue in my mouth, leaving me stunned and frozen.

Pop!

Sari fell as she sucked in saliva.

Grinning, she appeared to smile with her typical expressionless face.

With a bang, Sari transformed back into a puppy.

Without acknowledging anything, the gray puppy left the kitchen, making soft footsteps…

“Oh…”

For a moment, I forgot that I needed to prepare breakfast and wasted time in the kitchen due to a sudden sense of self-reproach.

*

*

*

“Oppa! Look over there! It’s snowing!”

As the weather grew colder, the first snow began to fall from the sky.

Heesun, excitedly spinning around happily as she watches her sisters work hard,

Sari, in the form of a puppy, hopping around cutely, trying to catch falling snowflakes by playfully tapping her nose! Tap! Tap!

Oh! Come to think of it, today is Christmas Eve in our hometown time?

Suddenly immersed in nostalgia.

Christmas… A white Christmas with snow falling.

Around this time, the streets are filled with bright carols, colorful lights shining, lovers holding hands, strolling and dating.

Even in the cold weather with snow falling, that place where people bustle about must have a warm and cozy atmosphere.

Maybe I too, wanting a change of atmosphere, stepped outside to watch happy couples on the streets and found myself envious.

Could my longing for home be showing on my face?

Heesun, who had been spinning happily, suddenly comes over and sits next to me.

Sari, hopping like a bunny, has somehow found her way onto my lap.

“Are you thinking about your hometown?”

“Mm!”

Seeing the worried expressions of the two, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Well, with you all here, what’s there to worry about?

“Just a little? Tomorrow is a special day for lovers in our world.”

“A special day for lovers?”

“Yes! Originally a religious event, but everyone enjoyed it regardless of religion. Beautifully decorated sparkling trees, carols echoing through the streets… Lovers holding hands, admiring them together, spending time together… From today, the day before, until tomorrow, every moment together…”

“….”

Heesun suddenly fell silent, looking puzzled. She seemed deeply lost in thought.

Not wanting to disturb her thoughts, I admired her pretty furrowed brow, when suddenly, as if determined, Heesun stood up, clenched her fists, and said to me.

“Oppa, let’s do that!”

“Huh? Do what?”

“There are trees everywhere here! We can decorate them with ribbons, sing… any music together! And lovers… hehe, right here?”

“Mm! Mm!”

As if reminding me not to forget, Sari barks energetically.

Ah… That’s what she was thinking about…

My heart warms up.

Yes! Heesun and Sari are doing this for me, I can’t just sit back!

I also stand up enthusiastically, shouting.

“All right! Let’s make a tree this time and enjoy Christmas properly! Honestly, deep down, I wanted to spend Christmas with my girlfriend too! Couple’s paradise! Solo hell! Finally, today I release my grudges!”

“Wow!”

Clap clap clap clap

“Mm! Mm!”

Heesun cheers and Sari happily runs around the veranda.

Even if they didn’t understand a word I said, my beloved family rejoices sincerely, clapping and cheering, just knowing that I’m feeling better.

“Now, let’s choose a tree first! Um… since a very large tree would be difficult, let’s look for a small tree about Heesun’s height!”

At my words, we scatter to find trees.

But why did Sari go to the kitchen?

Seeking shelter from the cold near the stove?

Well, as long as our cute Sari is helping, it doesn’t matter…

For now, I should quickly find something to shield Heesun from the chilly wind.