Ch.119Chapter 119. First Cooking

# Enhanced Translation

“I thought starting to work from home would make my days more productive.

I imagined waking up early, putting on my glasses, sitting at the computer, and finishing work by 10 AM.

Then I’d leisurely enjoy brunch when Cuss woke up late, spend time going out somewhere together or playing games, and welcome Ms. Juliane home from work—that’s the life I had in mind.”

“Hey. Aren’t you getting up?”

“Mmm… Let’s sleep together, Jinsoo.”

“I need to finish work before I can sleep or not… Wait, what time is it? Why are you sleeping again?”

But things didn’t go as planned.

It was almost 11 AM, and I was still working while Cuss kept burrowing into my arms trying to sleep.

When Cuss had nothing to do, she just slept all day.

Eat, lounge around, sleep.

Wake up, bother me a bit, then sleep again.

I was starting to wonder if she had narcolepsy.

What a productive way to spend her vacation.

“Hey. Go out and meet some friends. Go have fun somewhere, okay?”

“Jake’s been asking me to hang out anyway…”

“No, cancel that. It’s better if you stay home.”

“Hmph…”

That bastard Jake—the more I think about him, the angrier I get.

Cuss went out to buy me a gift, but he probably still thinks they were on a date and is snickering about it.

It’s infuriating.

He needs to know his place.

How dare that parasite-looking guy try to steal Cuss, the top-ranked beauty in the area.

“Jinsoo.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m hungry.”

“Right. I’ve been waiting for you to say that. Time to cook, ugh.”

She has an uncanny ability to know exactly when mealtime is without checking the clock.

I set Cuss down, took off my glasses, and got up from my chair.

My eyes hurt from staring at the monitor for too long.

I needed to take a break and drink some cold water to help me work better.

“Ugh. This is tough. Cooking is such a hassle.”

“…”

“Wouldn’t someone like to cook for me?”

“…”

She’s gritting her teeth and refusing to answer.

Little brat.

“Ah. It would be so nice if pretty, cute, sweet Cuss cooked for me.”

“…”

“Ah… If only the strongest, coolest apex predator in the universe would cook for me…”

“Hmph! I can’t help it! Today, I’ll specially provide Jinsoo with a meal!”

I can’t believe she’s still keeping up that concept.

It was ridiculous, but I decided to let it slide.

I was too lazy to cook today anyway, so I wanted to dump it all on Cuss.

“What’s on the menu, Chef?”

“Um… soy sauce rice?”

“…”

Right.

This girl only knows how to make that kind of food.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

If I left her alone, she’d probably just make soy sauce egg rice all day.

And when the rice runs out, she wouldn’t even know how to cook more.

It’s really frustrating.

I need to teach her how to make something besides instant food so she can feed herself.

“This won’t do. Let’s start by teaching you how to make a fried egg.”

I decided to first teach her how to handle heat.

Well, strictly speaking, it’s not fire since we’re using an induction stove.

“Get two eggs from the refrigerator.”

“Got it.”

Cuss opened the refrigerator door with a clatter, stood on her tiptoes, and struggled to take two eggs from the egg container.

Maybe I should keep the egg container lower from now on.

“Now, watch carefully.”

“I’m watching.”

“Always use a clean pan. If it’s dirty when you take it out, wash it first. Understand?”

“I understand.”

“See these numbers on the induction stove? Anything above 200 will be hard for you to handle. Use between 100 and 200.”

“What unit is that number? Is it Celsius, Fahrenheit, or does it represent power in watts?”

“I don’t know either. Just wing it. Wait, how do you know about power? Do they teach that at school these days?”

“No. I saw the word in that thick book you carry around. I didn’t understand it, so I looked it up in the dictionary.”

“Hmm…”

I see.

Wait a minute.

The thick book I carry around would be about rocket engines.

She actually tried to read that?

I stared blankly at Cuss, suddenly bewildered.

The fact that she found and read books on her own made me think this girl might actually be a genius.

When I was young, I would only reluctantly read recommended books if promised snacks afterward.

“Now, if you just crack the egg directly into the pan, it’ll stick. So we need to add cooking oil.”

“Okay. Cooking oil.”

“Olive oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, I-love-you oil, doesn’t matter.”

“Jinsoo… Was that supposed to be a joke?”

“Sorry.”

Brat. Would it kill her to laugh a little?

“You only need a little bit. Spread it evenly by tilting the pan around like this. Now we’re going to crack the egg.”

Teaching her the one-handed cracking technique would be too much right now.

Better start with the basics.

“Tap it against the edge of the induction stove. Not too hard.”

“Okay.”

“Then hold it with both hands and split it open. See how the egg flows out?”

“Wooow…”

Cuss exclaimed as if she’d just witnessed magic.

I don’t know what’s so amazing about it…

“Throw the shells in the trash right away. Now add a little salt.”

“Okay, okay.”

“When the white becomes opaque, use the spatula to lift it onto a plate. This is called a sunny-side up.”

“That’s easy! I think I can do it!”

“Great. Now you try.”

I handed the pan and spatula to Cuss and took bacon, sausages, and some vegetables from the refrigerator.

It was almost lunchtime, but I was planning to make a breakfast-style meal.

I cooked the bacon and sausages next to Cuss, keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn’t cause any accidents.

“Ugh! Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“The egg won’t crack.”

“This isn’t working. Instead of the stove edge, try tapping it against the edge of the pan. A bit harder.”

“Eek?!”

After timidly tapping it a few times, she suddenly applied too much force and the egg broke completely.

Still, thanks to tapping it on the pan’s edge, she managed to get all the egg into the pan without spilling any.

I quickly grabbed chopsticks to remove the bits of shell that had fallen into the egg.

“What was I supposed to do next?”

“S-salt!”

“The heat’s too high. Turn it down.”

“Okay! Got it!”

“It’s going to burn.”

“Aaah!”

Feeling overwhelmed?

Is a simple fried egg that daunting?

Did you think cooking was a joke?

I wonder if she’s learned some humility now.

“I ruined it…”

The fried egg on Cuss’s plate had a broken yolk that had completely merged with the white.

I patted her head as she hung it low in disappointment.

“Everyone struggles at first.”

“Mmm…”

“It might look bad, but it’ll taste the same. As long as it tastes good, what does gender—I mean, appearance—matter?”

“When you put it that way, that makes sense!”

Cuss regained her spirits and carried her plate to the table.

It was a bit chaotic, but lunch preparation was finally complete.

Now we could eat with the bacon, sausages, and sautéed vegetables.

I hoped that from today, Cuss would discover the joy of cooking and learn step by step.

Ms. Juliane seemed like a lost cause already.

Cuss was our household’s only hope.

And that hopeful girl’s first cooking attempt…

“How is it? The fried egg you made yourself?”

“Blech. It’s too salty…”

It seemed to be a failure after all.

***

“Senior. Um, I have something to ask you…”

Juliane’s legs were trembling.

Her superior, watching this, folded his arms and thought:

This kid must have messed up again.

“What is it?”

“This is about my friend’s friend…”

“Uh-huh.”

It’s definitely about herself.

“You know those prototype listening devices we were supplied with?”

“Which ones?”

“The ones in capsules that you feed to targets.”

“Yeah. What about them?”

“My friend’s friend accidentally got one of those prototypes and swallowed it without knowing. Is there any way to remove it?”

“…”

So she fed it to the wrong target by mistake.

It was obvious at a glance.

Seeing Juliane sweating profusely, her superior sighed and turned away.

“Those were deemed defective. I heard they can’t attach properly to the stomach lining.”

“Really? Seriously?”

“Yes. Tell your friend’s friend not to worry too much. It’ll be expelled from the body naturally.”

“Oh! That’s a relief!”

Only then did color return to Juliane’s face as she sighed with relief.

She had definitely been a promising rookie when she first joined.

It was puzzling how she had become so inadequate.

They say people grow similar when they’re in love.

That might explain it.

“Also, senior, I’d like to take some vacation time.”

“How many days?”

“About three weeks.”

“…?”

Her superior’s expression hardened.

What? Three weeks?

He wondered if she had finally lost her mind.

“Where did you get three weeks from?”

“If I add up all the vacation days I’ve saved without using, it comes to three weeks.”

“Why are you carrying over last year’s days?”

“I heard unused days roll over. It’s written in the regulations.”

“…”

What a meticulous person.

The vacation regulations were deliberately scattered and hard to find.

She must have tracked down every single piece.

“Sigh… Three weeks is not possible.”

“Why not?”

“Why? Can’t you see how busy we are right now? Asking for three weeks off now will be interpreted as wanting to quit.”

“What an exploitative company…”

“When was it ever not?”

You’re just realizing this now?

Glancing at his disgruntled subordinate, the superior felt something was off.

Last year, she had been a workaholic who took on even tasks that weren’t assigned to her.

Now she was eager to use vacation days as soon as they became available, always looking for ways to take time off.

Maybe it was because she had a child now.

She seemed to have changed a lot in a short time.

“Fine! So if I close all my current cases, you’ll give me three weeks off, right?”

“Sure. Please just finish them.”

The superior scoffed with a smirk.

How many people were stuck on the cases she was handling?

They had caught all the members of the research team conducting human experiments, but they were struggling to capture the leader who organized the team and their sponsor.

They seemed meticulous, not even revealing their identities to the researchers, making them difficult to apprehend.

“Could you assign a few informants under me?”

“What?”

“I think there are a few angles we can dig into. I’d like to give it a shot.”

“Ah…”

Seeing the look in Juliane’s eyes, her superior let out a sigh.

The old Juliane was back.

The fierce hunting dog, Juliane.

He should have been happy that his capable subordinate had returned.

But suddenly he felt a chill and unease.

“You won’t cause any trouble, right?”

“I’ll try not to.”

“Hey! Hey! Promise me! Promise!”

“Then I’ll take that as a yes. I’ll start today. I’ll submit an investigation plan outline right away, so be ready to sign it.”

“Ah…”

Perhaps he had awakened something that should have remained dormant.

Watching Juliane walk away energetically, her superior felt a shiver run down his spine.