Ch.120Chapter 120. First Cooking?

*Thwack. Thwack.*

Every time the dull sound reached his ears, Tom flinched.

Despite having the door tightly shut, the volume was as if it were coming from right beside him.

Eventually, Tom had to cover his ears.

Meanwhile, beyond the door:

“Son.”

*Thwack!*

“This father is very sad.”

*Thwack!*

Jake was gritting his teeth with his buttocks thrust out.

The tingling sensation transmitted to his backside.

Though he felt like collapsing several times, Jake endured and remained standing until the end.

Soon came the sound of the wooden bat dropping to the floor with a thud.

“What did I tell you?”

“……”

“Answer me, Jake.”

“You told me not to get close to Cuss Kim.”

“You know it well. I’m at least relieved you didn’t completely ignore your father’s words.”

He had made a mistake.

Sneaking out behind his father’s back didn’t mean he could avoid detection.

Through his bodyguards, news of his date with Cuss had reached his father’s ears.

“Why did you do it?”

“……”

“I’m asking why you did something deserving of punishment, son.”

“……”

He didn’t regret what he’d done.

If there was anything to regret, it was not thoroughly silencing the bodyguards.

Even if he could go back in time, he would make the same choice.

He had never felt such joy in his life before.

If he could spend another day touring the station with Cuss, he would make the same choice again and again, even if it meant getting his backside beaten by his father.

“Do you like her?”

“……”

Jake kept his mouth firmly shut.

He didn’t want to answer.

Soon, he heard his father’s deep sigh.

It was a chilling sound just to hear.

“Stand up straight, Jake.”

“Yes……”

“It would be foolish to believe I could control my child’s emotions.”

“……?”

His father’s voice had softened considerably.

Standing face to face with his father, Jake felt slightly uncomfortable.

“I beat you because you pretended to understand in front of your father but secretly disobeyed behind my back. There’s no other reason.”

“Yes……”

“As for the act itself, I cannot comment. Whether you like Cuss or not, I have neither the right nor the means to interfere.”

He was saying something strange.

Jake had thought his father was angry about him meeting Cuss.

If that was the case, did this mean he would allow them to date if Jake declared it openly?

Jake raised his head with a bit more confidence, but—

“However, son. Didn’t it occur to you that there might be reasons why I told you to stay away from her?”

“……”

As soon as he made eye contact with his father, he immediately lowered his head again.

Though his voice had softened, his eyes were still the same frightening ones that were difficult to meet.

“I really hate speaking ill of others, but I have no choice but to tell you.”

“What… do you mean?”

“Do you know what Cuss’s father does for a living?”

“Other than working as an engineer at Tactum company……”

“That man. He’s a convicted rapist and murderer.”

“……!”

Jake raised his head to examine his father’s face again.

His father’s cold expression showed no signs of lying.

He wasn’t the type to lie about such things anyway.

“But still……”

“He raped and murdered a mother and daughter. The daughter was only 17, I heard.”

“But, but if he’s served his sentence……”

“Hahaha! Jake! Do you really believe in the correctional principles of the judicial system? People can’t be fixed. Go to the slums and meet ex-convicts. Then see if you still believe people who have served their sentences are good.”

“……”

“Besides, that man didn’t even serve his full sentence. I don’t know what bribes he paid, but he suddenly received a special pardon from his life sentence.”

Jake felt confused.

He had certainly thought Cuss’s father was an unusual person.

From his manner of speaking and behavior, Jake had expected he wasn’t raised in a proper environment.

But rape and murder?

He didn’t seem like such a heinous person at all.

Of course, Jake knew well that people couldn’t be judged by appearances alone.

But still… but still…

“How could a daughter raised by such a man be normal?”

“Isn’t that too much of a leap?”

“Perhaps. But I’m saying this for your sake, Jake. For your future. I don’t want your father-in-law to be a rapist and murderer.”

“……”

Lies.

It was all for himself.

He didn’t want a rapist and murderer as an in-law, didn’t want obstacles in his own path.

If that was the case, there were ways around it.

Jake could leave home.

He could stop being his father’s son.

Then, no matter where Jake lived or what he did, it wouldn’t threaten his father’s political life.

“Father, I……”

“Make a wise choice, Jake. Don’t do something you’ll regret.”

“……”

But even as his father patted his shoulder and walked past, Jake couldn’t say anything.

The words wouldn’t come out.

It sounded like his father was saying he would make Jake regret it if he didn’t make the choice his father wanted.

“Damn it……”

Jake lay on the bed, grinding his teeth.

He thought he had made up his mind.

What a coward he was…

“……?”

Just then, the door creaked open again.

Startled, thinking it was his father, he sat up, but—

“Brother.”

It was Tom standing there.

Tom, with surprised eyes, stood stiffly frozen.

“What Father just said. Is it true?”

“Ah……”

So he had heard everything.

Jake thought it didn’t matter to him what Cuss’s father was like.

But it seemed to have come as quite a shock to his younger brother.

He needed to calm his confused brother first.

***

“Hmm…… nom……”

“Ugh.”

I woke up after being hit in the nose by a heel.

Opening my bleary eyes, I found Cuss sleeping with her foot on my face, scratching her stomach.

Who on earth did she take after with such sleeping habits…

“Nnngh……”

As I stretched and got up, I saw the sun was already high in the sky.

Ah. I’d wasted the entire morning again.

Playing computer games with Cuss until dawn was the culprit.

After discovering some nostalgic two-player flash games that could be played with the keyboard’s WASD keys and arrow keys, we couldn’t help ourselves…

“Oof. Let’s eat, let’s eat.”

“Mmm…… okay……”

With Cuss naturally clinging to my back, I got out of bed.

Now, like any other day, we’d eat something that could be either breakfast or lunch, and then lounge around…

‘Wait. This isn’t right.’

This is exactly like the life of a worthless unemployed person who goes to interviews with inadequate qualifications, gets rejected, consoles himself that he’s job hunting, while at home, acting like a lord because of his higher education, sucking the life out of his mother who has worked all her life to feed and raise him.

It’s a lifestyle worse than that of a pig or dog.

Even though I’m the type who hates working, maintaining this lifestyle for a week has started to make me feel a crisis as a human being.

Even if not for my sake, we shouldn’t live like this for Cuss’s sake.

A healthy teenager should go outside, travel, and cultivate some culture.

“Right. Let’s go on a trip.”

A trip. A trip.

I thought as I picked up the remote and turned on the television.

I needed to bring some change to this eat-sleep-repeat life.

“A trip? Where to?”

“Hmm…… where should we go?”

“If we’re going somewhere, it has to be the beach!”

“Ahhh! You scared me!”

I nearly fell over from the sudden voice behind me.

Turning around, I saw Juliane wearing an apron, giggling.

Wait a minute. An apron…?

“J-Juliane! Don’t tell me?”

“Hehe. While you two were sleeping, I made some delicious food……”

Thud.

Cuss’s arms went limp, and she collapsed on the floor.

The look in Cuss’s eyes as she gazed up at Juliane was nothing but pure terror.

Utterly hopeless terror.

“I-it’s instant food, right? Right?”

“No! This time I prepared the ingredients myself!”

“Jinsoo. I’m going out for a bit.”

“Ah, Cuss! You should eat before you go!”

“That’s exactly what I’m trying to avoid!”

“Just one bite! Please, just one bite!”

“Are you trying to kill me?!”

Juliane hugged Cuss, clinging to her.

What a sight.

It seemed Cuss had suffered more from Juliane’s cooking than I had, leaving her with a bigger trauma.

For the sake of household peace, I’d have to sacrifice myself.

I’d have to take on the role of tasting it, giving honest feedback, and then dumping it all in the food waste bin.

Steeling myself, I entered the kitchen.

The smell was good…?

“Huh.”

I sighed as soon as I saw what was in the pot.

Fried rice… or was it risotto?

It wasn’t a particularly difficult dish, but I couldn’t let my guard down.

After all, it had passed through Juliane’s hands.

I closed my eyes tightly and took a spoonful.

“Hmm?”

“Jinsoo?”

“This… tastes good?”

I was shocked.

The crisp, crunchy onions.

The rich, creamy sauce that wasn’t too thin.

And the firm rice grains.

It was definitely risotto.

Not just some mixture of rice, cream, and water, but actual risotto.

“H-how did you do this?”

“I… followed the recipe exactly!”

“Good heavens.”

She followed the recipe exactly?

Without changing anything as she pleased?

Is such a thing even possible in this world?

“You’re not Juliane. How could Juliane possibly not cook according to her own whims?!”

“Hehehe! I’ve grown too!”

My lips trembled from the shock.

No matter how many times I told her, she never listened, making me think she had some disease where she’d die if she didn’t cook as she pleased.

I never dreamed a person could change so drastically in a day.

I was so moved that tears kept welling up.

“I have nothing more to teach you. You may descend the mountain.”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, nothing. Let’s eat, Cuss. Juliane actually made this food.”

I wiped away my tears and brought the pot to the table.

Cuss, who had been looking skeptical despite my reaction—

“Mmm? Why is this delicious?”

“Hehehe! Great success!”

After taking one bite, she began emptying her plate ravenously.

Seeing Juliane jumping with joy made me feel warm inside.

Juliane cooking according to a recipe…

She had truly made remarkable progress.

“Hehehe…… By the way, you’re going on a trip? Then you’ll have to go without me.”

“What? Why? I thought you had vacation time.”

“I can’t use it for a while. Work’s been busy.”

“But you don’t work on weekends, right?”

“That’s true……”

“Then let’s go for a weekend trip, one night and two days.”

“One night and two days means domestic, right? Where are we going?”

There was this one guy who had been begging me to visit for years.

It wouldn’t be a bad idea to shut him up by paying him a visit.

“Let’s go to El Paso. I have a friend there who’s been making a fuss about treating us properly if we visit.”

“Really? Texas…… That doesn’t sound bad!”

-Recently, drug gangs in Texas have been rampant…

Click.

At the sound from the television, I reflexively reached out and changed the channel with the remote.

“……”

“……”

But the mood had already gone cold.