Ch.120Old Fashioned 5

The red beef is placed on the clean grill.

The sizzling sound of the fat is a work of art in itself.

“—.”

At that sound, my fox ears flutter as if they might fly away.

Unable to hide this unseemly appearance, I just stared down at the meat cooking on the grill.

Drool drips from my mouth.

Before I knew it, my hand moved toward the grill as if I were entranced.

As I touched the grill with my bare hand, the hot air traveled up through my fingers.

“Ah, hot…”

My hair stands on end from the pain.

Seeing me like this, Jeoksa points to the chopsticks with an exasperated look.

“You should use chopsticks, and besides, it’s not even cooked yet.”

“But wouldn’t it taste better with the blood dripping down?”

I mumbled absentmindedly.

Yes, raw meat with juices dripping down is tastier than well-done meat, isn’t it?

She chuckles.

Then she picks up a piece of properly cooked meat with her chopsticks.

In front of everyone, she pushes the meat toward my mouth.

With her eyes half-closed in a suggestive manner.

“Come on, say ‘ah.'”

If we were alone, I would have obediently accepted it.

But…

With Jisu noona sitting beside me and Anna staring at me intensely.

The gazes of these two people were too burdensome for me to eat it.

“Ah. Hand. Hurts.”

Jeoksa says in a very awkward voice.

I know what those four syllables mean.

You’re not going to eat it?

How dare you?

More frightening than the gazes of those two is Jeoksa’s punishment that will take place at night.

In the end, I immediately put the meat she offered into my mouth.

And then.

I savored the exquisite meat juices, so wonderful that I completely forgot about the gazes of those two people.

Was beef always this delicious?

No, I knew it was delicious, but this is an unbelievably good taste.

After tasting one piece, I don’t remember what happened next.

According to noona, after tasting the meat, I inhaled all the pieces before they were even fully cooked.

The family set we ordered was clearly meant for four people.

But somehow, Jeoksa had already refilled that set twice.

Thanks to that, our meal time was extended, and the seats around us gradually filled with other customers.

I don’t mind the restaurant being packed with people.

The more customers, the more it proves that the restaurant serves good food.

But…

Their gazes.

Everyone’s attention is focused on Anna’s brilliant silver hair and Jeoksa’s red eyes.

“Look—. Isn’t that Anna?”

“That Class 1 killer who’s wanted?”

“Yeah… is she allowed to walk around so openly?”

“And that’s Jeoksa next to her. An executive of the Black Organization.”

Having good hearing isn’t always a good thing.

Their whispers keep tickling my fox ears.

“Murderers… to think such creatures are walking around in broad daylight.”

“What is the Association even doing?”

“Let’s just go somewhere else… something bad might happen…”

There’s no way the two rankers with their exceptional senses couldn’t hear this.

They might stand up and cut everyone down at any moment.

I glance up and look at the two of them alternately.

But their expressions remain calm.

They just look at me and nibble on a few pieces of meat.

It’s probably because of me.

Since this is a rare outing together, they’re trying not to show any discomfort.

I swallowed the meat I was chewing.

And deliberately cleared my throat.

Now I can see everything clearly.

I can look around like an intelligent human being.

The two of them place meat on my plate with their lips tightly closed.

Mountains of meat piling up.

I suddenly wondered if they weren’t giving up their meat for me, but rather had lost their appetite because of people’s stares.

“…”

I sniffled.

And for a moment, I stopped using my chopsticks and just stared at the blazing grill.

“What’s wrong? Are you full already?”

Jeoksa asks, tilting her head.

Her black hair cascades over her shoulder.

“Should we get it packed?”

Anna suggests with cloudy eyes.

But I didn’t answer either of them.

The meat juice from the meat filling both my cheeks moistens my tongue.

I forcibly swallow it and then raise my head.

And I pick up one piece at a time from the meat piled on my plate with my chopsticks.

“Hey, you two.”

I said with a bright smile.

And I placed a piece of meat that I had barely managed to pick up on each of Anna’s and Jeoksa’s plates.

“Aren’t I eating too much by myself? You should eat some too.”

“Now you say that..?”

Jeoksa shook her head with a smirk.

Anna did the same.

“My stomach feels a bit upset today. You should eat more since you’re sick.”

The two of them never showed any weakness to me.

Disappointed by this, I pressed my lips tightly together.

Yeah, so this is how it’s going to be…

I thought back to when I made that Old Fashioned.

With that heart that thinks of others.

I wish these two would be more honest with me.

With that thought in mind, I put down my chopsticks.

And with my small hands, I picked up a lettuce leaf directly.

I place a perilla leaf on the clean lettuce.

I dip a slice of garlic in ssamjang sauce and place it on top.

Then I add a piece of well-cooked beef.

And wrap it all up neatly.

<Siho’s Meat Ssam>

Grade: ★★★ (Ordinary)

Effect: Increases Composure by 5.

Information: A meat ssam made by Siho with two people in mind. Carefully stacked with his tiny hands. The high quality of the beef easily earned it three stars.

“Here.”

I first presented the carefully wrapped ssam to Jeoksa’s mouth.

But Jeoksa deliberately turned her head away, pretending to dislike it.

“I said I’m fine.”

“But you have to eat this.”

It feels like I’m packing a rice ball for a daughter who’s late for school.

I say with a slight smile at the corner of my mouth.

“I know. You’re all uncomfortable being here right now.”

But I didn’t yield to the atmosphere around us.

I wave the two wrapped ssams back and forth in front of the two of them.

“But I want you to know this.”

“No matter what anyone says, I’m on your side.”

I didn’t say anything more after that.

Dimples form beside my tightly closed lips.

The two rankers stare at my sunken cheeks.

Only then were they able to relax their somewhat tense expressions.

“…”

Eventually, Jeoksa turned her head back toward me.

And with her eyes half-closed, she looks at the ssam I made.

Anna is the same.

While Jeoksa was staring blankly at the ssam, she pushed her smooth lips forward first.

And she swallowed the ssam so deeply that it touched my fingers.

Her moist saliva wets my fingers.

After eating first, she glances at Jeoksa.

And smiles smugly like a victor.

At that, the skin under Jeoksa’s eyes trembles slightly.

Only then did she eagerly accept the ssam I made.

I watch the two of them chewing with satisfaction.

It feels like we’ve gone back to the days when we had parties as a group of four.

It’s not like when I was with Hyeonsu, Gyuseon, and Jisu noona, but Anna and Jeoksa feel enough like long-time family.

They’ve filled the empty space in my heart.

Although I’m still as weak as I was back then…

“How is it? Delicious, right?”

Putting bitterness aside, I asked them.

Jeoksa, who swallowed first, elegantly took a sip of water.

“Who do you think chose this place? Of course it’s delicious.”

“Indeed, it’s not bad.”

The two of them tried not to show how much they enjoyed the taste.

But thanks to that, their appetites seemed to have returned as they started picking up a piece or two.

I watched them nibbling with satisfaction, resting my chin on my hand.

Thanks to that, I was also able to somewhat suppress my surging appetite.

“This won’t do…”

Jeoksa mutters while looking at me.

I perked up my ears to hear her words more clearly.

And at that moment, I regret raising my ears.

The words I heard were quite ominous.

“Tonight, we need to send Jisu somewhere else…”

“Huh…?”

Did I hear wrong?

A chill runs down my spine.

“Um, Jeoksa… what did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

“What do you mean nothing? You definitely said something!”

“You don’t need to know.”

Jeoksa’s red eyes look down at me suggestively.

Anna also seems to understand what she said and raises the corner of her mouth mischievously.

I’ve awakened monsters…

The skin under my eyes trembles.

“—.”

“That will be 480,000 won.”

That’s what I heard when we went to the counter after finishing the meat.

Did I hear wrong?

How can the meat cost 480,000 won…!

But Jeoksa hands over her card without a second thought.

And coolly swipes it.

“That’s not much.”

“You call this not much…?”

“To replenish your strength, you need to spend at least this much.”

“???”

Replenish strength?

While I was tilting my head trying to understand her words, Jeoksa says:

“What should we do now? Go to Moment?”

“I guess so, we need to prepare for the afternoon service…”

I glance at noona and Anna.

Jisu noona stands next to Anna with a bright smile.

“We have somewhere else to go!”

“Huh? Where are you two going?”

Have noona and Anna become this close already?

It’s a combination I never imagined…

The epitome of coldness meeting the embodiment of liveliness…

“Anna said she’d train me.”

“If we’re going to protect you, I need to make her at least an S-rank hunter.”

Anna stares at noona with her cloudy eyes.

As if pierced by that gaze, noona swallows deeply.

“Be prepared. You’ll need to do your best to protect Siho.”

Hey, you guys…

Why does noona need to protect me in the first place!

I was anxious that noona might get beaten to death by Anna.

But soon.

I saw her bright smile, happy just to be trained by a ranker.

The desire to learn and grow.

Like in the past when we used to hang out together, she still held onto that heart.

Yeah, I can’t lose either.

I’ll work hard again to create artifact-grade cocktails.

“Well, shall we go too?”

In the middle of making a big resolution, Jeoksa’s hand lands on my shoulder.

I almost hiccupped at that moment.

“W-we’re going to Moment, right?”

“For now.”

I was led to the Genesis by her snake-like flexible arm.

And we head smoothly to the bar, Moment.

Arriving at the bar, I naturally feel at ease.

Being a bartender is truly my calling.

I took a deep breath to savor the smell of alcohol.

Seeing me like this, Jeoksa sat gracefully at the counter table.

The same seat where we first met.

“It’s strange.”

“What is?”

“That seat, it’s where you sat when we first met.”

“Was it…”

She probably doesn’t remember.

It was where she sat when she came as a dummy, not her main body.

Come to think of it, after we became close, Jeoksa always came as her main body.

I heard that she usually goes out as a dummy because she has many enemies around.

“Since we’re here, should I make you a gin and tonic like back then?”

“Sure, make it while I take a phone call.”

“Got it~.”

She left her suit jacket and stood up.

And she goes outside to take a call from the vice-chairman.

I think I can hear the vice-chairman’s cheerful dialect from a distance.

I smile at that sound and enter the staff room.

I hope I won’t break a glass like back then, saying it’s terrible.

Humming a tune, I changed into my bartender uniform.

“Well then, let’s make a proper drink in the meantime.”

A drink made for someone precious.

I start wiping the dust from the glass, concentrating as much as possible for that one drink.

Meanwhile, not knowing who was coming out from the bathroom hallway.

I only sensed someone’s presence when that “someone” approached the counter table.

And as soon as I saw who it was, I froze like ice.

“You are…”

I instinctively felt threatened, and the slave mark embedded in my nape began to twitch.

The uninvited guest had been waiting for me inside the bar for a very long time.