Ch.130Caught

Usami Chisako had been enjoying every day recently.

And for good reason.

‘Senior Donghu is the best!’

It was because she could stay close to the senior she liked.

Of course, it wasn’t about being physically close.

‘That’s really unfortunate.’

Still, exchanging messages together in a nearby space.

Even this could be considered quite a significant development.

Before, it was simply a relationship between a celebrity and a fan.

Now, it felt more like a celebrity and a colleague’s daughter.

She could definitely say they were somewhat on the same level compared to before.

‘I want to become a voice actress quickly so I can do various things with Senior Donghu.’

Like doing dubbing together like her father.

Or being invited when he holds concerts later.

First, she needed to achieve something professionally.

‘Senior Donghu is someone who clearly separates work and personal matters.’

Honestly, she had never met someone who distinguished so clearly between work and daily life.

Usually, even people who weren’t interested would turn their heads at the mention of the Usami family.

But Senior Donghu wasn’t like that at all.

He rarely contacted her personally.

And even on those rare occasions, she had to reach out first.

This was a first for Usami Chisako.

‘Am I… not cute and pretty?’

This wasn’t a subjective assessment but an objective one.

With makeup that emphasized naturalness and cuteness.

A see-through bangs style that added plenty of cuteness.

Plus long straight hair.

‘Being black should make it more attractive.’

Chisako had received countless love letters with this style during middle school.

Of course, she didn’t like any of them,

and rejected them all since they confessed like they were attacking her.

The important thing was that this style was 100% effective on the opposite sex.

But the person she wanted to affect the most showed no reaction.

‘Why, how come?’

A moment of contemplation.

Then the answer came quickly.

‘There are too many pretty people around him!’

To captivate someone solely with looks.

There were far too many beauties around Kim Donghu.

Currently, the most concerning rival was Senior Kim Sujin.

‘Senior Sujin… working on the same project, filming variety shows together.’

Plus, her twin-tailed tsundere attribute was unbelievable.

How could she fit such a heroine-like setting so perfectly?

‘The problem doesn’t end there.’

After that, Senior Ryu Jaerin and Senior Shin Yerim.

All of Senior Kim Donghu’s same-age colleagues were potential threats.

But.

‘I want to get close to him too!’

She couldn’t just sit still when she was interested.

Chisako devised a strategy to actively seize the opportunity she had caught.

The name of this operation:

‘Heart-pounding Maid Operation!’

++++++

On the day of the date.

I was standing there wearing a hood, cap, sunglasses, and mask.

‘People are starting to recognize me in Japan too.’

Whether it was the power of Twitter or “The Noble Gourmet.”

My recognition had suddenly increased, making disguise essential.

‘Of course, more people don’t know me, but once someone recognizes me, everyone gathers.’

When a celebrity appears, even uninterested people take out their phones.

Having experienced this several times in Korea, I was quite familiar with such situations.

‘But it’s almost time for our appointment, I wonder what we’ll do today.’

When I asked what kind of date it would be, the answer was:

>It’s a secret! It won’t be fun if you know in advance!

It seemed like she had prepared something special.

But I couldn’t figure out what it was.

Then.

Tap.

“Please come to the maid café.”

A familiar voice with unfamiliar words came from behind.

“…Chisako?”

“Yes, it’s Usami Chisako.”

But her outfit was very unusual.

‘Well, rather than unusual, it perfectly fits Japanese culture.’

A maid outfit.

Japan means subculture, and you can’t exclude maids from subculture.

Following that logic, Chisako seemed to have appeared in a maid outfit.

‘This is definitely worth keeping secret.’

Muttering that, I casually replied.

“Is it far from here? If it’s far, that’s a bit…”

“Eh, ah… we, we need to walk a bit… do you mind?”

“I’m joking, just joking. Will you please guide me?”

“Yes, yes sir!”

What was in my previous answer that made her flustered?

Leaving that unknown question behind,

“Th-this way!”

Chisako led me along.

And we arrived at a small café in an alley.

“Ta-da!”

As soon as we arrived, Chisako made a sound effect with her mouth and stood in front of me.

And simultaneously.

“Welcome home, Master!”

The line you hear when entering a maid café.

At this perfect implementation, I closed my eyes for a moment.

‘I can’t believe I’m actually hearing this.’

Honestly, I was somewhat curious about maid cafés.

But at the same time, I couldn’t go because of an indescribable embarrassment.

‘And now for me to go privately… that’s a bit…’

But when it actually happened, I felt a strange emotion.

Joy and embarrassment rushing in simultaneously.

While I was trying to calm my mind.

“Don’t worry! I rented the whole place for today.”

Hearing those words, I became fully alert.

‘Rented? She rented the whole place?’

Even for a small café, an individual would need to pay quite a bit to rent it.

‘Come to think of it, there really is no one else here.’

In this moment where fantasy and a strange sense of reality blended appropriately.

I clearly realized that this is what being rich makes possible.

‘No wonder the Usami family’s influence is so great.’

The youngest daughter having enough wealth to rent a private café.

The golden spoon was different, very different.

“Please sit here, Master.”

“…Do I have to use that ‘Master’ word?”

“Yes! This is a maid café now!”

“Ah, uh… right, right.”

Strange, so strange.

‘Why do these things happen when I come to Japan?’

Is it because it’s the homeland of light novels? The pillar of subculture?

The sudden romantic comedy development made the back of my head tingle.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it, Senior!”

“Huh? Um? Yes?”

“Don’t pretend, Senior, you’re smiling a lot right now.”

Me?

I’m smiling?

‘But how can I not smile?’

A maid café is honestly one of those bucket list things.

Even if you feel embarrassed when you actually go, you still have fun.

For some reason, I wanted to strongly defend myself.

“Would you like to try an omurice?”

“Huh? Uh… yes.”

“How would you like the ketchup?”

“Uh, uhh? Um… a, a rabbit?”

“A usami?”

“Yes, uh? Ah… uh… please make it a rabbit….”

Even when drawing shapes with ketchup on the omurice.

“Do you know the magic spell?”

“Magic spell?”

“Yes!”

“Become delicious, become delicious, moe moe kyun.”

“…I have to do it too, right?”

“Yes!”

Even when making the food delicious through a magic spell.

“Usually I should feed you the first bite, is that okay?”

“Uh, uhh? Uhhh?”

“Senior, I mean Master, say ‘aah.'”

“Ah…?”

Even as the small, square piece of omurice slowly entered my mouth.

I desperately defended myself.

So this was just a bonding time with a junior from my department.

Like spending playtime with a colleague’s daughter.

I felt like I needed to think that way to maintain my sanity.

“Finally, cheki! Photo time! Any pose you’d like?”

“Huh? Hmm? Ah… not really… what’s the most standard one?”

“How about making a heart with our hands together?”

“Ah… yes that’s good, I like it.”

I don’t even know what’s good.

No, actually, I was enjoying this situation more than anyone.

Otherwise, why would three hours have passed so quickly?

Chisako continued with perfect execution through very thorough preparation.

The Polaroid camera made clicking sounds and spat out four photos.

We each took two of them.

‘Hmm, I absolutely can’t let anyone see this.’

That was something I instinctively felt.

Beyond the level of not letting anyone find out.

‘Just don’t let it be discovered.’

Look at this person smiling happily while making a heart with his hands.

Who could I possibly show this to?

‘I’ll take it to my grave.’

It was a photo I wanted to keep looking at periodically.

Because today had been so happy.

It felt like I properly experienced what healing means.

I don’t know why carbonated drinks are called “moe soda.”

But eating it with that name actually made it taste better.

‘The omurice… no, the moerice was good too.’

As such dreamlike time continued.

“Ah, come to think of it, should I cook for you?”

“R-really?!”

I offered to cook because I felt bad about only receiving.

“Yes, didn’t you say my cooking is popular on Twitter now?”

“That’s right! The Noble Gourmet is like… introducing restaurants, so there’s a huge line there now, right?!”

“That’s what they say. It’s actually people who ran Korean restaurants overseas now serving Korean home cooking in Japan.”

After “The Noble Gourmet” finished airing.

The restaurant “Our Home” was experiencing an unexpected boom.

I heard you had to wait about 4 hours to eat there.

Because of this, beyond people lining up from dawn,

there were even people who stayed up all night, they said.

‘The menu was almost the same too.’

Anyway.

“I’ll cook for you, you worked hard, so I’d feel better if I could do at least this.”

“Then will you feed me too?”

“Uh… huh? Ah… th-that.”

“Feed me please!”

“….”

After spending such a fulfilling holiday.

Time flew by quickly again to early September.

“Donghu, rest is really good, right?”

“Yes, indeed.”

After ending a long vacation, I finally returned to Korea.

“By the way, have you thought about that?”

“Ah, Ilyang Foods? We absolutely must do it.”

“Really? Absolutely? Do you have a hunch for success this time too?”

“Haha, there’s no such thing. It just feels good.”

“That’s what I mean.”

The Ilyang Foods advertisement was a bonus.

+++++

No matter how nice it is outside, home is still the best.

While I was thinking that and resting in bed.

>Can I come over?

As if she’d been waiting, Sujin contacted me.

To get to the point.

“What is this photo?”

“Huh? What photo?”

“…Did you go to a maid café? With Chisako?”

Busted.