Ch.169Would You Like to See My Cat? – 2

“Meow.”

The sound of a cat’s cry in my ear. No, it was Rina Lee’s sweet voice.

As her soft, warm breath suddenly touched him, Seojin Baek unconsciously took a step back.

But the cat standing before him had no intention of allowing even that.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Rina moved in closer again, still holding onto Seojin Baek.

Thanks to her, he had the foolish thought that cats might truly be the most dangerous predators.

“Are you going to leave without seeing the cat?”

“…You’re a bit big for a cat.”

At that, Rina made a “Huh?” sound and gave an extremely dangerous smile.

“I am a bit big, aren’t I?”

She said, subtly pushing her chest forward.

‘If I say this, will our Seojin oppa get flustered again and deny it?’

Hehehe, she was thinking about how to tease this Mole again when suddenly—

The answer that came from Seojin Baek’s lips completely defied Rina’s expectations.

“Yeah. You are big.”

“…Eh?”

“What do you mean ‘eh’? You said you were big, so I agreed. What’s the problem?”

He showed no signs of being flustered at all. If anything, Rina was the one who was flustered.

Until now, this man named Seojin Baek would always get flustered at whatever she did.

She had planned to pounce on him while he was flustered this time too.

But the man before her neither seemed flustered nor willing to be devoured so easily.

“What’s this? Did you even put on cat ears in the meantime?”

He tapped the cat ears that were perked up on her head.

Then he patted her head once, saying, “You came thoroughly prepared.”

While Rina stood there dumbfounded by Seojin Baek’s actions—

“Aren’t you going to meow?”

“What?”

“When someone pets a cat like this, the cat should meow.”

“Um… m-meow?”

“That’s right. Good job.”

Rina, who had unconsciously made a cat sound, hurriedly grabbed Seojin Baek.

“N-no! Wait! Wait a minute!”

“What now?”

“What’s going on?! Why is Seojin oppa so natural at this?!”

No way, it couldn’t be. Could it possibly be that someone had already beaten her to it?

Did that woman, Soohyun Kim, use the cat concept before her?!

No way! After all the thought and practice she put into perfecting this!

“Did she do this first?”

“Soohyun? No. How would she know to do something like this first? Besides, Soohyun is…”

Suddenly stopping mid-sentence, Seojin Baek thought for a moment and decided, ‘That’s enough,’ holding back his words.

It hurt his pride to admit he was practically devoured by the Crimson Witch.

And if Rina knew about it, she would definitely tease him.

She was different from Soohyun Kim. This woman always had to be in the lead.

Once you start getting swept away by her, she becomes truly uncontrollable. Being devoured once was enough.

With that resolution, Seojin Baek looked at Rina and said:

“Come to think of it, we’re just standing here without eating. Can I check your refrigerator?”

When Rina nodded, Seojin Baek casually examined the refrigerator.

Given her personality, he thought she’d be far from cooking, so he expected there wouldn’t be much.

‘What’s this? Why are cooking ingredients so neatly prepared? These side dishes look freshly made.’

Could she have some hidden talent he didn’t know about? As he was thinking this,

Rina, who had peeked in beside him, cleared her throat and spoke.

“My mom made all of that.”

“Then these ingredients…”

“Mom said she’d come up and cook for me, so she told me to buy some ingredients, and I did.”

“…”

Right. So much for hidden talents. This is just Rina being Rina.

“Is there anything you want to eat?”

“Me? Um… I’m not that hungry.”

“It’ll be dinner time soon. We need time to cook, so tell me quickly.”

At Seojin Baek’s urging, Rina went “Hmm” and fell into thought.

After watching her briefly, Seojin Baek continued checking the ingredients.

‘What kind of food would she like? Meat? Or something with flour? I saw pasta and spaghetti noodles earlier. There are also ingredients for sauce. Well, then pasta for the noodles and for the rest…’

“Doenjang jjigae.”

“…Huh?”

Seojin Baek quickly straightened up and stared blankly at Rina.

She looked like someone who would prefer pasta, spaghetti, or steak.

But her taste seemed more Korean than any Korean.

‘This is cognitive dissonance.’

Blonde hair, blue eyes, clearly Western-looking, yet asking for doenjang jjigae! It was a bit absurd,

But fortunately, stews were among the dishes he was most confident in making.

Tap tap—

He skillfully chopped vegetables and neatly stacked them on the cutting board.

He dissolved doenjang and a bit of gochujang to make the broth and added the ingredients.

And Rina was watching this scene intently from right beside him.

“What’s so fascinating?”

Seojin Baek spoke up, seemingly uncomfortable with the gaze fixed on him.

Rina replied as if it were obvious.

“You cooking. I could never do this even if my life depended on it. My mom said I would have starved to death long ago if it weren’t for delivery food and convenience store meals. So I told her, ‘No need to worry, you can just cook for me for the rest of my life!'”

“…”

Oh my, your poor mother. She must have it tough.

Shaking his head, Seojin Baek finished cooking the stew.

He also brought out all the side dishes Rina’s mother had prepared.

‘Braised beans, stir-fried anchovies, fernbrake, radish salad…’

The cognitive dissonance hit again. Not because of the menu, but because of Rina sitting in front of it.

If she were mixed-race, it might make sense, but seeing a pure blonde, blue-eyed beauty sitting at the table was very strange.

“…Oh! Ohhhhh!”

Rina exclaimed in admiration after taking a bite of the stew Seojin Baek had made.

After a few more spoonfuls, she gave another “Ohhhhh!” and a thumbs up.

“To be honest, it might be a little better than my mom’s?!”

“Don’t ever say that in public. You’ll hurt your mother’s feelings.”

“Do you think I’m crazy? Anywhere else, I’d say my mom’s cooking is way better!”

She said, continuing to eat.

Watching her, Seojin Baek also began to eat.

“…”

Still, no matter how many times he looked, he couldn’t get used to it. A blonde, blue-eyed beauty obsessed with doenjang jjigae.

“Your house has two bathrooms too, right?”

“Um… yes, it does?”

“I’ll use the small bathroom, so you use the large one.”

“You want me to shower?”

“Were you planning not to?”

Faced with Seojin Baek’s confident words, Rina was at a loss for words.

‘This is a bit unexpected!’

She had only imagined devouring Seojin Baek like a delicious prey.

But now it seemed like she was the one being devoured instead.

‘No! This can’t be happening, Rina! Get it together. If you keep fumbling, you won’t accomplish anything and will completely lose to that woman, Soohyun Kim! You need to hold onto oppa somehow. That’s the only way forward!’

Hot! She clenched her fists and decided to make her move.

She went into the shower, washed herself, and checked herself in the mirror.

‘…Good. My weapons are perfect. Anyone would be tempted by this. Ah, really. My parents made me too beautiful, that’s the problem!’

Worried about any strange smells, she sniffed her skin several times even after showering.

She didn’t want to give him any openings. This might be her last chance.

She knew that Seojin Baek had spent a day with Soohyun Kim and then immediately went to the Kang family.

What does that mean?! Not only did the Kang family accept him, but Seojin Baek accepted them too!

He must have liked Soohyun Kim! It means whatever happened that night was very good!

Thinking about this made Rina increasingly anxious.

While she was confident in herself, the possibility that it might not work out was driving her crazy.

“Phew.”

She had even worn the lingerie she’d been saving specifically for this day.

Plus, she had practiced how to seduce a man, researched related materials, and sought advice from people she knew.

Now, the preparations were truly complete. All that remained was the real thing.

Taking a deep breath, Rina headed to the battlefield.

She could already sense Seojin Baek’s presence there, having finished his shower.

‘I’ll open the door, flip my hair once, then lean against the doorframe with one leg slightly bent, one hand on my hip, head tilted a bit, and say, “Oppa, are you ready?”‘

If Seojin Baek heard this plan, he would have scolded her for being so elaborate and unrealistic.

But Rina was serious. She was genuinely desperate and wanted him by any means.

Slam!—

“Oppa, are you rea—”

The problem was that her desperate mind and body weren’t in sync.

The hand that should have gripped the doorframe grabbed at air, and her pose was so exaggerated that she lost her balance.

Even an S-rank would naturally fall when their balance is disrupted.

If one of her hands had been free, she might have been able to catch herself by grabbing onto something.

But flipping her hair backward only further destabilized her balance.

“Eeeek!!”

In the end, Rina let out a foolish scream as she lost her footing.

If Seojin Baek hadn’t caught her from the front, she would have fallen flat on her face.

‘Ah… damn it…’

Barely stopped in Seojin Baek’s arms, Rina hung her head low.

After all her preparations and confident entrance, she started by clumsily losing her footing.

How much must he be laughing inside at the sight of her. At this crucial moment.

‘I’ve ruined everything…’

Suddenly, Rina had to blink in confusion.

Out of nowhere, Seojin Baek had lifted her face and was passionately kissing her lips.

‘W-what?’

While Rina couldn’t understand the situation at all,

From Seojin Baek’s perspective, what just happened was actually a strike to his heart.

The Elder-slaying Rina, who showed exceptional strength even among S-ranks,

Was so nervous that she stumbled and fell right into his arms?

In that moment, she was so adorable that he couldn’t help but embrace her tightly.

‘She’s scary, truly scary. She’s really not an ordinary woman.’

Though from Rina’s perspective, she must have been wondering what on earth was happening.