Ch.43Chapter 43. Party (1)

I am generous.

Extremely generous.

What sage in this world would forgive a crazy woman who planted bugs in his house twice?

I certainly didn’t forgive her just because I needed someone to drink with.

“Juliane, would you mind creating some atmosphere with Cuss? I’ll cook in the meantime.”

“Ohhh?”

I took out a cookie box from my room and opened it, revealing small party poppers, ribbons, and balloons inside.

These were leftover items from when I invited employees over for a housewarming party.

I kept them because they seemed too wasteful to throw away, but I never expected to use them like this.

Soon, an excited-looking Juliane emptied the box, pulled out strings, and began decorating the living room.

“It’s an important mission, Cuss.”

“Yeah, yeah! What is it?”

“Put these ribbons wherever you want to stick them!”

“All of them?”

“Yes!”

Cuss seemed unusually excited.

What’s so fun about that?

It’ll just be a pain to clean up later.

“Let’s see…”

When I flung open the pantry door, a wave of cold air hit me.

It was the result of keeping the air conditioner running to dry-age meat while using the space as a wine cellar.

Thanks to that, last month’s electricity bill was astronomical.

I took out two bottles of wine and placed them on the table.

One was a red wine with body and astringency, while the other was a sweet white wine that was essentially champagne without the carbonation.

What’s body, you ask?

I don’t really know either.

I’m just using words I’ve picked up somewhere.

“Hmm. Is this right?”

Today was finally the day to take out the dry-aged meat.

I removed two chunks of meat hanging from the ceiling and brought them to the kitchen.

The surface was completely decomposed, but thanks to the generous amount of salt I’d sprinkled, there wasn’t any foul smell.

“Ugh! What is that, Jinsoo?”

“Dry-aged beef sirloin.”

“Dry… what? To me, it just looks like rotten meat.”

“If you can’t cook, please be quiet.”

“Urk…”

I shut Juliane up, but honestly, I was uncertain myself.

I’d reconstructed this from the explanation of a chef I met at the labor camp, but this was my first attempt.

He said to salt the sirloin generously, leave it at a low temperature, and take it out within 2-6 weeks…

I’m not sure if I did it right.

By the way, that chef got sucked into a drill at the mine and instantly turned into human juice.

“This part isn’t edible.”

After cutting it in half, I could clearly see.

Eat the inside and cut away the rotten exterior.

I grabbed a large kitchen knife and started cutting away the surface.

Normally, I believe in eating even burnt food to give my relaxed immune system some tension, but eating this would completely destroy my immune system, so I decided to throw it all away.

If the chef said so, I had to listen.

But as I kept cutting, it seemed like I was throwing away more than I was keeping.

The loss rate was too high.

“This is ridiculous. Is this even cooking?”

I was dying of regret.

This was truly bourgeois food.

I probably won’t do this again.

“Phew.”

After cutting the meat into good thickness, the preparation was done.

All that remained was grilling.

I put a pan on the induction stove and preheated it.

I poured plenty of olive oil and added a small piece of butter to melt.

While the pan was heating up, I seasoned the prepared meat with salt and just a hint of pepper.

“Am I doing this right…?”

When I turned around to check the living room, it was absolute chaos.

Cuss was sticking ribbons everywhere, and Juliane was blowing up balloons until her face turned red, oblivious to her surroundings.

I had a prophetic feeling that I’d be the one cleaning this up.

Ah, screw it. Whatever.

Let’s just enjoy this mess for one day.

Sizzle…!

When I placed the meat on the sufficiently heated pan, a satisfying sound filled the air.

Next to the meat, I cut up some leftover asparagus and fried them in oil.

Suddenly noticing the silence, I looked around to find both Juliane and Cuss standing on either side of me, watching the meat cook.

Hey, you’re drooling. You little…

“Oil’s splattering. Either put on an apron or go to the living room. You too, Cuss.”

“Okay… But it looks tastier than I expected?”

“You sure have a nice way with words. It would be better if you removed a few unnecessary words at the beginning.”

“Hehe.”

She says it’s nice. This crazy woman.

That wasn’t a compliment.

Sizzle…

Maybe because all the moisture had evaporated during dry-aging, the meat’s color changed quite rapidly.

Is the Midas reaction happening quickly?

I hurriedly drained the warm water from a bowl I had prepared and wiped it clean with a towel.

I placed the cooked meat on the warm dish for about a minute of resting.

Meanwhile, I quickly put another piece of meat on the pan.

The cooking speed was ridiculously fast, allowing me to rotate through and cook all that meat in no time.

“Wow. Wooow. Look at the color. Can I take a picture?”

“Go ahead.”

When I brought the dish to the living room, Juliane kept exclaiming in admiration.

That’s right. Look up to me.

This is who I am.

Juliane said she’d take a picture, but she kept circling around the dish, blinking repeatedly.

At first, I wondered what kind of show she was putting on, but then I remembered that cameras these days are implanted in the eyes.

When she does that, it’s hard to tell if she’s human or machine.

“Can I eat it? Is it okay?”

“Wait. Let me cut it first.”

I brought scissors and cut up all the meat.

Cuss held a fork, drooling, and as soon as I cut a piece, she grabbed it at lightning speed.

“It’s delicious…!”

“How delicious is it?”

“Super delicious!”

“…”

I mean, I get that it’s delicious.

But her expression is too simple to understand.

Cuss always goes crazy saying everything is delicious whenever I feed her something new.

I’m not falling for it anymore.

“It’s the most delicious meat I’ve ever eaten!”

Hmm. That’s a bit gratifying.

It was the highest praise I’d heard from Cuss.

“Wow…! Unlike what I expected, this is really tasty? The meat has such a rich flavor!”

I told you to drop those first few words.

This woman must have expected the meat to smell rotten.

Still, even the honest Juliane gave it high praise, so I guess today’s steak was a success.

Or maybe not. Maybe this woman has such low expectations for my cooking that everything tastes good to her.

“Shall I open the wine too? Jinsoo, where’s the opener?”

“Huh? Opener?”

“The wine opener.”

“Is there such a thing?”

“How are you planning to open the wine without a wine opener…?”

So there’s something called a wine opener.

First time I’ve heard of it.

I took the wine from the puzzled Juliane.

I stuck a fork horizontally into the cork.

Then, pulling it straight out with force, it came out with a pop.

I don’t see why an opener is necessary.

Oh, by the way, if you do it wrong, the fork might bend, so be careful.

Glancing at Juliane’s face, she wore an expression of disbelief.

I poured the red wine into two glasses, filling them about a quarter full.

“Is it okay to drink with your injured hand?”

“Ah, it’s fine. It’s just a slight scratch…”

“Can I see it then?”

“N-no? This is a special bandage, and it’s difficult to wrap it again once removed.”

“…”

Juliane jumped in surprise and pulled her right hand back.

Why is she acting like that?

“Shall we toast?”

“Sure.”

“Cheers.”

I clinked glasses with the brightly smiling Juliane.

This felt new again.

We’ve sat side by side at bars drinking separate cocktails, but this is the first time drinking face to face like this.

For the first time, I thought not just that she was pretty, but that I wished she was my girlfriend or wife.

Of course, it’s because I like her as a person.

Not because of her chest that bounces every time she laughs.

“I want to drink that too.”

“No way, Cuss. This is only for adults.”

“Can I try a sip?”

“Jinsoo!”

Juliane looked at me with astonished eyes.

What’s your problem?

They say you should learn how to drink at home.

If you drink for the first time outside, you might develop bad drinking habits.

Isn’t it a parent’s duty to teach proper drinking culture by letting children drink early?

I pushed down Cuss’s arms as she reached out, and brought the glass to her lips.

I tilted it slightly to let her taste just a little…

“Ugh. It’s too bitter. Why do people even drink this?”

“Hahaha!”

Just as I thought.

She immediately frowned and stuck out her tongue.

Seems like it’s still too early.

“Then would you like to try this? It should be much sweeter.”

“Sweet!”

“Jinsoo. To a girl who’s menstruating…”

“Is it bad to drink during periods?”

“It’s not that it’s bad, but it’s better to refrain.”

“I’ll just give her a little.”

“…”

Eventually, I opened the second wine.

This time, it was white wine.

I poured it, and Cuss waited with sparkling eyes, holding the glass.

Try it.

“Hmm! It’s really sweet! Sweet but… somehow bitter! But sweet!”

“What are you saying? Speak more coherently.”

“I’m not sure. It’s sweet yet bitter, but somehow tasty.”

She seemed to like it.

That’s good.

I should pour just a little at a time so she doesn’t get too drunk.

Cuss should know what it feels like to be tipsy.

I tried it myself out of curiosity…

“Hmm. It’s sweet.”

It was more like a beverage than alcohol.

It tasted good, but it was useless if you wanted to get drunk.

Since Juliane was interested too, I brought another small glass and poured some for her.

By the way, we don’t have any sauce.

The meat is well-seasoned and tastes good without sauce, but it might get boring, so it would be nice to have some sauce.

I remembered there was ssamjang in the pantry and brought it out.

“W-what is this?”

“It’s ssamjang. A Korean sauce.”

“Ah, I see…”

Juliane openly showed a reluctant expression.

Yeah. I really appreciate honesty.

If only I could resist the urge to slap her.

“Try dipping it.”

“Okay.”

“Not too much. It’s salty.”

“Hmm…”

“What’s this called?”

“I don’t know!”

“It’s ssamjang, you idiot. Ssamjang. You’re Korean now, you should know.”

Cuss dipped the meat in ssamjang and popped it into her mouth.

She chewed and then her eyes widened.

In these situations, it’s one of two things.

Either it’s incredibly delicious.

Or she’s about to spit it out.

“It’s delicious!”

“Oh, really?”

Cuss swallowed the meat and exclaimed.

I had never committed the atrocity of dipping beef in ssamjang before.

Surprisingly, it seemed quite good.

“Mmm! This is surprisingly good too!”

Juliane tried it and covered her mouth in admiration.

Thinking it must be tasty, I tried it too…

But it wasn’t to my taste at all.

The beef flavor was completely masked.

If that’s the case, why bother eating beef?

Just grill some pork belly and wrap it.

Still, I decided to respect their preferences.

“Picture! Let’s take a picture? All of us together!”

“Juliane. Are you slurring?”

“No! It’s just because I was talking while eating… hehe.”

Juliane waved her hands and said so.

Her face had definitely turned quite red.

I should stop giving her more.

“Whyyy!”

“You’ve had enough. Take it easy…”

“Not yet! I’m super strong with alcohol!”

“You don’t look strong.”

“I’m super strong! Want to compete? Whoever passes out first loses!”

“…”

She was so stubborn that I failed to take away her glass.

Feeling that Cuss was unusually quiet, I turned to see her already holding the wine glass with both hands, refilling her empty glass.

This is getting out of hand.

I held the wine bottle for her while she poured, afraid she might spill it.

“Let’s take a picture. Come closer.”

“Huh? We don’t need to be close. Just hold your glasses naturally.”

“…?”

Juliane smiled and took out a small drone from her pocket, launching it into the air.

Apparently, it captures the entire space at once and preserves it like a 3D photo.

Anyway, it was hard for me to understand.

“Hehehe… It came out well. Can I post this on SNS?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Hehe.”

Looking at the hologram photo Juliane displayed, I couldn’t help but be impressed.

Juliane and I were awkwardly holding our glasses and smiling.

Cuss, unable to wait, had her face buried in the plate, inhaling the meat.

It felt a bit like a panoramic photo.

This is nice.

Gathering like a family, having a party.

Drinking together.

It was the perfect environment to get drunk.

“Heeey… Jinsoo…”

“Hmm?”

At some point, Cuss put down her glass and clung to my arm.

Seeing her slightly flushed cheeks, she seemed quite drunk too.

So there are people who get drunk on what’s essentially juice.

What a weakling.

“Eek! He’s touching my chest again!”

“I’m not…”

“Jinsoo, you really shouldn’t do that… I don’t know how it is in Korea, but in America, this is seriously bad.”

“I’m telling you, I’m not touching anything.”

“If you keep doing this… it’s hard for me to cover for you. So please control yourself… *hiccup*!”

“…”

Oh crap.

Juliane seems completely drunk too.

Then who’s going to clean all this up?

“Damn…”

Who else?

The one who’s not drunk yet has to clean up.