Chapter 1055: Side Story – Summer Vacation with Older Sister’s Friends (3)

-Click.

“Ughhh, this car riiiide~!”

After an hour and a half car ride, we arrived at a valley pension in Odaesan Mountain, Gangneung.

As befitting her high-energy personality, Eunyoung Noona, who seemed stiff from sitting in the car for so long, was the first to pop out, stretching with a loud groan.

“Now that we’re here, I have to ask, did you book the pension?”

“Of course, I did! What do you take me for, Captain Kang!”

“Even though Eunyoung can be spontaneous, she’s thorough in her own way. Let’s carry the luggage first and rest a bit. Ok-hee must have had a hard time driving all the way from Seoul.”

“Ah, I’ll help too, Sunbae.”

“Will you? I’d be thankful if you say so, Hubae. Even when I was active duty, I wasn’t in the combat department, so my strength is a bit weak.”

“Ok-hee drove too, so you rest~! My son and I can carry it together.”

Eunyoung Noona, still not fully sober, was high-energy as ever.

Well, actually, her bright and lively personality was the same even when she wasn’t drinking, so it didn’t really matter. The only difference was that when she drank, she became even less capable of feeling things like embarrassment or shame.

We three carried together the meat, ramen, and various other luggage that seemed to have been prepared for meals, and then roughly looked around the inside of the valley pension that would be our lodging.

“It’s clean and nice. Quite spacious, too.”

“That’s right. But is it just the living room and one bedroom? You have your son here too?”

“My son can use one room, and we can sleep in the living room~.”

“What about when showering or changing clothes? And after coming back from the valley, we’ll need to dry our underwear too?”

“Huh? He’s my son anyway, what does it matter if he sees or not~.”

“…He might be your son, but to me, he’s just a grown adult man, you know?”

Kyungsook Sunbae questioned her with an incredulous expression at Eunyoung Noona’s loose sense of propriety regarding men and women.

Honestly, even I thought it was a bit problematic. No matter how much the concept of chastity was reversed, showing a woman changing clothes to a grown adult man would still be a bit embarrassing.

Unlike Eunyoung Noona, who had raised me like a son since I was young, or President Seo Ok-hee, who had already seen all sorts of things in various situations, it would be difficult to cover up if an embarrassing situation arose between Kyungsook Sunbae and me.

“Well, at least we didn’t book one with just one room. We’ll just have to be careful.”

“I’ll let you know every time I enter or leave the room, just in case, so that no embarrassing situations occur.”

“…No, it’s not that I’m particularly embarrassed. It’s just that I’m worried our hubae might unnecessarily get embarrassed seeing the ahjummas’ bodies.”

Since even President Seo Ok-hee seemed to be subtly taking Eunyoung Noona’s side, Kyungsook Sunbae naturally backed down.

Although it was a bit regrettable for her, to be honest, this situation with only one room wasn’t necessarily bad.

After all, less living space meant more opportunities to be alone with Eunyoung Noona or President Seo Ok-hee.

Both of them had accumulated considerable expected acquisition points while I wasn’t looking… It seemed like it might be okay to release some sexual tension while Kyungsook Sunbae wasn’t paying attention.

“I’m fine. Rather, it’s because I’m worried Kyungsook Sunbae might be embarrassed. Even if he’s like a son, he’s still an unrelated man, isn’t he?”

“…Forget it. Thinking about it, it’s ridiculous to be concerned about showing my naked body to a young man at this age. Thinking about it, hubae must have a lot on his mind, being surrounded by ahjummas and forced to come along.”

“Hey, no~. Even though my son looks innocent, he’s actually quite…”

“You probably don’t need to worry about that when it comes to him. Rather, you need to be careful in another way…”

“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“……Ah.”

Eunyoung Noona and President Seo Ok-hee both naturally let slip a verbal blunder, perhaps because their tension relaxed as soon as we arrived.

Before the conversation could drift in a strange direction, I intentionally opened the icebox and held up the items inside.

“F-first, let’s put in the things that need to go in the fridge. Does this meat need refrigeration?”

“Ah, yes. We brought that raw meat as is, so you can put it in the fridge. Ah, and I’ll manage the food ingredients, so hubae, could you grab the barbecue grill and tongs over there…”

Fortunately, Kyungsook Sunbae didn’t pry into the relationship between me, Eunyoung Noona, and President Seo Ok-hee and let it pass smoothly.

Whether I can keep hiding it until the end of the trip… I’m not sure, but.

After arriving at the valley, we had a simple lunch first. We had already long passed lunchtime due to the nearly two-hour car ride, but.

“Are you going to cook ramen? I’ll do it.”

Usually, the standard way to handle things like this is by seniority, so I was going to prepare it, but Kyungsook Sunbae pushed me away with her hand, kicking me out of the kitchen instead.

“Just stop and rest. I don’t like anyone interfering when I cook.”

“What?”

“Yes, yes~. Let Kyungsook cook, son~.”

“If you’re not confident you can cook ramen better than her, don’t mess with it, Taekyung.”

“What???”

Not only Eunyoung Noona, but even President Seo Ok-hee didn’t seem very welcoming of me trying to enter the kitchen.

While wondering what the problem could possibly be, I stepped back from the kitchen for the time being. I could clearly understand the reason later during lunchtime.

-Slurp.

“Mmm~! As expected, the ramen Kyungsook cooked is the most delicious in the world~!”

“I haven’t had this in a while either. Seriously, do you have any intention of working at our guild’s cafeteria?”

“If you can match my current annual salary, I’ll think about it.”

“That’s not happening, you punk. Where do you get off trying to leech off our guild?”

As soon as I took a bite of the ramen Kyungsook Sunbae cooked, Eunyoung Noona and President Seo Ok-hee showered it with praise.

At first, I thought it was just a taste filled with the memories of those three, and picked up my chopsticks without much thought. But as soon as I put a mouthful of noodles in my mouth, I instantly realized I was mistaken.

“……?”

“Hubae, what are your thoughts?”

“…Is this ramen? It feels completely different from any ramen I’ve ever eaten?”

“How is it different?”

“First of all, the noodles feel much chewier than usual, and the broth feels much more savory… I can’t really explain it in words, but at least among all the ramen I’ve eaten so far, this seems like the most delicious…”

“Of course~. That’s Kyungsook’s Awakened ability~.”

“What?”

“‘Everyone’s Feast’. That’s my Awakened ability.”

“When I make any food, the taste changes to perfectly suit that person’s preferences.”

“…So there was an Awakened ability like that.”

“That’s why I said I was non-combat. Honestly, isn’t it ridiculous for a Hunter to have a chef’s Awakened ability?”

…It was true, but separately from that, this ramen Kyungsook Sunbae cooked was truly delicious.

At first, I thought it was just ordinary ramen with egg and kimchi, but it was rich in umami beyond imagination.

Moreover, if it was this good even at a weakened level, I couldn’t even begin to grasp how capable she must have been during her prime.

“Because of this ability, Kyungsook was really popular during her active duty days.”

“Back then, during long expeditions, we used to stay in dungeons for days.”

“Eating the food Kyungsook made back then was refreshing and filling~.”

“…Indeed, with this level of skill, I can see why people would want to bring you along to dungeons, even if you’re non-combat.”

“For your information, just because she’s non-combat doesn’t mean she wasn’t helpful in combat at all.”

“Several blessings, like stamina recovery or mana replenishment, were attached to the dishes she made.”

“…What? Then, perhaps, were you a healer type?”

“Healer type, my foot. The main thing was the food, and additional effects were just attached.”

“If you must categorize, I was closer to ‘atypical’, like Ok-hee.”

“Still, when I was at my peak, the effects were quite good, you know? Eunyoung even woke up abruptly from her sleep just smelling the food more than once or twice, right?”

“Ah, talking about that in front of my son. You’re saying such things, making me embarrassed for no reason.”

If it wasn’t just delicious food but also came with buffs… you certainly had the ability to reach A-rank during your active duty days.

You probably couldn’t rise further simply because your combat abilities were lacking. In reality, you were likely treated as an indispensable party member.

After finishing the meal, I felt genuinely energized, not just due to a placebo effect. Even though it was just a bowl of ramen and not some grand health food meal.

“Lunch was too late, so I just made ramen, but I’ll prepare something more proper for dinner.”

“I brought some good quality meat from my company on the way here.”

“What? From your company? Do you happen to work in distribution?”

“Ah, now that you mention it, did I forget to mention it earlier? Even though she looks like this, Sunbae is the CEO of a livestock product processing company.”

“Baekgyeong Samgyeopsal is our franchise store.”

“……What???”

I had heard stories occasionally about Hunters opening chicken or meat restaurants after retiring, but.

…Perhaps because she’s friends with Eunyoung Noona and President Seo Ok-hee, the scale of the restaurant she opened after retiring was certainly different.