Chapter 76: Late Trains and Midnight Meals

Just as I was about to completely lose consciousness, I felt pressure on my stomach, like something was pressing down.

“Ugh.”

Right when I was about to fall asleep, that pressure on my stomach.

I let out a weird groan instinctively, my closed eyes fluttered open, and the drowsiness began to lift slightly.

Wondering what was pressing on my stomach, I realized it was the bear tucked inside my padded jacket, quietly pushing down.

I thought I had just dozed off for a moment, but in the blink of an eye from the last memory before I lost consciousness, we had already passed three stations.

I turned my head to the side and saw Siyeon with her head drooped low, eyes closed.

That’s when I snapped back to full awareness.

‘I need to stay awake.’

If I fall asleep here, there’s no going back.

With that resolve, I tightened my grip on her hand even more.

After getting off at the right station with Siyeon, we walked home with confident steps.

Jieun unnie said she wouldn’t be coming today, so I stepped inside the house without bothering to announce our return.

The time was 5:49 PM.

Strangely enough, the moment I got home, the sleepiness that had been lightly draping over me vanished completely.

It happens sometimes.

I feel like I’m about to pass out when I’m outside, but once I get home, I’m perfectly fine.

Siyeon, on the other hand, seemed to be genuinely sleepy— even after coming home, she rubbed her half-closed eyes with her gloves.

“You have to wash up before you sleep, okay?”

“Mmm…”

When I reminded her she needed to wash up, she replied in a much lower voice, obediently went to the bathroom.

While she was in there, I turned on the heater to warm up the house that had gone chilly while we were in Daejeon, and waited as I listened to the humming sound of it running.

The sound of the water stopping, the faucet turning off.

Then the door creaked open and Siyeon came out, and I went in to wash my hands.

After coming out, I properly hung the awkwardly draped padded jacket on a small hanger, picked up the scattered socks and clothes, and tossed them into the laundry basket.

Siyeon must’ve been really sleepy—she chose to go straight upstairs to sleep rather than turning on the computer.

Her mascot had already come out of the padded jacket and curled up on a cushion.

I took the bear out of the padded jacket pocket too, placed it down on the cushion, and gave it my thanks.

“Good job, and thanks for waking me earlier.”

“Mhm.”

As soon as I said thank you, the bear puffed out its chest proudly, placing both hands on its hips while sitting on the cushion.

It had such a smug expression—it kind of annoyed me—but since it saved me from ending up at the terminal station, I decided to let it slide this time.

I quietly stepped on the stairs so they wouldn’t make a sound and went up to the second floor.

There, I saw Siyeon with her face buried in the pillow, under the roughly pulled-down blankets.

In contrast, I didn’t feel the slightest hint of sleepiness.

Surrounded by the calmness of the house, I ended up on the first floor floor, picking up my smartphone and launching a game.

A game where I was still far from completing 100% collection.

These roguelike games really have a charm—they pull you in and don’t let go once you’re immersed.

Just like that, three hours disappeared into the game, and I only realized it when the hunger in my stomach made me forget all the bread I had eaten earlier.

‘I’m hungry…’

The game screen was still completely filling my phone.

After pausing for a moment, I lightly swiped my thumb from top to bottom. The time was 9:02 PM.

Huh, when did it get so late?

I’d been fiddling with my phone in the dark room so Siyeon could sleep comfortably, and hadn’t even realized how late it had gotten.

I was getting hungry, but it felt too late to eat anything proper…

Siyeon didn’t seem to be awake either.

“I didn’t even feed her dinner… isn’t she hungry?”

With no other choice, I got up from the position I had been lying in on the floor and headed to the fridge.

Inside the fridge were a green container of ssamjang(Korean dipping sauce) and a red one of gochujang(Korean spicy sauce)—who knows how long they’d been in there.

Whatever was in there, it was all just sauces and condiments.

I closed the fridge and turned to the shelf.

There was a stash of canned tuna and ham I’d gotten around last Chuseok(Korean Thanksgiving Day).

And, of course, the always-stocked instant rice.

Since Siyeon wasn’t joining for the meal, this much would be enough.

“Feels like I’m back in the army eating like this…”

I peeled the lid off an instant rice bowl completely and plopped a big canned ham right on top.

I didn’t toss out the aluminum lid right away.

Its edges are super sharp, and when it comes to canned ham, it basically becomes a knife.

To make sure it heats evenly in the microwave, I stood the rectangular ham on its narrow side and sliced it with the lid.

It didn’t come out pretty, but for a quick late-night meal, there’s nothing better.

Clunk—the bowl of rice went into the microwave, set for three minutes.

The plastic microwave cover had to go on.

If not, the ham chunks would explode everywhere inside the microwave.

The key is to microwave it long enough so the ham cooks through and the rice gets piping hot.

While the microwave was running, I didn’t just sit around. I opened a can of tuna from the shelf and drained the oil at the sink.

Using a metal spoon, I pressed out as much oil as I could and moved the tuna to a bowl.

Grabbing ketchup and mayonnaise—who knows when I last used them—I squirted them into the bowl, roughly in a 2-to-1 mayo-to-ketchup ratio.

After licking the oily spoon clean, I stirred it all together until it got nice and thick.

No real cooking involved—just the microwave—and voilà: a hearty meal.

Just as the side dish was done, the microwave beeped.

Steam billowed furiously from the rice, looking like it would burn your fingers if you dared to touch it.

I quickly pulled off the plastic cover and set it aside—hot, of course.

I could’ve grabbed oven mitts, but adding that extra step felt like a chore, so I just transformed instead.

“Sun.”

The canned ham atop the instant rice had changed color enough to look cooked, even if it wasn’t golden brown.

With a bowl of ketchup-mayo tuna in hand, I sat down at the low table.

After completely letting go of the container with my heat-resistant hand, I muttered the Untransformation spell indifferently.

“Release.”

Then I picked up a piece of the ham—already mostly sliced—and popped it into my mouth.

Feeling its warmth, I immediately moved my chopsticks toward the rice.

Hot. It was hot, but tasty.

To cool off the heat, I scooped up a big bite of the tuna, chilled from sitting in the fridge all day, and stuffed it into my mouth.

The warmth and coldness met and created a pleasantly lukewarm balance in my mouth.

A shamelessly indulgent dinner at 9:10 PM, without a single leaf of greens—enough to make one feel guilty.

I thought the day would end just like that, once I finished eating and cleaned up.

“Mari, what are you doing…?”

At that moment, a voice quietly came from upstairs.

When I tilted my upper body and head to look up, Siyeon was rubbing her eyes, holding onto the railing.

I had turned off the lights and told her to sleep well, but I guess that was all for nothing.

Now that she’s awake, who knows when she’ll sleep again?

Caught mid-bite, I answered her question while asking one in return.

“I’m eating right now. Aren’t you hungry?”

“I’m hungry…”

“Wait a bit, I’ll make you something after I finish this.”

I chewed faster.

The longer I took to eat, the later she’d go back to sleep—so I hurried.

After finishing the instant rice, regardless of how much ham and tuna were left, I headed to the induction stove.

Still chewing the leftovers in my mouth, I moved toward it.

I poured just enough water into a wide pan to avoid overflowing and boiled it just enough to cook the noodles.

Gomtang noodles—milky broth, with only a salty and savory flavor.

I added the soup base and let it simmer until the water naturally reduced. Then, I used scissors to chop up the leftover canned ham and dumped it on top.

Once the broth was absorbed by the soup and thickened, I transferred it to a wide bowl and served it on the low table.

“Thanks for the food.”

Since the tuna already had ketchup and mayo on it, I gave it to her as a side rather than mixing it into the noodles.

In the quiet house, the sound of slurping noodles echoed.

Thick, saucy gomtang noodles with microwave-grilled ham topping.

If you can imagine it, you can taste it—and even though I had just eaten, my mouth watered.

With a mental note to cook it for myself tomorrow, that day ended.

And as soon as the next day came, Jieun unnie showed up at our house like clockwork.

“Hey kids, did everything go well yesterday?”

Her first question as soon as she walked in was about yesterday.

I guess it’s understandable—two elementary school kids going all the way to Daejeon on their own would be a bit worrying.

If she was that concerned, a quick call would’ve helped.

“Yeah! The bread was really good!”

“Somehow, we managed to get there and back just fine.”

“That’s good. I finished my errands and passed out, didn’t even get a chance to call you…”

Just like Siyeon, Jieun unnie also passed out right after whatever she had done yesterday.

Curious about what she had been up to, I asked casually,

“What did you do on Saturday?”

“An engagement meeting—oh, maybe you don’t know what that is?”

“?!”

I almost choked.

What I had asked as a light-hearted question turned out to be something seriously important.