Campfire in the Middle of Winter -4

“You could have made a smaller hole…!?”

“…Hmm.”

Noah quickly composed herself.

“O-of course I knew that.”

She carefully unclenched her fist.

But Taehwa was a sniper, and her eyesight wasn’t bad enough to miss such gestures.

“If you had hit it one more time, we all would have fallen into the water.”

“No, that’s not what I…”

“If you don’t know, just ask.”

Noah had nothing to say.

“Sorry.”

“Well, it is wide. You could catch a whale with that.”

“Taehwa, there are no whales in lakes.”

“I’m speaking figuratively! Anyway. Everything’s set up, so go fish. Catch a lot. Ahjussi said he’ll make spicy fish soup.”

Spicy fish soup.

Unfortunately, Noah wasn’t particularly fond of fish.

However, she did like the spicy fish soup he made.

His cooking skills were excellent, and the combination with freshly caught ingredients would be outstanding.

It would surely be the best meal.

Noah nodded and cast her fishing rod.

“…”

Thus began a time of endurance.

There’s a saying that fishing is not about catching fish but about catching time.

Noah was now intensely experiencing the truth of that saying.

“…”

How long had it been since she cast the fishing rod?

Probably about 30 minutes.

‘…It’s too quiet.’

Noah couldn’t stand it anymore and stood up.

“Ahjussi!”

When she called out loudly, he turned his head.

“What?”

“Come here and fish with me! I’m bored!”

Kraken reluctantly withdrew his tentacles and moved over.

He looked surprised by the large ice hole, but soon calmed down and dipped his tentacles into the icy water.

“Aaaaargh…”

I’ll pretend I didn’t hear someone’s dying scream.

“How many have you caught?”

“About five?”

“That’s a lot.”

“It’s not enough. They were pretty small ones.”

Fair enough. That’s only one fish per person.

Considering what we’ll need to eat later, we’ll need much more than that.

“I’ll help properly too.”

“Haha, thanks. But I really want you to enjoy yourself. It’s your first camping trip after all.”

“How can I enjoy it when I’m not catching anything?”

“Even that is part of the enjoyment.”

“Ahjussi…”

When he talks like that, he really…

“You really sounded like an actual ahjussi just now.”

“…Kuk…”

Noah chuckled and moved slightly.

Taking a step closer, her hand pulled up the corners of his mouth.

His slightly downturned mouth corners straightened out again.

“Don’t frown. You’ll age faster.”

“Uh… yes, right.”

“You’re already older than me, and if you age more, it’ll be troublesome for me. You should at least look like you’re in my age group.”

“Alright. I’ll be careful.”

He said this with a slight smile.

‘Caught!’

Taehwa watched the scene and was about to tease them.

How could she miss this chance to see Noah’s juicy reaction?

But Taehwa’s thoughts soon changed.

“Noah! Your fishing rod is shaking!”

“Huh? Oh!”

The fishing rod was shaking violently.

Noah rushed over.

“I just turn this while pulling, right?”

She turns the reel while yanking the rod.

I thought Noah would easily pull it up.

“Ah, aah—I’m losing my strength—”

“Noah?”

“Since it’s my first time fishing, I’m losing strength—”

But Noah looked back and forth between the fishing rod and Shin Hyun, giving him meaningful glances.

He couldn’t understand why the girl was acting this way.

Actually, he could have guessed.

Being pulled away?

‘…Liar…’

Shin Hyun looked at the large hole.

One strike.

With a single strike, she had made a hole big enough for a whale to poke its head through. And now she’s saying she can’t pull up a single fish?

This is clearly a ploy to catch something other than fish.

Shin Hyun thought.

If he helps, he’ll be falling into a trap.

“Ah, at this rate, I might fall into the water—”

“Haah…”

He thought that a girl’s heart was truly difficult to understand.

“Alright, I’ll help you.”

Withdrawing his tentacles, he quickly grabbed Noah from behind. Shin Hyun clung to Noah, slowly took her hands, and began pulling the fishing rod together.

Only then did Noah’s expression brighten.

Really. She’s incorrigible.

Noah pretended to struggle while firmly planting her feet on the ground, and Shin Hyun had a hard time pulling her.

Only after enough time had passed to satisfy Noah.

“What a big catch!”

“Haah… huh… huk…”

“Ahjussi! Look at this! It’s huge!”

“Y-yeah… my goodness…”

Noah jumped up and down with the large fish, as lively as a live fish.

Then she approached him, smiled, and took a selfie.

Click!

‘Really, after all that fuss, she’s happy?’

Whether she knew what was on his mind or not, Noah excitedly showed off her fish to everyone.

In any case, she seemed to quite enjoy the first bite, the feeling of the catch.

Well, if you’re happy, that’s all that matters.

Shin Hyun picked up the basket full of fish and stood up.

Noah, who had been bouncing around until then, quickly approached him when she saw him stand.

“Ahjussi! Let’s eat this quickly!”

…So she wasn’t excited about catching it, but about eating it!

“Sure, let’s start preparing dinner. Everyone else is still fishing.”

“Ah, I want to cook. Fishing doesn’t suit me.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I feel like playing around with you would be more fun than that.”

“So I’m just a toy to you…”

Really, Shin Hyun found it difficult to understand a girl’s heart.

+++++

Shin Hyun examined the fish that Noah had caught. Fortunately, it was an edible species and didn’t seem to require much troublesome preparation.

Thanks to that, dinner preparations were proceeding smoothly.

Today’s dish was ‘maeuntang’ (spicy fish soup).

Maeuntang is a dish that combines the mild taste of fish, the refreshing flavor of various vegetables, and the spiciness of red pepper powder to create a clean taste. Since they had caught fish, it was a dish they couldn’t miss out on.

He took a fish out of the basket filled with ice water.

The still-flopping creature was caught by tentacles and couldn’t move an inch.

Somehow, he thought its eyes looked pitiful, but that must be his imagination.

“May you be born as a human in your next life.”

After showing this respect, Shin Hyun now planned to dismantle it without hesitation.

‘Beginning fish preparation.’

Thud.

He placed the fish, which looked thicker than a typical man’s forearm, on the cutting board.

“Whew.”

He exhaled dramatically, though there was no real need to.

What he needed to do now wasn’t slicing sashimi, but cutting the fish into pieces for soup.

Freshwater fish sashimi carries a risk of parasites.

There’s no need to take unnecessary risks.

‘Well then.’

He swung down the chef’s knife.

The flopping fish’s movements subsided, and he pushed the blade deeper to completely separate the head.

After this, it’s easy.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

He brought out his tentacles, grabbed the knife, and brought it down.

With that, the fish was cut into pieces without much difficulty.

He removed the blood and innards from the chunky fish pieces by pouring clean water over them.

Sometimes innards are included, but they can cloud the broth if not handled properly.

Therefore, here, the innards are also removed.

Beside him, Noah was helping.

She skillfully handled the knife, preparing vegetables.

Cutting radish, chopping chives, crushing garlic.

“Noah, can you give me that?”

“Yes.”

Shin Hyun took the vegetables from Noah.

The method for making maeuntang is not difficult.

Put in the broth ingredients and boil over high heat, then remove them.

Dissolve the pre-bought seasoning sauce in water, add the radish which takes the longest to cook, then throw in the remaining vegetables.

As the finishing touch, generously add today’s protagonist, the fish, and boil.

“Mmm~ smells good.”

Taehwa, Jin-ah, and the Demon King returned from fishing, probably attracted by the smell.

The Demon King was…

“What a pity. I saw a big creature in the water but couldn’t catch it.”

“…Did you dive in?”

“Yes! This level of cold is no obstacle to a Demon King!”

She was completely soaked from head to toe.

Even though her clothes were starting to freeze, she showed no signs of feeling cold.

Was buying her that winter coat a waste?

…No.

‘It’s fine because she’s cute.’

After this self-justification, Shin Hyun motioned toward the tent.

“Go change your clothes and come back. The food is almost ready.”

As they disappeared into the tent, Shin Hyun slightly reduced the heat.

Bubble, bubble. And so, the spicy fish soup was complete.

Then Shin Hyun took out instant rice and started heating it with hot water.

Not very romantic, but what could he do?

It’s not like he could carry around raw rice.

He filled each bowl with the warmed rice.

Finally, the completed spicy fish soup was placed on the table.

The spicy aroma that tickled the nose spread in all directions.

“…Gulp.”

“What, want to try it?”

“…Yes.”

“Here you go.”

Though not everyone had arrived yet, it wouldn’t matter if they started eating first.

Shin Hyun looked at Noah with a smile.

She took a spoonful of the broth with a tense expression.

“Try it. Food tastes especially good when eaten outdoors.”

“Oh come on. That can’t be true.”

“When have you ever seen me lie?”

“…Almost every time?”

“Ah, right.”

“What kind of response is that…”

Noah didn’t believe Shin Hyun’s words this time.

For the girl, he was a reliable existence, but this was a hard claim to believe.

Surely it would taste good, but it was just eating outdoors after all.

Just a change of location couldn’t make such a dramatic difference, she thought.

Of course, he wasn’t one to make outlandish claims, but…

‘Well, I’ll know once I taste it.’

Slurp-

She swallowed a mouthful of the steaming hot broth, and…

“…!!”

Noah’s eyes widened.