episode_0094

Mem- Mem-

Summer is almost over. It’s already the beginning of fall, but the sound of cicadas singing can still be heard through the window.

It’s been about nine months since Carlyle Schultz left.

The clear blue sky and fragrant green waves decorated the beautiful campus.

In the main building of the culinary department, an important practical training session was in full swing. Students with focused expressions held their breaths as they prepared cooking ingredients.

“What I consider important is the degree of doneness of the dish.”

The professor of culinary arts is a chef who has received three of the toughest art degrees, and who also studied abroad. In short, he is an authority close to a scholar in this field, and he has quite a picky palate, befitting that title.

‘The degree of ripeness… the degree of ripeness… ‘

Vita took each word of the professor’s words to heart. She had been scolded once by the professor in the previous practical training, so she wanted to do better this time.

-Um… Miss Bianca.

-Yes, Professor!

-Why did you bother to decorate it?

I was properly scolded for having unnecessary decorations.

I heard a professor say that decorating a dish to make it look delicious or fancy doesn’t make it taste better.

‘Honestly, I don’t understand…’

I still get dizzy when I think about that time.

There are various ways to cook. Vita used to think that food that looks good is more appetizing, but when taking a test, you have to match the examiner’s tendencies.

Still, I know this very well, as I was always close to being a model student during my school days.

‘Yes, you can.’

So this time, Vita focused on the cooking itself.

Today’s dish is braised fish. The degree of doneness is important.

‘The seasoning of the sauce is also important.’

Let’s do the measurements carefully.

In fact, the topic of the exam was already announced last week, so Vita has been continuously researching the source for the past few days.

How much effort went into finding the right mix of soy sauce, sugar, and other seasonings.

‘Let’s do it just as we studied. Pay attention to the level of ripeness as well.’

The temperature and time are just right. Without even an inch of error!

Her amethyst eyes were burning with passion. Her two small hands were moving quite busily.

Sweat was running down my forehead and I wanted to wipe it away, but I was so absorbed in cooking that I didn’t have time to do that.

Dense facial features, and a look of concentration.

Sometimes, he clenches his small fist and laughs brightly to show that the process is going well, or he even smiles.

“Okay, it’s done… !”

Every once in a while, she tucks her flowing hair behind her ear, and every single one of those looks is lovely and cute.

It wasn’t Vita’s fault that some of the other male students in the same department kept stealing glances from her, and that she wasn’t able to learn at an even level because of that.

We have unintentionally eliminated our competitors.

Ding- Ding-

“Okay, the end.”

Grading time has arrived.

A strict professor tastes the students’ food one by one. Many students fail.

The cooking level is not satisfactory. The cooking level is good, but the sauce is not good, so it is not satisfactory.

“Is this really stew? Just giving it a name doesn’t make it stew.”

There were students who tried a novel approach but failed instead of succeeding. There were even students who postponed their results until later.

Most of the students’ expressions quickly turned sad, so Vita also started to get a little nervous.

Finally, it was his turn. The professor took a sip.

Filth- Filth-

A careful and demanding tasting.

Gulp-

Vita swallowed nervously.

‘It should work out well… because I worked hard.’

We’ll hear some tasting notes soon.

“The level of ripeness is good.”

Since the start was okay, Vita was excited and went straight to the professor to explain.

“Yes, Professor. I tried the sous vide method. I thought sous vide would be better than just grilling to cook everything evenly.”

“Sous vide for fish dishes… definitely not a bad choice for braising.”

Sous vide is a technique of evenly cooking in warm water, and the test time is three hours.

This was the method chosen by Vita to cook the fish thoroughly.

Pick it up one more time.

“Well, and… the sauce with a neat flavor is also a secret kick for me.”

Kick? What’s a kick?

Maybe it’s because he’s a foreign student, but he uses words he doesn’t know. When Vita tries to interpret the meaning of words.

“Miss Bianca, you passed.”

Bita’s expression brightened at the words that were suddenly heard.

“Oh, really…?”

Was that professor’s smile that kind?

Vita smiled broadly and clapped her hands together, then bowed her head.

“Thank you, Professor! Thanks for teaching me!”

“No, Miss Bianca. I’m glad you enjoyed the basics. Please try harder.”

It feels like I’ve been recognized. I feel like I’ve been rewarded for all the hard work I’ve put in over the past few days, even cutting back on sleep.

Of course, Vita feels like flying through the sky.

Lulu- Lala-

After all the tests are over.

Vita returned home happily, humming a song.

-Guys, awesome! I passed the internship!

As she climbed the stairs, Vita chatted with Sasha and Emily in the group chat.

***

-Oh, really? That’s great, Bianca. I heard you prepared a lot this time. I told you that you’re really good at cooking.

Following Sasha, Emily also responded immediately.

-That’s good, Bianca. Now only good things remain. Carlisle is coming tomorrow too?

-Yeah, that’s right! It’s so good, really…

‘Really, tomorrow…’

Now, really, tomorrow, Carlyle will be back.

Vita couldn’t quite believe it, so she blinked and pinched her cheek, but it wasn’t a dream.

I did really well on the test and I’ll be able to take Carlyle soon.

-Oh, what should I do? I feel so good.

-I love you guys.

-Shall we meet up sometime? I’ll buy you coffee!

So, I kept acting cheerful in the chat room, and then Sasha asked me a question.

-Yeah, Bianca. The world suddenly seems so beautiful?

-Yeah, Shasha. How did you know?

-Do you like Carlyle that much? If that’s the case, then it’s completely serious.

Vita couldn’t help but chuckle at Sasha’s words. Without realizing it, she was muttering to herself, revealing her true feelings.

“… What can I do with something so good?”

I’m so happy that my feet are starting to thump, and before I know it, the corners of my mouth are loose like an idiot.

Of course, Carlyle has been here twice in the meantime. Twice during the holiday period.

‘I went there once…’

So, if we really had to be specific, it was once every three months. I could barely meet Carlyle once every three months.

Although Vita spent sweet times with Carlyle, it wasn’t easy being apart most of the time.

-I’ll contact you, Bianca.

-Okay, I got it… Call me when you get there.

Even though I said that, I couldn’t help but feel sad every time Carlyle left.

At the station, Vita held her partner tightly in her arms and refused to let go.

-You have to let go, girlfriend.

Carlyle comforted me with a gentle voice, and when I wiped away the tears that had already formed in my eyes, they finally fell.

In the early days after Carlyle left, I had trouble sleeping. I felt like I was having a hard time because I really missed him.

Thanks to that, Carlyle would call me every night until I fell asleep, and I felt so grateful and sorry for that.

The flow of calls is always-

-Carlyle, I miss you…

-Me too, Bianca. How was your day? Anything special?

-… Just, you. I wanted to keep seeing you.

Carlyle would always smile as if he had no choice but to comfort himself again. But after that, they always had affectionate conversations.

Check in with each other, tell each other that you miss us, and tell each other that you love us.

I like you, I love you, I miss you, sleep well.

These four words are probably the ones I’ve used the most in the past few months. As we’ve become apart, my feelings for each other have grown even more affectionate.

‘If you look at it one way, it’s only been less than a year…’

It was really long, to me.

But tomorrow. Tomorrow, Carlyle Schultz will really be back.

So what made Vita happy was not only the fact that she did well on her exams, but also the fact that she could see Carlyle’s face every day again.

I’m so happy, I’m just so happy. Right now, I’m standing on the stairs, chatting and shaking without even going into the house.

The neighborhood Vita just wanted to brag. Of course, her junior, Ru, was no exception.

-Carlyle guy, come! And tomorrow at that.

Of course, his junior, Lou, felt annoyed.

-T, Senior… It’s already been over a week since you said that to me? No, in the first place. Why are you saying that to me…

To be honest, there’s just no reason.

-I want to brag, but I should tell it to my close junior.

-Ha, really…

Because Lou is a good junior, he understands everything no matter what happens.

-Well, okay. If you’re that happy, then I guess that’s okay.

‘Oh, that’s right…!’

Vita covered her mouth as a thought suddenly occurred to her.

-I’ll contact you again later. I just remembered something busy.

-Bragging is now out of the question.

-Yeah, I will.

I went straight home after replying to Lou. I was so distracted that I forgot about Lyle.

As soon as she opened the door, Vita looked for Lyle. In fact, Lyle ran straight towards her, so she didn’t even need to look for him.

Woof- woof woof-!

A small brown fur ball comes into my arms, tail wagging. Vita named the precious pet that Carlisle gave me, ‘Lyle’.

“Oh my, Lyle. Did you miss your mom?”

As if to confirm, Lyle gasps and sticks his tongue out.

‘… Ah, so cute.’

A feeling of harm to the heart.

It’s so cute to see a lively puppy acting cute.

The once very small child has now grown to the size of almost my forearm. Still, he is still a baby.

Vita fed Lyle and then took a shower.

“Eat your food, Lyle.”

After washing her body more thoroughly than usual, she changes into comfortable clothes, carries Lyle in her arms, and heads to her bed.

“I fell asleep in the meantime.”

Lyle fell into a deep sleep after eating a full meal.

It’s small and cute. It feels like you have to protect it. But Vita has been receiving a lot of comfort from this little guy.

“You know, Lyle. Your father is coming… ”

Whenever I missed Carlyle, I would hold Lyle instead and somehow relieve my loneliness. It was quite effective.

“Your father is coming tomorrow.”

Vita smiled faintly, stroking the puppy’s nose and whispering softly so that it wouldn’t wake up.

Vita herself is the mother, and Carlyle is the father.

It feels strange when I call them that, but it’s not a bad feeling.

On the contrary, I always use it because it makes me feel secretly good, very mysteriously.

To be honest, that’s not entirely wrong.

It’s obvious that this child is the mother and Carlyle is the father. You can’t say it’s the other way around.

Just one day. Just one day.

Vita woke up cautiously, wishing tomorrow would come quickly.

“Shall we eat dinner first…?”

After dinner, my trembling heart wouldn’t calm down, so I worked out at home, watched a few anime, and when I couldn’t concentrate on the anime, I just paced around the room waiting for Carlyle to call.

-Ah, Carlyle…!

Then, I received a call from Carlyle, whom I had been waiting for, and we had a long chat.

-Yeah, yeah. See you tomorrow, okay.

I said it as if I was calm, but after I hung up the phone, I started shaking even more and my heart kept pounding.

‘This, I… I might not be able to sleep tonight… ‘

Vita had a premonition.

I imagine running to Carlyle and being hugged. I imagine the day ahead, imagining his wide arms, his nice smell, his warm body temperature.