A Tasty Cooking Duel (3)
Seon-a nearly dozed off. Nearly dozed off (almost fell asleep) and actually fell asleep were strictly different things. Actually falling asleep meant the real act of sleeping. Nearly dozing off? That just meant her eyes had closed for a second. It absolutely did not mean she had entered deep sleep. As proof—
“Seon-a, go lie down over there.”
“Uh… no. I didn’t sleep. I just dozed a little.”
“You didn’t sleep? Then wipe the drool off your chin.”
“I didn’t! I almost fell asleep, that’s all.”
If she had actually slept, she wouldn’t have woken up so easily. She had just woken up, so she could insist it was only “almost falling asleep.”
“It really looked like you were sleeping just now…”
“Nope. I jumped right up. What should I do now?”
“Just go back to sleep.”
“Hmm… I didn’t sleep. I jumped up. See? Jumped right up.”
Seon-a refused to admit she had slept. Her logic was flawless, and now she needed to prove it.
“Look, I’m completely fine right now. You’re just imagining things. I definitely didn’t doze off. Yeah, that’s right.”
“…”
“So what should I do? Oh… the tteokguk’s all done? Should I bring out the bowls? Just tell me what to do. I’ll do my best.”
“Just rest.”
“Rest… Got it!!”
She had defended her logic and even scored some rest time. Seon-a was delighted. She vanished from the camera and began crawling around on all fours. Since walking normally would be boring, she made up her own rules.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m… making my escape.”
“Pfft—haha! You can just walk out normally.”
“Walking normally is boring.”
“Augh, seriously. It’s not boring at all. Hurry up and go call them. Tell them it’s done.”
“Okaaay… Got it!! So I’ll go get them?”
Seon-a sprang to her feet, clutching her slipping mask as she spoke.
“What should I say? That everything’s ready?”
“Yeah. It’s all done.”
“Then we should call the judges. How are we doing the judging? Blind taste test? Or should we just say who made what? Like, this one’s mine and that one’s Moddeok’s?”
“We both made it together, remember?”
Seon-a still had a shred of conscience. She could have argued, but she held back. She simply mulled it over.
“You’re right.”
“Puhaha.”
Moddeok found Seon-a’s straightforward acceptance hilarious.
“So… does that mean I’m the only one who actually cooked? Should we call it the Moddeok-Seon-a split-personality showdown?”
“Uh… well… still… I… boiled the water…”
“What do you want to do? Just say it.”
“Uh… still. I boiled the water.”
“We’re counting the water-boiling?”
“Yeah… I boiled the water. I did…”
Seon-a could only mutter hesitantly. What she really wanted to hear was “Seon-a did everything.” But she knew that was pushing it. Her next best option was “Seon-a, acting as Moddeok’s proxy.” That was what she was hoping for in her heart.
“How should I handle it? I’ll match whatever you want.”
Moddeok said this while pulling out bowls and spoons.
“I… Seon-a, who only boiled the water… that’s fine…”
“Really? You sure? I can give you more if you want.”
“Really…?”
“Yeah. Really. Tell me.”
“Uh… Seon-a, entering as Moddeok’s proxy. You know Ghost Go King, right? Like that—I’m the one giving instructions, and Moddeok is the blond guy.”
Moddeok paused while opening a bag of seaweed, looking at Seon-a.
“Blond guy…? The one who’s actually playing?”
“He’s the protagonist. The one who calls the proxy.”
Moddeok stared at Seon-a while finishing opening the bag.
“So you’re the proxy then?”
“Yeah!! I’m controlling Moddeok’s brainwaves to make her do it.”
“Ah… right. That works.”
“Exactly. So I’m the one who controlled everything, which means I basically made this dish. You get it now, right? Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?”
“Wow… yeah.”
“So we’re going with that story?”
“Uh… yeah… sure.”
“Yes!! I’ll go call everyone else right away. Keep going over there. Peel my seaweed for me too!”
Seon-a dashed out of the camera frame, looking exactly like a kid running around excitedly.
I really did participate with all my heart. Depth comes from sincerity. I sincerely boiled that water with everything I had. Just like how simmering bones for a long time brings out richer flavor… I gave it my absolute best with what I could do. That meant I deserved some credit too.
Thankfully, it worked out. Moddeok acknowledged my contribution, so there were no problems. Honestly, I had ten different counterarguments ready just in case. They kept popping into my head—what was I supposed to do? Luckily, I didn’t need to use any of them. We resolved it peacefully, and I was very happy about that.
I opened the living room door and walked in. Everyone was watching a drama, so I sat down and joined them. Honestly, I’m not a big fan of dramas. They’re boring. And way too long. The most important thing for me when watching videos is whether I can skip parts. If it starts feeling dull, I need to be able to watch at 2x speed or skip entirely. That’s why I hate movie theaters. You have to sit through the whole thing… It’s so frustrating. I just want to know the ending quickly. Hurry up and tell me. I only care about what happens to the protagonist… Blah blah blah. That’s why I actually love getting spoiled. At least I go in already knowing everything. I know exactly when this scene or that scene is coming, so I can focus better. When’s my spoiler going to show up? Come on already…!! There it is!! Awesome.
“Look at that… Young-sik and—augh, Young-sik, nooo! I told you not to do that! Isn’t this so frustrating?”
Maru was completely immersed, getting worked up all by herself. Honestly, I still had no idea what was going on. I didn’t even know what drama this was. I turned to Raming, who was watching with a serious expression.
“What is this?”
“This? Nasol.”
“What’s Nasol?”
“A blood-pressure-raising broadcast.”
“Uh… blood pressure? Then why watch it?”
“That’s the fun part.”
I didn’t understand what Raming meant. More importantly, I didn’t understand the plot at all, so my blood pressure wasn’t rising. Meanwhile, Raming and Maru kept yelling about Young-sik and Young-cheol. Hmm… I still didn’t get it.
“I see.”
I slowly stood up. I figured Moddeok’s side would be better than this. I headed back to her.
Watching the chat would probably be more fun anyway.
“Did you call them?”
“It’s boring over there.”
“What are they doing?”
“They’re just looking for Young-sik… I don’t get what’s happening even though I’m watching.”
“Ah, this episode is legendary.”
“You’ve seen it too, Moddeok?”
“I’ve seen everything. I just watch it all.”
Right… This was a realm I couldn’t approach. Like a crow trying to follow a stork and tearing its legs. Way out of my league.
I fell into thought. What were the things I actually liked? Sports? Not really. I especially hated soccer. The reason? They never passed me the ball. They always made me play defense and never gave me the ball. Basketball wasn’t great either. Running around was exhausting. Volleyball? I hated it the most. I actually felt like my veins were going to burst while playing it. Badminton itself was okay, but I didn’t like it at school. Just to play one game… sigh… the waiting time for a court was longer than the game itself. Table tennis was too hard, so I hated that too.
“Hmm…”
“Seon-a?”
What about books? Obviously hated them. I hated reading words in general. Even with manga, I only looked at the pictures and flipped through. If I couldn’t understand from the pictures, I just stopped.
“Hmm…”
“Seon-a? Why aren’t the others coming out?”
Computer games? Honestly, not a fan. I was so bad at controls that I even lost to the computer. That’s why I preferred mobile games that didn’t require much skill.
“Seon-a? Seon-a?”
“Hmm…”
“Seon-a…!!”
While lost in thought, I felt someone shaking me and snapped back to reality. Moddeok was vigorously shaking my shoulders.
“Huh?!”
“Hey, why aren’t the others coming?”
“Uh…?”
“The others? Why aren’t they here?”
“Oh!! I’ll go get them.”
Ah, right!! I was supposed to call them, but I got distracted watching the drama. I had completely forgotten my job.
“Yeah~ Go call them again. Why aren’t they coming when I told them to? This is getting annoying. Should I just yell?”
Moddeok was clearly misunderstanding the situation. I shuffled backward little by little.
“I-I’ll go get them right away!!”
The kitchen was close to the living room, but there was a partition door between them. It had been installed a long time ago because Mom wanted to separate the spaces. These days it was rarely used, but just recently—actually, right before this—Pyeongjipja had closed it. She said the drama sounds and the stream would interfere with each other.
I opened the door again with a rattle.
“Everyone, they said it’s time to eat.”
“Oh, it’s ready?”
“Yeah. It turned out really delicious.”
It better have.
“Oh, can we look forward to it, Seon-a?”
At Maru’s words, I nodded confidently.
“Don’t worry. It’s going to be really good.”
“Wait, Seon-a, you know how to cook?”
“Me? Not at all!!”
“Then what’s with all the confidence?”
“Hahaha. Just trust me!!”
If it tastes bad, it’s Moddeok’s fault… not mine!! I only did brainwave control to make her cook deliciously. Since this was the concept, I hadn’t actually tasted it yet to stay in character, but I still said it was good. Yeah, not a single lie in anything I said.
“Everyone, hurry up and come. Moddeok’s getting impatient.”
“Okay~ We’re coming.”
“Should I try my friend’s tteokguk?”
“Ehehe. What about you, Pyeongjipja? Say something too.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“Good good!!”
Everyone was giving compliments. Yeah…!! This was what made cooking fun. Ah, I really feel like cooking now!!