Please Take Me as Your Concubine!
There was one thing I couldn’t help but be curious about at this point.
Chief editor, construction company president, prosecutor, doctor, and—according to what I’d heard—a two-star Michelin chef who was even studying to become a judge. Any one of those people would let you live like a king if you managed to produce even a single one of them in your household.
To say I was only slightly curious would be a lie, but there was one question that stood out the most.
“Um, Hayoung?”
“Yes!”
The moment Kim Hayoung whipped her head around, her overwhelming presence slammed into me like a greeting.
“Ow, ow! That hurts!”
Seo Eunha, who had been standing right behind me, must have noticed where my eyes were going because she drove her chin hard into my shoulder.
“Looked like you needed a shoulder massage good for eye strain.”
Weren’t you the one who said it was fine if I dated other people?!
I brushed Seo Eunha’s head aside and asked,
“By the way, how did you get here today?”
“I had to sneak out without my brothers knowing, so I took the bus. Even if the butler drove me, there was no way I wouldn’t get caught. Still, I wanted to bring the freshest possible ingredients, so I went to Noryangjin early this morning and bought everything! It’s fine!”
What exactly is fine? The freshness of the ingredients?
Does that mean she’s been lugging that cooler around on her back since dawn until noon?
And what was that about a butler?
“She carried that thing around all morning… so why the hell is she only E-class? With that kind of strength, isn’t she stronger before transforming?”
“Ahaha…”
I laughed it off because it was ridiculous, but I completely agreed.
Kim Hayoung didn’t look particularly muscular on the outside. She was just tall rather than built. The real mystery was where all that power came from.
“Hayoung, since it’s the weekend, what did you tell your brothers when you left?”
“W-well…”
Kim Hayoung stopped chopping and avoided my eyes, fidgeting awkwardly. Seeing a giant over 180 centimeters tall visibly flustered like that was actually kind of cute.
“I, um… I lied and said the Management Bureau called me in for special supplementary training. I barely managed to stop the butler and maids from packing me a lunchbox. If my brothers find out, I’m really in big trouble…!”
Kim Hayoung gripped the kitchen knife with both hands, trembling all over.
Is she the precious only daughter of a rich family? Is that why they’re so overprotective?
“Our family rules are a bit strict. My brothers still aren’t happy that I became a magical girl. They say it’s too dangerous. It took me over four years of begging before they finally let me.”
“Uh… how old are you?”
“I’m twenty-two. It’s a little late to be starting, though. Hehe…”
Wait, she’s the same age as me?
Even though she’s huge, she’s so timid that I’d assumed from her behavior she was barely twenty. If we’re the same age, comparing her to Han Yeeun would be too cruel in terms of height and chest size, so I decided to drop that thought.
“Rules? What rules?”
Seo Eunha, unusually interested in a magical girl, asked.
“It’s nothing that special. My brothers just care about me too much. They worry I’ll get hurt or meet bad people. That’s all.”
She was trembling way too much for that to sound convincing. She was basically a bird trapped in a giant cage.
“Ah, please don’t worry about it! It’s all thanks to my brothers that I can live this well!”
Well, just the kitchen appliances in here probably cost millions of won, so maybe that level of overprotection wasn’t so bad.
Chop chop chop chop.
I figured talking would only get in the way, so I kept my mouth shut. It might disturb her cooking, and even if Seo Eunha’s favorability toward Kim Hayoung wasn’t completely in the gutter, asking questions in front of her felt awkward.
“All done!”
““Whoa…””
Grilled eel, marinated grilled eel, salmon sashimi, sashimi rice bowl, butter-grilled abalone, plus the usual side dishes you’d find at a sashimi restaurant—corn cheese, black raspberry wine, oyster pancakes, pumpkin salad, Pacific saury…
The sheer volume of main dishes and side dishes spread across the table was so enormous it bordered on TMI.
Is this even possible?
“I only brought what I could fit in my bag, so I’m sorry it’s not much. Next time I’ll make sure to treat you properly.”
“?”
Was this the gap between rich and normal people?
There wasn’t even enough room for two sets of utensils, so we were already eating with spoons in both hands. And she wanted to add more?
“It rained yesterday, so… mmph. Eating sashimi after rain is bad. If you get sick… um, it’s your fault.”
Could you swallow the eel stuffed in both cheeks before you say that?
Setting aside her tragic past, Seo Eunha really did have a prickly and sensitive personality. But there was one exception.
Her appetite was no joke.
She didn’t eat massive amounts normally, but she wasn’t picky about anything. Chicken was basically her staple, ice cream was a constant companion in front of the TV, and she always had something in her mouth the moment she woke up.
…She really eats a lot.
She often buys it with her own money, but half of it still ends up being my money in the end.
To someone with a food addiction like that, what did it matter if the cook was a magical girl or not?
“Rain and sashimi aren’t related, Chaeeun.”
“Really?”
So she wasn’t just picking a fight?
I was about to give a light explanation, but when I saw Seo Eunha already reaching for the next dish with her mouth still full, I shut up.
She’s tall, but where does all that food even go? She doesn’t have an ounce of belly fat.
“……”
“What are you looking at?”
“N-nothing!”
My eyes had drifted for a second to Seo Eunha’s nutrient storage area, but her sharp words made me snap my gaze away in a panic.
Yeah, it’s good to eat well. She probably couldn’t eat much when she was younger.
That might be why she’s so obsessed with food.
The funny thing is, every time she gets along with another magical girl she gets jealous, but when it comes to me she’s ridiculously sensitive.
“I’m big too!”
“Cough, cough! Hack! Urk, burp.”
Kim Hayoung’s sudden self-promotion made me choke. I ended up burping in embarrassment and thumping my chest.
Why the hell isn’t a single one of these magical girls normal?!
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
I fumbled my words in confusion.
She couldn’t have noticed where I was looking, right?
“My chest is big too! I’m confident about that!”
“That…”
Saying ‘Then why are you bringing it up all of a sudden’ would obviously lead to her replying something like, ‘Well, you were staring at Chaeeun’s chest so obviously, I thought maybe…’
Seo Eunha already throws a fit when I wash underwear with hers. If she knew I’d been looking…
“Th-that’s great. Yeah. Ahaha…”
I tried to twist my words as best I could, but under Seo Eunha’s pitiful stare I could only force an awkward laugh.
Yeah, if it ends with her just looking at me like that, I should count myself lucky.
But I had forgotten.
Whether they were magical girls or villains, none of them were helpful to my life.
“Huh? You were staring so obviously at Chaeeun’s chest that I thought maybe…”
I’m screwed!!!
Bang!
“……”
Gulp.
Seo Eunha silently set her chopsticks down.
It wasn’t the chopsticks that looked like they were about to break—it was me.
“I’m sorry! Did I say something weird?”
“…If you want to look, just say so.”
“Huh?”
Because they’d spoken at the same time, Seo Eunha’s quiet words didn’t reach me clearly.
Did she say “just say so”? Or was it something like “If you don’t want to die, do it properly”?
“Sorry, Hayoung’s voice covered it.”
“Forget it. Just eat. I don’t want to lose my appetite in front of this.”
“Yes ma’am.”
In the meantime, Kim Hayoung poured something into my glass.
Black raspberry wine?
It was evening, sure, but black raspberry wine? And why that instead of soju?
“Thank you, but why black raspberry wine? Isn’t soju the usual pairing with sashimi?”
“Ah, well, that’s because…”
She couldn’t continue and just kept fidgeting, so I tilted my head in confusion.
“Are you seriously clueless or are you clenching your teeth and pretending? This is getting on my nerves just watching.”
“What? Why?”
“Black raspberry wine, eel, oysters, abalone. They’re all good for a man’s stamina, aren’t they?”
Ah.
Uh.
Yeah.
Hmm.
Aaaah?!
“Come on, she just bought delicious things. You shouldn’t twist Hayoung’s good intentions like that. Right, Hayoung?”
“……”
Instead of answering, Hayoung hung her head and only fidgeted with her fingers.
Excuse me? Hello?
“Hayoung?”
“Y-yes?! Ah, um… I heard on the internet that they’re good for a man’s stamina, so…”
This is real?
“But why for me…”
“……”
Again, no answer. She just lowered her head… and so on.
“If you’re going to do it, go outside. Don’t do it in my room like last time.”
“What?”
At Seo Eunha’s words, Kim Hayoung’s eyes welled up with tears. I frantically waved my hands.
Saying ‘It’s not like that’ felt wrong. We had only kissed, but we had mixed tongues and slept together. That part was true.
“I’m sorry! You already have a girlfriend, but I… hic… I overstepped and dared to do this to Oppa… sob! Hic…”
“We’re not dating! It’s just… it’s complicated! I was taking care of a magical girl who had deep emotional scars, the mood got intense, and we only kissed! I swear!”
After hearing my long, pathetic, desperate excuse, Kim Hayoung finally stopped crying.
I wasn’t sure how much she believed the “we only kissed” part, but at least the immediate fire was out.
But why the hell am I even explaining this?
Whether I only kissed Han Yeeun or went further, whether we’re dating or not—I’m a grown man. I can do that, can’t I?
“I’m fine with it.”
“With what?”
“I’m okay being Oppa’s concubine! Second, third, whatever number!”
Then Kim Hayoung downed the glass of black raspberry wine she had filled to the brim in one shot.
“I like you, Oppa!!”
“Hmm. Come to think of it, she’s the one paying the bills. Maybe I shouldn’t have interrupted.”
If you two are going to act crazy, just get out of my house!