Afterparty (1)
I mixed the buchimgaru and frying mix I'd bought from the mart in a 1:1 ratio, then poured in water. It was batter for green onion pancakes.
"Here, Aqua. Mix this for me."
I handed the large bowl full of batter ingredients to Aqua.
[Sure thing! Leave it to me!]
Aqua nodded proudly and snatched the bowl. I watched the scene with a bit of nervous anticipation.
[Mm!]
Aqua nodded once more, full of confidence. Then she asked,
[How do I mix it?]
"The powder's settled at the bottom of the water. Just mix the powder and water together—like mixing sand and water."
[Oh! Got it!]
Aqua raised both hands triumphantly above the bowl. At her command, the water began to swirl beneath them. The powder at the bottom yielded to the flow, and the batter gradually thickened.
[Hee hee hee! It's like playing in the mud!]
I added the sliced zucchini, potatoes, carrots, green onions, and squid I'd prepped to Aqua's batter. After she mixed it a few more times, the pancake batter was ready to fry.
"Perfect. Great job!"
[Is that it? That was easy!]
Aqua crossed her arms smugly and declared it. Her adorable pose sparked my playful side, so I dipped a finger in the batter and smeared it on her nose.
[Hey?]
Aqua's eyes crossed in surprise as she tried to look at the tip of her nose. It was so cute I burst out laughing.
"Ahahaha!"
[Take that!]
Aqua retaliated by smearing batter on my nose. She placed her hands on her hips, let out a triumphant [Hmph!], and looked at me proudly. In response, I pulled her into a hug and rubbed my face against her belly.
[Eek?! Don't wipe it off like that!]
Aqua tried to push my head away. I blew a raspberry right on her belly.
[Ahahaha!]
This time, Aqua hugged my head tight.
"Pffhehehe."
Laughter bubbled out of me too.
[Ssit?]
Mandu climbed onto the counter and stared at us intently, as if asking what we were doing in the middle of cooking.
"Ahem, ahem."
I carefully set Aqua down. She instantly washed the batter off her belly and my face.
[Ssit!]
Mandu chirped again, like he wanted to help with the cooking too. Ever since contracting with him, I'd gotten better at understanding his intentions.
"Want to help with the cooking too, Mandu?"
[Sit!]
Mandu nodded eagerly. Luckily, the pancake prep was done— we couldn't fry them until the clams were cleaned anyway.
"Then how about we grill some skewers?"
[Skewers?]
"Something else to prep besides the pancakes."
I scooped up Aqua and Mandu and headed to the balcony. Next to the barbecue grill sat the veggies and meats I'd just bought.
[Grilling meat?]
"We thread it onto skewers and grill it."
I set Mandu down beside the grill. Charcoal sat unlit below it.
"Mandu, can you light the fire?"
[Ssiit!]
Mandu spun in a circle as if to say "leave it to me" and nodded vigorously.
"Don't breathe too strongly. Weak is fine—just keep it steady so the charcoal catches. Got it?"
[Ssi-sit!]
Mandu immediately breathed fire at the charcoal. It was a bit weaker than a torch.
I left the fire to him and sat Aqua on a tall stool by the grill.
"Alright, shall we skewer some now?"
I demonstrated first, picking up a small metal skewer bite-sized. Leek, thick bacon, shishito peppers, mini sausage, tomato. I threaded them on in order.
"Like this. In whatever order you want."
[Any order I want?]
"Pick the ingredients you like, in the order you like."
[Ooh! Sounds fun!]
Aqua excitedly started threading her own skewer. Poke, poke, poke! Watching her treat it like a game, I reached for a new skewer myself.
[Hum hum hum~.]
Aqua was humming a tune, with the sound of ocean waves mixed in now and then. I glanced over—the blue sea was waving white foam at me. A lazy, peaceful afternoon.
It's been so long since I had time like this.
I savored the moment with Aqua and Mandu. Our cooking time together.
Many spirit users enjoyed cooking with their spirits. Plenty of spirit YouTubers made cooking their main content.
Water, the basis of all cooking. Fire, indispensable in every cuisine. Earth, the storehouse of ingredients. And wind, the ultimate seasoning with its scents.
The four natural elements represented by spirits were all essential to cooking.
I've even imagined opening a restaurant with these two.
And now I was certain. It would definitely be fun.
"……Huh?"
Mid-skewer frenzy, I noticed something odd. Aqua's skewers were lopsided. One had four tomatoes. Another had three sausages.
Well, as long as it tastes good.
If anything, mine seemed boring by comparison.
We finished skewering a hundred in no time. We nodded proudly at the mountain of them.
Over thirty guests invited.
The Spirit Knights alone numbered thirty. This much would let everyone have a few.
[Ssit!]
Right on cue, soot-covered Mandu crawled out from under the grill, fire-starting done.
[Kkeuk-]
He spat out a puff of black smoke.
[Come here!]
Aqua reached out and washed the soot off him in a flash. Mandu seemed to enjoy her water, eyes half-closed blissfully.
Meanwhile, I bought something from the Spirit Shop.
Aqua recognized it.
[Ah! It's been a while!]
In my hand was Spirit Realm salt.
◈ Natural rock salt hardened in the pristine Spirit Realm.
"Meat needs this guy."
The Spirit Shop's top seasoning—never failed me once when grilling.
[Hee hee hee! Can't wait for the guests' reactions!]
Aqua hugged Mandu and beamed.
As evening fell, the invited guests arrived in droves.
"Hyunwoo, we're here!"
"Whoa, this VIP dorm is insane."
"See you again soon!"
[Lady Aqua!]
[Spirit King! We're here!]
[Where's the party?]
[Eat 'til we drop! Drink 'til we drop!]
The Spirit Knights and their spirits.
"Whoa…… so many people."
"Even more spirits, though?"
The spirits had all materialized out of courtesy to non-spirit users.
"Huff, huff……."
Han Deuri panted heavily, eyes on the spirits. Han Areum pulled out her phone and held it to her ear.
"Police? There's a spirit harasser here……."
"No! I just purely want to befriend those cute kids!"
"Little bro. I know better than anyone that you purely love cute things. But……."
Han Areum shook her head sadly.
"With that face, your life's headed straight for a police station ending."
"……Urk."
Han Deuri knew better than anyone how intimidating his face was—he saw it in the mirror daily.
As the siblings bantered, Jeong Ri-on and Mulsuja approached me.
"Congratulations, Spirit King's contractor."
"Aqua too."
"Thank you. It's thanks to you two."
[Thanks!]
We exchanged formal greetings again.
"Thanks for inviting us."
"After all the help you gave me, I'm sorry this is all I can offer."
"It's fine. We'll see each other plenty from now on anyway."
Jeong Ri-on smiled and patted my shoulder. He was right.
Aqua had earned the title of Spirit King. Details were skipped, but the news was all over the internet already. I was now a household name in Korea's spirit user community.
"The party's concept is unique, though."
Jeong Ri-on chuckled at the long table of food.
"Sashimi, chicken, plus green onion pancakes and skewers for a standing party?"
Just as he said. Besides the pancakes and skewers, I'd gotten free sashimi with Park Uncle's coupons and ordered twenty chickens from the local joint.
I'd wanted something fancier, but I was just a scholarship student.
I wanted the most delicious party I could throw.
The standing format was intentional too.
"Not enough seats for thirty to sit comfortably."
Even in a VIP suite, seating that many was impossible. Plus, sitting fixes conversation partners nearby. I wanted to thank everyone who'd helped me one by one.
"Oh, not complaining. It's refreshingly novel."
Jeong Ri-on glanced at the spirit users and spirits—all watching us.
"Oops. Time to kick off the party, stars of the show."
He grinned and picked up a glass. All eyes turned to me and Aqua.
Mandu chirped softly on my shoulder, rubbing his face against my cheek as if reminding us not to forget him. I met Aqua's gaze. With smiles, we spoke together.
"Thank you so much!"
[Thank you so much!]
No more words needed. Our cheers launched the modest victory party.
People laughed, chatted, drank, and snacked happily. Surprisingly, the pancakes and skewers were hits.
"These are good? The pancakes are crispy like fritters."
"Seafood's super fresh. Must be the beachside spot."
"Aqua made them herself."
The spirit users' eyes widened at my words.
"No wonder they're delicious!"
"A Spirit King pancake? You gotta try it!"
One fed a piece to his gnome. The gnome chewed slowly, then gave Aqua a slow thumbs-up with a blank face. Delicious.
[Hee hee hee! Thanks!]
"Oh, Aqua and Mandu made those skewers together."
"That baby salamander? Already great fire control?"
[Ssi-sit!]
After some chit-chat, I gave my thanks.
"Thanks for the breathing advice during stamina training. It helped us win."
[Truly grateful!]
[Ssi-sit!]
The spirit user blinked in surprise.
"You remembered that offhand comment?"
"Advice from a senior? Couldn't ignore it."
"Whoa……."
He marveled, mouth agape, then nodded with a smile.
"Hyunwoo…… you're the real deal. Great personality. You'll succeed at anything."
"Thanks for the kind words."
"Mind if I pour you one?"
"Of course."
I wasn't big on drinking, but I wasn't tone-deaf enough to skip it here. He filled my glass, then asked Aqua,
"Want to give Aqua one too? What'll it be?"
[Me?]
Aqua hopped excitedly from my arms onto the table.
[I've wanted to try this!]
She beamed and reached for a glass of omija tonic. We'd pre-poured dozens for the standing party.
That's when it happened.
[Huh?]
[Eh?]
Another hand reached for the same glass. Jeong Ri-on's sylphs. Omija's unique flavor appealed to sylphs too, apparently.
[…….]
[…….]
A tense air flowed between the spirits. Enemies meet on a single log, they say—and this was their third clash. I was sweating just watching.
What now?
The spirit user looked baffled at me. I nodded curtly, face stiff.
Aqua and the sylphs pounced on the omija right after.