Endless Content
The crisp, fluffy texture of the egg filled my mouth completely. It was followed by the perfect harmony of salty ham and the sharp tang of mustard. Sure, it was just a simple sandwich, but they say good-looking rice cakes taste better, and this really did seem more delicious. And because the person I liked had made it for me, it tasted even better.
‘……It’s good.’
I wanted to make a huge fuss, shower him with praise, and tell him how amazing it was. I wanted to react as dramatically as Siwoo does. But honestly, it was too embarrassing. My actions might be restricted, but my imagination was still free…. And the more I felt restrained, the more wildly my fantasies ran out of control.
Siwoo cooked for me → He’s worried about my nutrition → He wants to take responsibility for my health → Let’s spend our lives together → Marriage!
I knew my delusions were completely unrealistic. I knew that. But wasn’t imagination supposed to be free? A house with a big yard. When I come home from work, Siwoo, wearing nothing but an apron, would come out to the entrance to greet me.
“Daseul, you’re home? Do you want to wash up first, eat, or… me?”
I’d scoop him up, carry him straight to the bed, and whisper, Siwoo, today you’re the main course.
“Ehehehe….”
“Daseul? What’s wrong? You’ve got mayonnaise on the corner of your mouth.”
Siwoo’s voice snapped me back to reality. When he reached out and gently wiped the corner of my mouth with his finger, my heart once again shattered past its critical point and exploded. Ahhh, this man is guilty. It’s your fault… acting so irresistibly like that. If you keep behaving this way, it’s no wonder a girl with bad intentions might do something to you.
…Not that I actually have the courage to do it, though.
In my imagination, Siwoo was already mine and mine alone. How could he ruin a person like this and then smile so innocently? This definitely called for some serious re-education. But my happy delusions ended there…
“Huh? Wooju asked me to teach her some of my cooking secrets. She’s coming over to our place later to learn.”
“……Eh?”
The bombshell that dropped from Siwoo’s mouth. The pink circuits spinning happily in my head short-circuited with a loud zzzt and burned out instantly. What replaced them was an endless NTR fantasy as dark as pitch-black despair.
Wooju goes to Siwoo’s house → A space with just the two of them → Using cooking lessons as an excuse for close physical contact → Siwoo gets completely enchanted by Wooju’s pretty face → And while I’m not around, the two of them…!
In my head, a scene played on loop: Wooju slowly unbuttoning Siwoo’s shirt while sneering at me.
“Daseul, Siwoo belongs to me now. He’s way too good for a gloomy girl like you, don’t you think?”
Siwoo, nestled in Wooju’s arms, would turn away from me with tears in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Daseul… Wooju was just too aggressive….”
No… Absolutely not!!!
Something inside me snapped with a clean crack. Normally I would have mumbled, “U-um… have fun,” and retreated into my corner. But not this time. Having the one ray of light in my life—Kang Siwoo—stolen from me was far more horrifying than having my own life taken.
Without realizing it, I clenched my hand with all my strength.
Crunch—.
“……!”
The plastic cup I was holding let out a pitiful scream as it crumpled horribly. Both Siwoo and Wooju’s gazes snapped toward me at the same time. Their eyes were filled with a mix of confusion and shock. But I couldn’t stop myself.
I jerked my head up and fixed my eyes—glinting fiercely from beneath my messy bangs—directly on Siwoo.
“M-me too…!”
“Huh? Daseul?”
“I want to go too! I’m coming to your house too, Siwoo! I… I want to learn how to cook too!”
It was practically a scream. The most courageous, most desperate cry of my entire life. I had never mustered courage before, but if I couldn’t do it even now, I would regret it for the rest of my life. This one thing—this one chance—I absolutely could not let slip away.
“…….”
Silence fell. The words I had just blurted out scattered in every direction, mixing with the sound of the ventilation fan in the home economics room. A declaration made in the heat of the moment. It was so outrageous that the old me couldn’t have even imagined saying it. In fact, just imagining saying something like that would have made me want to bite my tongue and die. But I didn’t regret it. No, I didn’t even have time to regret it. Because in my head, the despairing scenario of Wooju untying Siwoo’s apron strings and whispering, “Should we eat later?” was playing on endless repeat.
“Uh… Daseul?”
Siwoo stared at me with wide eyes. The reflection of myself in his clear pupils was a complete lunatic—messy hair, eyes flashing wildly, crushing a plastic cup in my grip.
“Ah… sorry, I got a little excited all of a sudden. I… I want to eat more of the food you make, Siwoo. I want to learn how. So….”
“Ahaha! What? Daseul, you’re interested in cooking?”
Siwoo quickly returned to his usual sly grin and gave my shoulder a light pat. With just that one casual touch, the murderous aura that had been dominating my body melted away like snow. Ahhh, it felt like my soul was being purified.
“Great! Then let’s all go to my place together. Wooju, you’re okay with that, right?”
“……I don’t mind. If Daseul wants to come, then sure.”
Wooju, who had been watching from the side, answered with a slightly displeased expression. Her eyes were still sharp, but it seemed my desperate determination had taken some of the wind out of her sails.
Hmph. I will never yield the master bedroom at Siwoo’s house. That’s going to be the trial version of our honeymoon suite! And if it’s a honeymoon… of course we’d do tons of naughty things, right? Hehehe….
“I wish school would end soon.”
I always looked forward to the end of the school day, but this time it felt different. Normally I hated being at school and just wanted the final bell to ring so I could leave. But now I was actually excited for what would happen after school. This was the power of love. It was changing even the smallest things about me.
The rest of the day flew by in a blur. After I finished eating lunch happily, Siwoo said, “The cafeteria food really is better, huh? You’re eating way more enthusiastically than before,” and I waved my hands in denial so frantically that I choked. In the library, the popular kids and delinquents—who I never thought would set foot in there—showed up, pretending to read manga while sneaking glances at Siwoo. …Those stalker bastards. I had to protect Siwoo from them. Overwhelmed by lack of sleep and post-lunch drowsiness, I completely passed out on my desk, only for Siwoo to mess with my hair and braid it into something ridiculous. Still, he was surprisingly good at braiding. My hair isn’t in the best condition, so it must’ve been difficult, but he managed it. That meant he had a lot of practice, right? He must’ve braided girls’ hair often. Siwoo’s popular and has tons of friends, so he’s probably dated a lot of girls too, right?
No. That can’t be. Siwoo is definitely a pure, innocent virgin. And if he isn’t? Well… so what. I was a generous enough woman to accept a flaw like that.
With all those thoughts and worries swirling in my head, none of the actual class material made it into my brain. But time doesn’t stop for anyone. Eventually, the final bell rang.
Just like yesterday, Siwoo was surrounded by the popular crowd. Even so, the way he shone like a star in the middle of them… it wasn’t just my bias. He really was that kind of guy. …There were way too many enemies. Still, Siwoo turned down all their invitations again today and chose to spend time with us… with me. Yeah. In the end, I was the winner.
And so, led by Siwoo’s hand, we headed to the large mart near school. We needed to buy ingredients before doing the cooking practice at his house.
The sight of Siwoo pushing the shopping cart from behind was absolutely perfect. A platinum-blonde yankee carefully selecting fresh ingredients while pushing a mart cart. This gap moe deserved to be registered as a national cultural heritage.
“Hmm, pork shoulder really is the best value for the money. Daseul, do you like fatty meat?”
“Eh? Uhh… yeah! I like anything you give me, Siwoo!”
“What about you, Wooju? You look like you’re a picky eater.”
“I eat pretty much anything. I’m not the type to be picky in the first place.”
Wooju smiled sweetly as she stood right next to Siwoo. That sly fox!
I instinctively grabbed Siwoo’s other arm and held on tight. My iron grip wrinkled his shirt, but I didn’t have time to care about that right now. This was a battlefield. A bloody warzone for claiming the strategic high ground of the spot beside Siwoo!
I pressed my chest—no, my whole body—against his arm while glaring at Wooju. She wasn’t being super aggressive about it. That made her even more dangerous. That must be the composure of an alpha female who’s used to having guys flock to her. For a socially withdrawn girl like me, every single one of these opportunities was precious.
We’re childhood friends, aren’t we? When we were little, we shared toys and snacks we treasured. It’s not that different now. But there was one thing I could never, ever share. And that thing was Siwoo.
Whether he noticed the tense atmosphere between us or not, Siwoo just calmly said, “Oh, green onions are on sale,” and continued shopping peacefully.
But my happy(?) monopoly didn’t last long.
“…Huh? Oppa?”
A clear, cheerful voice came from behind us. At the same time, Siwoo’s whole body stiffened.
“Kang Siwoo! What are you doing here? Grocery shopping?”
Tap tap tap tap—.
A girl came running toward us with loud footsteps. She was wearing a neat school uniform and had a cute face, but the aura she gave off was powerful enough to dominate the entire mart. She looked back and forth between me and Wooju—both of us clinging to Siwoo’s arms—then narrowed her eyes.
“Oppa… who are these girls next to you?”
Her gaze landed on me. Specifically, on my dry, frizzy hair and the hand that was gripping Siwoo’s arm like it was about to crush it.
“…Don’t tell me, oppa, you’re not being threatened by these trash bag… I mean, these weird older girls, are you?”
Trash bag? Did she just call me a trash bag?
My brain server started screaming from overload once again. The sudden appearance of the girl who was apparently Siwoo’s younger sister. And the blatant hostility directed at me. My first impression was completely ruined.
What now? Just when my pink honeymoon delusions were in full swing, an unexpected final boss had invaded. The kind that would torment me endlessly even after marriage. Truly endless content.