Do-young's Favorite Random Game (10)
Even after Do Ha-min's cooking lesson ended, I kept diligently practicing rolled omelets and other dishes. From Monday to Thursday, when Dad handled breakfast duty, I'd do it in the evenings. And from Friday to Sunday, when it was my turn for meals, I'd make them in the mornings. At least once every cycle, Do Ha-min's rolled omelet showed up as a side dish.
In the end, consistency was key for studying, exercise, and cooking. Your body had to get so familiar with the process that it was ready to absorb better techniques. Once I got used to the simple recipes Do Ha-min taught me, I started getting ambitious. I wanted to tackle the advanced golden rolled omelet Mom had shown me way back.
With Do Ha-min's tips on heat control, knife work, and shaping under my belt, I gave Mom's recipe another shot. After a few trial-and-error runs, it was a smashing success.
Ooh, this rolled omelet looks exactly like Mom's.
Right? I'm pretty confident this time.
Perfect half-cooked texture, a gleaming golden hue, an alluring curved form. The texture was so soft and fluffy, you could mistake it for human lips with your eyes closed. I'd finally nailed what Mom called the "rolled omelet optimized for seducing men"—the one that "captivates a man's tongue."
You're welcome, future real Ban Do-young. Thanks to me possessing your body, by the story's end, it'll be blessed not just with handwriting, kendo, and singing talents, but also cooking skills—the essential virtue of a wise wife and good mother.
Or maybe not. Sure, I repeated challenges and failures daily, but reaching this level in just a few weeks? Maybe Ban Do-young already had latent cooking talent sleeping inside her.
How about Dad gives it a taste?
No. Don't touch it.
Why...? Dad's eaten the most of Mom's, so you'd know best how close it is.
I swatted away Dad's hand as he reached to squash the pretty shape I'd worked so hard on. Someone else was meant to taste it first.
There's someone I want to try it first.
Who?
The kid sleeping in my room right now.
But just feeding it to him would be no fun. I'd make him eat it at the perfect moment for maximum effect.
…
"So, how's your first taste of my proper rolled omelet?"
"…I-it's… delicious."
Right at a moment like this.
"Last time, you ran off without eating mine. Figured your trust in my cooking was still shaky, so I buckled down."
"R-right… I did…"
Do Ha-min's mouth was stuffed full, his face flushing red as he chewed and gulped down the egg. But no matter how I looked at it, he didn't seem like someone blissfully enjoying a tasty treat. There was something lacking, like he'd been hoping for… more.
"What's with that face? Is my rolled omelet not good?"
"No, it's good… really. Even better than mine."
"Then why the long face?"
"…"
Do Ha-min deliberately looked away from me. Even so, he savored every last bit of the omelet in his mouth, which was kinda cute.
"Oh, wait… were you hoping that with your eyes closed, it wasn't omelet going in your mouth, but something else?"
"…S-something else?"
"Like… this maybe?"
I tapped his lower lip with my chopstick tip, and Do Ha-min's face turned beet red, flustering helplessly. Guess he couldn't hide the heat rising in his cheeks.
"Knew it… you perv. Should've seen it coming when you tried copping a feel of my chest at the start. Yeah, you've been hoping for that all along, huh."
"N-no! Like I said then, I was just checking your name…! Just the name tag, that's all!"
"Name tags aren't on foreheads! You peeped, you peeped!"
"I didn't…! For real…!"
I knew exactly what Do Ha-min had been hoping for with his eyes closed. I'd been a guy once too. Dicks know dicks.
Anyone would think today was prime time for the heroine Ban Do-young and Do Ha-min to connect. Letting the world's most beautiful girl crash in his room overnight? Covering with an alibi to my parents? Proposing an April Fool's game to confess hidden feelings under the guise of a lie? With the loser's penalty being "do whatever you want to the opponent"?
Man, woman, young or old—anyone would see it as the girl giving the green light. Sure, it's an all-ages webtoon with minors, so no steamy deeds, but close skinship? Totally fair game. If Half Half Island ended with fans' acclaim as a no-frust webtoon, it had to deliver the scenes they craved.
The stage was set perfectly. But one problem I couldn't solve alone.
I could set the stage as the heroine. But the star who had to shine on it? Not me.
"For real… I've never… thought of you that way—"
"It's April Fool's. Can I take that the opposite way?"
"N-no…! What I just said was my honest truth, not a reverse—"
"That a lie too? From the 'just checking your name innocently' onward."
"Aaaah…"
"Why can't you just say it straight, Do Ha-min-ssi?"
"Ugh… aaah…"
Here he was. Narrow-shouldered nerd trembling head to toe, torn between revenge and restraint like some Hamlet, letting out anguished cries. Only Do Ha-min qualified to run wild on this stage.
This is trickier than I thought. Won't even make a move like this? How straight-laced did the author make this guy?
Eh? Just lunge in and kiss him first? Nah, that's not how a pure youth romance webtoon works. The protagonist and heroine's first real skinship event has to be led by the protagonist. A protag dragged around by the heroine from the start? He'd never grow. That'd just be some age-gap onee-shota thing. And embarrassing. I still knew I was a guy deep down. No way I'd make the first move.
If anyone's doing it, it has to be Do Ha-min, who doesn't know I used to be a guy.
In Do Ha-min and Ban Do-young's relationship, the initiator of big event points had to be Do Ha-min. That was one of the rules I'd set for Half Half Island to reach a satisfying end.
I didn't know the original plot, so I couldn't follow it beat for beat. I had to stick to pure youth romance basics. No status screen like in fantasy, no author voice in my head spilling the script.
Most crucial: Do Ha-min's actions at the center. I could improvise freely, but key choices or events between us needed his agency. Readers wouldn't love a male lead just dragged along by the heroine's demands, growing zilch and stumbling into a harem end.
Movies, glasses shop, kendo lessons—mostly my leads. None from him. That had to change. Protagonist growth or bust.
In that sense, Do Ha-min initiating the "study session at Ban house" event was perfect for closing our gap. He started it. So my job? Make sure he doesn't bail, tie him down tighter than usual so he steps up himself.
"What'll it be? Keep going? Zero Lime game. Pervert Do Ha-min-ssi."
"…"
"Normally I'd keep attacking, but if we continue, you can go first this time. Special."
"…"
"Not that it'll matter—you'll lose fast and I'll stuff your mouth with omelet anyway. Heh."
I threw in taunts to poke his pride.
You suck at games.
"…Let's keep going."
"O-oh… okay. Yeah, that's how a self-proclaimed man acts."
Ooh. Do Ha-min's voice suddenly calmed to a low, steady tone. So different from usual, it threw me off—I even stuttered.
He'd raise his voice with any excitement, but when really pissed? It dropped low. That type.
"Heehee, guess I need more Zero Lime then."
Playing it cool, I stepped out to the balcony, grabbed the cola bottle, and poured for him and me.
"How much? Given your skills, Do Ha-min, fill it to the brim so you might get a shot in."
"…No need. Just a sip in yours is fine."
"Wh-why act tough now? Someone'd think you're winning."
"If you're scared, fill it up. You like Zero Lime more than me anyway."
"Wh-who said I'm losing? I'll show you the director's resolve!"
I'd planned to let him win one round anyway. But his cool demand caught me off guard—cola splashed on the floor.
Ah, what a waste.
"Just a sip like you said. No whining if you lose."
"Got it. Say start."
"Alright, ready… go!"
Whoosh!
As per his request, I downed the shallow cola in one go. Split-second timing. My attack window? One quick word at best.
Maybe copying my first move, planning to say "I'm a girl"? Useless. Low voice or not, no way it'd shock mighty Ban Do-young like some battle manga super mode…!
"…Ah, I want to have sex."
"Pfft—!"
Cough!
The cola heading down my throat shot back out, spraying Do Ha-min's face. Mouth shot.
"…One-on-one."
"Cough! Hack! W-wait…! Choked! You…! That's what I said our first meeting! Cheating by copying…! Cough!"
"Didn't say no copying. I win, right?"
"Cough, cough… Huh?"
Flailing over the cola droplets in my windpipe, I looked up—Do Ha-min's shadow blocked the balcony light above me.
"…Close your eyes. For 10 seconds."
Eh, ehh. Wait. Don't come closer.