Chapter 18

Meals at the mansion varied from day to day, but they did share a few constants.

First, meat appeared more often than fish. Whether Ye Sa-ra never much cared for seafood, the main proteins were almost always pork or beef.

Second, the cuisine skewed heavily Western. Steak, stew, pasta—these were far more likely to appear than Korean or other Asian dishes. Over the two months I'd been here, the dish I'd eaten most was undoubtedly steak. Whether that was a rich-person thing or just Ye Sa-ra's personal taste, I honestly couldn't tell.

In the mornings, meals were kept simple: breads and soups, light enough to stomach easily. Lunch and dinner, however, arrived in courses, appetizer, main dish, dessert, all served in due order.

Maybe because I always ate alone, nobody insisted on rigid dining etiquette. There were none of those movie-style table settings bristling with rows of knives and forks. They simply laid out the exact utensils you needed. Even if I ate a little noisily, with the occasional clink of silverware, Yang Hye-in and the rest of the staff never said a word.

So it hadn't occurred to me that the other girls would worry about it. But they clearly didn't see it that way.

Did they think a place like this demanded matching table manners?

Yu Ha-neul sat there with her main dish in front of her, staring to see exactly how I handled my fork and knife. Sometime around the moment we sat down, Shin So-hee had glanced around the room and quietly buttoned up her open shirt collar.

Lee Su-a, at least, was eating normally, completely unbothered by the atmosphere.

No, honestly—Lee Su-a managed her knife and fork far more elegantly than I did. That made perfect sense, of course. I'd only lived in this body for about two months. I was a perfectly ordinary person who still hadn't shaken off a commoner's mindset. Lee Su-a, meanwhile, was a proper young lady, raised in a good household since childhood.

The other two, Shin So-hee and Yu Ha-neul, kept sneaking glances at me. Only after I'd deliberately started eating did they cautiously pick up their own forks and knives.

To be fair, they had just eaten the appetizer moments ago. Still, it was only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠soup. Hard to mess up when you're just using a spoon.

Watching them both cut their meat at awkward angles, clearly trying to mimic Lee Su-a or me, I honestly felt a twinge of worry. When you're too tense, no matter how delicious the food is, you can't really tell whether it's going in through your nose or your mouth.

But the moment I saw them take that first bite of steak, all my concerns evaporated.

The expressions on Yu Ha-neul's and Shin So-hee's faces simply melted the instant that piece of steak hit their tongues.

See? The flavor really is something else, isn't it?

Honestly, I couldn't say I trusted the staff here a hundred percent, and none of them struck me as particularly warm, but their skills were undeniable. Well, the kitchen staff, anyway. Not the security team who couldn't even manage to catch me climbing the wall.

Even when the ingredients repeated, the flavors subtly shifted from meal to meal, so it never got boring. Where did these people even train? I had my suspicions, maybe they'd been chefs at some five-star hotel.

Once their faces melted, the two of them fell quiet for completely different reasons. You could say they'd become utterly absorbed in the generous portions of steak in front of them.

Of the two, I paid particularly close attention to Shin So-hee's expression.

At first, she'd been imitating Lee Su-a, cutting her steak into small, neat, bite-sized cubes. But at some point, the pieces she carved off grew steadily larger. Soon she was practically hacking into chunks, stuffing them into her mouth and chewing and swallowing with an expression of absolute bliss. It wasn't a bad look at all. Actually, it was an endearing, hearty appetite for a girl her age.

But apparently, she was deeply embarrassed to be seen like that.

As she was zealously chomping away, Shin So-hee's eyes happened to meet mine. Her hand, spearing a piece of meat nearly twice the size of her earlier bites, froze midair. She glanced at the slab on her fork, then at the much smaller slice I was popping into my mouth. Slowly, she lowered her hand and placed the chunk back onto her plate.

"Ahem."

With a tiny cough, Shin So-hee reverted to her previous demure manner, cutting her meat back into small, tidy bites.

Her face, naturally, had turned bright red.

...Honestly, you really don't have to worry about it.

If I'm being truthful, I'd love to attack my food with the same gusto Shin So-hee had just shown. But if I did that, I wouldn't get to enjoy the meal for long. I'd feel completely stuffed after only a few mouthfuls. If I wanted to savor this amazing food for as long as possible, the only way was to take it slow—cut small, chew long, and swallow slowly.

My attention drifted over to Yu Ha-neul. As expected of the Yu Ha-neul who picked up any skill quickly in the game, she hadn't resorted to massive chunks like Shin So-hee. Instead, she'd modeled herself after Lee Su-a and me, slicing her steak into tidy, bite-sized portions before bringing them to her mouth.

Only, she was doing it at about twice our speed.

Spear a bite, chew briefly, swallow, immediately cut the next. She proceeded with a kind of lethal efficiency, wholly focused on the single task of eating. That was—well, yeah. Hearty, I guess. In its own way.

Still, it was a relief the kitchen staff had taken the initiative to prepare generous portions. Otherwise, Yu Ha-neul and Shin So-hee would've completely finished eating before I'd even gotten through half of mine. I'd invited them over largely as an apology; I couldn't exactly send them off while they sat there awkwardly with nothing to do.

When I glanced at Shin So-hee again, she was back to eating with that same boundless energy as before our eyes had met.

...Seriously, why even worry about what I think?

*

"Aah, that was really, truly good."

When she'd first entered the mansion, Shin So-hee had been stiff as a board. Now, as she made her way out, she wore an expression of pure satisfaction. She was even rubbing her full stomach. She must have genuinely enjoyed it.

"I know, right? It was so, so good."

Yu Ha-neul shared the sentiment wholeheartedly.

In truth, the meal had passed in near silence. But no, it hadn't been an awkward or uncomfortable silence. Shin So-hee, Yu Ha-neul, and even Lee Su-a, who maintained her proper composure to the very end, had all been completely absorbed in the food. And for one simple reason: it was just that delicious.

As in, they'd been too busy eating to say a word.

Which, of course, was exactly what I'd been counting on.

Yu Ha-neul and Lee Su-a; I'd gotten reasonably close to those two. But we'd still known each other less than a week. To be honest, I didn't even know what their hobbies were. We'd chatted about various things, but most of the conversation revolved around my abysmal stamina.

And Shin So-hee? I'd met her for the very first time today.

So, attempting to sustain a conversation with these three for an hour? That would probably have backfired spectacularly from sheer awkwardness. Maybe not with Yu Ha-neul and Lee Su-a, since I saw them at school every day anyway. But for Shin So-hee, abruptly swept up in things, it likely wouldn't have been enjoyable at all.

And so I'd devised the meal. Specifically, a meal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that required no words.

Put truly delicious food in people's mouths, and any need for conversation becomes irrelevant. The eating itself puts them in a good mood. And when the meal isn't even something they paid for, but a treat someone else provided, their goodwill toward that person naturally spikes.

Even without much actual talking, simply gathering ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and sharing a meal creates a certain bond. That's why society views friends eating together at lunch as perfectly normal and eating alone as somehow strange. The number of people you share a meal with acts as a kind of proof of how many relationships you're maintaining.

We walked along, each of us making a passing comment about how delicious tonight's dinner had been, until we came to a stop right at the open front gate.

I stood just inside the gate. The other three stopped a single step beyond it. With that one line drawn as the boundary, the girls and I faced each other.

For a brief moment, the mood grew awkward. Because we all knew this was where we had to say goodbye.

The one to break the silence was Lee Su-a.

"Sara, I ate really well today. Next time, I'll be the one to treat you."

Standing in front of the open gate, she addressed me with a little, polite bow of her head.

"Alright. I'll be looking forward to it."

At my response, one of the nearby bodyguards shot me a sideways look, but when I glanced back, he immediately averted his gaze. I meant it. This was me shamelessly declaring that, yes, I fully intended to eat out.

"Ah, me too! Include me!"

Yu Ha-neul raised her hand and called out.

"I know plenty of good restaurants, too!"

"Great. Let's go together next time."

I nodded and smiled directly at Yu Ha-neul.

Then my gaze naturally shifted to Shin So-hee.

"Uh..."

Shin So-hee's eyes flickered, as if she felt suddenly put on the spot. It made perfect sense. She was the one I'd specifically singled out earlier, saying, "I'll treat you to a meal to make up for things."

But I wasn't tactless enough to say something like, "Oh, you don't have to." A favor, once it starts going back and forth, is like a ping-pong match—ping, pong, straight back. Between friends, logic and score-keeping aren't what a favor is about.

So what Shin So-hee and I were checking with each other right here had nothing to do with who owed whom a larger debt.

It was about whether she was willing to keep hanging out with this group in the future.

"...Well."

Scratching at her faintly reddened cheek, Shin So-hee spoke.

"We said we'd pretend what happened earlier today never happened, but I did end up getting treated... So, I guess I could buy you guys something once."

Truly a tsundere-worthy remark.

And exactly the answer I'd been hoping for.

"Good."

I nodded toward Shin So-hee.

And then I answered with a bright smile.

"I'll be waiting."

*

"..."

"What are you thinking about?"

On the way home.

Shin So-hee had split off in a different direction a little while back, so now Lee Su-a and Yu Ha-neul found themselves walking together. Both had a rough idea which way the other's home was, since they'd walked part of the same route after school before. In reality, their paths also diverged after just a very short stretch. Lee Su-a headed toward the wealthy district of luxury houses, and Yu Ha-neul toward the apartment complexes.

"Just... remembering Sara's face earlier when we parted."

"Ah, I see..."

At Yu Ha-neul's reply, Lee Su-a nodded.

Sara had stood there gazing after them for a long time as they walked away. Then, eventually, she'd slowly turned and gone back inside. The very instant she turned, the bodyguard beside her began pulling closed that enormous, heavy gate.

Soon enough, the massive iron barrier completely severed the only route connecting Sara to the outside world.

"..."

"..."

Neither of them spoke another word after that. But each felt they knew, at least a little, what the person beside them was thinking.

That they wished Sara could step freely out of that cage.

...The two of them guessed, probably, that they shared that exact same thought.

They still didn't know each other inside and out, and they hadn't spent enough time together to truly call each other friends yet, but at the very least, the two of them now shared one single topic and source of deep concern: Ye Sa-ra.

But the thought wasn't yet concrete enough to voice aloud. They'd only just witnessed for themselves the kind of situation Sara was in. Two teenage girls couldn't achieve much when the clues were so painfully scarce.

So in the end, without putting any real opinion into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠words, the two sank deep into their own thoughts for a while, walking together until they reached the spot where their paths diverged.

*

The moment Shin So-hee got home, she threw herself onto her bed.

"Crazy crazy crazy crazy crazy crazy!"

With her face buried deep in the mattress, she kicked and flailed her legs wildly as she shrieked.

What on earth had given her the nerve to say that?

After being served meat that high-class, what had possessed her to pipe up and say, "I guess I could buy you something once"?!

The steak she'd eaten tonight surely cost the kind of money she'd barely make working a part-time shift all day. No, considering the small course they'd served, it might have cost even more. It probably wiped out several days' worth of her part-time wages in a single, glorious blow.

And yet, after being treated to all of that, she'd gone and said, "I'll buy you something once." What in the world was she even supposed to buy?

Even if she took Sara around the neighborhood on a local food tour, it probably wouldn't measure up in Sara's eyes.

"..."

Shin So-hee stopped flailing for a moment and recalled the answer Sara had given her.

...I'll be waiting.

That was just playing dirty.

Saying something like that with a face that gorgeous, bathed in the warm glow of the outdoor lights in the dark, flashing a smile she'd never once shown before, no matter how Shin So-hee looked at it, it was totally cheating.

"Haa... damn it."

Shin So-hee let out a heavy sigh.

Then, roughly pulling out her smartphone, she started typing "best restaurants in my area" into the search bar.

"Fine. Is that how it's going to be? Then I'll introduce you to every kind of unhealthy, addictive junk food that all the money in the world can't buy."

She would turn Sara into someone who couldn't survive without sneaking out for street food.

Sara was a young lady locked up in a cage. If Shin So-hee could show her a taste of escape, something money by itself couldn't buy her, then surely Sara was bound to be satisfied.

...That logic was mostly borrowed from romance manhwa and dramas, but anyway, that was the theory.

After spending a good long while searching for worthwhile things to eat in the neighborhood, Shin So-hee only realized a full hour later that she didn't even have Sara's phone number, and smacked herself squarely on the forehead.