Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: I'll Cook for You
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The first midterm exams of middle school were finally over.
And then I went through an experience I'd never had before in my life.
"Haneul, let me see your test paper."
"Ah, why? The answer key will be out soon anyway."
"There's a problem I want to check right now."
The kids had gathered around in a huddle, trying to grade their papers against mine.
It really fit the description of something I'd never experienced even once in my life.
In my previous life, I wasn't a bad student by any means. But I wasn't a top performer either.
You know that one kid in every class? The one nobody realizes is actually in the top 5 or 6 until the results come out.
That was me.
I wasn't terrible at studying, but I wasn't exceptional enough to stand out, so I just kept a low profile.
That had definitely been the case, but now I was the undisputed top student in our class.
I'd volunteered to be the new student representative right at the start of the year, answered every surprise question the teacher threw at us during class... My daily life had built up this image of the perfect student.
It wasn't a bad feeling, but it still didn't sit entirely right with me.
What do I mean by that?
What else?
"Haneul got everything right...!? That's amazing...!"
Seol-i's praise, laced with exaggerated excitement.
The way she clapped her hands was unbearably cute. I almost reached out to ruffle her hair without thinking.
Of course, underneath it all, there was a twinge of guilt.
Toward these innocent middle schoolers, victims of a 23-year-old army vet's shameless opportunism.
Sorry, kids. But Uncle here's got a second chance at life, so of course he's going to make the most of it.
I apologized to them in my mind and glanced at Seol-i's report card.
Seol-i's scores were way better than mine had been back in school.
She had over 90 in every subject as a baseline, and her strong suits—Korean and English—were a perfect 100 and 96.4.
"Argh... English was so close..."
"It's fine. You still did great."
"You got 100, Haneul."
To be honest, middle school English was ridiculously easy.
No super tough vocab, and the grammar rules and sentence structures weren't much different from what high schoolers or college kids dealt with.
Meanwhile, Seol-i glanced at my paper, then hers, and shot me a sideways look.
"...Haneul, you're really amazing."
"Huh?"
"I said you're amazing."
"...Over something this minor."
From my perspective, it really was just that—minor.
I hadn't studied more than 30 minutes a day per subject, and for math and science, the subjects I was confident in, there were days I skipped entirely.
I hadn't forgotten everything from before, so a quick review brought back all the formulas and problem-solving methods. No real need to grind.
Still, getting this much praise from Seol-i meant a lot to me, all things considered.
Especially from her kind heart.
"Seol-i, you'll end up better than me someday."
Seol-i immediately shook her head no.
"You're better, Haneul."
"Nah, I doubt it."
I really didn't think so.
The story mentioned that even in high school, Seol-i stayed in the top ranks. I figured the later parts I didn't read probably had her going to a good college.
Compared to that, I'd barely scraped into a mid-tier Seoul university.
By the time Seol-i hit high school, I'd probably be the one learning from her.
She clearly didn't believe a word of it, though.
"Anyway... enough about exams. Wanna grab some food?"
"Yeah! Sounds good!"
We were at Seol-i's house right now.
The school wasn't providing lunch today, so we had to fend for ourselves.
As I pondered our options, Seol-i started staring at me intently.
And then...
"Um, Haneul. If it's okay..."
"If it's okay?"
"Can I... cook for you?"
She dropped an absolutely bombshell suggestion.
Asking if she could cook for me, of all things.
Of course, my answer was set in stone.
"No, you can't."
Absolutely not. I wasn't ready to see Seol-i cook just yet—at least not now.
"...Why?"
Her question made me flinch for a second.
Was it killing intent? Something like that prickled the air.
I answered Seol-i's probing firmly.
"Using fire by ourselves is dangerous. Knives are dangerous too."
"I've practiced, so it's fine...!"
"What were you gonna make?"
"S... spicy pork stir-fry...!"
Spicy pork stir-fry did sound tempting.
Still, no way. It was too risky to let Seol-i handle it yet.
"Seol-i, I'm fine, really..."
"Haneul... do you not trust me...?"
I couldn't ignore the hesitation in her voice.
It wasn't about trust. Seol-i could definitely cook well.
But if she got hurt while doing it, that'd be a whole other problem.
I didn't want to see Seol-i get injured cooking.
Cooking involves sharp blades and open flames—it's incredibly dangerous.
I just didn't want her doing something that risky right in front of me.
But Seol-i clearly wasn't happy with my protectiveness.
She was peeking at my reaction while making her displeasure obvious.
In the end, I couldn't hold out against her gaze and caved.
"...Okay, go ahead."
"Hehe... Thanks."
Seol-i gave a small smile and hopped up, heading to the kitchen.
She went to tie on her apron...
...but her technique was kinda iffy.
"Seol-i, hold on."
I'd meant to just watch, but I ended up going over to retie her apron properly.
I tied a neat bow at the back and asked her,
"You sure you're okay with this?"
"......"
"Seol-i?"
She finally looked at me when I called her name.
"Yeah..."
"You sure?"
"Uh... yeah...?"
Seemed like she'd finally snapped out of it.
She was actually looking me in the eyes now.
"Yeah... I'm good."
Her little nod felt suspiciously half-hearted, but I decided to let it slide.
After all, Seol-i was trying to cook for me out of the goodness of her heart.
How could I doubt that?
Instead, I had one condition.
"Seol-i, can you let me handle the knife work?"
Everything else was negotiable, but chopping? That was mine.
I'd even have preferred to do the stir-frying, but that would've turned it into my cooking instead.
But Seol-i just tilted her head slightly.
"...No need for that."
...Turns out the pork was pre-sliced.
Well, guess I had nothing to do then.
Seol-i's cooking session began after that.
She mixed the sauce, tossed in the pork and minced garlic, stir-fried like mad, poured in the sauce, and mixed it all together while frying.
To be honest, I was insanely worried.
Lacking strength, Seol-i could barely lift the frying pan properly, and her grip on the wooden spatula was so tense the meat looked ready to fly everywhere.
I fretted that sauce might splatter and burn those pale arms of hers, but thankfully, nothing happened.
"Phew... all done...!"
The spicy pork stir-fry Seol-i completed looked pretty appetizing.
I immediately went behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
I wanted to massage her tired shoulders as a reward for her hard work.
But that gesture didn't land as intended.
"Kyaa?!"
Startled by my sudden touch, Seol-i yelped and twisted away dramatically...
-Smack!
Her arm brushed the scorching frying pan.
-Whoosh!
I yanked her body away forcibly, but I was a tad too late.
Her arm was red.
Her skin was so fair to begin with that it stood out even more.
"Ow ow..."
Seol-i clutched the burned spot with her hand, and I rushed over, grabbed her arm, dragged her to the sink, and held it under running water.
"Nngh... Hnngh..."
Her small body trembled.
How much did it hurt? I should've just stopped her.
Regret hit me from every angle, so I started to apologize right away.
Or at least, I tried to.
"...Haneul, thank you."
Before I could, Seol-i thanked me instead.
"...Thank me? I startled you."
"No... It's... uh... n-not like that..."
She tried to explain but swallowed her words, just shaking her head at me.
"Haneul, I'm really fine now. Let's eat."
"But..."
"I'm seriously okay... okay...?"
She insisted that much, leaving me no room to argue.
I could only nod in agreement.
Of course, I made her keep it under the water a bit longer.
"Five more minutes."
"I'm really fine..."
"You wanna scar?"
Honestly, I was overreacting. I'd pulled her away fast enough, and the angry red skin had already calmed down.
Still, if even a burn mark showed up on Seol-i's skin, I'd never forgive myself. So I held her arm under the water stubbornly until the end.
Thankfully, her skin returned to normal soon after, and Seol-i, pain-free, assured me,
"I'm really okay now."
"For real?"
-Nod nod
Seeing her nod, I finally let go of her arm.
Only after confirming it was completely fine did I bow my head in apology.
"I'm really sorry."
Seol-i stared at me blankly, then squished my cheeks with her small hands.
"Huh...?"
"No scar. Doesn't hurt. So no more apologies. Got it?"
Hearing that, I had no choice but to nod.
The girl I'd seen as childish proved more mature than expected, while I, who thought myself grown-up, felt like the real kid.
By the way, Seol-i's "spicy pork stir-fry" was basically just pork gochujang stir-fry.
Still, the sauce was so delicious that the whole thing was insanely good. The kind you crave again right away.