Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Tonkatsu
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Arriving at the tonkatsu shop, Seuli headed back over to her parents.
Of course, we were all at the same table.
But this seating arrangement... it felt a little strange somehow.
How should I put it? My parents, Dasom, and I were sitting against the wall, while Seuli's parents and Seuli sat directly across from us... It was... just really intimidating.
This didn't feel like a regular family meal spot... but I shook off the feeling.
Right now, it was better to focus on looking after Seuli and Dasom.
"Kids, let us know when you've decided on your orders."
"Yes...!"
"Yes, got it."
Haneul and Seuli answered energetically, then immediately started pondering the menu.
"Seuli, anything you want?"
"Umm... I'll have this one."
Seuli pointed at the sweet potato cheese tonkatsu.
An excellent, and safe, choice.
I nodded and immediately told my parents.
"Seuli wants the sweet potato cheese tonkatsu, and I'll have the regular loin tonkatsu."
"Alright~"
The adults seemed to have already decided on theirs, because as soon as I gave my order, they started placing everything.
"Kids, no pasta or pizza?"
"Pasta... ummm..."
Seuli seemed to be pondering it a bit, so I quickly recalled her favorite pasta.
She liked all kinds of pasta, but her absolute favorite was...
"One spicy carbonara, please."
Spicy carbonara.
Seuli looked a little surprised and glanced at me upon hearing that.
"We'll share that one."
I wrapped it up quickly before she could say anything, then looked at Seuli.
Seuli gazed back at me and replied softly.
"...Thanks, Haneul."
"No big deal."
We'd placed the order, but...
...I wasn't a huge fan of carbonara.
What to do? Just eat it, I guess.
Clenching my eyes shut and powering through would be fine. Yeah. No problem.
With that in mind, I started chatting more with Seuli.
"Haneul, they said to order drinks too."
"Drinks? Where?"
"Here, drinks."
Seuli's little finger pointed to the drink list written out in a row, but one drink in particular caught my eye.
"...I'll go with this."
"Zero cola?"
"Zero cola's good."
"Wouldn't an ade be better?"
I didn't really have strong feelings about ades one way or the other, but if I had to pick, I leaned against them. Buying drinks at a place like this was already a no-go for me.
Drinking a glass of water was better than shelling out for a drink.
But I was a perceptive guy. Instead of showing off my thriftiness, it was smarter to pick a drink so Seuli wouldn't feel awkward choosing one too.
So, zero cola it was. It was the cheapest at 2,000 won.
...Still felt expensive no matter how I thought about it. For the price of one can here, I could get two in a 1+1 deal at the convenience store.
Whatever. Seuli stared intently at the drinks for a moment before ordering one.
"I'll have the peach ade...!"
"One zero cola and one peach ade~"
With the drink order done, everything was complete.
And Seuli tossed me another conversation topic.
"Haneul, how are you planning to get to high school?"
"How? What do you mean?"
"You've been taking the bus or biking. Just curious how you'll do it for high school."
I answered right away.
"...Probably just the bus."
Biking would be nice too.
But somehow we'd ended up going together a lot lately, and riding the bus with Seuli felt more comfortable and better than biking.
That pattern would likely continue, so I'd probably stick with the bus over biking.
Seuli nodded at my words.
"Yeah, got it!"
"You too, right? Just the bus?"
"Yeah, I don't even have a bike."
Even before that, Seuli didn't know how to ride one in the first place.
If I put her on a bike, she'd wobble all over and definitely crash.
Thinking of that future, bus was the way to go. Yeah.
I nodded along as we moved on to other chats.
The biggest topic was, naturally, friends.
"Oh, right. Seuli, did you hear that news?"
"What news?"
"That Seung-a and Ye-eun are going to the same school."
"Of course I did...! We were KakaoTalking until I fell asleep last night."
Seuli used to only really chat with me on KakaoTalk, not so much with others.
For that Seuli to now casually KakaoTalk with friends until bedtime—she'd really grown up.
This big bro was very satisfied.
"How'd you know, Haneul?"
"They asked me first. If we were going to the same school and where."
"And?"
"I told them, and they said they'd follow. Something about 30 minutes being plenty close."
"Hehehehe... I see..."
Seuli grinned ear to ear, clearly delighted.
Anyway, we were about to dive deeper into friend talk, but time didn't wait for us.
Unfortunately, the food arrived faster than expected.
"Haneul~ Seuli~ Food's here~"
"Gochidon here, loin for me. And the kids' set here."
I pointed at Dasom, who was sitting quietly between me and Mom, perched in her baby chair and eyeing the food.
"Seuli, hang on a sec? Dasom, tonkatsu time~"
"Uung! Tonkatsu! Let's eat!"
As soon as serving was done, I started cutting Dasom's tonkatsu first.
Being a kids' set, it was smaller and the meat was tender, so it cut easily.
Of course, with her tiny mouth, I cut it even smaller than usual.
The tonkatsu was well-fried, so even in small pieces, the breading stuck nicely to the meat.
Once it was cut small enough, I speared a piece, dipped it in sauce, and brought it to Dasom.
"Dasom, ah~"
"Aaa~"
-Nom
-Chew chew chew
"Hee hee hee hee~"
Dasom started giggling even louder, clearly loving the tonkatsu.
That's when Mom spoke to me.
"Son, leave Dasom to me now and take care of Seuli."
"Ah, yes."
I handed Mom Dasom's fork and baby knife, then turned to Seuli.
"Seuli, let me help."
"It's already cut, so I'm good~"
She said that, but Seuli was still slicing at her pre-cut tonkatsu. Seemed like she was trying to make it bite-sized... but her cutting form looked pretty awkward.
I reached out to Seuli for the fork and knife. She put up a little resistance at first but eventually gave in and handed them over.
I started cutting the tonkatsu right away.
A bit of cheese and sweet potato peeked out from inside as I sliced, but I cut it perfectly into sizes she could eat in one bite.
And, as bad as this might sound, it came out way cleaner than what she'd done.
"Here, now eat."
"Yeah... thanks...."
Seuli nodded and speared a piece of tonkatsu I'd cut for her with her fork.
-Nom...
Seuli took a small nibble of it. Even though I'd cut it small, she only bit off a little because...
-Streeeetch...
She wanted to see that cheese pull.
-Chew chew chew chew
Seuli worked the cheese into her mouth bit by bit before popping the whole piece into that tiny mouth of hers.
Seeing the bite-sized tonkatsu go into Seuli's little cheek, I immediately took a bite of my own.
This place is pretty good. Nicely fried.
Savoring the juicy flavor of the delicious tonkatsu, I chewed it up, swallowed, and looked at Seuli.
Seuli had finished one piece properly and was going for the next.
I asked her how it tasted.
"How's the gochidon?"
Instead of words, Seuli showed me with actions.
She handed me a piece of gochidon cut to fit her mouth size.
"Ah."
"Ah?"
I opened my mouth without thinking, and Seuli popped the gochidon right in.
-Plop
-Chew chew
I tasted the tonkatsu that had entered my mouth.
Chewy cheese, sweet sweet potato. Flavor? Perfectly fine, of course.
Tasty place. Could come back often.
"It's good."
"Right?"
Seuli gave a small smile and then started on the carbonara in front of her.
As I watched her boldly fork up the carbonara, I ate some more tonkatsu and tried a bite of the carbonara myself.
...Yeah, carbonara's still not for me. Greasy even as spicy carbonara.
Still, since I'd ordered it to eat together, I finished it all with her.
A small problem arose: Seuli's stomach wasn't that big.
"...Um, Haneul."
"Yeah? What's up?"
"Could you... maybe eat a bit more of my tonkatsu...? Sorry...."
Seuli offered me her tonkatsu apologetically.
I took it without a moment's hesitation.
"Sure, I'll eat it."
"Thanks...."
I took a piece of gochidon.
It was tasty, but yeah, definitely too much for Seuli after the carbonara.
I polished off all the leftovers for her.
And once the tonkatsu was completely gone, I couldn't help but notice.
Seuli looking at me with a gentle smile.
That gaze so heartwarmingly fond it felt toasty warm.
It was so warm that it embarrassed me into turning away without thinking.