Chapter 151: Her Side of the Story
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 151: Her Side of the Story
Akagi Minami was a descendant of a ninja clan.
She was a member of the Akagi family, a branch of the prestigious Saionji noble house, and had lived as Saionji Kumiko's shadow ever since they first met when she was five.
Her main duties were to protect her master, Saionji Kumiko, and handle various other miscellaneous tasks on her behalf.
As a result, most of her daily routine was tailored to Kumiko's lifestyle.
Naturally, Minami had no days off.
Her only pleasure was the brief moment she got to lie in bed and look at her smartphone after the Young Lady had retired for the night and she was ready to end her own day.
Her salary came in on time every month, but she had no time to spend it, so the money just piled up in her bank account.
The only time Minami could truly rest was during her fifteen days of paid vacation per year.
Even then, she was such a workaholic that she often left several days unused.
So it was by chance that Minami had come out shopping in Shibuya to buy autumn clothes.
But thanks to that chance encounter, she met the younger version of Kim Yoo-Sung. In a way, you could even call it fate.
To say it again, Akagi Minami was a descendant of a ninja clan and Saionji Kumiko's faithful shadow.
I said it twice because it's important.
*
Minami disliked boys her age.
They were loud, irrational, smelled of sweat, selfish, and incarnations of lust.
As strict as she was with herself, she was equally strict when judging others, so there were almost no men who met her standards.
In that sense, Kim Yoo-Sung was a man who, in his own way, met Minami's demanding criteria.
But he was already the object of her Young Lady's affection, and he had one other fatal flaw.
It was his overwhelmingly brawny muscles.
For Minami, who preferred the slender lines of a pretty boy, Kim Yoo-Sung's combat-ready physique, which looked like it belonged in a macho manga, was a bit much.
To put it bluntly, his appearance was not her type.
But when she answered a sudden call and went to meet him, the person sitting there was a pretty boy who landed right in the strike zone of her slight shotacon tendencies.
Perhaps from a lack of sunlight, his skin was as white as snow. With his slightly gloomy eyes, long black hair, and slender limbs, he looked like a delicate pretty boy who had just stepped out of a manga.
To be honest, she had been completely caught off guard, which might have made the mental shock feel even greater.
In any case, after getting over the shock and eating at an all-you-can-eat barbecue restaurant, she went on a pseudo-date with the now-younger Kim Yoo-Sung to a nearby arcade at his suggestion.
The boy himself didn't seem to think much of it, which was a little frustrating, but his younger appearance was so perfectly her type that it was Minami who kept her mouth shut.
If the Young Lady back home had known about this, she would have probably yelled, "You thieving cat!" But in this world, as long as you don't get caught, you're golden.
After two blissful hours, they decided to take sticker photos to preserve the memory.
Kim Yoo-Sung smiled with an awkward expression, as if it were his first time doing something like this.
Normally, just seeing that face would have been enough to satisfy her, but thinking this might be the first and last time made her feel a sense of loss, so she was the one who insisted.
"Move a little closer. That way we'll both fit in the frame."
"Huh? Oh, okay."
Kim Yoo-Sung shuffled closer to her, a bewildered look on his face.
A rare expression, indeed.
Delighted, she committed the image of the younger Kim Yoo-Sung to the photo album of her memory.
[Okay! Say cheese!]
Click!
She planned to keep the sticker photo, her prize from the day, a secret from the Young Lady.
*
Our eel rice bowls arrived after about twenty minutes.
The restaurant employee placed a square, lunchbox-like container, a rice paddle, a small serving bowl, and a teapot in front of both me and Minami.
With an expectant look, I opened the lid of the container. Inside, glistening eel lay atop a bed of white rice, all coated in a rich tare sauce.
"Would you like me to explain how to eat it?"
"No, that's alright. We've been here before."
When Minami refused curtly, the employee told us to call if we needed anything, then closed the door and left.
The room fell silent again.
Minami, sitting across from me, looked my way and began to speak.
"The first thing you do with the eel rice bowl here is divide it into three parts."
Following her instructions, I used the provided rice paddle to divide the contents of the container into three equal sections.
"You take one-third of it and eat it as is."
I did as she said, scooping a portion into my bowl and taking a bite of the eel rice.
"...!"
It was delicious.
So delicious it felt like every other eel rice bowl I'd ever had was a fake.
The moment it entered my mouth, the richly seasoned eel meat melted like snow.
I'd been taught to savor fine food like this, but before I knew it, I had the bowl pressed to my lips, shoveling it in frantically.
Having devoured the portion in my bowl in an instant, I looked up at Minami.
She hadn't even eaten half of hers yet, but she must have noticed my gaze because she picked up the teapot with a deadpan expression.
"Next, you put another third into your bowl and make it into ochazuke."
As she spoke, Minami poured green tea into my bowl herself.
The distinct, fragrant aroma of green tea rose from the rice.
This time, I resolved to truly savor the taste and carefully brought a spoonful to my mouth.
"Mm!"
I was more composed than the first time, but the taste was still astonishing.
The savory flavor of the protein-rich eel, the salty-sweetness of the tare sauce, and the subtle bitterness of the green tea blended in harmony, creating a truly diverse palette of flavors.
For someone like me who usually didn't care for ochazuke, it was a rather shocking experience.
The only ochazuke I'd ever approved of was with barley tea, but as of today, there was a second.
I tried my best to eat slowly, but since the portion itself wasn't that large, the eel ochazuke in my bowl was gone in no time.
Minami, who had been watching me, then explained the third and final way to enjoy it.
"Now, for the last third, you can eat it whichever way you liked more."
In other words, the choice was mine.
Hearing her words, I fell into a happy dilemma.
Both ways were so delicious that it was hard to give either one up.
The reliably delicious original, or the eel ochazuke that had given me a whole new experience?
Finally, having made my decision, I reached out my hand without hesitation.
Thud.
My right hand grasped the teapot, which was still about half full.
The original was good, but I felt like I wouldn't be able to have eel ochazuke like this anywhere else, so I made a bold choice.
And the moment I tasted the eel rice soaked in green tea again, I knew my choice had not been wrong.
'This is so healing...'
So this is why people go on food tours.
*
After a dinner that burned through nearly a month's worth of my allowance in a single meal, we took a short walk in a nearby park.
We had been eating since lunch, so it was a good way to digest and get some light cardio in.
Minami, carrying her shopping bags and walking beside me, was the first to speak.
"I had fun today."
Hearing that, I felt a sense of relief.
"I'm glad to hear that. I was worried I might have been the only one enjoying myself."
At that, Minami stopped in her tracks.
"Kim Yoo-Sung, can I ask you one thing?"
"What is it?"
"What do you think of the President?"
It was a heavy-hitting fastball, thrown at a completely unexpected moment.
I mumbled for a moment before answering.
"I think she's a good person. To be honest, she's too good for me."
I didn't know why someone like her would show favor to a guy like me, but there was no doubt she was a likable person.
As the President's close aide, Minami probably knew everything that had happened between me and her.
That must be why she was suddenly asking me this.
After a moment, Minami spoke.
"I'm glad. That the person the President likes is a man like you."
Then, with a slightly bitter smile, she brushed her hair back from her face.
"It would have been nice if we had met a little sooner."
Met who? The President?
I couldn't understand what she meant by that.
"Anyway, that's all for today. It's getting late, so we should probably head our separate ways."
Minami said, turning around.
She was heading in the opposite direction of the subway station.
I quickly asked, "How are you getting home?"
"My brother was worried about me coming home late, so he sent a taxi. See you next week."
Bye-bye.
With that, Minami gave a cool wave and walked away.
Left standing there, I watched her go before a text from my mother asking when I'd be home prompted me to start walking.
I'd eaten plenty of beef and eel, both said to be good for restoring one's energy. I hoped the effects would kick in soon.