Chapter 54: The Battle for Kim Yoo-Sung

Translator: RaidenTL

Chapter 54: The Battle for Kim Yoo-Sung

Glug! Clack!

At that moment—

In an elegant, traditional room with a clear view of a Japanese garden, Tojo Karen's father, Tojo Naoto, was in discussion with Boris, one of the God of Destruction Ivan's elite guards and a chief security officer for the Easter Egg Company.

Of course, since Captain Boris couldn't speak Japanese, Sento Osamu, the organization's brain and an elite yakuza, stood beside him, serving as a simultaneous interpreter.

"Captain Boris, is Ivan-noya doing well?"

"Сейчас он в больнице."

Sento Osamu, participating as the interpreter, pushed up his glasses with his middle finger and translated Boris's words in real-time.

"He says Ivan-noya is currently in the hospital."

"What? What for?"

"Во время боя сломался запястье."

"He says his wrist was broken during a fight."

"Hah..."

Tojo Naoto let out an involuntary sigh.

To break the wrist of the God of Destruction, Ivan—it was something he could never have imagined.

"Who broke it? Was it one of the other Seven Fist Masters?"

Hearing Naoto's words, Boris shook his head and spoke with a heavy expression.

"Kim Yoo-Sung."

After speaking, Boris pointed to the bandages wrapped around his own head.

"Эта рана также была создана им"

"He says... this wound was also made by him."

Tojo Naoto's eyes widened at those words.

Captain Boris. Who was he?

He was a former special agent of the now-defunct Soviet KGB, a warrior who had survived decades of hellish battlefields.

Even after joining the God of Destruction Ivan's ranks following his discharge, his competence was recognized, making him a prominent figure who had risen to the highest position of 'Elite Guard'.

And this Kim Yoo-Sung had not only injured such a man but had also broken the wrist of Ivan—one of the world's strongest martial artists—and put him in the hospital?

Inside Naoto, his favorability toward Kim Yoo-Sung, whom he had secretly been considering as a candidate for his son-in-law, began to skyrocket.

If, by some chance, he could make him his son-in-law and successfully transfuse some young blood into his gradually declining organization, the Toseikai might just be able to reclaim its former glory.

As if sensing Naoto's excitement, Boris spoke with cold, sunken eyes.

"Он человек, которого хочет Чар. Не трогай."

"He says... he is the man the Tsar wants. Do not touch him."

Hearing this, Tojo Naoto touched the scar etched on his face and laughed fiercely.

"Ha, how interesting. Are the adults planning to interfere in the love lives of the young? We'll just have to wait and see who Yoo-Sung ends up dating."

"Мисс Саша идеальна."

"He says that Miss Sasha is perfect."

Naoto flared up and was about to boast about Karen, but the memory of her usual behavior made him shout a beat too late.

"My Karen is pretty too when she dresses up!"

Which meant she didn't normally dress up.

"Мисс Саша тоже имеет большую грудь."

"Ahem, he says Miss Sasha also has a large chest."

"My Karen takes after her mother! They'll get bigger when she's older!"

Which meant they were still small.

"Keuk! I didn't want to have to bring this out..."

Tojo Naoto muttered as he pulled out a thick photo album from under his seat cushion.

"Look! A photo album filled with pictures of my cute Karen!"

Not to be outdone, Boris used his thick fingers to operate his smartphone and show his photo gallery.

"У меня тоже есть."

"...He says, 'I have one, too.'"

As the two men suddenly started showing their doting sides and began a childish argument, Sento Osamu, who was watching from the side, shook his head in exhaustion.

"This is why I can't with dads who have daughters."

Boris had, in fact, been single for 47 years.

What I made using the kitchen at Karen's house was ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Korean-style patbingsu.

Generally, what the Japanese call shaved ice is kakigori (かき氷), which is finely crushed ice with syrup poured over it. Korean-style patbingsu, however, is characterized by its various colorful toppings piled on top of the ice.

I saw on the news once that the culture of adding toppings other than syrup to ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shaved ice is unfamiliar in Japan, so when a Korean bingsu franchise opened in Harajuku, a long line formed.

In any case, the kitchen at Karen's house, equipped with a wider variety of ingredients and equipment than most hotel kitchens, was a dream-like space for anyone who loves to cook.

I made the patbingsu, generously using high-end ingredients and equipment I'd never get to touch at home.

I piled the shaved ice high in a bowl, then added toppings like sweet red beans, cookies, vanilla ice cream, syrup, condensed milk, and cereal.

It's actually tastier to use shaved frozen milk instead of plain ice, but I skipped that due to time constraints.

After carefully making the original patbingsu, I made my favorite: mango bingsu.

‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I diced a fully ripened mango into cubes, placed them on top of the shaved ice, and drizzled a generous amount of condensed milk and mango syrup to finish it.

Using a similar method, I also made melon and strawberry bingsu, quickly completing a total of four types.

When I returned to the study room with the finished desserts, the three of them, who had been rolling around and relaxing in the tatami room, shot up at once.

"Wow, patbingsu!"

"Is this that Korean-style shaved ice? It looks unusual."

"Красиво (Beautiful)..."

Rika, the most trend-sensitive of the three, seemed to already know about Korean bingsu, her eyes sparkling with delight.

Karen and Sasha also showed interest, perhaps due to the uniquely colorful appearance of Korean patbingsu.

All three of them took out their smartphones and started taking pictures.

From the maker's perspective, it was a gratifying sight.

It meant my creation was worth preserving in a photograph.

"Pick whichever one you like. I made a variety for that reason."

The first to reach out was Rika.

She chose the original bingsu.

Following her, Karen chose the strawberry bingsu, and Sasha chose the mango.

That naturally left me with the melon bingsu, but I felt a slight pang of disappointment.

Melon is delicious, but I actually prefer mango.

Perhaps that lingering desire showed in my gaze, because Sasha tilted her head and offered me the mango bingsu.

"You want this one, don't you? How about we switch?"

"...Thanks."

I swallowed my embarrassment and traded the bingsu.

Anyway, now that we had all chosen our desserts, we decided to enjoy our snack time.

""Let's eat.""

Using a long parfait ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spoon, I mixed the mango, syrup, and ice together and took a bite.

"Mm."

The familiar sweetness spreading through my mouth. As expected, mango bingsu never lets me down.

Seeing me eat, the others seemed to figure out how to eat it as well, mixing their toppings, syrup, and ice before taking a bite.

In an instant, all three of their eyes widened.

"This is delicious!"

"Maybe it's because of the fresh fruit, but it's more refreshing than regular shaved ice."

While Rika and Karen made a fuss, Sasha silently began to dig into her mountain of melon bingsu.

Thankfully, it seemed to suit her taste.

As I let out a quiet sigh of relief and savored the sweet taste of mango bingsu for the first time in a while, Sasha suddenly asked me.

"Yoo-Sung, want to trade a bite?"

Hearing that, I nodded without much thought.

"Sure."

The mango bingsu was originally for Sasha anyway.

She had switched with me because of my preference, so I had no reason to refuse.

When I held out my bowl, Sasha shook her head and pointed to the spoon in my hand.

"You feed it to me directly."

"...Me?"

"You."

As she said that, Sasha scooped up some of her melon bingsu and held it out to me.

It was the act of feeding each other, something couples often do.

Sasha offered me the spoon of bingsu with a smile in her eyes.

It seemed pretty clear she was trying to tease me.

I reluctantly accepted the bite of melon bingsu she offered, then held out a spoonful of my mango bingsu in return.

"Aaah~"

Sasha deliberately made a cute voice as she accepted the mango bingsu from me.

It seemed she was playing a prank with the intention of embarrassing me, but unfortunately for her, I'm not the kind of guy who gets flustered by something like this.

While I maintained my poker face, waiting to see what Sasha would do next, she licked the mango syrup from the corner of her mouth and nodded with a satisfied expression.