The First Failing Student (5)
She set the lunchboxes out on the table as if she owned the place. Awkwardness hit me first—but the sight of that sweet-and-spicy stir-fried pork stopped every thought in its tracks.
Ssambap. Spicy pork ssambap.
I never expected to see Selena’s cooking with my own eyes. The quality was so high that admiration slipped out of me before I could stop it.
"Incredible! This is amazing!"
"It’s nothing special, but I hope it eases Teacher Sion’s hunger."
She spoke shyly and gestured for me to sit. Compliments clearly weren’t something she was used to. I walked over as if spellbound and sank onto the sofa.
Selena smiled bashfully and handed me a disposable pair of chopsticks. I took them in a daze and snapped the wooden sticks apart with fluid ease.
"But seriously—when did you start preparing all this?"
"This morning."
"This morning? Don’t tell me you lost sleep over me."
"No. I’m not much of a morning sleeper. So I thought I’d put the time to good use."
Even so, to have it ready on schedule she would have had to be up by six at the latest.
Ah. She said she lived in the academy dorms, so maybe that made it a little easier.
"Wow. Now I almost feel guilty eating this."
"Do you?"
"I never thought I’d be sitting here eating spicy pork ssambap—and of this quality, no less."
I picked up a crisp leaf of wrap greens. It still held the chill of having just been washed.
"I didn’t know what you liked, so I chose a menu most men enjoy."
"I see. That’s some careful thought. Mm!?"
"Is it to your taste?"
"Whoa!"
I had meant to put on a slightly exaggerated reaction out of respect for the effort she had poured into making lunch for me. But the taste exceeded every expectation and startled me so badly I nearly shot out of my seat.
"Teacher Sion?"
"You could open a restaurant with this."
Even as I answered, my brain spun off on its own wild daydream. Selena and I dating sweetly, then rushing into marriage after a little “signal violation,” opening a cozy restaurant in some quiet neighborhood and running it together. Four kids, the business booming, a new house with rooms for each child on the second floor and a combined shop-and-living room on the first. Growing old and sick together as the most loving couple until the day we died.
That kind of life.
I felt strange realizing I had even started inventing names for our grandchildren in the span of a single breath. That was how perfectly Selena’s cooking matched my palate.
"This is seriously delicious. Best spicy pork I’ve ever had."
"You don’t have to praise me that much."
"I’m completely serious. You’re really something, you know that?"
"No… this just… happened somehow."
"So you just accidentally made a dish this delicately thoughtful?"
Selena’s gaze slid away. Color flooded her cheeks. I watched her fingers fidget shyly.
"Selena."
"Yes?"
"Thank you. Really. I’m going to enjoy every bite."
"Yes."
Through the sway of her short hair I caught a glimpse of her ear, flushed bright red. My breath almost caught; I hurriedly focused on eating.
"Hm? You’re not eating, Selena?"
"Ah, I’m fine. This is all for Teacher Sion."
"Come on. Let’s eat together."
"But—"
"Food always tastes twice as good when you share it, right?"
She stared at me blankly, as if something hurt. Clear pupils—strikingly different colors in each eye—blinked slowly.
"Then… will you keep eating with me from now on?"
"I’d be the one honored."
"Eh?"
"If I can eat cooking of this quality every day, I’m the one saying thank you. Oh—and I’ll pay properly for the ingredients."
"No. This is… because I’m grateful to Teacher Sion."
"How could a teacher freeload off a student’s wallet? The difference in our pay has to be huge."
She pressed her lips tight and met my eyes with a faintly rebellious look. Gratitude was probably winning the fight inside her.
"Then how about this?"
"What do you mean?"
"I’ll put in a formal request with the Service Club."
"Ah."
"Is that not how the Service Club works?"
"No, you’re right. We provide household-help services for teachers and students."
"Aha, got it. Mind if I ask about the Service Club while we’re at it?"
"Of course. Anytime."
A rare spark of energy lit her face. She clearly took pride in belonging to the Service Club.
"What kind of services can you get?"
"Cleaning is the basic one. Beyond that we do laundry, meals, even childcare."
"Hmm. So you really do maid work, huh."
"That’s right."
"And the fees?"
She flinched and went stiff. I waited quietly through her long hesitation.
"For Teacher Sion… I could make it free as a special case."
"No. Even with people we’re close to, we have to keep public and private separate."
"Are we… close?"
"At the very least, you’re someone I feel comfortable with."
Her red lips moved in tiny, restless shapes. She seemed full of things she wanted to say yet couldn’t quite voice.
"Or… am I the only one who feels that way?"
"No! I… feel comfortable when I’m with Teacher Sion too."
"Yeah? Thank you. For thinking that."
"Yes."
"But I still want you to take fair payment for the service."
She widened both eyes as if this was the one point she refused to yield. Even so, it looked no more threatening than a gentle puppy sulking.
"Otherwise a day will come when it becomes uncomfortable for both of us."
"I would never—"
"If you want me to keep using the service for a long, long time, this is the best way."
"A long, long time?"
"Yeah. A long, long time."
Selena wrestled with it for a while, then finally nodded as if she had no choice.
"All right, Teacher Sion. Then please come by the Service Club later for a consultation."
"I will."
"Um… then for today, would you like a little taste of Service Club service?"
"That’s a great idea."
She smiled bashfully, looking a touch happier. Better than the gloom from before—her bright smile was almost painfully pretty.
"I’ll wrap one for you."
"Huh? No, no, it’s fine."
"This is part of the service too."
"The Service Club does this kind of thing?"
"Only for special customers."
Special customers?
"This service… Teacher Sion is the first."
She flushed shyly and held out a neatly sized wrap. She looked ready to keep holding it forever if I didn’t take it. While I hesitated she squeezed her eyes shut and pressed it straight against my mouth.
Cool on the outside, warm within—that soft texture touched my lips. I accepted it without resistance.
Sweet-and-spicy pork, the side ingredients, and the finishing kick of ssamjang. The more I chewed, the more the juices bloomed.
While I was chewing and swallowing, Selena hurriedly unscrewed the thermos lid and poured its contents into a small plastic bowl.
Fragrant soybean-paste stew, steam rising in soft curls.
"Here."
"Thanks, Selena."
The heat soothed my insides so thoroughly it almost brought tears to my eyes. Ah—if only she would make me soybean-paste stew every morning.
"Okay. Selena, open wide."
"What!? I’m fine, Teacher Sion."
"You should listen to your teacher."
"Why?"
"Because otherwise I’ll do something bad."
"That… doesn’t sound so bad either. Hup."
"See? Twice as good, right?"
I forced a wrap into her slightly parted mouth; she accepted it obediently. While she nodded reluctantly I wrapped her another.
Before long Selena’s cheeks puffed out like a greedy little squirrel’s. The flustered look was ridiculously cute.
Already Friday. I hadn’t done a single worthwhile thing, yet this was my fifth day showing up for work.
I arrived a little early, hoping for another taste of Selena’s cooking like yesterday. Maybe the fact that it was Friday made the feeling even stronger.
After clearing that incomprehensible weekly quest, the Affection System had unlocked. Yesterday I had been so distracted by the spicy pork ssambap that I completely forgot.
115. A number that had blasted far past the affection max of level 10. I still felt dazed just thinking about it.
The upper limit had been broken. Did that mean it could climb even higher?
If she had already given herself to me at affection level 10… what on earth would she do at 115?
I let out a thin sigh and dropped into the chair. My eyes drifted idly toward the cot beside me—
"Wah!?"
Selena-gong. Why have only your neck arrived?
She was wrapped in my blanket, tears dripping steadily. The sniffling sounded serious. I forced my racing heart to calm and stepped closer.
"Selena?"
"I’m sorry for startling you."
"I’m fine. More importantly—what happened?"
"It’s nothing. If I just stay like this for a while, I’ll be all right."
Even through the hiccups she somehow managed to speak clearly.
"‘Nothing,’ my foot. Here—tissue."
"Thank you."
I sat carefully beside her and met her eyes with quiet patience. At first she looked away, shy, but when I simply waited she gathered her courage and looked back at me.
"Who made you cry? Want your teacher to go scold them?"
"It’s just… me. I did this to myself."
"Is that so? Then why did you feel like crying?"
She hesitated, then toppled forward. That hid her tear-stained, pitiful face from view.
"I got left behind alone again."
"Left behind alone?"
The mumbled voice tugged at my chest. Feeling sorry for her without quite knowing why, I gently patted the spot between her shoulder blades.
"Actually… today is the day we dock with The Ground for a mission."
"Ah. I see. So why didn’t you go, Selena?"
"It isn’t that I didn’t go. I couldn’t go."
"Huh? Why couldn’t you?"
"Because I’m not suited for the mission. I’m a healer, yet I can’t heal my teammates. I only end up healing the Defects instead."
There it was. The limit of an R-rank. The pretty piece of trash you were forced to use only during the tutorial and then discard. The one who, with absurd probability, made hordes of new players rage-quit from the very first stage.
The gatekeeper of Red Bible, the newbie thresher.
"Then… want to train with your teacher?"
"What???"
"If that’s what’s making things hard for you, I thought maybe I could get rid of it for you."
The face buried deep in the blanket slowly emerged. She sat up straight again and let the covers slip from her shoulders.
A face so piercingly beautiful it hurt, and so pitiful it hurt more. And, quietly displayed beneath it, the affection value.
160
160!?