A Lunchbox Taller Than a Tower
Don't men die if they don't eat chocolate? It was like a portrait hanging in a cathedral. Something you could look at, but would never dare to touch. In Korean proverbs, a similar comparison would be "rice cake in a painting." Shinwoo found himself eating lunch alone with Chaewon noona, their desks pushed together face-to-face. She had told him she would prepare a separate lunchbox for him if he came to eat with her.
He had stopped by the third-year classroom without much thought. But what greeted him was a five-tiered lunchbox stacked like a tower. Shinwoo's mouth fell open in shock.
"Did you make all of this yourself, noona?"
"Yep! It's for me and my little brother! I only slept one hour a day and made it together with Mom!"
That meant Mother had also only slept one hour today. A strange sense of guilt washed over him. But since it was already made, there was nothing he could do about it.
"Well then... thank you for the meal."
It felt burdensome, but Shinwoo smiled brightly in return for her kindness and picked up his chopsticks.
Thump thump.
Chaewon noona's gaze was fixed on the tip of his moving chopsticks. She pursed her lips, clearly nervous. When Shinwoo glanced sideways, he realized there weren't just one or two pairs of eyes like that.
"......"
"...Gulp."
It felt exactly like being inside a trench right before an artillery barrage. A heavy silence fell over the room. Everyone was silently staring at the end of his chopsticks. Shinwoo felt momentarily flustered, but his stomach was starting to growl, so...
Grab.
"Mmm!"
He went for the shrimp tempura sitting prominently in the center of the lunchbox first. He picked one up and popped it into his mouth. A satisfying crunch filled his entire mouth. Even though some time had passed, the heavenly shrimp flavor wrapped around his tongue like it had just been fried.
"Noona, this is seriously delicious!"
Shinwoo chewed with satisfaction. The third-year girls watching him began eating their own lunches as if entranced, using the sight of him as a side dish. But the student council president, whom he had expected to look happy, seemed strangely unenthusiastic.
When Shinwoo tilted his head in confusion, Chaewon noona puffed out one cheek and spoke in a sulky voice.
"That one... Mom made it..."
No wonder it tasted familiar. Shinwoo realized his mistake. This time he tried the dried radish.
"Noona, this is good too!"
"Mom made that one too..."
Not that either? Come to think of it, this was the first time he was eating a meal that his noona had prepared. Shinwoo had no idea about her cooking skills. So he kept trying the increasingly simpler dishes, asking one by one as he ate.
"It's delicious! Noona."
"That's not the one..."
"But it tastes good?"
"That one too..."
"Maybe this one?"
"No..."
His chopsticks finally stopped at one item. Was this even cooking? It was questionable, but Shinwoo picked up the plainly fried egg anyway.
"Is it this one?"
"Yes!"
At last, the correct answer. Chaewon noona shook her ponytail happily. Her violet eyes sparkled with anticipation.
A fried egg, huh... Well, it counted as cooking. In the war zone, there were plenty of days when they couldn't even light a fire and had to eat raw eggs. Having grown up eating nothing but food scraps, Shinwoo's palate had been significantly downgraded. So he moved to eat it without thinking twice.
"...?"
Unlike its decent-looking top, the bottom of the egg was completely blackened. It wasn't just lightly scorched—it was burned black like an iron plate.
"Noona, did you flip this fried egg properly?"
"...? Do you have to flip fried eggs?"
How exactly had she learned to cook? It seemed she had simply left it alone until it burned. The top was still undercooked and runny. No matter how tolerant he was, this was...
"...Is it weird?"
"N-no?!"
"It's okay. This was actually my first time cooking... I knew it didn't turn out well."
Her voice tugged painfully at his heart. The weak tone at the end of her sentence stirred up his guilt again. When he glanced sideways, he saw her classmates staring at them—at him—with sparkling eyes like a pack of rabbits.
A man eating food that a woman had burned for him. It was one of the popular scenes in dramas where a female actress disguised as a man often performed. Could they really witness it in real life today?
As the girls watched with expectant eyes, Shinwoo let out a small sigh.
Well, it's food that my family made for me after all. If kindness continues, people start thinking it's a right. When had he ever refused food that was given to him? He must have grown too used to having a family and gotten a bit full of himself.
Watching Chaewon noona fidget nervously with her fingers, Shinwoo picked up the fried egg with determination and ate it in one bite.
Nom nom.
The first bite tasted like coal mixed with yolk. The next flavor that followed was... unexpectedly sweet?
"Noona, did you put sugar in this fried egg instead of salt?"
"R-really?! They look similar, so maybe I got them mixed up?"
"I guess so."
It really did taste like sweet coal. But it wasn't completely inedible. Even if it had been, Shinwoo smiled brightly and swallowed every last bite of the fried egg his family had made for him.
Gulp.
"It was still delicious."
"Really?!"
At her little brother's praise, Chaewon noona's cheeks flushed pink. The corners of her mouth twitched as she squeezed her legs together. Since she usually walked around school with a cold expression, her classmates couldn't hide their shock at the sight.
Shinwoo was closing the now-empty lunchbox. Lunchtime was almost over, so he planned to head back down and focus on class. But then...
"U-um..."
Chaewon noona turned to him with an unusually shy face and asked carefully.
"Next time, I want to make you a lunchbox using only my own skills. Would that be okay... little brother?"
Her cooking ability was already overwhelming with just one fried egg. If a single egg turned into sweet coal, making an entire lunchbox with various dishes would surely produce something catastrophic. But it wasn't just anyone. It was family offering to make it for him.
"Of course. I'd welcome it anytime."
Shinwoo answered with a warm smile. The corners of Chaewon noona's hesitant mouth lifted along with his.
"R-really?! You really don't mind if I cook for you?"
"Yes. As much as you want. I'll eat everything. I have a huge appetite, you know."
At the mention of eating a lot, the third-year seniors reacted. Each of them subtly tried to slide their own lunchboxes toward Shinwoo. But their instincts were soon suppressed by an even greater murderous urge.
Anyone who moves will die by my hand.
Chaewon noona turned her face at an angle Shinwoo couldn't see and shot a terrifying warning at her classmates. The violet eyes that had been sparkling just moments ago now held a murky killing intent.
"Noona, I'll be going now."
"Okay. Let's walk home together later, just the two of us. Little brother."
"Yes, see you later."
Of course, that gentle tone was reserved only for her little brother.
With ten minutes left before class started, Shinwoo barely made it back to the classroom. He sat down, humming cheerfully as he waited for the next lesson to begin.
What would they learn in the next class? It was his first time hearing lessons like this. Having had to figure everything out by himself until now, being taught by someone else felt truly happy and enjoyable.
Shinwoo watched the clock on the classroom wall, eagerly awaiting class. But something was off. When he lowered his head at the feeling of stares, the expressions on his classmates' faces were strange. It was as if they had witnessed a deeply moving scene. Several of them had reddened eyes and were busy wiping away flowing tears.
"...?"
Wondering what was going on, Shinwoo looked to his side. Even his desk mate, Elena, was staring at him with an expression that said she couldn't believe her own eyes. Her mouth hung wide open, her queenly aura long gone.
"...Why are you still here?"
What she said next was even more baffling.
"You said you had plans... Didn't you leave early?"
It was as if she had never seen a man like this before.
"I just ate with my noona and came back?"
She seemed to have misunderstood something badly. Shinwoo answered to clear up the confusion. But a male student who attended morning classes and still returned for afternoon ones? Elena quickly covered her mouth and looked away.
To think there was such a diligent man! He was completely different from her father, who collapsed after doing the slightest bit of work. He was like the prince on a white horse from fairy tales.
"S-so you have a noona..."
Elena spoke without looking at his face.
"I didn't know..."
Shinwoo felt bitter, still thinking she was afraid of him. That's why she was avoiding his gaze. Wanting to get closer to Elena, he answered in the gentlest voice he could manage.
"Yes. She's in third year right now and she's an incredibly good noona."
"Hmm. Third year..."
The same grade as the Chaewon sunbae she admired. Elena found herself a little interested in whoever this noona was.
Right before class started, Elena took out a chocolate bar from her pocket—the one she had originally planned to give him tomorrow—and placed it on Shinwoo's desk as casually as she could. Then, with the coldest tone she could muster while looking at him, she said:
"Men are creatures who die if they don't eat chocolate. I bought it so you wouldn't collapse at school or anything."
"...? Oh, thanks...!"
It sounded like some strange common knowledge. But this was the first time receiving pure goodwill from someone unrelated by blood, and it made Shinwoo's chest swell with emotion.
"I'll enjoy it."
"...! G-good!"
She still wouldn't show her face when speaking, which made Shinwoo feel a bit down. However, the chocolate he received tasted sweeter and more delicious than anything in the world.
As time passed, Shinwoo grew fond of Elena, who kept looking out for him. Of course, as a friend. He really hoped she could become his first friend.
Then, right before class began, a brilliant idea occurred to him. As Elena was about to open her textbook, Shinwoo whispered to her.
"Hey, Elena. If we're going the same way, do you want to walk home together?"
People get closer by talking to each other, after all. It was a purely innocent attempt to build goodwill. But Elena's ears turned bright red and began emitting steam. She barely managed to suppress the twitching corners of her mouth at the sudden whisper from a boy. Her heart started pounding wildly, and this feeling was somehow different from the fluttering she felt in front of her father.