Hey, Buy Me Food
Today was my first day off in what felt like forever. A truly long-awaited day off.
"Ahhhh... this is... heaven..."
Just lying in bed and spacing out felt amazing. It was the best. Thrilling. A breath of fresh air.
And that wasn't the only good thing.
The moment I checked my phone, I saw this month's metrics. The beautiful upward curve of the graph was the kind of sight that could fill my empty soul over and over again.
"Man... that is seriously sexy."
I meant it. Look at those gorgeous green candles. There was no other word for it but sexy.
I wished my other graphs would stay in the green too, but let's not go there.
The important thing was that my metrics had skyrocketed, meaning this month's earnings were going to be massive.
"I can't help but smile just looking at it."
I truly meant it.
Right then.
"Oppa~"
After a light knock on my door, my absolutely adorable younger sister poked her head in.
"Yeon, what's up?"
"Mom said you have to buy me lunch today~"
"Oh, really? Where's Mom?"
"She's on a date with Dad today~"
Seeing my parents still going on dates in their fifties always made me realize how deeply in love they still were.
"Yeon, is there anything you want to eat? I'll buy you whatever you want."
"But two days ago you were whining about not giving me allowance?"
"Now that I think about it, I'm getting suspicious again. How much did Lee Yebin pay you?"
"Yebin-onni gave me a hundred thousand won."
Wow. Who gives a high school sophomore a hundred thousand won in one go?
I barely give Yeon a hundred and fifty thousand won a month, and Yebin threw a hundred thousand at her just for opening the front door? She's out of her mind.
"That's a fortune. Shouldn't you be buying?"
"You just said you'd buy! Besides, Mom told me to get food from you."
For the record, I wasn't actually trying to shake down my little sister. I was just joking.
"So, what do you want to eat?"
"I want meat!"
"Meat? That new place down the street?"
"Yeah!"
Yeon's eyes sparkled, and I nodded in response.
"Alright, let's head over there together."
"Yay! I'll go change right now!"
I smiled warmly as I watched her scurry out of the room.
Some people don't understand how siblings can get along so well, but Yeon is five years younger than me. With that kind of age gap, it's actually harder to have a bad relationship.
Usually, when siblings fight, it's because the younger one tries to walk all over the older one. In my case, the age gap was wide enough that Yeon never tried to usurp my authority.
She never talked back or tried to challenge me, and she'd been good at listening to me since she was little.
That's why I'm happy to give her allowance and buy her meals.
"Oppa, can I shower before we go?"
"Take your time. That restaurant probably doesn't even open properly until one."
"Okay~"
With that, Yeon quietly went to take a shower.
Wait. If Yeon is showering in the main bathroom, where am I supposed to wash up?
After a moment's thought, I decided to use the master bathroom.
Since I was buying my little sister lunch, surely I could use the master bathroom.
At that moment, I had no idea what was about to happen and took a very leisurely shower.
If I had known, I wouldn't have let Yeon take her sweet time. I would have dragged her out by any means necessary to get lunch.
Why?
"Oh...? Onni! Onni~!"
"Yeon~ Hey, hey~ And hey to you, too."
"Yeah, hey."
...Because the very moment we stepped outside, we ran into Lee Yebin.
But that wasn't even the main issue.
"Onni, Oppa is buying lunch today!"
"What? Really?"
"Yeah! Onni, if you have time, eat with us!"
"Hey, I'm not buying for you."
I tried to shut it down early, but Yebin immediately whipped out her ultimate move.
"Gyeong-i oppa, buy me food just this once~"
"......Fuck, shut up right now."
"Aw, whyyyy~"
"You're grossing me out, you wench."
"Just this once!"
"You've already gotten me to buy you food twice this month. Is your conscience an erogenous—"
"Hey! Watch your mouth in front of a kid...!"
"She knows everything there is to know."
Yebin immediately covered Yeon's ears and started nagging me, but I just shrugged.
Yeon tilted her head in confusion, but I knew she was just playing innocent. She was definitely old enough to get it.
"Anyway, I am absolutely not buying for you."
"...Just this once!"
"Hey, today is payday for you too! Pay for your own share!"
"Ewww... How did you know that? Creepy pervert."
"Hey! We're in the same agency!"
Bickering back and forth, it was just another typical day of fighting for us.
In the end, I ended up dragging Lee Yebin along to buy her lunch too.
"Sigh... How did it come to this..."
"Hehe, thanks for the meal~"
"Onni! Let's sit over there!"
Yeon led Yebin to the innermost table, and I followed them over to sit down.
Once we ordered for three adults, a platter of assorted meats was brought out immediately.
"Oppa, grill it for us!"
"Of course I have to grill it."
"Ooh~ Gyeong-do, look at you~"
"If I left it to you two, this delicious meat would end up completely burnt."
I replied flatly as I laid the meat on the grill.
"It's all-you-can-eat, so eat as much as you want."
"Okay~"
"Yay~"
"To the person who just said 'yay'—I only came here because of you. I knew you'd eat like a pig."
"What?!"
Yebin flared up instantly, but honestly, this was the only decent meat restaurant in the neighborhood.
I had brought Yeon here once before, and the quality of the meat was good. Plus, since it was all-you-can-eat, we could eat to our hearts' content.
On top of that, the rice and the salad bar were unlimited too. What a beautiful place.
"Can I order a soybean paste stew?"
"Do you have no conscience?"
"Oppa, can I get a soybean paste stew?"
"Okay, one soybean paste stew."
"Wow, are you seriously discriminating?"
"You and Yeon deserve to be treated differently."
Compared to Yebin, Yeon was a precious treasure.
She was obedient, kind, cute, and friendly. Yebin, on the other hand, was stubborn, had a terrible personality, and was just plain obnoxious and gross.
It was glaringly obvious who was more precious.
"Wow, you're really mean."
"Do you want anything else besides the stew?"
"Hmm... cheese steamed egg?"
"Okay, cheese steamed egg it is."
Ignoring Yebin, I ordered all the side dishes Yeon wanted and started grilling the meat.
Once the meat was grilled to a nice, even finish, I cut it up and started piling it onto Yeon and Yebin's plates.
"Thanks for the food, Oppa...!"
"Thanks, Gyeong-do!"
Yeon dug in happily, a bright smile spreading across her face.
Seeing her eat so well put me in a good mood.
As I was grilling more meat with that thought in mind—
"Gyeong-do, open wide."
I heard a sudden voice.
The one speaking was none other than Lee Yebin.
"...What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
"Well, you're buying us lunch and grilling the meat, so it's only right I make you the first wrap."
"......You didn't put anything weird in there, did you?"
"You want to die? My hand is getting tired, so just eat it."
"Ah."
I opened my mouth and took the wrap Yebin had made.
Inside the lettuce wrap, a perfect balance of rice, well-done meat, garlic, ssamjang, and sesame oil came together for a delicious bite.
I nodded as I chewed, and Yebin watched me with an expectant look on her face.
"...The meat here is good."
"It's because I'm a master wrap-maker."
"Onni, make one for me too!"
"Sure~ Just a second."
After making mine, Yebin wrapped another one and fed it to Yeon, who accepted it with a bright, happy grin.
"Mmm~! Onni, it's so good!!"
"I'm glad~ Now, should I eat some too?"
After that, Yeon, Yebin, and I managed to polish off nearly four platters of meat.
Since each platter was about three hundred grams, the three of us had devoured over two and a half pounds of meat.
"Ugh, I'm stuffed. I can't eat another bite."
"Me neither..."
"You pigs..."
"Hey, you ate a ton too...!"
"Come to think of it, Oppa, you're weird. How do you eat this much and not gain weight...?"
"...You don't need to know."
With that, I got up and took the receipt to the counter to pay.
It was twenty-five thousand won per person, and with the sides, the total came out to a little over eighty thousand won.
While it felt a bit pricey, seeing the two of them slumped over, completely full and satisfied, made me feel like it was money well spent.
Just as I finished paying and walked back to the table—
Ding!
My CocoaTalk chimed.
When I checked the message...
Look at her, doing something actually thoughtful for once.
After accepting the money, I decided to keep the good mood going.
"I'll buy ice cream for dessert. Let's go."
"Ooooh~"
"Oppa, really?"
"I'm a man of my word."
"Let's go, let's go~!"
"Let's go~!"
Yebin and Yeon got up in high spirits, and I followed them to the ice cream parlor.
They ended up picking the most expensive ice cream, which completely ate up the extra money Yebin had sent and then some, but hey, you need days like this once in a while. Yep.