Bread Shuttle
Throughout the entire stream Lee Yebin had stayed sulky, and the moment it ended she stopped even looking at my KakaoTalk messages.
Normally by this point she would have blown up and yelled at me at least once, yet she wasn’t getting angry at all. Beyond not getting angry, she wasn’t even reacting.
Was what I said really that bad? We had just been doing our usual WWE roughhousing. When she lost she came over, knocked me flat, and even stepped on me.
So why was she the one sulking? I couldn’t understand it at all.
In the end there was only one person I could turn to for help.
“Hey, Yeon.”
“Oppa, are you seriously a psycho?”
The second I called her name the poison-tipped retort came flying back. I decided I at least had to put up a little resistance.
“What did I even do wrong…!”
“You don’t know? If you don’t know, then you’re an animal, not a human.”
Under that merciless condemnation I carefully tried another question.
“Did I really mess up that badly…?”
“Oppa, teasing a girl by calling her a pig is one thing. But slapping her streamer name onto the pig? That was genuinely unforgivable.”
“Was it that bad….”
“Yeah. If you don’t apologize to Unnie, I’m not treating you like a person either.”
“Tch… fine.”
It might sound weird to say, but Yeon was a pretty affectionate little sister. She climbed all over me and pulled pranks, sure, but among younger sisters she easily ranked in the top five percent. If even she was talking to me like that, then I really had screwed up.
How was I supposed to apologize? I thought it over, but barging over right now would only backfire. It was already way too late.
So… hmm….
……Tomorrow morning I was going to have to play bread shuttle. That was the only way she’d even look at me again.
The next morning I got up and headed straight for the best bakery in the neighborhood. People think every bakery is the same, but this place was on another level. The stuff was legitimately delicious.
I bought the chocolate-stuffed swirl bun Lee Yebin loved most, plus one chocolate milk and one strawberry milk. Some days she wanted chocolate, some days strawberry, so buying both felt like the only correct answer.
Armed with the bread and two milks, I made my way back to her place.
Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~
The doorbell rang twice. When the door opened, her mother welcomed me with a smile.
“Gyeong, you’re here? Yebin’s still dead asleep.”
“Ah, then could you maybe pass these along?”
“What are they?”
“Bread and milk. I was being a bit of a jerk yesterday, so this is an apology….”
“You two are still so close.”
“Ahahahaha….”
We weren’t just close—we were literally role-playing as a couple on stream. I couldn’t exactly say that out loud, so I just handed over the bag and turned to leave.
“Mom… who’s here this early….”
Lee Yebin appeared, scratching her stomach. The second her eyes landed on me her face froze solid.
Creeeak—
Slam!
She slammed the door right in my face. Seeing that, I was sure of it.
She was seriously, thoroughly pissed.
How was I supposed to get her to cool down? Normally I could just take a few hits and she’d eventually let it go.
I was still fretting when I started to leave.
“Daughter?”
Creeeeak…
The door opened again. Her mother wore a terrifyingly gentle smile.
“Where exactly did my daughter learn manners like that?”
“Mom, it’s not—!”
“You two are going to apologize to each other, yes?”
She said it in a voice that could freeze blood, then stepped outside and gave me a meaningful look. I carefully nodded and went inside. In her room I found Lee Yebin buried under the blankets.
I still hadn’t figured out the perfect apology, so I just went with my original plan.
“…Lee Yebin.”
“What.”
I held out the bread and milk her mother had returned to me.
“Eat this.”
“What is it.”
“Your favorite.”
With a sulky face she opened the bag. Bread and milk tumbled out.
“Why two milks.”
“I didn’t know which one you’d want today.”
“…I was actually craving banana milk today.”
“I’ll go buy one then.”
“Forget it. Chocolate and strawberry are fine too.”
Saying that, she casually cracked open the strawberry milk and started drinking. I watched her gulp it down and finally decided to take the direct route.
“Sorry.”
“So you know you did something wrong?”
“I’m really sorry.”
“What exactly did you do wrong.”
She spoke with that high-handed tone of hers, and since I was the guilty party this time I answered as clearly as I could.
“Putting your name on the pig.”
“Do you even know why that was wrong?”
“The whole thing was wrong.”
“…You knew, you little bastard.”
Thump!
She punched me right on the crown of my head. It stung, but I couldn’t fight back. A guilty man fighting back would make him even worse.
“Hey, Gyeongdo.”
“Yes.”
“I’m letting it slide this one time, seriously.”
“I’m really sorry.”
With that she tore open the bread and started eating. Watching her nibble away, I thought, yeah, she’s always loved food since we were kids.
“Is the bread that good? Good enough to forgive me?”
After swallowing, she answered in a completely flat voice.
“I already forgave you the second I hit you on the head.”
“Then give the bread back.”
“Are you crazy? This is your apology. Why would I return it?”
That… was fair.
“…And the bread didn’t do anything wrong.”
Nom nom nom.
She went right back to eating. I just sat there watching her little food show. The way she chewed, the way she looked while eating—she honestly had talent for mukbang.
“You should try mukbang someday instead of just gaming. You’d get huge.”
“Why, do I look that pretty while eating?”
“You look so happy eating that I’m getting hungry.”
“Should’ve bought yourself some too.”
“I went there to buy apology bread for you. Buying myself bread at the same time would’ve made me an even bigger psycho.”
“You already are a psycho.”
Even her casual, breathe-level attacks left me with nothing to say, so I just kept my mouth shut.
“…Ugh.”
She held the chocolate swirl bun out toward me.
“Have a bite.”
I looked at it once and immediately shook my head.
“Why would I eat something your mouth already touched. Gross.”
“Even when I offer it you complain.”
She went back to eating. Feeling suddenly robbed, I made a shameless demand.
“Give me the other side. I at least need one bite.”
“Too late.”
She kept munching, then tore off a tiny piece that her lips hadn’t touched and held it out.
“Eat this if you want.”
“That’s seriously a microscopic amount.”
“Be grateful I’m giving you anything. And the chocolate milk is yours.”
“I’ll enjoy every drop of this.”
I tossed the crumb-sized piece into my mouth and gulped down the chocolate milk. Once I finished, I started gathering all the trash scattered around her room—including the wrappers she’d just left next to her—into a bag.
“Can’t you live a little cleaner? How does your room get this bad only two days after I helped clean?”
“It just… happened….”
“If that’s a talent, then congratulations, you’ve got one.”
Apparently out of comebacks, she clamped her mouth shut. Leaving her like that, I finished collecting the trash and apologized one more time.
“…I really was wrong about that.”
“Enough apologizing. I already accepted it.”
“Yes ma’am. Then I’m heading out.”
“Yeah, hurry up and go.”
She waved me off with a lazy flap of her hand. I slipped out of the room. Her mother was waiting outside.
“Oh my, leaving already?”
“Yes, I’ve got things to do today.”
“At least stay for a meal.”
“I’m fine, really. We still have to eat breakfast at home too.”
“Alright. Let’s have a family meal together sometime soon.”
“Yes.”
I bowed my head, about to step outside, when she spoke again with a soft smile.
“Gyeong.”
“Yes, Auntie.”
“Our Yebin can be a bit of a tomboy, but you know she’s actually very sensitive, right? She’s incredibly soft-hearted too.”
“…Yes.”
How could I not know? If I didn’t, I’d be an idiot.
“So keep being good friends with her from now on. Please.”
“No need to ask. Who else would put up with my personality if not her?”
“I think your personality is the better one, actually?”
She giggled and patted my shoulder. I bowed once more and left.
Back home I sat down to the breakfast Mom had made.
“Son, where’d you run off to?”
“I took bread over to Yebin. I owed her an apology.”
“You’re still fighting with her? Isn’t that just affection?”
“Mom, it absolutely is not.”
Her weird comment left me thoroughly flustered. Still, the food she cooked was blameless, so I dug into that delicious meal with full focus.
Naturally, once Yeon confirmed I had properly apologized, she immediately started making demands.
“Oppa, I helped you, so allowance!”
She must have inherited her shamelessness from Lee Yebin. I was going to have to keep her in check before she got any worse.