Eating Beef Together
Two evenings later, our house was bustling with people for the first time in ages.
“Unnie~ Why’d you set this aside?”
“That’s gonna be the cup for the grease. Just stick it under the grill pan over there.”
“Got it~”
“Look at that—thanks to our kids, we actually get to grease our stomachs with beef for once.”
“Right~?”
The house was packed. Seven people, all told.
Our family plus Lee Yebin’s family made seven.
That was an absurd number of people.
And right in the middle of it, Yebin and I were…
“Hey, don’t watch that—pick something else!”
“Nuh-uh~ I’m watching this~”
“Ah, give me the remoteee…!”
“Nooope nooope nooope~”
“Aagh! Seriously…! I’ve already seen this one!”
We were having the most childish fight imaginable over what drama to put on.
If it looked pathetic or hard to watch, well, there was a reason for that.
Yebin and I had just filmed a tear-jerking melodrama so shameless it could never, ever happen again.
Something that embarrassing should not occur more than once in a lifetime. It was that mortifying.
So we were putting on an even more childish WWE match than usual, desperately trying to bury the shame.
And Yeon-i, who completely failed to recognize the WWE for what it was, immediately started scolding me.
“Oppa, just watch what Unnie wants.”
“Yeon-ah, not you too…!”
“That’s my Yeon-i!”
I handed the remote over in despair and decided to just flee the sofa.
“I’m out.”
“Where’re you going?”
“Gotta help at least a little.”
“Our parents told us to rest, though?”
Anyway, that was the situation. The only reason we were playing at being sudden model son and daughter was because our parents had ordered us to sit still and relax.
Something about how they couldn’t possibly make us work when we were the ones who’d brought the beef in the first place.
“Still gotta help, you flaming filial daughter.”
“Heh~ I bought most of the extra beef myself~”
That was also true.
The beef we were eating tonight was the set Repu had sent us, but the amount had been a little short, so we’d bought more on our own.
And Yebin had paid for the vast majority of that extra beef.
The reason she’d bought it…
At least… this much… just let me buy more…
She’d begged me with tears in her eyes to let her be the one who bought more.
How was I supposed to coldly refuse a request like that?
Luckily, once she’d bought it, some of the weight seemed to lift off her shoulders—she was back to freely snapping at me like this.
I gave her forehead a light flick and headed back toward the parents.
“Anything I can help with?”
“You really don’t have to~ But if you insist, could you set these plates over here for me?”
“On it.”
I started arranging the plates Mom handed me on the table. Once I confirmed everything was ready, I headed back to Yebin and Yeon-i.
Yeon-i was sprawled across Yebin’s lap, giggling away. Looking at her, I decided to tease Yebin a little.
“Yeon-ah, comfy?”
“Mm, surprisingly comfy.”
“Yeah, it would be. Lots of fat, so it’s nice and soft.”
“Hey. What did you just say?”
“That it’s soft?”
“Before that.”
“Dunno.”
“You’re dead today. For real.”
Yebin set Yeon-i’s head aside, hopped straight off the sofa, and smacked my leg.
Smack!
“Ow!”
“Serves you right. Nyah~”
Yebin mocked me in the most childish way possible and bolted. I took the hit without fighting back at all.
If our parents hadn’t been around I would’ve retaliated at least once, but you should know you’re only alive right now thanks to them.
Meanwhile, with the meat fully set up, the great beef feast of our two families began.
Sizzleee!
The meat hit the grill and started cooking into something mouthwatering. Yebin’s eyes sparkled as she stared fixedly at the pan.
Yeon-i beside her wore pretty much the same expression, and I was probably making the same face myself.
Beef just had that kind of power.
“We’re probably the only ones who get to eat beef our kids bring home like this, right?”
“Nah, it’s definitely not that rare.”
“At least not beef of this grade, though?”
The grade really did look ridiculously high. Look at that marbling—just how expensive a set had Repu sent us?
I made a mental note to send a separate thank-you message later and started grilling.
First up was the galbi-sal from the assortment Repu had given us.
As the sound of beef cooking filled the air, Mom turned to Yebin and me with a question.
“You two are still so close—calling both families together just to eat something like this.”
“We’ve always been close.”
Yebin didn’t answer. She just nodded.
Neither of us had ever once felt like we weren’t close. One look at how we bickered was proof enough.
“Though the fact that you still fight so much is the real problem~”
That single line from Mom left both Yebin and me without a comeback.
Because yeah, we fought an absurd amount.
“Come on, Unnie. When Yebin and Gyeong fight, it’s almost always our Yebin’s fault.”
“Mom? I don’t think that’s true…”
“What do you mean it’s not? Last time Gyeong even helped clean your room.”
“That’s… I mean…! I was gonna clean it myself…”
“She even lectures her own mother~”
That was also true, so I had nothing to say.
I really did scold Mom if she half-assed the cleaning.
“If she lectures her own mother, you think she’d hold back with a girlfriend?”
“She’s absolutely not my girlfriend.”
“We’re not like that!”
“Have you two really never dated?”
At that single line from Yebin’s aunt, Yebin shot back immediately.
“Absolutely never. Never.”
Yeah. Absolutely never. Not even once. Curiosity might have flickered, but the thought of actually dating had never crossed my mind.
“Then why is my daughter still single?”
“W-well, Gyeong’s single too, you know!?”
“I am single, yeah.”
It wasn’t that I’d never received a confession. Two or three times, maybe—about that many.
I’d gotten that many, but romance itself had never really been on my radar.
Back when I was healthy I’d been too busy with sports and games to care, and by the time interest started to stir, my body had already fallen apart.
Yebin claimed she’d gotten tons of confessions, but it definitely wasn’t that many—probably once every six months or so.
Turning them all down just meant her standards were sky-high.
“Why don’t the two of you just date? Uncle here would approve if it was you, Gyeong.”
“Daaad…!”
I deliberately said nothing. If I refused here, it would sound like “Your daughter is absolutely not good enough for me.”
Manners. Had to keep manners.
“Gyeong, you say something too…!”
“…I think we’re more comfortable as friends.”
At the line I’d forced out, Uncle laughed and said,
“Still, if you ever change your mind, confess anytime. Uncle would really approve if it was you, Gyeong.”
I’d thought this for a long time—Uncle thought way too highly of me. I had no idea why.
“We’d welcome a daughter-in-law like Yebin anytime, too?”
“Unclllle…”
Yebin, for some reason embarrassed, even put on a cute act and squirmed at Dad’s words.
You’re not normally this kind of character.
Maybe because I didn’t want to keep looking at that, I picked up a piece of meat that was cooked just right from the ones I’d been grilling and set it on Yebin’s plate. Naturally I made sure Yeon-i got one too.
“Just eat this.”
“Ah, thanks~”
“Thanks, Oppa.”
Yebin and Yeon-i dipped their meat in salt sauce and ssamjang according to their own tastes. Watching the two of them chew, I tried a piece myself.
Oh. As expected of beef from Repu. Insanely good.
I should use this to tease Yebin later.
While I was thinking that, Yebin suddenly held out a lettuce wrap to me.
“…What are you doing.”
“Wrapping a ssam for the person grilling the meat is the golden rule, right?”
That was true, but…
“…Aren’t you supposed to give that before they take their first bite?”
“I was too hungry, okay!? Why!?”
“Okay, fair.”
If I kept tormenting her any further I’d definitely get scolded by the parents, so I just nodded.
Regardless, Yebin was still holding the lettuce wrap out to me. I parted my lips a little and took the ssam she’d made.
I’d been worried she might have stuck something weird in there, but thankfully the wrap contained nothing but rice, meat, salt sauce, ssamjang, and garlic.
Eating that textbook-perfect lettuce wrap and savoring the rich flavor of the beef, I swallowed and immediately praised her.
“You make a pretty good ssam.”
“That somehow feels weirdly insulting.”
“It’s a compliment. A compliment.”
With that exchange over, I moved the perfectly cooked beef onto the other plates and started grilling more.
I’d foisted all the table-setting onto our parents, so I had to at least do this much. Yeah.