Budae Jjigae and Taking the Next Step
As I sat there eating my budae jjigae, a sudden wave of self-awareness hit me. I turned my head, wanting to brag about the cake doll I'd won for Hana, only to find her staring at me with a somewhat dazed expression. It was like she was lost in a trance yet marveling at something all at once. Meanwhile, the flames on her wings and tail blazed even more fiercely.
I called her name again and handed over the doll I'd just won. Hana took it without a word and hugged it tight to her chest. Then she broke into a huge, silly grin.
"Hehehehe, the bakery doll that Seha picked out just for me... hehe..."
Is it really that amazing? She looked so out of it that she probably wouldn't even notice if someone smacked her on the back of the head. I tore open the coin chocolate I'd won earlier and popped it straight into my mouth. Nothing like chocolate when your blood sugar drops~. It wasn't as sweet as the desserts we'd eaten at Alraune's Flower Garden. Had my sense of taste dulled that much?
"Hey, Hana. Stop hugging that doll and let's head home already."
"...Yeah. Let's go home. I want to put this blueberry in my room as soon as possible."
After finishing up at the arcade, we headed back home. Hana said she'd put the doll away and come over after washing up, then opened the door to her house and disappeared inside. I unlocked our door and stepped into the familiar comfort of home. I'd take a quick shower and start preparing dinner.
Ugh... whenever Hana comes over, she always leaves her fur everywhere. I picked one of her black hairs off the sofa and tossed it in the trash. After eating, I'd probably need to run the vacuum.
"Ding-dong, ding-dong~~ Yoon Seha~~ Open the door~ Before I break it down with my strength~"
After showering, I was in the kitchen preparing ingredients when the doorbell rang.
"You came in through the door lock this morning. Why didn't you just come in?"
"That was for the event~ This time I'm a guest, so the owner should open the door personally~."
When I opened the door, there stood Hana. She'd changed out of her school uniform into a white t-shirt and dolphin shorts. It was evening and getting chilly, yet here she was showing her midriff. Her white hair still carried a hint of moisture, like she'd rushed straight over after a quick dry. Unlike her earlier ponytail, she'd let her hair down completely. If she walked down the street like that, she'd charm more than a few guys. And because she'd showered with hot water, she seemed wrapped in even warmer air than when she'd been next to me earlier. Was this the Balrog version of natural heating?
"Is dinner ready? I think I used up too much mental energy at the arcade. I'm so hungry I could turn the sofa into a hot dog and eat it."
"Please don't do that to our sofa. I'm still in the middle of preparing, so it'll take a bit. The rice is cooking too, so why don't you watch some Monflix on the sofa?"
"The seal on the Balrog is about to break any second now~ Hero, quickly offer the sacred budae jjigae as tribute!"
Hana grinned mischievously as she headed into the living room. It seemed the food offerings for Balrogs had trended toward Korean cuisine lately. Korea is preventing the world's destruction from the great demon of hell!
I sliced the ingredients to a good size and gathered them on the cutting board. Since Hana likes ham, I'd prepared four kinds: Spam, minced meat, frankfurters, and pressed ham. At this rate it was less army stew and more like a ham stew. All that remained was dumping the sauce and ingredients into the pot and letting it boil.
I set the gas burner on the table.
"Lee Hana~ Dinner's ready. Come get as much rice as you want."
"Rice~ rice~ babababab~ Please put ham on top of the rice~"
Humming a strange little song, Hana came into the kitchen.
"Did you turn off the TV? Now we just need to boil the stew."
"What do you take me for? I turned it off and even put the remote back where it belongs. But what's wrong? Isn't the fire lighting?"
"Yeah. Is the gas out? I thought we just replaced it not long ago."
No matter how much I twisted the knob, the burner only clicked with no sign of a flame. Looked like I'd have to use the kitchen stove instead.
"What would you have done without me? Take out the gas canister first. Just in case, it's safer to remove it before lighting. Start on high and gradually lower it, right?"
Hana summoned a small flame from her fingertip and blew on the burner with a soft fwoo. A blue flame whooshed up, igniting it perfectly. Nice. Now I wouldn't have to run to the convenience store. Ice monsters versus fire monsters—fire wins, debate over!
"As expected, having magical power sure is convenient for everyday life."
I stirred the bubbling budae jjigae with a ladle as I spoke.
"You said that earlier too. On Earth, the fuel efficiency isn't that great."
"Really? You used magic just now and a while ago too. Seeing how freely you create flames, I'd say the efficiency is actually pretty good."
"Unless you store magic power separately in magic stones, there aren't many legal ways to produce it."
There were more restrictions than I'd expected.
"Among them, the relatively efficient method is through food intake. But even that involves generating nutrients first, with only the excess converting to magic power, so there's still waste."
"Ah, give me lots of the frankfurters. Yeah, load it up like that. Thanks, I'll enjoy it~ There are other methods too, but I can't do them yet..."
Hana's voice trailed off. Her tail had suddenly twitched, so there must be a reason. What kind of method would make her react like that?
"Is it something awkward to talk about? Your face is redder than before."
"Sex...y. It's too early for you. We might do it together later, but... anyway, those are pretty much the legal ways to create magic power. Since I'm a Balrog, my racial buff gives me great fuel efficiency when it comes to flames."
"So that's how it is~. Using that vision magic this morning must have been a big expenditure, huh?"
I soaked some rice in the budae jjigae broth and swallowed it in one bite. Wow... I made it, but it was truly impressive. Look at that glossy ham. It was only proper to eat such tempting ham together with rice.
"You could say that. That's why I've been hungry since earlier~"
"Some monsters in criminal organizations torture victims to extract their souls or magic power, right?"
"I think that's truly barbaric. Every time I see news like that, I get so angry. I wish the Monster-Human Alliance Army would wipe those guys out completely."
After saying that, Hana huffed with indignation. As if reflecting her emotions, the burner flame that had been dying down flared up brightly.
"Hey, hey, the stew's going to burn. Calm down and relax. Think of a cute puppy or something and lower the temperature."
"Whew... It would be a tragedy if the ham in the budae jjigae burned. Okay, I'm calm now. Since I got a bit depressed for a moment, can I take the dumplings?"
"What does getting depressed have to do with taking the dumplings? And they're meat dumplings at that. Hey! You used to only eat kimchi dumplings!"
"Ahem, how can a demon survive on just one type of food? I deliberately sacrificed myself so our Seha wouldn't be a picky eater."
I wanted to smack her on the head with the ladle. As I grumbled and reached for the kimchi dumplings, Hana watched and giggled with delight.
"What are you grinning so much for? Should I split your wings in half too?"
"Just~ I'm in a good mood. I don't even know why. Guess Hana really is an irredeemable demon~"
"I want to show that humans can become demons too. Sigh, there's plenty, so we should share."
"That's a good idea. Here you go."
Hana split the meat dumpling she'd taken in half and placed it on my plate. What was this? It wasn't like giving medicine after poison.
"Let's split everything half and half~ I'll give you half my meat dumpling. In return, you give me half your kimchi dumpling. You won't find a demon this nice anywhere else, right?"
"You've already qualified as a great demon by toying with an innocent person. Fine. A trade like this isn't bad."
Suddenly a barter exchange was established. Since we were splitting everything half and half, was this equivalent exchange?
"Hehe, contract established. In re~turn~"
What was she going to demand from me now? If she asked for more ham, I'd declare a crusade.
"Feed me half the kimchi dumpling♡ Right into my mouth♡"
Hana took a sip of water, closed her eyes, and opened her mouth wide with an ah~.
"The request was so sudden my brain couldn't process it. So I just need to put the dumpling in your mouth and that's it? Nothing else?"
"Seha, you're too suspicious. Just put the dumpling nicely into Nuna's mouth and you're done!"
What an unpredictable demon. Were all Balrogs like this? Still, she kept saying ah~ while waiting for half my dumpling, so I figured I might as well get it over with.
"It's hot, so be careful. Though as a Balrog you're immune to burns anyway."
"Still, blow on it once for me."
She was really driving me crazy. I gently blew on the dumpling. I ignored her request to blow with love. I placed half the dumpling into Hana's mouth. Along with her signature demon fangs, her mouth closed around it, and soon she was chewing with a blissful expression, cheeks moving contentedly.
"It's delicious~ As per the contract, here's half the meat dumpling. If you want, I can feed you too, hee."
"No thanks. It's so cringy I'd turn into a chicken instead. Just put it on my plate."
"Tch~ Seha's such a coward," she muttered as she gave me half the dumpling. Some people might wonder why I kept rejecting her like this. Hana was already wearing thin clothes that gave off strong stimulation. If she came close in that outfit saying ah~ to feed me, I wasn't confident I could keep a calm face, so I pushed her away.
I knew about the warm affection Hana kept sending my way. If a childhood friend of the opposite sex had been showing consistent interest from childhood until now and I still didn't notice, that would make me denser than any harem story protagonist. However, I still didn't know how I should accept this affection. To be honest... it scared me. I didn't know what would happen if we took one more step from our long childhood-friend relationship. Besides, if I caused an accident here, I wouldn't be able to face either set of parents. If I made a big mistake with Hana, her father would throw me into the hellfire furnace to swim with the full wrath of a Balrog.
So far, I'd been using these cowardly excuses to reject Hana's affection.
"What am I thinking while eating budae jjigae..."
I muttered, feeling dumbfounded. Still, now I wanted to muster up some courage. Whether it worked out or not, it wasn't good for either Hana or me to keep putting it off. Even if not all at once, I should start changing things little by little.