Jinjo
"When should I start work, boss?"
"Let's try something light today. The shop closes around five in the afternoon, so there's only about four hours left."
"It's closing quite early."
"Why, are you feeling the pinch?"
"Not so much that. It's just that cafes usually don't close this early, so it's a bit surprising."
"If the kid wants, I can make it longer. Of course, I'll pay you by the hour, so don't worry."
"Really? Then I'll work all day today—"
"But don't be too greedy."
The boss gently covered my mouth with his finger.
"No matter what, health comes first. You must be tired from the work earlier, so it would be good to rest a little today."
"Yes!"
The first day of work turned out to be more enjoyable than expected.
Learning how to operate the coffee machine, simple tips for taking orders and serving.
Han Dohwa, no, the boss, demonstrated and I quickly got the hang of it after trying a few times.
"Oh ho. If you teach one, you know ten."
"I've done cafe work in the outskirts before."
"Even so, it's usually hard to follow. It's amazing that you follow so well."
"Hehe, is that so?"
I knew it was just empty praise, but since the pretty boss praised me like this, I couldn't help but feel good.
That's why everyone wants to be an elf when they awaken.
Because they're beautiful or handsome, they easily win favor with small things, have long lifespans, and don't age easily.
Anyway, the first day of work ended smoothly.
"You worked hard. As promised, I'll treat you to dinner tonight. Let's go."
"Oh, thank you!"
After closing, the boss took me somewhere.
I thought we'd go to a nearby restaurant, but the place we arrived at was a rather nice apartment.
"...Huh? Boss, here?"
"One of my residences."
"One of them?"
Does that mean the boss owns multiple houses while running the cafe?
"Boss, do you have a spouse?"
"Hm? Spouse? No."
"Then, a roommate or pet?"
"No roommate or pet. Why are you asking about such things... Ah ha."
As if realizing something, the boss nodded.
"You seem to be quite reserved on the surface, kid."
"Ah. Yeah, that's right!"
Good.
From today, my dream is to be the boss's pet.
Thinking that in my heart, I followed the boss into the house.
"Make yourself comfortable."
"Ah, yes. Excuse me...."
I carefully took off my shoes and entered the living room.
"Wow...."
An involuntary exclamation escaped me.
A spacious, clean living room with a city night view beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.
It was obviously a high-end apartment that someone like me, a commoner, could never afford in their lifetime.
But.
"...Surprisingly."
The furniture looked oddly cute.
Cushions, knick-knacks placed everywhere.
Everything was quirky.
Overall, pastel tones, soft and fluffy feeling.
'The boss likes cute things more than I thought.'
It was surprising because it didn't match the usual boss image at all.
"Rest comfortably. I will make dinner. I will come back with it."
"Ah, if it's about preparing dinner, I can help too."
"Will you? Then let's do it together."
Just as we were heading to the kitchen, two of us.
At that moment.
Zing—
The boss's phone vibrated.
The boss's expression hardened slightly when he took out the phone and looked at the screen.
"...Sorry. I'll take a call for a moment."
"Ah, yes."
"There should be some ingredients in the fridge. Pick anything you want to eat. I'll be back soon."
Leaving those words, the boss walked towards the balcony.
Alone in the kitchen, I started to feel oddly excited.
Thinking about it, how many times had I ever cooked properly?
Since I had to cut food expenses first and drastically, I hadn't properly cooked in about a year.
"Then, what should I make~"
With a fluttering heart, I opened the large fridge door wide.
Surprisingly, vegetables weren't visible much in the fridge.
There were only a few onions and green onions.
Quite surprising.
Elves are vegetarians, that feeling.
In the worst case, I thought the fridge would be full of vegetables.
But surprisingly, there was a lot of bright red raw meat by part.
The vegetable section was three layers.
The first layer had a few onions and a few bunches of green onions, and it was full of blood.
Another layer had...
"...Huh?"
Medical blood packs neatly filled.
"......Um."
I quietly closed the vegetable section I had just opened.
And slowly opened it again.
Even after looking several times, it was blood packs.
Each blood pack had a name tag attached, and with cute handwriting, 'Arachne', 'Catkin (Russian Blue)', 'Dogkin (Golden Retriever)' etc., very detailed classification.
And in the last layer, there was also blood packs, but only one blood pack in that layer.
The text on the blood pack said 'Human'.
Since there were no other blood packs in this section, it might be a human-only section.
....
All sorts of ominous thoughts flashed in my mind.
The boss who took care of me suspiciously well.
The boss looked like an elf on the surface, and introduced himself as an elf, but....
Was he actually a vampire...?
Glancing at the balcony, the boss didn't seem to have time to pay attention to this side.
It seemed like an important call.
Using 《Gwanmang》, vaguely felt what the boss wanted.
'Want to feed...?'
Not want to eat, but want to feed.
I couldn't tell who the subject was, but at least I didn't feel like killing or anything similar.
Thinking calmly again, even today, I received a lot from the boss.
Moreover, thinking about working at the boss's cafe in the future....
I thought I could give as much blood as I wanted as long as it didn't kill me.
So, I just closed my eyes tightly and decided to pretend I didn't see the blood packs.
And took out the meat from the fridge.
Among the many kinds of meat, the one I chose was pork front leg meat.
I was thinking of making Jeyukbokkeum, the soul food of men living in modern society.
My heart was a bit nervous for a moment, but with fresh front leg meat in front, my heart started beating with good meaning again.
"First, onions and green onions... Where are the seasonings?"
I searched the fridge and pantry, and there were no seasonings missing.
Gochujang, gochugaru, soy sauce, sugar, corn syrup, sake.
It was a pity there was no garlic, but since other ingredients were all there, it was fine.
Since the boss was still on the call, I decided to cook first.
First, make the marinade, and start slicing the green onions, onions, and meat.
Tatak, tatak, tatak.
Green onions: julienne, onions: julienne, meat: roughly bite size.
The sliced meat was marinated, and after heating the pan, oil was poured.
Chiiik—
When the delicious sound of the meat cooking and the savory smell started spreading in the kitchen.
"Huaaam.... Dohwa, why are you cooking directly?"
A woman's voice came from behind.
"I didn't notice any presence. If you came, at least make some presence...."
When I turned my head, there was one girl standing there.
A girl with pure white hair and blood-like red eyes.
A small-bodied, cute-faced girl was walking out of the room, rubbing her eyes.
Wearing only a loose t-shirt, disheveled appearance.
"...Eh?"
"...Um?"
At the moment our eyes met.
"Kiyaaah—?!"
"Uwaaah—?!"
The girl's scream startled me, and I screamed too.
"Who are you! Ghost!? How did you enter Jinjo's territory!"
The girl fluttered her t-shirt hem and pointed.
Although the small girl was glaring, it was cute rather than scary....
But more confusing than that.
The boss said there was no spouse, roommate, or pet, right?
"Ah.... I entered through the front door?"
"The door was definitely closed! No, rather, what are you doing in my territory now!"
"Ah.... cook...?"
"I didn't ask that!"
The flustered girl stretched her hand forward.
Then, from the girl, a red liquid came out, swirling in the air, and began to condense.
In the shape of a sharp spear.
'...What is that!'
Is that blood?
Am I making a weapon with blood right now?
"If you don't follow properly, I'll turn you into a skewer right here!"
"Wait a minute! I, I mean... Boss! I came into this house with the boss!"
"If it's boss, who are you talking about!"
"Th, that. A beautiful elf. That... name is Han Dohwa...."
"Both. What are you doing?"
At that moment.
Conveniently, the boss who finished the call returned to the kitchen.
"B, boss. This brat is...."
"Sorry, kid. Usually Jinjo sleeps deeply at this time, so I thought there would be no one to see after dinner...."
"Eek! Brat! A skinny brat who couldn't even survive one tenth of me!"
The girl's hand gesture, the red spear floating in the air twitched, and then towards me...!
"Eo."
I thought it was going to shoot.
But with one gesture from the boss, the red spear turned back into liquid and scattered in the air.
"Calm down, Jinjo."
"Eeeek!!! Are you trying to calm me down now! That brat dares to call me brat...!"
"But, it's true that the appearance is like that, isn't it?"
"What did you say, old hag!"
"...Now, what?"
Itch!
A creepy feeling instantly climbed up my spine.
"Old hag!"
I tried hard to give signals with gestures, but the girl didn't notice at all, continuing to bombard the boss.
"I am an old hag. I don't know what you're talking about. No matter how you look, you don't look like an old hag. Right, kid?"
Eh, was that directed at me?
"Of course."
"Look. The kid is saying the same thing."
"You are shameless as always, putting a steel plate on your face! Thinking about age, you are more than me...!"
At that moment.
Kwadudeudeuk!
With a huge vibration, vines sprouted from the wall and tied up the girl's body and mouth.
"Um! Umum!"
The girl struggled while tied by the vines, but couldn't escape.
"Um. Now it's quiet. Then, kid?"
"Yes, yes?"
"It will be getting late, so let's make dinner."
The boss completely ignored the girl as if she wasn't in this space.
Came to my side and started helping with the cooking.
And I.
"...Yes."
Pretending I saw nothing.
Started making dinner together with the boss.