A Crisis on a Sweet Holiday Morning

An untimely crisis arrived on a sweet holiday morning.

Eyes still shut, Cheon Seo-hui took the call and let the gentle voice on the other end of the line settle over her, turning it over carefully in her mind.

...What a nice voice...

Then she realized the owner of that voice was Han Dohyeon and scrambled to offer a belated greeting—only for something completely unexpected to come through the phone.

And then the words kept coming, stranger by the second.

He was coming over to cook for her himself.

In other words—Dohyeon was about to barge into her house.

"!?"

Startled out of her skin, Seo-hui's eyes flew open and she bolted upright.

"Uh……."

Still unable to keep up, she sat there with round, blank eyes, carefully replaying the situation in her head.

To my house? Teacher? ...Why?

Fresh out of sleep, her brain simply could not process what was happening.

Whether he knew how she felt or not, Dohyeon casually informed her he'd be there in thirty minutes.

Seo-hui turned her head and took a look around the apartment.

Underwear and clothes she'd been too lazy to put away, tossed wherever they landed. On the desk, empty bread bags and snack wrappers from meals she'd eaten in place of actual food lay scattered at random. In the living-room sink by the front door, dishes from two days ago sat soaking in murky water.

"Th-thirty minutes…?"

She had no idea where to even start.

Of course Dohyeon said he was only going to cook and go, that she could just relax—but…

No way.

A woman's instincts sounded the alarm. Seo-hui threw herself into cleaning the apartment in a frantic rush before she'd even hung up the phone.

Absolutely not!

She had no intention of letting him walk away thinking she was some filthy girl living in a garbage heap.

I'd arrived near Cheon Seo-hui's place.

Getting there a little earlier than planned, I deliberately parked at a leisurely pace and fiddled with my phone for a while—just to give her, who'd only just woken up, a little extra time to get ready.

She's a girl, after all.

Not that I had much room to talk, barging in unannounced like this. Still.

This should be enough.

After killing a reasonable amount of time on my own, I called Cheon Seo-hui again.

"Hey, Seo-hui. I'm here. Near the little playground…"

From the other end of the line, she rattled off the address in a distinctly hurried voice.

"Just come straight over?"

No need for her to come down and meet me—just head right up to the apartment.

That was easier than I expected.

I hung up with an affirmative and found myself staring blankly at the darkened phone screen, struck by a sudden, unexpected feeling.

Simply getting closer to someone and actually setting foot inside their home were two entirely different things. Honestly, given how high-handedly I was forcing my way in, I'd expected at least some resistance.

Somehow, things were going far more smoothly than I'd anticipated.

Well, no complaints if it's going well.

Figuring ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was thanks to the solid trust we'd built up, I grabbed the shopping bags and headed toward Cheon Seo-hui's place. Coincidentally, the route was so clear in my head that I didn't even need a map app.

See? All of that was necessary after all.

Rationalizing past mistakes yet again, I arrived at Cheon Seo-hui's home. She lived on the first floor of a multi-family house built of red brick. The building itself wasn't run-down, exactly—but it was hard to call it nice, either.

If only I'd had more money...

If I'd known things would turn out like this, I would've started working as an Explorer a lot sooner.

Swallowing the regret, I went around to the back of the building and pressed the doorbell of the front door that had "1st Floor" scrawled on the wall in permanent marker.

But—

"……?"

The doorbell seemed to be broken. I waited a long time with no response at all.

Aigoo.

Sighing at the poor conditions, I carefully knocked on the front door.

"Seo-hui. I'm here."

From inside came the sound of hurried footsteps, and at last the door opened to reveal Cheon Seo-hui—

"You came?"

"…!?"

I flinched hard at the sight of her standing there in greeting.

A white sleeveless top barely held up by a single thin strap. Beyond it, a massive beige bra asserting its presence with overwhelming force. And those short shorts that no amount of looking could ever make me get used to.

I'd told her to stay comfortable, sure—but I'd never dreamed she'd be dressed this comfortably.

What is this? Is she trying to seduce me?

The thought that she might have come out like this on purpose even crossed my mind.

"Teacher…?"

"…Huh? Uh—yeah!"

Snapping back to my senses, I barely managed to hold myself together and return the greeting. With nowhere safe to put my eyes, dealing with my gaze was pure agony.

"Sorry for dropping by out of nowhere. Something urgent came up and I had no choice…. You understand, right?"

"…Yes."

"Thanks for understanding. Excuse me for a moment…."

After all that back-and-forth, I finally stepped into Cheon Seo-hui's home. Setting the shopping bags down somewhere convenient, I quickly swept my eyes across the apartment.

It's clean?

Surprisingly, Cheon Seo-hui kept her place tidy.

No dust, either.

I'd have to check the two tightly closed bedroom doors to be sure, but at least the living room was spotless. Maintaining this level of cleanliness while living alone was genuinely impressive.

"It's really clean in here. You didn't just frantically clean because I was coming over, did you?"

"…N-no, I didn't."

"Right? Even my place ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠isn't this neat. Impressive."

"……."

Still marveling at her unexpected domestic competence, I decided to ask permission before looking through the fridge and kitchen—I needed to know what she had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and didn't have if I was going to make side dishes that actually fit.

"There's nothing in there…. See for yourself."

Having readily gotten her okay, I opened the refrigerator first.

...GoldStar? How old is this thing?

It looked like a pretty outdated model—the kind of two-door fridge you'd only see at some old pension lodge—

"Uh……."

The moment I opened the lower fridge compartment, I completely lost the ability to speak.

Just as she'd said, aside from some bottled water, it was completely, utterly empty.

Th-the freezer, then?

Leaving the tragic fridge compartment behind, I opened the small freezer up top. When you live alone, you usually eat a lot of frozen food, so I'd expected at least something to be in there.

"……?"

Fortunately, there was something in the freezer.

A plastic ice tray filled about halfway… and two cup ramens.

Cup ramen—the kind we all know—sitting inside a freezer.

"Why is this…."

Faced with a sight that defied comprehension, I pulled out the ice-cold cup ramen and carefully asked,

"Why is this in here…?"

"Why?"

Cheon Seo-hui just asked right back, as if nothing was wrong.

"No…. This isn't a frozen food."

"I put it in on purpose."

"Right, but why…?"

"If you freeze it, it lasts longer."

The way she said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world made me doubt my own ears.

Wow. I'm going to lose it.

My vision went dark. Quietly setting the cup ramens out on the counter, I checked the kitchen.

Sure enough, the kitchen situation wasn't much better.

In the cabinets above and below the sink, aside from a few dishes, an old aluminum pot, and a small frying pan with the coating completely peeled off, there was nothing. And the handful of seasonings and condiments that did exist had all long since turned into things no one should ever eat.

The expiration date is three years past…?

It would genuinely be better to throw everything out and buy it all new.

"…Haa…."

Quietly closing the cupboard, I let out a long, deep sigh.

"…Hey, Seo-hui. Just out of curiosity…. What do you normally eat to survive…?"

"Pardon?"

"No, I mean—you know. There must be things you eat a lot at home."

I looked at her steadily, clinging to a sliver of hope.

Cheon Seo-hui looked puzzled, but obediently listed off her menu.

"Cup ramen… and bread, that kind of thing…."

"Th-that's it…? You don't eat anything else?"

"Sometimes I have some snacks, too…."

It was a parade of menu items so bleak it left me solemn.

At least order delivery or something.

I no longer even had the energy to lecture her. Barely collecting myself, I carefully spoke up.

"…Sorry, but lunch is going to be a little late today."

"?"

I was pretty sure I needed to properly show her what a warm home-cooked meal actually was.

About twenty minutes, roughly.

Leaving Cheon Seo-hui's place and climbing into the car, I pulled up the navigation and searched for a nearby big-box supermarket. After that catastrophic scene, there was simply no way I could just let it go.

If I hadn't seen it, fine. But I did.

Deciding we needed to start the grocery shopping completely from scratch, I immediately set course for the mart—

"…Do I really have to come too?"

And I dragged Cheon Seo-hui along while I was at it. If we were going to the mart anyway, it was better to match the homeowner's tastes whenever possible.

"We're buying food for you to eat. Of course you're coming."

On the other hand, the thought of doing something together with her had me quietly cheering inside.

…Of course, she didn't look like she was thinking anything of the sort.

"Where do we even start…."

After driving over and arriving at the nearby big-box supermarket, I pulled out a shopping cart, put Cheon Seo-hui's hands on the handle, and walked into the store beside her.

"It's changed so much…?"

At first she'd looked purely annoyed, but after getting some fresh air for the first time in a while, she started looking around with a little spark of excitement.

Cute.

Bringing her along had been the right call ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠after all.

"…Where are we going?"

"Let's start on the first floor."

Before buying food, we decided to pick up just a few necessary household items first.

…That had been the plan, at least.

"Seo-hui. Do you have paper towels at home?"

"I have toilet paper."

"…What about dishcloths?"

"Wet wipes…?"

"…We're just getting paper towels today."

I'd vaguely suspected as much, but there was simply too much to buy. It felt like stocking a house someone had just moved into. Even after picking up only the truly essential items, the shopping cart was already half full—and we hadn't even touched the groceries yet.

This is a problem.

A moment that called for selection and focus. Making a quick decision, I changed direction and headed for the food section.

We can always come back another day.

Today wasn't the only day in the world, after all.

"Let's go that way."

We started loading the cart with things she could stock up on and eat at home—cereal you could have instead of a meal as long as you had milk, shelf-stable foods you could just microwave and eat right away, that sort of thing.

"This one's good. Low sugar, and it's got a lot of nuts in it."

"…It looks gross."

"Food science PhDs put their heads together to make this stuff. It'll taste fine."

Since I had zero expectation that she'd actually cook rice, I also made sure to sweep a mountain of instant rice—the eternal companion of anyone living alone—into the cart.

"You. I'm going to check every single day whether this is going down or not. Starting today, every time you eat a meal, take a photo and send it to me."

"…Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Dead serious. If you don't send it, I'll come straight over and force-feed you myself. Just so you know."

"Hah…."

Cheon Seo-hui made a face like I was being some kind of tyrant.

I was the one who should be looking incredulous here.

Even if there's no one to look after you—seriously? Cup ramen and bread? Ugh.

Shuddering inwardly, I pressed the sullen-faced Cheon Seo-hui for a clear answer.

"Well?"

"…Fine, I got it."

From now on, all that remained was for her to fill up on warm rice and side dishes made by hand.