The Freeloader's Three Meals a Day
The parasite had shown up out of nowhere and asked him to feed her… What the hell was that supposed to mean? Even though Siwoo knew it was just Plea’s usual nonsense, he couldn’t bring himself to answer carelessly. No matter how cool-headed he tried to be, he was still a healthy young man, and this bizarre situation had his face burning.
Honestly, Plea does have a pretty face… Ah, no—what kind of insane thought is that?
Smack! Siwoo slapped his own cheek and barely managed to pull himself back together.
“Phew… Let’s calm down first. So, Plea, when you say ‘feed me’… what exactly do you mean?”
“It means exactly what it sounds like—buy me food. Do I need to explain it in more detail?”
“Yeah, I’d appreciate the most detailed explanation you can give.”
Plea started recounting everything that had happened during the event, sparing no detail. The result…
“So you didn’t score well in the event, you have no money to buy good food, and that’s why you’re asking me to buy you meals?”
“Yep.”
Phew… Okay, that tracked. The student who took first in the grade could share their scholarship with others, after all. And sure, it was possible to ask a friend for food because you couldn’t resist something delicious. That’s what the phrase “that’s what friends are for” existed for… Siwoo fought down the urge to deliver a knuckle to Plea’s glossy red crown and kept talking.
“But did you really have to storm into the boys’ dormitory to do it?”
“I can’t?”
“Of course you can’t!”
What did she even think the academy rules were to spit out something like that?! While Siwoo was screaming internally, Plea rested her chin in her hand with a look of genuine confusion and let out a groan.
“Hnnng… That’s weird. Don’t most guys like this kind of situation…?”
“…What kind of situation?”
“The one where a beautiful girl sneaks into your dorm, gets on her knees, and begs. That’s what the popular posts on the community said.”
The moment he heard that, Siwoo’s sense of justice surged up from the depths of his soul. He couldn’t stop himself from delivering a solid punch straight to the top of Plea’s head.
“Kyaaang! What was that for?!”
“I’m the one who should be asking! What the hell were you thinking when you decided to actually do that?!”
To Siwoo it was an utterly incomprehensible line of reasoning, but if he looked at it from Plea’s perspective, it made a certain amount of sense.
If an S-rank beauty from the same class came all the way to my room and asked me to buy her food, I’d buy it for her too.
Besides, unlike normal guys, Siwoo didn’t look at beautiful girls and immediately start having dirty thoughts. He was probably the safest male on campus. What was there to hesitate about? In fact, before any lustful impulses toward Plea could even form, he had already punched himself in the face to drive them out—so her judgment was actually correct. She had simply failed to take the feelings of the person on the receiving end into account…
“What do you mean, what was I thinking? I just wanted you to buy me food… Do you hate the idea that much?”
When Plea’s eyes grew watery with a look of betrayal, Siwoo dragged a hand down his face and let out a long sigh.
“No… Ha… Fine. I’ll buy you food.”
There were easily several hundred things he wanted to say to her right then, but after everything they’d been through, Siwoo already knew that no matter how many of those things he said, this clueless red-haired girl wouldn’t understand a single one. The only thing that would burst would be his own blood pressure.
“Really? Yes!”
Yeah. That exact reaction. That pretty face that had no idea what it was doing, innocently lighting up with joy in a way that somehow still managed to piss people off. Siwoo felt like he would lose all self-control if he kept staring at it, so he quickly changed the subject.
“You haven’t eaten yet, right?”
“I had some bunmoja stir-fry earlier, but I’m starting to get hungry again.”
“Bunmoja stir-fry?”
What kind of dish was that? Some kind of tteokbokki variant? When Siwoo tilted his head in confusion, Plea shook her head, cheeks faintly red.
“It’s nothing… Yeah, I’m hungry. Can you buy me something?”
“…You say ‘buy me food’ like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.”
“Ahaha…”
As Plea laughed awkwardly, Siwoo sighed and rose from his chair.
“Let’s go get something to eat. I haven’t had anything yet either.”
Now that the tension had drained away, his stomach let out a loud growl. Siwoo rubbed it as he got ready to head out.
“Sounds good. Let’s eat fast.”
Once Siwoo finished preparing, Plea slipped out through the same unauthorized route she had used to break in, and they met up outside the dormitory.
“Whew… That was exhausting.”
“Didn’t you leave before me, Plea?”
“I did, but sneaking past the dorm supervisor takes forever.”
“Just how do you even know about a path like that…”
Siwoo asked in disbelief, but Plea couldn’t exactly tell him she knew it from breaking into the dormitory in the game, so she kept her mouth firmly shut.
“Yeah, I guess it’s you, so of course you’d know… Anyway, let’s go eat.”
“Want to get jeyuk?”
“Jeyuk sounds perfect.”
Siwoo’s eyes sparkled at the suggestion. He had gotten used to eating pasta or cheese chicken feet whenever he grabbed meals with Aria or Camilla, so he had assumed it would be something similar this time. But the dish Plea suggested was the spicy stir-fried pork he loved. He took her to his usual jeyuk restaurant, and while they ate the piping-hot meat, he realized their tastes matched surprisingly well. Pasta and cheese chicken feet weren’t bad, but Siwoo’s palate had always preferred hearty stuff like jeyuk or bulgogi in a stone pot.
If our food preferences line up this well, I should ask her to eat together more often.
After they finished eating, Siwoo parted ways with Plea while thinking that. The next morning, he immediately regretted the thought he had the night before.
Knock knock.
“Mmm… Who is it at this hour?”
Siwoo rubbed his still-heavy eyes and dragged himself out of bed. It was normally his sleeping time, but he couldn’t just ignore a visitor who had come all the way to his room. Yawning, he opened the door.
“Hello.”
“Huh?”
The sight of Plea standing there jolted him fully awake. The confusion lasted only a second. Realizing he was still in his shabby pajamas, Siwoo slammed the door shut again.
“W-wait! Let me change real quick!”
“Huh? I don’t mind…”
You might not, but I sure as hell do! Swallowing those words, Siwoo rushed to his closet, threw on proper clothes, and opened the door once more.
“Hello.”
“Yeah… So why did you come at this hour?”
“To ask you to buy me breakfast.”
“Breakfast…? Didn’t I already buy you dinner yesterday?”
For a moment he wondered if eating jeyuk with Plea the previous night had been a dream, but no—it had definitely happened. Seeing his confusion, Plea spoke with an awkward expression.
“No… I’m asking for today too…”
“I see.”
He had wondered what was going on when she showed up first thing in the morning, but it really was just another request for food.
“So you broke into the boys’ dormitory just to ask for breakfast?”
“Yeah. You sleep in late, so I came to find you myself.”
Siwoo pressed hard on his temples.
“So… are you planning to keep doing this in the future?”
“Can’t I?”
Plea’s voice was pitiful. The fact that she’s asking again means she was definitely planning to keep coming. He considered refusing for a second, but the sight of a dejected Plea felt too cruel, so he nodded reluctantly.
“It’s not that I mind. From now on I’ll wake up at this time, so just wait for me at the main entrance. Don’t keep breaking in recklessly…”
According to academy regulations, sneaking into the opposite gender’s dormitory was grounds for disciplinary action at the very least, and in serious cases it could even lead to expulsion. Watching Plea do it so casually made Siwoo’s skin crawl.
“Ooh, thanks for looking out for me.”
“It’s not really consideration. My skin was just crawling too much.”
Siwoo let out a deep sigh and bought Plea food just like the day before. When she came again at lunch saying she wanted to eat together, he bought her food. When she came again in the evening saying she wanted something delicious, he bought her food again.
By this point even Siwoo had started to notice something strange, but he pushed the thought away with a mental No way… and went to sleep.
“Hello.”
When the exact same situation repeated the next day, he smacked himself on the forehead.
“Plea. You’re seriously planning to get all three meals a day from me, aren’t you?”
Plea answered shyly.
“Yeah… That’s why I even gave you service on the first day…”
Siwoo dragged a hand down his face. Service? So that sudden break-in and all the nonsense she had spouted that first day had been her idea of service? He was dumbfounded, but to Plea it had genuinely been a huge decision. Killing the pride she still carried from her days as a man and even acting cute for the sake of good food—that was the greatest service she could offer. The recipient of said service clearly hadn’t interpreted it that way, but he could still feel the embarrassment and desperation behind the action, so Siwoo nodded.
“Fine… I’ll buy you three meals a day plus snacks. It’s a full scholarship anyway, so it’s not like I’m losing anything.”
It was a little tiring, sure. But Siwoo had received plenty of help from Plea too. At his answer, Plea gave him a dazzling smile. From that day forward, she began eating every single meal with him. So it was only natural that rumors about the two of them started to spread.