Dawn Kimbap and a Secret Adventure
The next morning, at dawn.
It was still far too early to be awake—honestly, much too early—but Jungwoo quietly cracked open his eyes.
“Uhehe… chocolet…”
Seia was searching for chocolate with unusual greed, quite unlike her usual self.
Was chocolate really that wonderful to her?
Jungwoo let out a soft chuckle and carefully began to peel her small body away from where she was nestled against him.
Today is the day we’re going to the amusement park.
Eating the delicious treats at the amusement park would be nice, but there was one thing you simply couldn’t skip when heading out for a day of fun.
The lunchbox.
And when it came to lunchboxes, the first thing that came to mind was kimbap.
Seia had never tried kimbap before. It was a dish that required a lot of careful work, and it wasn’t on the menu at Seona’s Restaurant.
“I’ll have to make some really delicious kimbap.”
The secret to good kimbap was, naturally, good ingredients.
Well, that was true for most dishes, but kimbap in particular used quite a few raw ingredients.
Preferences varied, but Jungwoo’s version always included carrots and cucumber.
A lot of people seem to dislike cucumber.
Jungwoo himself loved it—the crisp texture and high water content gave it a refreshing quality.
Anyway, the first step was to get the rice cooking before preparing the rest of the ingredients.
Most everything was already prepped in the restaurant, so all that remained was the actual cooking.
When he went downstairs and flipped on the lights, the building became the only glowing spot in the entire neighborhood.
“Oh…”
He hadn’t noticed it last time, but gazing out the window now, the darkness made it feel as if opening the door might send zombies spilling out.
The streetlights, which only illuminated scattered patches, somehow made the eeriness even stronger.
“Rice first.”
He measured the water and rice in roughly a one-to-one ratio.
He intended to make a generous batch. Even if he and Seia couldn’t finish it all, leftovers could be eaten later or shared.
Somehow, cooking extra just felt more comforting. Running out of food while eating was disappointing, but having some left over was perfectly fine.
The basic fillings for today’s kimbap would be carrot, cucumber, fish cake, and pickled radish.
Add ham or imitation crab and you had the most common version everyone knew. Tuna made tuna kimbap, cheese made cheese kimbap.
If Seia had been beside him, she probably would have shouted something like:
Chicken kimbap! Chocolate kimbap!
Some ridiculous, monstrous creation.
“…Wait. Chicken kimbap doesn’t actually sound half bad…?”
People did eat seasoned chicken with rice—chibap, they called it. So putting seasoned chicken inside kimbap might actually work.
Still, he couldn’t add any right now, so Jungwoo continued prepping the ingredients.
He julienned the carrots and cucumbers.
The carrots needed a quick blanch in boiling water, then a rinse in cold water. A light seasoning of salt afterward would help preserve their texture.
Cucumbers were much the same. The most important part was avoiding the seedy center—too much moisture would make the seaweed soggy.
He peeled them in strips and sliced them into thin matchsticks.
The fish cake was cut similarly, then simmered with stevia instead of sugar, along with soy sauce and water.
It had been an incredibly long time since he last made kimbap—back when he and his wife had only just started dating.
Maybe it was the excitement of doing it again after so long, but Jungwoo’s hands moved with surprising speed.
The rest of the ingredients came together smoothly, and before long the rice was finished.
The soul of kimbap was the rice. It couldn’t be too firm or too dry.
Kimbap rice was never just plain rice. It needed salt and a generous drizzle of sesame oil.
“Mmm. This would be good all by itself.”
The savory aroma of sesame oil rose from the perfectly cooked rice.
He tasted a small bite to check it, and the flavor instantly awakened his appetite.
“It’s good. Turned out well.”
The rice had to be spread on the rough side of the seaweed.
After that came the carefully prepared fillings.
Next was the version Jungwoo had loved most as a child—nude kimbap, with the seaweed on the inside.
He wasn’t sure why, but back then it had tasted far better to him than regular kimbap.
The pure white rice looked like a snowball, and the colorful ingredients nestled inside always stirred his hunger.
He laid down plastic wrap first, then placed the seaweed on top.
He spread the rice differently this time, making sure to cover the black parts of the seaweed as much as possible.
Once it was packed tightly, he flipped the rice-covered seaweed onto the wrap.
He added the fillings and rolled it up.
He would slice it once it had set, so for now he left the rolls wrapped in plastic.
“Should I taste this one first?”
What would freshly made kimbap be like?
He had finished it with a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Since he usually only ate the kimbap from lunchboxes, warm kimbap felt like a rare treat after so long.
He was just about to bite into the end piece—the one with the most fillings—when a loud thud echoed from the direction of the slide.
“Has it already been that long?”
The clock read 8:30. He had woken up around seven, which meant an hour and a half had already slipped by.
Naturally, the one who emerged from the slide was Seia.
She was wearing the new winter pajamas he had ordered. They were brown—her favorite color—and patterned with cats.
“Daddyyy—”
“Seia, you’re up?”
Seia had a strange habit of waking easily whenever her father wasn’t beside her.
In one hand she clutched the rabbit doll she liked to hug while sleeping. In the other was the matching hat that came with the pajama set.
“Ait… it’s cold…”
“Haha, it’s cold out here. Why didn’t you stay in bed a little longer?”
“It’s colder without Daddy!”
“Is that so?”
The dark chocolate incident from yesterday had already been completely forgotten.
The last thing Seia had eaten yesterday was the delicious chocolate her father had made for her.
Still heavy with sleep, she toddled toward the kitchen.
Jungwoo quickly rinsed his hands and lifted her into his arms.
“Hueeeng…”
“Haha, still sleepy?”
Seia hugged him tightly with the rabbit doll sandwiched between them.
Jungwoo took the hat with one hand and placed it back on her head.
“Eing, it’s uncomfortable.”
She wasn’t used to wearing hats, so Seia found it very unpleasant.
Something was pressing down on her head, and the hat in particular flattened her bangs so they covered her eyes a little.
“Our daughter’s hair is getting long. We should cut it soon.”
“H-hair…?”
He hadn’t cut her hair in a while. At most he had trimmed her bangs, and that didn’t require a trip to the salon.
Anyway, it’s a weekday. The amusement park shouldn’t be too crowded.
A Monday at the amusement park. How busy could it possibly be?
Still, it would be best to go early, enjoy everything they could, and maybe stop by a salon on the way home.
“Daddyyy.”
“Haha. There’s a lot of aegyo in our Seia’s voice today.”
“Hehe. What’s this?”
“This is kimbap.”
“Ah! Kimbap!”
It was the first time Seia had ever seen it in person, though she had heard about it.
The sleepiness slowly faded from her eyes.
The savory scent of sesame oil still filling the restaurant and the appetizing look of the kimbap were quite tempting.
“Today’s rice!”
“Hehe. Half right, half wrong.”
It was indeed rice for today.
But not rice to eat right this moment.
“Then what is it?”
“You know today is a day off for Seona’s Restaurant, right?”
“Yes! Rolling around at home.”
Rolling around?
Where had she learned that phrase?
“Haha. But today Daddy has somewhere to take you.”
“Where?”
“It’s a secret.”
“A secret…?”
The fact that it was a secret only made her more excited.
“Since you’re already up, do you want to try a taste?”
“Yes! I want to try!”
The thickness Jungwoo ate wouldn’t work for Seia. He had to slice it much thinner.
He cut one piece thinly and handed it to her. She licked her lips with an audible churup.
When she popped the whole thing into her mouth, her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk even though the piece was small.
“Wowww!”
“Haha, is it good?”
“It’s sooo delicious!”
It wasn’t the flavor she had imagined.
In fact, she hadn’t even tried to imagine it. She had simply eaten it with the natural, vague expectation that Daddy’s food would always be tasty.
The taste of kimbap was like a tiny festival happening inside her mouth.
So many different textures that couldn’t be described with just one word.
Some parts were cold, others warm. Some were soft, others crunchy.
“Daddy, one more. Hehe.”
“Haha, okay.”
He set Seia down on the counter where he had been holding her.
It was wide enough that even with her taking up one side, there was still plenty of room.
Seia, cheeks full as she munched on another piece, watched with great interest as Jungwoo continued making more kimbap.
“Do you want to try making one too, Seia?”
“Can I really?”
“Of course. Let’s do it!”
“…Okay!”
The most important thing when making food was cleanliness.
Even for Seia, this was a rule that had to be followed.
“We have to wash our hands properly first.”
These days she could wash them all by herself.
To Jungwoo’s eyes her technique still seemed a little lacking, but watching her rub those tiny hands together always brought a smile to his face.
This time, when she tried to lather the soap, the slippery bar kept escaping her grasp.
“Eit…!”
The harder she squeezed, the more it slipped away.
Her hands were still so small that when he placed the soap on them, they practically disappeared.
He helped her wash her hands, and then it was time to make kimbap.
“First, I’ll show you how Daddy does it.”
He moved slowly so she could see every step clearly.
One roll was completed in no time. Seia nodded with a determined expression that said she understood.
There was no chair, so she sat on the counter and began making her own.
The rice was still hot, so Jungwoo spread it for her. Everything after that he left entirely to Seia.
What would she choose to put inside?
“……”
She stared at the ingredients, deep in thought, and then did exactly what he had expected.
No carrots! No cucumbers!
Only ham, imitation crab, and cheese.
She was piling on enough fillings for three whole rolls.
This… can’t really be called kimbap anymore, can it?
It wasn’t rolled yet, but if she made it like this, it probably wouldn’t qualify as kimbap at all.
Could it even be rolled in the first place?
Looking at the mountain of ingredients on the rice, it seemed like you could just mix everything together on top.
“Can you even roll this?”
“Huh? I have to roll it?”
“Well, what were you planning to do?”
Then an answer Jungwoo had never expected came out of Seia’s mouth.
“Make another one like this and put it on top like this!”
She was suggesting making a second layer of rice and seaweed to place on top.
Her expression made it seem like the most obvious solution in the world. Jungwoo couldn’t help but laugh.
“…Shall we try?”
“…Yes!”
Little by little, Jungwoo was being dyed by his daughter’s pure-hearted innocence.