Seia's First Bibimbap
Tears welled in her eyes, but Seia did not cry.
The sight of her pressing her lips together, stubbornly holding the tears back, was deeply impressive.
How could something be so admirable and adorable at the same time?
Jungwoo had never once told Seia that she mustn't cry.
Yet when she was even smaller than now, the times he had refused to give in to her tearful tantrums far outnumbered the times he had yielded. Perhaps that lesson had taken root in her without her realizing it.
“Seia, are you okay now?”
Still, time remained the answer to most troubles.
The burning spice and headache Seia felt were no exception. After a short while, the heat gradually faded and the throbbing in her head all but disappeared.
“Yeees. Seia is okay now.”
Though a trace of discomfort still lingered, Seia gave a firm nod, her expression solemn.
Since Seia herself declared she was fine, Jungwoo returned to finishing the seasoning sauce.
He added the minced garlic, sesame oil, and everything else the recipe called for, then brought out the mortar to grind the sesame seeds.
Seia stared at the mortar with sparkling, curious eyes.
Jungwoo demonstrated how to use it, placing an appropriate amount of seeds inside and gently pounding them until they were finely crushed.
In an instant, a warm, nutty aroma filled the entire restaurant.
Seia wrinkled her nose, studying the sesame seeds intently as though surprised by the unexpected fragrance.
“Daddy.”
“Yes?”
“What’s this?”
Unsure whether she meant the mortar or the seeds inside it, Jungwoo explained both.
“This is called a mortar. We use it when we need to chop or grind things. And what I put inside is sesame seeds. Can you smell that savory scent? It adds a wonderful nuttiness to food.”
“The smell is really nice.”
“That’s why we add it to the sauce. It makes the bibimbap even more delicious.”
Seia had only learned what bibimbap was yesterday from a customer’s explanation. Though the details had been shared, she could not possibly imagine the true taste without experiencing it herself.
After all, bibimbap’s flavor changed dramatically depending on the ingredients. Every restaurant that served it used a different combination, so there was no single correct recipe.
“The sauce is finished, so…”
Now came the question of what to add to the bibimbap.
The essentials were a fried egg and meat. Beyond that, he decided to include the bean sprout salad, spinach salad, and stir-fried carrots he had prepared as side dishes. They offered good texture, beautiful color, and excellent flavor.
Still, it felt a little lacking.
“Right. Let’s add lettuce too.”
Tearing the lettuce into small pieces would be perfect. Finally, a sprinkle of crushed seaweed flakes. Once the carefully balanced sauce was poured over everything, the bibimbap would be complete.
With the ingredients prepared in advance, the actual assembly took almost no time at all.
“This much is going in?”
“Yes. Why? Think you can’t finish it?”
Seia shook her head with proud confidence.
“Seia can eat it all!”
“Haha, alright. Let’s eat it together, Daddy and Seia.”
He scooped rice into a large bowl first, then neatly arranged the prepared ingredients around it.
Jungwoo preferred his eggs sunny-side up with runny yolks. Seia, who took after him, liked them the same way.
He quickly fried an egg, sprinkled it with seaweed flakes and sesame seeds, then set a small separate dish of extra sesame on the side. Customers could add more if they wished.
He could have simply left everything in one big container, but these small touches created a big difference. He wanted the meal to feel like he had poured his heart into every detail.
“Wow! Daddy, it’s so pretty!”
“Right? The colors are bright and there are so many different textures.”
“Textures?”
“Texture is the feeling you get when you chew. Remember the pork cutlet? It was crispy on the outside and the meat was tender, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. It was really, really delicious.”
“Those sensations—crispy, chewy, soft—are all textures.”
Jungwoo wondered what textures Seia would notice in the bibimbap. It might well be the most varied dish she had ever eaten.
“Bibimbap is eaten after mixing everything together. That’s why it’s called bibimbap. You add the sauce and mix it thoroughly.”
“Isn’t… it spicy?”
Having personally experienced the power of that sauce earlier, she seemed slightly intimidated by the vivid red color.
“It would be spicy on its own, but when you eat it with the other ingredients, it’s just right.”
As he spoke, Jungwoo began mixing the bibimbap with steady strokes. The soft scraping sound filled the air while the bright red sauce slowly painted every ingredient.
The perfectly cooked egg burst open, its golden yolk blending with the sauce and spreading across the rice and vegetables. Red and yellow wrestled for space at first, then harmonized beautifully, soaking into every corner of the dish.
Once it was perfectly mixed, the savory aroma of sesame oil and seeds rose invitingly.
Jungwoo scooped up a spoonful but offered the very first bite to Seia instead of himself.
“Here, say ah.”
“Aaaah—”
Her small, dainty mouth opened as wide as it could, determined to take the entire spoonful in one go. Even then, it was still a child’s mouth.
He carefully slipped the spoon inside. Seia closed her eyes tightly and began to chew, savoring the very first taste of bibimbap in her life.
With so many ingredients, each flavor and texture revealed itself clearly. The bouncy egg, the tender spinach, the crisp bean sprouts, the savory meat—each one bloomed in turn, like fireworks going off in her mouth. One taste would fade only for another to rush in and claim attention.
“Wow…”
“How is it? Not too spicy?”
“No! Not spicy at all!”
It was not entirely true. Compared to the raw gochujang she had tasted earlier, the heat in the bibimbap was merely a pleasant spiciness—a savory warmth that perfectly balanced what might otherwise have been a plain dish.
“Then do you think our Seia could make it?”
“Seia… make it?”
“Daddy will fry the egg. Seia can scoop the rice and arrange the toppings nicely.”
“…I’ll do it!”
Arranging ingredients was not difficult. From her earlier reaction, she had probably thought the task would end with making the sauce. But that felt too simple. The signboard’s bold claim would start to feel like false advertising.
“If Seia doesn’t want to, you don’t have to.”
“No. It’s not that I don’t want to. Seia is worried that if I make a mistake, Daddy will get in trouble.”
“…So that’s what you were worried about?”
“Yes.”
Seia seemed to understand the weight of responsibility better than most children. Even if Jungwoo would ultimately bear the consequences, she recognized how heavy that burden truly was.
For a moment, Jungwoo felt tears prick at his own eyes. It felt like proof that all the years he had spent raising her alone had not been in vain. And the proof had come from Seia’s own small hands.
As always, he stroked her hair with a hand overflowing with love.
“Until you become an adult—until you’ve fully grown up—Daddy can do everything for you. Because I’m your dad.”
“Hehe. Then Seia will make all the bibimbap!”
“Good. So when customers come today, what should we do?”
“Recommend the bibimbap!”
“Exactly!”
The signboard would draw them in. Then Seia would personally recommend the dish. If the board’s job was to attract customers, Seia’s was to guide those customers to the perfect menu.
In the end, both roles belonged to Seia.
“Then you need to be able to tell the customers exactly how delicious it is. So let’s practice. From now on, we will eat deliciously. Begin!”
“Begin!”
Seia scraped her bowl clean, eating the bibimbap with genuine delight. Having had an early dinner the day before, she must have been quite hungry. Even so, she could only finish about half of what Jungwoo ate.
How much she ate wasn’t important. The problem would only arise if she ate too little.
…….
…….
A heavy silence filled the room.
The two people wrapped in that silence were Park Geon-su and Seong Ye-eun.
Park Geon-su practically lived in the guild building. He had prepared not only the guild master’s office on the top floor but also a private residence for himself. In truth, there was little else for him to do.
Perhaps it came with age, but he no longer felt much interest in clearing gates. His quiet joy these days lay in watching over the guild members and growing old peacefully.
That was why he had come in even on a Sunday. Yet why had Ye-eun shown up today?
“My dear… do you have some business here?”
“…No.”
Only after arriving at the guild building had Ye-eun realized why the security guard had given her such a puzzled look.
That was right. Today was Sunday.
She was not someone who usually made such careless mistakes. Even Ye-eun herself did not fully understand why she had done so today, but Park Geon-su understood perfectly.
“Listen. Have you had your meal yet?”
“…No.”
“I ate earlier. Why not have something before heading home? Living alone makes it surprisingly difficult to care for proper meals.”
Ye-eun paused to consider his words. She understood his true intention, which only made her think longer.
He was suggesting she stop by Seona’s Restaurant for a meal before going home.
Yet ever since that day, she had not once bought food for herself outside. She had always prepared something at home or picked up cup ramen from the convenience store.
Hunters who reached a certain level no longer needed to eat to survive, but few actually abandoned meals entirely. Most had gained their powers as adults. Until then, hunger had to be satisfied with food. Even now, many people treated the simple pleasure of tasting flavors as a cherished hobby. It brought them happiness.
That was why so many hunters possessed cooking-related abilities. Any slight connection to food often led them to become chefs.
It was a contradictory age—one where eating was no longer necessary, yet flavor had become more important than ever.
Ye-eun was a rare hunter who stood outside that trend. Nevertheless, today she felt no desire to refuse Park Geon-su’s suggestion.
Hadn’t the idea already come to her first? The moment he mentioned a meal, her mind had gone straight to that place.
Surprisingly, the simple act of eating alone outside had become something of a challenge for her.
The small window into the warm world Jungwoo had created for them and his daughter actually extended to others as well.
Just as it did now.