The First Carb Bomb
There had to be a more certain way than just trying it for herself.
Like Lee Chae-yeon had done, Seia wanted to taste the perfect trio of tteokbokki.
So the moment she reached out toward the tteokbokki placed in front of her—
“And today we have a very special guest.”
At the words “special guest,” Seia’s gaze, which had been fixed on the tteokbokki, shifted at once.
Who could it be?
Who was this special guest?
Her eyes sparkled with pure curiosity as she turned toward the restaurant door.
Seeing that Seia hadn’t realized the special guest was herself, both Lee Chae-yeon and Choi Su-yeon burst into light laughter.
“It’s none other than the daughter of the owner who made this delicious tteokbokki!”
“Ah, is it Seia?”
Lee Chae-yeon nodded, and Choi Su-yeon leaned over to whisper in her ear, telling her to come sit beside her.
Seia settled down next to Lee Chae-yeon.
She never once glanced at the camera filming her. Her eyes remained glued to the tteokbokki.
The white-cheese tteokbokki that Chae-yeon had eaten looked delicious, and so did the yellow-cheese one.
Which one should I eat…?
Even though she could have both, the thought of eating both never crossed Seia’s mind.
“Okay, Seia. Say ‘ah—’”
The only difference was white cheese versus yellow cheese, yet for Seia it was a moment of deep, serious deliberation.
While she was lost in that dilemma, Lee Chae-yeon recreated the perfect trio she had eaten moments ago. This time, the destination for that perfect combination was Seia’s mouth.
“Aaaah—”
Seia sat politely like a baby bird and opened her mouth wide.
Chae-yeon found herself smiling like a mother bird without realizing it. She carefully placed the food in Seia’s mouth so none would smear on her lips. She had even cooled it down perfectly beforehand.
Seia took the whole bite in one go with a big “om nom.”
The moment she chewed the perfectly warmed tteokbokki, an entirely unexpected flavor began to swirl inside her mouth.
Every dish Seia had eaten until now had been something Jungwoo deemed acceptable by his standards.
Even the chicken, though oily and fried, was still a high-protein food.
But now, for the first time in her five years of life, Seia was eating something focused purely on taste and stimulation.
Jungwoo’s balanced cooking was definitely delicious, but when her beloved father’s food leaned so heavily into pure stimulation, the shock was enough to make her wonder if such food could even exist.
Seia’s memory of her first carbohydrate bomb was nearly perfect.
“How is it?”
“It’s the best…!”
Just as the word implied—absolute best.
Seia’s favorite crispy texture wasn’t present in tteokbokki, but that was perfectly fine.
Why? Because it was delicious!
Next, she turned her attention to the yellow-cheese tteokbokki.
Unlike the white cheese, the yellow cheese seemed to melt right into the tteokbokki—that was the best way to describe it.
After stirring it a few times with chopsticks, the bright red color of the tteokbokki softened into something closer to orange.
“Here comes the side service!”
At that moment, Jungwoo brought over a plate piled with fried items.
If he had prepared in advance, he could have made a greater variety, but the only things he could fry right now were already decided.
The pork that had been in the restaurant.
And vegetable fritters.
“Oh, thank you. You even brought fried food…”
“Tteokbokki isn’t complete without fried items.”
Jungwoo immediately returned to the kitchen, and Lee Chae-yeon began teaching Seia how to eat the fritters.
“See, fried food is tasty on its own, but if you dip it in the sauce like this…”
The crunch was loud enough to fill the entire restaurant.
The freshly fried items had such a powerful aroma that it stimulated the appetites of both the watching Choi Su-yeon and Seia.
Almost as if enchanted, Seia picked up one piece of fried food and dipped it deep into the tteokbokki sauce.
Fried food is something that has expelled all its internal moisture.
That’s what makes it so crispy.
When you dip such food into tteokbokki sauce, the dried-out fritter instantly absorbs the sauce like a sponge.
It quickly loses some of its crunch, but since it wasn’t fully soaked, it still retained a satisfying crispiness.
“Here, let big sis do it for you.”
She cut the fritter into a manageable size, lightly drizzled it with tteokbokki sauce, and brought it to Seia’s mouth just like before.
“Okay, aaaaah—”
“Aaaah—”
Simply feeding this adorable baby bird filled her with a surge of maternal instinct.
The way she opened her mouth for delicious food.
The way she chewed with her cheeks full.
The way the tteokbokki sauce left her lips red.
Every single expression held its own unique charm—nothing to throw away.
That was why Lee Chae-yeon felt endlessly grateful for her current self.
Because she wasn’t just taking photos—she was capturing the entire moment on video.
And there was someone watching the two of them with eyes full of envy.
Choi Su-yeon, sitting across from them.
Feeding Seia herself…
I want to do that too.
If she had known this would happen, she would have started a YouTube channel.
Today’s goal had simply been to see Seia.
And if she could help the restaurant in the process, she had wanted to do that too.
Yet before she could even accomplish that goal, a new one had already taken its place.
Still, there was one comfort.
She was the only one who had ever patted Seia’s head.
Yeah, that’s way better than just feeding her. Definitely.
That thought crossed Choi Su-yeon’s mind.
What if Seona’s Restaurant became famous?
People could be so fickle.
At first, she had wanted everyone to know how cute Seia was.
But now she felt like she wanted to keep that cuteness all to herself.
She wondered if she had always been this selfish, but the moment she looked at Seia, it all felt perfectly justified.
“Seia, try this one too.”
Choi Su-yeon scooped up a generous portion of the cheddar-cheese tteokbokki and offered it to her.
Once again, Seia happily accepted the bite.
But this time, she didn’t stop at just receiving.
“Now Seia will give some.”
Seia’s chopstick skills were improving day by day, but tteokbokki was still a rather difficult food to handle.
She began moving her chopsticks with intense concentration. Soon, irregular clacking sounds filled the air.
“Ugh…”
Even though she somehow managed to pick up a single piece, the real problem was that Seia’s ambition didn’t end there.
The tteokbokki that Choi Su-yeon and Lee Chae-yeon had given her wasn’t plain tteokbokki.
It was the perfect trio—tteokbokki, fish cake, and cheese combined.
So naturally, Seia wanted to pick up all three ingredients on one pair of chopsticks, which raised the difficulty level dramatically.
Seia battled fiercely against the tteokbokki army for quite some time.
Then her slipping chopsticks pierced straight through the heart of a tteokbokki piece.
“……”
Seia stared at it for a moment.
Could this really be called picking up tteokbokki with chopsticks?
It was in such an ambiguous state that one couldn’t exactly say no.
It all depended on how Seia chose to see it. She could have called it a success.
But Seia didn’t think so.
This wasn’t the successful chopstick maneuver she had in mind.
Again!
Shouting “again” in her heart, she pulled the tteok off her chopsticks and started over.
And every moment of it was being faithfully captured on camera.
Finally, Seia managed to gather all three ingredients onto her chopsticks. She broke into a bright smile and looked back and forth between Lee Chae-yeon and Choi Su-yeon.
Who should she give it to first?
The one who had fed her first, Lee Chae-yeon?
Or Choi Su-yeon, whom she had met before?
After a brief moment of thought, Seia’s hand moved toward Choi Su-yeon.
“Big sis, say aaaaah—”
“M-me…?”
Choi Su-yeon was momentarily flustered by Seia’s proactive gesture, but she knew that if she hesitated even a little, the precarious tteokbokki balanced on the chopsticks would fall.
She quickly leaned forward and ate it in one bite. The tteok had already cooled by then.
It was delicious.
It was definitely colder than the first bite, the cheese had hardened as it cooled, and the fish cake had lost its springiness and turned mushy.
Even so, she could say with absolute certainty that this was the most delicious tteokbokki she had ever eaten.
“Is it good?”
“…Yeah. Really. It’s incredibly delicious.”
It was a shame there weren’t stronger words of praise she could offer.
“So. That’s how it is?”
“Yes. I checked again, but I couldn’t find anything unusual.”
Choi Su-yeon’s father had just finished listening to another report about his daughter.
He had also received a call from the school.
—Sir, this is Su-yeon’s homeroom teacher.
—Ah, yes. What seems to be the matter?
—It’s about Su-yeon’s after-school study sessions…
The homeroom teacher’s message had been simple.
It might actually be better for his daughter not to attend night study.
Choi Su-yeon’s father had never been against the idea.
That was why he hadn’t set a strict schedule in the first place.
When his daughter said she wanted to do night study, he had simply let her. This time was no different.
She had probably told the teacher herself that she wouldn’t be attending.
But the bigger issue was something else.
The father knew exactly why his daughter had wanted to do night study.
She didn’t particularly enjoy being at home.
In that case, there was no helping it.
According to the report, there was nothing special about the place, but that was only what they had observed with their own eyes.
It seemed he would need to check for himself.
At the very least, it was clear the place had influenced his daughter. He needed to find out exactly what kind of influence it was.
“What is she doing right now?”
“It appears she has finished eating and left.”
“…This won’t do. What are the restaurant’s operating hours?”
“It’s listed as until ten at night, but since it’s a private business, there could be a thirty-minute margin.”
The current time was just past seven.
Fortunately, it wasn’t far, and since he hadn’t eaten yet, the timing seemed perfect.
“How long will it take?”
“It’s not far. About twenty minutes.”
“Let’s go.”
“What should I tell the madam…”
“Tell her I’m taking care of something outside and will handle it myself.”
“Understood.”
Even though the restaurant wasn’t far, Choi Su-yeon’s father dressed neatly before leaving the house.
It wasn’t a full black suit, but since there were no cheap clothes in the house, he had no choice but to wear designer brands.
After a twenty-minute drive, they arrived at the restaurant.
The report had called it an ordinary diner, and at first glance, it really did look like nothing special.
“Tsk. This is it?”
To others, it looked like an ordinary restaurant.
So what would it look like to him?
To the eyes of a special person, Seona’s Restaurant did not appear ordinary at all.
It looked like a pathetic little diner.
He didn’t know how it tasted, but even if it was good, a place like this could only be so good.
Rather than “It’s delicious,” the best compliment he would likely give was “It’s decent.”
His daughter must have felt something other than taste in this restaurant. That much was certain.
Otherwise, none of this made sense.
It had to be that way.
Because if it wasn’t, he would be terribly disappointed in his daughter.
“Let’s go in.”
“Yes.”