Seia's Clock Studies and the Tteokbokki Temptation
Seia remained utterly absorbed in her clock studies even after that.
She would glance at the clock and try to guess what time it was, and for a while she even drew clocks herself, carefully writing down what time each one showed underneath.
Then, as more time passed, she would check again to see what hour it had become.
Three o'clock turned into four, and four became five.
As time slipped by, the gentle aroma of tteokbokki began to drift through Seona's Restaurant.
Thanks to that scent, even Seia—who had been deeply focused on her clock lesson—finally set her studies aside.
"Tteokbokki…."
"Seia, do you want tteokbokki that badly?"
The answer was already decided.
Seia had always loved food, and she especially enjoyed almost everything Jungwoo made.
With the exception of certain things like bell peppers.
"Tteokbokki… can I have some?"
The way her big eyes sparkled as she asked. Wasn’t this outright cheating?
But Jungwoo was not the type to cave so easily.
Having spent the most time with her, he had built up at least some resistance.
"……."
That resistance lasted only a moment.
When she clasped her little hands together tightly and looked at him with those eyes, he could hold out a little longer than most people, but refusing her was impossible.
"Sigh… just this once, okay?"
"Yay!"
Seia knew her weapon far too well.
And she understood exactly how effective it was.
What Jungwoo found clever was that she did not use it every single time.
Only on occasion.
She brought it out when there was something she truly wanted to eat or have.
"And the curly ones too!"
"The curly ones? Oh, you mean the ramen noodles."
"Yes!"
Ramen noodles paired with tteokbokki sauce had a feeling similar to yet different from regular ramen or stir-fried ramen.
Top it with cheese and it became rabokki, every bit as delicious as the reactions Seong Ye-eun and Lee Chae-yeon had shown last time.
"No."
"W-why…!"
At Jungwoo’s unexpectedly firm answer, Seia flinched and took a small step back.
It was rare to see her father so resolute.
"Instead, I’ll add some sausages for you."
"Sausages are good too. Seia likes everything!"
"Really? Then should I put in bell peppers as well?"
"U-um…."
When she was about to refuse, she remembered his constant reminders that she needed to eat a balanced diet.
Besides, if she kept eating bell peppers, maybe she could have that heavenly steak again.
Steak….
Even now the flavor was unforgettable.
She had never imagined meat she picked out from the fridge herself could taste that good.
For the sake of steak, Seia could eat a mountain of bell peppers or paprika.
"For the steak!"
"Hmm? So you’ll eat the peppers?"
"Yes! Steak!"
He had no idea what thoughts were spinning inside that small round head of hers, but somehow in that short moment her mind had traveled from tteokbokki all the way to steak.
"But that’s the price for getting tteokbokki, you know?"
"Then the steak can be next time—"
He had expected a tantrum, yet Seia gave up on the steak more easily than anticipated.
Come to think of it, strangely enough, Seia had never thrown a tantrum before.
Thankfully.
"All right. You promise to eat the peppers?"
"Ugh…."
Seia hesitated for a moment, but honestly she could not recall the taste of bell peppers.
She only vaguely remembered what they looked like, and strangely they had not seemed that terrible.
"Okay! Seia can eat them."
Whether it was courage or pure bravado would become clear soon enough.
Still, Jungwoo had prepared paprika instead of bell peppers.
They might seem similar, but paprika was slightly sweeter and had a crisper texture.
Bell peppers, by contrast, carried a faint bitterness and a slightly tougher bite.
The dish that had made Seia scrunch her forehead—which rarely wrinkled—right after her first bite had been exactly the bell pepper.
She had eaten bell peppers a few times since then, but she had never tried paprika.
If he showed her that it actually tasted good, perhaps she would eat it more willingly in the future.
Usually it was better to hide ingredients children disliked.
Chopping them finely and mixing them into fried rice, for example.
Tteokbokki was no different.
Since Seia ate onions well and actually liked them, he planned to sneak the paprika in cleverly alongside the onions.
Let’s make a tteokbokki just for Seia over here.
Because paprika was not normally added to tteokbokki, he transferred only Seia’s portion into a separate pan.
"Today Dad will make some eomuk for you too."
"Eomuk!"
Since the previous time had been Seia’s first taste of tteokbokki, she had never tried its perfect partner, oden soup, either.
Oden soup, a dish that paired perfectly with the growing chill in the air.
The process was simple and did not take long.
It was easy to prepare yet warmed the body from the inside and left one feeling full and satisfied.
Especially now, with the weather turning colder, both its flavor and comforting warmth doubled.
Amid the scent of the nearly finished tteokbokki, the unique refreshing yet warm aroma of oden soup began to slip through.
Seia, who had once more immersed herself in clock studies, twitched her small nose at the unfamiliar smell.
As with other dishes, the aromas seemed to linger especially well inside Seona's Restaurant.
It was small, and because of the weather the door stayed closed.
And since they did not prepare food in advance when there were no customers, the smells stood out strongly from the very moment cooking began.
"It’s finished."
The special paprika tteokbokki made just for Seia.
Perhaps because she disliked bell peppers so much that opportunities to serve them were rare?
This is quite a lot… but it should be fine, right?
There was so much paprika it looked more like stir-fried paprika than tteokbokki.
"Ah, whatever. Seia, shall we eat the tteokbokki?"
"Tteokbokki—!"
The paper he had given her was now completely filled on one side, and she had already flipped it over, covering nearly half the other side with clocks.
Whether she simply enjoyed telling time or because she had always possessed strong concentration, Seia focused even more intently.
Her eyes sparkled as she perfectly recalled the shockingly sweet yet properly spicy flavor of the tteokbokki she had eaten last time.
Somehow she had already armed herself with a fork in one hand and chopsticks in the other, fully prepared for battle.
Perhaps because she already remembered the taste?
Seia’s gaze clearly shone with anticipation.
Yet the moment the plate of tteokbokki appeared, the anticipation in her eyes swiftly changed to doubt.
"Huh?"
It did not look like the tteokbokki she remembered.
The smell was not too different because a larger regular batch was also cooking, but the appearance was completely different.
The rice cakes, ramen noodles, fish cakes, other vegetables, and even the cheese were perfect.
But the unidentified sliced things that took up just as much space triggered Seia’s wariness.
She did not know exactly what they were, and that ignorance made her even more cautious.
Why was something she did not recognize inside her tteokbokki?
"P-peppers…!"
And clever Seia identified the sliced items far faster than expected.
"Daddy…."
"Yes?"
"There are too many peppers. Way too many."
Normally he would have said it was not that much, but even Jungwoo had to admit the amount was generous.
Even after increasing the sauce considerably, it had become extremely thick.
"Ahem, but when you eat it like this the peppers taste good too."
He deliberately avoided saying the word paprika.
After all, they were not that different as vegetables, and he planned to alternate between the two ingredients cleverly.
"Really?"
"Of course. Have you ever seen Dad lie?"
"W-well, that’s true, but…."
Her expression said she found it hard to believe, but Jungwoo had already tasted it himself.
Paprika soaked in tteokbokki sauce was far more palatable than expected.
It’ll be delicious…!
Seia decided to trust her father’s words.
Since she could not clearly remember the taste of the peppers anyway, trying it was the only option.
Tensely, Seia stabbed one piece with her fork.
Then, as if steeling herself, she moved it toward her mouth.
No!
Seia closed her open mouth again and smothered the stabbed paprika with plenty of tteokbokki sauce and cheese.
She shut her eyes tightly and put it in her mouth. It was much more edible than she had feared.
Rather than tasting good, it was entirely the flavor of tteokbokki sauce and cheese.
Tasty!
If she ate it this way she could keep going. The tension that had filled Seia’s face began to melt into a smile.
"Hehe. It’s edible, right?"
"Yes! It’s delicious."
"Let’s keep eating it like this from now on?"
"Yes. Y-yes…?"
Seia had answered yes without thinking.
Tsk, she had not completely fallen for it yet.
Still, seeing her eat it fairly well, it seemed he could continue using this method to get her to eat paprika or bell peppers in the future.
But that did not last long.
There had not been much sauce and cheese, while the amount of paprika was generous.
Gradually the flavor of the paprika grew stronger.
The taste she had forgotten was resurfacing in Seia’s mind.
"Ugh…."
As she began to show signs of struggle, the clear chime of the bell announced the arrival of customers.
"Welcome."
"Welcome to Seona's Restaurant!"
The customers—no, the protagonists among the customers—were the very people who had first introduced Seia to tteokbokki.
"Hello!"
"Hi, Seia—"
Choi Su-yeon and Lee Chae-yeon were not alone.
"Whoa, what is that kid?"
"She’s way too cute…."
"I thought the video editing was exaggerated, but… guess not?"
Their friends were the main consumers of tteokbokki.
"H-hello…."
The sudden crowd.
And because every gaze and every bit of attention was focused on Seia, her shyness was obvious.
She was not exactly wary, but her embarrassment showed clearly.
Seia’s pleading eyes reached Jungwoo, and he let out a soft chuckle before lifting her high into his arms.
Thanks to her designated seat being close to the counter, he could scoop her up in one smooth motion.
"Up we go. Our Seia was feeling shy, huh?"
"N-no, I wasn’t."
"Really?"
"…Yes, I was."
After all, with five friends that Choi Su-yeon and Lee Chae-yeon had brought along, it was understandable.
He usually did not let Seia into the kitchen, but since she was clearly very embarrassed, he had no choice but to bring her in.
"Want to sit over there?"
"…But Seia has to take the orders!"
"Hehe. Is that so? Then just take the orders and sit down, all right?"
"Okay!"
With a slightly tense pronunciation, Seia marched bravely toward the students.
The students who had been buzzing fell silent the instant Seia—who had just been lifted into the kitchen by her father—reappeared.
A standoff unfolded between Seia with her determined expression and the students who gazed at her with endless fascination.