Chapter 21: Emperor Seafood Soup

Carrying a Styrofoam box filled with seafood, topped with a black plastic bag, I was leaving the market when something unexpected happened.

The lid of the Styrofoam box holding the frozen octopus and squid began to tremble.

“W-what’s going on?!”

I hurriedly set the Styrofoam box down on the ground.

The moment I moved the plastic bag on top—

Bang!

The lid of the Styrofoam box shot off into the air as if it had exploded.

Inside the box were the fainted octopus and something standing upright…

‘Squid?’

I was sure they’d put ice in when I bought them, but the ice had vanished and now the squid was standing on its legs—that made no sense.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

“Hey! Where are you going?!”

The squid sprang out like a coiled spring with all its strength, and then started sprinting—not just anywhere, but straight toward the sewer drain.

“Hey! Stop right there!”

Snap!

Luckily, I caught the squid just before it could get into the sewer.

It immediately squirted ink, but since it was aimed downward, no ink splattered on the floor.

‘What kind of situation is this?’

I’d instinctively grabbed the squid, but how was I supposed to explain this?

‘I bought squid to make Haemultang, and now the squid’s trying to escape?’

I’d never heard of a squid standing or running on land like that.

Maybe it was just too fresh?

Amid the confusion, I first tidied up the surroundings.

I forced the squid back into the Styrofoam box and tightly pressed down the lid to prevent it from opening again. Even on the way home, the squid kept shaking the lid as if it hadn’t given up.

Why was it so strong?

Ridiculous.

The delicious aroma of broth boiling in the kitchen filled the air.

“What’s that smell?”

“Hey, you’re awake? It’s Haemultang.”

As soon as I got home, I had put the squid—who had attempted to escape at the market—into the freezer, and while preparing the other ingredients, Minjun must have woken up.

“The smell is amazing.”

“Right? Just rest for now. I’ll get it ready quickly.”

Crabs, shrimp, abalones—

You can’t clean these just with water.

But I had this.

With a kitchen brush, I scrubbed the crab from its belly to the shell.

Scritch-scratch, the dirt washed away with the sound.

I started with the crab, then scrubbed the shrimp, and even the wiggling abalone thoroughly.

After scrubbing for a while, the white flesh beneath became visible.

“A brush really is a miracle worker.”

Creak—

While removing the octopus’s eyes and mouth, I heard the door open.

Minjun must have been restless and was trying to go out again.

“I told you to rest. Where are you going now?”

“What do you mean?”

Minjun answered from inside his room.

“Uh…?”

Stopping the octopus prep, I turned to see the freezer door wide open.

And when I rolled my eyes toward the front door, I saw the squid running off with all its might.

“The squid can open the freezer door? Seriously?!”

“What’s that? Is dinner ready?”

Before I could answer Minjun, I dropped the octopus and lunged to catch the squid as it escaped, leaving slime trails on the floor.

But the squid’s condition was strange.

‘W-what? Is it… growing bigger?’

Not only was it standing upright while running, but it was also getting larger and larger.

It kept growing endlessly until, from the top down, it took on the shape of a person.

“Merfolk…?”

The squid had literally transformed into the kind of mermaid figure you see in childhood fairy tales.

More precisely, the squid’s legs had merged into a fish-like tail, webbing had formed on its ears, and on both sides of its neck were three gill slits fluttering visibly.

Given that monsters and elves already existed in this world, seeing a merfolk straight out of a storybook right before my eyes was still shocking.

“But it’s a guy…?”

If anything, I wish it had been a beautiful mermaid princess. But no, it was a ridiculously handsome man.

How could I tell the gender?

Just by looking.

His muscles were sculpted as if carved with painstaking care, boasting a majestic figure.

• $^&! %^… %&$%*&^#%…!

“What’s he saying? Uh… over there? I don’t understand what you’re saying…”

It sounded like nothing but mumbling.

• $#$*^%%@#$!

“I can’t understand a word. I thought my Soul Link was good, but it’s a shame it doesn’t work here. We need Sympathy to communicate… it’s a limited ability.”

Ugh.

No matter what I said, it just sounded like gibberish.

• @#$@$^^%*$^…?

“Merfolk Prince? Or should I say Squid Prince since you transformed from a squid? Kind of reminds me of Dooly the Little Dinosaur’s squid king character.”

But since we couldn’t communicate properly, each of us was just saying whatever we wanted.

• &… ^%&^$@^!

Slowly, the merfolk discreetly put his hands behind his back.

He fumbled around for a moment, then seemed to find what he was looking for.

Click-click-click!

He forgot one crucial fact: the front door was usually locked with a door lock or key.

Sweat dripped down the merfolk’s forehead as he became noticeably flustered.

“Um, you need to press the button above to get out…”

But he clearly didn’t understand what I said.

Click-click-click!

He fiddled with the doorknob again, but it wouldn’t open.

To help, I stepped closer and reached out.

Thud!

Suddenly, the merfolk kneeled—or rather, whatever passed for knees.

• %^#$^#$! &$^%&$%^#$%&!

“No, I’m trying to help. Please move aside.”

Avoiding the terrified merfolk who knelt and backed away, I pressed the door unlock button and turned the handle.

“Alright, go on. I’m not really going to eat you, squid or not.”

As the door opened, the merfolk peeked cautiously, got up, and leapt out.

But how fast could he move with a fish tail instead of legs?

Hop-hop!

He was definitely faster when he was a squid.

‘How should I explain to get him to transform back into a squid? Maybe I should just carry him to the sea.’

He was a timid type who glanced around with every leap, making it hard to act hastily.

‘Ah! That’s right. I’ll use that method that works even overseas.’

A brilliant idea struck me.

I blocked the merfolk’s path and picked up a small stone from the ground.

He shrank back nervously.

If someone saw this, they’d think I was about to hit him with it.

I crouched down and drew a squid on the floor.

Not the best drawing, but hopefully he’d understand.

“Okay, if you turn into a squid, I’ll take you to the sea. Okay?”

From merfolk to squid, I gestured toward the squid drawing, then pointed to the distant horizon as if walking there.

Since over half of communication is nonverbal, I figured body language would work with the merfolk—and luckily, I was right.

He hesitated, seemed to ponder, then transformed back into a squid.

“See, I knew it’d work. You don’t know the way anyway. Or maybe you can sense the sea’s call.”

As I picked up the squid, Minjun came out of the house.

“Hyung, what are you doing with a squid out there?”

The squid flinched at the new person’s presence.

I could feel its trembling through its hands.

“Looks like the squid I bought at the market is actually Merfolk. I don’t know how a different species ended up here, but I want to send him back to the sea.”

“Merfolk? That’s a species barely discovered in the world. That’s amazing. Can they transform?”

Minjun poked it with his finger.

“Hey, hey, stop that. I think you’re scaring it. By the way, are Merfolk usually known to exist?”

“Sometimes fishermen catch them.”

Many dungeons under the sea were left unattended because they were difficult to handle, and this squid likely came from one of those.

‘Underwater monsters have low difficulty levels and are often used as ingredients, so there’s no urgent need to hunt them. New info for me.’

I planned to take the squid for a walk and show it the sea, but a foul smell suddenly hit my nose.

“What’s that smell?”

“Doesn’t it smell like something’s burning?”

“Burning? …Ah! The broth!”

I’d turned on the gas stove to boil the broth but completely forgot because of the squid’s escape attempt.

Holding the squid in one hand, I dashed inside and turned off the stove.

“Whew…”

If I’d been a moment later, there could have been a fire.

Looking at the pot blackened with soot, I broke out in a cold sweat.

I roughly cleaned the pot and sighed deeply, surveying the wrecked kitchen.

Squirm.

Right, one more thing I shouldn’t forget.

The squid in my hand struggled.

“Let’s go quickly.”

On the way to the beach.

It was just a ten-minute walk from behind the house to the Donghae coast.

Walking briskly, I arrived quickly.

“I didn’t show it, but I was really surprised that Merfolk sometimes get caught. Don’t ever get caught by humans again, and live happily.”

Wishing it happiness, I released the squid into the seawater.

It darted swiftly into the deep.

‘Hmph, after saving you, you just leave like that.’

I kept watching the direction the squid disappeared in, when suddenly something huge leapt out of the water’s surface.

Was it coming to greet the released merfolk? Several more jumped out after it, like dolphins playing.

The splashing water shimmered in the sunlight, scattering a brilliant rainbow light, like a masterpiece painting.

‘Like a magpie repaying a favor by bringing treasure?’

A silly thought, but the chances of meeting the same squid again in this vast sea were almost zero.

‘Next time, don’t get caught by humans.’

I cleaned the burnt pot with baking soda and vinegar.

Thankfully, it wasn’t completely charred, so those two alone revived it.

With the pot shining again, I boiled the broth once more.

Most of the ingredients had already been prepared, so all that was left was to cook.

A seafood bomb that would add rich flavor to the fragrant broth.

‘I already put in the octopus, so I’ll make seafood pancakes with the squid later and have it with makgeolli… Wait, squid?’

I suddenly realized I had bought two squids at the market.

I had returned one to the sea.

So what about the other one?

I hurriedly opened the freezer door.

Phew.

It was still frozen solid inside.

‘Please tell me this squid isn’t Merfolk too. If it was, I would’ve taken it away. Please, let it not be.’

As I poked the frozen squid, my fingertips grew cold.

A flicker of doubt rose in my heart, but I chose to believe it wasn’t.

Even if it were true, I decided to pretend it wasn’t.

“Minjun, come eat!”

Minjun, probably hoping, quickly came and sat at the table.

“I made Emperor Haemultang for you to stay healthy. Let’s eat well!”

I cut the octopus into bite-sized pieces and heaped abalones and shrimp on Minjun’s plate.

Minjun scooped some broth with a ladle and tasted it.

“Delicious.”

A simple compliment.

For someone as blunt as him, that was probably the highest praise.

“Really? That’s good. Here, try some of this too.”

I took out the octopus legs I’d cut and put them on Minjun’s plate.

Maybe I should try some myself?

Slurp.

“The broth is killer. Perfectly spicy and refreshing with the deep flavors of seafood. Later, when I open a restaurant…”

“…If you open a Haemultang place, you won’t starve.”

It had to be delicious.

I’d personally handpicked fresh seafood at the market and froze them right away.

The side ingredients were excellent, too.

The fragrant crown daisy added an herbal note that enhanced the flavor, and the radish was soft enough to melt in your mouth without chewing.

Plus, if you poured the broth over plain white rice and mixed it, you could taste it all at once.

Feeling satisfied that Minjun was enjoying the meal made me happy.

Hork, hork, horok.

“When are you leaving?”

“Seoul? I should head back soon. Why?”

“How about a glass of soju?”

When I beckoned with three fingers like I was drinking, Minjun hesitated for a moment, then shouted, “Deal!”

“Ah, forget it. I guess I’ll leave tomorrow.”

My secret weapon for times like this!

Since he’d agreed, I quickly went to the fridge and opened the freezer.

I pulled out a frozen bottle of soju.

“You know I’m serious about drinking.”

Hearing Minjun’s praise, I brought the bottle and glasses to the table.

Since soju naturally goes with Haemultang, I had put the bottle in the freezer ahead of time.

‘Bullseye!’

The soju was perfectly chilled with ice crystals forming on it.

Just looking at it made my throat tingle.

“Let’s drink!”

Though inconvenient for picking flesh, the flower crab—the real star behind the rich broth—and the plump shrimp, which were easy to eat once peeled, made perfect drinking snacks.

One bottle, two bottles, three bottles.

Paired with the ultimate snack, Emperor Haemultang, the drinks went down endlessly.

But even as I drank happily, a strange emptiness crept in.

A peculiar feeling.

Was I getting sentimental from the alcohol?

‘I wonder how Kasia is doing.’

Since Minjun was heading back to Seoul, a hollow spot opened somewhere in my heart.

When I first came to Chilcheon-ri, I wanted to be alone and met no one, but somehow I’d grown accustomed to living with someone.

Though my heart felt empty, meetings always come with partings.

I decided to enjoy the moment, thinking someone else would fill the empty space someday.