“The kimchi jjigae is all done.Come on in. Oh, it’s instant rice—will that be okay? It would be better to cook rice properly, but we don’t have a rice cooker.”
Thanks to Seojun helping with prepping the ingredients beside her, the stew was finished quickly.
There was a table for four in the staff room, and Seojun helped Hyejin set out chopsticks, spoons, bowls for the soup, and a ladle.
Fortunately, there were no customers, so the four of them could eat together.
Suho glanced outside the convenience store and, seeing no one, said to Hyejin,
“I’ll eat quickly and get back to work. But the stew smells really good.”
“Your shift is over—what work? Hurry up and eat, then go.”
At that, a smile spread across Suho’s face. Eunwoo was already seated, looking full of anticipation.
“I’m not sure if it’ll taste good. I made it the way I usually do.”
“I’m the youngest here, so I’ll serve everyone a bowl. First, for our manager who made the kimchi jjigae.”
Eunwoo ladled out a bowl of kimchi jjigae and placed it in front of Hyejin.
Then, alternating glances between Seojun and Suho, he picked up Seojun’s bowl first and said,
“You helped the manager make the stew, so hyung first.”
“Thanks, Eunwoo.”
“Ah, I told you to drop the formalities. How old were you again, hyung?”
“I’m twenty-six.”
“Ah, right. I saw your age in the articles too. You had just as many articles as me, hyung.”
“Aren’t chaebol heirs usually surrounded by scandals?”
“Huh? What?”
At Seojun’s joking question, Eunwoo huffed and picked up Suho’s bowl.
“No way? For a chaebol, I’ve barely caused any trouble. I like meeting new friends, but I’m not into nightlife much. Besides, if I caused any weird incidents, my dad would’ve beaten me so bad my face wouldn’t be recognizable.”
“You’re living a relatively upright life.”
“Baektae Confectionery has a good image—it’s a national company in Korea—so my dad nags me constantly about watching my behavior. Here, Suho-hyung, eat up.”
“I’ll serve yours, Eunwoo.”
Hyejin picked up Eunwoo’s bowl and filled it with the remaining stew.
With a bowl of stew in front of each of them, Hyejin said,
“Give it a try.”
Then, Eunwoo, Seojun, and Suho each took a bite of the kimchi jjigae.
As Hyejin watched them with a nervous heart, Eunwoo spoke first.
“Honestly, I didn’t have high expectations since the manager was making it. Maybe if it was Seojun-hyung. So I thought, no matter what, I’ll say it’s delicious.”
“What?”
“I’m just saying. But it’s really tasty. No lie, no exaggeration—seriously!”
“It suits my taste too. Not bad.”
Saying that, Suho lifted his bowl and kept sipping the broth.
He looked like he was curing a hangover, and when Hyejin burst out laughing, his face turned slightly red.
“As a chef, I’m used to cooking for others, but it’s been a long time since someone cooked for me like this. It’s really delicious, Manager.”
“It’s because you helped, Seojun.”
Then, silence fell for a moment.
Because the three men were busy eating and not talking.
They must really like it.
Thank goodness.
A lively meal with everyone together like this.
Hyejin suddenly realized it had been a very long time since she’d eaten with so many people.
With a content smile, Hyejin took a spoonful of stew and slowly looked at everyone’s faces.
Eunwoo was a chaebol heir, after all, so she thought he might not be 100 percent satisfied with this. But contrary to her expectations, Eunwoo was eating the stew with genuine enjoyment.
When Hyejin looked at Eunwoo with a fond, sisterly expression, he made a cute, squirrel-like face.
Tilting his head as if to ask what was wrong, Eunwoo soon busied himself with his spoon again.
Seeing that, Hyejin made a decision and said to them,
“I didn’t expect you’d enjoy it this much. From now on, I’ll make breakfast when we all gather in the morning. I’ll provide meal allowances separately, but I think it’d be nice to eat together like this.”
“I’m in! Sounds good.”
“I like it too.”
“Getting to eat like this for free—I’m really happy about it.”
They all replied with smiles.
Hyejin felt like this situation, surrounded by SS-rank hunters, was dreamlike, but it wasn’t bad.
Before long, when the rice and stew were nearly gone, Eunwoo spoke up.
“Manager, it’s okay for us part-timers to get closer, right? Help each other with work sometimes, and if we need to go into the dungeon, go together.”
At the unexpected words, Hyejin set down her spoon.
She hadn’t expected such words from Eunwoo, the youngest.
The more she saw of Eunwoo, the more he seemed completely different from her initial impression.
He still said self-absorbed things a lot, but he seemed affectionate and deep-hearted.
“O-of course. Absolutely. No, I’d actually love that. There’s nothing more miserable than bad relationships with coworkers at work.”
“Plus, this place is different from outside. You never know when someone might die.”
“The inside of the dungeon is a bit… yeah. I sometimes hear screams, so I play classical music.”
“I’m against classical. How about upbeat songs? Trot’s good too.”
When Asha suddenly popped out and spoke, the three men alternated looks between Hyejin and Asha.
Then Seojun asked her,
“But I’ve been curious for a while—how did you and Asha meet, Hyejin?”
“That’s…….”
Hyejin hesitated slightly, glanced at Asha’s face, and continued in a warm voice.
“Um, not that long ago. It’s thanks to Asha that I’m working as the convenience store manager here.”
“You’re a hunter too, right, Manager?”
When Suho asked her, Hyejin nodded.
“What’s there to be curious about? Getting along is good, but everyone focus on your own work, okay?”
As Asha spoke as if to block further questions, Suho, Seojun, and Eunwoo nodded in agreement.
“That was delicious.”
“Manager, really, the sundae skewers earlier were great too—I ate so well.”
Seojun and Eunwoo stood up and expressed their thanks.
Hyejin took a sip of water and nodded proudly. That’s when it happened.
“Will you buy us sundae skewers too?”
At Suho’s half-joking words that came out of nowhere, Hyejin looked at him with a slightly surprised face, and he continued,
“I said that because I like sundae.”
Suho’s face softened. Hyejin hurriedly replied,
“Of course. Absolutely. Next time we go to the mart, come with us, Suho. I’ll buy you sundae, of course, and fried stuff, tteokbokki, fish cake skewers—all sorts of things. You too, Seojun!”
“Sounds too good.”
“Alright, I’ll do the dishes, so you part-timers each grab a drink you want. Anything’s fine. It’s on me.”
“Then should I make a potion for each of you?”
When Eunwoo said that while looking at Hyejin, she replied,
“If you’re okay with it, Eunwoo? I’d like that. I didn’t say it yesterday, but the potion you made for me relieved all my fatigue. I still feel energized.”
At Hyejin’s words, Seojun’s eyes sparkled.
“Really? Then I’ll have plain water, please.”
“Okay. What about you, Suho-hyung?”
“I’m good.”
Suho declined the potion.
“You really have the ability to make potions? Well, as an SS-rank healer, it makes sense.”
“I tried it, and my body felt so refreshed and good.”
When Hyejin told Seojun, he looked at Eunwoo with even more anticipation.
“Then wait just a sec. I’ll make them quick.”
Finishing his words, Eunwoo excitedly took out two bottles of water from the fridge.
At that moment, a worker’s voice came from outside.
“It’s complete. We’ll take away the old sign for you. Come over here and take a look.”
Finally!
Hyejin, bursting with excitement, ran out of the convenience store.
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