Chapter 77: The Fox Boy Speaks

Early morning.

Chop chop chop chop.

The sound of chopping echoed loudly on the Floating Island.

“Why is it so noisy from the morning?”

Elenia rubbed her eyes and fluttered over.

“Sorry, I was chopping some meat to prepare for business.”

“Meat? What on earth are you making?”

“It won’t be fun if I tell you in advance. I’ll make something delicious for breakfast, so look forward to it.”

Chop chop chop chop.

I mercilessly pounded the meat on the cutting board. 

The two blades minced the meat finely.

I put the softly minced meat into a bowl and added chopped onions, green onions, garlic, and ginger.

Then, I added some well-aged soy sauce and a bit of plum syrup to mask any gamey smell.

Mix mix.

After mixing the ingredients well, I scooped an appropriate amount onto my palm and shaped it into a round patty.

This size should be easy for Elenia to eat, right?

Soon, the bowl was filled with small meat patties huddled together.

“Ah, right, I forgot to start the fire.”

I hurriedly put a few pieces of coal into the brazier and lit it.

Whoosh.

I lightly coated the heated pan with oil and dropped in the shaped meat patties.

Sizzle—

I gently pressed the bulging meat patties with a spatula.

And flipped them front and back to cook without burning the seasoning.

“Delicious mini tteokgalbi complete!”

It’ll taste like heaven with warm rice!

“Everyone, come eat!”

“Food! Food!”

“Tweet!”

They all gathered at the table like arrows.

Sniff sniff.

“Wow! It smells delicious!”

Elenia exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

“This is called tteokgalbi. Go ahead, try it!”

“I’ll eat well!”

“Tweet!”

Everyone’s spoons headed toward the tteokgalbi at the same time.

With eyes full of anticipation, Elenia took a bite of the tteokgalbi.

“Wow! It’s delicious!”

“Tweet!”

Dorori also chimed in loudly, seeming to like it.

I quickly brought the tteokgalbi to my mouth too.

“It’s good!”

The minced meat melted softly in my mouth. 

The various vegetables added flavor, and especially the seasoning was salty and sweet, achieving a perfect harmony of salty-sweet.

“Give me another bowl of rice!”

“Already?”

“What can I do if it’s a flavor that makes rice go down so smoothly?”

“But you know overeating isn’t good, right?”

“Don’t worry! We have carbonated vitality water, don’t we!”

I knew this would happen, so I added plum syrup in advance when making it.

I filled the rice bowl with plenty of white rice.

“Here, eat a lot!”

Munch munch smack smack.

We had another delicious meal today.

“Ah, I’m full.”

With my stomach nicely filled, shall we go do some business now?

Even tough meat becomes incredibly tender when minced.

Since the beastkin liked the softly boiled su yuk, they’ll surely like the tender tteokgalbi too.

***

I headed to the northern Beastkin Village.

“Oh dear….”

There weren’t many beastkin in the market to begin with, but it seems like there are even fewer as the days go by.

Still, the fox lady at the carpet shop across the way seems to have come to work.

“Hello? Ma’am?”

…Nod.

The fox lady nodded and went about her business.

Thanks to greeting her often while passing by, we’ve gotten to the point of eye contact. 

Though she still has some wariness.

“Alright! Let’s give it our all today too?”

I set down the bag I brought and lit the brazier.

Whoosh.

“Ah, it’s warm.”

On cold days like this, a warm brazier is like a lifeline.

The fire is ready, so now we just need customers.

Glance.

I felt someone’s gaze from behind.

When I turned my head, a young fox had poked his head out, glanced, and then hidden.

That kid.

It seems the only human in the village, me, is a curiosity.

The kids have been like that since I first came here. They loitered around with eyes full of wariness and curiosity.

At first, the adults scared them not to come near, but as time passed, they gradually stopped paying attention to me.

Now, I’ve been reduced to a spectacle for the kids.

Especially lately, that fox boy shows up often.

“Aren’t you cold?”

Poke.

When I spoke, the boy had half his face out but didn’t answer.

“Don’t be like that, come over and warm up.”

The fox boy’s eyes darted back and forth, as if deeply pondering.

“Come on. I won’t eat you. Hurry.”

Step step.

In the end, the fox boy approached with slow steps.

After a long tug-of-war, he finally came to my side.

“Here, sit by the brazier.”

The fox boy sat down a bit farther away.

“Isn’t it warm?”

Nod.

The fox boy smiled shyly. It must be quite warm.

Of course. 

The coal from the Floating Island has much better heat than firewood.

At that moment, two beastkin approached the shop.

“Hello, Mr. Fabir.”

“Oh? Mr. Alek!”

It was Alek and a wolf soldier.

“You came together again?”

“Haha, the soup last time was so delicious.”

The soldier smiled awkwardly. 

Last time, he downed bowls of beef radish soup.

Can I call them regulars now?

Alek scanned the shop and said.

“Did we come too early? I don’t see any food today.”

“No. Today, I’ll grill it fresh on order.”

“Grill?”

“It’s called tteokgalbi, and it’s incredibly tender and delicious.”

Alek licked his lips.

Having already tried su yuk, his expectations for meat dishes must be inflated.

“Shall I give you some?”

“Yes, right away!”

“Me too!”

Alek’s voice rose in excitement. The wolf soldier also hurriedly ordered.

“Just a moment. It’ll be quick.”

I coated the pan with oil and placed two large tteokgalbi patties on it.

Sizzle—

As the meat cooked, the aroma of meat oil wafted around.

Gulp.

Alek and the soldier alternated swallowing.

Their gazes were fixed on the tteokgalbi, unwilling to leave.

I served the golden-brown cooked tteokgalbi in bowls to the two.

“Here, try it.”

“Hot! Hot!”

The two bit into the tteokgalbi without waiting to see who went first.

“Delicious!”

“Slow, slowly—”

Gobble gobble.

Without giving me a chance to interrupt, they devoured the tteokgalbi in an instant.

Drool.

The fox boy, watching, swallowed his saliva.

His wistful eyes toward the tteokgalbi were quite pitiful.

“Do you want some too?”

Nod nod.

He nodded vigorously, quick as a fox.

“Since it’s the first sale, on the house! I’ll grill one for you.”

The boy beamed.

“Mr. Fabir! One more tteokgalbi!”

“Me too!”

“Yes!”

Three tteokgalbi filled the frying pan.

…This situation feels familiar somehow?

Wag wag.

The three’s tails wagged like grass in the wind.

It reminded me of naming the neighborhood dogs when I was young. 

There were Balbal, Soon, and Whitey, I think.

Pant pant pant pant.

They were pretty cute with their tongues out, smiling.

While I was briefly reminiscing, the tteokgalbi was done.

“Here, everyone take one.”

The three beastkin received the tteokgalbi.

The two wolves started round two right away.

And the fox boy.

“…D-delicious!”

I heard the boy’s voice for the first time.

“Is it good?”

“It’s good!”

Finally, a proper conversation ensued.

If I’d known, I should’ve offered food from the start.

The boy even sucked the seasoning off his hands, eating without leaving a trace.

“This is the first time I’ve had meat this tender and delicious!”

Sparkle sparkle.

The boy’s eyes shone brightly. 

He couldn’t hide his excitement, it seemed.

Seeing the kid enjoy it made me happy.

“Want one more?”

“Yes!”

Then, the two wolves sent envious looks.

They’d already eaten two, but licked around their lips, reluctant to end it.

Alright! On the house!

“I’ll grill one more each for you two as service.”

“R-really?”

Wolves have good teamwork, as they say. 

The two’s words and actions were perfectly in sync.

Thus, the third round of tteokgalbi grilling began.

Sniff sniff.

“What’s this smell?”

“Delicious smell coming from somewhere?”

Maybe because I kept grilling tteokgalbi, the aroma spread through the market.

Whisper whisper.

“Isn’t that Alek? What is he eating?”

“Looks pretty good?”

Passersby started showing interest in my shop one by one.

“Come! Delicious tteokgalbi for just one scale!”

“Tteokgalbi? I’m a bit hungry, shall we try?”

“Should we?”

Indeed, the first sale is important.

Thanks to the three’s mukbang attracting attention, the second customer, third customer kept coming in succession.

Two bear beastkin bit into the tteokgalbi with their large mouths in one go.

“Oh, it’s good?”

“Really?”

“But the size is too small, it’s teasing. Add five more!”

“Me too!”

The bear beastkin, true to their huge builds, shouted a large order with great appetites.

I quickly grilled ten tteokgalbi.

They were the last customers, but thanks to them, I sold out everything I brought.

First complete sell-out!

Feeling good after finishing business, I was about to head home.

“Excuse me, young man.”

I turned at someone’s call.

“……Yes? Me?”

It was the fox lady from the shop in front.

Did she really speak to me?

I thought I misheard for a moment.

“Take this.”

“…Yes?”

What she handed was a scarf made of fox fur.

I was so flustered that I stared blankly for a moment before asking.

“…Why are you giving this to me?”

“You have no fur on your body, and walking around with your neck exposed like that in this cold will give you a cold.”

“Ah… Thank you….”

I accepted the scarf in a daze.

“Um, the money?”

Before I could ask, she had already left.

But with her was the fox boy. 

The boy waved at me in greeting.

So the kid was the carpet lady’s child.

“That’s why….”

Now I understood the meaning of the scarf she gave me.

It was a token of thanks for treating her child well.

I wrapped the fox scarf around my neck.

“It’s warm.”

Soft soft.

The fur touching my skin was soft and felt good. 

The hood attached to the scarf warmly covered my ears.

Above all, the warm sentiment conveyed made me happy.

Doing business here in this harsh cold wasn’t easy at all.

But somehow, today I felt like I did well to do business here.