49
“The weather suddenly…”
Yeon Ji-ho, standing in front of the large living room window, muttered as he looked outside. Shortly after Seo Sung-won left, dark clouds suddenly gathered, and heavy rain began to fall.
As Yeon Ji-ho looked up at the sky with worried eyes, Set approached. Standing beside Yeon Ji-ho, he looked outside with a calm face and said,
“There will be lightning.”
“What? How do you know… Ah!”
Rumble…
With a heavy sound, lightning soon struck outside. As the startled Yeon Ji-ho flinched, Set raised his hand to pat his back. Feeling embarrassed by the gesture that seemed like comforting a child, Yeon Ji-ho said,
“I’m not afraid of thunder or anything. It was just the sudden loud noise.”
“I know. I understand.”
Although Set’s face didn’t show much understanding, Yeon Ji-ho did indeed feel startled, so he slightly turned his body towards the kitchen. Feeling embarrassed, he wanted to change the subject to something else.
“How about kalguksu for dinner?”
“…Kal?”
“Ah, it’s called ‘kalguksu’ because the noodles are cut with a knife. It’s not what you’re thinking.”
Seeing Set focus on the word ‘kal’ (knife), Yeon Ji-ho quickly added an explanation. Then, he went to the kitchen and took out a bag of flour he had stored separately.
“Isn’t this used for making bread?”
“It’s similar but a bit different. This is for making noodles.”
Yeon Ji-ho measured the ratio of water and flour, put all the other ingredients in a glass bowl, and slowly started kneading. Set, watching with interest, approached to help.
“You need to knead this until it becomes sticky. You can press it like this.”
Set, who received the glass bowl from Yeon Ji-ho, looked down at the dough inside. And while Yeon Ji-ho briefly left to wash his hands, Set tried to imitate exactly what he had seen earlier.
Bang, thud! Thwack!
Yeon Ji-ho, who was returning after washing his hands clean of dough and drying them with a kitchen towel, was startled by the sound of something bursting and hurried back. He saw Set kneading the dough with his full body weight.
The kalguksu dough was turning into mush every time Set punched it down.
“You’re using too much strength!”
“…But you were using your whole body weight too.”
It did seem a bit stiff when he touched it, so he had indeed used his whole body weight while kneading. But that was when Yeon Ji-ho was doing it. As Set kneaded the dough with his full body weight, it seemed like not only the glass bowl but also the floor might break soon.
“I was controlling my strength.”
“I see… It’s fortunate the bowl didn’t break.”
Is that really what we should consider fortunate?
Yeon Ji-ho, scratching his eyebrow, ended up going behind Set, rendering his earlier hand-washing pointless. He then placed his palms over Set’s hands, which were clumsily resting on the dough.
Then, he began to teach how to knead the dough step by step. Set’s large hands moved obediently under Yeon Ji-ho’s hands.
“Like this, you need to touch it with a feeling of gathering rather than bursting the dough. It seems a little short on water.”
“…”
“Okay. Now like this, and this. Yes. You’re doing well.”
Yeon Ji-ho pressed not the dough, but Set’s hands resting on it. Set kept glancing sideways at the small palms pressing down as if trying to exert force.
“…Like this?”
“Yes, ah, no. This has spread too much. Now we need to gather it and put it in the refrigerator for a while, so we need to round it up like this.”
The dough was soon formed into a round shape. Although Yeon Ji-ho had pressed on Set’s hands, some dough inevitably stuck to their hands, so they had to go wash them again.
Yeon Ji-ho left the dough and took Set to the kitchen sink. Standing side by side washing their hands, Set quietly asked,
“Ji-ho, aren’t you… annoyed?”
“Huh? About what?”
Set’s question was missing the object. To be precise, he wanted to ask if Yeon Ji-ho was annoyed by ‘him’.
Teaching something requires patience. Just a moment ago, because he couldn’t exactly follow Yeon Ji-ho’s demonstrated actions, Yeon Ji-ho had to wash his hands twice, didn’t he?
However, Set couldn’t bring himself to directly ask if he was annoying. If Yeon Ji-ho answered yes, he felt his heart would ache.
“Set, do you know something?”
“…What?”
Yeon Ji-ho, who had scrubbed off some dough in the sink that Set hadn’t noticed, turned off the faucet with a click. Then, taking out a kitchen towel and carefully wiping Set’s hands, he said,
“You’ve become so much more familiar with this place than when you first came.”
“Me?”
“Who else? Even Shango asks you when he doesn’t know something. You know where all the cooking utensils are.”
Now Set could easily assist Yeon Ji-ho in the kitchen. If Yeon Ji-ho just provided the recipe, Set could probably manage simple cooking on his own.
“So when I see you, I feel really proud.”
“Proud…you say?”
“You won’t have to go hungry even if I’m not around later.”
Yeon Ji-ho had long realized that Set had more talent for cooking than expected. In fact, considering his innate personality, it was natural. He was the type to try hard at everything and not miss any details.
He just hadn’t learned before.
Since childhood, all he had learned was how to easily harm people, how to survive on the battlefield, how to make someone submit. His adoptive father didn’t allow Set to waste time on other things.
So Yeon Ji-ho was genuinely happy every time Set learned something new and realized his talent for it. He kept looking forward to their future together.
“Ji-ho, why wouldn’t you be by my side?”
“I might have to step out for a while! Going grocery shopping, or having an appointment…”
Set suddenly didn’t want to learn cooking anymore at the idea of Yeon Ji-ho not being around and him having to manage on his own. This thought must have shown on his face, as Yeon Ji-ho chuckled and added,
“Well, I hardly ever have appointments, so that probably won’t happen.”
“…I see.”
“Then next time, you cook for me, Set!”
Set’s heart warmed at Yeon Ji-ho’s words promising a future. He kept pressing his lips, awkward with the silly smile that kept trying to appear, and slowly nodded.
Just as Yeon Ji-ho cooked delicious meals for him, he needed to learn cooking to share warm meals with him too.
***
The kalguksu made from the dough was even more delicious than expected. Perhaps thanks to Set’s excessive strength, the noodles were chewy and the broth was perfectly seasoned. Shango even asked “What is this?” when he saw the clams added for the kalguksu broth.
The conversation resumed as the meal was ending. Shango opened the topic first.
“Your Excellency. …How about leaving again now?”
Shango knew exactly that the two had come here temporarily for his sake. He also knew they were waiting for his health to improve. Whenever he saw the gate engraved on Set’s arm, he would bow his head deeply as if he were a sinner.
Yeon Ji-ho, who had finished his meal beside them, carefully asked Shango,
“Shango, how’s your body? It hasn’t been long since you fully recovered.”
“…I’ve… recovered…”
Shango’s pauses between words became especially long when talking to Yeon Ji-ho. It was because he was extremely nervous.
“Are you really okay? Uncle Soo-cheol…”
“The doctor… said I can move…”
As Shango hesitated, Set put down his spoon. He had finally made a decision.
“Right. It’s time to leave again.”
Although he wanted to live peacefully here, there were those he had left behind in his world. As Set brought it up, Shango also nodded with his eyes lowered.
“We’ll leave in three days. Prepare thoroughly.”
It was when Set and Shango were about to discuss their future plans and what they needed to prepare. Yeon Ji-ho suddenly interjected,
“Um, I have something to say about leaving.”
“Ji-ho, what is it?”
“I’ve been thinking about this since I visited that place, but it seems there’s more to prepare than we thought.”
In fact, Yeon Ji-ho had been pondering quite a bit since returning to this world. He would have to go back to that world with no modern conveniences at least once, so he needed to prepare in advance.
Based on his previous experience, that place lacked so many things. They were being pursued and were in a state where even preparing basic necessities was difficult.
So… how about preparing everything they could here in advance? That was where the idea started.
“I’ve been thinking about what we need to bring as well. Ji-ho, like last time, in that spacious bag you lent me…”
“No, no. Not a bag.”
“…Then?”
Set tilted his head. Yeon Ji-ho replied with sparkling eyes,
“How about we just take a caravan with us?”
