Apocalypse’s Teacher

Chapter 84

Helen felt so embarrassed that she wished she could crawl into a hole.

How pathetic must she look, clinging to Seokho's pant leg while sprawled on the floor?

Such a thought made her body tremble uncontrollably.

Amid the tense atmosphere, Helen, who had awkwardly buried her face, suddenly got up and hurriedly walked toward the room.

Bang-!

After the door closed, Helen leaned against it, covered her face with her hands, and murmured.

"Fuck...."

I feel like I could die of embarrassment.

*

In the end, Seokho's apology was vaguely accepted.

Although she didn't explicitly say things like 'I'm fine' or 'Let's just get along,' there was naturally an atmosphere formed from living together in the same space.

"Seokho, want some jerky?"

"Huh? No, you eat it, Ajumma."

"Understood."

Helen, who had planned to give the hidden jerky as a gift to Seokho, instead put it directly into her mouth and began chewing.

She glanced at Seokho while doing so.

'Seductive....'

Well, something like that. But still, it felt good.

The way he acted indifferent but still cared, or how he became a fool in front of the kids.

And beyond that, even the way he cooked, scratched his belly, everything about him was just good.

This must be what they call wearing rose-colored glasses.

Even things that shouldn't seem adorable somehow felt cute, making her wonder if she was seriously afflicted by a significant illness.

Helen's cheeks turned red.

The chewing motion of the jerky in her mouth slowed down.

'He's charming...!'

Helen made a decision.

Until now, she had only observed because she didn't know what to do, but not anymore.

She resolved to actively capture Seokho's heart.

As her thoughts continued, Helen turned her head when she felt a small foot touch her waist with a 'thud!'

"Chunsik?"

"Woof!"

Chunsik approached, staring intently at the jerky she was eating.

His tail wagged like a propeller spinning vigorously.

Blink, blink.

Helen, who blankly stared at him for a moment, swallowed the jerky with a gulp.

"Woof?!"

Chunsik flinched in shock.

Then his once-enthusiastic tail drooped down.

Helen averted her gaze from Chunsik and stood up from where she had been sitting.

'Seduce Seokho.'

What would she need to achieve that?

Chunsik provided the answer.

'Taste buds. Capture them.'

She had read something like that in a magazine before.

To capture a man's heart, you must first capture his taste buds.

*

It might not be new to say, but Helen didn't know how to cook.

Naturally.

From childhood, she was often called a 'prodigy,' and with such a label, all she ever did was study; that was Helen's reality as a model student.

Meals?

At the orphanage, others prepared them.

After leaving the orphanage, she lived in a dormitory, and later relied on meals from the research institute's cafeteria.

While she wasn't entirely ignorant about ingredients, her knowledge focused on their components and chemical properties, leaving her clueless about creating flavors.

'...Food?'

Helen stared at the concoction she made alone in a secluded room below the penthouse—something that was embarrassing to even call "cooking."

She had intended to make stew, but what came out was a pitch-black sludge that made her uneasy.

The only reason she clung to it, despite everything, was her ridiculous pride in not wanting to deny her first-ever attempt at cooking.

"Hmm...!"

Still, wasn't this much edible at least?

Since it was her own creation, wouldn't Seokho eat it for her?

Helen didn't know.

If she had truly made something edible, she wouldn't even be contemplating it like this.

The very thought of 'Can I eat this?' meant it was already over.

Helen glared at the sludge.

Then, extending her index finger, she dipped it into the concoction and touched it to her tongue.

"Ack!"

A disgusting taste that sent shivers down her spine.

The pot flew out the window.

...It was an extraordinary waste of good ingredients.

*

There was a common mistake that people who refused to admit their failures often made.

That was shifting the blame for their failure onto external factors.

Helen consoled herself by claiming that the stew had failed because "the ingredients weren't fresh."

And she didn't stop there, coming up with another, equally pathetic excuse: Helen thought.

'Seokho's taste! I need to understand his preferences!'

After all, no matter how well she made the stew, it would be pointless if it didn't suit Seokho's taste.

From the start, she needed to make something that Seokho would like.

That was it.

Helen, lacking confidence in stew, decided to turn to another dish.

"Seokho!"

In the penthouse living room.

Helen called out to Seokho, who was taking care of Hyesung and Chunsik.

Seokho turned his head toward Helen.

Without saying anything else, Helen immediately asked from where she stood.

"Seokho, is there any food you like?"

"Huh? All of a sudden?"

Helen nodded firmly.

Then, with sparkling eyes, she looked at Seokho.

Feeling the pressure from her gaze, Seokho hesitated before mentioning something that came to mind.

"Uh... kimchi fried rice?"

"Ki-Kimchi...!"

Helen panicked.

Not only was kimchi something that didn't suit her Canadian palate, but it was also extremely difficult to obtain in this world.

Seeing Helen's shocked expression, Seokho chuckled softly and waved his hand dismissively.

"I know, it's hard to get. I just mentioned it because it came to mind."

"What's kimchi fried rice?"

"Huh? Something I used to eat often back in the day."

"Is it tasty?"

"It's super delicious. If I ever get my hands on some kimchi, I'll make it for you too, Hyesung."

"Whaaa...!"

As Hyesung drooled, Seokho wiped it off.

Helen spun her head in frustration.

Kimchi fried rice was impossible.

Because there was no kimchi here!

But...!

"I-I'll do it...! Fried rice!"

Something like fried rice was possible.

Seokho had procured a large quantity of cooking oil, and it was still stocked up in the storage.

"Huh?"

"Wait for me!"

Helen dashed out.

Seokho simply stared at her retreating figure, thinking, 'What's wrong with that ajumma now?'

*

The corner room on the lower floor of the penthouse.

The room assigned as Helen's personal space was filled with the overwhelming smell of oil.

Fried rice should be easy.

With that thought, Helen poured oil into a pan and dropped hardened rice extracted from combat rations onto it.

Shortly after, she sliced a piece of ham into it and added an egg, secretly taken from Kkokkok's chicken coop, and began to stir-fry.

It was an unbeatable combination.

Helen, watching the fried rice coming together so appetizingly, unlike the revolting soup she made before, felt immensely uplifted.

'M-Maybe I'm a chef after all!'

Perhaps she really did have talent for cooking.

Maybe the soup disaster was merely a matter of ingredients, she thought as she waved her hand for a moment.

'...Wait.'

Helen suddenly fell into deep contemplation.

It wasn't for any other reason.

'It lacks uniqueness!'

The thought occurred to her that, at this rate, she'd end up with nothing but plain fried rice.

This was Helen's second mistake.

A beginner in cooking, unaware that thinking about 'uniqueness' leads to food turning into garbage, made this mistake.

And as there was no one here to point that out to her, it was simply a tragic and lamentable situation.

'...There's cucumber.'

There were cucumbers in the storage right now.

Moreover, among the things Seokho brought, there were definitely potatoes and sweet potatoes too.

Half a potato, half a sweet potato, and sliced cucumber—if she stir-fried them all 'together,' wouldn't that result in an incredible dish?

With that thought, Helen stood up.

Clack!

The burner's flame went out.

Helen left the room.

...The fried rice had evolved into something beyond human comprehension.

*

A result that could hardly be called fried rice anymore.

Yet Helen didn't realize.

Because in her eagerness to have Seokho taste her hard-earned creation first, she hadn't tasted it herself.

"Try it!"

Helen thrust the plate of fried rice toward Seokho.

Seokho stared at the fried rice with a bewildered expression.

'...Cucumber?'

It definitely seemed like fried rice, but why was there cucumber in it?

No, even setting the cucumber aside, why were there potatoes and sweet potatoes in it?

It was a dish that looked too strange to casually take a bite.

Nevertheless, he couldn't just refuse to eat it.

The sparkle in Helen's eyes carried a hint of coercion.

Seokho picked up a spoon.

With trembling hands, he scooped some fried rice and put it into his mouth.

Clunk-.

The moment he took a bite of the fried rice, Seokho froze.

His expression morphed into something indescribable.

It was strange.

It wasn't a matter of whether it tasted good or bad. It was just strange.

Why did it taste like this?

No, he even doubted whether such a taste could exist in the world—it was that 'strange.'

If one didn't sense the weirdness in the ensuing silence, that would be stranger.

Helen, noticing the look on Seokho's face, instinctively realized something was wrong.

Carefully, she took out the spare spoon she had prepared and took a bite of the fried rice.

"...."

Helen's mouth clamped shut.

Even her eyes closed tightly.

Seokho asked.

"Hey, why did you put cucumber in it?"

"...."

"Potato... okay, but why... sweet potato?"

"...."

The room fell into silence.

The two stood frozen, looking in different directions, while Hyesung quietly slipped in between them and picked out only the ham from the fried rice.

As shame surged within her, Helen's face turned red. Struggling to come up with an excuse, she finally said.

"...In my country, it's beneficial."

She sold out her country.