This World is too Cruel to Men

It was fortunate that I was sitting in front of the fire.

At least I could use it as an excuse for my flushed face.

What if I wasn’t?

Being so close, I would have been caught red-handed.

My face was burning.

It felt like I was holding a freshly steamed bun.

While I was groaning because of my burning face, what made me even more embarrassed was…

“Hmm, I think it’s done now, right?”

‘Ugh… really…’

Dokgun’s reaction was as if he hadn’t realized what had just happened.

It was as if nothing had happened at all.

It made me acutely aware that I was the only one conscious of ‘it,’ making my face burn even hotter.

“I’ll… I’ll go get the rice.”

That’s why I couldn’t stand it any longer and jumped up from my seat.

If I continued to sit next to Dokgun, that scene, the spoon that had briefly been in my mouth going into Dokgun’s mouth, would keep replaying in my mind.

“Ah, right. I forgot the rice.”

Leaving Dokgun, who was oblivious and saying such things, I hurried towards the Pension.

The words I heard from behind were—

“Whoa… you really… Never mind. Forget it.”

“What? People forget things sometimes.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what?”

“Ugh… Just forget it. Forget it.”

“No, tell me what it is!”

“Ahaha…”

Those were the words.

As I entered the Pension while hearing those words from a slight distance, I slid down the door.

I couldn’t stand properly, perhaps because the tension I had been feeling had suddenly dissipated.

Even as I sat on the floor, my heart was still pounding… I carefully reached out and pressed my chest.

‘What do I do…’

My heart felt like it was going to explode.

That’s why I pressed my hand against my chest.

I felt like my heart would either jump out or burst if I didn’t do something.

‘Why is this…’

Why is my heart beating so fast?

This wasn’t the first time I had indirectly kissed Dokgun.

We’ve known each other for almost 10 years, and we’ve shared drinks countless times.

Back then, I might have flinched, but my heart didn’t race like this…

As I pressed my hand against my chest to calm my still-racing heart, I heard the sound of the door opening behind me.

‘Creak’

I flinched, wondering if Dokgun had followed me inside, but thankfully, it was Sanga’s voice, not Dokgun’s, that followed.

“Are… are you okay?”

“Uh, uh…”

“Dokgun, that guy, really… honestly…”

What did Dokgun do?

I was just genuinely curious.

“I know, I know. I won’t curse, so stop glaring at me. Look at you, not even letting me curse at your potential boyfriend.”

When did I glare at her?

“No, when did I glare at you…”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Come on, let’s get up. You’ll get dust on your clothes.”

With Sanga’s help, who had come up beside me, I got up.

Strangely, the heart that had been beating like crazy just a moment ago began to calm down.

“Whew… Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. By the way, are you feeling better?”

The way she smirked, as if she had caught me in the act, was so annoying.

Annoying, but… I couldn’t say anything.

After all, it was undeniable that thanks to Sanga’s intervention, I was able to be alone with Dokgun.

And above all, Sanga knew where to draw the line.

She would tease me, but only up to the point where I was about to get angry, right on the edge.

“Shall we get some food before we starve to death?”

See? She changed the subject like a ghost.

Following Sanga, who was trotting towards the refrigerator where the instant rice was, we naturally started talking about what to do next.

In other words, what to do after we ate.

“Do you have any plans?”

“I do, but…”

Should I tell her?

After a moment of hesitation, I couldn’t resist her bright eyes and confessed.

I told her that there was a trampoline down the road and that I wanted to go there with Dokgun.

“Trampoline? Oh, you mean a ‘bangbangi’?”

“…Yeah.”

“They have that here? Sounds fun.”

Her eyes sparkled as she said that, and I momentarily regretted telling her the truth, thinking she might want to tag along.

“Then… Chae-Dam and I will somehow keep Jinho and… you know…”

“Myung-Uk?”

“Yeah, we’ll keep those two occupied, so after we eat, you guys can slip away when the time is right. Got it?”

I regretted my earlier regret upon hearing her next words.

“Do you think… I can do it?”

To be honest?

I wasn’t confident.

It was easy for her to say, but “slip away when the time is right” meant I had to figure it out myself.

What excuse could I use to get Dokgun to come along willingly?

At this point, I had no idea.

I didn’t know, but… I nodded anyway.

My friend was going this far for me, so I had to at least try, even if I wasn’t confident.

“Okay, then let’s do that… ”

‘Beep’

‘Beep’

‘Beep’

“Oh, the rice is done!”

When I left the Pension, holding the container full of warm white rice, my head was full of worries.

But the moment I tasted a spoonful of the perfectly simmered Spicy Braised Chicken sauce over the rice, mixed with the soft, mashed potatoes, all the thoughts that had filled my head evaporated without a trace.

It was… incredibly delicious.

It wasn’t the first time Dokgun had made ‘dakbokkeumtangeu’ for me, but it was incomparable to what I had eaten before.

The ingredients seemed similar to what he had used before, but maybe it tasted this good because we were eating outdoors.

I wondered if it was just me, so I checked the others’ reactions… and as expected, everyone was raving after their first bite.

“Wow, this is insane…”

“Hey, Dokgun.”

“Yeah? What?”

“Seriously, have you ever thought about opening a ‘dakbokkeumtangeu’ restaurant with me? Honestly, I think we could easily make a killing.”

“Nonsense… Do you think money to open a restaurant grows on trees?”

“No, we can figure out the money somehow… We don’t have anything to do after we graduate anyway.”

“Forget it. We’d just get crushed by Awakened with Cooking talents and be lucky to avoid bankruptcy.”

“Hmm…”

Watching them made me feel strangely content.

I could feel the corners of my mouth twitching upwards, so I clenched my jaw to hide it.

“Anyway, this is good enough that you’d have to let me have a leg, right?”

“Whoa, even if it is, that’s a bit…”

“Then make your own food for the next meal.”

“Of course. Have it. Have two.”

Dokgun chuckled and picked up a plump chicken leg from the flat griddle pan in the middle.

The chicken leg, with its well-absorbed sauce, looked fantastic.

It looked like one bite would fill my mouth with hot juices and the spicy, thick sauce.

Just looking at it made me salivate.

‘But…’

Did he like legs?

I’d only ever seen him grab the wings first whenever we ordered chicken together.

I didn’t think I’d ever seen him go for the legs first.

I was puzzled by Dokgun’s choice.

“Here.”

I came to my senses at his voice.

The chicken leg, which had been between Dokgun’s chopsticks just a moment ago, was now on my rice bowl.

“Huh?”

“You like legs, don’t you? Or not?”

Well, I do, but… why is he doing this all of a sudden?

My barely-calmed heart started pounding again because of Dokgun’s single action.

“I’m giving this to you as a special treat for working hard with the vegetables today. Understand?”

“It’s… no, it’s okay…”

“Just take it when it’s offered. This won’t happen again.”

This might sound strange, but… it was the first time.

The first time I thought a chicken leg looked too good to eat.

That’s why I just stared blankly at it on my rice bowl.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to eat it?”

“…I was just about to!”

“Don’t get needlessly irritated…”

There were moments when my heart pounded so hard that I almost choked, but… somehow, I managed to finish my meal without any incidents.

“Okay, now we have to clean this up…”

After the meal, what remained was a mountain of dishes.

“Who wants to do it?”

“Hey, we should decide this fairly with rock-paper-scissors.”

“I’m exempt, right?”

Who would do the dishes, and how would we decide who would do them?

Everyone was visibly reluctant to do it since they were all full.

So, the discussion about how to choose the person to do the dishes dragged on without a clear conclusion.

“Do we have to do it now?”

“Then when are we going to do it?”

“Uh… later?”

“When later? We have to eat dinner soon, too.”

“Then let’s just do rock-paper-scissors and pick one person!”

It was during this time that a signal came from Sanga, who was sitting across from me.

“Instead of that, how about we do rock-paper-scissors and whoever picks something different does the dishes?”

“That’s a good idea. I’m in.”

“Me too.”

“No cheating, okay?”

“You’ll have to be discreet about it.”

It was chaos after that.

All sorts of signals flew from every direction, like pretending to cough while covering their mouths with their hands, or subtly showing their fists while pretending to stretch their fingers.

Of course, the real signal was different.

‘So, it’s rock…’

I didn’t know what she was thinking, but since I had decided to accept her help, I decided to follow her lead.

So, as soon as the call for rock-paper-scissors rang out, I threw out a fist—

“Okay! Oh Yun-Seo, you’re it!”

“Good luck, Yun-Seo.”

“Oh, sweet, right?”

“Then we’ll leave it to you, Yun-Seo.”

Everyone else had chosen scissors, so I was the one who got stuck with the dishes.

‘…Huh?’