Whoosh!
As soon as the exam ended and the teacher finished their final words, the kids rushed out of the classroom like a receding tide. I was caught in the crowd, but I stayed seated, afraid of falling. It looked dangerous to push through like that…
But soon, the classroom quieted down. All the kids had left. Jiyu and Yumi were slowly walking toward me. They looked perfect with their bags on their backs. Students really should carry bags—it’s what makes them students.
I, too, acting like a proper student, slung my bag over my shoulder and stuck close to Jiyu and Yumi.
“Hana, what are you gonna do when you get home?”
Thinking about it, after finishing the exam and heading home early, all I had planned was lazing around playing computer games or watching TV. If those got boring, I’d just go hang out at the office with the employees. I was shocked by how simple my life had become. This wasn’t the life of a kid—it was the life of a jobless adult!
“Um… I’ll watch anime!”
But it was common sense to watch *Little Magician Lumi*, so I told Yumi. She gave me a sly look.
“Don’t you usually watch that in the evening?”
“Yeah! It’s perfect timing after dinner!”
“Then wanna grab something tasty at the convenience store with us?”
Grrr—
My stomach growled loudly. It made sense—it was lunchtime, but they didn’t serve lunch because of the exam. Instead, it was dismissal time. I glanced at my phone. Maru hadn’t sent a message yet, so it seemed like we had over an hour to spare.
Maru had asked me to message her after the exam, so I sent her a quick text: *The exam’s over.*
[I’m hanging out with friends. I’ll head over soon.]
It would take Maru a while to get here, so Yumi’s idea of grabbing a quick bite at the convenience store seemed smart.
“Okay!”
I nodded in agreement. Jiyu automatically followed along. We headed into the convenience store in front of the school. It was relatively quiet inside. Probably because most kids were eating at home.
Well, these days, only people with money have kids. So eating at home must be better. If you’ve got money, you’ve got plenty of tasty food at home!
“What are you gonna eat, Jiyu?”
“I’ll have cup noodles! And a triangle kimbap.”
The two of them chatted casually. I had to show these kids some adult wisdom. I decided to use the knowledge I’d gained from the unknown. It was so dangerous that just bringing it into reality would cause a massive impact.
“Huh? Hana, you’re not getting triangle kimbap? Just two cup noodles?”
Yumi looked curious as I held two cup noodles. It was probably too much for a kid’s stomach. Jiyu and Yumi were only getting one cup noodle and one triangle kimbap each. And my stomach wasn’t that big either.
I couldn’t inhale food like those mukbang YouTubers. My stomach seemed pretty average.
“Just watch! I’ll show you some magic!”
I thumped my chest confidently. Once they saw this noodle combo, Jiyu and Yumi would probably worship me.
“Okay…?”
Yumi looked at me with uneasy eyes.
“If there’s leftovers, I’ll eat with you!”
Jiyu seemed completely clueless.
After paying, we rushed to the hot water dispenser. The part-time worker nearby watched us worriedly, ready to jump in if we got burned while pouring water into our cup noodles.
“Be careful with the hot water!”
I warned the kids just in case. I’m an adult, so I wouldn’t burn myself like a kid, but Jiyu and Yumi were different. But when I said that, they turned around and said:
“We’re more worried about you, Hana!”
“Right! Should we pour it for you? Hana?”
What the—? The kids were acting like I was a total klutz. Just because I made a few mistakes here and there, this is the treatment I get? It felt like the world was crumbling.
Anyway, Jiyu and Yumi finished pouring water into their cup noodles and sat down at the table. I pulled out Buldak Bokkeummyeon and Gonghwachun, poured water into them, and mixed them together. This combo was tastier than any cup noodle. With Jiyu and Yumi watching in awe behind me, I poured my heart into completing the Gongbul combo.
“Whoa. I didn’t know you could eat noodles like this.”
Jiyu looked at me with wide eyes. It was the kind of look you give when someone who usually can’t do anything suddenly does something amazing.
Don’t look at me with those eyes!
But Yumi was looking at me with a somewhat ambiguous gaze. It was like the look you have when you see some exotic food.
“Hana… does it taste good if you mix it like this? It looks weird though…”
Indeed, it was a time when the idea of mixing two perfectly good cups of noodles hadn’t crossed their minds. Jiyu and Yumi were young and hadn’t had much experience. They had more days ahead of them than days behind. I was the same, though.
“Try it, try it!”
Without hesitation, I offered this ramen to Jiyu and Yumi. The portion was double, so it was too much for me to eat alone. Jiyu picked up her chopsticks, placed the ramen lid on a plate, and started eating the noodles.
Slurp!
After eating the noodles, Jiyu’s eyes sparkled. It was like the look of Columbus discovering the New World, as if she had tasted a whole new world.
“Wow, Hana. This is really delicious!”
Seeing Jiyu’s reaction, Yumi hesitated, her hands trembling as she picked up some noodles from my bowl. She closed her eyes and slurped them up. Then, her eyes changed. It was like the look of a detective who had just uncovered the truth.
“Wow!”
Yumi exclaimed in admiration. Then, she practically snatched my cup noodles away. It was the same reaction I had when I first heard about this from my seniors and tried it.
“Hana, where did you have this kind of ramen before?”
Yumi asked while slurping my noodles. Seeing her eyes shine like that, I hesitated to say anything. Had I led a lamb astray?
I stammered as I spoke. If I said I learned it in the military, they definitely wouldn’t believe me, so a little tweak was necessary.
“Just… I saw it on the internet!”
I brushed it off like that. In the end, Jiyu and Yumi couldn’t eat the cup noodles and triangle kimbap they had bought. They were too busy devouring the noodles I had bought. As a result, I ended up eating the cup noodles they had bought.
I was afraid I had revealed too big a secret to the kids. I never imagined I’d get such an explosive reaction.
———————————————–
Vroom-
I was riding home in Maru’s car. I was telling Maru about hanging out with my friends today. When we were bored, chatting made the time pass quickly.
Suddenly, I remembered eating the noodles and said to Maru.
“Maru, Maru!”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“I know a delicious way to eat cup noodles, I’ll teach you!”
“Really? How delicious can it be to make you so excited?”
I had prepared a story that would surely surprise Maru. Mixing Gonghwachun and Buldak Bokkeummyeon was something Maru could never have imagined!
But Maru gave an unexpected answer. I had explained it so passionately, but before I could even finish, she said she already knew.
“Oh, that? I know about that, Hana! There’s a way to mix them like that!”
I looked at Maru with a shaken expression. This was a recipe that girls weren’t supposed to know!
“How did you know, Maru?”
“My older brother taught me. After he came back from the military, he said he learned some amazing recipes, so I wondered what it was, and he mixed them like that.”
No way! I couldn’t help but lament that my secret recipe had spread. It was a completely different reaction from when I taught Jiyu and Yumi earlier.
“But how did you know, Hana? There’s no one around you who’s been to the military.”
If I said I had gone myself, I’d definitely be treated like a weirdo. So, I had no choice but to brush it off the same way I did with Jiyu and Yumi earlier.
“Uh… I just saw it on the internet!”
“Really? That’s interesting~”
Luckily, Maru didn’t seem interested in digging deeper. I looked out the window with a deflated expression. I had planned to surprise Maru, but she already knew. Nothing could be less fun than this.
I had been excited to share various cup noodle combinations, but if the person already knew, there was nothing more to say.
