Chapter 102

Time passed to the end of February, when the partially melted snow had turned black and remained ugly in patches.

With just a week left until the first day of middle school.

We left the officetel where we had accumulated a fair degree of a bad relationship and moved to the adjacent building of Senior Jiun.

So, we moved to Room 202.

I wanted to move to the same building if possible, but it seemed someone had taken Room 502, which I had my eyes on for two years.

In the end, the only remaining options in the same building were high-rise apartments on the 15th and 16th floors and above, so we chose to move next door instead of struggling with the elevator.

The room we moved into was Room 402.

Even if the elevator broke down, it was a reasonable height that I could easily go up and down the stairs.

A spacious living room with a high dining table and chairs where one could eat like a human.

Each room had a bed of suitable height, and beneath the desk were the main computer unit, with the monitor, speaker, keyboard, and mouse on top.

In the kitchen of the officetel, there had only been a small two-burner induction stove, but now there were four burners of various sizes.

A large refrigerator, microwave, and coffee pot were standard.

Next to them was an air fryer that would elevate the quality of solo meals by three levels.

The once cramped balcony, barely able to fit a washing machine, had now become spacious enough to grow a multitude of potted plants.

“Finally, it feels like a real home!”

I said, satisfied, placing my hands on either side of my waist in the dust-free new house.

Now, instead of feeling cramped, there was even joy in contemplating how to utilize the ample space that remained.

While I was thoroughly content with everything, the sensation of being pleasantly tipsy did not last long.

After all, these were electronics and furniture that might be replaced once every few years.

The new house, which had felt completely fresh at first, quickly blended into the routine and became ordinary.

With only two days left until middle school, it was a late afternoon when I wished time would stop.

With the sound of the doorbell ringing, a knock echoed in the house, with no one expected to come.

I directed the intercom instead of the front door and looked at the screen outside, and there stood none other than Senior Jiun and Uncle Dae Han.

It seemed Juwon was also down there, as vague sounds of a noisy voice could be heard faintly over the front door.

“Shiyeon, open the door!”

“Who is it?”

The animated sounds coming from Shiyeon’s room stopped, and she came out into the living room with light footsteps, immediately asking who it was.

“It’s Senior Jiun and Uncle.”

Upon answering who was outside the door, Shiyeon finally moved her feet toward the front door.

With a clunk, the sound of the door handle twisting open followed by several footsteps entering the house.

At the forefront was Senior Jiun, followed by a flustered Juwon and a leisurely Uncle Dae Han trailing behind.

“Wow, it seems bigger than our house?”

“It’s probably actually bigger!”

As Uncle Dae Han entered and muttered in admiration at the spacious view, Senior Jiun, hearing his words, responded that it indeed was likely larger.

It was true that compared to a home, there were fewer belongings, and it genuinely had a larger area.

Even if they were all apartments within the same complex, typically, the sizes did not match perfectly between buildings.

As the three of them entered the house, the atmosphere quickly became lively.

I turned up the boiler’s temperature, and feeling like there was nothing else to do, I simply pulled out the chairs from the dining table.

“Here, a housewarming gift!”

“Wow, thank you!”

“This has toilet paper, fabric softener, shampoo, rinse, body wash…”

Senior Jiun had her hands full of several items.

As it turns out, she had brought shopping bags filled with things we would definitely need as housewarming gifts.

It was no wonder she was a pro at household items; when placed in the bathroom and next to the washing machine in the boiler room just as they were packed, it felt quite complete and pleasant.

Feeling that there was nothing I could do in return for what we received, I sat in a dining chair, turned on my smartphone, and idly tinkered with the delivery app.

“What should we order for delivery? Is there anything you’d like to eat?”

While Shiyeon was playing with Juwon, I sat in the chair and aimlessly fiddled with the search bar.

In the recent search history were jajangmyeon, chicken, hamburgers, pizza, jokbal, eel, sushi, and other items…

It truly was a situation where every possible delivery food had been entered in the recent searches.

Even so, knowing that a satisfying meal would cost at least 100,000 won, I was initially looking for sushi when Uncle brought up a suggestion.

“How about we go with the safe option of jajangmyeon?”

‘Jajangmyeon?’

Hearing Uncle’s words, I began to remove the sushi from the cart one by one.

While it was a classic choice for housewarming delivery food, it felt strange to stick strictly to jajangmyeon with so many other options available…

The reason two seafood-loving people would choose jajangmyeon out of all those choices soon made sense with words from Senior Jiun.

“Right, because Juwon needs to eat too.”

“Oh, right… Juwon is here.”

The reason was none other than Juwon.

Eating with a two-year-old baby meant raw fish wasn’t a good idea.

“Yeah, both my husband and I are crazy about seafood…”

Shifting my gaze to Juwon who was playing with Shiyeon, Senior Jiun let out a tired laugh, as if feeling many concerns.

Seafood, seafood.

If there was a menu that could include seafood in Chinese cuisine…

To start, it would probably be the stir-fried jjajangmyeon with squid or cocktail shrimp.

“Well then, let’s get two bowls of seafood jjajangmyeon and a medium sweet and sour pork… Can Juwon eat shrimp tempura?”

“He’s the only one who eats sea creatures well.”

“Shrimp? Great!”

As expected, with the lowest threshold among seafood, Senior Jiun nodded firmly at the question of whether Juwon could eat shrimp tempura.

It seemed Juwon quite liked shrimp, as he immediately understood someone was talking about food for him and shouted that he liked shrimp.

If he wanted to eat, we had to order more.

“Well then, add some spicy fried shrimp.”

“Oh right, we need to ask for the sauce on the side.”

“Is it too spicy for Juwon?”

“Yeah, these days even a little bit of red is super spicy.”

Now, it’s hard to call jjajangmyeon a common people’s meal.

With sweet and sour pork and some shrimp added, the price easily exceeded that of several chickens.

Whether we liked it or not, we reached the conclusion that we would need about 70,000 to 80,000 won for five people to eat their fill.

Still, we couldn’t skimp on money on a festive day, so I completed the order and returned to the home screen.

“Did you finish ordering?”

“Yes.”

“Shall we take a look around the house now?”

Thus began the exploration of Senior Jiun’s house, which was about 40 pyeong.

No matter how different the area, the structure wasn’t that different anyway.

Three rooms, one bathroom, one large living room, one kitchen, one boiler room, including a balcony.

Since Senior Jiun had known our previous house well, she could tell at a glance about the newly revealed items.

“You got a computer, a new bed, a new refrigerator, and air conditioning in each room? It must have cost a lot?”

“It did cost quite a bit.”

“Are you okay with the money? It sounds like you might have stretched yourself too thin…”

“I’m fine thanks to the unexpected money.”

When she asked me that, I made a V sign with my index and middle fingers and smiled, answering as if I had plenty of leisure.

The influence of three gold bars was indeed massive, allowing me to indulge in a fair amount of luxury after receiving my deposit back.

If that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have been able to afford a new refrigerator and a new computer along with air conditioning in each room, even if it was out of psychological pressure.

When you think about it, it was like I unexpectedly had a bonus of 300 million won.

I had to get everything I thought I would need through some means.

Once it entered my bank account, I felt stingy about taking it out.

Just like that, before we could share various stories, the doorbell of the shared entrance rang.

About ten minutes had passed in reality, but I was puzzled and turned toward the intercom.

‘What? Did they already come?’

“Oh? Already?”

The surprised voice of Uncle Dae Han matched my own astonishment.

However, through the intercom, I clearly saw the delivery person in the shared entrance.

Wearing a helmet and holding a thermal bag, it was unmistakably a delivery person from a Chinese restaurant.

So, they must be the shop’s delivery staff, which explains the quick delivery.

Everyone was bewildered at the unexpectedly fast delivery.

“Did they make it in advance and microwave it?”

“Surely not…”

Such speed was enough for Uncle to casually express his doubts.

It was definitely fried or stir-fried, and it felt impossible to believe it was heated in the microwave due to its crispiness.

In any case, I snapped open the chopsticks, sat around the dining table, and began to use them on the bowls.

Scooping up the black noodles with my chopsticks and cautiously fishing out squid or shrimp to put in my bowl.

Meanwhile, Senior Jiun took Juwon’s plate for a moment to chop the noodles as well as the sweet and sour pork and shrimp into tiny pieces.

As Juwon excitedly kicked his feet beneath the table, his little toes brushed against my knees, triggering some playful spirit in me, and I started tickling his soles with my toes.

“Hehe!”

“Stop playing at the dining table!”

With the clank of the plate being set down in front of Juwon, Senior Jiun uttered three words.

“Yes.”

Just like a mother’s call, she called out sharply.

Overwhelmed by the atmosphere, I decided to quietly eat the food.