Chapter 165

“Need help?”

“No, I’ll do it all myself!”

Seeing her determination to do everything herself, I had no choice but to sit and wait.

As I sat there waiting, Ayu began cooking in earnest.

From what I observed from behind, Ayu was exceptionally skilled with a knife.

She handled the ingredients on the cutting board like a seasoned chef.

Especially when it came to trimming the beef tendons, she was on par with professionals.

‘Is that Cheonma?’

Indeed, her knife skills were as sharp as a sword, clearly different from the norm.

‘She usually just orders delivery.’

Having been with Ayu in Road of Academy for so long, I knew her lifestyle well.

She was the type to open a delivery app the moment she thought about eating.

Seeing Ayu cook was worrisome, but thankfully, it seemed like it would turn out fine.

Yes, her knife skills were definitely not a concern.

But then, problems started to arise one by one.

“Huh, was this sugar?”

Ayu, holding her phone with the recipe, tilted her head after tasting something.

Not sure where she got confused, but Ayu made a puzzled face and started redoing things.

Watching that, I felt a bit uneasy.

That’s not going to work.

“Ayu.”

To ease my unease, I called out to her.

“Yeah? Oppa, what?”

“Nothing, just wondering if there’s anything I can help with.”

“Ah, it’s okay, I’ll do it!”

It doesn’t seem okay.

“The fire is…”

As I watched Ayu fiddling with the induction stove, I eventually sat back down.

Well, if Ayu’s cooking, I’ll just have to eat it.

Let’s just think about enjoying it.

After a while, some suspicious sounds came from Ayu’s direction, but I covered my ears while looking at my phone.

After some time, Ayu shyly brought me a pot.

“Uh, sorry, it’s a bit burnt.”

Ayu hung her head, too embarrassed to look at me.

The dish was supposed to be short rib stew, but it was burnt without any seasoning.

This girl chose something difficult to make for me.

Still, her heart was in the right place.

At the same time, I recalled a scene from a manga I’d seen before.

Where the girlfriend fails at cooking and serves it anyway.

In those manga, the boyfriend would eat it all deliciously.

I pulled up a chair and served the burnt short rib stew over rice.

At least the rice, made by the rice cooker, turned out well.

“Never mind. Oppa, don’t eat it.”

Ayu quickly took the stew away from me.

I retrieved it from her.

“Ayu, it’s polite to eat it deliciously in situations like this.”

“Ugh.”

While Ayu hung her head, I cut the stew and ate it with rice.

It was a bit burnt and sweet.

But thankfully, it wasn’t completely inedible.

“It’s tasty?”

“…Thanks, even if it’s a lie.”

“Sure, I can lie all day. So I’ll keep eating. I’m hungry.”

Saying that, I started eating again with the rice.

Though there were some burnt parts, it was quite good with the rice.

As I ate heartily, Ayu leaned against the table, watching me.

“Is it edible?”

Ayu asked, smiling apologetically yet happily.

“It’s quite good as I eat it?”

“I practiced. Sorry, I’ll make it tastier next time.”

Seeing Ayu’s gloomy expression, I reached out and patted her head.

“The thought of you trying again is what I appreciate the most.”

Ayu smiled faintly, enjoying my touch.

“And Ayu, anything you make is delicious to me.”

“Even if it’s just words.”

I finished the bowl of rice and put down my chopsticks.

I understood what a meal filled with affection meant.

“Thanks for the meal. I’ll do the dishes.”

As I started washing the dishes, Ayu watched my back and then chuckled.

“It’s like the boyfriend doing the dishes after the girlfriend’s meal, huh?”

“Like it?”

“I love it. I need to take a picture.”

Ayu started taking pictures of my back.

Not sure what’s so great about it, but when I turned and gave a V-sign, Ayu was even happier.

If she’s happy, that’s all that matters.

“Hehe, our Domi Oppa is so handsome.”

After taking pictures, Ayu hugged me from behind.

“Hey, water’s splashing.”

“Oppa, you block it.”

“I need to exercise more.”

Ayu hummed a tune, hugging me from behind.

Of course, I felt just as happy and hummed along.

Because the song Ayu was humming was from the Road of Academy OST.

Seeing this, I realized how nice it is to share hobbies with a girlfriend.

After finishing the dishes, I took off the rubber gloves.

“Good job!”

Ayu grabbed my hands with both of hers.

Seeing that, I smiled and walked with Ayu to the bed.

Since it’s a studio apartment, the bed was the most comfortable place.

“What should we do now?”

“I’m fine just staying like this.”

As I sat on the bed with Ayu, she leaned her head on my chest and said that.

I wasn’t against it, but since Ayu was a guest at my place, I wanted to do something fun.

“Want to watch Netflix?”

“What do you want to watch?”

“Whatever you want.”

Saying that, I turned on the computer.

Our place is set up so the monitor is visible from the bed, so I set up Netflix and sat next to Ayu.

Ayu quickly wrapped her arm around mine and leaned her head on me.

A soft, feminine scent wafted from Ayu.

“This is nice.”

“We haven’t done anything yet.”

“I’m just happy being next to Domi Oppa.”

As Ayu said, I also felt unusually comfortable just being with her.

Meanwhile, I wondered what to watch with Ayu on Netflix.

We ended up choosing a horror movie.

I didn’t have any particular thoughts, but Ayu seemed unusually eager to watch it.

The horror movie was about a family destroyed by a ghost.

However, we had one big problem here.

“Ahh!”

The moment a ghost appeared on screen, Ayu screamed and buried her face in my chest.

Of course, her action was so intentional that I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ayu, it’s obvious.”

Ayu laughed and rested her chin on my chest.

“The reason for watching horror movies is to do stuff like this.”

Was that it?

Well, what could be scary for Ayu?

She’s the Greatest in the World, after all.

Not just Ayu, but I also wasn’t scared by horror movies.

Having experienced worse in reality, I had built up immunity.

‘It’s something veteran Hunters often experience.’

Immunity to fear, that is.

If I’m like this, it must be laughable for Ayu.

So, we didn’t pay much attention to the horror movie itself.

The story was B-grade and not very interesting.

“How’s Dohwa these days?”

“She seems to be doing well. She went to meet Nae-ki today.”

That Nae-ki girl, she was so excited to meet Dohwa in the game last time, and now they meet often.

I think those two will start dating soon.

The problem is, both are shy in their relationships, so it won’t be easy.

‘Though I’m not in a position to worry about others’ love lives…’

The problems right in front of me are piling up.

Like Ggotbi, who confessed to me, and Eva, who kissed me thinking I was asleep.

And the upcoming date with Si-ho.

‘Is this really okay?’

I wondered how I ended up like this, but according to Baeksan, it’s all my fault.

I don’t know, but apparently, I’m suited to fill the gaps that Returners and Hunters struggle with.

I thought about Ggotbi.

The way she looked at me was no different from Ayu, Seolhyang, or Si-ho.

Without me, Ggotbi would probably fall apart.

Then I thought about Eva.

Unlike Ggotbi or the others, Eva doesn’t rely on me as much.

She’s a strong person.

But the affection in her eyes when she looks at me is no less than the others.

And one more.

There was another person in my mind.

‘Eun-namu.’

Thinking of her, who clearly does things on her own, made my head spin.

At that moment, Ayu started fidgeting with her fingers on my chest.

“What are you doing?”

“Oppa seems to be thinking about something else, so I’m doing what I want.”

So, she’s scolding me for thinking about others.

Ayu rested her chin on my chest and stared at me.

The movie was long forgotten.

My face was reflected in Ayu’s purple eyes.

Looking at her like that, I reached out and cupped her cheek.

Ayu happily leaned her head into my hand.

“Domi Oppa, how am I? Am I cute?”

“Yeah, the cutest in the world.”

“Phuphu, do you like me?”

“I like you the most in the world.”

“Hehe.”

Ayu seemed to have gotten quite used to expressing affection.

Before, she would get embarrassed and couldn’t even look at me when saying such things.

That part was cute, and it’s a bit sad it’s gone.

On the other hand, I’m happy she only shows this side to me.

As our relationship progresses, more sides of her are revealed.

“Oppa, Oppa.”

Ayu called me with a lot of aegyo.

Then she brought her chin right in front of my face.

“I want to kiss.”

Seeing that, I leaned in and gave her a quick peck.

Ayu’s eyes widened.

Her face turned as red as a tomato, and she moved closer.

“Not enough. I want more.”

Then Ayu started kissing me again.

I didn’t resist, and soon our tongues were deeply entwined.

Ayu’s sweet breath was palpable.

As our saliva mixed and our tongues met, I started to feel that way.

After a while, our lips parted, and a trail of saliva connected us.

Ayu and I locked eyes again.

Her slightly reddened eyes met mine, and my emotions started to sway.

I realized Ayu felt the same way.

At the same time, I knew.

This is going to happen.