At the moment when I was about to lose consciousness completely, I felt a pressing weight on my stomach.
“Ugh.”
Just as I was about to fall asleep, pressure was applied to my belly.
Naturally, I let out a strange moan, my eyes fluttered open, and the drowsiness slipped away.
When I wondered what was pressing down on my stomach, I realized it was the Gomtaengi that had been quietly hidden in my padding.
I thought I had only dozed off for a moment, but now I was instantly back in reality, passing through the last memory in an instant.
When I turned my head to the side, Shiyeon was already deeply bowing her head with her eyes closed.
It was at that moment I snapped back to reality.
‘I need to pull myself together.’
If I fall asleep here, there’s no going back.
With that determination, I gripped the hand I was holding even tighter.
After getting off at the appropriate station with Shiyeon, I strode confidently into my home.
Today, Senior Jiun said she couldn’t come, so I didn’t say I was back as I stepped into the house.
The time was 5:49 PM.
Interestingly, the moment I arrived home, the drowsiness that had slightly wrapped around me completely vanished.
Sometimes, this happens.
When I’m outside, I feel like I’m about to lose it from tiredness, but once I enter my home, I feel completely fine.
However, Shiyeon seemed to have been genuinely tired, as she rubbed her half-closed eyes with her gloves after coming in.
“You know you need to wash up and sleep, right?”
“Uh-huh….”
When I told her she had to wash up and sleep, Shiyeon responded in a much quieter voice and obediently entered the bathroom.
After turning on the boiler to warm up the cold house that had become chilly during our time out, I waited for Shiyeon to come out of the bathroom while listening to the humming sound.
The sound of the water stopping, and the faucet being turned off.
Soon I heard the door open, and when Shiyeon came out, it was my turn to go in and wash my hands.
Afterward, I hung my padding, which was awkwardly draped, properly on a small hanger, and picked up the scattered socks and clothes to put them into the laundry basket.
It seemed Shiyeon was so tired that she chose to go upstairs and sleep instead of at the computer.
Shiyeon’s Gomtaengi had already come out of the padding and was curled up on the cushion.
I also took Gomtaengi out of my padding and placed it on the cushion while expressing my gratitude.
“Thanks for your hard work, and for waking me earlier.”
“Uh-huh.”
Right after I thanked it, Gomtaengi placed its hands on its waist and puffed out its chest in pride from the cushion.
Even though Gomtaengi’s proud expression was somewhat displeasing, it had stopped me from almost going to the last station, so I decided to let it slide this time.
I quietly stepped up the stairs to the second floor without making a sound.
After pulling down the roughly piled blankets, I saw Shiyeon burying her face in the pillow.
In contrast, I felt no signs of drowsiness at all.
Filling the quiet home, I naturally grabbed my smartphone from the floor of the first floor and opened the game.
I still had a long way to go to fill the collection rate to 100%.
For some reason, once I immerse myself in these roguelike games, I can’t help but dive in headfirst.
The game I had grabbed onto melted away three hours before I realized it, and I only noticed when my stomach started growling, making the bread I had devoured earlier seem insignificant.
‘I’m hungry….’
The game screen filled on my smartphone.
After pausing for a moment and sliding my thumb from top to bottom, it was 9:02 PM.
Wow, when did it get this late?
I had lost track of time while just fiddling with my phone in the dark room where Shiyeon had comfortably fallen asleep.
My stomach was growling, and it was too late to eat anything….
It seemed Shiyeon hadn’t woken up either.
‘I didn’t even feed her dinner… Is she not hungry?’
Reluctantly, I got up from where I was sprawled on the floor and headed to the refrigerator.
Inside the fridge, I found jars of green ssamjang and red gochujang, whose existence I could not recall.
There was nothing but sauces and side ingredients.
Ultimately, I closed the refrigerator and headed to the shelf.
I found a heap of canned tuna and ham that I had received around last Chuseok.
And there was always instant rice on hand.
Since it wasn’t a meal with Shiyeon, this much was actually enough.
‘I used to eat like this in the military….’
I completely opened the lid of the instant rice and took out a large can of ham to place right on top.
I didn’t throw away the lid of the aluminum can immediately.
Since this edge is incredibly sharp, it acts like a knife when it comes to canned ham.
To ensure it cooks evenly in the microwave, I cut the rectangular canned ham that was placed on the instant rice in a narrow direction.
It might not turn out pretty, but nothing beats this for a simple late-night snack.
With a thud, I placed the instant rice bowl into the microwave and set it for three minutes.
The plastic cover for the microwave must be sealed tight.
If it’s left uncovered, the insides of the microwave will explode, creating a mess with flying ham pieces.
The key is to microwave until the ham cooks enough, making the rice piping hot.
While the microwave was running, I kept busy by opening a can of tuna from the shelf and pouring the oil into the sink.
After pressing down on the tuna can with a metal spoon to extract most of the oil, I transferred it to a suitably deep bowl and waited momentarily.
Holding a bottle of tomato ketchup and mayonnaise, that I didn’t know when I had last used, in each hand, I poured them over the tuna in a 2:1 ratio of mayonnaise to ketchup.
After wiping the oiled spoon with my mouth, I mixed it gently until it reached a desirable thickness, and it was done.
Without any complicated cooking, it becomes a fulfilling meal, completed using only the microwave.
With the side dish completed, the microwave beeped invitingly.
A cloud of steam billowed up from the rice, as if it would surely burn fingers if touched.
For the urgent moment, I removed only the plastic cover and set it aside, though even that was hot.
I might have been better off taking out kitchen gloves, but it was annoying to add unnecessary movements, so I just transformed it.
“Sun.”
The canned ham resting atop the instant rice had changed color, looking somewhat palatable even if it wasn’t golden brown.
I sat down at the low table, holding a bowl of tuna dressed in ketchup and mayonnaise.
Once my hands were completely free from the heat, I calmly recited the spell to release my transformation.
“Release.”
Afterward, I picked up a piece of ham that was nearly cut through with my chopsticks and brought it to my mouth first, feeling the warmth as I quickly reached for the instant rice with the other chopsticks.
It was hot, hot but delicious.
To cool it down, I shoved a big bite of the tuna mixed with the now-cold mayonnaise and ketchup, which had been sitting in the fridge all day, into my mouth.
The appropriate warmth and chill combined to create a pleasantly lukewarm temperature in my mouth.
It was a greedy dinner without a single vegetable—this was the kind of food that made me feel a sense of guilt at 9:10 PM.
Once I finished eating well and casually began to clean up, I thought my day would end pleasantly.
“What’s Mary doing…?”
At that moment, I heard a voice suddenly come from upstairs.
Turning my upper body and head to look upstairs, I saw Shiyeon rubbing her eyes as she clutched the railing.
Even though I had told her to sleep well and turned off the lights, it seemed none of that mattered.
Now that she was awake, when would she fall back asleep?
Caught between eating and this abrupt questioning, I responded while asking her back.
“Aren’t you hungry? I’m eating right now.”
“I’m hungry….”
“Wait, I’ll finish this and then make you something.”
I quickened the pace of my chewing.
If I took any longer eating here, my sleep time would also get delayed.
After I finished the instant rice, regardless of how much ham and tuna was left over, I headed to the induction stove.
Even while still chewing what was left in my mouth, I moved towards the induction stove.
I filled a wide pan with just enough water so as not to spill it and brought it to a boil just enough to cook the noodles.
The plain broth had only salty and rich flavors of the Gom-tang noodles.
Once I poured in the soup and boiled until the water naturally evaporated, I cut the leftover canned ham into the soup haphazardly with scissors.
As the broth soaked into the soup, I set it in a wide bowl and brought it to the low table.
“Thank you for the meal.”
Since the tuna was covered in ketchup and mayonnaise, I told Shiyeon to just eat it as a side dish rather than combining it with the well-cooked noodles.
The sound of slurping noodles echoed through the quiet house.
With the thick and saucy Gom-tang noodles topped with microwaved ham, the taste was unimaginable, and even though I had just eaten, my mouth watered.
With a thought of needing to cook for myself tomorrow, that was how my day passed.
The day after passed, and Senior Jiun came to our house as usual for work.
“Hey kids, did you have a good time yesterday?”
The question she asked immediately upon entering pertained to the events of the previous day.
Since it involved two elementary school students going as far as Daejeon, she seemed a bit worried.
If that was the case, she could have at least sent a message.
“Yes! The bread was delicious!”
“We had a great time!”
“I see, I’m glad to hear that. I also completely conked out after work and didn’t even get a chance to call….”
Similar to Shiyeon, Senior Jiun had knocked out immediately after coming back from somewhere.
I couldn’t help but wonder what she had been so busy with yesterday.
“What did you do on Saturday?”
“Engagement meeting. Ah… I wonder if I should put it like that?”
“?!”
Her answer was completely unforeseen, and I almost choked.
A lighthearted question had returned with something significant.
