Episode 190

So, where have we been staying all this time?

Of course, we come home and sleep. Nothing has changed. Bissera and Duran also close the restaurant and go home.

So, we’re just going back as well.

Night comes, and it’s time to go home! That’s an obvious truth. Plus, we have super convenient transportation, so there’s no need to suffer on the road.

My restaurant on the hill? Well, it’s a freelance business, so it’s no problem. I opened it to do whatever I want.

The lack of a fixed menu expresses my thoughts. While some restaurants make whatever the customers want, in my case, I make whatever I feel like. Hehe.

I lie down on the bed.

It’s soft.

Sleep is best at home. That’s the truth. Seriously.

A yawn escapes.

Even though I don’t feel particularly tired, I yawn. We’ve done the promotion, and now we just need customers to come. Bissera has started doing all the cooking, so from tomorrow, I have nothing to do at Bissera’s restaurant.

There are still problems on the other side, though.

Of course, that’s something I don’t need to approach first. Thinking back to the lady at the competitor’s restaurant I briefly saw, it seemed like she wouldn’t quietly back off, so she’ll likely react first on her own.

So, there’s nothing to worry about. I buried my face in the pillow.

So soft.

My face sinks into the pillow. I don’t want to think about anything.

It’d be nice to just fall asleep like this.

Just as I was about to close my eyes, a clear voice hit my ear. I quickly turned around in response, feeling as though something was dripping.

“You.”

“Hmm?”

The voice, of course, belonged to Rurin. Her hair was soaking wet, water dripping from it as she stood in front of me.

It’s good that she’s washed. She’s washed.

Yeah, she’s wrapped in a towel properly too.

But I don’t understand why she hasn’t dried her hair.

“Hey, hey, why’s your hair like that?”

“It’s here.”

“What’s here?”

“Towel!”

She handed me the towel, quickly grabbed a chair, and placed it in front of the bed to sit. In other words, it was a silent command to dry her hair.

Seeing her unchanged attitude, I felt more at ease.

She’s been saying strange things lately like offering to carry me or calling me cute. I was a little surprised, but she was still the same Rurin.

If she wants her hair dried, then I should dry it.

Now that I think about it, her hair has improved a lot recently.

Especially when she stayed at her mother’s lair, living in the mountains, she had rough, bleached hair like a stray dog’s, but now it’s like silk.

Is this what they call the passage of time?

“Do you like the new shampoo?”

“It’s good. I think it’s better than the old one. The scent’s nice, but it’s a bit slippery.”

“Is that so? I think it’s the perfect amount of slipperiness.”

This is the kind of conversation we can have now. We can even discuss the quality of shampoo.

Swish swish.

When I dry her hair, she’s very calm. She just lets her body relax. Her long hair cascades down her small shoulders, swaying gently.

The feeling of her hair touching my hand is a bit ticklish.

It’s a soft, soothing sensation.

“Alright, it’s done.”

Having removed most of the moisture, I used wind magic to dry her hair, making it flow in the breeze.

This is the time when her hair dances in the wind.

“Hehehe.”

At times like this, Rurin laughs happily. I don’t understand why she finds it ticklish when the wind touches her hair.

“Hehe, haha! It tickles! Hahaha!”

She enjoys it, laughing like this.

After drying it all, she tossed the towel aside and lay back down on the bed. Rurin quickly turned her head and looked down at me.

Normally, I’d just jump into bed and go to sleep at this point.

“You.”

But Rurin started acting unexpectedly again.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, she climbed on top of me and stared down at me. Her recently dried hair flowed down, brushing my face.

The ends of her hair gently tickled my cheek as she simply stared at me from that close distance.

She didn’t move.

“Why are you doing this?”

I broke the silence, asking, but there was no answer. After a while, she pursed her lips and finally spoke.

“I’ll give you a massage.”

“Whattt?”

And the words Rurin said were so unreal that I couldn’t help but scream.

“Why are you yelling at me?”

Rurin puffed her cheeks, an expression she usually makes when she’s upset. But to me? I didn’t understand what she meant.

“No, no, I was just surprised. You really will give me a massage?”

“Hmm, really? Anyway, right! You seem tired, so I’ll give you a massage!”

“Yeah? Well, okay then.”

Either way, it’s a rare opportunity. I quickly turned and lay down.

“Then, please do my shoulders and back.”

“Annoying.”

“What’s annoying? Suddenly? You said you’d do it first.”

“It’s just something like that!”

What is this, really?

“I’ll still do it. Here? This shoulder?”

“Yeah. That’s it.”

“Good. Then…!”

Rurin’s fingers came to rest on my shoulder. I could feel her delicate fingers.

And soon, Rurin started applying pressure.

Hmm, is it refreshing?

No, no, wait!

“AAAH!”

I screamed. I had no choice. Of course, I’d scream if she massaged me this hard.

Her thin fingers felt like they had superhuman strength.

“Stop it! My shoulder’s going to break! Aaaah.”

“No. I don’t care about that.”

“What do you mean you don’t care…save me! Wait, why there!”

It felt like my shoulder was about to pop out of its socket.

“Wait, Rurin, please go easy. Gently…ease up, relax…”

“Why should I go easy?”

“What?”

“I’m going to keep going. You asked for it.”

“Wait… Aaaah! Stop!”

I screamed again, and Rurin finally stopped. I quickly got up and turned around to protect myself from any more rough handling.

Rurin stared at me for a moment.

“I’m going to sleep.”

She abruptly turned her head and dove into the blanket.

What the heck?

She was saying things she never said before, then tried to break my shoulder, and now she says she’s going to sleep?

She seems unchanged, but there was something oddly off about her.

She’s a strange one.

Something’s a little off. The cute comments, the offering to carry me, saying she’ll give me a massage but then torturing me and suddenly sleeping—everything about her is strange.

It’s strange.

What’s the reason?

“Something’s off lately. Why have the number of customers dropped so much? At this time, the first floor should be packed, shouldn’t it?”

“It seems so, Boss.”

“What’s with the nonchalance? Are you thinking you can always return to your father if things go wrong?”

“That’s not true.”

Horai was sweating under Ricent’s questioning. Ricent glared even more fiercely and shouted at him.

“Bring me the sales ledger right now!”

“Understood. Please wait a moment.”

Horai quickly ran and brought the ledger. It was the same competitor’s restaurant where Bissera had already investigated.

Ricent, the owner of the restaurant called Merli, bit his lip as he examined the ledger.

Ricent’s face turned pale as he checked the ledger until the very end, and then, finally, he exploded.

Horai felt the urge to run away.

He tried to step back quietly, but his eyes met Ricent’s, and Horai froze in place.

“What the hell is this! Sales have been plummeting since three days ago, and yesterday, it was only a quarter of the usual sales? Not even half, but a quarter? Wait, how can this even be possible?”

This is a situation that doesn’t make sense logically. How could sales plummet so drastically in such a short time? This kind of anomaly couldn’t happen without some kind of disaster or war.

“While I was visiting my family, what… What the hell happened! Horai!”

“I-I’m sorry.”

Horai quickly bowed his head. He couldn’t speak properly with that icy glare right in front of him.

“Was it the customer service? What did you do? Or was it the taste? How did you mess up the taste in that short time?”

Ricent was frustrated by Horai’s lack of answers and quickly ran into the kitchen. After causing a commotion in there for a while, he came back to Horai with a bowl of noodles and shouted at him.

“The taste is the same! Same as always. No problem with that. So what’s the cause? Did a new restaurant pop up? I didn’t see any new places on my way here.”

“Th-that’s…”

Of course, Horai had been here the whole time and knew exactly what the problem was. If he told the truth, Ricent would explode even more, so he was struggling to think of how to explain it.

But it was not something that could be hidden. It wasn’t something he could conceal.

Horai held his left side with one hand and finally spoke.

“Th-that’s…”

“What’s this? What is it?”

“Recently, customers have started flocking to Bissera’s restaurant.”

“What?”

Ricent didn’t immediately understand what Horai said and blinked in confusion.

“You mean… That failed Bissera’s restaurant? That place…has customers?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“What…what is going on…”

Ricent didn’t listen to Horai’s answer and stormed out of the restaurant. He thought seeing it with his own eyes was the best way to understand.

Crash!

“Aaaah!”

But he was rushing too much, and in that momentum, he tripped down the stairs and fell.

Blood started trickling from his knee, but he didn’t care. Limping, he ran toward Bissera’s restaurant. His intense determination left Horai momentarily dazed, but soon he chased after Ricent.

“Boss, wait! You’re bleeding!”

“Is that the problem, you idiot?”

Finally, Ricent arrived in front of Bissera’s restaurant. He was shocked and stood there with his mouth open.

It was pure disbelief.

“What… What is this? Are they…are they in line?”

“Yeah, exactly. It would have been easy to compete if it was just noodles, but since they started selling specialty dishes, this happened.”

“New menu? Hmph, so that’s it. Then we’ll make a new menu too! Got it? And bring me that food right now. I need to taste it and see what they’re selling.”

Ricent gave his orders and limped back toward Merli.

Horai, after standing in line, was forced into the situation of quietly wrapping up the food.

And shortly after, when Ricent tried the new menu from Bissera’s restaurant, which Horai had brought, he began trembling again.

“What is this! It’s delicious… It’s delicious. Why can’t we make something like this?”

“Th-that’s…”

Of course, the chef scratched the back of his head and avoided Ricent’s gaze, looking embarrassed.

“Make a new menu right now! You’re getting paid so much, and this is what we’re getting?!”

“Ah, understood!”

Ricent’s father is a powerful figure in the area, a Daeseongin. If he gets fired, no one in this area will be able to find a job. The chef and the kitchen staff turned pale and rushed back to the kitchen.

Of course, this obedience was due to the relationship between Ricent and his powerful father, the Daeseongin, whose inner workings no one knew.