Newlyweds And Everyday Life (6)

“You little punk!”

Thwack—!

A heavy kick landed in the young man’s gut.

“Don’t ever approach again. The boss’s orders.”

It hurt so much he could barely breathe. The men stomped him over and over again, as if to make sure he stayed down.

Fortunately, it seemed they didn’t intend to kill him—they just beat him to the point of barely being conscious, then disappeared.

Hack.

Cough, cough, cough.

The battered young man wheezed as he staggered to his feet. No matter what happened, he wouldn’t give up unless he died.

He had been beaten many times since childhood, so his toughness was his pride. So giving up after something like this? Not a chance.

‘But where do I even begin looking for Sunhye…?’

He didn’t care if he got beaten.

He didn’t care what happened to his body—the real issue was something else.

Getting hit didn’t make him sigh. But thinking about her made him sigh without meaning to.

Haaah.

It was already pitch dark.

He wanted to go searching right now—but some things just weren’t possible.

So all he could do was sigh and trudge back into the residential area where his room was.

Click—!

Suddenly, the sound of a camera shutter was heard.

He instinctively looked up—and saw a woman taking a selfie under a streetlamp.

Then she crouched down and stared at her phone, and started shaking her head like something didn’t look right.

Even from afar, she puffed out her cheeks—which gave off the unmistakable “ugh, not good enough” vibe.

She had black hair, but her features were strikingly exotic. The streetlight lit up her face clearly. Was someone that pretty really from this neighborhood?

She doesn’t look Korean though?

That was all the young man thought.

He would’ve helped if she looked to be in trouble—but she wasn’t, so he kept walking.

Still, this neighborhood was pretty quiet and secluded—so he did wonder if she was safe alone like that.

He had always had a strong sense of justice since childhood.

In a world where most people believed protecting yourself came first, he was the sort of person who got beaten up for stepping in because of that same justice.

His life had been full of complications and bumps because of it.

But thanks to that personality, he’d managed to survive this far, and he believed it was also how his relationship with Sunhye had started.

Even if his sense of justice brought him trouble,and got him into a lot of disadvantageous situations, he had never strayed from his path.

“Lurin! Come back in already! It’s late!”

A voice called out from atop the stairs.

Ah—so she wasn’t alone. The young man felt relieved.

So thinking there was nothing to worry about, he resumed walking.

“I haven’t gotten a photo I like yet. I can’t beat the one you took of me!”

“Well yeah, because I take better photos of you. If it were the other way around, you’d have won.”

“So, basically, I already won from the start.”

“What kind of logic is that?! That’s cheating!”

“So get back up here.”

“Ughhh.”

Lurin pouted with a deeply frustrated expression and buried her face in her phone as she passed by the young man and began climbing the stairs.

Do they live in the same building?

He thought to himself, “Yep, foreign name, figures she’s not Korean,” as he ascended the steps behind her.

After all, his destination was also up those stairs.

“Wh-whoa? Eek?!”

“Hey!!”

Then the young man was startled.

Because the woman suddenly began to fall down the stairs.

Too absorbed in her phone, she was floating up the stairs without looking—and Lurin missed a step and fell backwards.

Though for Lurin, tripping was a regular occurrence.

But the young man had no way of knowing that, so he instinctively moved to save her.

Crash—!

A loud crash echoed through the stairwell.

He had intended to catch the falling woman—but he miscalculated the angle, and ended up tumbling down the stairs himself.

As a result, he hit the bottom first, and Lurin landed right on top of him like he was a human cushion.

A startled El came running down the stairs and shouted.

“Lurin, are you okay?”

Lurin lightly hopped forward with a little bounce, stood up, and dusted off her hands.

“I’m fine. This is nothing.”

“Well yeah, you’re usually fine, but I’m pretty sure the only reason you’re unscathed this time is because you landed on this guy.”

“Wha…? Wh-who is this person?!”

Lurin looked down at the guy beneath her in shock.

El awkwardly grabbed the young man’s arm to help him up.

“Are you okay?”

As mentioned earlier, the young man had built a life around toughness, so he stood up with a sheepish expression and nodded.

“Yes, I’m fine. As long as she’s unharmed, that’s all that matters.”

“You jumped in without a second thought. We’re really grateful for that.”

It didn’t matter that Lurin probably wouldn’t have gotten hurt—what mattered was that he wanted to help, and that was enough to be grateful for.

That was why El bowed his head deeply toward the young man. Especially since he’d been the one to take the fall instead.

Even if it didn’t hurt, the idea of Lurin getting so much as a scratch was something El wanted to avoid at all costs.

“O-oh, it’s nothing.”

The young man felt genuinely happy to hear that. It was rare in this world to help someone and not get scolded or blamed for it.

He’d dealt with plenty of unfair situations before, so receiving genuine thanks like this really did make him feel good.

However, El’s meddling was on another level. He was the kind of guy who believed any favor should be repaid a hundredfold.

That’s why he had once flown across the country to open a restaurant just to repay a debt—and now, that same energy was kicking in again.

“By any chance, do you live on the second floor?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, we’ll be staying here for a bit as well. This is my wife.”

“Oh, you’re married…?”

“Yes.”

El nodded firmly.

“That’s right. We’re married. Hehe.”

Since Lurin really liked the term ‘married couple’, she started twisting and fidgeting slightly with joy.

Watching the two of them, the young man scratched the back of his head, feeling a little jealous.

“Anyway, I’m not hurt either, so I’ll head back up now.”

Since there wasn’t anything else to say, the young man tried to take his leave—but El’s meddling instincts were already in full swing.

“Wait a moment.”

Even putting aside his tendency to meddle, El simply didn’t believe in not repaying a favor.

To El, the fact that this man had prevented even a millimeter of injury to Lurin was an enormous favor.

“Are you sure you’re not hurt? Also…you’re bleeding…”

“Ah! This has nothing to do with what just happened, I swear!”

Sure, that was probably true. But El still had his doubts.

The blood and his pale complexion—El’s experience running a restaurant told him loud and clear: this guy had a story.

“It’s a small world to be saved by our neighbor. Would you join us for a quick drink? We’ve got good booze and snacks—we’d feel better repaying your kindness, even just a little, so we can sleep easy tonight.”

“Well…”

The young man scratched his head again.

He had planned to go lie down and figure out how to fix this mess—but refusing when someone was this insistent didn’t feel right either.

“Alright… I’ll stay for just one drink.”

“Great. I think that’s a wise choice.”

When the young man agreed, El beamed with a bright smile.

The young man thought to himself—what a genuinely uplifting smile.

Among all the people he’d met, had anyone ever had a smile that could make you feel better just by looking at it?

Boil, boil, boil.

A hotpot was bubbling inside the pot.

It was a stew made with the leftover meat and the mushrooms brought back from the ruins.

First, the broth was made using anchovies and kelp for flavor, then loaded up with red pepper powder, soy sauce, gochujang, soup soy sauce—everything that needed to go in.

Once the mushrooms were added, there was just no way this broth wouldn’t be delicious.

The highlight ingredient was the tire-flavored mushroom we’d brought from the ruins. It tasted awful raw, but when grilled, it gave off a savory, umami-packed aroma.

So the thought was—what if we added it directly into the stew? And the experiment turned out to be a massive success.

Even though the grilled version only smelled good and didn’t taste like much, once soaked in broth, it transformed into an entirely different mushroom.

That’s why I was thinking that I should use this back at the restaurant too.

The young man had just been served the first test version of that creation.

Growl—

Maybe it was the smell, but someone’s stomach rumbled.

Lurin, who was sitting next to me fiddling with her phone, tilted her head and declared,

“Not me.”

“Yeah, it wouldn’t be you. You already ate earlier.”

“Ah—s-sorry!”

Then the young man, who’d introduced himself as Lee Jinha, scratched his head, his face going red.

He looked younger than me, but had the air of someone who’d been through a lot.

“I think it’s because I haven’t eaten anything today. The smell is just driving my stomach crazy.”

“Just a sec—the meat’s cooked. Try it with the broth. When you’re hungry, you’ve just gotta eat.”

I scooped some broth and meat onto a plate for the rumbling-stomach young man.

Lurin seemed more interested in her phone than food for now.

Well, she did eat plenty earlier.

She didn’t seem especially curious about the guest either.

It wasn’t an unusual thing back at the restaurant either. Though this wasn’t the lair—it was just like inviting someone to the restaurant.

Lurin probably saw it the same way—and just leaned her back against mine, as usual.

She rarely disagrees with anything I do anyway. She just doesn’t like being the one given tasks.

“This is amazing!”

After tasting the broth and meat, Lee Jinha let out an impressed exclamation.

“Oh, really?”

“Yes!”

“I’m glad. Here—have a drink with it.”

“Gladly…! I was already in the mood for a drink tonight anyway.”

Jinha nodded and accepted the glass.

Warm soup, a shot of soju. For a deepening night, nothing hits better.

And fortunately, it seemed like Jinha agreed.

But he looked a bit drained… Maybe I should try giving him some of the stamina mushroom.

“Alright, let’s try this one.”

“Eh? That one?!”

Lurin suddenly shot up at my words.

“That what?”

“Uuugh, that’s…!”

“What is it?”

“Ah, nothing…! I don’t know!”

Then she sat back down, defeated.

…Okay, what’s going on?

Suspicious for sure—but I couldn’t just pull the mushroom back out now, so I dropped it into the pot.

Then I glanced sideways at Lurin.

She was leaning her back against mine again—but was sneakily turning her head to watch me.

Mainly the mushroom…and me.

What finally turned my head was Jinha’s question.

“How long have you been married?”

“Ah, not even a year yet.”

“I see… Newlyweds, huh? I’m jealous. There was someone I wanted to marry…”

He muttered that, then knocked back another shot.

He seemed drunk enough already—and looked like he might or might not spill some sort of story.

In that case, maybe I should nudge him a bit. I didn’t know what it was, but sometimes just letting it out helps people feel better.

“So you’re not married yet?”

“Well, no, not yet…”

Jinha took another swig in response.

So I poured him another shot.

“It’s fine—hey, it’s not like we’ll see each other again, right? Let it out. You’ve got the look of someone carrying something heavy. Life’s messy for everyone. You drink, vent, and keep moving forward.”

At my words, Jinha took another bite, then took another shot of soju and shook his head.

“It’s just…”

He was clearly pretty far gone by now.

Alcohol always has a way of dragging the truth out of people.

Liquid truth, if you will.