Thus, under the oddly skilled hands of the public official uncles who seemed like they had never stepped into a kitchen in their lives and the Minister’s culinary expertise, was born the buffet version of a holiday restaurant.
Regardless of the process, the result was quite convincing.
With so many women around, all the cooking was done by men—a scene from the holiday in an otherworldly Korea.
The magical girls huddled together by their chargers without needing to transform.
From middle schoolers to high schoolers, and even adults.
Without needing to transform, the gathered folks took turns filling their plates with food and sat down at a table.
One thing was certain: we were the youngest among them.
Perhaps because there were different people here compared to the regular meeting, conversation was scarce.
Yet, with so many people gathered, there was surely someone to break the awkward atmosphere.
“Why did everyone else come here?”
“To escape holiday nagging….”
“Because I didn’t want to prepare holiday food.”
Each had slight variations in their reasons, but they all fled from the notorious holiday nagging.
Whether to students or adults, it was equal opportunity nagging.
What school are you planning to attend? How are your studies? Aren’t you thinking about catching a decent boyfriend or girlfriend to marry?
Such holiday nagging was unwanted, yet they still wished to eat the holiday food.
This was a place gathered solely by magical girls pursuing their natural desires.
“Well, this plan isn’t too bad.”
“Who’s saying it isn’t? What did we do last New Year?”
“To get into the holiday spirit, bowing and receiving cash gifts?”
Some initiated conversations about whether they recognized each other while dining.
Apparently, attempting cost-cutting like this during the holidays wasn’t a one-off thing, as conversations unfolded among the experienced magical girls.
“Oh right, in that case, why not just take the money…”
“While it was good to dodge the nagging, it still felt off.”
“Mari, what’s this?”
In the middle of the conversation between two people, Siyeon, who was sitting right beside me, asked.
No matter what others were discussing, it was a child’s privilege to blurt out her curiosity.
She pointed to the food, which looked like a crab soaked in soy sauce.
“Flower crab, crab sauce… Why did you bring this? You’ve never even tasted it.”
I spoke while looking at the crab, partially cut in half, with the body and a few legs indifferently floating in a sea of soy sauce.
With its unique properties requiring one to crush it with teeth to suck it out, the crab wasn’t a feasible food for either Siyeon or me.
“Then, can I have it?” Siyeon asked, casting an innocent glance.
As I looked at her, someone nearby took a crab leg from Siyeon’s bowl and squirted it onto her rice.
Siyeon hastily scooped the mushy crab meat that dripped off into her mouth.
The expression as she began to chew was slightly contorted.
“Salty…”
‘As expected…’
The word “salty” came out amidst her twisted face.
I was still unfamiliar with the taste of crab sauce. That was only natural.
Among holiday foods, 전 (jeon) and 갈비 (galbi) are the top picks for kids.
“Eat the galbi jjim, the galbi jjim!”
“Ew.”
As I dished out some galbi jjim toward Siyeon, she took in the white rice and galbi jjim to wash away the strong taste of soy sauce.
As our meal started to come to a reasonable end, it was now time for the public official uncles to dig in.
Together with the clinking of utensils was the sound of serving spoons repeatedly being scooped, a daily conversation among the pitiful uncles unable to be home during the holidays.
“Is there no soju?”
“Should I go buy some?”
“What do you mean soju with kids around? Just eat.”
“Oh dear, my back…”
Imposing men chattered casually as they occupied three or four tables, creating a certain intimidating presence.
Like a barbecue restaurant, the length of the seating felt vast.
As I sat still, drowsiness came creeping in.
Siyeon, too, seemed no exception as she blinked her half-closed eyes and rubbed her hand on her forehead.
Just a moment ago, her eyes sparkled as she emptied her bowl, but now she was starting to whine.
“I’m sleepy…”
“You can’t lie down right after eating; just hold on for 20 minutes.”
With a sly move, I pulled Siyeon back from a slouching position onto the floor.
I handed her my smartphone, the only thing that could chase away her sleep, and gave her a cute farming management game to play.
Thus, after 20 minutes, when the actual time to lie down came, the situation flipped.
The means I had to wake up was gone, and I found myself lying on the floor while a fully energized Siyeon engrossed herself in the game.
I can’t sleep now; I shouldn’t sleep now…
Yet, despite my thoughts, it felt too wonderful to let my body succumb to the comfort of sleep.
“…”
Eventually, the moment I opened my eyes, darkness filled the building with not a single light.
As I sat up, the small blanket that had covered me slipped down to the floor.
Looking beside me for Siyeon, I soon realized several shapes lay scattered on the floor as my eyes adjusted to the dark.
Had she gotten closer to others while I was asleep?
Siyeon was sound asleep next to another female student who seemed to be in middle school.
‘Well, I’ve had my sleep…’
I let out an exaggerated yawn, though I felt too clear-headed to doze off again.
Reluctantly, I rose to my feet and stepped briskly over the scattered shoes toward the food area, where I opened the closed lid.
Though not what one would call warm, the food hadn’t gone completely cold either.
I picked out a piece of 동태전 (dongtae-jeon) with my thumb and forefinger and tossed it into my mouth.
Munching on it, it was pleasantly cooled, shredding into the tender flesh of white fish in harmony with the savory, salty egg coating.
Even if it weren’t the holidays, I could eat this every day alongside my meals.
That morning, the Minister’s voice filled the holiday restaurant he had booked entirely.
“Gather it all up and cook everything!”
Just a day had passed, but today marked the last day of the holiday plan carried out under the Minister’s leadership.
Although the public official uncles had been cooking all day yesterday, they were particularly busy today.
After all, the promised period of the plan was nearing its end.
If the leftover food was left unattended, it could easily turn into kitchen waste, so they had to process it all.
Thus, the Minister’s proper response to the remaining ingredients involved cooking everything and then dividing it among everyone.
Of course, only the cooks had it hard; the magical girls merely sat and waited.
“Then are you doing dual jobs?”
“Yeah, it’s really hard if I suddenly appear during class.”
“That must be tough; shouldn’t you quit one of them?”
“If I quit teaching, then in appearance it makes me a bum, and if I quit this, my income would be more than halved…”
“Ugh, that’s a dead end.”
With the depth of a conversation that couldn’t be found between students and teachers outside of school.
It provided insight into how much the people tied together by the common theme of magical girls struggled.
“Let’s try it while we can; you guys should choose a job that allows remote work…”
“What about a virtual YouTuber? It’s been hot lately.”
“That field is slowly becoming a red ocean, you know? What if a monster shows up during a live broadcast?”
“Oh, that’s a point…”
With the mention of remote work, a student blurted out the job of a virtual YouTuber.
It’s technically a job that one can choose while sitting at home, but with live streaming being mainstream, one’s logic gets neatly disrupted the moment a monster appears.
Indeed, why are there so many restrictions in a profession that can’t even be disclosed?
‘Dual jobs, dual jobs…’
While I stood still fiddling with my smartphone nearby, those thoughts wormed their way into my mind.
Even though the magical girl job feels tedious, what would one even do if they quit?
It may not be a dilemma fitting for elementary schoolkids, but it’s a topic we need to think about seriously someday.
“Alright, everyone, let’s eat—!”
Before those thoughts could fully vanish, the sound of a frying pan being whacked echoed.
Chapchae, dongtaejeon, sanjeok skewers, and the indispensable galbi jjim on the table.
Bringing different types of holiday food to the plates, we sat down and began to eat.
While eating with our spoons, opinions were exchanged among the magical girls.
“Still, we eat holiday food during the holidays.”
“I hope we do something like this next New Year; this one’s really nice.”
With a couple of agreements, the numbers of common sentiments poured forth.
Gathered in one place, these magical girls opened up to each other about their recent happenings.
There was a different flavor from our regular meetings, and it wasn’t bad at all.
For Siyeon and me, this was a place where we could experience people’s aromas during the holidays and meet proper holiday food instead of frozen products.
It felt a bit annoying to think about exhausting the day’s budget planned for the holiday, yet it surely seemed to be a good plan.
Plus…
“Here you go. Take it and eat a lot.”
The public official uncles personally packed the holiday food into bags.
When they urged us to eat a lot, Siyeon boldly answered.
“Yes-!”
“Thank you!”
Bowing our heads in thanks, Siyeon and I ended up leaving with arms full of leftover holiday food.
Chapchae, dongtaejeon, sanjeok skewers, donggeurangtteng, and galbi jjim.
It was like a family visiting their hometown for the holidays, taking away leftover holiday food.
We wouldn’t have to worry about meals for a few days, which was quite nice.
As we were being driven home by the public official uncles, the aroma of the leftover food wafting in the car was simply delightful.
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