As my consciousness teetered on the edge of oblivion, I suddenly felt pressure pressing down on my stomach.
“Ugh.”
Just as I was about to fall asleep, the pressure on my belly stirred me awake.
With a strange groan escaping my lips, my eyes fluttered open, and my impending sleepiness vanished slightly.
What had pressed on my stomach? It was Gomteng, who had been hidden in my padding, gently pushing down on my belly.
I thought I had only dozed off for a moment, but in that instant of losing consciousness, I found myself zipping through three stations in a flash.
I turned my head to the side and saw Siyeon already slumped over with closed eyes.
At that moment, my mind became alert.
‘I need to pull myself together.’
If I fell asleep here, there would be no going back.
With that resolve, I tightened my grip on Gomteng.
After getting off with Siyeon at the right station, I strode confidently toward home.
Today, Ji-eun had said she wouldn’t be coming, so I skipped the greetings upon entering the house.
The time was 5:49 PM.
Interestingly, the moment I stepped inside, the drowsiness that had lightly covered me lifted completely.
Sometimes this happens.
When outside, I’m unbearably sleepy, but once I’m home, I’m completely awake.
However, Siyeon truly looked like she was exhausted, rubbing her half-closed eyes with her gloves as she entered the house.
“You need to wash up and sleep, you know?”
“Mm…”
She responded obediently with a lower tone and headed straight for the bathroom.
After turning on the boiler to warm up the chilly house that had gotten cold while we were out, I waited, listening to the low hum until Siyeon emerged from the bathroom.
I caught the sound of water stopping and the faucet being shut off.
Then I heard the door open, and as Siyeon stepped out, I made my way in to wash my hands.
Afterward, I hung her jacket that had been sloppily thrown on the hanger and picked up her scattered socks and clothes, throwing them into the laundry basket.
She must have been really tired, choosing to go up to the second floor to sleep instead of at her desk by the computer.
Gomteng, her mascot, had already popped out of the padding and was cozily curled up on a cushion.
I brought Gomteng out of my pocket and placed him on the cushion, offering my thanks.
“Thanks for waking me up earlier.”
“Uh-huh.”
Just after expressing my gratitude, Gomteng beamed with pride, hands on his waist and chest puffed out.
He had a look that I didn’t particularly like, but since he had prevented me from going all the way to the last station, I decided to let it slide this time.
I stealthily climbed the stairs to the second floor, making sure not to make any noise.
After pulling down the blankets that were haphazardly stacked, I spotted Siyeon with her face buried in her pillow.
In stark contrast, I felt like I couldn’t fall asleep at all.
As the quiet enveloped the house, I grabbed my smartphone from the floor and started a game.
I was a long way off from filling my collection rate to 100% in this game.
It seems log-like games have a strange charm that pulls you in once you start playing.
Before I knew it, three hours had melted away in the game, and it wasn’t until my stomach began to grumble that I realized how long I’d been at it.
“I’m hungry…”
I gazed at the game screen filling my smartphone.
After pausing it for a moment, I swiped down with my thumb and saw it was 9:02 PM.
Huh, when did it get this late?
I had been so absorbed in my phone in a dark room where Siyeon was sleeping soundly that I lost track of time.
My stomach was grumbling, yet it was too late to eat…
It seemed Siyeon hadn’t woken up either.
“I didn’t even feed her dinner… isn’t she hungry?”
With no other choice, I got up from where I was sprawled out on the floor and headed for the fridge.
Inside the fridge were two containers—one of green sauce and one of red chili paste—whose origins I couldn’t quite remember.
There was nothing but sauces and side ingredients in there.
Ultimately, I shut the fridge and moved to the shelves.
I found a stash of canned tuna and ham leftover from last year’s Chuseok holiday.
And instant rice, always on hand.
Since it wasn’t a meal with Siyeon, this much was more than enough.
“I used to eat like this in the army…”
I completely peeled back the lid of the instant rice container and placed a large can of ham right on top.
I didn’t throw away the aluminum can lid right away.
This edge was super sharp, so for this can, it could transform into a knife.
To ensure even heating inside the microwave, I cut the rectangular slice of canned ham in a narrow fashion to lay it on top of the instant rice.
It might not look pretty, but if I wanted a simple late-night snack, this was unbeatable.
With a thud, I placed the bowl of instant rice in the microwave for three minutes.
I had to be sure to cover it with a microwave-safe plastic lid.
If I didn’t, the microwave would explode, sending ham pieces flying everywhere.
The trick was to heat it long enough for the ham to cook thoroughly and the rice to get piping hot.
While the microwave was running its course, I didn’t sit idle; I grabbed a can of tuna from the shelf and drained the oil into the sink.
After pressing down with a metal spoon to squeeze out most of the oil, I transferred the tuna into a suitably deep bowl and set it aside.
Holding a bottle of tomato ketchup in one hand and mayonnaise in the other—practically unknown when I last used them—I poured a handful of both onto the tuna, aiming for a two-to-one ratio of mayo to ketchup.
I wiped the oil-slicked spoon on my mouth and mixed them until they became adequately creamy.
Ta-da, a hearty meal prepared without any special cooking other than using the microwave.
Once the side dish was ready, the microwave beeped to signal it was done.
There was a surge of steam wafting from the rice, indicating that touching it might burn my fingers.
At an urgent pace, I removed the plastic lid back to its place—this too was hot.
I thought I should have brought out oven mitts, but I found it troublesome to add an unnecessary task, so I just transformed instead.
“Sun.”
The canned ham perched atop the instant rice wasn’t golden brown yet, but it had at least changed color to be somewhat edible.
With a bowl of tuna slathered in ketchup and mayo in hand, I slumped down at the low table to eat.
Once I freed my hand from the heat, I recited the transformation undo command with a monotone tone.
“Release.”
Then, I grabbed a nearly cut-up piece of ham with my chopsticks and popped it into my mouth to savor the warmth before immediately going for the instant rice.
It was hot, but delicious.
To cool off, I shoved a hefty bite of the cold tuna mixture, which had been tucked away in the fridge all day, into my mouth.
The blend of appropriate warmth and cold cooled my mouth to just the right temperature.
This greedy dinner at 9:10 PM, devoid of greens, felt almost sinful.
As I finished eating and casually tidied up, I thought the day had finally come to an end.
“What is Mari doing…?”
At that moment, I heard a soft voice from upstairs.
I looked up at the second floor, bending my upper body and neck, and saw Siyeon rubbing her eyes while clutching the railing.
So much for putting her to bed and turning off the lights—it had all been in vain.
Now that she was awake, I couldn’t help but wonder when she’d sleep again.
Caught in the act of having dinner, I answered her question while also questioning her.
“Aren’t you hungry? I’m eating.”
“Hungry…”
“Wait, I’ll finish this, and I’ll make you something.”
I hurriedly increased the pace of chewing.
If I took too long to eat this, I might end up delaying my sleep time as well.
After completely devouring the instant rice, I headed to the induction cooker with whatever ham and tuna remained.
Even with remnants in my mouth, I made my way to the induction.
I filled a wide pan with enough water, bringing it to a boil just enough to cook the noodles.
In that cloudy broth that tasted only salty and savory, I poured in the soup mix and boiled it until the water level naturally decreased.
Next, I took the leftover canned ham and carelessly chopped it up with scissors, tossing it in.
Once the soup had soaked into the noodles and become slightly thick, I served it into a wide bowl and set it down at the low table.
“I’ll eat well.”
Since the tuna was topped with ketchup and mayo, I’d set it aside rather than mixing it with the perfectly cooked noodles to simply enjoy it as a side dish.
The sound of slurping noodles echoed through the quiet house.
Thick and slightly soupy noodle soup topped with microwaved ham.
The flavor was almost palpable, making my mouth water even after just eating.
With a thought that I’d cook for myself tomorrow, this day came to a close.
As soon as the day turned, Ji-eun arrived at our house for work as expected.
“Hey, did you have a good time yesterday?”
As soon as she walked in, she asked about yesterday.
Since there were two elementary school kids who had gone all the way to Daejeon, I could tell she was a bit worried.
If you’re that worried, you could have at least called.
“Yes! The bread was delicious!”
“We made it back fine.”
“I see, I’m relieved. I got caught up with work and passed out without calling…”
Just like Siyeon, Ji-eun had told me she’d crashed right after coming back.
It made me wonder what she had been so busy with yesterday, and I asked her casually.
“What did you do on Saturday?”
“It was a family meeting. Ah… does that sound ambiguous?”
“?!”
The unexpected answer nearly made me choke.
What seemed to be a light question turned into a very important matter.
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