I Became a Raid Boss-Chapter 194: Lucky day (3)

"..."

"Kanaya~ the meat's all cooked... Oh my?"

"What? Why?"

Da-eun, holding the tongs, chuckled.

Her gaze, directed slightly downward, landed on the phone I was holding.

"You've been staring at your phone this whole time. Do you like it that much?"

"...Not really."

"Then you should come here more often, just for Kanaya~"

"I told you, it’s not like that."

Was she telling me to stop looking at my phone and eat?

Of course, I knew Da-eun wasn’t saying it with that intention, but I moved my hand to put the phone away.

...But before I do, just one more quick look.

The sky, the lake, and the three people standing between them.

The woman in black, beaming with a bright smile, and the silver-haired woman, who was pretending not to notice and looking away.

In between them, the girl with pink hair and eyes, forming a peace sign with her fingers.

From their expressions to their actions, the three of them, with their diverse hair colors, each displayed their unique personalities, but that was exactly what made the emotions captured in the photo even clearer.

When Da-eun asked me to take a picture, I hesitated for a moment.

‘...’

...Maybe taking pictures like this isn’t so bad.

As time passes, memories blur, but when you look at photos, you can relive the emotions of that day.

When I took off my hoodie and sunglasses impulsively at the time, it seemed like a good choice in hindsight.

"Ha, what a lie. You changed your wallpaper to that photo."

"Da-eun told me to. ‘Isn’t it boring using just the default wallpaper? I’ll give you a photo of me if you want to use it as your wallpaper.’"

"...Haha! Did you just imitate me? So cute~ Do it again! Pleeeease!"

"No. I’m not doing it. And it’s not an imitation, it’s a reenactment."

"Awww... It was cute though, such a shame."

Da-eun clicked her tongue playfully.

"But that was said a while ago, and you didn’t listen until now. Doesn’t that mean I was right? I didn’t say it just once, you know?"

"Did you know all this time?"

"Well, I wanted you to use my picture as your wallpaper. Just like I put yours as my wallpaper."

"The meat's burning. Hurry up and eat."

"That can’t happen."

Da-eun quickly fiddled with the tongs in response to Yukki's words, who had been watching from a little distance.

Thankfully, the magic of turning the meat into charcoal didn’t happen.

It had darkened a bit, but I could think of it as just adding a little smoky flavor, right?

I picked up a piece of meat sizzling on the grill and ate it.

"Do you know what ‘smoky flavor’ means? You’re clever! ...Ahh!"

I teased Da-eun, who was trying to mock me, and punished her a little.

When the meat on the grill had all but disappeared, Da-eun moved to put more meat on, but I snatched the tongs from her.

"I’ll grill it."

"Huh? You want to do that?"

Da-eun handed over the tongs, looking a little confused for a second, before giving me a warm smile.

"You're doing it because you’re worried I can’t eat it, aren’t you? How thoughtful."

"..."

She wasn’t exactly wrong, but every time Da-eun said something like that, I couldn’t help but feel the urge to deny it.

And that “older sister” business.

Just this morning, she wasn’t saying this, but after meeting that hiker lady near the top of the mountain, now “older sister” followed every sentence.

"By the way, Kanaya. Do you know how to grill meat? It looks easy, but it requires a pretty high-level skill. This is quite expensive meat, so if you burn it, it’ll be painful."

"What are you talking about?"

I responded nonchalantly while placing the meat on the grill.

"I’m sure I can grill it better than Da-eun."

"This... isn’t that... you should call her ‘older sister,’ not just Da-eun! Yukki, tell her something!"

"Do you want a duel if I say something?"

"...Just eat the meat."

She wouldn’t be satisfied with a duel anyway.

Yukki ignored Da-eun’s complaints and focused on eating the meat aggressively.

"What, what... I know Kanaya can cook to some extent. I’ve eaten a lot from that world. But that was then, and this is now. Maybe you’ve lost your touch after not cooking for a few months."

"It’s not that I’ve lost my touch. And it’s because you told me not to cook."

When I tried to offer help, you said it was fine.

"I couldn’t help it. I promised that I wouldn’t let a drop of water touch your hands."

"...With whom?"

"With myself."

"..."

I stopped grilling the meat and stared at her, dumbfounded.

"You’re telling me not to wash my hands?"

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"It’s not that, it’s just a metaphor for never letting you suffer. Even if a man comes along later who wants to take you away, I won’t let you go unless he promises first!"

"Who said that...?"

"As your guardian, I have the right to do so!"

What an unnecessary worry.

Am I really going to get married and start a family?

"..."

A man with honey-dripping eyes slowly approached.

He came closer with a different stride than mine, and only when we were close enough to feel each other’s breath did he stop.

Then, with his well-defined arms, he embraced me—

"-Ugh."

And at that moment, there was a burst of static, and the scene cut off.

The cause? A lack of imagination on the director’s part.

Or perhaps just rejection.

Shaking my head, I cleared the remnants from my mind and firmly stated,

"It’s never going to happen."

"Well? None of us, including me, Yukki, and Kanaya, expected that we’d be grilling meat together like this. Kanaya is still young, so there’s plenty of time for your thoughts to change."

"...I guess."

It wasn’t like I was that young when you add in my past lives.

Most of those memories had faded, and even the remaining ones had dimmed, but it wasn’t like they were entirely gone.

Uncertain how to respond, I just shrugged it off.

"Or maybe this is what you meant? 'I’ll never marry, I’ll live with my older sister forever!'"

"Did you just imitate me?"

"Hehe... It’s not an imitation, it’s a reenactment."

"...When did I say that?"

"Just now. You thought it in your head."

"Sigh."

Sighing deeply, Da-eun held up a leaf of lettuce.

She placed some rice, meat, and ssamjang on it, then added garlic—one, two, three, four...

Just as she was about to add the fifth clove, I noticed Da-eun looking at me with a strange expression.

When I blinked, she blinked in return.

"What’s up?"

"Just... something curious."

"What’s curious?"

"Kanaya wrapping a ssam."

"...?"

I tilted my head and blinked again.

"Somehow, it feels like I’m getting national pride vibes..."

"National pride?"

"Oh, I think I get it."

Yukki, who had been silent up until then, suddenly chimed in.

"Kanaya doesn’t really look like a Korean. You’re not entirely western, but I’d say you lean closer to that side in appearance."

Said Yukki, who’s of mixed Korean and Japanese descent.

"Yeah! That’s it!"

Da-eun clapped her hands in realization.

"It felt like watching a foreigner in Korea making ssam! If this was on a broadcast, they’d probably be drooling."

"I’ve never lost my mind over ssam."

But is that how people see me?

I looked down at the ssam for a moment, then added another piece of garlic onto it, thinking it might be too much.

"Kanaya, don’t you hate vegetables?"

"I do."

"Then why make a ssam?"

"Now that you mention it..."

When Yukki raised the question, Da-eun hesitated and closed her mouth.

I added one more garlic clove... No, two.

It turned out to be much more than I had planned, so I was glad I grabbed a large lettuce leaf. If I hadn’t, I would’ve had to double it up.

I rolled the lettuce into a tight bundle and held it out to Da-eun.

"Here."

All this talk about marriage and relationships...

Forget that, just eat.

That was the intent behind my actions.

However, Da-eun didn’t immediately take the ssam. She just stared at it.

"...Aren’t you going to eat?"

When I tilted my head, Da-eun finally shook herself out of her daze and shuddered.

"...Huh. I’m so touched... I never thought Kanaya would make ssam for me...!"

"Yeah, yeah. My arm hurts, so hurry up and eat."

I dismissed her ongoing "older sister" rant and pretended to be a little dramatic about it.

"If you don’t eat it, I’ll give it to Yukki."

"...No, that’s not okay!"

She devoured the ssam I had made, despite how large it was compared to my hand.

Her cheeks puffed up, but she moved her mouth energetically, so I guess she was somehow chewing.

If it were me, I’d have to bite into it since it wouldn’t all fit in one go.

"...You bit into it? How cruel."

"What else was I supposed to do? It wouldn’t fit otherwise."

"Kanaya really is a foreigner."

Yukki, hearing my words, showed a rare expression of shock.

As we talked, Da-eun swallowed the food and stuck out her tongue in a mock gesture.

"Too much garlic..."

I shrugged.

"Koreans love garlic."

I wasn’t upset.