95 – I Am a Bad Person -2-
From Noble mtl dot com
She had clearly come as a guest, yet she found herself working.
“Huh?”
Upon regaining consciousness, I found myself standing in front of the mirror, wearing a white chef’s uniform.
In my hands were transparent vinyl gloves, and on my head was a white headscarf, all reflected back at me in the mirror.
Malik, who was staring at me in the mirror with a proud smile, said to me, “It suits you well.”
“Pardon?”
“I said it suits you well. If it were up to me, I would tell you to bury your bones here for a lifetime.”
Looking at the gloves on my hands, I asked, “What is this?”
“It’s a work uniform.”
“So, why am I wearing it?”
“You said you came to have a meal.”
“You said you would provide the meal.”
“I don’t intend to give it for free.”
Malik nonchalantly replied, as if it were obvious. Though I had called him, Malik still insisted on spewing out such a unique nonsense, claiming he wouldn’t give me a free meal. I thought even the beef soup I left at the dog hotel would have better conversation skills than him.
As I took off the gloves from my hands, I naturally greeted him, “Nice to meet you. Well then, I’ll be on my way.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going home.”
“Hmm… You shouldn’t go.”
Malik uttered a cryptic remark.
While admiring the first carriage of the ferry that the lady was riding, Malik, who was exclaiming, ‘Impressive…,’ took out a small piece of paper from the inner pocket of his jacket and showed it to me.
[Forest Companion (Snack) – Settlement Statement]
Recipe Supply Value: 500,000 Gold
10% of Sales: 50,000 Gold
Miscellaneous. Profit from Idea Contribution: 100,000 Gold
Total: 650,000 Gold
“?”
It was just a receipt with a few numbers written on it, but perhaps it was shining because of the mood. I blinked and looked at the receipt in Malik’s hand.
“Because of the boss’s gracious aura, it’s hard to see well. Can you see it up close?”
“Then, is it okay if I erase a few ‘0’s?”
“No, sir.”
I put on the vinyl gloves that I had taken off carefully and finished preparing for work. Where could a workplace with a 3 pm start time be? A happy smile formed at the thought of leaving work early.
“The worker with a visual. Ricardo, who has inexhaustible stamina, is here. Who do you want to assign him to?”
“Just for a day. The chef has urgent matters, so he’s taking a vacation.”
“If you call him, he’ll even lick your feet.”
Malik said with a disgusted expression.
“I decline.”
“I don’t like it either.”
“…?”
“It was just a polite thing to say.”
I left the flustered Malik behind and spoke while looking at the lady tapping the boat.
“Are you enjoying the view here, ma’am? I’ll make some delicious tteokbokki and bring it to you.”
“Mm.”
Malik briefly held the handle of the lady’s wheelchair and nodded.
“Countess Olivia will play hooky with me.”
“Pardon?”
“We need to taste the mint chocolate tteokbokki we’re releasing soon and evaluate the first batch for Paris.”
The lady, in response to Malik’s polite demeanor, nodded vaguely and murmured.
“Ricardo warned not to follow strangers… Right? Even though I saw you before, I’m not a stranger.”
“We won’t go far. We’ll just chat in the break room behind the kitchen.”
“Don’t use informal speech.”
“Then, don’t use it either.”
“Ugh…”
“So, Ricardo… What should I do?”
The lady looked at me with eyes seeking permission. I offered her a small smile and replied.
“Should I work alone again?”
“Yeah.”
“…Please go.”
And that’s how I ended up working.
I did think in a past life that I’d like to open a restaurant with my own recipe, but I never imagined it’d actually happen.
I felt a strange emotion as I looked at the gathering guests.
It was like achieving one of the items on a bucket list, yet strangely feeling like incurring a loss.
Thinking about the receipt tucked inside my chest, strength surged through me, but contemplating the reality of coming to eat and ending up as a laborer made me melancholic.
“Next guest.”
“Oppa! You’re handsome!”
“No, thank you.”
A female student in an academy uniform shouted at me. Judging by her immature face, she seemed to be a new student this year. I wasn’t excited or happy. I needed to focus on my work.
Lacking enthusiasm, I scooped nearly three times the standard portion into the female student’s bowl.
The female student looked at me with a bewildered expression.
“Uh…?”
“You’re also beautiful, student.”
“Thank you!”
I winked and welcomed the next guest.
The next guest was a male student who appeared to be around the same age as the earlier female student. Watching the departing female student with a full bowl, the male student looked at me with hopeful eyes and spoke in a booming voice.
“Hyung…! You’re handsome!”
“Yes.”
I filled the male student’s bowl with precisely the right amount of tteokbokki. The male student looked at me with a desolate gaze.
“Is this how it goes?”
“I’m sorry. Providing the correct portion is the principle according to the store rules.”
“…”
The male student sat at the table with a melancholic gaze.
It may have been Malik’s way of running the business that made me furious, but what can I do? If he trusted me to run the shop, then I should pay the price for that.
I feel sorry for Malik, the owner, but I hope he understands that it’s something unavoidable in a place where gender discrimination is severe.
Staring at the long line, I shouted energetically,
“Next customer!”
Now that it has come to this, let’s do our best.
Surprisingly, the work is not as difficult as I thought.
Maybe because of my experience in part-time jobs at restaurants in my past life, even the customers who seemed daunting one by one were not burdensome. With a sturdy body, I found myself picking up speed in my work.
I was growing into a monster in the food industry, capable of frying tempura and making tteokbokki with both hands.
‘But… that’s impressive.’
I admired the waitstaff silently replenishing the lacking ingredients beside me.
There are a total of four employees in the shop, including me.
Waitstaff responsible for taking orders and serving.
One assisting in the kitchen.
And another handling the calculations.
Though the number seemed small for handling many customers, I believed in Malik’s prideful assurance not to worry. And it turns out he was right.
The employees’ skills exceeded excellence, eliciting admiration.
They moved as if one body.
Their hospitality was exceptional.
Even their ability to handle incidents was outstanding.
“I wonder how much those people are getting paid.”
They were certainly talented individuals worthy of Malik’s pride.
That team.
Two teams.
Ten teams.
The moment they received more than twenty teams.
“Next customer, may I take your order?”
“…I…”
A familiar voice echoed in my ear.
A voice that seemed to contain a clear and juicy flavor.
Instinctively, I raised my head. I was surprised to hear the voice of someone I never expected to meet here, and as I lifted my head with a bewildered heart, I could see a girl with pink hair.
“Huh?”
A female student with worn-out pink hair, tightly clutching a worn-out pink wallet, stood there. I spoke as I saw the female student deeply contemplating while looking at the price tag.
“Oh? We meet again, Miss Yuria.”
The protagonist of this novel.
It was Yuria.
*
From Yuria’s expression as our eyes met, I could sense her confusion.
She seemed as if she had committed a crime, tightly shriveling up and murmuring with trembling lips, appearing to have no intention of placing an order.
As Yuria hesitated, the cheers of the people standing in line behind her grew louder in my ears.
-What’s up?
From Noble mtl dot com
-Why aren’t you taking orders?
-Oh, it’s so cold. Hurry up.
The clamor of hungry customers.
Some people, turned into slaves of the tteokbokki I make, emptied their bowls and stood back in line.
To consider such slaves, I cautiously asked Yuriya.
“Um, Miss Yuriya.”
“…”
“Miss Yuriya?!”
“Yes?!”
Startled by my call, Yuriya regained her composure.
I cautiously pointed my finger at the clamoring customers.
“They need to place their orders.”
“Ah… that’s…”
“Personally, I recommend adding fried food to the original tteokbokki. What would you like?”
“Ah… okay.”
After hesitating for a moment, Yuriya clarified her order.
“Is it possible that the taste from the Academy last time isn’t available?”
“From the Academy?”
“Yes… the one you used to make at the Academy before.”
“Ah, just a moment.”
I reminisced about the past.
It seemed to be around the time Yuria was ostracized by her friends at the beginning of the semester.
They had called it ‘Euntta,’ a subtly isolating act.
I knew Yuria didn’t come to the school cafeteria during those times when the students who used to be noisy suddenly fell silent upon her entrance.
Because she could sense the atmosphere.
During lunchtime, she would quietly go outside to eat lunch or starve herself.
At that time, I recalled the days when I, too, experienced subtle isolation, so I used to cook for Yuria, who ate alone.
Memories of secretly inviting her to the dorm and cooking for her.
Back then, I was a delinquent student skipping classes to investigate the Academy’s mysteries.
I quickly grasped what Yuria was referring to and nodded.
“Are you talking about Rose Tteokbokki?”
“Ro…se?”
“Tteokbokki with a spicy yet creamy taste. I made it with a light red sauce.”
“Ah…”
Yuria nodded.
“It seems correct.”
With a small smile, I whispered to Yuria, “Originally, it’s not on the menu. I’ll specially make it for you, Yuria. And there, the two of us.”
I looked at Mikhail and Ruin, who were standing behind Yu-ri, and said, “Starve.”
“What?”
“For the next guest!”
Knowing they would definitely find it distasteful, I vowed not to offer it to them.
“Get lost!”
Mikhail and Ruin looked at me with incredulous expressions.
That one guy who threw away his pride and called Mc handsome…lmao
gender discrimination, now karma discrimination?