Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
62. Way back home (6)
Dining room of the side-building Eun-ho was staying at.
When we entered the dining room, Jeok-ho was setting up the table.
Jeok-ho, who noticed our entrance, said with doubt:
“You’ve already finished talking? It ended earlier than I expected. I guess Eun-ho is very soft on Jo Uisin.”
Jeok-ho made a nonsensical sound.
My mind was in tatters because of Eun-ho’s full-blown attack using ‘that word + hyung’, so what did he mean by that?
The conversation didn’t feel short at all, so I couldn’t understand Jeok-ho’s words.
But Hwang Jiho nodded deeply, as if he was agreeing with those words.
“Since the moment he started following Jo Uisin and chanting hyung, I thought it’s not an ordinary thing. And as today is his birthday, I think he is being considerate, eh?”
“That’s right. If I or Hwang-ho did something like this, there would be a lecture for a few more hours.”
“Hahaha! Well, it’s just that… Considering the incidents caused by you when you were young, we should say you were lucky if it ended with just a lecture.”
“Hwang-ho, I don’t think You should be saying that.”
I guess the sound that I should be worried about myself, that Hwang-ho made at the beginning, weren’t for no reason.
As the two tigers had many instances of causing incidents and being scolded by Eun-ho, they revealed each other’s pasts, while laughing.
Eun-ho was just making a soft expression, while looking at Hwang Jiho and Jeok-ho, and didn’t comment on the content of the conversation.
‘…. you’re not denying.’
From what he had shown during his Cheon Seong-heon days, and considering the description of Eun-ho I heard from Hwang Jiho, Eun-ho didn’t have a personality where he would just quietly listen to fake words.
The tigers laid out the experiences of being scolded in the past, but Eun-ho didn’t deny anything and was just listening.
“That’s true, such things happened. I had always a lot to say to the three of You.”
I guess Eun-ho was really giving long lectures to those tigers.
… But did he just say the ‘three of You’?
Eun-ho’s gaze was directed at Hwang Jiho, Jeok-ho and Baek Ho-gun.
For a moment I felt a sense of incongruity, having Baek Ho-gun involved with those three tigers, but soon I recalled the old story Hwang Jiho told me not a long time ago and was persuaded.
‘The day Hwang Jiho met Eun-ho for the first time, Eun-ho was lecturing Baek Ho-gun.’
Baek Ho-gun, who responded to Jeok-ho’s provocation, broke the promise he made with Eun-ho and was listening to a lecture.
It was difficult to imagine when thinking about Baek Ho-gun I knew from PMH and the current Baek Ho-gun.
As I stood blankly, while listening to the tiger’s conversation, Eun-ho spoke up to me.
“Uisin hyung, sit here.”
Eun-ho pointed at the head of the table.
When coming to Hwang Myeong-ho’s great mansion, it was naturally the location where the owner of the mansion, Hwang Jiho was sitting in.
Eun-ho offered me a seat, but I couldn’t sit down in such a seat right away and looked at Hwang Jiho.
Before Hwang Jiho could reply, Eun-ho opened his mouth:
“At the birthday’s table this is where the main character should sit. Isn’t that right, Hwangho-nim?”
“Eun-ho’s words are right. Jo Uisin, this is a birthday table prepared for you, so don’t feel burdened and sit down.”
Even so, wasn’t it a bit much to sit at the head of the table and putting aside the tigers, who were over five thousands years old?
When I hesitated, Baek Ho-gun moved and pulled the chair at the head of the table.
“…”
Baek Ho-gun didn’t say anything, but the meaning to sit down was conveyed well.
I couldn’t ignore my main Playable Character’s wordless consideration, so I finally sat down.
After I took the head seat, Hwang Jiho and Eun-ho grabbed the seats at my side, as if they were waiting, and Baek Ho-gun sat at Eun-ho’s side.
Jeok-ho didn’t sit down and headed towards the kitchen.
“The dishes my son prepared will soon come out. Please wait.”
Kim Sinrok was also here, huh?
He was ordered to bring me back from the Yong tribe’s territory, but failed in that mission, so I was belatedly worried if he was having a hard time.
“I made some too. The benefactor’s birthday party can’t lack this one’s cooking.”
Even though no one asked, Hwang Jiho spoke like he was answering.
Every menu Hwang Jiho chose or dish he personally made was absurdly delicious, no matter what it was, so I was secretly looking forward to it.
“Hwangho-nim’s cooking skills advanced by leaps and bounds during that long time. I’m looking forward to it.”
I was subtly bothered by the words Eun-ho added.
Because just from hearing it, it seemed like Hwang Jiho wasn’t good at cooking from the beginning.
“When we were absorbed in work, we didn’t eat properly. Hwangho-nim couldn’t stand to watch it and prepared our share of meals. And that taste… it was difficult to forget in a bad sense.”
“Hahahaha! Knowing this, didn’t you take good care of yourself and eat?”
I guess the taste of the first dish made by Hwang Jiho was something that there was no way to forget even five thousands years later.
If even Eun-ho fumbled with his words, it had to be really horrendous.
As if noticing that I’m curious about the tiger’s past, Eun-ho laid down the events of the past.
“After that, Baek-ho hyung-nim would take care of Himself and eat, but if Hwangho-nim prepared a meal, He would flee. Jeokho-nim would eat everything, but He would be extremely frank about the taste.”
“Jeok-ho ate everything even while spouting all kinds of curses. So I would give all the most disgusting dishes to Jeok-ho.”
Hwang Jiho laughed excitedly, while revealing secret history of the past.
Considering the distance between the kitchen and the dining room, Jeok-ho obviously heard all of it, so it seemed that he didn’t plan to hide it.
It seemed that Jeok-ho was working hard by now, swallowing crude curses to save his face in front of his son.
“Cheongho-nim was the only one, who ate Hwangho-nim’s cooking without complaint.”
“Cheong-ho was a type that wasn’t bothered by taste. She liked sweets, but ate little by herself. Because she said that just listening to Sinin’s voice made her feel full.”
Considering Han Yi’s current situation, where she was born without ability to hear[1], it was a scene that was difficult to imagine.
Han Yi was interested in ‘listening’, as she was checking the information about class bells every day, however, perhaps because she didn’t have the ability to hear, she didn’t get so absorbed in it that she stopped eating and drinking.
I thought of Han Yi, who ate MITRON’s desserts with a happy face together with Sawol Seeum, and eating with satisfaction the food chosen or personally made by Hwang Jiho, even when being resentful of it.
“Even when the day comes when Han Yi recovers her ability to hear someday, she won’t be able to get back to her diet from the past. Because she tasted this one’s cooking. Hahahaha!”
Hwang Jiho laughed with a voice overflowing with confidence.
Hwang Jiho laughed too much, but considering Hwang Jiho’s skills, it wasn’t strange for him to be this confident.
“Apologies for being late. I made a few mistakes along the way, so only this…”
Kim Sinrok appeared with a downcast face.
Kim Sinrok and Jeok-ho pushed in golden serving carts, and each level of the cart was loaded with pure golden buffet servers decorated with tiger engravings.
Just looking at the number of the buffet servers, the number of dishes seemed to easily be over two digits.
Jeok-ho and Kim Sinrok started to methodically place buffet servers on the table, and they placed the two big plates in front of me.
Because of covers, I couldn’t see what was inside, but with just a glance at the immaculate design of the bowls and covers, and good material, it seemed that their content was different from other buffet servers.
“We specially prepared things that you would like. Open them.”
Hwang Jiho spoke, but I hesitated which of the two bowls I should open first.
I worried whether I should open them, but decided to ask first.
“… I choose and open only one out of the two?”
“No, you have to open both.”
“Open it, Uisin hyung.”
At the words of tigers, which could be either encouragement or urging, I first opened the lid that was on the left.
What appeared when I lifted the lid was a huge rice cake cake.
‘Is that a rice cake cake from the Moon Rabbit Rice Cakes? No, this is a design I’m seeing for the first time… Yuzu and tangerines aren’t in season yet, so they aren’t on menu and…’
Refreshing aroma wafted from the rice cake cake made from mixed oranges, yuzu and tangerines.
Sometimes Ok Toyeon would show me a catalog, saying ‘this is the new menu that came out’, or ‘the seasonal menu is delicious’, but the rice cake cake in front of my eyes wasn’t in them.
‘It was made on a special order, huh?’
While I stared blankly at the rice cake cake, the tigers didn’t say a word and waited.
After I took my eyes off the extravagant color rice cake cake, I stretched out my hand towards the lid on the right.
What appeared when I lifted the heavy lid…
Woof woof!
Was the angel!
The pure white angel appeared from under the lid.
Snare, who was wearing the party hat I saw in the picture sent by Eun-ho’s descendants, greeted me brightly.
No way, did you keep waiting in this cramped place to celebrate my birthday?!
The feelings of gratitude, happiness sorriness, and other feelings difficult to suppress surged all at the same time, leaving me unable to speak.
At that moment, Snare exploded the balloon it was hugging in its paws.
Puff! Puff puff!
As if the balloon was a superpower item, small superpower wave sparkled the moment it exploded.
By the way they exploded, it seemed to be superpower fireworks, so I couldn’t help but admire Snare’s cleverness.
Snare, who was wishing me happy birthday with its whole body amidst the fireworks’ lights, was a genius of an angel.
“…”
“… Jo Uisin can’t come back to his senses, eh?”
“It’s good that Uisin hyung is happy.”
When I came back to my senses, I hugged Snare, and fully praised Snare.
Hwang Jiho was aiming for the timing I came back to my senses and handed me a glass.
When I reflexively accepted the glass, the tigers raised their glasses at the same time.
“Then let’s raise a toast in celebration of Jo Uisin’s birthday.”
“Happy birthday, Uisin hyung.”
“Happy birthday.”
Each of the tigers gave their congratulations, and Jeok-ho and Kim Sinrok gave exactly the same congratulations at exactly the same timing and speed — they were indeed a father and son.
Snare couldn’t raise a glass, so instead it raised its small paw and hit my glass as a toast — it was so extremely genius-like.
“Happy birthday.”
After Snare, the next one to raise a toast was Baek Ho-gun.
I was together with Baek Ho-gun through the screen in PMH for close to 10 years, but I couldn’t imagine there would come a day when I received a birthday congratulations from him.
“… Thank you.”
When I finished thanking the tigers and we started a meal.
The food specially prepared by Hwang Jiho was all delicious.
It was a birthday table that seemed to be compiled from menus I thought were delicious in the past, but I had doubts how Hwang Jiho knew this and chose those menus.
As if like Kim Sinrok said before the meal, there were many mistakes, plating didn’t look like usual, but there were no misses with taste.
‘All today’s food is delicious, huh?’
It wasn’t simple happiness.
Usually, when I visited Hwang Myeong-ho’s great mansion and had a meal, there would be at least one failure made by Eun-ho’s descendants, but today that wasn’t the case.
‘It seems that they have no plans on calling Eun-ho’s descendants here.’
I made up mind to spend the next weekend with Eun-ho’s descendants.
‘Then shouldn’t I talk about it with the tigers here?’
Around the time we finished a meal, Eun-ho personally served tea, and I struck up a conversation, while drinking tea.
“The reason I went to Britain…”
But my attempt was instantly thwarted because of Eun-ho.
“Uisin hyung, should I call hyung by another title at the birthday table?”
Eun-ho was planning to use ‘that word + hyung’ if needed be!
I shut my mouth right away and decided to drink tea.
But it seemed that the situation wasn’t safely settled.
“Hmm…”
Hwang Jiho was observing this situation, while tilting his teacup.
I desperately turned away from Hwang Jiho, stroking Snare in my arms and enjoying the taste of tea.
There was a high chance that Hwang Jiho already noticed that ‘that word’ was my weakness, but I decided to fight to the end.
When the tea time safely came to an end.
“… I have something to say.”
Kim Sinrok, who didn’t look to be in a good state, spoke up.
“I think I should say it here, when everyone is here, before we leave.”
“… Son-ah?”
When Jeok-ho worriedly asked, Kim Sinrok seemed to momentarily gain strength because of his father’s voice.
Kim Sinrok adjusted his breath and said:
“I wish to accept Jo Uisin’s suggestion.”
*~*~*
[1] hear — a tidbit that I don’t think I ever pointed out. The word for ability to hear is 청력 (cheong-ryeok), cheong here stands for hearing :>
[?] Title’s hanja — 귀(kwi) can mean ‘to treat someone a meal, to give someone food’.
Translator’s note: Happy birthday2, Jo Uisin, you fool!
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