Chapter 53 : A Sweet Potato and A Cost-Cutting Holiday

“Sweet potato!?”

Siyeon’s eyes sparkled at the mention of sweet potato. Right, Siyeon liked sweet potatoes.

I had been wondering why she suddenly wanted to buy sweet potatoes, since it’s not something she usually goes out of her way to get…

Anyway, inside the air fryer, which is completely closed off, the sweet potatoes were buzzing away. A loud pop echoed as the inside of one sweet potato exploded.

Cleaning up the hardened inside of the potato after it burst was a hassle, but the appeal was that if you baked it a little longer, the burst parts would dry up and become like chips.

Ding. The air fryer timer went off.

“Sun.”

I transformed into a form that couldn’t feel heat and opened the air fryer to check on the sweet potatoes.

There were six perfectly roasted sweet potatoes. They weren’t steaming, but that was because all the steam was trapped inside the skins.

I took a small bowl and carefully picked each one up with my bare hands, placing them on the bowl.

Then I slowly peeled the skins off, making sure to leave the tail end with the skin still on, and peeled back the golden yellow flesh until the body tilted down slightly.

Siyeon, who had already come over to the side, watched eagerly.

It’s great that she’s eating, but if she doesn’t eat slowly, her mouth will likely burn.

“Should we wait for them to cool down a bit before eating?”

After placing the three biggest sweet potatoes into the bowl, Siyeon, without a word, grabbed the bowl and scurried off, giggling.

After peeling the rest of the sweet potatoes, I took a seat in front of a small desk with the bowl in my hands. I also had a glass of cold water prepared to avoid burning the roof of my mouth.

Six sweet potatoes might not sound like much, but considering how little kids eat, I knew they wouldn’t eat much at once.

‘I already ate one…’

When I walked over to the small dining table with the bowl, I saw that Siyeon had already finished one sweet potato.

She grabbed the remaining part of the tail’s skin and popped it into her mouth.

The soft, textured sensation mixed with the sweet, sticky flavor unique to sweet potatoes. Even though the flesh had cooled down, the heat from the inside still lingered, warming my mouth as my teeth sank into it.

Just as I had feared, I could feel the roof of my mouth beginning to burn, so I quickly took a sip of the cold water I had prepared, swallowing the rest of the sweet potato.

I glanced to the side and saw Siyeon, with her cheeks puffed up like a squirrel storing food, her mouth full of sweet potato.

I briefly wondered if it wasn’t too hot for her, but then she grabbed my cup, the one I had just used, and took a drink from it.

Apparently, it was still hot, but she didn’t seem bothered. I offered her the remaining two sweet potatoes in the bowl.

As for me, I’m not exactly crazy about sweet potatoes. Personally, I prefer steamed potatoes over baked ones. When they’re hot and fluffy, I like to break them apart and sprinkle some butter, salt, or sugar on top.

Ugh.

Imagining the soft, fluffy texture of a freshly steamed potato made me sigh in appreciation. I’ve decided that tomorrow’s snack will be steamed potatoes.

‘Chuseok is coming soon.’

I idly checked the calendar, tearing off a page each time.

Back in school days, I was always more aware of upcoming long weekends and holidays.

The fall has arrived, and soon it will be the great holiday of our people, Chuseok. A five-day long weekend, from Saturday to Wednesday.

Dishes like dried pollock jeon, skewered grilled meat, galbijjim (braised short ribs), jellyfish salad, donggeurangttaeng (pan-fried meat patties), cockle salad, crab marinated in soy sauce, grilled fish, and many more.

Nowadays, with the availability of good refrigerated and frozen products, it seems that the holiday meal prep will be more organized than back in the chaotic days of kindergarten.

Well, most of it will still be frozen, though.

“What should I order?”

The first things that come to mind are jeon (Korean pancakes) and galbijjim. As these are representative dishes of the holiday, galbijjim doesn’t particularly need the holiday rush, and there are plenty of products available.

The other dishes, like the various side dishes or crab, may not be as essential since the little one, Siyeon, won’t appreciate the taste at her age.

Besides, she’s not particularly fond of those dishes either, so I can just decide on a menu that focuses on the kids’ meals.

There’s no one to hover over and insist that this must be done this way, or that must be done that way, so we can just celebrate Chuseok in our own way, even if it’s a bit lacking.

[Caller ID Hidden]

“Huh?”

I knew it was someone who would call from a number with caller ID hidden. I wondered if they were just babbling again, so I shoved the last bit of cold sweet potato into my mouth and climbed up to the second floor of my bed.

I pressed the green button to answer the call, still with a mouth full of sweet potato, and mumbled in a distorted voice.

“Yeah. Yeah.”

“Hello… What are you eating?”

“Sweet potato, why…?”

Even though I was mumbling, I still answered the question. When I asked why they called, this time, without any beating around the bush, the conversation immediately went to the main topic.

“Chuseok is coming up, right? I’ve been assigned a new project related to magical girls.”

I could feel some hidden intentions in their excited voice, and it made me uneasy, like there was something shady behind it. It was as if I could almost hear the suspicious motives just through the tone of their voice.

I swallowed the sweet potato in my mouth and continued the conversation.

“Oh… How much are you making from it?”

“Making? No, we’re doing this for your benefit!”

Like a skilled insurance agent, the person began to rattle off the details of the project.

On the surface, it all sounded good—discussions of healthy exchanges among magical girls during the holidays, regional experiences of traditional holiday dishes, cooking classes, and so on…

If I only listened to the good-sounding phrases, everything seemed wonderful. But, like the fine print in an insurance policy, it was clear there must be some hidden details that were not being explained.

“What about the money?”

“Oh, don’t worry, we’ll take care of that! All the magical girls need to do is show up!”

“But no, I mean, the money we usually receive.”

The person’s previously smooth, fluent speech came to an abrupt halt, revealing the hidden part of the conversation.

After a brief silence, a somewhat flustered voice came through the phone.

“Well, since it’s just for fun, I guess…”

“Is cost-cutting the goal?”

“Let’s be honest, yeah. Are you coming or not?”

As the obvious intention was laid bare over the phone, the minister no longer bothered to hide it, bluntly pushing it forward.

If it was purely about money, I would have declined, stayed at home, got paid, and just reheated some frozen food—but…

Beyond the bed, I looked at the first-floor demonstration.

It didn’t really matter to me, but as an elementary school student who should be meeting people, it didn’t seem right to just stay home during the holidays.

“How many people are coming?”

“There are quite a few. How many was it? Twelve? Oh, twelve people, I think.”

I had been hesitant because if it was too few, it wouldn’t feel worth going, but surprisingly, a good number of magical girls were attending.

Twelve people… Well, that should be enough for Siyeon to have someone to play with.

Once I did a rough calculation in my head, I reached a conclusion after a long silence.

“…We’ll both go.”

“Oh my, really? You won’t cancel later, right?”

The minister’s voice carried a hint of surprise at the fact that both of us would attend, and so the schedule was set for the following Saturday.

Just before the phone was about to hang up, I double-checked one last time.

“By the way, there’s nothing special I need to bring, right?”

“Of course not! Just bring yourselves, that’s all!”

Even though it wasn’t a video call, I could almost see the minister’s beaming face and hand gestures.

Was the joy of saving the salary of fourteen magical girls for five days really that great?

From the minister’s point of view, the cost-saving aspect must be a clear benefit.

Let’s roughly estimate by dividing their monthly salary into daily rates… say 20 to 30 for each day.

‘There are fourteen people now…’

Just counting the fourteen people gathered now, the daily wage of magical girls was easily in the two to four hundred thousand range.

Even if we estimate it at the minimum value of 280, the cost-saving from using people to prepare a holiday buffet was clearly significant.

However, since it was a government department or a group with some sort of title attached to it, it was inevitable that things would be poorly organized.

The location rented by the impressive government department was a local diner, fitting the theme of cost-cutting.

The chefs weren’t even real chefs but were government workers with no plans to rest during the holidays. Their faces were haggard like those of tired old men who had no connection to cooking.

What a dull and unexciting holiday atmosphere this was.

“Oh no—! What kind of food is this?!”

“Isn’t this how it’s supposed to be done?”

“They asked me to blanch the spinach, but they’re boiling it completely! This is crazy!”

The only one who could manage the chaos in the kitchen was the minister.

As a responsible higher-up, the minister wasn’t one to give orders and run away. It seemed they took some pride in the food, going around the kitchen and delivering scolding remarks that landed quite a few times on people’s backs.

Meanwhile, the people sitting idly at the diner were just plugging in their chargers and passing time in boredom.

The smell of festive food filled the restaurant, but along with it came the increasing volume of the minister’s scolding.

“Eh?! No, this isn’t braised short ribs, you’re making short rib soup! Get out of the way!”