Tempura, Teasing, and Tiny Lies

When Park Deokpal returned to the dorm, Kang Jung-bae was waiting for him.

“Back already?”

“Yes, hyung.”

“He looked alright?”

“Yes. Seems like all his injuries healed.”

“Good. But I wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

Deokpal was changing out of his outfit from the hospital visit, slipping back into his work clothes, when an unexpected remark came.

“You like Park Garam, don’t you?”

“Cough!”

With one leg halfway into his pants, Deokpal lost balance and smacked his head on the rail of the bunk bed.

If he weren’t awakened, it would’ve been a serious injury.

“W-What kind of nonsense is that?”

“Is it not? Sure looks like it to me.”

“No! Absolutely not!”

“Fine, but don’t start liking him.”

“Who would like a kid that tiny! I just said he reminds me of someone I used to know, that’s all.”

Muttering, Deokpal finished putting on his work clothes.

“Oh, please. What ‘someone you knew’? You’ve been stuck to me since you were this tall.”

“There are people I know that hyung doesn’t know! And stop drinking so much. Ever since we got here, you do nothing but chug alcohol.”

“Alcohol tastes good!”

“Still, cut down a little. What if you need to go outside later?”

“That’d be nice too…”

Kang Jung-bae rambled nonsense and then hugged the bottle like a pillow, falling asleep instantly.

Deokpal sighed, gently pried the bottle out of his arms, and covered him with a blanket.

A few days later, Garam was discharged.

The very first thing he did upon returning to daily life was check the crops in the artificial greenhouse.

‘Good.’

Everything was growing beautifully.

‘Well, I was only gone a few days.’

Plus, Deokpal had been watching over them, so nothing would’ve gone wrong.

Although he denied it, Deokpal had been evolving into an excellent farmer since working with Garam.

“How is it? I did good, right?”

“You only watched them for a few days.”

“Still! I’m usually terrible at taking care of anything.”

“I can see that.”

Garam nodded and gently dug through the soil.

“Alright, we can harvest today.”

“Nice! We can finally eat properly again?”

“Yup. But do we even have a place to cook them?”

“Not on our side.”

“Then I’ll have to borrow one.”

Garam grabbed a hoe.

He wanted to harvest everything alone and hog the experience points, but his stamina wouldn’t survive that.

He reluctantly handed a hoe to Deokpal as well.

“Where’s the uncle?”

“Same as always.”

“That’s dangerous, isn’t it? He drinks too much.”

“I’m trying to stop him, but it’s not working.”

“Well… nothing we can do. Let’s harvest first.”

They began working hard.

Every time they pulled a thick stem, carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes rolled out.

They looked far better than any crop grown outside.

[Event! A special carrot has been produced. Stamina regeneration +1 per minute for 10 minutes. Permanent stamina +0.1. No limit per crop.]

A special carrot appeared.

There were fewer special ones than normal, but they came with stat boosts.

“Wow, you’re basically a cheat character.”

Seeing the notification, Deokpal blinked in shock.

“Of course I am.”

“Then give me a special carrot.”

“Depends on how you behave.”

Garam snorted.

This was only his second big harvest, but the yield was huge.

Thankfully, the greenhouse also had a built-in storage room.

“Let’s just take what we’ll eat today.”

“Good idea.”

They filled a tray with enough for a meal and covered it with a towel to hide it from others.

Then they whispered about how to cook it.

“We boiled it last time. Want to try roasting?”

“Can’t we do something else?”

“Maybe there’s a recipe?”

They stood in the hallway, heads together, thinking.

Then—salvation arrived.

“What are you two doing here?”

Lee Jaehun appeared.

Of course, Garam didn’t initially consider him salvation.

“We’re trying to figure out how to cook these.”

Garam naturally assumed Jaehun couldn’t cook either, so he didn’t expect him to solve the problem.

“What do you have?”

“Carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes.”

“If it’s those, I can make something. Follow me.”

Jaehun walked off ahead.

“…Why is he like that?”

Normally, he would’ve ignored them and passed by.

Even if they were pretending to be lovers, only Garam and Deokpal were here.

No need to act affectionate.

‘He’s weirdly gentle these days.’

Garam scratched his head and rolled the tray along as he followed.

“Come in.”

Jaehun opened a door next to his high-floor room.

Inside—was a kitchen.

‘Why is there a kitchen here?’

He scanned the place.

It wasn’t unused—some equipment showed signs of regular cooking.

Jaehun handed his flowerpot to Garam.

Garam held it awkwardly until the man spoke.

“Sit and wait.”

“Yes!”

Garam obediently sat at the table.

“You. Wash them and peel them.”

“Is this discrimination?”

“It’s natural to distinguish between a lover and a temporary laborer, isn’t it?”

Deokpal grumbled, and Jaehun responded calmly.

“…Has he always been like this?”

Deokpal frowned but got no reply.

He sighed and started washing and peeling the vegetables.

It didn’t take long.

“You’re slow for an awakened.”

“A-awakened aren’t meant to be vegetable prep workers.”

“Maybe not, but even here, skill shows.”

Jaehun was particularly harsh on him.

“God… damn…”

Deokpal beat his chest in frustration but didn’t talk back.

He knew the gap between them.

Meanwhile, Jaehun rolled up his sleeves and placed a small pot on the fire.

Then he brought out a large container of something and poured it in.

“Whoa… that’s luxurious.”

The container held oil.

So much oil was extravagance in this era.

He finely chopped some vegetables, drained moisture, then cut half into chunks and half into thin strips, and started frying.

Ssshhhh—

The white batter turned golden.

Just watching made them drool.

After a good fry, Jaehun placed the freshly made tempura on paper.

“Try.”

Garam immediately took it and bit down—

—and nearly screamed.

It was scalding hot.

But he couldn’t spit it out.

Food was precious in this era; wasting it was unthinkable.

So he fanned his mouth desperately and swallowed it.

“It’s… delicious!”

It was heavenly.

“Did you cook before?”

“A little.”

“This isn’t ‘a little’…”

The second tempura was ready.

Jaehun placed it before Garam again—but Garam kindly offered it to Deokpal.

“You should try too.”

Deokpal glanced nervously at Jaehun and then gobbled it.

Garam wasn’t kidding.

It was incredible—crispy, savory, sweet from the carrots and sweet potatoes.

He could eat a whole basket of this.

“Uh… something popped up?”

“What?”

“A window. A status window.”

“A what?”

Garam stared in shock.

[You ate a crop grown by a beginner farmer. Slight stamina regeneration for a limited time.

-Effect increases if eaten whole.]

“It says this.”

“What? It didn’t appear before, right?”

“Nope.”

Garam thought for a moment, then realized.

“That’s because I wasn’t level 5 back then. Maybe my level affects it.”

“Then if your level gets higher, your name might show up on it. Like a master-crafted sword?”

Deokpal snickered.

The third tempura landed on a plate.

Garam carefully cooled it with his chopsticks.

Then he approached Jaehun and held it out.

“The cook needs to eat too.”

Deokpal dropped his chopsticks in shock, but Garam didn’t notice.

Jaehun looked at the tempura briefly.

Then he opened his mouth and accepted it.