Chapter 24: Picnic Preparations and the Cost of Living

After cleansing the cluttered gallery on my smartphone, it was time to switch to the shopping app.

I needed wet wipes and two suitable lunch boxes for the field trip.

And, of course, a roll of toilet paper that had just run out at home. I was nearly out of body wash and shampoo as well…

“Wait, I was looking for picnic items, right?” My fingers, which had been moving in a daze, suddenly stopped at the thought, and I pressed on the shopping cart to take a look.

I had only tapped a few times to add everyday essentials to my cart, but the total was already in the six-digit range.

I was shocked at the price tag, wondering how it had come to this. But, anyway, these were all necessary items for life. After confirming the items I needed for the picnic, I hit the order button.

The notification on my smartphone chimed, announcing that around 100,000 won had been swiftly deducted.

“Mari, what did you order?”

Hearing the chime, Siyeon peeked over the ladder of the bunk bed and asked what I had ordered. Speaking of which, I hadn’t ordered dinner yet, so I had to decide what to get.

Shaking my head while lying down, I directed my gaze toward the stairs and replied, “Not yet. Why? Is there something you want to eat?”

“Shrimp tempura!”

Siyeon quickly called for shrimp tempura, as if it were something she really wanted. I thought about shrimp tempura, which generally doesn’t have many dislikes, and searched for it in the delivery app.

The results that came up were mostly from pork cutlet places.

“Shrimp tempura, shrimp tempura…”

Since I was using the fryer anyway, it seemed like they sold various types of tempura. There were quite a few pork cutlet places, but I scrolled down to find one that also sold squid tempura.

Although it was labeled as squid cutlet, it was actually squid rings. That didn’t really matter, so I skillfully ordered a pork cutlet meal that included rice along with shrimp tempura and squid rings.

The notification sound from my smartphone felt particularly annoying today.

*sigh*

Considering that it was for two elementary school students, it was roughly equivalent to 1 to 1.5 servings. Yet, the total amount for this order came to nearly 25,000 won, leaving me with just a sigh and a sense of amazement.

When they reach middle or high school, wouldn’t it easily come to 50,000 won even if there were just two of them?

The steadily rising cost of living seemed much more wicked and frightening than any kind of monster.

A soft thud at the front door signaled the sound of a plastic bag being set down.

Then, the doorbell rang, indicating that the food had arrived.

“It’s here!”

With quick little steps, Siyeon dashed to the door. I followed her down from the bunk bed stairs and headed for the front door.

With a click, the door opened, revealing only the food left behind, as the delivery person had already vanished with the wind.

In the early days of the delivery app, many delivery people would hand over the food at the door, but nowadays they seem to be quite busy, disappearing as soon as you open the door.

What a harsh world it is.

At this age, the heavy bag felt weighty, and we both struggled to carry it to the low dining table.

If it were up to me, I would love to use the powers of a magical girl to make things easier, but considering the “what ifs,” I tend to restrain myself in everyday life.

With delicate hands, I carefully untied the tightly sealed bag.

Threading a needle is handy for small, delicate tasks like this.

Tick. My fingers slipped off the knot, tied tightly in a loop.

‘Smell is good…’

Rustling sounds filled the air as I refocused on the knot.

Tick.

Once again, my nails couldn’t untie the firmly knotted string and slipped.

‘…’

Despite the flexibility of my small hands and my attempt to stay focused, trying to unravel the knot with delicate effort…

Tick.

I still couldn’t do it.

‘Damn it, this is freaking annoying.’

I cursed inwardly as my fingers slipped off the knot for the last time.

I get it, it’s for protecting the food, but it’s still frustrating.

Humans are tool-using animals, after all. I went to the kitchen, grabbed a pair of scissors, and just cut the knot. I should’ve done this from the start. I wasted energy for nothing.

I began unpacking the food one by one.

The main tonkatsu bento box was placed in the middle of the table. I passed the plate with shrimp tempura to Siyeon, who had asked for it earlier.

Meanwhile, I brought the plate with squid rings to my side.

“What’s that?” Siyeon pointed with her fork to the round-shaped fried food.

She was still clumsy with chopsticks, so she was using a fork.

I’ve been getting her children’s chopsticks now and then for practice, as she can’t use a fork forever.

“Squid rings. You said you wanted shrimp instead of squid earlier.”

Right after I answered her question, it seemed like the thought of squid monsters dawned on her.

“Oh… Can I have one too?”

Siyeon now had her eyes set on my squid rings. Well, I’m not one to easily give up. If I just said no outright, it would only make her more stubborn, so it’s time to negotiate.

“I’ll trade you for one shrimp.”

“Ah.”

Judging by her brief exclamation, the negotiation failed.

Even I could tell that one squid ring for one shrimp wasn’t a fair deal.

“Then how about two squid rings for one shrimp?”

With that, I re-negotiated: two squid rings for one shrimp.

“Hmm… okay!”

Siyeon nodded, signaling a successful negotiation.

In the disposable plastic bento box, there was a pile of tonkatsu and rice.

The squid rings and shrimp tempura were evenly divided between us. In hindsight, maybe it would’ve been better to have split everything from the start.

“Thanks for the meal!”

“Ugh, I’m full.”

For once, the disposable bento containers were emptied without any leftovers.

In the kitchen, I wiped the oil off the plates and collected them in a small bin to be thrown out over the weekend. Recycling is a hassle, but it’s unavoidable.

I felt a small sense of gratitude for an uneventful day without any alarms or mishaps.

But as I collapsed onto the bed, a new worry crept into my mind.

‘What should I do about the lunch for the picnic day…’

And so it goes.

Thoughts on the lunchbox for a picnic day.

Whether you want it or not, it becomes a point of comparison among kids.

Even if it wasn’t a masterpiece, it had to at least be well done.

“Picnic, lunchbox…?

For an ordinary person with no artistic talent, the natural solution is to turn to videos or pictures.

Making a character with bright colors in the lunchbox? That’s impossible for me.

The best I could do was to make it look pretty—fried rice filling most of the box and octopus-shaped sausage as a side.

Along with braised quail eggs and a few pieces of fruit, that’s what I decided on.

…Without making a character in the lunchbox, this is the best I can do.

Suddenly, I realized I needed to buy more things from the store.

Instant rice and canned ham for the fried rice, eggs, braised quail eggs, and sausages for the side dishes.

Lastly, for dessert, maybe cherry tomatoes and some Shine Muscat grapes?

…There’s more than I thought, huh?

Considering the picnic is on Monday, time feels tighter than I expected.

I might have to make two separate trips to the store over the weekend to buy everything.

I could have ordered it online, but since delivery times aren’t always reliable, it would be a problem if there was a delay.

It’s better to be sure, even if it’s a bit of extra work.

These thoughts circled in my mind as I reached late Friday.

While I was still lying on my bed, fiddling with my smartphone…

“That sound…

The hollow sound of plastic hitting plastic.

The empty metal clang of cans colliding.

The sharp, almost breaking sound of glass bottles clinking against each other.

It’s time to take out the recycling.

Last weekend, I completely forgot and let the trash pile up in the house, so this time I absolutely had to go.

“So annoying…

If the trash piles up too much, I can’t handle it all in one go with this body.

Even if it means making multiple trips, I have to throw the trash out regularly.

Plastic waste is light and bulky from leftover packaging, so it’s not much of an issue, but the real problem is regular trash and recycling.

They take up space, and with this body, even if I managed to gather a pile of empty plastic bottles, it’s still a hassle.

“Haa…”

With a short sigh, I stepped out to the apartment’s smelly trash area and set down the recycling bin.

Grabbing the necks of empty fabric softener and shampoo bottles that barely fit in my small hands, I tossed them properly into the recycling bin.

I walked over to the regular trash section with a bag in hand and noticed a bear plushie with a torn-off head that had somehow been sewn back together.

I spun the bag a little and threw it right on top of the bear plushie.

“Quack!”

A strange sound, like a human scream, echoed, and people throwing out their trash turned their eyes towards me.

But since no one saw the source of the noise, they soon dismissed it as if they had misheard and went back to throwing away their trash.

After cleaning up all the garbage from the house, I returned home and scrubbed my hands with soap.

Lying on the round yarn carpet in the living room, staring at my phone, I slowly began to feel drowsiness wash over me for no reason.