House Rules, Eat, Then Work

In the end, I brought the four Alpha bastards into my house and set the table.

Ah, of course, I didn’t prepare everything from start to finish by myself.

‘This is my chance to show Seo Eunsu to them and make him leave with them!’

With that plan in mind, I called Seo Eunsu over to the main house and had him help prepare breakfast.

The housekeeper said she’d handle it, but she insisted on helping, saying she couldn’t just leave me alone with those starving tiger-like guys.

Since I didn’t want to do everything for them, I gave the male leads some minor tasks too.

“What’s this?”

“It’s utensils.”

“…And what do you expect me to do with this?”

When I held out the utensil holder, Joo Taegang looked dumbfounded.

Ignoring him, I placed it on the table.

“When setting the table, the most annoying thing is not even placing a single dish or your own utensils. At least do this much yourselves.”

“……”

“The rest of you Alphas staring over there—put your own utensils on the holders too. You tracked me down and showed up uninvited, and I’m still feeding you for free. You don’t have any complaints, right?”

Did I tell you to cook? Fry pancakes? Make rice?

I shot them a sharp look, and Joo Taegang flinched before silently placing the spoon and chopsticks onto the holder.

The utensils Secretary Choi had unnecessarily chosen were traditional brass ones, delicately designed with camellias and pine trees at the ends.

Not my taste, though.

“…You too.”

Joo Taegang passed the holder to Baek Dojun, who obediently placed his utensils before handing it to Cha Yoonchan.

“I don’t even do this at my own house, why would I—”

Cha Yoonchan tried to protest with an annoyed look, but someone cut him off first.

It was Seo Eunsu.

“You can manage something this simple, can’t you, Mr. Cha Yoonchan?”

“…Y-yes…”

Unable to defy Seo Eunsu, Cha Yoonchan placed his utensils and passed the holder to Yoo Iseo.

Yoo Iseo, still smiling calmly, set his utensils down and handed the holder back to me.

“This is quite entertaining. Haha.”

…Judging by the line, it sounded like he might slice me up and turn me into fermented fish, which was terrifying, but I held my ground and finished setting the table.

The five beloved Korean side dishes I had enjoyed earlier were lined up, and steaming brown rice was served in generous portions in front of the male leads.

Adding crunchy kimchi and pickles in small dishes made it look perfect.

‘Even though I already ate, it still makes my mouth water.’

Apparently they felt the same, because the male leads stared at the table, practically drooling.

They were already gripping their utensils like they were heading into battle.

“Thank you for the meal.”

Starting with Baek Dojun, who at least had table manners ingrained in him, the kitchen soon filled with nothing but the sound of eating.

The silence was nice.

Only after filling their empty stomachs did Baek Dojun, Cha Yoonchan, Joo Taegang, and Yoo Iseo come back to their senses.

‘…What are we even doing right now?’

They hadn’t come here early in the morning just to get fed, but before they knew it, they had been busy stuffing their mouths with delicious side dishes and warm rice.

Being Alphas, they ate a lot, so the dishes and rice were refilled several times.

The heaping bowls of rice that had seemed excessive turned out not to be enough.

What was truly large were the Alphas’ stomachs.

Maybe it was because they were so hungry.

They devoured the unusually delicious food until everything was gone.

Not even a single grain of rice was left, earning an approving nod from the housekeeper.

“Finished eating?”

“…Yeah.”

“Then close the lids. We’ll take care of putting them in the fridge. Put the empty dishes in the sink.”

“Uh… okay.”

At my oddly commanding tone, Baek Dojun nodded absentmindedly.

Behind him, Cha Yoonchan was about to complain again, but Yoo Iseo raised a finger to his lips, silencing him.

Meanwhile, Yoo Iseo felt slightly irritated hearing that Seo Eunsu was included in the “we” Chanyeong referred to.

He also found Seo Eunsu’s faint smile annoying, but held it in.

‘No point causing a scene.’

If they caused trouble again, Chanyeong might actually grab a broom this time and beat them into dust.

And he had no intention of becoming dust-covered.

Thanks to their good memory, the Alphas quickly closed all the lids.

There weren’t many dishes left anyway, since they had scraped everything clean.

‘Those who don’t work shouldn’t eat, huh.’

All four of them thought the same thing and sat quietly, assuming it was over.

But that was just the beginning.

“Why are you sitting? Get up.”

“…Isn’t it over?”

“If you ate, you should do the dishes. You clean up what you ate—don’t you know that rule?”

Dishes?

Do the dishes?

At the unprecedented demand, the Alphas froze like frozen chickens.

Joo Taegang looked around as if searching for an ear pick, doubting his hearing, but all he saw was Seong Chanyeong holding a pair of hot pink rubber gloves with a terrifying aura.

“If you don’t want to, then assign it to one person.”

The pink gloves were handed to them.

Among the stunned Alphas, the quick-witted Yoo Iseo spoke first.

“Let’s decide with rock-paper-scissors. It’s fair, so no complaints, right?”

“I refuse!”

Cha Yoonchan protested angrily.

For someone raised like a noble aristocrat, doing dishes was an unbearable ordeal.

“Why should I? You’re telling me to gamble on a 25% chance? No way.

There’s a housekeeper right there—just let her do it. Why should I?”

“Cha Yoonchan. Be quiet. We’re guests. The homeowner is Seong Chanyeong. Just listen.”

“But he’s making me do servant work! How can he—!”

Thud.

A dull sound cut through the room.

Everyone turned toward it.

“Hey. If you don’t like it, get out. I fed you out of pity—who do you think you’re whining in front of?”

What Chanyeong was holding was a mini wooden pestle—the kind used to crush garlic.

The moment Cha Yoonchan irritated him, he had grabbed it.

Ready to swing it at that punk’s head if necessary.

Before possessing this body, I had been the youngest at home, used to peeling garlic and onions endlessly.

And what did that mean?

The lowest rank in the household.

Labor was sacred.

When life got tough, you worked.

If you felt like crying, you peeled garlic and onions and contributed to the meal.

Especially garlic—it was essential to Korean food, so you respected it.

“Don’t you dare insult sacred housework, you bastard.”

Honestly, it looked ridiculous.

Holding a mini pestle like a baseball bat while seriously lecturing about the importance of housework—it was straight out of a comedy movie.

‘But… he’s too serious to laugh at.’

Chanyeong’s eyes looked like something straight out of hell.

Cha Yoonchan instinctively shrank back and hid behind Joo Taegang.

“What are you doing? Why are you hiding behind me?”

“H-he’s weird.”

He looked like he might actually smash someone’s skull, so Cha Yoonchan shrank back.

Using Alpha pheromones wouldn’t work—Chanyeong was a Beta, after all.

From Cha Yoonchan’s perspective, he had no effective weapon.

Especially with Seo Eunsu watching.

The other Alphas were also shocked, each for their own reasons.

“Seong Chanyeong cares about housework this much…? That spoiled brat who wouldn’t even touch water?”

That was Baek Dojun.

“Since when did he learn to take care of his people like that?”

That was Joo Taegang.

“…The more I see him, the more he feels like a meteor about to break through the stratosphere.”

That was Yoo Iseo.

“What’s wrong with him…? Is his head the problem? He’s like a completely different person.”

Muttering in disbelief, Cha Yoonchan still stared at Chanyeong, who hadn’t let go of the pestle.

“So, are you doing the dishes or not?”

The meaning was clear.

Either do it, or get thrown out.

“…I’ll do it. Fine.”

The Alphas gathered and played rock-paper-scissors while Chanyeong watched like a hawk, shouting,

“Rock, paper, scissors—shoot!”

“No way!”

The result: Cha Yoonchan lost.

As he tried to run away, Baek Dojun sighed and raised his hand.

“I’ll do it instead. He’s a bit childish sometimes, so please overlook it.”

“We’ll see how you do.”

Earlier, his eyes had burned like lava.

Now they were cold as frost.

The Alphas struggled to adjust to this complete shift.

‘What the hell happened to him?’

Wearing the rubber gloves, Baek Dojun silently picked up a sponge and dish soap.

Seong Chanyeong hadn’t been lying when he said he had no lingering attachment to them.

To him, they weren’t even worth as much as stones in a rice field.