Chapter : 5
Bzzzz—.
A vibration sounded from beneath my pillow.
Maybe because it was five in the morning, my eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. It felt as though my body were being sucked into the mattress.
Just five more minutes… Just five more…
Just as I was about to close my eyes again, I suddenly snapped awake.
This bed wasn’t mine.
I was a worker, and this house was my workplace.
My body sprang upright like a spring.
If I slept now, it would be no different from throwing away my wages for the 300 million won.
I slapped my cheeks with a sharp smack and kicked off the blanket.
“Get up, Lee Da-eun. You have to earn your keep.”
When I entered the bathroom and looked in the mirror, a disheveled woman was staring back at me.
I’d gone to bed after midnight because I’d had to organize all the groceries I’d bought at the supermarket last night, so I looked absolutely terrible.
But there was no time to be tired.
I started calculating in my head.
Cost of hiring a live-in chef: 4 million won per month.
On top of that, there was separate compensation for the labor of maintaining the dignity of a chaebol family’s daughter-in-law.
If I divided 300 million won plus the price of the apartment by one year—365 days—I had to produce at least several million won worth of value every single day.
Half-hearted effort won’t cut it.
I wasn’t simply doing housework.
I had to satisfy my demanding and sensitive employer, Kang Seo-jun.
I washed my face with cold water and tightly tied up my hair.
With grim determination, I opened the bedroom door.
The quiet air in the hallway was chilly.
The space was so lifeless it felt like a castle where no one lived.
I had to warm up this cold atmosphere in my own way.
When I headed toward the kitchen, I saw the ‘battle supplies’ I’d bought at the supermarket yesterday sitting on the kitchen island.
One block of tofu, zucchini, bean sprouts, a tray of eggs.
And small-packaged kimchi and seasoned seaweed.
“Let’s get started.”
First, I washed the rice.
Swish, swish.
The sound of rice grains hitting the stainless-steel bowl broke the silence.
Then I pressed the cooking button on the pressure rice cooker.
“Starting quick-cook mode for white rice.”
The mechanical voice announcement had never sounded so welcome.
From now on, this was a speed game.
The knife danced across the cutting board.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
I sliced the zucchini into half-moon shapes, diced the tofu into cubes, and cut the green onions diagonally.
I prepared anchovy broth in an earthenware pot and dissolved the soybean paste into it.
Bubble, bubble.
A savory aroma began to rise.
Is the smell too strong?
I worried for a moment, but then figured this house needed a little human warmth anyway, so I turned the ventilation fan up to high.
I coated a frying pan with oil and poured in the beaten eggs.
Sizzle—.
The yellow egg roll puffed up plumply.
My signature Da-eun-style chubby rolled omelet, made with finely chopped green onions and carrots.
Finally, I blanched the bean sprouts and tossed them with sesame oil and salt.
The nutty aroma of sesame oil spread throughout the kitchen.
Before I knew it, the clock was pointing to 6:30.
The rice cooker hissed as steam escaped.
Hiss—.
“Done.”
A seven-dish Korean meal was laid out on the dining table.
Freshly cooked, glossy white rice.
Soybean paste stew packed with tofu and zucchini.
A thick rolled omelet with ketchup.
Crunchy seasoned bean sprouts, store-bought stir-fried kimchi, and crispy seasoned seaweed.
The bleak dining table, where only colorful bottles of supplements had previously rolled around, had instantly transformed into something that looked better than a roadside Korean diner.
This is better than a hotel breakfast.
A 200,000-won worth of effort made with 20,000 won in ingredients.
This was the miracle of cost-effectiveness.
I wiped my hands on my apron and glanced toward the master bedroom.
The agreed-upon time to leave for work was 7:00.
My heart became tense with curiosity about what Kang Seo-jun’s expression would look like when that door opened.
A flawless three-piece suit without a single crease.
Pompadour hair with not one strand out of place.
He emerged into the living room like a robot that had finished preparing for work, then suddenly stopped.
“……”
His gaze locked onto the kitchen.
More precisely, the dining table.
In a space that was always supposed to be empty, on the cold marble countertop where he usually drank a glass of water before leaving, an unfamiliar scene had appeared.
White steam was rising gently.
The savory scent of soybean paste and the rich aroma of oil tickled his nose.
It was completely out of place.
In this model-home-like house, an overwhelmingly domestic smell had seeped in.
“What is all this?”
Seo-jun’s brow furrowed.
Was he angry?
Or was he bewildered?
I straightened my back, trying not to show my nervousness.
“Breakfast.”
“Who doesn’t know that? I’m asking why you made all this.”
He checked his wristwatch and spoke coldly.
“I don’t eat breakfast because it’s inefficient.”
It was exactly the reaction I’d expected.
I didn’t back down and smiled.
“It’s part of the ‘labor’ specified in our contract.”
“Labor?”
“Yes. It’s a contract worth 300 million won and an apartment, isn’t it? I need to prove I’m worth that much. I decided that managing your health is also part of my job.”
I hurriedly opened the rice bowl’s lid.
A cloud of white steam rose, and the aroma of freshly cooked rice enveloped him.
“You only take supplements, but taking those on an empty stomach will ruin your stomach. Koreans run on rice.”
“Ha…”
He let out an incredulous laugh.
“Lee Da-eun. I have to leave in five minutes. I don’t have time to eat.”
“Five minutes is enough.”
I neatly placed a spoon on the table.
“If you mix the rice into the soup, you can finish it in three minutes. Use the remaining two minutes to brush your teeth.”
“……”
“It’d be a waste to throw it away. I paid for the ingredients myself.”
At that, Seo-jun’s eyebrow twitched.
He looked back and forth between the meal and me for a moment.
The soybean paste stew bubbled gently in the earthenware pot, almost like ASMR.
I could see his Adam’s apple move slightly.
You want to eat it, don’t you? You’re hungry, aren’t you?
The smell attack had been quite effective.
He let out a short sigh, then unbuttoned his jacket and sat down.
“Just one spoonful. I’ll only taste it.”
What a picky man.
I cheered inwardly.
Like a court lady in charge of tasting food for the king to check for poison, he cautiously scooped up a little of the soybean paste broth with the tip of his spoon and brought it to his mouth.
Silence descended.
I swallowed nervously as I watched his reaction.
Would he say it was too salty?
Too bland?
Or would he put down the spoon and say, This kind of cheap food doesn’t suit my palate?
He slowly blinked.
His expressionless face made it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
But then—
His spoon went back toward the earthenware pot.
This time, he scooped up much more, getting plenty of tofu and zucchini along with the broth.
His cheeks moved as he chewed.
The clinking of his spoon against the bowl became faster.
Without saying a word, he took a large spoonful of rice and put it into his mouth, then immediately picked up a piece of rolled omelet and brought it to his lips.
“……”
He didn’t say it was delicious.
But his actions said everything.
He shoveled food into his mouth as if he’d gone days without eating.
No—as if he’d rediscovered a taste he’d forgotten for a very long time.
He must have been accustomed to hotel-style course meals or bland health food, so the strongly seasoned, market-style Korean home cooking had to be quite stimulating.
He really likes it.
A sense of pride swelled in my chest.
Was this what it felt like to be a zookeeper?
If my 300-million-won employer gained weight from eating my food, I felt like the emotional debt between us would shrink a little too.
“Managing Director? Five minutes have passed.”
When I said that while checking the clock, he finally stopped.
His rice bowl was already half empty.
He couldn’t seem to put down his spoon, and he looked up at me with a slightly dazed expression.
His normally cold and sharp eyes had softened slightly.
There was a little soybean paste broth around the corner of his mouth.
“…Am I late?”
“Yes. One minute over.”
He cleared his throat awkwardly, pulled out a tissue from the side of the table, and wiped his mouth.
Then he stood up.
“Thank you for the meal. Let’s go.”
You’re just going to leave?
You’re not even going to say it was delicious or thank me, even as a formality?
Typical chaebol personality.
I pouted as I began clearing the empty dishes.
But just as he was walking toward the entrance, he stopped.
Then he pulled something out of his inner pocket and casually placed it on top of the shoe cabinet.
A sleek black card.
The Black.
The legendary black card with no spending limit.
“Use this to pay for food expenses.”
“Pardon?”
“Charge yesterday’s groceries to this as well. I don’t want you spending your own money on my meals.”
Without even turning around, he added in a low voice,
“…Can you make kimchi stew tomorrow?”
I stared blankly at the card in my hand, then suppressed the laugh that was about to burst out.
I could see that the tips of his ears had turned just slightly red.
“There won’t be any additional charge, so don’t worry. I’ll prepare the finest ingredients.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
Seo-jun slipped his shoes on with a shoehorn and checked his watch.
“Oh, and Assistant Manager Lee Da-eun.”
“Yes?”
The sudden change in how he addressed me sent a chill down my spine.
Until just moments ago, he had been in husband mode.
Now, in an instant, he’d returned to being my boss.
“We’re leaving in ten minutes. If you’re late, I’ll leave without you.”
“Ah…!”
That’s right.
I was an office worker too.
I’d forgotten to get ready for work because I’d been busy making breakfast.
“I-I’ll be out in a minute! Please go downstairs first!”
Seeing me panic, he gave a short, amused laugh and left through the entrance.
The moment the door closed, I screamed.
“Argh! My hair!”
On the dining table sat a half-empty rice bowl.
And in my hand was the heavy black card.
Mission accomplished.
Item acquired: Unlimited Food Expense Card & Carpool Pass
I shoved the card into my pocket and ran into the bathroom.
There was no time to be moved.
From now on, it was time to transform from Kang Seo-jun’s wife into an assistant manager in the Marketing Team.
“Food really is important.”
In the mirror, the me with messy hair grinned.
I had properly earned my first day’s wages.
No—
The real war was only beginning.
