This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 116

Dogun’s voice slipped into my ears, and hiding my stinging hand behind my back was a purely instinctive move.

There was no other choice; seeing a scene like this, I could easily predict what Dogun would say next.

Without a doubt, he would begin worrying about what had happened, just like last time.

The real problem would arise afterward.

Last time, I had already been hurt, so there wasn’t much Dogun could do, but now I was practically injuring myself right before his very eyes.

Given Dogun’s personality, it was unlikely he would simply stop at worrying. There’s a good chance he would forbid me from doing things like this in the future.

I hid my hand behind my back out of concern that the situation might escalate to that point.

“No, no, I’m not hurt or anything…”

After hiding my hand, I answered Dogun’s question about whether I was hurt, but that seemed insufficient to fool him.

“After screaming like that, how can you say you’re not?!”

With words that sounded like he’d been tricked, Dogun roughly shook his towel off his head and strode towards me.

The problem was his attire.

He could shower but didn’t have the sense to change his clothes, it seemed.

Or perhaps he had intended to change but had rushed over in response to the noise I made… Whatever the case, Dogun was wearing a slightly oversized white T-shirt and baggy pajama pants, which looked even sloppier due to being wet from his hair.

And that already baggy outfit was now damp from the dripping water coming from his hair—

“Uuugh…”

“Stop hiding it and show me your hand. Did you get hurt badly?”

What was supposed to be an unobtrusive scene now hinted at something else right in front of me.

Whether he hadn’t noticed because all his attention was on my hand or if he was feigning ignorance, the way he drew closer made it hard for me to compose myself.

How did I suppress that a moment ago…!

If he kept pushing this in front of my face, it was only natural for strange thoughts to start surfacing.

At that moment, I realized I was glad I had put away the kitchen knives earlier.

If I hadn’t, things could have gotten rather dangerous by now.

“…Phew, but at least it’s not a deep cut. Thank goodness.”

Anyway, while I was feeling anxious, Dogun remained nonchalant, casually saying such things… Perhaps it was because of the cool yet warm sensation from where he was holding my hand.

It was different from when I’d been daydreaming alone.

Putting everything aside, the Dogun in my imagination hadn’t smelled like anything…

“Where did I put the first aid kit…? Oh, just hold your hand up for a moment.”

The Dogun in front of me was totally different.

Could I say he had a refreshing scent that I could usually catch off him?

That subtle scent that used to be faint was now amplified several times, filling the space around us.

As a result, every time I inhaled, it filled my insides… making it all the harder to focus.

“….Okay.”

I simply went along with Dogun’s request to keep my hand raised due to that overwhelming feeling.

As I waited with my hand raised as he instructed, Dogun quickly returned after leaving the kitchen, now holding a first aid kit with a red cross symbol on it.

It didn’t take long before the ointment and band-aid from the kit came to dominate my stinging fingers.

The question from Dogun came right in the middle of this treatment.

“So what’s going on?”

“Uh, yeah…?!”

“Did you do something wrong to me…?”

When I first heard that, I was taken aback.

“If that were the case, you wouldn’t have been acting this way since morning…”

I only grasped the meaning behind his words after hearing the follow-up.

“Tsk…”

Though my lips wanted to pout, I was somewhat relieved.

For now, it was best to keep it at that level.

When would be the moment I would reveal my true feelings?

I hoped it would be after digging deeper.

That way, Dogun would have a harder time extricating it.

“So, what is it? If you tell me honestly now, I’ll forgive you, so confess quickly.”

Lies.

If I told him the absolute truth, he would run away.

So, this was… me being generous just this once.

“What are you talking about… I told you last time. This year’s birthday gift for Dad would be a birthday dinner I made myself. That’s why I came to practice.”

My blunt demeanor was solely to hide my real intentions.

“Ah…”

Fortunately, my pre-prepared excuse didn’t fall flat.

Dogun’s face, tinged with both playfulness and skepticism, briefly turned blank.

I almost burst out laughing at that dramatic shift, but I held it back and maintained my blunt attitude.

“Right. That’s true…”

“Exactly. It’s just that the person who said they would help me is too busy with their manager duties, so I ended up practicing alone by watching videos.”

“Hahaha…”

Was there a hint of embarrassment in him after all?

An awkward laugh escaped from him as his previously steady gaze subtly shifted to the side.

And perhaps he couldn’t handle the awkwardness.

After a brief silence, Dogun hurriedly tried to change the subject.

“So, did you make this just by watching the video?”

“…Yeah.”

Even though his intentions were glaringly obvious, I decided to play along for now.

It was good to push him to take a hard stance, but being too harsh wouldn’t do any good.

“Oh…? At least it looks pretty good?”

Of course it did; there was no way it wouldn’t.

Beef radish soup was his favorite dish, so I’d watched the video several times more compared to others.

Because of that, I could practically recite how to make beef radish soup with my eyes closed.

“Can I taste it?”

“…Go ahead.”

I had done my best to follow the video, but I wondered what kind of judgment Dogun would give.

To be honest, I was more nervous about this than the last tournament.

During the tournament, I had confidence in my talent, but in cooking, that wasn’t the case.

“By the way, why soup? Isn’t seaweed soup a staple for birthday meals?”

“That’s…”

Because you like it the most, you silly!

That thought almost spilled out of my mouth but I quickly shifted my words.

“…Dad doesn’t really like seaweed.”

“Um…? Is that so?”

“It is, believe me!”

“What… if you say so, then I guess that’s how it is.”

Seemingly done disputing, Dogun lifted the spoon he was holding and dipped it into the pot.

Without letting it cool down, he brought it straight to his mouth—

The distance between the steaming spoon and Dogun’s lips made my heart race to keep up.

‘…It must be delicious?’

I was desperately praying in my mind that it would be…

Finally, the spoon entered Dogun’s mouth, and his expression twisted immediately afterward.

‘What…’

Was it bad?

I hadn’t added anything weird, and I made it exactly as the video showed, there’s no way it could be!

“Ha… I’m starting to worry about this.”

“…Why? Is it not good?”

“No, it’s just that if you eat this, I feel like my dad will be so moved he might start crying.”

So it wasn’t that it was bad.

As my bubbling anxiety quickly subsided, annoyance took its place.

“Ah, come on…! Stop being so dramatic! I thought I messed up because you made a face…”

“Ah, it meant it was surprisingly good, okay?”

“So… it’s delicious, right?”

“Well… yeah? It’s alright. Not bad, Yoonseo?”

Was that merely a polite compliment?

Looking at Dogun’s expression as he stared down into the pot with a spoon still in his mouth, I could see a glimmer of regret on his face.

“Why…? Do you want more?”

“Heh… no, if you think you can just serve with one spoonful, you can’t be serious, right?”

“Is that not allowed? Some people promised to teach me how to cook for weeks, but they’ve ghosted me since!”

“No, that’s a different situation…”

It seemed I should only tease him up to this point.

Seeing his face, I felt that if I pressed on any further, he would genuinely be upset.

So—

“I’m just kidding, your role today is to taste. Go sit at the table, and when it’s all ready, I’ll let you try it then.”

With a slight smile, I pushed Dogun’s dejected figure toward the table.