Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 314

I finally got to see Mom’s face after a while.

I returned to my room to fulfill my original purpose.

The room I hadn’t been in for a week.

I checked to see if there was any dust, picking up my school uniform that I had tossed in the corner.

While rummaging through the pockets of the uniform, I found a small letter.

Fortunately, the letter was not crumpled.

I moved to the nearby desk and tore open the seal of the letter.

With a slight pop as the wax fell away, the contents of the letter were revealed.

As I read the letter with both hands, a small smile broke out.

I could clearly picture Ellie diligently writing with her little hands.

The letter read as follows:

“Blood Demon King! Thank you for everything!

This was my first experience in school.

I was worried I wouldn’t be able to adapt to this unfamiliar environment, but thanks to you, I was able to get through it safely.

It will definitely be a memory I can never forget, even when I go back to my hometown.

Blood Demon King, no, Hayun. How lucky I am that you are my friend.

Your eternal rival and friend.”

How many times did her tone change?

I could tell Ellie was hesitating, picking up and putting down her pen repeatedly.

Thinking of this, I took out my phone to message Ellie.

After all this time since graduation, I hadn’t contacted Ellie even once, and the chatroom with her was buried way down.

Hayun – [Ellie, I read your letter well.]

Even though it took me a week to read it, I wanted to let her know I appreciated the sender’s sincerity.

I didn’t have to wait long for a response from Ellie.

Ellie – [You just saw that now…?]

Hayun – [I was a bit busy…]

Ellie – [Hmm…]

She doesn’t seem too happy.

I awkwardly smiled, twirling my hair around my finger.

How can I cheer Ellie up?

Ellie – [I didn’t think you’d check after Sohee… Honestly, I’m a little disappointed.]

Right, Sohee had also received a letter from Ellie, just like me.

I nodded while smoothing my forehead.

Ellie isn’t one to easily cool down when she’s upset.

Hayun – [I’m sorry…]

Ellie – [Hamster sticking tongue out emoji]

Looks like she’s really upset.

I sighed and shoved my phone into my pocket.

There was probably nothing I could say to change Ellie’s mood. After a few days, she’d forget and insist we play Deron together.

[Hayun?]

“Yes?”

Mom’s voice echoed.

It was clear she was standing outside my door.

I got up from my seat and opened the door to greet her.

“What is it?”

“Isn’t lunch time coming soon?”

“Oh, right.”

I checked the time on my phone and nodded.

It was currently 11 AM.

“How’s Sohee’s lunch?”

“Huh? Why are you asking me?”

Why is Mom asking me about Sohee’s lunch?

Since she went to school, she must be eating cafeteria food or something from a nearby restaurant.

I tilted my head up to look at Mom.

“Ugh… You useless girl.”

“Excuse me?”

How could Mom say that to me?

Calling her only daughter “useless”?

Where else can you find a daughter as pretty, cute, and smart as me?

“Go wash your hands.”

“Why should I? What are we eating?”

Instead of answering, she pushed my back.

Why is she acting like this?

Frowning, I went to wash my hands in the bathroom, scrubbing vigorously until they shone.

With my hands clean, I wandered the corridor looking for Mom.

“Mom…?”

She wasn’t here and wasn’t there either.

I thought maybe she went to my room, but she was nowhere to be found there as well.

[Hayun~]

The voice came from the direction of the living room.

It seems she had moved there in such a short time.

I strolled slowly toward the living room where Mom was.

“What’s going on…”

“Come quickly and sit down.”

“No…”

I looked at Mom with a dumbfounded expression.

What she had prepared in that short time was kimbap.

Not the finished kimbap, but the ingredients to make it.

“Do you want kimbap?”

If she wanted it, she should just say so.

I crossed my arms and shook my head.

I had a large amount of pocket money from Sohee.

With a single button on my phone, I could get 100 rolls of kimbap delivered to our house right now.

But Mom sighed and shook her head.

“It’s lunchtime. I’m saying you should prepare something for Sohee.”

“Uh…”

Is there really a need for that?

As I hesitated to approach, Mom stood up and grabbed my arm.

As a weak and delicate girl, I had no choice but to be dragged along.

Eventually, I had no choice but to sit down with the kimbap ingredients in front of me.

“Alright. I’ll show you how. Follow along.”

Mom said that and began to roll the kimbap skillfully.

With pickled radish, burdock, carrot, egg, imitation crab, and ham.

The really basic kimbap ingredients came together beautifully, neatly rolled into kimbap.

“Wow. Mom, you’re good. Just do it all.”

I’ll just wait next to her and snack on some ham.

Just as I popped a long piece of ham into my mouth, Mom’s palm came flying, hitting me on the back of my head.

Smack!

“Ouch!”

That hurt a lot, like really a lot.

I looked at Mom with teary eyes.

“You silly girl… What are we going to do with you, Sohee?”

“Ah, no… You’re just better at it than I am… If I try, the kimbap will probably burst…”

“Just try it.”

Honestly, isn’t Mom’s pretty kimbap going to look tastier than the one I make?

I pursed my lips and started wrapping the kimbap just like Mom instructed.

But with my cooking experience only including boiling ramen, what can I do?

The kimbap I rolled ended up looking hideous, bulging and about to burst at the seams, just like I expected.

“It doesn’t look pretty…”

“The effort is what matters. If you made it, Sohee will say it’s delicious and eat all of it.”

“Really…?”

If that’s the case…

I rolled two more pieces of kimbap just as Mom said.

In the end, three rolls of kimbap were placed on the cutting board, ready to be chopped neatly with a large kitchen knife.

As I sliced the kimbap, I grimaced.

Cutting in Deron and VRS was so easy, but here, it wasn’t working out at all.

The ones that got squished and deformed were tolerable, but the ones that burst open, spilling the filling, could hardly even be called kimbap.

Honestly, just mashing everything into a ball for onigiri would be more aesthetically pleasing.

“Hmm…”

Mom also looked seriously at what was supposed to be kimbap.

She probably never imagined that her only daughter would be this hopeless at cooking.

“I’m… I mean, the effort is what matters…”

Does this really look like effort?

Ignoring my gaze, Mom began stuffing the kimbap I made into a pretty lunchbox.

That resulted in one lunchbox packed tightly with kimbap.

Seeing that, Mom seemed to sense something ominous and pulled out another container to fill with her pretty kimbap.

In the end, two lunchboxes were prepared.

“Here. Take this and go to Sohee.”

Mom said that and shoved the lunchboxes into my hands, pushing me out of the house.

I looked down at the lunchboxes in my hands.

All this kimbap was prepared by Mom.

From preparing the ingredients to cooking the eggs.

The only thing I did was throw the ingredients on top and roll them up.

And I couldn’t even do that well enough to make them pretty.

Is this really the right choice to take this kimbap to Sohee?

I mean, Mom told me to go, so I guess I will…

I sighed as I got into the car.

I wondered if Sohee would even like it.

Hayun – [Sohee, I’m going to your school.]

Since I always told her to let me know whenever I was going anywhere, I texted Sohee.

After that, I set the destination to S High School using the navigation system.

At that moment, I got a reply.

Sohee – [Why are you suddenly going to school?]

Hayun – [I packed kimbap. It’s lunchtime now.]

After sending the text, I felt a bit worried.

What if she says it’s unnecessary? Would I have to go home and eat it with Mom?

Sohee – [Really…? When are you coming?]

She didn’t say she didn’t want it?

I let out a sigh of relief and sent Sohee the estimated time from the navigation system.

Texting while driving is really dangerous, but I’m not the one driving anyway.

Sohee – [I’ll be waiting.]

Her response was positive.

I held the lunchbox tightly with both hands, waiting to arrive at my destination.

Vroom—

How long had it been since I started driving?

The sports car began to slow as we approached the destination.

I sprang up from my seat and looked out the window.

Since I hadn’t arranged a specific meeting place, I was looking for Sohee.

I searched around for a while and finally spotted Sohee standing at the entrance.

“Wait!”

The moment I saw her, I was filled with anger.

How dare a strange guy stick next to my Sohee!

They looked like they were having a conversation, too.

I scrutinized Sohee’s expression with sharp eyes.

Since there wasn’t much change in her expression, it seemed she really wasn’t interested in that shady guy at all.

Next, I turned my gaze to the guy’s expression.

It was obvious at a glance. This guy had a deep interest in Sohee.

With a rowdy demeanor and brown hair, I really didn’t like him.

I furiously tapped the navigation system to move my car next to Sohee.

Vroom—!

I rolled down the window and shouted.

“Sohee!”

Did my voice reach her?

Finally, she turned her head, looking for me.

When she met my gaze, she brightened up and walked over to me, beaming.

“Hayun.”

Just as I was about to greet Sohee, she reached over and opened the car door.

“Uh…?”

I stared in disbelief, my mouth agape.

I had no memory of unlocking the car.

Could it be broken? I doubted it and checked the lock, but the opposite door was totally fine.

While I was in shock, Sohee climbed into the driver’s seat and hugged me tight.

In the blink of an eye, our positions had changed. Sohee sat in the driver’s seat while I found myself kneeling in the corner.

Sohee didn’t stop there.

She immediately reached out to set up the navigation system.

She set a destination to a remote mountain area and closed the door.

“Um, um…”

“I missed you, Hayun.”

“Uh… I feel the same…”

Trailing off, I observed Sohee’s mood.

With my sensitive senses, I could detect everything around me.

Hearing, smell, touch, sight.

Every single sense.

I could tell that Sohee’s perfume was stronger than usual.

My heartbeat quickened from the excitement swelling inside me.

Her eyes were even bloodshot with anticipation.

“I, I brought kimbap…”

“Later.”

“B-but…”

As soon as the car started moving, Sohee’s hands dove between my clothes without hesitation.

“Ahhh…”