Chapter 1106 – #263_Holiday(3)
#1100
1.
After consecutive late nights and all-nighters, good fortune arrives.
Thanks to Sharon’s proactive appeal, they decided to spend the Chuseok holiday together with their lovers.
However, since he couldn’t completely abandon his work, Siwoo finished his tasks until evening and then headed to the cabin where his lovers were waiting, carrying a load of fruits.
And soon, he was faced with a scene that made him doubt his eyes.
“Assistant’s face is beaming.”
“Welcome~.”
All of his lovers were dressed in hanbok, traditional Korean clothing.
“What’s going on?”
“We heard that people wear these traditional clothes during Chuseok in Siwoo’s hometown. Sharon prepared them for us.”
“How do we look? Aren’t we all lovely?”
Putting aside patriotism or national pride, hanbok, especially the modernized version, is beautiful in itself.
When the elegant attire is combined with the witches’ beauty, the result is something beyond what Siwoo had imagined.
Amelia, with a light sky-blue hanbok and a delicate hairpin.
The twins, wearing paper ‘jeonmo’ hats askew instead of their usual half-bonnets.
Luelle, with her hair neatly braided and tied with a cloth ribbon.
The teacher, with a hydrangea-shaped hairpin as a highlight.
Linne, who wears it naturally like everyday clothes without any awkwardness.
Even Dorothy, with her Dongtan Hangawi look.
The alluring beauty shining through the modest attire that doesn’t reveal the body’s curves made him feel like he had entered the lair of a nine-tailed fox.
It was a blissful sight that purified his soul.
“Now that Siwoo is here, let’s eat.”
The feast that unfolded almost as soon as he arrived was also filled with dishes that touched his heart.
Steaming hot bowls of rice, braised short ribs that were so tender the meat fell apart, various kinds of pancakes, seasoned vegetables, and kimchi were laid out on the table, almost breaking it.
“I made it myself. Hehe. I thought it would be better to buy the marinated crab rather than make it myself, so I bought it.”
Sharon’s cooking skills weren’t exceptional, but the food she prepared by following the recipes reminded him of the Chuseok dinners he had long forgotten.
It was the kind of meal he hadn’t been able to properly enjoy since his parents passed away, the kind he had forgotten while living as a slave in Gehenna.
“Oh, Sharon, what is this? It looks like fried fish.”
“That’s battered and fried pollack. This is battered and fried chili pepper, and this is battered and fried meat.”
“Oh, the soy-marinated crab is truly delicious. To think you can make such a dish with crabs.”
“It’s delicious if you mix rice with the crab roe. I’ll get the sesame oil.”
“Sharon~ me too~”
Sharon had also prepared food for Amelia, who couldn’t handle spicy food well, with great care.
“Amelia, I made this as mild as possible, so it should be easy for you to eat.”
“It’s delicious…!”
Thanks to that, Amelia, who was wary of the spicy, salty, and sweet flavors of Korean food, was able to eat comfortably.
Next to her, Linne and Eloa were seriously savoring the food.
“It seems they use fermented foods, including salted seafood, to season the dishes.”
“Sharon, could you perhaps share the recipe for this braised short rib?”
It was obvious how much Siwoo liked it, so she was thinking of making it for him herself in the future.
A cozy rest, sitting in a circle and sharing various stories.
The persimmons, apples, and pears that Siwoo had brought, along with the songpyeon rice cakes made with the single-minded wish to ‘have beautiful children,’ were served as dessert.
Among the lovers who were enjoying the delicious food, a tense atmosphere began to flow.
‘If you make pretty songpyeon, you’ll have pretty children.’
‘Then, what kind of songpyeon is considered pretty?’
‘Indeed, how can we define the standard of ‘beauty’? Hasn’t it changed countless times throughout history?’
‘Wouldn’t it be okay to use Siwoo as the standard of evaluation?’
‘Food is not just about its outward appearance. Taste is also a part of ‘beauty’.’
The songpyeon-making, which took place amidst a strange competitive atmosphere, had flowed in a strangely unusual direction.
“Alright, then we will have the ‘Best Songpyeon Competition’ judged by Siwoo. Each contestant, please present your prepared songpyeon.”
“What is this? Why are you so serious?”
“The judge, please be quiet. This is a matter of great importance.”
Sharon, who was acting as the host, solemnly declared, using a dried persimmon stuck on a chopstick as a microphone. Amelia was the first to present her songpyeon.
“I made it with thoughts of Siwoo in my heart.”
Although she couldn’t use magic, Amelia was quite skilled with her hands.
The songpyeon, coated with sesame oil and glistening, looked good enough to be in a home shopping advertisement.
“Oh, it looks pretty? I’ll enjoy it.”
Siwoo, who put the songpyeon in his mouth and chewed, widened his eyes.
“Hmm?”
He thought it would be a pretty and ordinary songpyeon at first glance.
But the aroma was different.
The rich scent of pine needles, the concentrated aroma of sesame oil, the savory taste of sesame seeds, and the sweetness of the flowing brown sugar.
As if the seeds were bursting, the trapped aromas poured out, playing an orchestra in his nasal passages.
Amelia had combined her major with the ‘aroma,’ which plays a very important role in the taste of food.
“Next is Luelle.”
“Hehe, since I’m going to win anyway. You’re all making such pathetic struggles. Siwoo, try the songpyeon that I personally made.”
Luelle puffed up her shoulders and presented her plate.
“…Is this really songpyeon?”
“It is.”
There, a songpyeon that resembled a nautilus shell, perfectly adhering to the golden ratio, was placed.
The songpyeon, which was so beautifully made that it would have no error even with an industrial ruler, had its proportions adjusted by considering the deformation that would occur when heat was applied.
It was the result of the great witch’s delicate telekinetic power.
“It is already decided that I am the winner.”
But unlike Luelle’s triumphant attitude, the taste itself was ordinary.
It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t particularly outstanding either. It was just a basic songpyeon that was faithful to the fundamentals.
“This is my first time seeing such a dish, but I shall taste it.”
Next was Eloa’s songpyeon.
She hesitantly brought out the songpyeon, and he soon understood why.
The teacher’s pinkish songpyeon looked about twice as big as a normal one.
It was almost the size of a rice ball.
“I made it generously because I wanted you to eat your fill…. It got too big.”
“Oh no, it’s fine. I’ll enjoy it.”
The inside was filled with finely ground chestnut paste, and it tasted somewhat like Mont Blanc.
Perhaps because she had made it by utilizing the know-how of the food she already knew, it was quite delicious.
“I’m not good at this kind of thing~”
“Siwoo! Try mine too!”
After that, he also ate the ordinary songpyeon made by Sharon and Dorothy.
Sharon’s had red bean paste, and Dorothy’s had black beans, which were also delicious.
“My lord.”
Next, Linne presented her songpyeon with very graceful steps.
The other lovers were shocked as soon as they saw the songpyeon neatly plated on the dish.
“What is that?”
“When did she…?”
Linne’s dish was beautifully decorated like a finger food served as a Chuseok event at a fine dining restaurant.
She had laid out pebbles that had been boiled and sterilized at high temperatures on the bottom, filled it with maple leaves to evoke a garden, and placed three-colored songpyeon with translucent insides on top of the flat pebbles.
Linne had fully displayed her cooking skills, which had recently reached their peak, to create her own unique songpyeon.
The fact that the insides were translucent was also because she had mixed glutinous rice with the non-glutinous rice that Sharon had prepared to maximize the chewy texture.
“Foul! That’s a foul!”
“I knew she was making a racket in the kitchen by herself….”
Even amidst the complaints and shouts from the surroundings, Linne didn’t even blink an eye.
“The fillings are whole red beans marinated in omija wine, black bean and perilla seed mousse, and dried dates and pine nuts, in that order.”
Harmony among the concubines is an important virtue, but this was different.
The possibility of having beautiful children was also closely tied to Linne’s deepest wish.
Even the twins, who were slightly afraid of Linne, were pouring out criticisms like ‘sly!’ while Siwoo tasted Linne’s songpyeon.
“Oh, this is really new?”
As expected, it was very delicious.
Should he say it felt like he was eating a dish rather than just songpyeon?
After only eating sweet songpyeon, eating Linne’s songpyeon with various ‘kicks’ was refreshing and new.
“……”
Linne was happy.
“Well, that’s that.”
“Our songpyeon is no joke either. Here, Assistant, ahh!”
The twins, who were displeased with Linne’s quiet happiness, presented their secret songpyeon.
In fact, Odile and Odette had also added their own differentiating factors, though not as elaborate as Linne’s.
“I’ll enjoy it.”
Siwoo accepted the songpyeon that Odette was feeding him, and he froze while chewing.
“How is it? Assistant. Is it delicious?”
“We thought it would be bland to just add perilla seeds and sugar, so we added cheese and octopus.”
“The cheese adds richness, and the octopus adds texture.”
He wondered why the songpyeon tasted like something that shouldn’t be in it the moment he put it in his mouth.
This was the behind-the-scenes story.
Siwoo desperately swallowed the songpyeon and breathed only through his mouth.
“…I-It’s delicious. Thank you for the meal.”
“What are you talking about? There are four more of Odile and Odette’s fusion songpyeon left.”
Siwoo, who was experiencing the twins’ cooking for the first time, experienced a new world.
However, it was a wonderful new world that presented a dystopian tyranny to each and every one of his taste buds.
“This one has oysters in it.”
“Huh? What did you put in it?”
“Whew, we had to go all the way to the mansion, so we worked hard.”
“This is a salmon salad songpyeon.”
“Salmon salad? Songpyeon? Are those words that can even go together?”
“Of course! Oh, you should have eaten that one first. Salad is supposed to whet your appetite, after all.”
The competition ended with Siwoo’s complexion turning pale from the feast of bizarre food that was comparable to a biological experiment.
Afterwards, he was barely able to cleanse his palate with a cold persimmon punch with pine nuts floating on top.
The spicy sweetness of ginger combined with the fragrant cinnamon scent seeped into his queasy stomach.
After fully enjoying the Chuseok set, he shared good news.
“What? Really for two nights and three days?”
“Yes, yes, I’ve been working hard lately.”
Siwoo’s declaration of a two-night, three-day holiday was an event as precious as gold for his lovers.
As the head of the academy, he had been hard to see lately, and the rotation system for sleeping arrangements had also been frequently disrupted.
But to be able to be with their assistant, Siwoo, my lord, and darling for two nights and three days!
However, this could also be said to be a simultaneous competition event.
There were a total of two nights during the given two-night, three-day holiday.
In other words, the opportunity to monopolize the spot next to Siwoo’s bed was given to only two people.
Unless something unusual happened, it was still embarrassing to sleep with other lovers in a threesome or foursome.
Judging by Siwoo’s reaction, which revealed the eyes of a corrupt official full of desire as soon as he saw the hanbok, this outfit ‘worked.’
If they received the Chuseok buff on top of that, it would be possible to have an exotic and passionate night!
The lovers chose the following as the event for the unyielding Chuseok costume competition.
“Then, let’s decide on this!”
“Okay!”
“Are the rules the same as before?”
“Yes. There are four pieces, you can go back, and you have to land exactly on the last space to win.”
“Good.”
It was the traditional folk game of Yut Nori from Siwoo’s hometown.
