## Chapter 57 – The Hero Who Fell for the Villain (3)
***
A Japanese restaurant across from the Hero Alliance headquarters building.
It doesn’t seem like a very old establishment, but it’s a popular spot, crowded with customers even before noon.
Looking at the menu hanging on the wall, they seem to sell everything from tonkatsu and udon, familiar to Koreans, to various types of Japanese rice bowls and soup dishes like gyudon and butadon.
“Hmm… this looks good. Cold udon with a tonkatsu set.
What would you like, Lumi?”
Siyoon slowly examined the kiosk tablet on the table, chose his meal, and then handed the tablet to Lumi, asking.
“I… I’ll have the same thing, please.”
Lumi said she would have the same thing without even properly looking at the menu.
From the start, she didn’t have the余裕 to choose what she wanted to eat.
‘Haa… why do I keep stuttering like this?
I need to show Siyoon the right image…!’
She tries her best to show herself as a correct and upright woman and a hero,
but her constantly reddening face and stuttering make her feel ashamed.
‘Dohwa definitely said he was a super cold person. He’s just cute?’
Of course, Siyoon doesn’t really care even if he knows that fact.
“So, two tonkatsu cold udon sets… press the payment button… with a card.”
As Siyoon pressed the payment button and took out his card to pay,
Lumi hurriedly took out her wallet to cancel the payment.
“I… I said I would treat you…!”
“It’s okay. I’m the one who called you out when you’re busy, so I should treat you.”
It’s not like they’re eating a super expensive meal, and since he called her out, he was planning to pay even if he said otherwise.
“Siyoon… what kind of work do you do?”
After ordering and paying for the food, during a brief moment of silence,
Lumi plucked up the courage to ask Siyoon a question first.
And, not in the stiff, business-like tone she’s used to, but in a soft and kind tone.
“Ah… I run a small cocktail bar.”
Siyoon hid the fact that he was the leader of a villain organization,
and introduced himself as running a small cocktail bar in S City.
The living room of Utopia’s hideout is actually decorated with a modern bar concept,
because Siyoon prefers that kind of atmosphere and feel.
“Are you… perhaps an ability user?”
Due to the perfect angle of her vision, other citizens and agents couldn’t see it,
but Lumi clearly saw the axe-spear embedded in Executioner’s back.
“An ability user… I guess you could say that.
But well… it’s nothing to brag about.”
“That’s not true…! You saved me.”
“Your food is here!”
While Lumi was asking if Siyoon was an ability user,
the freshly prepared food was placed on the table.
Cool cold udon to refresh the hot summer weather,
and crispy on the outside, moist on the inside Japanese tonkatsu.
It’s wafting with the refreshing lemon scent and savory oil scent added to the tsuyu.
“Thank you… I’ll enjoy the meal.”
“Yes! Enjoy your meal. Feel free to order more if you need it.”
Siyoon smiled lightly and started eating, picking up his spoon,
but Lumi was still trying to calm her trembling heart.
‘Calm down… you’re just having a meal with someone you know.
Siyoon is just one of those people.’
Trying hard to calm her heart, she takes a bite of the greasy tonkatsu,
and carefully tastes the chewy noodles soaked in the cool tsuyu sauce.
‘Delicious….’
The juice and oil flowing from the cross-section of the tonkatsu create a savory taste,
and the moderate elasticity of the chewy but not tough noodles is conveyed directly to her teeth.
“It’s so delicious! It’s the most delicious food I’ve had in the past few days!”
She had only heard from the headquarters staff that it was a delicious place,
but Lumi herself had never been to the restaurant.
Lumi, feeling relieved that both she and Siyoon liked the place they had accidentally found,
relaxed her facial muscles and began to eat leisurely.
‘Delicious….’
Lumi, who usually had simple and easy meals due to her busy missions and self-care.
Food like tonkatsu and udon is a menu that anyone can easily eat,
but it was a really hearty and special meal for her.
“Ah! That was so delicious.”
Lumi and Siyoon finished their lunch quietly and leisurely for a while.
Both of them emptied their plates and bowls cleanly.
“I, I also… thank you for the meal.”
Lumi comes out of the restaurant and bows deeply to Siyoon, thanking him.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that! I got to eat delicious food thanks to you.”
Siyoon carefully put his hand on Lumi’s shoulder, saying she didn’t have to do that,
and rather responded that he was happy to have a delicious meal thanks to Lumi.
“Then… you should go back now, right? You must be busy.”
“Ah…! No! Ah, I decided to rest for a few more days….”
“Oh! Really? Then is it okay to hang out a little more?”
“Hang… out?”
Lumi makes a puzzled expression at the word “hang out.”
It seemed like she didn’t know how to hang out, not why she was hanging out.
“Yes! We can drink coffee… go to a karaoke, or go see clothes…,
If you like games, there’s also a PC cafe or an arcade!”
‘I’ve never been to any of those places… what should I do?’
Lumi, who had devoted herself to studying hard during her school days,
and had been working non-stop since becoming a hero with her abilities.
She knows exactly what those places do,
but personally, there was no reason to go, and she didn’t have time to go.
While slowly wandering around, thinking about what to do next,
she found a place that looked like a bustling street where people would hang out at a glance.
“That side seems to be a place where a lot of people walk around!
There’s a bubble tea shop too… it looks like there’s a lot of things? Let’s go!”
“Ugh?! Si, Siyoon?!”
As Siyoon grabbed her hand and ran quickly towards the bustling street,
Lumi was greatly surprised by the fact that he was holding her hand, but followed his steps.
That’s how Lumi and Siyoon’s date began.
“It’s super chewy, right! It tastes like you’ll gain a lot of weight if you drink a lot.”
“I agree…! It’s super sweet and… delicious.”
Lumi also tries bubble tea, which she has never drunk before,
“How’s this? It looks super funny.”
“Yes…? Ahaha…. It suits you well.”
She slowly looks around at clothes that she always bought online due to her busy life,
or laughs at the ridiculous accessories that Siyoon picks out.
One is a hero who protects the city,
and the other is a villain who hunts heroes and disrupts the city.
But to the outside world, the two people on this street look like
a couple whose love is just beginning to sprout.
“Ugh! It’s already this late.”
After enjoying the many things to do and snacks to eat in the bustling street,
the sun is already beginning to set.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“It’s okay…! I usually go to a lot of rough places.”
“As expected, the hero who protects the city is something else!”
“And… it’s fun because I’m with Siyoon.”
Clearly, Lumi’s face that Siyoon saw at the Chaeryeong suppression operation site was like a really cold machine,
but the Lumi in this place, who is having fun right now, has a really lovely and cute face.
“Are you… perhaps tired, Siyoon?”
“Ahaha… I guess it’s because I usually have a lot of quiet days at the store,
I’m a little tired.”
“I, I see….”
When Siyoon answered the question with a tired nuance,
Lumi seemed to be discouraged, wondering if it was because of her.
“Then shall we… rest somewhere else for a while before we go?”
“Rest… what do you mean by…?”
The place where the two of them are standing happens to be a rather luxurious hotel.
It was also a familiar hotel where Dohwa and Siyoon had spent time together.
“We can relax and watch movies… and since it’s almost dinner, we can order delivery.
These days, there’s something called a ‘staycation’ where you spend your vacation at a hotel!”
“Ah! I, I see.”
‘I thought hotels were originally… lodging facilities where you can stay comfortably.
These days, it’s a place where you come to play comfortably….’
Of course, Siyoon had no intention of doing what he said,
but Lumi, who was completely ignorant of play culture and nightlife, believed Siyoon’s words as they were.
‘I didn’t think she would be this naive….’
Siyoon thought that Lumi would definitely refuse,
and if she refused, he was going to take her with a body manipulation order.
But seeing Lumi, who had been 고민 for a very short time, answer that she would,
he realized for sure that she didn’t know much about anything other than heroes.
“Welcome! How can I help you?”
The two people naturally holding hands.
Lumi and Siyoon entered the hotel looking like a perfect couple.
