When they walked out of the arcade, the sunlight outside had already turned into the warm yellow of dusk.
Hand in hand, the two walked through the mall's atrium, passing by one restaurant after another.
Holding Homu, Kiana stood in the atrium, her nose twitching. Then, her gaze locked onto a luxuriously decorated buffet restaurant.
"Shu! Let's go eat at the buffet!"
Shu, whose breakfast hadn't even fully digested yet: "?"
He silently pulled out his phone and checked the time. Five o'clock in the afternoon...
"It is indeed time for dinner..." Shu said somewhat melancholically. And when he thought about Kiana saying they were going to a buffet, he grew even more melancholic.
Who goes to eat at a buffet when they're already half full? Who is this wasteful...
Oh, it's Kiana. Never mind then.
Shu truly had no other choice.
Kiana dragged a reluctant-looking Shu into the seafood and BBQ buffet restaurant. Even though Shu really didn't want to eat, he still smoothly paid for two people.
After all, his reluctance wasn't because he cared about the money.
He simply just didn't want to eat that much, especially...
Especially after Kiana exposed his past weight, Shu wanted to eat even less.
He was getting a little body-conscious.
The heating in the restaurant was ample, and the lighting was the same warm yellow as the sunset outside.
A waiter led them to a window seat, set up the grill pan and a small hot pot, and placed two sets of tableware.
And Kiana?
Her gaze was already firmly locked onto the food stations.
Small mountains of shrimp and crab, bright red slices of beef, sizzling grill pans, colorful sushi, sparkling desserts—
This was paradise!
She had to take action immediately!
Five minutes later.
Kiana and Shu returned, each carrying two plates.
She placed her two heaping plates on the table, plopped down in her seat, and let out a long breath.
"Phew—"
Shu silently set down his own rather plain plates and stared blankly at the two mountains in front of her.
"Can you finish all that?"
Even knowing the monstrous appetite of the girl before him, Shu couldn't help but ask.
"Of course I can finish it!" Kiana patted her stomach confidently, then raised her arms and rolled up her sleeves.
"Come, come, come, I'll grill meat for you!"
Shu, who had been just about to start grilling meat for Kiana, jerked his head up.
"Do you... know how to grill?" he asked her seriously.
Kiana looked up, grinned, and gave him a thumbs-up that was meant to be reassuring but only made Shu more uneasy.
"Don't worry! My cooking skills have undergone special training!"
"Special training?" Shu performed a tactical neck-crane and narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah!" Kiana said while flipping the meat with practiced motions. "You admitted it yourself! You said I was a master chef!"
Shu fell silent.
When had he ever said something like that?
He thought back carefully.
Oh.
It was in that story Kiana told. When Kiana first came into contact with that Divine Key made from the Herrscher of Evolution, he had indeed taught her how to cook...
But didn't Kiana say his evaluation was 'edible'?
When did 'edible' turn into 'master chef'?
Shu wanted to call her bluff, but Kiana's expression was so confident that he felt embarrassed to do so.
"...I guess 'edible'... can be considered a pretty good evaluation?"
One minute later.
A piece of meat was placed into Shu's bowl.
Shu looked down at the pink piece of meat. He sat in silence, his hand resting next to his chopsticks, not daring to move them.
"Hurry and try it." Sitting across from him, Kiana looked at Shu full of expectation.
A drop of cold sweat rolled down Shu's temple. However, urged by Kiana's gaze, he picked up his chopsticks, picked up the piece of meat, and took a small bite with his front teeth.
He chewed, then elegantly pulled out a napkin, covered his mouth, spat it out, crumpled the napkin into a ball, and threw it into the trash can.
This was the first time Kiana had seen Shu "waste" food, discarding food that had already made it into his bowl.
Shu placed the meat from his bowl back onto the grill pan and voiced his opinion.
"This meat is so fresh. It only got a little sunburn before ending up in my bowl."
Kiana's face instantly turned red.
"This... this was an accident!"
"Mhm."
"It's been too long since I grilled! I'm out of practice!"
"Mhm."
"The next piece will definitely be good!"
Shu stared at Kiana and nodded vigorously.
"I believe in you!"
"Agh!!"
Flustered, Kiana grabbed the tongs and started re-grilling the piece of meat on the pan.
Then Shu watched that piece of meat roll around on the grill.
From light red to golden brown.
From golden brown to dark brown.
From dark brown to—charred black.
Kiana picked up the piece of charcoal and placed it in Shu's bowl.
"Done! It's definitely cooked this time!"
Shu looked at the piece of charcoal.
No, this is meat.
Shu told himself this, then picked up his chopsticks again and carefully took a small bite.
This is charcoal.
"I have finally evolved from a savage drinking blood and eating raw meat to an old charcoal seller..." Shu let out a long sigh, sounding lost and melancholic.
Kiana paused for a moment, seriously translated Shu's words in her head, and then her face turned even redder.
"I—I really didn't do it on purpose!"
"Mhm."
"I can definitely grill it right next time!"
"Mhm."
"You have to believe me!"
Shu looked at her and fell silent for a second.
"I..." He gave up.
He didn't even want to humor her anymore; he seemed to have exhausted all his options.
Rather than considering how to bring Kiana's cooking skills back to the "edible" level within the timeframe of a buffet, Shu felt he should consider whether he needed to go buy some stomach medicine later.
Shu pondered his physical health in a state of "despair," simultaneously deciding that the past version of himself who had given Kiana the "edible" evaluation must have lost his sense of taste.
Or was my younger self really that hard to kill?
Shu struggled to sit up and locked eyes with Kiana for three seconds.
Then Kiana took a deep breath and pushed the grill pan aside.
"Forget it! I'm not grilling!"
Shu felt relieved of a heavy burden, but he couldn't show it, so he just half-rose from his seat and looked at her in confusion.
"You're not eating?"
"I am!" Kiana stood up. "But I'm not eating what I grill! I'm going to get the ready-made stuff!"
The corner of Shu's mouth twitched, and he helplessly got up to follow her.
Let it be...
How much worse could it get?
Another five minutes later.
The two returned.
Kiana had two plates in her hands.
One plate was full of desserts—small cakes, puddings, mousse, macarons... all brightly colored and looking sickeningly sweet.
The other plate was full of fruit—watermelon, cantaloupe, dragon fruit, orange slices... various fruits piled together without any aesthetic plating whatsoever.
Shu: "..."
He looked at Kiana, then at the plates, and then back at Kiana.
Then he silently turned his head and glanced at the restaurant's signboard.
Seafood & BBQ Buffet.
BBQ.
Seafood.
Buffet.
So...
Where were the BBQ and seafood?