Chapter 196: Is This the Land of Bunsik? (4) After staying inside Lee Jinseo's home ever since coming to Korea, Fedora finished her first outing after enjoying far more fun than she expected.
The salon owner, with outstanding skill, dressed her up with the actors' hairstyles and makeup she had only seen on TV, letting her try an image makeover. She also met the health club members who found meaning in life through the harsh ascetic training called exercise, felt a sense of kinship with them, and even built friendships.
She marveled at the countless kinds of food piled up at CoXtco, and she tasted buldak itself—the original source of her favorite buldak flavor—and savored a thrilling happiness.
All of it was fun and happy, but what she liked most was that she could see, hear, and feel Korea directly—the Korea she had only experienced indirectly through dramas and movies. Putting everything else aside, that alone made it a happy day.
Naturally, Fedora couldn't be satisfied with just a single outing. After that, once a week, she went around various places with Lee Jinseo and experienced, in order, the things she had wanted to do if she ever came to Korea.
At an aquarium, she admired all kinds of marine life. She wore hanbok with Lee Jinseo and enjoyed a walk inside Gyeongbokgung Palace, then stopped by a traditional teahouse with a quiet, serene atmosphere as well.
Taking into account Fedora's wish to experience at least one new thing every time they went out, Lee Jinseo planned their outings so they wouldn't overlap with places they had visited before.
But the end of their outings always finished with the same dinner menu.
"Thank you every time! Please come again!"
The owner of the buldak restaurant bowed repeatedly as he saw off Fedora, who had become a faithful regular.
Today, the buldak she finished all by herself was seven servings—the highest record since the restaurant opened.
Even before the quantity, buldak's uniquely intense spiciness made it a burden to eat a lot, but for her, spicy flavor itself was joy, so it wasn't a problem at all.
"Your Eminence, are you okay?"
"Yes, I have no problem at all."
Fedora wiped the sweat still running down her forehead with a handkerchief and smiled softly.
Even though she had sweated as if it were pouring rain, her expression looked as refreshed as if she had just stepped out of a shower.
"You were always good with spicy food, but when you eat this much, I can't help worrying. Even last week, when you ate six servings, I thought that was your limit..."
"In Korea, there are mukbang streamers who eat several times more than me and are still perfectly fine, aren't there? Compared to them, I'm nothing. First, my goal is to get past ten servings."
With a vow to surpass the mukbang streamers from the videos someday, Fedora walked toward the food truck parked nearby.
"Come to think of it, it's already been over a month since I came to Korea."
"Huh? Ah, right. That's true."
At the mention of a month, Lee Jinseo's expression darkened slightly.
So much time has passed already. The Mobile Cooking Facility's spatial transfer function is still being repaired… and before Fedora regains her memories, do I need to tell her the truth?
Sitting in the driver's seat, Lee Jinseo wrestled with how long he should keep deceiving Fedora.
"Jinseo-nim."
"Yes."
When Fedora called his name, Lee Jinseo tensed and gripped the steering wheel tightly.
"Ever since coming to Korea, I don't think I've ever seen you working."
"Uh… now that you mention it, that's true."
"Is it because you can't work since you're taking care of me?"
"Not at all. Honestly, I wanted to rest properly for once too."
"Even so… you did it because you were worried about me, right?"
When Fedora looked apologetic, Lee Jinseo couldn't find what to say and only scratched the back of his head.
The reason Lee Jinseo avoided going out as much as possible was because it felt difficult to leave her alone at home.
Also, after running the food truck for over two years on the Francia Continent, he had made a considerable amount of money, so he didn't feel the need to work in Korea as well.
More than anything, he genuinely enjoyed spending time with Fedora, and that played a large part in why work hadn't even crossed his mind.
Still, thinking he shouldn't neglect his main work too much, Lee Jinseo turned his head back and looked toward the kitchen area.
I've rested for a month, so I should start working again. Even if some functions can't be used, AI said there's no problem with selling bunsik itself—if I just reduce the menu, I can still do business. And if I move around outside, I might find a clue that lets me return to the Francia Continent. It has to be better than staying at home like this.
"Then shall we try it once?"
"Jungkook! Over here! Here!"
Spotting the food truck entering the park, Jungkook waved his hand and greeted them excitedly.
"Park it here! A little more forward! Forward… yes! Stop!"
After parking the food truck where Jungkook pointed, Lee Jinseo got out of the driver's seat.
"I asked you on short notice, but thank you for doing it."
"Come on—why would you count things like that between us?"
Lee Jinseo had already been running the food truck in the other world for over two years, but doing it in Korea was his first time, so he had to start by finding a suitable spot.
Fortunately, with Jungkook's help, he was able to get permission to do business at a park not far from home, and Jungkook even came early and waited, helping Lee Jinseo along the way.
"Nice to meet you, Jungkook-nim. My name is Fedora. I've heard a lot about you from Jinseo-nim."
Fedora, wearing the pure white dress she had worn before, bowed politely to Jungkook.
"This is my first time meeting you in person too. Nice to meet you. And… I think hyung really is terrible at taking pictures. You look way better in person than in the photo."
"Thank you for seeing me that way."
"Wow, you speak Korean so well. Did you major in Korean?"
"Yes. I am still lacking in many ways, but thank you for thinking kindly of me."
Fedora answered in a polite tone, but she didn't let her guard down.
She hadn't forgotten Lee Jinseo's warning to be careful so the conversation wouldn't drift into anything related to the other world.
"I heard you helped a great deal with my staying in Korea. I am truly grateful. I will not forget this kindness."
"Oh, you don't have to put it so grandly. Since you're Jinseo hyung's… acquaintance, of course I should do at least this much."
Jungkook almost blurted out "sister-in-law" out of reflex, but noticing Lee Jinseo's gaze, he hurriedly switched to a safer expression.
While the two talked, Lee Jinseo opened the side door of the food truck and went into the kitchen area.
"Jungkook, are you really fine with just Tteok-twi-sun?"
"Of course! Even just bunsik you make yourself is more than enough. Honestly, I want to help you more, but I've got something later, so it's a shame I can only eat that and go."
"Then wait just a bit. I'll get it ready fast."
Lee Jinseo took out the ingredients he had prepared in advance and started prepping them, while Fedora and Jungkook sat facing each other at a table a short distance away and watched.
"Um… you said your name was Fedora, right?"
"Yes, Jungkook-nim."
"How did you and Jinseo hyung meet?"
"We happened to meet near a language institute."
Since Jungkook's personality made it obvious he would pry into Fedora's details, Lee Jinseo had coordinated a story with her while driving the food truck over.
That she had come to Korea as an international student, and that she learned Korean as a minor while attending university.
"What? You're the same age as hyung? You look young too, like him."
"Thank you for saying so."
The two continued their conversation while eating the bunsik Lee Jinseo brought out.
Mostly Jungkook asked questions, and Fedora answered.
From Jungkook's perspective, Fedora was an illegal overstayer who needed a forged passport. He worried she might cause trouble for Lee Jinseo, so he wanted to understand what kind of person she was.
But after talking with her, his unease faded and he felt reassured.
After seeing her uniquely polite, dignified way of speaking and carrying herself, it was hard to understand why someone like her would need a forged passport at all.
"You probably already know, but Jinseo hyung is a really good person."
Jungkook looked at Lee Jinseo, who was diligently frying, with sympathetic eyes.
"But how should I put it… he's had really bad luck. His parents passed away early, and he went through too many bad things in a row. Still, over the past few years, it looks like things have gotten a lot better, so that's a relief. Business seems to be going well too—he can even buy expensive meat."
"I have already heard and know well about Jinseo-nim's unfortunate family circumstances."
"So please get along well with him. Fedora-nim also feels like a good person, just like Jinseo hyung, so that's why I'm asking you."
"Yes, I understand."
When Fedora answered with a gentle smile, Jungkook looked relieved and quickly finished the sundae left on his plate.
"Hyung! Then I'm going to get going now. Thanks for the food!"
"I'll call you when I'm done selling today."
"Okay! And Fedora-nim! Please take care of Jinseo hyung!"
Jungkook placed a 50,000-won bill on the counter—far more expensive than the bunsik he had just eaten—and shot out of the park like an arrow, pretending not to hear Lee Jinseo shouting that he didn't need to pay.
"That kid..."
Lee Jinseo chuckled, pulled down the "Preparing" sign, and started selling bunsik.
On the Francia Continent, he sold all kinds of food including bunsik, but here, he limited it to Tteok-twi-sun—the menu he had chosen back when he first started the food truck.
"Two servings of tteokbokki and one CoolXse, please!"
"Three servings each of sundae and fried food! Take out the lungs from the sundae, and for the fried food, only gimmari, please!"
"One Tteok-twi-sun set!"
People passing nearby stopped when they saw the newly appeared food truck and began placing orders.
At first there were only a few customers, but they gradually gathered, and before he knew it, it became crowded enough that people had to line up to order.
Most of the customers who suddenly gathered did so because they saw Fedora eating tteokbokki by herself and got curious.
Watching a silver-haired foreign woman dip sundae and fried food into tteokbokki broth and eat it no differently from any Korean made them wonder what kind of taste the bunsik sold at this food truck had.
After handling the rush of orders and finally catching his breath, Lee Jinseo looked at Fedora, who was sitting alone at a table with her arms folded.
She's bored. If Nero and Owl were with her, she wouldn't feel as lonely...
In Korea, unlike the Francia Continent, bringing companion animals while selling food could cause hygiene-related problems.
Especially in Owl's case, she looked exactly like an owl, so even just taking her around was awkward, and Lee Jinseo had no choice but to leave her at home.
Should I have had her help serve? But if even a drop of tteokbokki broth gets on that outfit, it'll be a disaster. And the spare kitchen uniform I prepared is adult male size, so it won't fit. And Interspatial Storage can't be used right now, so I can't pull out other clothes from there either… and no more customers are coming.
Lee Jinseo took off the sanitary gloves on his hands and came down from the kitchen area.
"Fedora-nim, I'm going to the restroom for a moment. If anyone asks whether you're not selling, please tell them I'll be back shortly."
"Yes, I understand."
After hearing Fedora's answer, Lee Jinseo went into the nearby restroom.
"Whew..."
Lee Jinseo gripped the sink with both hands and let out a long sigh, his face full of worry.
He had taken a decent number of customers, but compared to doing business in the other world, it was far fewer, so he wasn't physically tired.
But he couldn't avoid becoming mentally exhausted from anxiety about the future.
What to do going forward...
Every morning, it had already been a month since he began going down to the parking lot where the food truck was parked and receiving a status report from AI.
Even now, AI still couldn't properly predict how long it would take until the Mobile Cooking Facility was fully repaired, and today—his first day selling in Korea—he got the same answer as always.
"Even if I don't know… I have to send Fedora-nim back no matter what..."
Lee Jinseo trailed off and stared hard into the mirror, but no proper solution came to mind, so he left the restroom with the same stiff expression.
Then Fedora hurriedly approached him and thrust something out.
"Jinseo-nim, earlier, some people gave me these… what are they?"
Fedora showed Lee Jinseo the business cards in her hand.
"Huh? Don't tell me..."
Lee Jinseo widened his eyes as he read the company names printed on the different cards.
"They're all business cards from entertainment agency managers."
"An agency? A manager?"
"You've probably seen it in dramas. The kind where they ask the protagonist if they have any interest in the entertainment industry, and then hand these over..."
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