After Ten Millennia in Hell

Side Story Chapter 49 - Nectar (5)

"Oppaaaaa~ What's wrooooong~?"

Cha Yeon-Joo's face was flushed red, her eyes were hazy, and her speech was slurred. She rubbed herself on Oh Kang-Woo after jumping into his arms.

"..."

Kang-Woo stared at her dumbfoundedly.

'After all that talk.'

He could understand Lilith since this was her first time drinking but Yeon-Joo was an avid drinker; he did not expect her to drink to the point that she would lose control of herself. Not just that, her drunken frenzy was on par with that of Lilith.

"Sheesh."

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue and tried to push her off him but was having a hard time since she was taller than him at the moment.

"Nooooo~! Don't push me away, oppa!"

Yeon-Joo hugged Kang-Woo even tighter as she swayed her head as if she were throwing a tantrum.

"Why the hell did you drink so much...? Ah!!" As he was staring at Yeon-Joo pitifully, his eyes widened as if he had thought of something. "A-Aaaahh!"

'How could I not have realized?! How could I have forgotten?! How could I not have thought about it sooner?! Why, why, why, why, why?!'

"You fucking idiot!"

Kang-Woo raged at his moronic self. He had forgotten something crucial as he was taken aback by Yeon-Joo's aegyo[1].

'It's not too late!'

He would have preferred to have cherished the precious time he had with Lilith as well, but he had not thought of it at the time.

'But at the very least, I'll cherish the precious memory I have with Yeon-Joo.'

"Hmm~? Oppa~? What are you doooooing?" Yeon-Joo slurred.

Kang-Woo took out his smartphone without answering.

"This... can't be helped."

It was no different from fate in a sense— no, it could even be called Kang-Woo's life purpose.

'No!!'

Forget fate or purpose— it was as inescapable as inevitability. It was as if he had been given a mandate.

"Recording... on."

Kang-Woo filmed Yeon-Joo acting cute as she clung to him in 4K— to forever keep a record of his cherished memories with her.

"Oppa~ stop playing with your phone and let's play~" Yeon-Joo pulled on his arm.

Kang-Woo smirked. He wrapped his arm around Yeon-Joo's slender waist and replied, "Of course. Anything for my cute little Yeon-Joo. What do you want to play?"

"Mmm..." She placed her finger on her lips and fell into thought. "Hehehe. I'm not sure."

"Wanna go to a PC room?"

"Mmm... nope. I'd rather just be with you here." Yeon-Joo shook her head after some thought and hugged Kang-Woo. She turned to the mess of a table and asked, "Oh, right! Oppa! Did you try my food?"

"Huh? No, I only tried the kimbap Echidna made. You made food too, Yeon-Joo?"

Come to think of it, Kang-Woo recalled Han Seol-Ah saying Echidna and Yeon-Joo helped with the food.

"Come on! Have some of my food too instead of kimchi stew every single meal!" Yeon-Joo pouted. "All you eat is kimchi stew... You only eat what Seol-Ah makes you... I did my best to make it~!!!"

"Alright, alright. Okay. I'll try some." Kang-Woo soothed Yeon-Joo as he headed to the table. "What did you make?"

Yeon-Joo followed behind him as she pulled on his clothes and pointed. "That!"

It was a jet-black stew, bubbling like the lava of the Nine Hells. It was the only food left untouched on the mess of the table.

"What in the world... is this concoction?"

It was a stew of nightmares. Something blue was floating around the jet-black liquid, making it look like a demon in the Abyss of the Demonic Sea. Not only that, but it was still boiling despite several hours having passed since the party started.

"Hihi! It's kimchi stew!" Yeon-Joo answered.

"This is kimchis stew?"

'Why is it black?'

Kang-Woo recalled the time when he visited Kim Si-Hun's mother and witnessed her atrocity of kimchi stew. The stew of nightmares was boiling on the table.

"This is..." Kang-Woo gritted his teeth as rage and animosity were about to make his head explode. "SACRILEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGE!!!"

"Kyaah!! O-Oppa?!"

Kang-Woo grabbed Yeon-Joo's shoulders and shook her vigorously.

"YOU BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH! HOW DARE YOU CALL THIS KIMCHI STEEEEEEEEEW?!"

"Kyaah! S-Stop it, o-oppa! I-If you shake me like that, I'll...!"

Urppp.

Her face turned pale. Chills ran down Kang-Woo's back.

"Huh?"

'Wait a second.'

"BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGHHH!!"

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!"

Thick liquid poured on Kang-Woo's face.

"GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHH!!! MY EYES!! MY EYEEEEEEEEES!"

Kang-Woo rolled on the ground as he clenched his face. Tentacles were bad but so was vomit. No matter how beautiful Yeon-Joo was, vomit was disgusting when excreted by anyone. Kang-Woo raced to the kitchen and cleaned the vomit off his face.

"O-Oppa! A-Are you okay?"

"..."

"I'm... sorry... Sniff! I'm sorry, oppaaaa... Waaaaaaaaaahhh!"

"Haaa..." Kang-Woo sighed and helped up Yeon-Joo, who was on the ground bawling her eyes out as if she had lost her whole family. "It's okay, so stop crying, my cute little Yeon-Joo. Okay?"

"Sniff... okay." Yeon-Joo nodded, her eyes red. She said lifelessly, "I-I'm sorry, oppa. I doubt even you wouldn't want to taste this disgusting-looking kimchi stew..."

Even she seemed to know her cooking was terrible.

"I'll... throw this out," she remarked.

"Wait." Kang-Woo grabbed her hand as she was about to take the pot away. He grabbed a spoon resolutely and said, "I'll eat it."

Yeon-Joo had poured her heart into making this kimchi stew for him.

'I'm sure... she wants me to eat it.'

However, she was likely not asking him to since she knew how spectacularly she failed.

'Yeon-Joo.'

Kang-Woo became teary-eyed. He could feel Yeon-Joo's love for him, hidden deep underneath her cold attitude.

'Yeah.'

He needed to eat it; he needed to face her love head-on. Even though the contents of the pot looked as if the internal organs of a mythological monster were torn apart into little pieces and put into a pot to boil, he couldn't bring himself to throw away the food Yeon-Joo made for him.

"I love you, Yeon-Joo."

"Oppa..."

Kang-Woo dipped the spoon into the kimchi stew like a brave hero off to the final battle.

Tsssssssss!

The spoon melted and disappeared into the pot.

"Mm. That's a no-go."

'Down the drain, it goes.'

Kang-Woo poured the kimchi stew-like substance into the sink without hesitation.

Yeon-Joo shook his arm in shock. "O-Oppa! You said you would eat it!!"

"Shut up, woman!! Why the hell would I eat stew that melts spoons?!"

'How did you even manage to make something like that in the first place?'

"Sniff..." Tears welled up around Yeon-Joo's eyes. "Sniff... You said you would eat it... Liar... I worked so hard to make that for you... It was hard getting that box of Carolina Reapers, so I even added the whole thing... and a bunch of monsters that looked delicious... Blow!"

Yeon-Joo blew her nose on Kang-Woo's shirt as she bawled her eyes out.

"Yeon-Joo..."

"Hmph! Whatever! Oppa, you idiot!"

"No, listen to me."

"Don't talk to me!"

"Why would you add an entire box of Carolina Reapers to kimchi stew? Also, monster meat?"

"..." Yeon-Joo turned away in silence. She ran away to the living room, sat on the couch, and hugged her knees. She mumbled pessimistically, "I'm not kind like Seol-Ah... not sexy like Lilith unnie... and I always pick fights with you..."

She continued to mumble as if she were giving a confession to a priest.

"I'm violent... grumpy... my boobs are small..."

"Excuse me."

"I play games and drink all day... I can't cook..."

"Hello? Yeon-Joo?"

"Sniff... Waaaaaaaaaahhh!"

Kang-Woo sighed deeply as Yeon-Joo burst into tears.

'Why did things end up this way?'

He was simply trying to tease the drunk Yeon-Joo but she was in a fairly serious condition. Her accumulated worries seemed to be bursting out at once.

"Yeon-Joo."

"Sniff... Just leave me alone... I— Mmph!"

Kang-Woo grabbed Yeon-Joo's chin as she was despairingly comparing herself to Seol-Ah and Lilith. She brought her face toward him and kissed her to calm her down.

"P-Pwah!" After the long kiss, Yeon-Joo grabbed Kang-Woo's clothes, her eyes hazy as if she were high. "O-Oppaaaaaa~"

She gazed at Kang-Woo passionately. She twisted around as she whispered, "Gimme more, oppa ❤"

"Kurgh."

Kang-Woo clenched his chest as he witnessed a side of Yeon-Joo he could never have imagined.

'So this is what they call gap moe!'

Yeon-Joo was so lovely at the moment that he could barely contain himself.

"Hehe. Okay, I'll give you everything you want!"

Kang-Woo patted Yeon-Joo's head like he usually did to Echidna. Yeon-Joo rubbed her cheek against Kang-Woo's hand like a puppy. Each of her actions lit a fire in Kang-Woo's heart.

"C'mere, my cute little Yeon-Joo!"

"Kyaah, oppa~!"

If they were sober as they listened to their conversations, they would have killed themselves out of cringe.

"Fuuu."

Kang-Woo stood up in satisfaction after pampering the drunk Yeon-Joo for twenty minutes.

'I never thought I'd get to be lovey-dovey with Yeon-Joo like this.'

He could see how amazing an alcohol nectar was.

'I should get more next time.'

He got to see a different side of Lilith and Yeon-Joo this time, but he wanted to see the same for Echidna and Seol-Ah.

"Right, that's enough for today..."

"Mmm. No~"

Yeon-Joo pulled Kang-Woo back down.

Kang-Woo smirked and asked, "What? Do you want more kisses?"

"Then what do you want to do, my cute little Yeon-Joo?"

Kang-Woo's heart beat rapidly from the ecstasy. He wanted to enjoy his time with drunk Yeon-Jo as much as possible since he didn't know when he would see her again.

"Mmm... then..."

"Just say the word! I'll do anything you want!"

Yeon-Joo fell into thought and then answered with a smile, "I wanna sleep together with you as we hold hands!"

'What?'

1. This is a Korean term for acting in a cute and flirtatious manner. K-pop idols do it quite frequently. ☜