Chapter 108: Moving the Nest

After Grandma passed away, we moved into the house she left for us.

We escaped from the basement, not even a half-basement, to live in a house with windows.

"We'll only impose until the kids graduate from kindergarten, Grandma. We'll live here cleanly."

Bow-

I bowed to the air and entered Grandma's house, still bearing traces of her life. Despite her bent back, she must have cleaned diligently as the interior was quite tidy.

"It's nice to have lots of furniture and a spacious house."

The condition of the wooden furniture isn't bad. There's no need to replace them, so we could keep using them. So, we unpacked our few belongings in the house.

"I'm putting my punching bag here!"

"I'll put my Lego castle in this display case."

"I'll put Mangmung's house next to the sofa!"

The dragon kids placed their things where they liked. But since we didn't have much stuff, the move didn't take long.

"Phew, it's annoying but we're finally done."

Just because we don't have many belongings doesn't mean moving isn't tiring. Anyway, now that we've moved so simply, I feel our environment has improved quite a bit.

"Dad! There's a bed here! It's super hard like a rock!" 

"Hey, Lee Hwaryeon! Don't jump on the bed!"

We got a bed for starters, a stone bed that's very firm and good for the back. I don't know if it's five-star, but having a bed is quite welcome news.

And,

"Dad."

"Yes?"

"The TV is huge. Bigger than the one we had before."

"It'll be perfect to watch sitting on the sofa."

We got a leather sofa and a bigger TV. Suryeon seemed very satisfied with this, looking quite excited.

'Come to think of it, there's a kimchi fridge too.'

Checking inside, the kimchi fridge was full. It clearly looked freshly made, giving the strong impression it was left for us.

"...Even when she was sick. She should have taken care of herself first."

After losing two sons to the dimensional gate incident and her husband to illness, I heard Grandma started helping people around her.

Gu Bong-gu and I received help from Grandma, and many others did too, they say. There were so many people at the funeral, so it was hard to count them all.

I closed the kimchi fridge and spoke to the kids who were excited about the bigger house.

"From today, you'll be in trouble if you leave kimchi! Everyone eat with gratitude!"

Hwaryeon and Choryeon shouted with bright smiles.

"I love kimchi!"

"I like it too!"

Only Suryeon frowned a bit.

After finishing the move, I opened my smartphone to check the delivery app. Seeing this, Hwaryeon clung to my back and said.

"Let's order something! I want pizza! Buy me pizza!"

"No, today's not a pizza day, Hwaryeon."

"Tch, there's no such thing! I want to eat pizza! Give me pizza!"

"Be quiet. We'll eat something even more delicious than pizza today."

On moving day like today, it's not pizza but Chinese food that should be ordered. I placed an order for jajangmyeon for everyone along with sweet and sour pork.

"If it's not tastier than pizza, I'll get angry!"

"Okay, just try it first and then talk."

"Hmph!"

Hwaryeon seemed a bit upset that I didn't listen to her. Her stomach growled as if she was hungry. After waiting eagerly for the food to arrive,

Knock knock-

"Delivery!"

"Food's here!"

The delivery arrived. I pushed down Hwaryeon's head as she tried to rush out excitedly, and went to the door to receive the food.

Creak-

There stood a very familiar face.

"It's you again."

"Oh, big bro!"

"Weakling."

The guy saw my face, got surprised, and took off his helmet.

"Big bro, why are you here? Didn't you live downstairs before?"

"Ah, we moved upstairs."

"Did you get promoted!? Congratulations, big bro! As expected of a hero!"

Bow-

The weakling guy bowed 90 degrees to congratulate me. Feeling awkward, I grabbed his bony shoulders and made him stand up.

"Don't do that, kid. It's embarrassing."

"Hehe, isn't it good to be good! Is that puppy doing well?"

"Yeah, he's doing well. Fortunately, he's doing very well."

I had a brief conversation with the guy I hadn't seen in a while. I subtly bragged about how smart Mangmung is, asked how he's been doing lately, and chatted about the situation around. But you shouldn't talk for too long.

"Ah, big bro. The noodles will get soggy. I have another delivery, so I'll be going!"

"Okay, work hard. Take care."

"Yes, big bro!"

Zoom-!

The weakling guy hurriedly left, leaving 4 jajangmyeon, 1 sweet and sour pork, and complimentary fried dumplings.

I spread newspapers on the floor to eat the jajangmyeon. The kids were tilting their heads looking at it.

"It smells good! Looks delicious!"

Hwaryeon was already licking her lips.

"What's this? It looks burnt. Dad, are you telling us to eat this?"

Suryeon was looking at the jajangmyeon suspiciously.

"Father, they say eating burnt food causes cancer! You shouldn't eat this!"

Choryeon was worried about me.

'I get the rest, but why worry about me? I'm still in great shape.'

Choryeon seemed to see me as some kind of sunfish.

I opened the jajangmyeon packages and wooden chopsticks for the clueless kids. Then, I decided to demonstrate for them.

"With jajangmyeon, you mix it appetizingly like this. Then pick it up with chopsticks like this."

Slurp-

"You eat it like ramen. Everyone understand?"

"I get it!"

Growl-

Hwaryeon, who looked the hungriest, licked her lips and mixed the jajangmyeon. Then, she inhaled the jajangmyeon like eating ramen.

"Delicious!"

"I told you it's tastier than pizza. This is how you eat jajangmyeon on moving day."

"Hmph, that's just what humans decided! I don't want to follow it!"

"Then should I take your jajangmyeon back?"

"N-No, I don't want that!"

Huff-!

Hwaryeon quickly hid her jajangmyeon behind her back, as if it were treasure. She looked like she absolutely didn't want it taken away.

"Geez, that appetite. She'll become a pig at this rate. How about Suryeon and Choryeon?"

Suryeon cut the noodles appropriately with her teeth without making a sound and said.

"It's edible. This fried sweet and sour pork too. It's good how the flavors harmonize when dipped in sauce."

"I'm glad it suits your taste."

I wonder if Choryeon is eating well.

Turning my head to look at Choryeon, I saw her picking out the meat from the jajangmyeon and giving it to Mangmung.

"I'll eat the noodles, so Mangmung, enjoy the meat!"

"Woof woof-!"

They're both cute. It was quite nice to see them sharing the jajangmyeon.

"Don't give onions to Mangmung, Choryeon. Only give him meat."

"Okay, I'll eat the onions, Father!"

"Good."

I answered simply and took in this scene of dragons eating jajangmyeon on the day they moved their nest.

This peaceful situation naturally made me smile.

"Do we really have to dip it in sauce?"

If only a world-ending event hadn't suddenly occurred.

"It's annoying to dip in sauce!"

Flash-!

Hwaryeon lifted the sweet and sour sauce.

"N-No way..."

And she did something unimaginably terrible.

"If I pour the sauce, I don't have to dip it!"

Splash-

Sticky sweet and sour sauce poured over the pork. Hwaryeon was smiling proudly, not realizing what she'd done.

"Haha, I'm a genius!"

"..."

This is unacceptable.

I picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork untouched by sauce and looked at Hwaryeon.

"Hwaryeon."

"What, Dad!"

"You just broke one of our family rules."

"Rule? What rule!"

"Pouring sauce on sweet and sour pork. Our family prohibits sauce-pouring."

Glare-

I glared at Hwaryeon who had poured the sauce. Hwaryeon flinched and backed away slightly.

"I-I didn't know that!"

"It's okay, Hwaryeon. You'll know from now on."

What fate awaits those who pour sauce.

I stood up to punish Hwaryeon. Then, Hwaryeon seemed to sense something was off and stood up too.

"W-What's wrong with pouring sauce on sweet and sour pork!"

"There are many problems. So come here!!"

How dare she not consider the dippers.

I chased after Hwaryeon, the evil sauce-pourer. She was so quick, it wasn't easy to catch her.

"If I catch you, I'll stretch your cheeks a lot! 5 minutes if I catch you now! 10 minutes if I catch you later!"

"Hmph, 0 minutes if you don't catch me! Dad, you dummy!"

Bleh-

Hwaryeon stuck out her tongue and made faces at me even while running.

'I won't let this slide. I won't go easy just because she's young.'

Pouring sauce and making faces? Unforgivable.

"Lee Hwaryeon! Stop running and come here!!"

"Aaah! Go away!"

Suryeon and Choryeon must think Hwaryeon and I are pathetic. They sighed and turned their attention to the food.

"It's noisy, but let's eat the jajangmyeon. The noodles will get soggy if we wait."

"Let's do that, Suryeon. We agree for once."

"That's because those two are idiots. Making such a fuss over sweet and sour sauce. How foolish."

Suryeon looked at Hwaryeon and me pathetically and picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork covered in sauce.

She put it in her mouth, chewed, and said carefully.

"...It's too sweet. The batter is soggy. It's not good gastronomically. I understand why Dad is making such a fuss."

Suryeon seemed to understand to some extent.

"Pouring sauce is a sin."

As expected of my daughter, Suryeon only spoke facts. Encouraged by this support, I finally apprehended Hwaryeon.

And then,

"Your cheeks are mine for 10 minutes."

"Ugh, urk! Let go! Don't touch my cheeks!"

"Resistance is futile! Come here!"

Squish squish-

I pinched and played with Hwaryeon's cheeks as punishment. From that day on, our family had an unwritten rule.

'There will be big trouble if you pour sauce on sweet and sour pork!'

Only then could our family function properly.

Because sauce-pouring must be eradicated.