Chapter 36

A Real Maid

To start with the conclusion, I succeeded in winning the galbi-jjim.

Right after the Woojin incident... no, the incident of determining whether I had gained weight, Ms. Sejin and I entered a fierce battle over galbi-jjim—! Well, not an actual battle, but a verbal tug-of-war.

“Eating galbi-jjim on the day of the collab is fine. But not for free.”

“What do you mean, not for free? Are you putting some kind of condition on it?”

“Exercise. Lately, you’ve only been exercising in the morning. You’ll need to do some in the evening too.”

“Come on. That’s too much. How am I supposed to exercise twice a day?”

“You call it an hour now, but I know perfectly well that you only exercise for about thirty minutes because you run out of stamina, and spend the rest resting.”

Guh. As expected of Han Sejin. She’s strong!

She knows absolutely everything that happens in this house.

“R-Resting is exercise too!”

“Then forget about the galbi-jjim.”

“...How long?”

“Thirty minutes.”

“Four dollars!”

“We’re talking about time, what do you mean four dollars? And you watched something weird again.”

“What do you mean weird! Age of Savages is great for studying history.”

Passing by like the wiiind~

“Then why was your score on the history test this time so awful?”

“Gyaaagh... Th-The era was different.”

“Anyway, you’re exercising for an extra thirty minutes. Understood?”

“Twenty minutes!”

“Thirty. I’m not going any lower.”

In negotiations, the first one to lower their tail loses. No concessions!

“T-Twenty minutes!”

“...”

“Twenty... five!”

“...”

“Whimper.”

“Thirty minutes.”

Ms. Sejin held her ground without even blinking. Damn it, does she refuse to negotiate with terrorists or something? I’m not a terrorist!

For a moment, I weighed galbi-jjim against evening exercise.

Greasy, moist galbi-jjim, with meat that softly pulls apart along the grain.

Unlike at my house, all-you-can-eat.

Drool.

“...I’ll do it. I’ll do it. Fine.”

“A wise choice, Miss.”

“Kghhh.”

Holding back tears, I stamped my fingerprint onto Ms. Sejin’s palm.

For one week, one hour of exercise in the morning and thirty minutes in the evening. An hour and a half every day. All because of galbi-jjim.

Well, for galbi-jjim, a sacrifice like this is nothing. Nothing in this world is free, after all.

For reference, Woojin never did answer whether I had gained weight. He kept looking back and forth between Ms. Sejin and me, then eventually ran away saying he needed to use the bathroom. What kind of man with a dick has that little courage?

Anyway, with that, the long-awaited day of the collaboration arrived.

— — —

In the car on the way to the collaboration location.

“Hmm~ hmm-hmm~ hmm~.”

I hummed while looking out the window. Today was the day I could eat as much galbi-jjim as I wanted without worrying about anyone’s gaze.

Droooool.

So it was not my fault that my mouth was already watering.

Thinking about it, it was pretty funny.

The granddaughter of the almighty Shinil Group chairman was doing a collaboration just because she wanted to eat galbi-jjim.

This is all because of that nutritionist ahjumma, chef ahjussi, and tyrant Ms. Sejin, who strictly limit my diet in the name of health or whatever!

But according to Woojin, I was not the only one. Apparently the other relatives’ kids and children from other chaebol families were all like this too.

I found that hard to believe, so I actually looked up some articles, and it was true.

There had been a divorce lawsuit involving Hansung Group, and apparently on some visitation day or whatever, the father gave the child fried seaweed rolls from a snack shop, and the kid absolutely loved them. Because the child had barely ever eaten anything strongly flavored before.

And apparently the mother’s side even filed a written complaint saying he had fed the child unsanitary street food.

Apparently, in chaebol families, it really is normal to prevent children from eating instant food or street food for the sake of their health, and to make them eat perfectly balanced luxury meals every day while strictly controlling the portions too.

As expected, no matter how rich you are, a minor is still a minor. There is nothing you can do however you please. Sob sob sob.

Driver Park ahjussi was in the driver’s seat, bodyguard Do Jinhyuk was in the passenger seat, and Ms. Sejin was beside me. The elite members of our household were all mobilized again today.

Ah, there was one more. That was—.

“...No, if you guys were just going to decide everything between yourselves, why the hell did you call me?”

The one grumbling from the back seat was Woojin. Why is he here? I do not know either. Somehow he ended up coming along, I guess.

“What now, Oppa? What are you complaining about?”

“Do you know how hard I thought about it that day? But in the end, you and Ms. Sejin decided everything yourselves. If you were going to do that, you shouldn’t have called me.”

“Th-That’s because Oppa was the neutral nation!”

“...Neutral nation? Where did you learn that phrase now?”

I grinned as I answered.

“Comrade, where will you go? A neutral nation!”

Woojin stared at me with a dumbfounded expression.

“...Hey. That’s modern literature. Where did you learn that? You study that in high school.”

“Huh. Really? I had no idea. I just saw it on the internet.”

“Good grief.”

Woojin let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.

Well, there was a meme like that floating around the internet. I only just learned that the source was modern literature. Anyway, it is a useful line. Neutral nation. It sounds kind of sophisticated.

But if you learn it in high school, should not I, who graduated from university in my previous life, know it? Why did I not?

Could it be that I was not very good at school in my previous life?

...Huh? Why can’t I remember whether I was good at studying or bad at it in my previous life...?

“Anyway, I’m the only one stuck in limbo today. I’m not even appearing on stream, I’m just tagging along.”

While I was lost in thought, Woojin started grumbling again. Seriously, I should cut that bastard’s dick off.

“What are you talking about? Oppa, your job today is guarding the waiting room. It’s a very important mission.”

“What kind of lame mission is that?”

“Th-Then your mission is to stop me if I eat too much galbi-jjim. It might be too much for Ms. Sejin alone.”

“What kind of nonsense is that... But you’ve been talking about galbi-jjim this whole time. Don’t tell me you came just because of that?”

Instead of answering, I grinned broadly.

Whatever. The car had already arrived at our destination.

— — —

The studio Gomtaengi had chosen as the meeting place was quite spacious and clean.

“Welcome!”

“Wow, Lili-chan? You’re so cute.”

“Over here, you can come this way.”

When we arrived, Gomtaengi’s staff greeted us politely.

Apparently, everyone had signed confidentiality agreements in advance so my identity would not leak outside. That Gomtaengi ahjussi had really prepared everything meticulously, just like he wrote in the proposal.

“Yaaawn. I couldn’t sleep in the car because of you, so now I’m tired. Hey.”

Woojin stretched and came over beside me.

“This is the place? It’s bigger than I thought. Why did they rent somewhere this huge just for one stream?”

“We need to do an all-you-can-eat mukbang. Look over there, that container full of galbi-jjim is enormous.”

“What the hell, why is there so much?”

Woojin recoiled in horror when he looked where I was pointing.

“Who’s going to eat all that? Does that make any sense?”

“I heard earlier that Gomtaengi or Pigtaengi or whatever can eat more than four kilograms by himself.”

“Wow... is he even human? I’m an athlete so I eat a lot too, but four kilograms...”

“Anyway, the staff will split up the leftovers, so don’t worry.”

“C-Can I eat some too?”

Wow, Shin Woojin is actually a pretty funny bastard too.

“Dunno. Ask the staff.”

“Ah, that person’s here.”

“Huh? Who?”

“Then I’m off.”

“Uh, o-okay...”

Woojin suddenly waved and disappeared. When I turned my head, a gigantic mountain of a person was lumbering toward us from over there.

“Hello.”

“Hello. I’m Lili-chan.”

“Hello. I’m Lili-chan’s manager.”

“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you.”

Standing beside him, the top of my head came exactly to his chest. The two of us standing side by side probably looked like a bear and a squirrel.

“Then please take care of me.”

“Yes, yes, likewise. Make yourself comfortable. Ah, and if you need anything, please tell me anytime.”

Gomtaengi smiled pleasantly and acted very friendly. He looks like a bandit, but he is surprisingly courteous.

“For this part, like this—.”

“Ah, yes, yes. In that situation, don’t hesitate to call the staff—.”

“Yes, yes. Don’t worry. We have everything prepared—.”

While I was receiving various instructions, a familiar smell brushed past my nose from somewhere.

A sweet and rich soy-braised aroma. And beneath it, the scent of meat.

Wh-What, it’s close!

Without realizing it, I snapped my head around. On one side of the studio, large earthenware pots were being lined up across a table set for filming. Even with their lids still closed, the smell was this powerful.

The galbi-jjim that had been imprisoned in that giant container earlier had now completed its preparations to be eaten(?)!

Drool... gulp.

That looks fucking delicious.

“...Lili-chan? Um, Lili-chan?”

“Ah, drool! Sorry. I was thinking about something.”

“Haha, you’re nervous, right? Relax. We’ll start in fifteen minutes, so rest until then.”

“Can’t we start right now?”

“Oh, you’re very enthusiastic. Hmm... I’d like to as well, but the staff still need to prepare—.”

“Okay. I’ll wait, then.”

Blessings come to those who endure.

Since I had some time to prepare, I first took out the mask I had brought with me.

Naturally, it was a mask that only covered the upper half of my face. It covered just my eyes and forehead, while leaving my mouth and chin completely exposed.

Today’s main event was a mukbang, so I needed the lower half of my face open in order to eat galbi-jjim.

During the collab with the kind old maid, I had covered my entire face, but how could I eat galbi-jjim if even my mouth was covered? Such a thing could never be allowed. In front of galbi-jjim, anything can be compromised.

Of course, the design was still adorable. It was shaped like bat wings, with tiny jewel decorations too.

Cute enough to suit the dignity of the vampire princess’s... clone(?), I suppose. Ms. Sejin really has an incredible eye for this sort of thing.

“Ms. Sejin, I wear this like this, right?”

But no answer came back. She had definitely been right beside me.

“...Ms. Sejin?”

“Ms. Sejin said she went to the restroom for a moment.”

As I wandered around looking for Ms. Sejin, the bodyguard who had been leaning against the wall watching the surroundings approached and told me.

“Huh. Why didn’t she say anything before going?”

Well, maybe she suddenly had an emergency poop signal. Without thinking much of it, I fiddled with my phone while waiting for Ms. Sejin.

And a short while later.

Click, clack. Click, clack.

“Ms. Sejin?”

I casually turned my head, then froze on the spot.

Until just moments ago, Ms. Sejin had been wearing a neat suit. She had the aura of a capable secretary—no, a career woman.

But now—.

“Huuuuuh?”

A pitch-black dress covered in frills, a pure-white apron, and even a lace-trimmed headdress on her head.

It was a perfect maid outfit.

“M-Ms. Sejin?!”

“Yes. Did you call, Miss?”

As if nothing were unusual, Ms. Sejin lightly pinched the hem of her skirt and gave an extremely, extremely elegant greeting. As though this had always been her normal outfit.

“Wh-What in the world is that outfit?!”

“It’s a maid outfit.”

“I know that! But why are you wearing a maid outfit?”

“My username is OurHouseMaid. I have to stay in character, at least.”

“...No, when did you even prepare something like this? I had no idea.”

“I prepared it ages ago. Hehehe. I deliberately kept it hidden because I wanted to surprise you.”

“...Ms. Sejin, aren’t you getting a little too immersed in streaming?”

“I think I’m less immersed than you are when you play vampire princess.”

“Th-That’s a concept!”

“Mine is a concept too.”

Well, I guess I, who goes on about subjects and insolence every night, do not really have room to talk.

Considering she went out of her way to wear a maid outfit even though she would not appear on stream anyway, maybe Ms. Sejin is more serious about my stream than I am.