After much deliberation, Shin Na-yoon finally made up her mind with confidence.
Am I a genius?
With her meager salary as a low-ranking civil servant, there was no way she could keep up with Kang-joon’s insatiable appetite for ordering dozens of chicken pizzas every day.
But what if it was an all-you-can-eat buffet where he could eat as much as he wanted for a fixed price?
After observing him for a few days, she realized that Kang-joon wasn’t all that picky about food. Surprisingly, he ate anything that was edible and seemed to enjoy it all.
Yesterday, when she felt like she couldn’t handle it anymore, she made ten servings of instant ramen, the soul food of anyone living alone, and put it in front of him. To her surprise, he ate it all without a single complaint which left Shin Na-yoon astonished.
He even went so far as to ask for kimchi and cold rice which made her think, “This guy knows how to eat ramen”.
In any case, with this useful information that Kang-joon was fine with cheap food, Shin Na-yoon planned to take him to a buffet.
Dozens of chicken and pizzas every day were outrageously expensive.
After all, Koreans grow rice but they never grow wheat.
With most trade routes now blocked, the price of flour had skyrocketed to unimaginable heights.
Since flour was used in both the batter for fried chicken and the dough for pizza, it was only natural that their prices soared as well.
But what about meat? Both pork and beef were domestically sourced, so meat prices had risen much less in comparison.
This meant that at a meat buffet, for just 50,000 won per person, you could eat as much barbecue as you wanted!
Fifty thousand won a day, that’s 1.5 million won for 30 days! Wow!
With that kind of cost, even on her meager salary, it seemed like something she could somehow manage.
And so, today, she found herself at the buffet, ready to fulfill the contract she’d made back at the White Light Cult.
Shin Na-yoon hummed a little tune in her head as she cheerfully made her way to the meat buffet.
“There’s an additional 10,000 won per person for table setting.”
“Ugh.”
She hadn’t anticipated that. It’s not like she’d ever had the chance to come to a place like this before.
Shin Na-yoon who rarely ate out almost shed tears internally, but she comforted herself with the fact that paying for one person was still cheaper than paying for two.
Why only pay for one when there were two of them?
That was because Kang-joon was still hiding in Shin Na-yoon’s shadow.
When they were at home, it didn’t matter since no one could see him, but there was no way she could let Kang-joon who looked like a literal devil roam around outside. What if the Security Bureau spotted him and had him executed on the spot?
This was all for Shin Na-yoon’s own safety.
It definitely wasn’t because she was reluctant to pay for two meals.
Shin Na-yoon diligently grilled the meat on the hot plate. Every time a piece was fully cooked and set aside on the plate, a hand shot out from the shadows and snatched the perfectly grilled meat in one swift motion.
“.…..”
Honestly, it was a little annoying.
More than that, how exactly was he eating inside there?
Then again, she had seen him surfing the web and doing all sorts of things in there before. Eating food from the shadows probably wasn’t a big deal either.
Soon, the sound of Kang-joon chewing the meat echoed in her mind.
[More.]
“Yes!”
[Is it ready yet?]
“It’ll be done soon!”
[Another plate.]
“I’ll bring it right away!”
As Shin Na-yoon sweated profusely while grilling the meat, Kang-joon’s evaluations continued.
[Hmm. I’m not sure if it’s better than chicken or pizza, but it’s decent enough. I’ll let it slide this time.]
“Ah, haha… I’m glad it suits your taste.”
[It’s not over yet. Your hands are idle. Don’t stop, keep grilling.]
“Eek! I-I’ll grill faster!”
Kang-joon’s eating speed was anything but ordinary. Shin Na-yoon had to keep grilling non-stop, and soon she started to feel the gaze of the owner who was repeatedly changing the grill grow more piercing.
As the empty plates stacked up—ten, then twenty, and eventually thirty…
The owner was no longer able to tolerate it and refused to change the grill anymore.
“Excuse me, but could you please leave now?”
“Huh? B-But it hasn’t even been 2 hours yet…”
“You’ve eaten 30 plates of barbecue by yourself. Each plate is a serving for two, which means you’ve eaten 60 servings. Are you trying to ruin my business?”
“I-I saw it was all-you-can-eat, so doesn’t that mean I can eat as much as I want…?”
“I thought you’d eat reasonably, but this is outrageous! Have some decency! Don’t ever come to my restaurant again!”
“Kyahh!”
In the end, they were kicked out.
Shin Na-yoon had to leave the restaurant dejectedly without having a single bite of meat. She even watched the owner sprinkle salt at the entrance as she walked away.
At that moment, Kang-joon’s voice echoed in her mind.
[The contract clearly stated I would eat until I was full, but this is far from enough. Since I’m not satisfied, let’s order some chicken when we get home.]
“Eek!”
Not long after, Shin Na-yoon heard the news that her description had been blacklisted to every buffet in the area.
Shin Na-yoon wanted to cry.
***
On her first day at work, it was the centipede devil incident, and on the second day, there was the vampire devil incident.
In just two days, Shin Na-yoon had set a record by encountering two high-ranking devils and one archdevil in succession. After escaping from the White Light Cult, she had to undergo all sorts of medical exams.
Since she had been involved in a devil incident and was even kidnapped by a cult, there was concern that something might have gone wrong with her body.
On top of that, she was given a free comprehensive health check, and though it was under the pretext of the situation, it felt like she was enjoying company benefits, so she didn’t feel too bad about it.
The test results? No issues.
After going through so much and coming out unscathed without a single injury, Shin Na-yoon was finally able to return home.
And if anyone were to ask what she had been doing since the incident?
Surprisingly, she hadn’t taken a single step out of the house.
Ah… I love this homebody life.
Shin Na-yoon hugged a weirdly-shaped cat plushie tightly as she rolled around on her bed.
Staying holed up at home, lazing around in bed on a weekday morning without going to work…this was a pure and guilt-free pleasure. The time was incredibly sweet, with no one calling her and nothing she needed to do.
Was she fired from the Security Bureau? Not at all. There was a reason why Shin Na-yoon was lounging around at home.
When Team Leader In Ha-young was hospitalized due to the last incident, Shin Na-yoon suddenly found herself without a reason to go to work.
With no team members and no team leader, what could a new recruit on her second day of work possibly accomplish by showing up?
Of course, in such cases, being reassigned to another team was the usual process. But Shin Na-yoon had already made it clear that she wanted to work under Team Leader In Ha-young, and besides, no other team was eager to take her in.
The reason was simple. Word about Shin Na-yoon had already spread throughout the Security Bureau.
A rookie who encountered two high-ranking devils and one archdevil in just two days and came out unscathed? If she were truly talented, any department would welcome her, but it felt more like she had just been lucky enough to survive.
In short, she was a ticking time bomb. Naturally, the other team leaders were reluctant to step forward and take her in.
Thanks to that, Shin Na-yoon had been given standby orders under the guise of working from home.
Of course, as a new recruit, there wasn’t really any work for her to do from home, so she was enjoying the luxury of staying in while still collecting her paycheck.
However, this luxury wasn’t going to last much longer. Team Leader In Ha-young’s discharge date had been set. This meant that Shin Na-yoon would have to start going back to the office next week.
“Ah, I don’t want to go to work~ I want to live like this forever~”
Ah. Na-yoon quickly clamped her hands over her mouth; she was startled by the complaint that had slipped out without her realizing it.
She suddenly remembered she wasn’t alone in the room.
Shin Na-yoon cautiously rolled her eyes to glance over at Kang-joon.
He didn’t even look at Na-yoon, and today he was sitting on Shin Na-yoon’s beloved sofa, absorbed in web surfing on a secondhand laptop she bought from a marketplace.
Come to think of it, what does he even do all day?
It had already been five days since Kang-joon had taken over her home, or rather moved in with her.
Surprisingly, Shin Na-yoon found that living with a devil wasn’t as bad as she had thought.
To be honest, Kang-joon’s presence was terrifying for her on the first day. She spent the whole day on edge; she couldn’t even move a step from the corner of the room and stayed curled up tightly, barely dozing through the night.
However, aside from eating or occasionally asking a few questions out of curiosity, Kang-joon didn’t show any interest in Shin Na-yoon. From the first day until now, he had been glued to his laptop and completely absorbed in web surfing all day.
Shin Na-yoon had no idea what he was doing, but thanks to his indifference, she unexpectedly found herself enjoying her time at home in peace.
He didn’t ask for anything, didn’t force her to do anything terrible, and as long as she bought him meals at the right time, he seemed satisfied. Despite how much he ate, he never needed to use the bathroom or got sick, which made him even less of a hassle than most pets.
It kind of feels like taking care of a succulent plant? This isn’t as bad as I thought…
Suddenly, that thought startled her and Shin Na-yoon quickly slapped her own cheek.
Oh my god! Shin Na-yoon, have you lost your mind? Where would you ever find a succulent this expensive?!
In fact, that “succulent” could kill her with a snap of its fingers. It was more like a harmful species she needed to get rid of as soon as possible if given the chance.
Just then, Kang-joon abruptly closed his laptop and spoke.
“Hey.”
“Eek! I’m sorry! I swear I won’t think of you as a succulent again!”
“What?”
Kang-joon stared at her in disbelief for a moment, then soon returned to his usual indifferent expression.
“Forget it. Just get ready to go.”
“Huh? Go? Where are we going?”
“Where do you think? It’s time to fulfill the contract. You’re not going to tell me you forgot, are you?”
“Ah.”
To be honest, she did forget. The contract with Kang-joon was to find someone named Seo Kang-joon. But with all the chaotic events of the past few days, it had completely slipped her mind.
Of course, she couldn’t confess that truth, so Na-yoon forced a smile and replied.
“Oh, come on! Of course, I remembered!”
“Really? Then I suppose you’ve already made a plan to find him?”
“Uh…”
Kang-joon nodded his head as if he had expected that answer.
“I didn’t expect much. Just grab your Security Agent ID and follow me.”
“Huh? Follow you? You’re not planning to go out like that, are you? No way! It’ll cause absolute chaos out there!”
Instead of replying, Kang-joon silently snapped his fingers.
In an instant, a small flame briefly flickered over his body.
At the same time, Kang-joon’s horns and wings disappeared and he transformed into a human.
He looked neat, tall, handsome, and to top it off, slightly Shin Na-yoon’s type.
“Is this better?”
Shin Na-yoon stared at him. She was momentarily lost in thought before snapping back to her senses in surprise.
“Wait, if you could transform into a human, why have you insisted on staying in your devil form all this time?”
“You’re saying that because you don’t know. This form is quite uncomfortable. To put it in terms humans can understand… it’s like wearing a mascot costume, it dulls your senses.”
“But you’re so strong, what’s the big deal if your senses become dull…?”
At Shin Na-yoon’s small muttering, a flicker of annoyance crossed Kang-joon’s eyes.
“Eek! S-Sorry! I didn’t mean for you to hear that—”
“How stupid. Doesn’t that mean my sense of taste will be dulled too?”
“Huh? Oh…”
Na-yoon quickly understood.
Leave a Reply