JD 7

At this rate, he’s gonna burn a hole through the back of my head…

Grumbling to himself, Hakyung wandered around the kitchen.

He first carefully studied the layout of the kitchen and how to use the induction stove, then headed to the fridge. Since it didn’t seem like any other employees lived in the dorm, he hadn’t expected much in the way of ingredients. He had no idea why he was told to cook breakfast in the first place.

He opened the door with zero expectations—only to be thoroughly proven wrong. The fridge was absolutely packed, as if mocking him.

Chicken, beef, pork, duck—every kind of land meat. And even more varieties from the sea: abalone, sea cucumber, sea urchin, seaweed, mackerel… The marine selection was almost overwhelming.

“Oooh…!”

Aside from the lack of freshwater ingredients, it was an impressive spread. Hakyung’s eyes sparkled. What kind of company stocked a dorm fridge this lavishly for one employee?

His tiny brain couldn’t make sense of it. Giving up on finding an answer, he started inspecting the fridge more closely. One more lean forward and he might’ve fallen right in.

“Dangerous.”

Muheon had appeared behind him at some point, and now lifted him up by the scruff like a country pup. Hakyung forehead veins briefly bulged from the indignity, but he wasn’t bold enough to snap at a grown man that much bigger than him.

Dragged a step back from the fridge, Hakyung riggled his body in protest. He looked like a toy showing off a trick.

“You gotta let me go so I can cook…”

“Grab what you need quickly and use it. Too much cold air’ll give you a cold.”

“Okaaay…”

He’d never heard of anyone catching a cold from fridge air, but Hakyung answered politely anyway and quickly started picking out ingredients, lips sticking out in a pout.

He laid them down one by one until the table was full. Watching Hakyung gather supplies like a squirrel hoarding acorns, Muheon tilted his head.

“What are you planning to make with all that?”

“Beef brisket doenjang stew and seasoned abalone with seaweed. Also rolled omelets, grilled mackerel, and stir-fried pork.”

“You preparing a feast?”

It was way too much for breakfast. Even Sang-oh or Geowong, both big eaters, wouldn’t eat this much in the morning. Muheon looked back and forth between Hakyung’s bright face and small frame.

There’s no way all that would fit in him. Maybe sensing the confusion, Hakyung quickly explained.

“It’s for everyone, the other employees…”

“Employees? Why the hell are you making food for those fish bastards?”

“Huh? Then who…?”

Hakyung had assumed, naturally, that he was supposed to cook for everyone since there wasn’t a separate chef. The idea that the command to cook was just for himself had never even crossed his mind.

The two stared at each other for a long moment, blinking, each failing to understand the other. Neither of them were particularly skilled at clear explanations.

Finally, Muheon spoke first.

“Just make enough for yourself. No—for you and me.”

“Uuh… You didn’t eat yet either, sir?”

Muheon nodded. The fact that Sang-oh had made him a full five-dish breakfast an hour ago was a secret. He sat back down and began observing Hakyung work.

Looking over the ingredients, Hakyung mumbled to himself before speaking up.

“Then I’ll just make the doenjang stew and grill the mackerel for now. You don’t mind fish, do you?”

“I like it.”

“Oh, you do like it…”

He always called the employees “fish bastards,” so Hakyung had assumed he hated seafood—but apparently not. Nodding to himself, he began cooking in earnest.

It wasn’t listed on his resume, but cooking was one of Hakyung’s talents. He was good enough to satisfy even the picky palates of neighborhood elders.

He was itching to brag about his amazing cooking skills, but instead he bit it back and focused on the task at hand.

Once the boss tastes this, he’s definitely going to say it’s too good to eat alone!

His lips curled into a quiet grin as he threw himself even more enthusiastically into cooking. The ingredients looked fresh, and even the scent alone was mouthwatering.

“Bubbling stew, and my heart is bubbling too, bubbling-bubbling, the game’s fun too!”

A small tune slipped from Hakyung’s mouth—a tribute to the bubbling stew coming together on the stove.

He was usually alone in the kitchen, so he had a habit of singing while cooking without thinking. But today, behind him, the boss—broad as a door—was silently watching everything.

“Doenjang belongs in a stone pot, that’s the real taste! Bubble-bubble!”

It was getting ridiculous. Muheon pressed his fingers to his temple at the river dolphin’s bizarre little song.

It wasn’t an old shaman chant or pansori from seaside rituals, nor was it anything trendy among modern humans.

With no way to classify the genre, Muheon finally let out a dry laugh. Luckily, Hakyung had a pretty voice and sang well—otherwise, if someone else had dared hum lyrics like that, Muheon would’ve kicked them in the ass on the spot.

If Hakyung had been even a little less cute and pretty, he might’ve ended up with a giant bruise on his rear. Instead, he finished slicing the green onions into neat bits and added the final decorative touches.

He placed the rice, doenjang stew, and grilled mackerel in tidy portions on the table where Muheon was seated. A wide grin lifted Hakyung’s lips.

The dishes and pots looked completely different from the ones back in the countryside—just their appearance made him want to post a brag if he’d had social media.

“You’re really fast.”

“As long as you have ingredients, it’s quick! Please eat—I’ll eat well!”

“Yeah. You must be tired from all that singing, so eat up.”

Hakyung roze in place, chopsticks in hand. His body turned into a paused screen, with only his eyeballs rolling in panic.

Worried he might stay frozen all day, Muheon gently tapped his chopsticks. At the cue, Hakyung efrosted, his lips starting to move again.

“Y-you heard me singing…?”

“Didn’t you sing for me to hear?”

“N-no, I didn’t…! I was singing really quietly.”

Hakyung damantly denied it. That had been a private solo performance—no way anyone else was supposed to hear.

Snorting at the river dolphin’s weak excuse, Muheon let out a short breath through his nose. His lopsided grin made Hakyung’s brows furrow, but the look held not even a speck of intimidation—he was just too harmless.

“What? You’re good at it.”

Worried that the dolphin might sulk and stop eating, Muheon offered a carrot to coax him. At the compliment, Hakyung’s brows slowly relaxed.

Even just a short bit of praise made his shoulders lift all the way to the sky. Clearing his throat, Hakyung xplained proudly:

“People know sea dolphins are good singers, but no one realizes river dolphins can sing too. We just don’t have any famous singers, but we’re amazing too…”

“Yeah? I didn’t know that.”

“Boss… um, are you also a sea creature?”

Now that he thought about it, he still didn’t know what exactly the boss was. He’d heard him call the staff “fish bastards,” but had no clue what species he was.

Come to think of it, all he really knew was the man’s name. I’ve been stripped of everything but my underwear size by this guy… The imbalance of information made him pout, but the thought that Muheon was the one paying his salary quickly squashed that complaint.

Muheon nodded in response to his question.

“I’m from the sea.”

“Oh… I see.”

He’d suspected it, but hearing it confirmed still left him feeling a little disappointed.

River dolphins had always been looked down on by sea dolphins. The elders made sure to pass down all the nasty things sea creatures had done to them. That’s why even though Hakyung had never actually seen a sea dolphin before, just hearing the term made his body instinctively flinch. Nearly drowning in the sea as a child didn’t help either.

“Sea creature…” Hakyung murmured, sipping a bit of water. Then he asked again:

“So what species are you? You’ve got a great build so… hmm, a shark?”

The real reason was that Muheon looked scary, not his build, but Hakyung kept that to himself.

If not a shark, maybe a whale? Or a saltwater crocodile? A sea lion? For some reason, only dangerous, aggressive things came to mind when guessing what the boss might be.

But Muheon only shrugged and kept his mouth shut. Or rather—he just kept eating. Even after waiting a while, it didn’t look like he planned to answer.

After staring at him for a long time, Hakyung gave up and began eating. And wow, the food tasted amazing. Every bite slid down effortlessly. He hadn’t eaten for almost two days, so even rice with sand might’ve tasted good.

They kept eating in silence until Muheon suddenly spoke again.

“So, do you do that kind of thing too? Young people these days—if they sing even a little, they upload videos online.”

“W-what?”

“You said it yourself. That you sing well. You do know you’re good, right?”

The casually spoken words made Hakyung go pale.

Muheon had expected the cheerful little dolphin to jump in excitement and offer him a video link—but instead, he got a weird, stunned reaction. Surprised by how far off his guess was, Muheon raised a brow.