There were dried seaweed, finely prepared beef, and minced garlic.
She couldn’t help but find it odd that ingredients for seaweed soup were there when it wasn’t anyone’s birthday.
That’s when Hyuk Joo entered the kitchen. Eun Soo asked him,
“Are we having seaweed soup for breakfast tomorrow?”
“Ah, that.”
Hyuk Joo covered his neck with his hand as he looked at the seaweed soup ingredients placed in front of Eun Soo. He looked slightly flustered, unlike his usual self.
“I was thinking of having toast for breakfast.”
“I just wanted to try making it.”
“Hyuk Joo?”
“Yes.”
At Hyuk Joo’s response that he wanted to make seaweed soup, Eun Soo’s lips parted slightly in surprise. The Moon Hyuk Joo she knew was someone who had never cooked before.
It wasn’t so much that he deliberately didn’t cook, but rather, there was no need to.
Eun Soo, as Moon Hyuk Joo’s wife, was the same.
Cooking was something that the hired help did.
All Eun Soo had to do was to give the hired help instructions, and then do the final plating to make the finished food look good.
Sometimes, she would miss the simple pleasure of making something to eat by herself.
Because the act of cooking itself was enjoyable.
So when Hyuk Joo said he wanted to try making seaweed soup, Eun Soo became interested.
“Have you ever made seaweed soup before?”
“No, I thought I’d try following a recipe.”
“Then, can I show you how?”
“…Eun Soo, you?”
“Yes.”
Hyuk Joo seemed to hesitate for a moment.
Seeing his face, Eun Soo momentarily wondered if he didn’t trust her.
He had never seen her cook, so it was understandable.
“I used to cook a lot when I lived alone before marriage.”
“I see.”
“Seaweed soup is easy to make. If you see me make it once, Hyuk Joo, you’ll be able to do it without difficulty.”
“Okay. Then show me.”
“Yes.”
Eun Soo grinned, looking at Hyuk Joo who was looking at her.
It felt like this was the first time they had ever done something together like this.
They had come to the villa alone several times, but each time, Hyuk Joo dealt with his backlog of work. Eun Soo read a book by his side.
That’s probably why they felt distant even when they were in the same space together.
Their bodies were together, but their hearts could not.
That’s why Eun Soo found the act of making seaweed soup with him to be special.
“There are many kinds of seaweed soup depending on the ingredients you add. What do you like to put in?”
“Beef.”
“You’ve chosen a safe ingredient. Good choice.”
“Did you choose the ingredients, Hyuk Joo?”
When he said he had chosen the ingredients, Eun Soo asked as if she found it fascinating. Hyuk Joo nodded in response.
Eun Soo imagined Hyuk Joo buying seaweed and beef for a moment.
As she couldn’t easily picture it, she smiled lightly and soaked the dried seaweed in water.
“You need to soak the seaweed in water first.”
“So, is that enough to soak?”
“Yes.”
Eun Soo showed a handful of dried seaweed. Then, she took out some kelp and made broth.
“You can add anchovies, but if you cook it wrong, the broth can taste fishy, so I only add kelp.”
“Do you dislike fishy taste?”
“Yes. That’s why I don’t like clam seaweed soup.”
“Now that I think about it, I don’t know what you like and dislike.”
“….”
“Embarrassing.”
At Hyuk Joo’s words, which were muttered as if he was talking to himself, Eun Soo gently bit her lower lip.
As a married couple living together, his words were probably spoken out of duty, but her heart pounded unknowingly, which she resented.
Pretending not to hear Hyuk Joo’s words, Eun Soo took out the seaweed that had been soaked in water.
“You can cut it with a knife….”
“Is there another way?”
“My mother told me that you shouldn’t cut the seaweed for the soup you make on birthdays.”
“Ah, birthdays.”
Seeing Hyuk Joo nod, Eun Soo held the seaweed in her hand and tore it into edible sizes.
“They said that using a knife to cut it is like cutting the thread of life.”
“That makes sense.”
“My mother likes superstitions related to life.”
Because Eun Soo was sick, her mother was obsessed with taboos related to life. She wouldn’t cut the string tying something with scissors, she would untie it by hand.
Having watched her mother’s behavior since she was young, Eun Soo also naturally developed the habit.
“If you find it annoying, you can just cut it with a knife.”
“Okay.”
“But why did you suddenly want to make seaweed soup?”
“Ah……”
“Whose birthday is it?”
“Well, I just wanted to make it once.”
“……I see.”
Eun Soo lowered her head. She thought she knew who Hyuk Joo wanted to make seaweed soup for.
Her nose tingled and her eyes felt prickly.
It was funny that she was soaked in the thrill of doing something with Hyuk Joo without knowing this.
Eun Soo bit her lip hard as she tore the seaweed soaked in water. Finding her calmness quickly, Eun Soo drizzled a generous amount of sesame oil into the pot.
“You need to stirfry the beef, garlic, and seaweed in sesame oil.”
“Is it okay if I record this in a video?”
“……You want to learn by watching the video?”
“Yes. That’s the plan.”
“Do as you please.”
Eun Soo started to stirfry the beef and seaweed with a poker face. She glanced at Hyuk Joo, who was recording her, and spoke.
“I usually season it lightly with salt and soy sauce for soup, but do you want me to tell you a secret?”
“A secret?”
“Yes. If you add about a spoonful of anchovy or sand lance fish sauce while stirfrying the beef and seaweed, it tastes much better.”
“I see.”
“Then all you need to do is pour in the kelp broth. Easy, right?”
“It seems easy but also seems difficult.”
“You’ll be able to do it easily if you try.”
“I hope so.”
“Do you want to have the seaweed soup for dinner since we made it?”
“Sure. I have an urgent email to send. Let’s eat right after I send that.”
“Okay.”
As soon as Hyuk Joo left the kitchen, Eun Soo turned on the rice cooker she had prepared earlier. It would take about 10 minutes for the rice to be ready, which seemed to match the time it would take for the seaweed soup to cook.
After setting the side dishes on the table, Eun Soo checked the seasoning of the seaweed soup.
It tasted a bit bland, but she thought it would be just right if it cooked a bit more in the high heat.
While cleaning up the messy kitchen, Hyuk Joo’s phone briefly vibrated.
Thinking it might be an urgent contact, Eun Soo’s gaze naturally went to the phone screen.
Seo Yeon Ji.
As soon as she saw those three characters, her vision blurred.
What day would next Thursday be that she mentioned it?
Eun Soo stared at the bubbling seaweed soup with empty eyes.
It must be Seo Yeon Ji’s birthday.
So that’s why he was trying to make seaweed soup in such a hurry.
At the sound of Hyuk Joo coming into the kitchen, Eun Soo turned her head. Washing her hands in the running water, she spoke to Hyuk Joo as if making an announcement.
“I’ll be going to Gangwon Province next Thursday.”
“Why Gangwon Province all of a sudden?”
“You know Dr. Hwang is buried at his villa in Gangwon Province, right?”
lu lu lo la ▪️ net (lululola.net)
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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