Half Sauce Half Fried needs a friend.
“Half Sauce Half Fried?” Lee Hyun tilted his head.
Wasn’t that distinctive name passed down from the chickens he raised at home?
He soon realized that she was talking about the chicken she had taken at the MT.
“You need a chicken?”
Seo-yoon nodded.
Lee Hyun didn’t hide his breath-choking tension and asked again. “A female that can lay eggs?”
Seo-yoon had just wanted to bring him a friend. She hadn’t thought of the gender divide in advance. However, since Half Sauce was a male, if it came down to it, bringing a female would be better. Seo-yoon nodded again.
At that, Lee Hyun’s eyes trembled. He was forcing himself to resist an incomparably anguished expression.
‘A laying female is more expensive… the one we’re raising right now in particular is the whelp that ate up half the balloon flower root I picked up in the mountain last time.’
[T/N: Balloon flower root is a common medicinal herb.]
Even so, if he calculated the price of the lunches, a single chicken could be considered fairly inexpensive.
Lee Hyun answered in the affirmative. “Alright. Well… I will bring her tomorrow.”
But Seo-yoon was shaking her head.
I want to bring her after seeing her myself.
At the contents of the note that she had prepared beforehand, Lee Hyun thought for a moment and agreed.
“Fine. You can pick her yourself.”
He was under the illusion that their relationship lacked trust.
‘It seems she wants to pick the best chicken since she’s packed many lunches. The most nutritious and expensive chicken.’
The chickens had been raised well to an extremely high caliber. The laying females would even fly around flapping their wings soon after laying an egg. Since they all had about the same value as the market price, he had permitted her to come to his house.
* * *
Lee Hyun walked with Seo-yoon all the way to his house.
The men who saw her on the street stood dumbly and rubbed their eyes several times before staring at her again. Both men and women were unable to take their eyes of them. They looked like they couldn’t believe their eyes as they stared at the far too beautiful Seo-yoon. Their gazes stolen by Seo-yoon, they couldn’t overcome their curiosity and studied the man who was walking by her side.
‘Just what kind of lucky person is walking around with a woman like that?’
Lee Hyun was extremely normal, and was wearing a well worn t-shirt and faded blue jeans.
‘Why is a bastard like that… did he seize some kind of vulnerability?!’
‘He’s rich! His family is definitely rich. He’s either a wealthy person with thousands of millions of Won at a young age or his inheritance is enormous.’
‘The power of love is great.’
Looks of jealousy and envy shot at him, but Lee Hyun stood firm whenever that happened. “Appearance isn’t everything in the world. The heart is important.” He knew Seo-yoon’s true identity. She was vicious, violent, and even underhanded. The worst, as far as her humanity went!
Even if her face was so pretty that it made breathing difficult, it was absolutely no good if you fell for her because of that.
“Even if a woman can cook pretty well, has a lot of money, is skinny, has a good figure, and is pretty, wears some pretty good clothing, and is smart, it’s not necessarily good.”
If she was bright enough to get into the University of Korea, then she had to be considered brilliant. Even though they took math together, Seo-yoon solved the practice problems in the workbook way too easily. She was even quick to understand and solve parts that the class was going nowhere with.
“In some ways, it’s more regrettable for me.” Lee Hyun walked with his head held high.
Seo-yoon was unexpectedly following him well. That she wasn’t wearing high heels was part of the reason, but her stride was also quite fast. At the simple thrill of going to Lee Hyun’s house, her face was flushed to the point where it was obvious. It was her first time visiting a man’s house, and she had happy expectations on what kind of chicken she should bring as a friend.
“We’re here.”
Lee Hyun went into a secluded neighborhood opened his own house’s door lock by lock. There were a whole 7 locks on the front door! A separate password and even a card key were required.
As Seo-yoon approached the doorway, Lee Hyun blocked the entrance with his body.
“I’ll say this in advance, but you can’t go into my house and just touch things. I know where everything is, okay?”
Lee Hyun was suspicious and even treated her like a thief! That was primarily because outsiders didn’t often come into his house. Choi Ji-hoon had sometimes visited while meeting Lee Hye-yeon, but she didn’t bring him that often after the electronics repairs ended.
Lee Hyun was on full guard.
Seo-yoon nodded. “…”
“Come in for now.”
Seo-yoon walked through the door.
Woof, woof, woof!
A big dog the size of a calf swiftly ran over, lay on his belly, and barked cutely. His adorable bark didn’t match his large physique.
The charm of Dogmeat, the name that Lee Hye-yeon had given him himself!
Lee Hyun explained hurriedly, “He’s a dog we’re raising. He’s an extremely dangerous fellow, so it’s safer to stay back.”
When Seo-yoon extended a lovely hand, Dogmeat even wagged his tail fiercely.
A dog’s sense of smell is 10,000 better than a human’s. He smelled the subdued fragrance of the short rib patties and the smell of the previously departed Half Sauce Half Fried on Seo-yoon and was going to be friendly with her.
Just like when dogs become instinctively wary when they see a dog meat trader, when he saw Seo-yoon, he came running in at the good feeling she gave off and was writhing in welcome. He was prancing around Seo-yoon wagging his tail as he enthusiastically marked his greeting of welcome.
Lee Hyun shouted, “Hey, hey! Stop that, Dogmeat, you’re gonna bite someone again, right? Just last week you bit someone and hospitalized them. No. Go away!”
Woof, woof.
Dogmeat just wagged his tail and quietly returned to his doghouse. Even after being falsely accused of having bit someone, Dogmeat was utterly docile.
‘A chicken is a few thousand Won at the market, but you can get 200 thousand Won ($~200) for a dog! Not on your life!’
Dogmeat had extraordinarily plump flesh and was exercised, so his muscles were good. They hadn’t even sold him when a dog meat dealer came and offered 350 thousand Won (~$350), so there was way too much of a shame to give him to Seo-yoon.
“…”
Seo-yoon approached a wire meshed enclosure with hasty steps. Within the wire mesh, rabbits were hopping around.