ALL NOVEL Chapter 57
Chapter 57
The Japanese restaurant across from the Hero Alliance headquarters building.
Though it didn’t seem like an old establishment, it was packed with customers even before noon, proving its popularity.
Looking at the menu on the wall, it seemed to offer dishes familiar to Koreans like tonkatsu and udon, as well as various types of Japanese-style rice bowls like gyudon and butadon, along with soup dishes.
“Hmm… this looks good. A cold udon with tonkatsu set.
What would you like, Lumi?”
Si-yoon, after carefully looking through the tablet kiosk on the table to decide on his own menu, handed it over to Lumi and asked.
“I… I’ll have the same, please.”
Lumi said she would have the same without even looking at the menu properly.
She didn’t have the luxury to think about what she wanted to eat at the moment.
‘Why do I keep stuttering like this?
I should show Si-yoon a proper side of me…!’
She tried her best to appear as a proper, upright woman and hero, but her constantly blushing face and stuttering speech only made her feel embarrassed.
‘Dohwa definitely said she was like ice, but she’s just cute, isn’t she?’
Of course, Si-yoon wasn’t particularly aware of or bothered by this fact.
“Then, two sets of tonkatsu cold udon… press the payment button… with a card.”
As Si-yoon pressed the payment button and took out his card to pay,
Lumi hurriedly pulled out her wallet to cancel the transaction.
“I… I said I would treat you…!”
“It’s fine. I invited you out when you’re busy, so I should pay.”
The menu wasn’t particularly expensive, and since he was the one who invited her out, he intended to pay despite what he said.
“Si-yoon… what do you do for a living?”
After ordering and paying, during the brief silence that followed,
Lumi gathered her courage to ask Si-yoon a question first.
And it was in a gentle, kind tone, not her usual stiff, official manner.
“Ah… I run a small cocktail bar.”
Si-yoon hid the fact that he was the leader of a villain organization,
introducing himself as running a small cocktail bar in S City.
The hideout of Utopia was actually decorated in a modern bar concept,
which was because Si-yoon favored such an ambiance and feel.
“Are you… by any chance, a superpower user?”
Although other citizens and agents didn’t see it due to the perfect angle of vision,
Lumi clearly saw the axe-spear stuck in the Executioner’s back.
“I could be called a superpower user, I suppose.
But it’s not something I particularly flaunt.”
“That’s not true…! You saved me.”
“The food is here!”
While Lumi was asking about Si-yoon’s abilities,
The quickly prepared food was placed on the table.
The cold udon to cool off the hot summer day,
and the Japanese-style tonkatsu with a crispy outside and juicy inside.
The scents of fresh lemon and savory oil from the tsuyu sauce wafted in the air.
“Thank you… I’ll enjoy this.”
“Yes! Enjoy your meal. Feel free to order more if it’s not enough.”
Si-yoon smiled lightly, picked up his utensils, and began to eat,
while Lumi was still trying to calm her trembling heart.
‘Calm down… it’s just a meal with an acquaintance.
Si-yoon is just one of those people.’
Trying to calm herself, she took a bite of the greasy tonkatsu, and carefully tasted the chewy noodles soaked in the cool tsuyu broth.
‘Delicious…’
The juice and oil dripping from the cross-section of the tonkatsu created a savory taste,
and the noodles were chewy yet not tough, their texture felt perfectly through her teeth.
“This is really delicious, isn’t it? It’s the best meal I’ve had in days!”
Lumi had only heard from headquarters staff that this place was good,
but she had never been there herself.
The fact that both she and Si-yoon liked this place they happened upon by chance,
Lumi finally relaxed, loosening her facial muscles, and began to eat more leisurely.
‘Delicious…’
For Lumi, who usually managed to eat modestly because of her busy missions and self-care,
tonkatsu and udon were common dishes, but to her, this was a hearty and special meal.
“Ah! It was really delicious.”
After a while of quiet, leisurely lunch, Lumi and Si-yoon both finished their meals, leaving their plates and bowls clean.
“I… I also enjoyed it, thank you.”
After leaving the restaurant, Lumi bowed deeply to Si-yoon, expressing her gratitude.
“Oh no! No need for that. I enjoyed the delicious meal thanks to you.”
Si-yoon gently placed his hand on Lumi’s shoulder, dismissing her thanks,
and instead thanked her for the enjoyable meal.
“Then… should you head back now? You must be busy.”
“Ah…! No! I mean, I decided to take a few more days off…”
“Oh! Really? Then do you want to hang out some more?”
“Hang out…?”
Lumi looked puzzled at the mention of hanging out,
as if she was more familiar with the ‘why’ of hanging out rather than the ‘how.’
“Yeah! We can have coffee, go to a karaoke, or look at clothes…
If you like games, we can go to a PC café or an arcade!”
‘Places I’ve never been to… what should I do?’
During her school days, Lumi was dedicated solely to her studies,
and after becoming a hero with her powers, she was always focused on work.
She knew what these places were, but she never had a personal reason or the time to visit them.
As they pondered their next move while walking around,
They found a bustling area that looked ideal for hanging out.
“That looks like a place where a lot of people hang out!
There’s a bubble tea shop and lots of other stuff. Let’s go!”
“Yikes?! Si, Si-yoon?!”
Si-yoon grabbed her hand and ran towards the lively district,
and Lumi, startled by the hand-holding, followed his steps.
Thus began Lumi and Si-yoon’s date.
“It’s super chewy, right? If you drink a lot, you’ll definitely gain weight!”
“Really…! It’s so sweet and… tasty.”
Lumi tried bubble tea for the first time,
and “How about this? It looks pretty funny, doesn’t it?”
“Huh…? Ahaha… it suits you.”
Looking at clothes she usually only bought online due to her busy schedule,
or laughing at the goofy accessories Si-yoon picked out.
One was a hero protecting the city,
the other a villain who hunted heroes and disrupted the city,
but from the outside, they looked like a couple just starting to feel the fresh excitement of love.
“Wow! Time has flown by.”
Engaging in various entertainments and snacks in the bustling area,
they hadn’t noticed the sun beginning to set.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“I’m fine…! I’m used to going to rough places on a regular basis.”
“As expected, a hero protecting the city is different!”
“And… Being with Si-yoon is fun.”
The Lumi that Si-yoon saw during the operation to subdue Chaeryeong had a face like a cold machine,
but the Lumi now, enjoying herself, had a truly lovely and cute expression.
“Are you… tired, Si-yoon?”
“Ahaha… Maybe because I usually spend quiet days in my shop,
I’m feeling a bit tired.”
“Oh, I see…”
When Si-yoon answered with a hint of fatigue in his tone,
Lumi seemed to wilt, thinking it might be because of her.
“Then… shall we rest somewhere else for a while before we go?”
“Rest somewhere… like where?”
They were standing in front of a rather luxurious-looking hotel,
the same hotel where Dohwa and Si-yoon had spent time together before.
“We can watch movies while resting comfortably… and since it’s almost dinner time, we can order in.
Nowadays, they call it ‘holidaying in a hotel,’ or ‘hocance’!”
“Oh! I see.”
‘Hotels were places to stay comfortably… but now they’re also for hanging out.’
Of course, Si-yoon had no intention of actually following through with what he suggested,
but Lumi, being completely uninitiated in the culture of leisure or nightlife, took Si-yoon’s words at face value.
‘I didn’t think she’d be this naive…’
Si-yoon thought Lumi would surely refuse,
and if she did, he planned to use his power to control her movements to take her there.
But when Lumi, after a brief moment of consideration, agreed,
he realized she was truly uninformed about anything not related to being a hero.
“Welcome! How may I assist you?”
The two, now naturally holding hands, entered the hotel looking every bit like a couple.