Gyeoul’s promise wasn’t too different from the other candidates, and unlike what Yu Jitae suggested, she promised to give out burgers upon election.
“Our Gyeoul is cute, so wouldn’t a lot of them choose her!?”
“No. I heard her image went to the gutters after selling stuff like a merchant.”
“But that’s only the kids in the same grade as her so that shouldn’t matter too much though?”
Her sisters said a line each as Gyeoul returned an awkward smile. It was hard to guess the results of the vote because she had been honest in her speech.
Yu Jitae took the kids and was on the way to the rented kitchen. They were going to now make 30 sample burgers that would be given to the students of her class.
Instead of lying about giving 1,000 burgers again, Gyeoul thought it would be better to give it to a small portion of students to raise their expectations.
That’s right. It was Gyeoul’s suggestion.
After arriving at the facility, they went in and found all sorts of cooking utensils and spices neatly arranged inside the large and clean kitchen.
“I looked up a recipe on the way here.”
It was when Bom was about to activate the hologram display of her watch.
“It’s fine,” Yu Jitae stopped her.
“Sorry?”
“I know how to make one.”
“Ehng? Really?”
Kaeul asked with an astonished voice. It was because Yu Jitae had never made a single burger during the 4 years or so of their time together.
Burger… was a dish he knew very well from a distant past.
Laying down the ingredients that he bought on the way here, Yu Jitae began to skilfully move his hands.
He sliced the lettuce to the desired size and created thin layers of tomato, as well as onions and pickles.
After that, he covered the pan with butter and cooked the buns until the sides turned yellow and crispy. The kitchen was soon filled with the mixed smell of cooked bread and butter.
“Hoh, what? Did you work at McDonalds before?”
“It smells amazing…”
His movements were so natural that the kids watched with amazement.
From what he could remember, the 2nd iteration was the last time he made this. It was such a long time ago but he was so used to making the burger that his body moved on its own.
Burgers…
It was mysterious; making this suddenly brought up the buried memories of the distant past.
1st iteration. When Yu Jitae was still leading his first life.
There was a long war. Monsters and superhumans flew around in the sky and the TV screens talked about the deaths of such and such people everyday.
In the midst of the war, a boy lost everyone in his family and became an orphan.
Back then, there were plenty of kids that were like that. Kids who lost their parents to the claws of the monsters, who were chased out onto the streets with their houses bombarded and left with nowhere to go.
Later, the boy did enter an orphanage and although the life at the orphanage was also extremely impoverished, the life before that in the streets was difficult to the point that he could have died anyday. It still faintly remained in a corner of his memories.
Like other beggars and orphans, he scavenged through bins to fill up his stomach, and survived by drinking the dirty river water. Sometimes, he had to fight other orphans for bins or lie down on the streets and suffer from a stomach ache.
One of his eyes was smacked by a beggar to the point that it could not be opened, and whenever it rained, he had to lie on the streets drenched with water with no roof above him and shiver in his sleep.
That was when he was 11 years old.
After starving for four straight days, when he was powerless and his vision was starting to fail him,
Yu Jitae’s feet made him reach a certain fast food restaurant that was at the corner of the main street. He smelled something ridiculous right when he was walking by the entrance.
The smell was both savoury and salty, that could immediately make anyone drool…
It was a shocking smell.
[Burgers]
As he blankly stared at the image of a burger that was hanging outside the store, someone opened the door and walked out. Startled, Yu Jitae quickly moved away, hid in an alley and pacified his fast-beating heart.
That’s a burger?
The burger that he last ate with his parents?
Impossible. The scent that he just smelled was incomparable to that burger from before and simply thinking of that smell made his heart race.
It was a smell that could drive people crazy.
“…”
Ever since that day, Yu Jitae began to observe the burger restaurant from a distance. Everyone that entered it were wearing military outfits – most of the ones with enough money to survive in these times of turmoil were superhumans.
Behind the transparent windows, superhumans ate the burgers, dipped fried potatoes in ketchup and sucked their drinks in.
Gulp…
He watched it while constantly gulping.
He didn’t know why or how but one day, he couldn’t endure it anymore and vacantly entered the restaurant towards its closing time. Then, he begged the owner for a burger.
Back then, Yu Jitae was extremely egoistic yet timid. He never begged for food even if it meant he had to starve but the unbelievable smell of the burger bent his ego.
‘This is a leftover. You can have it.’
And there, Yu Jitae met a benefactor.
After finishing the entire burger, he gave a bow and was about to leave when the owner of the store called him.
‘You’re the one that lives under the bridge over there right?’
‘How old are you? What happened to your parents?’
‘Hmm… Do you want to work here?’
She was a lady; an adult who was a lot older than him. He could no longer remember her name or appearance.
‘The government is going to build more orphanages and there’s going to be one more near this place. In around 3 months. So if you’re okay, let’s live together until that time comes.’
If he still had parents, they would be around her age. Because of that, Yu Jitae despite being always filled with caution, was able to lower his guards around her with a bit more ease.
The place he thought of as a store was in fact an area that was turned into a restaurant by remodelling her house. Walking past the door that was next to the kitchen, he saw two rooms and a bathroom.
She took Yu Jitae into the bathroom and washed him. And gave him food and a place to sleep. The next morning, she taught him how to make a burger and because he was skilled at moving his hands, Yu Jitae quickly learned the necessary skills.
‘I can’t give you any money though.’
It wasn’t like they would accept more customers with Yu Jitae helping out, and she wasn’t well off either. In one of the rooms was her older brother who had a very weak body. He was a nice person but he had a disability and had to ride a wheelchair.
Yu Jitae could remember seeing big bulky men come in the weekends shouting at her to pay off her debt.
Despite that, she provided Yu Jitae with endless kindness.
Whenever she had time, she took Yu Jitae and went to the nearby creeks and mountains for a picnic (she made Yu Jitae help her brother get on the car), and sometimes gave him allowances so that he could buy things he wanted to eat.
‘They are building another orphanage in Nonhyun-dong next month. You can head there.’
And showed him a direction.
There was something Yu Jitae always wanted to ask. It was something he couldn’t ask because of his timid personality.
‘Great job working until now.’
A question that he couldn’t voice out loud, that stayed holed up in his mind until the day of their separation.
‘Thanks for everything…’
Saying that, he turned around.
But he suddenly thought that he would never get to ask the question if he didn’t ask it now, so the 11-year-old Yu Jitae turned around and called her as she was about to get in her car.
“Wait…!”
It was then. Kaeul’s voice put an end to his trail of thought. Her eyes were filled with doubt.
“Huh?”
“What meat is that by the way?”
“Why.”
“It doesn’t look like beef, or pork?”
“Ah… it’s something tasty.”
Yu Jitae shook off the memories of the past. It was a meaningless recollection.
In any case, the key to this strategy was the meat.
The meat he had prepared was that of a baby minotaur. It was tremendously savoury, and the meat was both chewy and soft. It was the king of delicacy that had yet to be known to the public. In around 10 years, people would discover this and make it public but it was currently known to practically no-one.
With ease, he sliced off a portion of it, blended it and mixed them together. After seasoning it with salt and pepper, he placed it above the fire without oil as the savoury smell that forced people to drool spread across the kitchen.
It was due to this fabulous smell that baby minotaurs were hard to find in dungeons. This scent was the result of its mana attributes and the other beasts also knew how delicious it was.
Yu Jitae added the layers one by one and the burger was soon complete.
“Woah…! That looks insane…!”
“What? Let me see, let me see.”
Yeorum and Kaeul approached with a startled look on their faces. Both the appearance and the smell were perfect.
“Ahnngg~”
He divided it into four portions and handed them to the kids. After taking a bite of the burger, Kaeul was incredibly shocked and created a fuss.
“Wow, wow, wow…! This is crazy. This is crazy…!”
“Hahh, sex…”
Yeorum also enjoyed it tremendously, which was very rare to see. Both Bom and Gyeoul were also surprised and praised Yu Jitae for the burger.
“Would this do?”
“…Yes yes. Yes yes.”
It was hard to see a reaction like this out of Gyeoul and fortunately, it seemed that the kids were quite enjoying it.
“Let’s make it together then.”
*
Things were finished in the blink of an eye after that.
They made thirty samples and delivered them to the kids of her class who were shocked after having a taste of the burger.
“It’s insane…”
“Super nice… ridiculously nice…”
“Someone made this? Who?”
Gyeoul replied with a bright smile on her face. It was only at school that she could say it.
Opening her mouth, she said, “My daddy.”
“Aht, him…”
“Ahh…”
After remembering the scary daddy, her friends suddenly began a debate on what meat this could be.
Kids were honest and were quick to move. The story of the ridiculously delicious burger spread from her classmates to the entire grade, and those students who had younger siblings at the same school persuaded them by talking about how great it was.
Time passed quickly until the day of the election.
And thanks to all the hard work, Gyeoul was elected as the school captain.
After that, Yu Jitae and the kids made burgers for two straight days but it was nothing difficult for the Regressor and the dragons. The burgers led to further astonishments after reaching the school.
“…Kuhi.”
Gyeoul laughed.
“…Kuhihi.”
With each of her hands carrying 500 dollars.
“…Kihihihihihh!”
She ran up to Bom and fanned her face with the bundles of cash.
“Do you like it that much?”
“…Nn.”
“How much?”
“…I can, die in peace.”
Bom giggled in response.
Soon, Gyeoul turned towards Yeorum with a serious look on her face. Yu Jitae had paid the rent but not the labour costs.
Yeorum had worked hard for 20 hours, and her hourly rate was 5 dollars.
She walked towards her. As soon as the red pair of eyes looked back into her eyes, Gyeoul gazed at her as if she was looking at a bug and opened her mouth.
“You, sly, little fox.”
Yeorum thought she was hearing things.
“…Do you think, you are the first, of your kind?”
“What d’you say?”
“…You approached, my Jitae, because of money… no?”
Saying that, she handed her a hundred dollar note and only then did Yeorum realise what she was doing.
The source of all trouble was the morning drama that she had seen a few days ago. It seemed that the scene of the mother-in-law giving money had left quite an impression in her mind.
“You’re such a kid…”
Gyeoul chuckled out loud and this time, ran towards Kaeul who received her with a wide smile on her face. After congratulating each other, they stuck their heads together and whispered about something.
“Then, how much more do we need?”
“…Nn? Ahh.”
Yeorum looked at the two kids before shaking her head. She had no idea why they were so excited and giggly.
Lastly, the child went to Yu Jitae.
Gyeoul dashed up to him. She stood in front of him and carefully counted each of the notes before extending her arms with 800 dollars in hand.
“…”
There was a resolute look on her face.
“What is it. Is this a repayment?”
“…Yes.”
“Why are you giving it to me. I don’t need it.”
“…But ahjussi …did everything.”
But to think the petty Yu Gyeoul would give him so much money… thinking that, Yu Jitae reached out and grabbed the cash.
However, there was a slight retaliation.
Gyeoul glared daggers at his hands and stubbornly held onto the notes.
When he stopped his hands, Gyeoul went ‘oops’ and gazed at his eyes again, with her eyes shamelessly telling him to hurry and take them.
So he tried to pull the cash away but was again met with faint resistance.
Why was she trying to give it despite subconsciously wishing to hold onto it so badly?
That was the question on his mind but on the other hand, her attitude brought his mind back to the distant memories that had resurfaced while he was making the burgers.
‘Wait…’
Everything from back then was faint. The old lady’s face, her clothes, name, background, time, season. Everything…
But one thing – her words still vividly remained in his memories.
‘Why were you so nice to me?’
‘I am a beggar. An orphan.’
‘I might not be able to repay this favour ever in my life.’
The young Yu Jitae asked the old lady in a time that would never come back to him, and in response, the lady replied with a smile.
‘When I was your age, I was lost in a foreign country.’
‘That was when a missionary from the Philippines took me in, gave me food and a shelter, while asking for nothing in return.’
‘I appreciated it so much and asked him. Why did you help me out so much? And this is what he told me.’
‘When he was young and troubled himself, someone helped him the same way.’
The smell and taste of the burger he received from her on the day they met was shocking.
But the words she left behind on the day they parted was even more shocking than the burger she gave him.
‘You don’t have to repay the favour.’
‘But if you see a child that needs help.’
‘Help them out at least once.’
It was something Yu Jitae from back then could not understand. It was a bizarre form of ‘altruism’.
The world had then changed.
It was almost impossible to see starving children in the streets. Besides, for him to have such a selfless mindset, the life he had led was too long and strenuous. He became too selfish to help others out of pure goodwill and was not wise enough to enlighten others either.
His eyes lowered and faced the small hands of the child that were holding 800 dollars.
However, he thought that maybe Gyeoul would be different.
“I don’t need it so you can keep it.”
“…Really?”
“Instead, can you hold my hand?”
“…Nn?”
After holding his hand, Gyeoul widened her eyes into circles. The things he experienced were conveyed from his hazy memories into her head.
With a startled look on her face, she looked at Yu Jitae.
“Later if you see a child that needs your help, help them out at least once.”
The burger in the past was an encouragement to his life.
“Okay?”
The encouragement of a person he didn’t know was conveyed down from a certain middle-aged woman to him; and from him down to Gyeoul.
“…Okay.”
And in the future, it would reach someone he didn’t know.