I am not a Yandere chapter 56

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It was strange, but Jihoon brushed it off, figuring the man must be introverted.

Finally, the man left the shop.

“What was that about? You were talking with that customer for quite a while.”

As soon as the man walked out, Yeongdeok, who had been in the kitchen, approached Jihoon.

“Was it a complaint?”

“No, nothing like that. He just asked me to tell you the chicken was delicious.”

“Well, of course it was. I made it. Took him long enough to state the obvious.”

“…Right.”

Jihoon felt exasperated by Yeongdeok’s overconfidence and glanced at the door the customer had just exited.

“There was something a bit off about that guy.”

“What do you mean?”

Jihoon recalled the man who had hidden himself the moment Yeongdeok turned around.

“When you turned around, he suddenly hid. Are you sure you don’t know him? Any guesses?”

“Nope. But anyway.”

Yeongdeok gestured toward the messy table with a nod.

It was his way of saying, “Stop talking nonsense and clean up already.”

When you’re told to clean, you clean.

Jihoon sighed about his situation and grabbed a disinfectant spray and cloth, rushing to the table.

A tumultuous year had come to an end, and January 1st marked a fresh start.

As the New Year dawned, the group chats Yeongdeok was part of became lively.

Beautiful Life Chat Room

[Gwakdupal: Happy New Year, everyone! I’m an adult now! I can finally buy alcohol and cigarettes! Ha-ha!]

[DaerimdongFist: Happy New Year~ I’ve been waiting for this day for so long…]

[DaerimdongFist: If you have time later, Mr. Kwak, let’s grab a drink.]

[DaerimdongFist: Seonwoo and Yeongdeok Chicken, you guys wanna join?]

[Seonwoo: I’m not sure… I might start getting busy soon. :(]

[DaerimdongFist: What about you, Yeongdeok Chicken?]

[Seonwoo: You shouldn’t count on him either. He doesn’t drink soju or beer, only the expensive stuff.]

[Gwakdupal: Wow, must be loaded.]

After waking up, Yeongdeok checked the chatroom and scrolled through over 100 new messages, which got more ridiculous as he read.

[Gwakdupal: If I bow at Yeongdeok Chicken’s place, will I get New Year’s money? LOL]

[DaerimdongFist: (Puppy eyes emoji looking at James)]

[Seonwoo: Would he give you money? He’d probably tell you to get lost for bothering his business.]

[Gwakdupal: Then will you give me some, Seonwoo?]

[Seonwoo: Me? I’ll consider it depending on how sincere your bow is.]

[Gwakdupal: LOL, as if you’re really gonna give me anything.]

[Seonwoo: Caught me?]

After skimming through the messages, Yeongdeok quickly typed back.

[You all talk too much.]

[Gwakdupal: Yeongdeok Chicken is here!]

[DaerimdongFist: (Happy New Year emoji)]

[DaerimdongFist: I bowed with an emoji, so where’s my New Year’s money?]

[Gwakdupal: Me too! (Happy New Year emoji)]

[Yeongdeok Chicken: Ridiculous.]

This chatroom was always noisy. But it wasn’t the only one.

Meeting Pot Chat Room

[Park Haemin: Happy New Year!]

[Kim Dalsu: Happy New Year~~]

[Kim Dalsu: I wish you tons of luck!!!!]

[Kim Dalsu: (Trumpet emoji)]

[Kim Dalsu: (Trumpet emoji)]

[Kim Dalsu: (Trumpet emoji)]

[Kim Dalsu: (Trumpet emoji)]

[Kim Dalsu: (Trumpet emoji)]

‘I shouldn’t have checked this one.’ Yeongdeok quickly exited the chatroom.

After reading all the messages, Yeongdeok finally got out of bed, tied his apron, and stood in the kitchen.

He was trying to recreate the curry chicken Jihoon had given him for Christmas when his phone buzzed again.

It was a text from Jihoon.

[Seo Jihoon: Hey.]

[Seo Jihoon: I made tteokguk. Wanna come over and eat?]

[Seo Jihoon: I accidentally made too much.]

Yeongdeok looked at the curry chicken he had just made and thought it was perfect timing.

[Got it. I’ll bring the chicken I just made.]

[Seo Jihoon: If you bring mint, chocolate, strawberry, banana, or watermelon-flavored chicken, you’re banned from my place.]

[Yeongdeok Chicken: You’re being too harsh on an innocent chicken.]

[Seo Jihoon: No, you’re the one being harsh. Just hurry up and come.]

After that, Jihoon didn’t text again.

Proudly holding the chicken he made, Yeongdeok headed to Jihoon’s house.

The door was already open, and the smell of meat soup wafted into the hallway.

As soon as Yeongdeok stepped inside and closed the door, Jihoon, without showing his face, called out from the kitchen.

“Cha Yeongdeok, you’re here?”

Yeongdeok walked into the kitchen and placed the chicken on the table.

Stirring the tteokguk with a ladle, Jihoon frowned at the sight of the chicken taking up the center of the table.

“Chicken with tteokguk?”

“It’s curry chicken.”

Jihoon muttered, “Thank God it’s not fruit-flavored,” and ladled out a portion of tteokguk, placing it in front of Yeongdeok before serving himself.

As they sat, Yeongdeok poked at the tteokguk with his spoon.

“There’s no poison in it. Just eat it already.”

“It doesn’t look great. Couldn’t you have made it prettier?”

“It all looks the same once it’s in your stomach. Every time you complain, I get the urge to flick your forehead.”

“Sounds like you want to get sued.”

Yeongdeok, after speaking, fished out a piece of rice cake from the soup and popped it into his mouth.

Jihoon, feeling like he was being judged by a food critic, tensed up as he watched Yeongdeok, awaiting his verdict.

“How is it?” Jihoon asked.

Yeongdeok considered the taste.

The chicken porridge he had before was bland, but this wasn’t too bad.

“For something you made, it’s not bad.”

“Could you drop the ‘for something you made’ part? Honestly, you’re so tactless.”

“But the chicken porridge last time was…”

“That one was meant to be bland, I told you.”

Jihoon, grumbling about how long Yeongdeok would keep bringing up the past, started eating too after seeing him take another piece of rice cake from the soup.

He swallowed his frustration and began his meal.

Only the faint clattering of dishes could be heard in the kitchen.

Jihoon glanced at Yeongdeok, who ate with such elegance that even something as simple as eating seemed refined.

Yeongdeok swallowed everything in his mouth before speaking.

“I’d appreciate it if you could focus on your own meal instead of staring.”

“I just find it fascinating watching you eat tteokguk, that’s all.”

“You find a lot of things fascinating.”

“So, what’s up with this chicken?”

Jihoon grabbed a chicken leg Yeongdeok had brought and sniffed it.

The smell was surprisingly good.

“It’s curry chicken. Didn’t you give me the idea before?”

“Oh, that.”

Curry with tteokguk?

It seemed like an odd combination, but Jihoon took a bite of the chicken leg anyway.

His eyes lit up.

“Wow, this is really good.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah, make more of this from now on, please. No more weird stuff.”

Weird stuff?

Yeongdeok never made anything weird.

Everything was made with carefully selected ingredients.

Yeongdeok shot Jihoon a sharp look, but Jihoon, ignoring him, grabbed a chicken wing this time.

Soon, both the chicken and the tteokguk were gone, and Jihoon stood up to do the dishes.

“That was great.”

“Glad you think so.”

“And Happy New Year.”

Even though it was already the umpteenth time today he’d heard those words, Yeongdeok couldn’t help but feel strange.

Up until last year—no, up until before they returned to this round—Christmas and New Year’s were just like any other day, passing by without much thought.

But now that Jihoon and others celebrated these special days, Yeongdeok couldn’t help but feel dragged into it too, as if today really was something special.

Though it shouldn’t feel that way.

“This is weird.”

“What is?”

Just as Jihoon asked, puzzled, Yeongdeok’s phone buzzed again.

[Rose: Wishing everyone a Happy New Year! Hope all your goals come true!]

[Natsuyama Soseki: Happy New Year!]

[Earth destroyer: Happy New Year. I’m a senior in high school now, lol… I want to die.]

“It’s just odd how people never fail to celebrate every little holiday. Isn’t it a waste of time?”

“Ugh.”

Jihoon let out a deep sigh, thinking that Yeongdeok still had a long way to go before becoming a decent human being, as he put on rubber gloves and started scrubbing the dishes.

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