* * *
By the time all his furniture was moved inside in the afternoon, Dowon decided to postpone unpacking and went out to buy some rice cakes.
Since there was no place nearby that sold rice cakes, Dowon, after some searching, headed to the closest market.
He had never been to a traditional market before and felt out of place in the warm, friendly atmosphere that filled the market.
After wandering around for a while, he finally found a shop that sold rice cakes.
“What kind of rice cake do people give when they move in?”
Dowon asked the vendor, who pointed to rice cake.
“rice cake will do. How many do you need?”
Just as Dowon was about to buy the rice cake as the vendor suggested, he was distracted by the colorful rice cakes next to it.
“What kind of rice cake is this?”
“That’s mujigae-tteok (rainbow rice cake). Want that instead?”
“Mujigae-tteok?”
Dowon found the brightly colored mujigae-tteok more appealing than the plain dark steamed rice cake.
That dark one seemed too much like an obsessive character. Dowon bought up all the mujigae-tteok in the shop and returned home.
As the once-blue sky began to turn red, Dowon stood in front of Jihoon’s house and knocked on the door.
But there was no response.
Maybe he’s too dumb to notice? With no other choice, Dowon kept knocking and ringing the doorbell.
Finally, Jihoon, unable to bear it any longer, opened the door in a fit of irritation.
“What? What do you want? Get lost!”
“Here, take this.”
Dowon handed Jihoon a large plastic bag filled with mujigae-tteok.
Jihoon scowled and knocked the bag away. The bag fell to the ground, and its contents spilled out all over the place.
“How do I know what this is? Why should I just accept it?”
“For someone your size, you sure scare easily. Are you afraid of rainbow rice cakes?”
“Damn it.”
Jihoon punched his front door with such force that the loud, dull sound echoed through the hallway, but Dowon just watched him calmly.
“Fine, whatever. I can’t tell you to leave now that you’ve moved in. Just please live quietly. I’m tired of arguing with you every time. Let’s just pretend we don’t know each other and live our lives.”
“I’ll have to decline. I want to get along with you from now on.”
Dowon smiled crookedly, thinking about how getting closer to Jihoon could make PetitRollang faint from frustration. Seeing Dowon’s smile, full of hidden motives, Jihoon’s shoulders trembled.
“They say giving rice cakes is a good way to build a strong relationship with your neighbor.”
Dowon bent down and picked up all the rice cakes that had fallen out of the bag.
Normally, he would never bother with such a tedious task, but from now on, he decided to do everything that the character “Cha Dowon” in the novel would never do, just to be contrary.
To take revenge on PetitRollang.
That was Dowon’s new goal in this second chance at life.
“I wanted to give you something nice and colorful, so I prepared these. Please accept them.”
Dowon extended the bag to Jihoon once again. Jihoon’s brow furrowed deeply.
“You crazy bastard… Eat it all yourself, you lunatic.”
Jihoon flipped him off and slammed the door shut, disappearing from Dowon’s sight in an instant.
“Hm.”
Dowon couldn’t understand why Jihoon was so angry.
He had offered to forget their past animosities and get along, so shouldn’t Jihoon be grateful?
“Such a hothead.”
Dowon thought that getting along with Seo Jihoon wouldn’t be easy and opened the door to his own house.
Inside, he was greeted by the colorful furniture placed all around.
Though this rented house wasn’t entirely his, Dowon liked it better than his previous, more desolate one.
He walked over to the sky-blue table with a cloud pattern and poured all the mujigae-tteok from the bag.
Curious about the taste, he took some utensils and cut off small pieces to try. The rice cakes were sweet and chewy, quite tasty.
However, he had expected each color to have a different flavor, and he was disappointed that they all tasted the same.
He had quit his job, moved into a new house, and now Dowon thought it was time to start preparing to open a chicken shop.
ꔚ
Chicken, frying powder, and…
A few days after moving in, Dowon went to a nearby mart to buy ingredients to make fried chicken.
He placed his selected items on the counter.
The cashier scanned each item, and the price appeared on the screen.
“Do you have a membership number?”
“Membership? What’s that?”
“If you collect points, we can deduct the amount from your total payment.”
Dowon racked his brain to recall if there was any obsessive character in the novels he had read who had made a membership number.
As far as Dowon could remember, there was none.
“How do you make one?”
The cashier handed Dowon a piece of paper and a pen, asking him to write down his phone number and name. Dowon carefully filled in the requested information.
“The last digits of your phone number will be your membership number from now on.”
“I see.”
“Your total is 58,000 won.”
Dowon opened his wallet and confidently took out a 50,000 won note and a 10,000 won note.
An obsessive character paying with cash—this should lose this trashy novel about ten readers.
Dowon received his change and left the mart.
ꔚ
Back home, Dowon laid out the ingredients on the kitchen table and searched for chicken recipes online.
Several YouTube videos popped up. Dowon clicked on one, where a warm-voiced man carefully demonstrated how to make fried chicken step by step. Dowon took notes on everything the man said.
“Marinate the chicken first, and the oil…”
Given his character’s brilliant mind, Dowon was good at most things he learned once, and learning from YouTube was no exception.
Within a few hours, Dowon had made his first batch of fried chicken and tasted it.
Although it wasn’t as good as what he had eaten at chicken restaurants, it was satisfactory for a first attempt.
Not stopping there, Dowon looked up other recipes and immersed himself in making fried chicken over and over again.
After several days and numerous attempts, Dowon finally discovered the perfect recipe for fried chicken.
“Hmm, not bad.”
Tasting the freshly made chicken, Dowon wondered how it would taste to someone else.
Dowon was not the type to waste time just thinking about things.
He was a man of action. He immediately grabbed the chicken he made and went next door to knock.
Knock, knock.
Though the knocking was clear, Jihoon didn’t open the door.
Maybe he didn’t hear it?
Thinking that might be the case, Dowon rang the doorbell noisily, and finally, Jihoon opened the door with a face full of annoyance.
“Please, just stop coming over.”
“I’ve made some fried chicken. I’d like you, with your cheap taste, to try it.”
“What the hell are you, some kind of damned chicken? Get lost.”
Jihoon tried to shut the door, but Dowon, like Wonjin had done before, wedged his foot into the gap.
A struggle ensued, with the door as their battleground.
“You crazy bastard. If you break your ankle, it’s not my responsibility, got it?”
“Just taste it, and I’ll leave quietly.”
“Why should I eat it when I don’t even know what’s in it?”
“Oil, chicken batter, chicken. Oh, and the chicken is from Hwarim.”
“I wasn’t asking about the ingredients! Just get lost already!”
Jihoon angrily pulled on the doorknob, but Dowon didn’t back down, and the tussle continued.
Eventually, exhausted from his anger, Jihoon gave in, suppressing his frustration that had reached its peak.
“Damn it… Fine, just give it here. Let me taste this so-called amazing chicken.”
“So, you’re going to eat it?”
“No, you’re the one who said to eat it. Just give it to me and stop being annoying.”
“Here you go.”
When Jihoon opened the front door, Dowon thrust a plate of chicken through the gap.
Jihoon couldn’t believe he was doing this, but he grabbed a chicken leg and took a bite.
Soon, an unenthusiastic critique spilled from his mouth.
“It’s really awful.”
“I made it, so that can’t be right. Stop lying.”
“This isn’t a debate. I’m not lying, so get lost already.”
“Maybe it’s because you only took one bite. Try another.”
“You said you’d leave if I gave a taste test. Keep your word, you jerk.”
“But didn’t you give a half-hearted review?”
Argh!
A scream welled up in Jihoon’s throat.
He felt like he was going to lose his mind but reluctantly took another bite.
“Wow. So delicious. Happy now? Now please, just get lost.”
Chewing the chicken like it was gum, he gave a lackluster assessment in a voice dripping with annoyance.
* * *
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Enemies/rival to lovers? 🤭
Jajajja los amo a los dos por ser tan cabezotas
He’s so annoyed like a wild cat or some that’s cute tho lol
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Thank you
Thanks for the chapter
and then they were neighbors ….
What i like about this novel is that it shows Dowon failing and trying again until he actually gets good at it. Its just so satisfying! It wouldve been boring if he immediately got the hang of every new thing he tries
They’re so cute ☺️🤭
Mereka sangat lucu 😭
Hello
Thank you
Cuutee
Wow