They Told Me to Build Good Karma by Selling Side Dishes - Chapter 30

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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30. School Lunch Box (4)

“I… just one more….”

Song Ae-hyuk blocked Jung Cheon-ru with his chopsticks and asked.

“…what does it taste like? You should tell us.”

Only then did Jung Cheon-ru seem to come to his senses and offer his review.

“This… this squash leaf wrap itself is insane! The moment I took a bite, the squash aroma just burst across my mouth, you know? But if I eat one more, I think I’ll really understand it properly….”

The moment Jung Cheon-ru reached for his chopsticks again, the twins lifted the lunch box up high. As a result, Jung Cheon-ru’s hand only flailed through empty air.

“You two are stingy, really stingy…. Your friend wants to eat one more, so why are you blocking the lunch box….”
“…we’re helping you with your diet.”

Song Ae-hyuk set the lunch box down with a decisive tap, driving the point home.

“Eating one wrap isn’t a diet, it’s a miracle. Can’t I just have one braised beef?”
“Have mine.”

Song Ae-rim offered her lunch box.

“Just taste it for me, Your Majesty.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I shall taste it for you.”

Jung Cheon-ru exaggerated a deep bow and picked up his chopsticks.

“Very well.”

Song Ae-rim tilted her head with her chin resting in her hand. Jung Cheon-ru picked up a glistening piece of braised beef and popped it into his mouth.

“Mmmmm!!”

The moment the seasoning touched my tongue, my cheeks flushed with heat.

“Why? Why, why!”

Jung Cheon-ru couldn’t answer Song Ae-rim’s question. The spicy-sweet flavor had wrapped around his tongue completely. He could only gesture at the braised pork with his chopsticks, shaking them helplessly.

“This—this is a crime if you don’t eat it with rice!”
“A crime? Really?”
“Absolutely a crime!”

The students nearby, watching Jung Cheon-ru’s animated reaction to the food, began to murmur among themselves.

“Wow, it really does look delicious.”
“Is he just saying it’s good because he’s on a diet?”
“No way—where does that lunch box come from?”

As the whispers continued around her, Song Ae-rim finally couldn’t hold back any longer and picked up her chopsticks.

“You’re really not going to eat?”
“I’ve got my chopsticks now.”
“Ah, yes. Please do try it.”

Song Ae-rim gazed down at the lunch box, seized by an indescribable feeling. It was like a work of art completed in rainbow hues.

As if her eyes had already consumed the meal.

“Ahem.”

Jung Cheon-ru signaled for her to taste it quickly.

“Got it!”

Song Ae-rim extended her chopsticks, picked up a piece of braised pork, and placed it on a zucchini leaf wrap. She placed the wrap in her mouth and chewed carefully, but her expression soon grew subtly troubled.

“Song Ae-rim, doesn’t it taste good?”
“That’s not… it.”

Song Ae-rim chewed the zucchini leaf wrap while blinking rapidly. A memory surfaced—Grandmother Hyang-suk wrapping vegetable side dishes for the twins when they were young and couldn’t eat greens well.

“Why?”
“Try the pumpkin leaf wraps.”

Song Ae-hyuk cleared his throat awkwardly and placed a pumpkin leaf wrap in his mouth.

“…Yeah.”
“Right?”

The twins understood each other with just a glance. Both fell silent, their chopsticks the only thing moving.

Memories bloomed unexpectedly on the tip of my tongue.

But that bittersweet moment didn’t last long.

“Hey, me too. Me too! Can’t I just have one bite? Our parents….”
“This lunch box is huge. Can we try some too?”

Students gathered around, and soon they’d formed a complete circle. Their eyes gleamed like starving beasts. Song Ae-rim gripped her chopsticks and cried out.

“No way!”

Chopsticks were already stretching toward the lunch box from all directions—unstoppable. In an instant, a line of rolled egg and a piece of fried sausage vanished.

“My lunch box is disappearing!”
“…Yeah.”

The classroom had already descended into chaos over the lunch box.

“What are you all doing?”
“Teacher!”

The homeroom teacher, who’d been waving hello, saw Song Ae-rim calling for help and her eyes widened at the sight of the lunch box.

“Did your parents make this?”

Song Ae-hyuk answered.

“…A side dish shop owner we know made it for us.”
“A side dish shop?”

The lunch box was larger and more generously filled than any ordinary convenience store container, and even the homeroom teacher swallowed hard at the sight.

“Where is this shop?”

Song Ae-rim answered simply.

“Hyang-suk’s Side Dish Shop.”

***

The afternoon was giving way to evening.

I was busy trimming vegetables in the Kitchen, though an anxious feeling gnawed at me.

“They… enjoyed it, didn’t they?”

I steadied myself as I sliced the lettuce, sesame leaves, and zucchini on the cutting board with practiced strokes. My knife work was as fluid as always, yet beneath the counter, my legs trembled with nervous energy.

“Sigh…”

I was just wiping my brow with my apron when—

Tap, tap—

I sensed a presence outside the shop.

“Who’s here?”

I glanced up toward the shop entrance. The twins stood side by side, having come straight from school. Their hands were clasped together, and their expressions looked resolute, as if they’d made some solemn decision.

‘Why do they look like that?’

Had I teased them too harshly?

I quickly wiped my hands and opened the door.

“Did you bring the lunch box?”

Song Ae-rim held something out from behind her back.

“This is a lunch box, isn’t it?”

The lunch box gleamed pristinely after being washed, sparkling as though it were brand new.

“It was delicious.”

Song Ae-rim murmured carefully.

“…Thank you.”

Song Ae-hyuk chimed in beside her. It seemed they’d rushed home right after school to wash it.

“I’m so grateful you cleaned it so thoroughly.”
“We felt bad just returning it after getting a free meal, so we wanted to do something.”
“How was the lunch box itself?”

The twins exchanged a glance before answering.

“It was, it was delicious.”
“…It was really delicious.”

The twins offered an honest response.

“The food suited your palate perfectly?”
“Somehow it matched our taste exactly. The squash leaf wraps were especially delicious.”
“Why the squash leaf wraps?”

Song Ae-rim answered hesitantly.

“It reminded us of the wraps Grandmother Hyang-suk used to make. Since we’ve traveled around eating here and there, we’d grown to dislike vegetables. But really, you don’t need to make us lunch boxes next time….”

Don’t need to make lunch boxes?

“Even if I want to?”

The twins nodded simultaneously.

“It’s just….”

Song Ae-rim hesitated for a moment before speaking quietly.

“I’m afraid we’d become dependent on you….”

It was unexpected.

‘Dependent?’

They were still at an age where they needed an adult’s care. Yet the words coming from a high school student’s mouth were far too mature. Or rather, it wasn’t maturity so much as….

“We can manage our own meals. We’re grown now… We can’t keep imposing on you, and we know we’re a burden….”

It seemed less like a willful determination to stand on their own and more like something they’d learned out of necessity—having no one else to lean on. Watching the twins, I couldn’t help but think of something.

“You can depend on me.”

The twins’ eyes widened simultaneously as they looked at me.

“Kim Myeong-ja showed me tremendous kindness. She helped with the shop, she cared for me—so this lunch box is my way of repaying that debt.”
“…!”
“The fact that you two accept my lunch box is actually something I’m grateful for, you know?”

I smiled brightly. It was just a matter of reading the room.

“…But we received help from Grandmother Hyang-suk when we were little.”

I shook my head and placed my hands on my hips.

“Then it’s simple. You two can help me out later, that’s all.”

Why make it so complicated?

“Huh?”
“…Yes?”

The twins looked confused by what I meant. I held up the lunch box.

“Just accept it comfortably, thinking you’ll repay me later. Got it? What do you want in your lunch box tomorrow?”

The twins still looked bewildered, as if they hadn’t quite grasped the situation.

“We’re… really allowed to do that…?”

Song Ae-rim asked hesitantly.

“Yeah. You can.”

Song Ae-hyuk, who had been quiet until now, suddenly burst out as if he’d been holding back his words for far too long.

“…Kimchi fried rice.”

He spoke so quickly that for a moment I thought I’d misheard him.

“Kimchi fried rice?”
“…Yes. With egg too…”

The quiet way he added that somehow struck me as amusing.

“Kimchi fried rice is easy enough.”

I nodded and pulled out my smartphone, ready to take notes.

“What about you, Ae-rim?”
“Um, um… Ae-rim…”
“What would you like to eat?”

Song Ae-rim wound her hair around her finger nervously before answering in a small voice.

“Zucchini pancakes.”
“Zucchini?”
“Grandmother Hyang-suk used to… make them for us often.”

Combined with her timid delivery, the words felt all the more sincere. I quickly jotted it down in my notes.

==========
Kimchi fried rice
Zucchini pancakes
==========

“Fine. Pick one more thing—just one.”

I deliberately folded down my fingers one by one, offering hints.

“Stir-fried, seasoned, fried—anything works. Close your eyes and think of what comes to mind first.”

The twins answered at almost the same moment.

“Japchae.”
“Japchae.”

Their eyes widened as they looked at each other in surprise.

“Ugh.”
“Blegh.”

Watching them bicker like children, I couldn’t help but smile.

“All right, I’ll add japchae to the list. We already make it as a side dish anyway. Come pick it up tomorrow morning.”
“Won’t japchae be too much trouble?”

Song Ae-rim’s voice carried an oddly serious tone, though her speech remained slow and blunt.

“It’s no trouble at all. Actually, making it in bulk works better for me.”

At my casual response, Song Ae-rim jabbed Song Ae-hyuk in the ribs beside her.

“She says japchae is easy.”
“I don’t know….”

Song Ae-hyuk turned his gaze away, looking troubled.

“Tell Kim Myeong-ja that the lunch box was delicious.”

The twins nodded in unison.

“This is something your grandmother asked me to do because of you two. Now go on.”

I waved my hand lightly in farewell. The twins bowed and disappeared across the street. Only then did my tension ease, and a sigh escaped naturally.

‘I’m glad they enjoyed it.’

Even my legs, which had trembled with anxiety as I imagined the scene alone in the kitchen, finally felt calm.

***

Just as I was finishing the side dishes, a savory aroma of bread wafted through the air. When I looked, Kim Myeong-ja was waving bread outside the shop.

“Grandmother!”

I quickly opened the door and greeted Kim Myeong-ja warmly.

“Ji-gu! Try this! It’s the bread I’m planning to serve when I open, and your palate is the most reliable. Take it quickly!”

Inside the paper bag were freshly baked, warm, delicious breads. The outside was golden brown, but it looked so soft it would sink if I touched it.

“Wow! I’ll enjoy it!”

I accepted the paper bag with both hands and smiled.

“The twins said they enjoyed the lunch boxes. It’s thanks to you.”
“It’s my honor!”

Kim Myeong-ja nodded with a quiet laugh.

“That’s why I had a long conversation with the twins for the first time in a while. I don’t know why they talk so little after becoming high schoolers—it feels awkward even when I start the conversation.”
“Now that I’ll be making lunch boxes for them, you’ll have plenty of conversations.”
“Hmm? You’ll make lunch boxes often?”
“Yes, the twins didn’t tell you? I asked them to come by in the morning. I’m giving them lunch boxes.”
“…Oh my. Thank you. If that’s the case, should I bring bread often too?”
“Yes! Please bring it often! That’s what I want.”

Kim Myeong-ja laughed heartily and patted my head. I closed my eyes briefly at the warmth of her touch.

“Come when I open the bakery.”
“Yes!”

Soon, Grandmother headed toward Myeong-ja’s Bakery. I smiled softly watching her walk away with a slight rhythm in her step.

“Ugh….”

I stretched my arms wide and was about to head up to the Second Floor when I noticed a small Maltese standing on the roadside, illuminated by the fluorescent light from the shop’s entrance.

‘Has it lost its owner?’

Yet something about it felt strange. It stood vacantly as if abandoned, but its eyes held a depth and emptiness that seemed almost human. Despite the absence of any breeze, its white fur swayed with an eerie, desolate motion.

“Gulp.”

I swallowed involuntarily.

‘But there was no one there just a moment ago…?’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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