They Told Me to Build Good Karma by Selling Side Dishes - Chapter 77

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

77. Buckwheat Jelly Noodles (1)

To be honest, the moment I opened my eyes and saw two Hae-tae staring back at me, I felt nothing but joy.

“Hae-tae…?”

I called out softly, and the Hae-tae on my left cracked open one eye.

“Meow….”

And the one on my right as well.

“Meow.”

I gazed between the two of them. I’d already moved past the denial stage long ago. Surprisingly, instead of screaming, I felt a surge of happiness welling up inside me.

“…This isn’t a dream, is it?”

The Hae-tae on my left rested its chin on the back of my hand and closed its eyes again, while the one on my right burrowed deeper into my embrace.

“Hmm? How adorable….”

I carefully touched the ears of both Hae-tae with my fingertips.

‘…They don’t look like Evil Spirits, at least.’

I shouldn’t judge by appearances alone! But what could I do about these two Hae-tae?

The tail of the left Hae-tae twitched slightly in response. Both of them were real.

“What’s going on, meow?”
“What’s going on, meow!?”

Both of them stood up and looked at me.

“What are you talking about?”
“What are you talking about?!”

Only then did the two of them look at each other’s faces and register shock.

“This is insane! Why am I here?”
“This is insane~! Why am I here~?”

But their tones were slightly different.

“When I woke up, there were two of them in my arms.”

Both creatures shook their heads as if it made no sense.

“That one’s copying me!”
“That one’s copying me!?”

I know who’s doing the copying.

“Yeah. It’s copying you.”

At my matter-of-fact response, it let out an exasperated cry.

“We need to get it out of here fast!”
“We need to get it out of here fast!!”

Fine, fine.

I sat up casually. The Hae-tae on my left had its tail raised stiffly in a defensive stance, while the Hae-tae on my right tilted its head subtly, studying me. Even that angle of inclination felt far too familiar.

“Just calm down for a moment.”
“How am I supposed to calm down!”
“How am I supposed to calm down~?”

I pointed to the Hae-tae on my left.

“The original Hae-tae.”
“That’s… right?”

This time, I turned my gaze toward the Hae-tae on the right.

“So who are you?”
“…I’m also Hae-tae, meow.”

The response came slowly. The look in its eyes as it studied me was different.

‘That’s not a Hae-tae.’

No matter how I looked at it, the Hae-tae on the right was not the one I knew.

“Meow!”
“Meow?”

The left Hae-tae struck the ground with its front paw. Though all it really accomplished was shaking dust from the blanket.

“Look, meow! That one’s weird, meow!”
“Look, meow! That one’s weird, meow!?”

Simultaneously, both pointed at each other.

‘What is this commotion so early in the morning….’

I leaned against the back of the sofa and watched them both. Morning sunlight filtered through the curtains, revealing the shadows of two creatures.

‘Wait.’

The shadows don’t overlap. That’s how I can tell them apart. But I wasn’t ready to give up the advantage of having two of them yet. Since there is a Hae-tae, after all.

“Anyway, I need to open the shop, so I’ll go wash up and come back out.”

The left Hae-tae cried out.

“You need to send that one out first, meow!”
“You need to send that one out first, meow~?”

Here we go again. I stifled a yawn and scratched my head.

“Yeah. I’ll wash up and send it out. You two can’t keep fighting while I’m gone.”

I glanced back over my shoulder as I headed toward the bathroom. The two of them sat side by side on the sofa, watching me as if to see me off.

‘Ah… how adorable….’

While I was washing up, the door opened and the two of them were waiting for me.

“All done, meow?”
“All done, meow?”

Not yet.

I rinsed the soap from my face with water and dried it with a towel.

“I’ll be out in a moment.”

The two of them nodded their heads.

‘Goodness.’

I changed into fresh clothes, draped my coat over my shoulders, and passed by the sofa. The two of them sprang down to the floor and stood in a line at my feet.

“Let’s go together.”
“Meow!”
“Meow~?”

They answered in unison once again.

‘They’re so cute, truly.’

I was about to open the door while suppressing a smile when a cold gust rushed in, and I caught my breath at the sight before my eyes, then exhaled slowly.

“Wow!”

Snow had accumulated gently. Overnight snowfall had blanketed the entire Village. It was pristine, without a single footprint, as if someone had deliberately covered it all.

“Snow has piled up, meow.”
“Snow has piled up, meow?”

I asked with a smile.

“Can you walk on your own?”

The two of them let out a snort.

“What do you take me for?”
“What do you take me for~?”

Good thing they could manage it.

As I descended the familiar path, my footsteps crunched against the snow with a crisp pop-pop sound. With each step I took, two lighter footfalls echoed behind me in perfect sync.

Pwoosh—
Pwoosh—

The sound of paws being extracted from the snow. Alongside my footprints, tiny cat paw prints were pressed into the white surface in neat parallel rows.

‘Perfect.’

I snapped a photo with my smartphone, then unlocked the shop door and surveyed the street ahead. The cold morning air hung heavy with fallen snow, yet it carried an oddly refreshing quality.

As the shutter rose halfway, the Twins waved from across the way.

“Boss!”
“…Boss.”

I waved back.

“Heading to School again?”
“Final exams!”

Already? The final exams were upon us?

“Time really does fly.”

I clenched my fist and called out.

“You’ve got this!”

The Twins lowered their heads and clenched their fists in unison. As I grasped the shutter handle and pulled it upward, the gentle metallic sound softly awakened the morning of the Alley Shopping District.

I brushed the snow from my eyes that had accumulated on the sandwich board outside, then stepped in. Almost simultaneously, two figures slipped through the door and came to a halt at my feet.

“Meow!”
“Meow~?”

Small dots of snowy paw prints marked the floor in various places.

“What are you two doing?”

I pulled out cat-specific wet wipes and cleaned both their paws.

‘They’re so soft and squishy.’

I flipped on the fluorescent switches one by one. The lights flickered to life, and the shop gradually awakened.

I grabbed my apron and tied the strings. There was something else I needed to do.

“Alright, Hae-tae. Front and center!”

I gathered both of them before me.

“Now that we’re about to open, I need to say something.”

Both tilted their heads at me curiously.

“I know the one on the left is the real Hae-tae.”

The real Hae-tae looked up at me.

“As expected, meow!”

The real Hae-tae was unmistakable. Everything from the way he spoke to the fact that he cast no shadow….

“Don’t you think you should tell me who you are now?”
“How did you figure it out, meow?”
“How did I figure it out, indeed.”

I reached down and gently stroked the head of the adorable fake Hae-tae.

“You’re doing a decent impression of Hae-tae, but you’re way too different.”
“Different how?”
“Your speech pattern and behavior.”
There was no way I wouldn’t recognize a being I lived with every single day.

“To be honest, since there are two cats, I was trying to pretend I didn’t notice….”
“What the—!”

The real Hae-tae struck my calf with his front paw.

“Ah, I’ve been caught.”

The words that came from the cat’s mouth were far too human. I withdrew my hand and gazed at the fake Hae-tae.

“The fake Hae-tae can be likable too, right~?”
“That much is true.”
“You like it~?”

Hae-tae struck again with his front paw as if to say what nonsense. This time it actually hurt.

“How did you even get here?”
“That’s~?”

Just as the fake Hae-tae was drawing out his words, an order slip for side dishes slid out from the bottom of the Refrigerator—the one no one had touched.

“Ah.”

Now I understood why the fake Hae-tae had come. I bent down briefly to examine the side dish order slip.

===========
[Side Dish Order]
Requester: Dokkaebi
Requested side dish: Buckwheat jelly strips
Reason: I want to eat it after a long time.
Required conditions: 1) Must use ‘S’ grade buckwheat harvested directly by hand.
Reward: Good deed ‘2’ points
===========

I read one line and then checked the requester.

“Dokkaebi?”

At that, Hae-tae’s eyes—which had been drowsily half-closed—snapped wide open.

“You’re a Dokkaebi?!”

The question tumbled out, raw with surprise. The Dokkaebi wearing Hae-tae’s form scratched its head with a front paw.

“Yeah. Hae-tae, long time no see?”

The fake Hae-tae was a Dokkaebi.

“Why did you come?”
“I was curious how you were doing, so I stopped by~?”

The Dokkaebi, still in Hae-tae’s form, settled itself at my feet.

“Why would you be curious about how I’m doing?”

Hae-tae’s demeanor had shifted to something more familiar.

“Why ask that~?”

The Dokkaebi laughed, its tone tinged with mischief. Hae-tae’s eyes narrowed.

“Don’t dodge the question.”
“Ah, you’re sharp as ever~?”
“Why did you place an order at this shop?”

The Dokkaebi deliberately stretched its front paws out, as if limbering up. A shadow appeared distinctly on the floor—something that would never cast from Hae-tae.

“As your friend, I was simply curious how you were living. And so I placed an order here as well~?”
“Who said we were friends?”

Hae-tae let out a scoffing laugh.

‘Wait, wait. Friends?’

I paused mid-step, transferring the remaining side dishes from the Refrigerator.

“Hae-tae has a friend?”

I nearly dropped the side dish I was holding in surprise.

‘So my Hae-tae actually has a friend….’

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Hae-tae’s brow furrowed in displeasure.

“I just thought you lived alone.”
“Is that a problem?”

The tone was deliberately petulant. The Dokkaebi chuckled, deliberately wagging his tail in my direction.

“Oh my, I guess you never told him?”
“There was no need to tell him.”
“Yet here you are, living so close with a human?”

Hae-tae let out a low growl.

“Keep your mouth shut.”

I set the container of side dishes down on the counter and looked between the two of them.

‘So they were friends….’

“I was alone for a while. Quite a long while.”
“Quite?”
“Quite….”

The Dokkaebi glanced at Hae-tae, gauging his reaction.

“Don’t say unnecessary things.”
“Oh dear. You’ll kill me at this rate, won’t you? Fine, fine.”

I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of them. It felt like I’d just learned a story I’d never heard before.

‘I suppose I’d never heard Hae-tae’s story before.’

“Well, at least that’s a relief.”
“What’s a relief? Because she’s friends with you?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“No, but at least she wouldn’t have been lonely, right?”

Hae-tae, who had been looking up at me, lowered her head.

“Humans are truly peculiar. Aren’t they?”

The Dokkaebi spoke in a low voice.

“…It’s her that’s strange.”

Hae-tae quietly curled her body into a ball.

“Me, being strange?”
“Hmph.”

I picked up the side dish containers and moved them to the display case. Seasoned vegetables on the left, stir-fried ones on the right. I arranged them as always—colors never clashing, aromas never competing.

‘Add what needs adding…’

I placed the last container on the shelf and closed the glass door. I set up the price tags and straightened the misaligned labels with my fingertips.

There were no more side dishes to prepare today.

‘Then I suppose I can check the side dish orders.’

I returned to the Kitchen and picked up the order form.

“So.”

I held the order form up to the Dokkaebi as I continued.

“Why did you order buckwheat jelly strips?”

Of all the side dishes I’d made so far, it was the one that required the most labor. The Dokkaebi flicked her tail once, lightly.

“Buckwheat, you see, is at its prime for harvesting right now. It grows quickly, but the moment you lose focus, it falls apart.”

That was certainly true.

Buckwheat’s harvest window was unusually narrow.

Wait even slightly too long and the seeds scatter; rush too much and the seeds lack sufficient moisture to mature properly, making storage difficult.

“…So that’s why I’m fond of buckwheat noodles.”
“I see.”

It was then that Hae-tae interjected.

“That one doesn’t have some grand reason for liking buckwheat noodles, meow.”
“Huh? No reason?”

Hae-tae fixed the Dokkaebi with a pointed gaze and spoke.

“That one’s favorite food is buckwheat noodles, meow.”

The Dokkaebi let out a short laugh.

“It’s a very favorite food of mine.”

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