Transmigrated as the Side Top used as an Emotional Trash Can - Chapter 23.1
The dining table at Cha Gwonhyeok’s house exceeded every expectation I had brought with me.
With braised short ribs as the main dish, even the side dishes like deodeok-muchim and tot-muchim hadn’t simply been taken out of containers and placed on the table. They had been attractively garnished with sesame seeds and parsley, creating a spread that looked like something you would only see at an upscale Korean restaurant.
I looked around the table in admiration, then became a little flustered by the pile of fried eggs that had inexplicably been placed in the main spot beside the braised short ribs.
“Jihwan likes sausages.”
Kim Jihwan liked stir-fried sausage and vegetables with sweet ketchup. Still, they had gone to the trouble of preparing all this, so I should enjoy it. I bowed to the housekeeper and thanked her, then washed my hands, sat down at the table, and properly prepared to eat.
“Eat up, Jihwan-ah.”
I picked up a few pieces of short rib, separated only the meat with my chopsticks, and placed it on Kim Jihwan’s small plate. Even as I did, I couldn’t help admiring how easily the bones slipped free. It looked good, tasted good, and was easy to eat, so the meal was enjoyable.
“Jihwan-ah, the carrots here don’t taste like carrots at all.”
“Ah, I’m not a kid.”
“I’m only saying it because you’re picking them out-.”
“Seriously, stop nagging….”
Cha Gwonhyeok stared at us bickering for a while, then began by saying Jihwan was lucky.
“My parents don’t even take the meat off the bones for me.”
“That’s because you’re grown now. They probably did it when you were little.”
After saying it, I remembered the common traits of obsessive main tops. Loveless, authoritarian fathers and hysterical or sickly mothers.
“Even when I was little, all I remember is eating separately.”
Cha Gwonhyeok’s words drove the final nail into my imagination. Had he really spent a lonely childhood too, just like the cliché? Good grief, the poor thing….
I became overly immersed while imagining the unfortunate past that hadn’t even been described in the novel, then picked up a few pieces of short rib and removed the meat for him just as I had for Kim Jihwan.
“Eat plenty and grow up to become a fine person someday.”
Along with the ribs, I offered Cha Gwonhyeok my heartfelt blessing. Grow up big and strong, lose the ‘obsessive’ part of ‘obsessive main top’, and become Kim Jihwan’s excellent doormat number two.
As I silently prayed for blessings upon his future, a piece of fried egg that was slightly too large to eat in one bite was suddenly thrust toward my mouth.
“Ah.”
“Ah?”
Shove-.
Cha Gwonhyeok said, “Ah,” and I unconsciously repeated after him, only for the fried egg to be pushed into my mouth. The burst yolk streamed down the corner of my lips, and I hurriedly wiped it with my thumb and sucked it clean.
“Your mouth is small.”
For a moment, I was speechless. Well, my mouth was too full of fried egg for me to speak anyway. But even if I could have, I wouldn’t have been able to say anything. This was clearly an ordinary conversation, so why did it feel so much like a scene in a BL novel?
Oh, right. I was inside a BL novel.
“Ah, fuck.”
Kim Jihwan cursed and twisted his face as though he had witnessed something disgusting. I couldn’t tell whether he was uncomfortable with the situation or jealous because Cha Gwonhyeok, whom he liked, was being nice to someone else. But if the two of us looked too close, it might make him uncomfortable, so I watched Kim Jihwan’s expression.
“Gwonhyeok must’ve been grateful-.”
“If he’s grateful twice, he’ll set up an entire poultry farm in your mouth.”
Kim Jihwan’s face became even more menacing. The atmosphere was turning into something I couldn’t handle.
“Uh, um…. Restroom….”
A strategic retreat. For now, I fled under the pretext of going to the restroom. I had also calculated that it might be good to give the two of them some time alone to clear up the misunderstanding or build their narrative.
“Wow, what kind of bathroom is this…?”
The moment I stepped inside, I stood there in a daze and looked around. Even the bathroom was this spacious, clean, and luxurious. The communal bathroom in the goshiwon where I had lived at nineteen briefly flashed through my mind.
“No, this isn’t the time to think about that.”
I quickly came to my senses and began thinking about how I could help Kim Jihwan and Cha Gwonhyeok make some progress.
Ddoong-ddang, ddoong-ddang-♪
Then, along with a familiar clunky melody beside my ear, the welcome system window appeared.
Another mini-game had appeared without fail. After the doppelgänger game last time, what kind of game would it be this time? The doppelgänger game had only cracked my head open a little, and the difficulty itself hadn’t been that high. It was fortunate that the original Baek Hanrim had been kinder than expected.
ヽ(*≧ω≦)ﾉ
A reward will be granted upon success! Would you like to participate?
Yay! / Nope…
I selected ‘Yay!’ with all my heart.
Please let my opponent be someone nice like Baek Hanrim again!
(ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ
Find the doll acting as the seeker before the end of today, sprinkle it with salt water or alcohol, and shout ‘I won’ three times to make it disappear and clear the game!
Huh?
d=(^o^)=b
“Mother….”
I was in big trouble.
It was a ghost game.
I think I blacked out while standing for about three minutes.
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