In the dining room of the annex that Eunho stays in.
When we entered, I saw Jeokho setting the table.
Jeokho, who noticed our presence, asked curiously.
“Have you finished talking? It went quicker than I expected. Eunho must’ve gone very soft on Jo Euishin.”
Jeokho was spitting nonsense.
Eunho bombarded me with that word + hyung and has wrecking balled my mental state, so what soft is Jeokho going on about?
I didn’t feel like our conversation earlier was short at all, so I don’t relate to what Jeokho was saying.
On the other hand, Hwangho nodded profusely, agreeing with Jeokho’s remarks.
“I knew from the moment he said those hyung statements, I knew Eunho wasn’t being his usual self. It’s his birthday today so I guess Eunho was considerate.”
“That’s right. If Hwangho or I had acted like that, we would’ve been scolded for a few hours at least.”
“Hahaha! Yeah, well… considering the trouble we caused when we were young, we should be thankful that we only got a sermon at the end of the day.”
“I don’t think you should be the one saying that, Hwangho.”
Hwang Jiho’s “worry about yourself” remark earlier made sense now.
The two tigers laughed as they reminisced, which makes me think that they must’ve been scolded a lot by Eunho before.
Eunho only looked at the other two tigers, not minding the contents of the conversation.
‘…He’s not denying it.’
Considering his personality back when he was Cheon Sungheon and Hwang Jiho’s descriptions of him, Eunho is not the type to stay silent at false statements.
“Yes, I remember that happened. I’ve always had a lot to say to the three of you.”
Eunho must’ve given his fair share of sermons against those tigers.
…Wait, but did he just say three of them?
Eunho’s eyes glazed over Hwang Jiho, Jeokho, and Baekho-gun.
It felt a bit unfamiliar that Baekho-gun was being grouped with those two, but as soon as I remembered the story told by Hwang Jiho not too long ago, I understood it.
‘The day Hwang Jiho first met Eunho, he was scolding Baekho-gun.’
Baekho was scolded for reacting to Jeokho’s provocation that day, violating his promise to Eunho.
It was hard to imagine it, given what I know about Baekho-gun from PMH and this world.
While I was absent-minded from hearing the tigers talk, Eunho addressed me.
“Take a seat, Euishin hyung.”
Eunho led me to the head of the table.
It’s Hwang Jiho’s, the owner of the mansion’s, usual seat.
He pointed me toward that seat, but I couldn’t go right away and I glanced at Hwang Jiho.
Before Hwang Jiho could speak, Eunho took matters into his hands.
“The celebrant should sit at the head of his birthday table. Isn’t that right, Hwangho-nim?”
“Eunho is right. We prepared this meal for you, Jo Euishin, so don’t feel burdened. Take a seat.”
Still, taking the seat of a 5,000-year-old is a bit…
While I hesitated, Baekho-gun approached the chair and pulled it out.
“…”
He didn’t say anything, but his gesture to make me sit was well conveyed.
I couldn’t ignore the silent request of my main playable character, so I sat down in the end.
When I sat down, Hwang Jiho and Eunho sat on the next chairs as if they had been waiting, while Baekho-gun sat next to Eunho.
Jeokho didn’t sit yet but headed to the kitchen.
“The dish prepared by my son will be served soon. Please wait a moment.”
I see Kim Shinrok is here too.
He was ordered to bring me back from the Dragon Clan’s territory, and worry sank in late since he would’ve been scolded for failing his mission.
“I cooked some dishes too. Yours truly cannot miss cooking for our benefactor’s birthday party.”
Hwang Jiho said some words as if to answer a question that no one asked.
Well anyway, I know Hwang Jiho’s personally-prepared food would be exquisitely delicious, so I anticipated it.
“Hwangho-nim’s culinary skills have grown rapidly over the years. I’m excited.”
Eunho’s words were a bit caught in my mind.
It sounded like Hwang Jiho wasn’t born a great cook.
“We didn’t take care of our meals well when we were absorbed in something. Hwangho-nim took the food preparation to his hands. And the taste… it was hard to forget. In a not-so-positive way.”
“Hahaha! You should’ve prepared your own food.”
The taste of the first dish prepared by Hwang Jiho must’ve been bad enough to be remembered after 5,000 years.
It must be really terrible if even Eunho despised it.
Perhaps noticing that I was intrigued by their past, Eunho continued the topic.
“After that, Baekho took care of his own food, or he runs away when it’s Hwangho who cooks for us. Jeokho ate everything that Hwangho prepared, but he was blunt about the taste.”
“Jeokho ate it all even as he cursed. That led to the most tasteless dishes.”
Hwang Jiho laughed excitedly as he revealed stories from the past.
The distance between the dining room and the kitchen wasn’t very far so it was obvious that Jeokho would be listening, but Hwang Jiho didn’t seem to have any intention of being discreet.
Jeokho must be holding back harsh words by now to save face in front of his son.
“Cheongho was the only one who ate Hwangho-nim’s cooking without complaints.”
“Cheongho wasn’t a picky eater. She liked sweets, but she doesn’t eat much. She says she’s full just by hearing Shinin’s voice.”
It’s a difficult situation to imagine, especially since Cheongho was reborn as Hani, who’s now hearing-impaired.
I remember Hani’s happy face as she ate MITRON sweets with Saeum of April, and her eating Hwang Jiho’s cooking deliciously without complaints.
“Even if Hani recovers her hearing, she won’t be able to go back to her old diet. She tasted yours truly’s cooking once already that’s why. Hahahaha!”
Hwang Jiho burst into a confident voice.
He was being too cheeky but considering his culinary skills now, his confidence doesn’t seem to be unfounded.
“Sorry, it took a bit long. I made some mistakes along the way, so I…”
Kim Shinrok appeared with an embarrassed facial expression.
He and Jeokho were pushing a golden serving cart, and each level was loaded with pure gold buffet servers engraved with tigers.
Looking at the servers, it seemed like the total number of dishes would easily exceed double digits.
Jeokho and Kim Shinrok began to put them neatly on the table, along with two particularly large plates that were placed in front of me.
I couldn’t see what was inside because of the cover, but the design of it looked sophisticated and it seemed to contain something different from the other plates.
“We especially prepared dishes that you might like. Open it.”
Hwang Jiho said it would fit my liking, but since there were two bowls, I somehow hesitated.
I thought about which one I should open, so I decided to ask first.
“…Do I have to choose one out of the two?”
“No, you have to open both.”
“Open it, Euishin hyung.”
With the urging of the tigers, I opened the one on the left first.
The cover revealed a huge ddeok cake.
‘Is it rabbit moon rice cake? No, I’ve never seen this design before… Citron and tangerines weren’t on the menu too…’
The ddeok cake was made with a mixture of oranges, citrons, and tangerines, and it smelled refreshing.
Ok Toyeon occasionally comes up with new dishes for moon rabbit rice cakes.
I sent in orders for seasonal dishes and they were obviously delicious, but I’ve never seen this ddeok cake in their catalogs before.
‘It’s a special-made order.’
The tigers waited for me while I was speechlessly staring blankly at the cake.
After taking my eyes off the colorful cake, my hands reached out to the covered dish on the right.
When I lifted the heavy cover, what I saw was…
Woof woof!
An angel!
A white angel appeared as soon as I lifted the cover.
Olmu was wearing a cone hat, the same one that the descendants photographed, and he greeted me brightly.
Was he waiting in this small space all this time to surprise me for my birthday?
Appreciation, joy, apology — all the uncontrollable emotions of mine were all over the place, rendering me speechless.
Then, Olmu burst a balloon that he was holding.
Pop! Boom!
I realized that the balloon must’ve been an energy item since a small energy wave twinkled as soon as the balloon exploded.
I paid little attention to the balloon and was more focused on admiring Olmu’s smartness.
Amid the beautiful firecracker, the angel and genius Olmu was greeting me a happy birthday with his whole body.
“…”
“…Jo Euishin is out of it.”
“As long as Euishin hyung is happy.”
I held Olmu in my arms and gave him lots of praise before coming back to my senses.
As if waiting for me to come back, Hwang Jiho held out a glass.
I accepted it reflexively, and the other tigers raised their glasses at the same time.
“Toast to Jo Euishin’s birthday.”
“Happy birthday, Euishin hyung.”
“Happy birthday.”
Each tiger greeted me, while Jeokho and Kim Shinrok, like the father and son that they are, said the exact same words at the exact same time.
On the other hand, since Olmu can’t raise a glass, he joined the toast by raising his small front foot and tapping my glass like the genius that he is.
“Happy birthday.”
After Olmu, Baekho-gun raised his glass again and greeted me.
I’ve been seeing Baekho-gun over the screen for the past ten years, and I never imagined that the day would come when he’d greet me happy birthday.
“…Thank you.”
I thanked the tigers and we dug into our meals.
All the food prepared by Hwang Jiho was especially delicious.
The food was said to be a collection of menus that I found delicious in the past, and it’s a bit questionable how Hwang Jiho knew about them all.
Kim Shinrok’s plating wasn’t perfect, but the taste was flawless nonetheless.
‘Today’s menu is all good.’
I was beyond happy.
When I usually visit the mansion, there were some foods a bit badly prepared by the descendants, but today wasn’t the same.
‘I guess Eunho’s descendants aren’t going to be invited here.’
I decided to spend the next weekend with the descendants.
‘Shall I talk about it in the presence of the tigers?’
By the end of the meal, Eunho personally serves us tea.
I decided to try my luck.
“About the reason why I went to England, I —”
However, my attempt was quickly thwarted by Eunho.
“Euishin hyung, do you wish to be called another name on your birthday?”
Eunho is about to use that word + hyung again!
I immediately shut up and sipped tea.
However, it doesn’t seem like I’d escape this situation unscathed.
“Hmmm…”
Hwang Jiho watched the situation as he tilted his teacup.
I desperately turned away from Hwang Jiho and tried to enjoy the taste of tea as I pet Olmu in my arms.
“…I have something to say.”
Kim Shinrok, who had not been in a good condition for a long time now, spoke.
“I thought it would be better to tell everyone here before we leave.”
“…Son?”
Jeokho asked anxiously, and it seems like his father’s voice gave Kim Shinrok additional strength.
He took a deep breath.
“I’m going to accept Jo Euishin’s proposal.”
