Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 85

After finishing a day at the academy, Yoon-Hee always stopped by the local grocery store on the way home.

As she was responsible for making dinner for her family every day, she carefully selected fresh ingredients from the mart to ensure she didn’t serve the same dish twice in a row. Cooking was the highlight of her day.

Although she enjoyed the process of cooking itself, her greatest joy came from seeing her family enjoy the food she prepared. If her cooking could relieve their daily fatigue and restore their energy, then no matter how tired she was, she could always find the strength to keep going.

When she entered the seafood section, a store employee was loudly announcing a flash sale.

“Freshwater eel, one kilogram for just twenty-two thousand won! Special promotion for the next half an hour only!”

Since eel was quite expensive compared to other fish or meat, it was a bit of a luxury she usually avoided. But now, Yoon-Hee walked over to the display with a smile.

“Oh, Yoon-Hee! Here to shop again today?” Kim Hwan-Joong greeted Yoon-Hee warmly. He was the supervisor and had worked at the 365 Discount Mart for five years.

Since she came to the store every day around 5 PM without fail, she had become quite adored by the staff. They admired how she took care of all the household chores, living alone with her father, and found it endearing.

“Hi, Mr. Kim! Yes, I am, hehe. Could you please give me two kilograms of the freshest ones?” Yoon-Hee asked with a bright smile.

“Haha, sure. Just a moment,” Kim Hwan-Joong said and packed the eels into a plastic bag.

As he placed two packs into her cart, Yoon-Hee tilted her head in curiosity upon noticing the extra bag.

Seeing that, Kim Hwan-Joong added with a wink and a playful tone, “This is eel sauce. I’m giving it to you as a special treat, so keep it a secret.”

Yoon-Hee smiled brightly and bowed her head in gratitude. “Thank you. Hope you sell lots today.”

After buying the ingredients for the main dish, she decided to pick out some dessert next. Seasonal vegetables or fruits seemed like a good idea, so she settled on a pack of strawberries, which was also one of her favorites.

“Yoon-Hee, you’re here!” the woman in the vegetable section greeted her with a warm smile.

“Hello, ma’am.” Yoon-Hee returned the smile.

“Oh my, you’re getting prettier by the day! Did you get a boyfriend or something?”

“H-huh! Stop it, please!” Yoon-Hee pleaded, visibly flustered.

“Haha, I’m just teasing. Here, take some of this. Try blanching it when you get home,” the woman said and handed her a pack of greens.

Yoon-Hee always gratefully accepted the little extras the staff at the store often gave her. After all, they helped reduce household expenses, lightening Do-Jun’s burden even just a little.

“Thank you!” Yoon-Hee said with a smile.

***

Meanwhile, at the Seoul City Hall Fissure Management Division.

[Pending documents: 0]

Do-Jun had worked tirelessly all day to go through all the paperwork that had piled up, finishing it all by the end of the day.

It had been four months since he returned to work after returning to Earth.

Though his work skills were lacking at first, he improved rapidly, to the point that he was on par with—if not better than—many of his veteran colleagues and fully adapting to life as a civil servant.

“S-sir! But it’s almost time to clock out...!” Cheol-Soo’s flustered voice echoed from behind him.

A moment later, Cheol-Soo hung up the phone, running his hand through his hair with a long sigh before suddenly standing up.

“Hyuk-Soo, Do-Jun, come here for a second,” he called out to his two juniors.

Do-Jun and Hyuk-Soo exchanged glances.

Hyuk-Soo chuckled, shrugged his shoulders, and said, “Looks like something’s come up.”

Do-Jun nodded in agreement and followed him over to Cheol-Soo’s desk, where a document was displayed on the computer screen.

“Fissure management status...?” Hyuk-Soo read the title aloud.

Scrolling down revealed a template that included the serial number, management number, Fissure rank, monster and byproduct information, mapping data, average daily entry count, and Hunter rankings. It was a format for filling in information on the Fissures managed by the city of Seoul.

But there was one problem.

“Urgent... Mayor’s request... Must be submitted by 7 AM tomorrow...” Hyuk-Soo muttered the red letters beside the document title.

Do-Jun pulled out his smartphone and asked the other two, “Should I order dinner?”

***

Yoon-Hee already knew how to prepare an eel.

First, pour warm water over the eel to remove the slimy mucus from its surface. Next, cut off the fins with cooking scissors and rinse it thoroughly under running water. Then, using a towel, gently pat the fish dry, being careful not to damage the flesh. The final step was to score the inside of the fish at five-millimeter intervals with a knife.

“What’s that?” Yong-Yong asked.

“It’s eel. Just wait, I’ll make something really delicious.”

Yong-Yong wagged his tail eagerly, watching her prep the eel from beside the sink. This was his first time seeing an eel, but one thing was certain—it was a type of meat, and that had him excited.

“I’ve heard eel is good for restoring energy,” Karsiel said.

“That’s right, Siel.”

“I read it on the internet. Oh, and apparently, it’s also good for men’s vitality.”

At Karsiel’s words, Yoon-Hee froze mid-prep, and her face turned as red as a tomato.

Watching her flustered expression, Yong-Yong snickered. “Oh? You’re sneakier than I thou—”

Suddenly, Yoon-Hee slammed the knife into the cutting board.

Startled, Yong-Yong took a step back.

“I wonder what our little Yong-Yong could possibly be trying to say...”

“I-I meant you’re good at preparing the eel.”

“Thanks.”

Too scared to say another word, Yong-Yong hopped down from the sink. He waved over to Karsiel, who was similarly frozen in place, gesturing for her to follow if she wanted to live to see another day.

“Hmm, Master’s running a bit late today, huh?” Yong-Yong said as he noticed the clock on the wall was pointing just past 7 PM.

At that moment, Yoon-Hee’s phone, resting on the table, pinged with a message.

Yong-Yong jumped onto the table and tapped at the pin with his paw. For the record, the humans in this house used a very simple code: 0000.

“Oho...”

It was a message from Do-Jun.

Father: We suddenly got some more work, so I’ll be staying late tonight. Go ahead and have dinner without me. Make sure the kids brush their teeth.

Yong-Yong sighed as he looked at Yoon-Hee, who was still busy cooking. She was bound to be disappointed.

***

A plate filled with perfectly grilled spicy eel was placed on the table.

Although the aroma alone would make one feel that the eel would melt in one’s mouth, the air was heavy and silent, so quiet that the only sound was the ticking of the wall clock.

“Y-you know, sometimes days like this just happen.” Yong-Yong tried to comfort the downcast Yoon-Hee.

Karsiel couldn’t bring herself to eat either, aware of Yoon-Hee’s mood. Things might not have been this bad if tonight’s dinner had been just an ordinary meal.

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“Of all nights, why did he have to work late today?” Karsiel said with a sigh.

“I-I’m sorry, you’re not eating because of me. The food’s getting cold—let’s eat,” Yoon-Hee said.

She forced a smile as she picked at her food with her chopsticks, but as she chewed on a mouthful of rice, her spirits sank again. She had worked so hard to make this meal. The rice had turned out especially well tonight, but that only made it feel more unfair.

She unlocked her smartphone and scrolled through her gallery, glancing at the photos. Most of them were scenic photos, pictures with her friends at the academy, videos of her classes, or shots of Yong-Yong and Karsiel. One photo showed Yong-Yong asleep, mouth wide open, drooling.

Yoon-Hee couldn’t help but laugh. “So dumb,” she muttered.

“What’s so funny?”

Seeing Yoon-Hee smile, Yong-Yong and Karsiel also broke into smiles, moving closer to sneak a peek at her phone.

“W-wait, when did you take this?”

“It’s a cute photo of you, Lord Izaas.”

Yoon-Hee swiped to the next photo. It was a picture of Yong-Yong curled up and sleeping on Do-Jun’s chest.

“This one is a bit blurry.”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, y-yeah.” Yoon-Hee smiled awkwardly.

The next picture showed Karsiel and Yong-Yong eating together.

“This one’s clear.”

“They’re not all going to be blurry, duh.”

“M-maybe we should stop looking now,” Yoon-Hee suggested.

“Just a little more, please, Young Master,” Karsiel pleaded.

“Me too! This is fun,” Yon-Yong added.

“Fine... just a few more, okay?”

They looked at about ten more pictures before Karsiel suddenly muttered, “How strange... All the photos with Master are blurry.”

Yoon-Hee’s face turned red at those words, and she hurriedly turned off her phone.

“The food’s getting cold. Let’s eat.”

***

“Say ah.”

“Aaaah.”

After dinner, Yoon-Hee was brushing Yong-Yong’s teeth.

He seemed to have finally gotten used to the toothpaste and no longer tried to escape. It struck her again how hard and strong a dragon’s teeth were—she had to buy a new toothbrush every week.

“Rinse.”

Yoon-Hee filled a cup with water and poured it into Yong-Yong’s mouth, who gargled and spat it into the drain.

After wiping Yong-Yong’s mouth with a towel, Yoon-Hee wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. Her day was finally coming to an end.

“Alright, head to bed now,” she told the dragons.

“What about you?”

“I’ll... come in a bit.”

Yoon-Hee glanced at the eel on the table, now wrapped in plastic wrap. Yong-Yong nodded and walked toward the bedroom.

It was already past midnight. Normally, she would have gone to bed long ago.

Yoon-Hee sat down on the sofa, pulled out her smartphone, and almost called Do-Jun but stopped herself. He was probably focused on work, and she didn’t want to disturb him.

“We’ll turn in first, then, Young Master,” Karsiel said.

“Okay. Good night, Siel.”

“Good night, Young Master. Don’t stay up too late.”

“Thanks for worrying about me,” Yoon-Hee said with a smile.

***

“Well done, guys,” Cheol-Soo said, exasperated.

The overtime, caused by the mayor’s sudden request for information documents, had finally ended. The clock showed that it was already past 2 AM.

Hyuk-Soo stretched and said, “Good work, Do-Jun.”

“At least it ended sooner than we expected,” Do-Jun said with a sigh.

Cheol-Soo pulled two 50,000 won bills from his wallet and handed one to both Hyuk-Soo and Do-Jun.

“Thanks, guys. Take a taxi home tonight.”

Do-Jun shook his head. They had all worked hard together, so why should Cheol-Soo pay their taxi fare?

“Ah, come on. If you don’t take it, I’ll feel guilty and won’t be able to sleep. Seriously, just take it; my arm’s hurting here.”

Cheol-Soo exaggeratedly pretended his arm was in pain. Seeing this, Do-Jun chuckled and took the money.

“Thank you, Chief.”

***

When Do-Jun returned home and stepped into the entryway, he noticed the light in the living room was still on. The house should have been dark past 2:30 AM.

“I told her to go to bed...” he muttered.

Yoon-Hee was fast asleep on the sofa, breathing softly.

Had she been waiting for him?

The thought made him feel guilty. Her waiting for him like this was not part of their contract.

Do-Jun sighed and went to the bedroom to grab a blanket. Carefully, so as not to wake her, he gently draped the blanket over Yoon-Hee.

“Dad...”

“Yes?”

“Mm...”

It seemed she was talking in her sleep.

Just then, a plate on the dining table caught his eye. Do-Jun walked over to check, finding the eel from earlier wrapped in plastic.

It must have been tonight’s dinner.

Do-Jun sat at the table, unwrapped the eel, and picked up a piece with his chopsticks. Since the eel had been sitting there for hours, it was stone cold, but somehow, it still felt warm.