I Returned, and Now I See Strange Things-Chapter 52: I’m Borrowing It

“I can cover this much, you know.”

“No way. You’ve got it tight as it is. What are you saying?”

“It’s fine. Now that I think about it... I kind of understand why Grandpa did that.”

“Huh?”

Hyeonseo, wearing a mask, smiled with her eyes crinkling gently.

“Thinking back on it, for something like that to have been going on, the utility bills weren’t any different from usual. He must have timed everything to happen when I wasn’t around.”

“...I see.”

“God-tier Grandpa...”

“I don’t know if it’s true, but damn, that’s a touching story.”

“Calling my grandma right now.”

Even so, Ayun couldn’t possibly leech off a broke college student. She firmly shook her head and rejected Hyeonseo’s offer.

Faced with Ayun’s adamant refusal, Hyeonseo had no choice but to back down.

After placing the recommended order using Hyeonseo’s phone, Ayun put the camera down for a moment and walked over to Hyeyeon.

“Unnie?”

“Let me whisper something.”

As Hyeyeon leaned in slightly, Ayun carefully whispered—quiet enough not to be picked up on the stream or by Hyeonseo.

“Lend me some cash.”

“...What?”

Hyeyeon blinked in surprise at the sudden request. Ayun flushed with embarrassment.

“I don’t have any cash on me right now...”

“And you still turned her down?”

“I— I didn’t know things would turn out like this... And I’m not asking you to pay for me, I’ll pay it back.”

Judging by the donation settings earlier, it seemed like she had a bank account...

Had she just not made a debit card?

No—did she even know debit cards existed?

Hyeyeon shook her head inwardly.

‘...She really doesn’t know, does she?’

Seeing Ayun unusually flustered made Hyeyeon want to tease her more than ever.

Still, she quietly took out her wallet and handed Ayun her card.

“I’ll definitely pay you back.”

“Hmm... well, sure, okay.”

Soon the delivery arrived, and Ayun, having paid with Hyeyeon’s card, returned with a smiling face.

The smell of food wafting from the bag lifted her mood.

Handing the card and the camera back to Hyeyeon, Ayun placed the food bag on the floor.

Usually, she would eat over the sink—but she couldn’t do that in someone else’s house.

She casually lowered the food onto the floor and began unpacking it, but Hyeonseo rushed in to stop her.

“T-There’s a table, you know!”

“There is?”

Ayun’s surprised expression was caught on camera.

As if she were silently asking, This place has a table?

The sourc𝗲 of this content is frёeωebɳovel.com.

“Don’t most homes have a table, though?;”

“Mine has tape holding the wobbly leg together lol”

“She’s something else too, damn;”

“Where the hell does she normally eat??”

Unaware of the chat, Ayun happily placed the bag on the table and carefully unwrapped the food.

There was a large round container, a paper box, and a sticky fruit-flavored drink occupying space.

Through the semi-opaque lid, she could see an orange sauce that was nearly red.

With nervous fingers—worried the broth might splash—she opened it.

Inside were rice cakes soaked in sauce, a glossy egg, and bumpy-skinned fish cakes.

“Looks better than I expected.”

The food recommended by viewers was rosé tteokbokki.

Ayun, whose only memory of tteokbokki involved a green bowl filled with fiery red broth, found the word “rosé” a bit unfamiliar.

Slurp.

The drool pooling at the corners of her mouth didn’t lie.

Wiping her lips with her sleeve, Ayun opened the paper box.

Inside were crispy fritters that still felt warm, as if they’d just been fried.

While she unpacked, Hyeonseo brought over plates, scissors, and other utensils and placed them on the table.

Suppressing her urge to dig in with chopsticks, Ayun picked up one of the crispy fritters.

Snip, snip.

Dipping the fritters into tteokbokki sauce was a universal truth.

Ayun snipped them up and dropped them one by one into the sauce.

The golden-yellow fritters gradually absorbed the sauce and became heavier.

“...Shall I eat now?”

Once she’d added all the fritters, Ayun murmured softly.

The two others gestured for her to go ahead.

Ayun didn’t hesitate.

She was starving.

As she picked up a plate and reached for the tteokbokki with a ladle, Hyeyeon came closer, making sure the camera captured Ayun properly.

The «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» ladle scooped up a generous mix of orange broth, rice cakes, and other toppings.

“How’d she scoop it that clean??”

“She’s so damn impatient lol”

A wave of orange spread across the white plate.

After serving herself, Ayun stuck the ladle in the pot and picked up her chopsticks.

Snap!

The disposable wooden chopsticks split cleanly in two, and a chewy rice cake was caught right between them.

Hup!

The sauce-drenched rice cake had a slight spicy kick.

But then came the creamy, sweet flavor that balanced it all out.

Still feeling the heat on her tongue, Ayun reached for another bite.

Chewing the rice cake in her mouth, she picked up another and popped it in.

Once the layered taste of the sauce faded, the unique flavor of the rice cake itself stood out.

A bite of fish cake next.

Its sweetness and savory flavor were perfect.

And the sauce—well, nothing more needed to be said.

Ayun nodded.

So this is what rosé tteokbokki tastes like.

There really were so many foods in the world she’d never tried.

Determined to sharpen her still-lacking streaming skills, Ayun chewed diligently.

“Why does this feel so dramatic for just eating tteokbokki?”

“Screw it, I ordered some too.”

“Boiling water now.”

“If she adds noodles, I’m out. Peace.”

Gulp.

After swallowing the rice cakes and fish cake, Ayun’s next targets were the egg and the fritters.

She started with the boiled egg.

Normally she’d mash it into the red broth, but this sauce didn’t seem to suit that.

She split the egg with her chopsticks—revealing a perfectly cooked yolk.

Without breaking the yolk, she dabbed it with sauce and popped it into her mouth.

The fluffy yolk broke apart and coated her tongue with a nutty flavor.

The texture of the white and the sauce’s mild spice cut through what might’ve otherwise been too rich.

Bet it’d taste good mixed in, too.

Ayun nodded in satisfaction, then grabbed a random fritter from the plate.

Inside the sauce-stained coating, pale white flesh peeked through.

Squid, maybe?

Only one way to know.

Crunch!

It wasn’t super crispy—probably from sitting in the sauce—but the slightly soggy coating still had a nice nuttiness.

Biting deeper, she hit springy flesh.

Squid, alright.

That familiar chew and distinctive taste.

Ayun smiled in satisfaction and added another rice cake to her mouth.

That’s when she noticed how close Hyeyeon had gotten with the camera.

When did she get so close...

Wait a second.

A chill ran down Ayun’s spine.

She suddenly recalled Hyesung’s scolding from earlier.

...Messed up again.

Time to recover.

Trying to calm her trembling hands, Ayun lifted the plate of tteokbokki and brought it close to the camera.

“Ordered rosé tteokbokki.”

“Pfft.”

“Hehe.”

She heard stifled laughter around her.

“We can see, genius~”

“She’s learned... absolutely nothing...”

“Compared to last time, she’s grown. For real.”

“I’m adding noodles. Goodbye.”

Ignoring it all, Ayun briefly showed the food to the camera, then smugly went back to eating.

She hadn’t realized there were flat glass noodles in there—but they tasted pretty good.

They helped round out the slightly lacking texture.

Next came chewy seaweed rolls, dry but sweet sweet potatoes, and sauce-covered veggie fritters. Ayun sampled them all before pouring the fruity drink into a paper cup.

Slurp...

It was a sticky, sweet drink with a pineapple scent.

Phew...

After refreshing her palate, Ayun noticed Hyeyeon and Hyeonseo hadn’t even touched their chopsticks.

Wiping the sauce from her lips, she gestured for the phone and switched it to selfie mode.

Looking at the chat, she spoke.

“I’ve eaten enough, so I’m ending the stream here. Eating wasn’t really part of the plan anyway... I’ve shown you everything I needed to show you. And besides... the others here need to eat too.”

“Yeah... this was serious growth.”

“So, any plans for non-paranormal streams?”

“Wait no I just picked up my chopsticksss—”

“I’ll think about other types of content. Catch you later.”

“NOOO just one bite!!!”

(The broadcast has ended.)

Once the stream was over, Ayun let out a long sigh, her face visibly relaxed.

“You could’ve kept going, you know.”

“Seriously. It’s not like eating a bit later would kill us.”

To their comments, Ayun shook her head.

“I was uncomfortable.”

“Well, if you say so...”

Despite their words, both Hyeyeon and Hyeonseo—clearly starving after watching Ayun eat—started their meal without complaint.

Ayun watched them fondly for a moment, then quickly resumed using her chopsticks.

The three of them shared the tteokbokki in harmony.

While pouring the fruit drink into paper cups, Hyeonseo’s eyes lit up and she asked—

“Um, Ayun-nim.”

Ayun, sipping her drink, lifted an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Have you thought about what you’ll do for your next stream?”

“Hmm... not yet.”

Ayun smacked her lips as she replied.

They’d come here after receiving a tip, and while it was lucky something had actually happened...

Honestly, things went a little too well this time.

Filming in a regular home came with more complications than expected.

If something appeared, it was a problem. If nothing appeared, it was also a problem.

Ayun scratched her head in frustration.

“In that case...”

Looking at Ayun’s troubled expression, Hyeonseo brought up something unexpected.