Kidnapped Dragons (KR Web Novel)

Episode 92: Cottage Industry (3)

Gyeouls promise wasnt too different from the other candidates, and unlike what Yu Jitae suggested, she promised to give out burgers upon election.

“Our Gyeoul is cute, so wouldnt a lot of them choose her!?”

“No. I heard her image went to the gutters after selling stuff like a merchant.”

“But thats only the kids in the same grade as her so that shouldnt matter too much though?”

Her sisters said a line each as Gyeoul returned an awkward smile. It was hard to guess the results of the vote because she had been honest in her speech.

Yu Jitae took the kids and was on the way to the rented kitchen. They were going to now make 30 sample burgers that would be given to the students of her class.

Instead of lying about giving 1,000 burgers again, Gyeoul thought it would be better to give it to a small portion of students to raise their expectations.

Thats right. It was Gyeouls suggestion.

After arriving at the facility, they went in and found all sorts of cooking utensils and spices neatly arranged inside the large and clean kitchen.

“I looked up a recipe on the way here.”

It was when Bom was about to activate the hologram display of her watch.

“Its fine,” Yu Jitae stopped her.

“Sorry?”

“I know how to make one.”

“Ehng? Really?”

Kaeul asked with an astonished voice. It was because Yu Jitae had never made a single burger during the 4 years or so of their time together.

Burger… was a dish he knew very well from a distant past.

Laying down the ingredients that he bought on the way here, Yu Jitae began to skilfully move his hands.

He sliced the lettuce to the desired size and created thin layers of tomato, as well as onions and pickles.

After that, he covered the pan with butter and cooked the buns until the sides turned yellow and crispy. The kitchen was soon filled with the mixed smell of cooked bread and butter.

“Hoh, what? Did you work at McDonalds before?”

“It smells amazing…”

His movements were so natural that the kids watched with amazement.

From what he could remember, the 2nd iteration was the last time he made this. It was such a long time ago but he was so used to making the burger that his body moved on its own.

Burgers…

It was mysterious; making this suddenly brought up the buried memories of the distant past.

1st iteration. When Yu Jitae was still leading his first life.

There was a long war. Monsters and superhumans flew around in the sky and the TV screens talked about the deaths of such and such people everyday.

In the midst of the war, a boy lost everyone in his family and became an orphan.

Back then, there were plenty of kids that were like that. Kids who lost their parents to the claws of the monsters, who were chased out onto the streets with their houses bombarded and left with nowhere to go.

Later, the boy did enter an orphanage and although the life at the orphanage was also extremely impoverished, the life before that in the streets was difficult to the point that he could have died anyday. It still faintly remained in a corner of his memories.

Like other beggars and orphans, he scavenged through bins to fill up his stomach, and survived by drinking the dirty river water. Sometimes, he had to fight other orphans for bins or lie down on the streets and suffer from a stomach ache.

One of his eyes was smacked by a beggar to the point that it could not be opened, and whenever it rained, he had to lie on the streets drenched with water with no roof above him and shiver in his sleep.

That was when he was 11 years old.

After starving for four straight days, when he was powerless and his vision was starting to fail him,

Yu Jitaes feet made him reach a certain fast food restaurant that was at the corner of the main street. He smelled something ridiculous right when he was walking by the entrance.

The smell was both savoury and salty, that could immediately make anyone drool…