WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 118: The Last Supper
──────
I imagined the camera tripod skittering around on spider legs, then turned back to the screen.
[#EmployeeCafeteria#UiwiGuild#Secretary#Mukbang｜◦ Live]
[⚉ Delicious｜⚇ Not Delicious]
[Currently 1,144■ watching Streaming began: 85 minutes ago]
The camera caught up to Manager Kim from behind as he headed toward the serving counter, offering a glimpse of his profile.
Though he walked without a word, Manager Kim occasionally looked back.
There was a trace of concern on his face, a face that looked as though it would not bleed even if stabbed.
"Look at this!"
Hyeon Je-won pointed at the secretary on the screen.
"His eyes are looking behind the camera! Representative Mi-rae must have been there!"
It was a plausible guess, but we could not know that yet.
Even if someone was there, there was no certainty it was Yu Mi-rae.
「Representative.」
"Gasp."
...No, it was.
Hyeon Je-won's guess was right.
Yu Hyun-jae had been right.
Clatter.
Manager Kim picked up a tray and spoke without turning around.
「I told you not to get a meal ticket.」
A low male voice, threaded with a sigh.
Then, faintly following after...
「Did you see?」
A woman's playful voice.
「I can tell without looking. Please check exactly what will happen to me before you get one.」
「All right.」
It was an odd voice, light in a way that somehow had more pull than even her brother's.
"Representative Mi-rae! That's definitely her voice!"
It really was Yu Mi-rae.
"No, really...? Then where did the representative go?"
"She could not have died, right? N-no, she could not. Right."
Kim Hee-sook quickly changed course after seeing Hyeon Je-won's wild eyes.
"Representative Mi-rae is highly knowledgeable about Labyrinth analysis! She must have escaped and gone upstairs!"
"Mm. All right, then..."
Privately, I agreed with Hyeon Je-won.
If Yu Mi-rae, the co-representative, resembled her brother and business partner,
she would not die easily.
Yu Hyun-jae had never died in this Labyrinth because of his own mistake. Not once.
...Not that he had particularly good luck.
「So, what are you going to eat? If I'd known this would happen, I would have had them add some authentic Chinese dishes.」
At the representative's voice from beyond the screen, the secretary slowly looked over the lavishly prepared food and let out a laugh that sounded almost like a sigh.
「Authentic, my ass. You know I could not afford to eat things like that when I was young.」
「Still. This might be your last meal.」
「Exactly. I'll just eat what I used to eat.」
Manager Kim stopped in front of the Korean food line.
The corner of his mouth lifted faintly, then fell again as though I'd imagined it.
「This is my home, after all.」
Yu Mi-rae's secretary raised his head and looked straight ahead without wavering.
Yu Mi-rae would be at the end of his gaze. Without a doubt.
「True enough.」
It was an indifferent reply, indifferent enough to make those of us listening feel awkward.
Manager Kim, on the other hand, seemed unbothered by the curt answer. He calmly picked up the tongs and began filling his tray.
Freshly cooked white rice. Spicy soybean paste soup with cabbage greens. Gochujang bulgogi. Cool acorn jelly tossed with lettuce, onion, and cucumber. Crisp stir-fried garlic scapes and napa cabbage kimchi.
The food onscreen filled the tray, neither too little nor too much.
I was hungry again.
I could eat too. If I just reached out...
Clink, thump!
After taking a spoon and chopsticks, Manager Kim set his tray on a table.
Scrape.
He pulled out his chair and sat with perfect posture. The camera moved directly in front of him, filming him as though looking down at him.
Scrape.
Another chair scraped, and the back of a head, black as ink, briefly appeared onscreen before quickly disappearing.
The camera's position and angle had been adjusted so Yu Mi-rae would not appear onscreen.
Judging by Manager Kim's gaze, Yu Mi-rae seemed to be seated directly across from him.
The camera appeared to have been pushed over to the seat beside them.
「You know I won't make Manager Kim eat while staring at empty air.」
「I know. You did that when we first met, too.」
「Weren't you scared?」
「I was. I thought it was some new kind of torture. You said you were going to watch us eat in that state, so I thought we'd all die if the two of you could not get surgery because of us.」
A brief burst of cheerful laughter came from offscreen.
「I went to save you. Why would I kill you?」
「That's what I thought back then. I was young, so I did not know. I did not know life was a gift more frightening than death.」
Just as Manager Kim raised his spoon with an impassive face,
「Aren't you scared?」
It sounded as though Yu Mi-rae was teasing a friend before a bungee jump.
Manager Kim's hand paused for a moment, his gaze turning toward Yu Mi-rae beyond the screen.
「It's a life I owe you anyway, Representative. It's not too precious to give up.」
「But you're scared!」
Bang!
This time, the sound of the table being struck hard rang out alongside an agitated voice, as though Yu Mi-rae was angry.
Maybe the situation made it hard for her to control her emotions.
「If you want to repay your debt, one finger is enough.」
What kind of vicious loan shark thing was that to say in that voice...?
「A ring is terribly inconvenient.」
Manager Kim looked down at his empty left hand and smiled faintly.
「It's been twelve years since I incurred that debt.」
「Twelve years, six months, and seventeen days.」
「Yes. Exactly.」
Manager Kim, who would soon be reduced to little more than bones and die, looked calmer than Yu Mi-rae sounded.
「Who repays a debt with just the principal? You pay the interest too.」
No answer came.
「Ha.」
All we heard was that short breath, something between a laugh and a deep sigh.
Was she smiling? Crying?
For some reason, I regretted not being able to see her expression.
「Representative.」
「Yeah.」
He fell silent for a moment.
Yet it felt as though that brief silence held every word.
「Thank you for the meal.」
There was not the slightest hesitation in his voice.
「Yeah. Enjoy.」
Surprisingly, there was not a tremor in the woman's voice either.
Clatter.
Manager Kim carefully took a spoonful of soybean paste soup.
「How is it? Does it taste strange at all? Or does it taste like something you had a long time ago?」
「It hasn't cooled at all, as expected of an artifact, but it doesn't seem to have an effect like Nectar. It's the best soybean paste soup I've ever had.」
「Really?」
This time, Manager Kim scooped up a spoonful of rice, dipped it lightly in the soup, and put it in his mouth.
Brush.
He pushed a fallen grain of rice to the side of his tray.
「Yes. It's the best rice I've ever had.」
「That must be the effect. I won't know until I try it myself, but... Will you give me one bite?」
「No. I don't want you to eat it.」
Manager Kim said it while staring straight ahead, his face hard.
Yu Mi-rae did not answer for a moment.
「So that's the effect. Still, it's only half and half for now. You're holding out well.」
「Yes. I'm sorry.」
「It's all right. It's hard to defeat a Labyrinth through sheer willpower, after all.」
Manager Kim's chopsticks brought gochujang bulgogi and kimchi to his mouth one after the other.
Crunch.
When red seasoning smeared around his mouth, he pulled out a tissue from the table and wiped it away.
「Are they both the best, too?」
Manager Kim had already taken a spoonful of white rice. Chewing, he nodded.
「Really? That's a little disappointing. I bought you lots of really delicious meals.」
「I'm sorry, mm, I am.」
Before Manager Kim had even finished chewing, he picked up some acorn jelly with his chopsticks.
Smack.
Half a piece of acorn jelly fell onto the table.
Manager Kim did not take another tissue.
Slurp.
The acorn jelly vanished into the mouth pressed against the table.
「Is it really that good?」
「Yes. It's good.」
Crunch.
The sound of cucumber in the seasoned acorn jelly being chewed came softly from inside Manager Kim's mouth.
Red seasoning smeared around his mouth again. Manager Kim picked up the crumpled tissue he'd used earlier to wipe it away...
"Uh...?"
Brush.
He put it in his mouth and casually chewed and swallowed it.
「You shouldn't eat things like that.」
「It's fine... I'm sorry. It's good.」
For one brief moment, genuine emotion showed on Manager Kim's face.
「You don't have to apologize.」
Yu Mi-rae's voice had grown quieter than before.
「I don't think we'll be able to say goodbye if we wait any longer, Manager Kim.」
「Mm, yes.」
Manager Kim, who had been hurriedly stuffing both cheeks full of food, held his spoon suspended in the air for a moment.
Struggling as though resisting it.
His right arm, holding the spoon, visibly trembled.
「It was fun while it lasted.」
I thought it was an unusual farewell, but Manager Kim's expression told me everything.
That was what he had wanted to hear most.
「Thanks to you, I lived too. And I had fun doing it.」
His eyes were red, but he did not cry. His voice caught, but he did not sob.
「Anything you want to leave for your younger sibling? If I happen to meet them, I'll pass it on.」
「No. They're a long way from perfect, but they must have done what they had to do.」
The blood vessels in his eyes burst as he tried to keep his gaze fixed on Yu Mi-rae instead of the tray.
Manager Kim's lips parted again.
「Representative, I... I also want to li...」
That was as far as he got.
Thump!
Instead of speaking, Manager Kim chose to put food in his mouth.
Crunch, chomp.
The chopsticks continuously supplied side dishes and rice, while the spoon intermittently ladled in soup, forcing it all down his throat.
Smack, crunch, slurp.
He ate faster and faster.
Thump...!
The tray was empty in an instant.
It did not even seem like fifteen minutes had passed.
Scrape.
Manager Kim rose from his seat.
「You're eating again? Aren't you full?」
「No. I'm hungry.」
The camera followed its subject, showing Manager Kim filling his tray with new food before returning.
Chomp, smack.
「Manager Kim.」
「Yes. It's good, mm, it is.」
Manager Kim craved food more and more greedily, and that greed seemed endless.
"Isn't he eating too fast...? It doesn't even look like he's swallowing properly..."
Thump.
Another tray was emptied, then filled again.
「Anyone would think you've been starving.」
「Yes. Mm, I'm hungry.」
Crunch, smack, slurp.
Thump.
Another tray emptied and filled.
Seasoning glistened around Manager Kim's mouth.
"Manager Kim... He's getting thinner and thinner..."
"...It seems to be a rule where he grows thinner the more he eats. He can't control his appetite, either."
Thump.
The tray was emptied and filled again.
Yu Mi-rae no longer spoke to Manager Kim.
Thump.
Manager Kim ate, then ate some more.
As he brought back a tray for what had to be the who-knew-how-manyth time, he kept saying...
「I'm hungry. I'm hungry. I'm hungry.」
As though this were the last meal he would ever get to eat.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried