Actually, the Hungry Gyaru Who Eats a Lot Was Being Cheated On, so I Decided to Win Her Heart (And Stomach) From Her Jerk Boyfriend - 85

Chapter 85: Extra 2: The Hungry Gyaru and Small Obsession

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I took the dried wood ear mushrooms out from the shelf and placed them into a bowl filled with water to rehydrate them. I could’ve used lukewarm water to speed things up, but that would affect the texture. Since I was making a large quantity this time, I figured enough time would pass during prep as usual, so I decided to do it the normal way.

“Next…I guess I’ll get ready to make the thin omelets.”

I took a carton of eggs out of the refrigerator, cracked them one-handed, and kept dropping them into another bowl one after another. Before I knew it, Shizuku had been watching from across the counter and let out an impressed, “Ooh.”

“Suou-kun, you can crack eggs with one hand! That’s crazy! You totally give off that ‘guy who cooks’ vibe!”

“What’s that supposed to mean? And are you even complimenting me?”

“Of course! I’m seriously praising you!”

“…I see.”

Well, if she meant it as praise, that was fine. After beating the large batch of eggs, I added sugar and salt, then mixed in a bit of dissolved potato starch as well. As I stirred, Shizuku tilted her head.

“Hey, Suou-kun. You just added potato starch. Does that actually do something?”

“Apparently it helps prevent the eggs from tearing.”

It was a method I’d seen in a video a while back. Whether it really worked, I wouldn’t know until I tried it. But since I’d be making several sheets, it couldn’t hurt to lower the chances of them breaking. Once you ate it, it all tasted the same, but since I was serving it to Shizuku and Ichika, I still wanted to care about the appearance to some extent.

With the egg mixture ready, I moved on to making the sauce. Into water mixed with chicken bouillon powder, I added soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar. After that, I poured in some freshly squeezed ginger juice and stirred until the sugar completely dissolved.

Finally, I added lemon juice for a refreshing touch and put it in the refrigerator to chill until it was needed. When I closed the fridge door and turned around, Shizuku was still smiling with her eyes narrowed in delight.

“…You were like this with the curry too, but is it really that fun to watch?”

“Huh? Yeah, it’s fun. Watching food get made is exciting, isn’t it?”

“Well… yeah, I guess.”

I sometimes watched videos showing restaurant kitchens in action. Seeing the entire cooking process from prep to the dish being served was genuinely interesting. If it was a similar feeling, I could understand.

…Yeah, I could understand, but—

“You’ve got some unexpectedly quirky sides to you, Shizuku.”

“Ehh… you’re saying that, Suou-kun? But, well… I can’t exactly deny it. I mean, I’m here at your house hanging out with you.”

“Hey, aren’t you making me sound like some kind of oddity?”

“You are, though.”

She answered immediately, looking straight into my eyes. Damn it. Since it was true, I couldn’t even argue back. I gave up on any further rebuttal and honestly returned to cooking.

Next up was cooking the thin omelets. I poured oil into a heated frying pan and added the beaten egg mixture. After removing the pan from the heat and cooking one side, I flipped it and let the residual heat finish cooking the other side. Once it was fully cooked, I rolled it up, sliced it into thin strips, transferred it to a tray, and lightly loosened it up. The thin omelet was done.

All that was left now was to cut up the ingredients to place on top of the noodles. Once that was done, I’d just have to boil the noodles, so I might as well finish quickly. As I was about to continue…

“…Um, Suou-kun.”

“What’s up?”

Shizuku asked hesitantly.

“This is suuuper, like suuuper late to ask, but… should I be helping with something?”

“It really is late to ask, you know.”

“Sorry, sorry. But just watching the whole time kind of feels bad.”

“You don’t need to. I can’t exactly have a guest help cook their own meal. And besides, I’m doing this because I like it. So, Shizuku, just relax. Watch something, hang out with Ichika, just kill time however you want.”

As I said that, my hands kept moving.

First, the vegetables. This time I was using cucumber and tomato, plus myoga ginger as a garnish. I cut each of them into appropriate sizes. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at Shizuku, but she still didn’t seem fully convinced.

I really don’t need help, though.

After getting things to a manageable stopping point, I paused and decided to explain my thoughts.

“Sure, there are times when I think having an extra pair of hands would be nice. But more than that, I want to complete cooking a meal by myself. I want to make everything on my own and then have someone say it’s delicious. It’s nothing major, just a trivial personal fixation of mine. So, um… yeah. You don’t have to help. Instead, if you think it’s good, just tell me it’s delicious. That’s enough.”

“Suou-kun…”

She didn’t look completely convinced yet, but she gave a small nod.

“…Okay. Then can I just keep watching you cook?”

“…Do whatever you like.”

After that, I put the chopped vegetables into the fridge for the time being. As I did, something tucked away in the corner caught the edge of my vision.

Imitation crab sticks, huh. Should I shred some and add them too…?

They were pretty tasty, and decently nutritious.

“Shizuku, want some imitation crab too?”

I asked without turning around.

“I do!”

The answer came instantly.

“Got it.”

With a small smile, I took three packs of imitation crab out of the fridge.

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