Seoul Kitchen: Chapter 28 (Patreon)

Silly Little Problems

As he stared at the mountain of messages rolling down his inbox, he realized that maybe it wasn't the greatest idea to use his main line for his job posting. "At least I got a lot of replies," He told himself as he sat there by the counter while he waited for the sausages to cook.

"Is it done yet?" Himiko asked as she jumped on his back and peered from behind his shoulder. Gazing back at her, he chuckled at how she drooled at the sight of the food sizzling in the pan.

"Damn it Hiniko, sit down will you?" Rebecca would call out as she marched over to them before reaching out the grabbing the girl by the scruff. The girl clung to her tightly but Rebecca wasn't having any of the teen shenanigans as his Input peeled the girl off his back, "It's not going to get cooked any faster even if you ask!"

"But I'm so hungry!" The girl whined as Rebecca dragged her back to the counter top tables.

"Come on Himiko, just a few more minutes," He told her as pulled out some tongs and checked to see it was properly brown before nodding at the sight of the curled up sausage glistening from the oil; It was now ready. Picking it up and placing it over to the large plates he set aside that already was brimming with food, he then grabbed a few eggs and cracked them over the same pan.

It would be a waste to not use the grease from bacon and sausage as it'll add that extra umph to the eggs. Grabbing a spatula, he tossed the grease over the eggs, letting it cook in high heat before pulling them up once the sides started to curl and brown.

With his plate complete, he brought them over to the table and presented them to his girls. "Now it's done," Breakfast was a simple affair. Sausage, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, pork and bean, hash browns, toast and bacon, the full English Breakfast was ready and served.

He couldn't help but smile as he watched the two share a look of hunger as the scent hits them, their mouths drooling at the heavenly affair he served them. "Well, what are you waiting for? Dig in!" He told them with a laugh as all three of them had a bite.

It was greasy, salty and most definitely unhealthy but oh so delicious. The salty and meaty of the sausages and bacon paired well with the tangy and sweet flavors of the Pork and Beans. With the toasted bread to temper the salty flavor and the eggs to round it all out, he couldn't have asked for a better breakfast. To wash it all down, he had a selection of milk for Himiko while he and Rebecca had coffee. It was just the perfect breakfast for someone expecting a long day ahead or just someone with a ravenous appetite.

Off course, his breakfast wouldn't be quite complete with out Rebecca and now Himiko in the mix. Watching Rebecca fretting over Himiko as the girl devoured the contents of the plate, he felt a certain sense of fondness settle inside his chest. It was all to precious how almost motherly Rebecca was to the younger girl.

"Damn it Toga, slow down! You'll burn your tongue!" His input scolded the girl as Himoko tossed the pipping hot between her hands. Instead of placing it back down, the blonde decided to bite on it to expected results.

Himoko flinched as she spat the sausage back on her plate and stuck out her tongue and cried out in pain, "Owww."

"Told you you'll burn your tongue now come here," Rebecca ordered the girl as she leaned in close, wiping the girls face with some paper towels, before pouring the girl some milk, "Here, have some milk. It'll help with that. Now remember…"

Overall, their breakfast was a much more lively affair with Himiko around, not that he minded. Dare he say, he welcomed the change. With the girl around, his apartment was slowly becoming a home, one he looked more and more to go back to. Sighing fondly as he ruffled the girls hair, It almost felt like he had his family again.

-x-x-x-

Breakfast was over before he knew it. While he prepared for the day, Himiko was over by the living room watching some old cartoons. Large swathes of the old world might have been lost during the DataKrash of 2022 but the old Tom and Jerry Classics remained all but intact. His copy of the show served him well as she heard the girl roar out in laughter

"She's quite the handful isn't she?" He told Rebecca as he turned towards her. While he was getting ready, Rebecca remained on her casuals by which he meant his shirt. At one point, he'd have complained it but he got used to it. It actually looked cute on her with how oversized it was.
Sighing out fondly,, she glanced over Himiko, smiling as she watched the girl had her fun, "She definitely is but I think it's worth it," she replied before she called out to the other girl, "Hey Himiko, wants some snacks?"

"Yes please!" Himiko replied as she peeked out from the coach like some overexcited puppy.

"Be there in a minute!" Rebecca replied before turning to him, "See, I got it handled. Besides, it's not like I'll be cooped up here forever. I just need a week or so to get her used to everything," She assured him before flashing him a grin, "And hey, this isn't my first rodeo getting someone house trained."

He snorted as he then told her, "You might want to do a refresher on Pilar then," Both of them shared a laugh at that. Shaking his head, he then leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead, "Welp, time for me to go. It's still a bit early but I'd hate to get stuck in traffic," The early light had had yet to peek outside at five thirty am but he wasn't going to take his chances especially with this city.

With a light dusting of pink, Rebecca pull him down and give him a kiss of her own, "Going to be a busy day huh?" She then asked.

"Like always," He admitted. His shop's unexpected fame does have its downsides, "And it doesn't help my inbox's totalled," He grimaced at the reminder of his filled up mailbox. Maybe he should have bought that subscription for his spam filter but that was him bending over to the companies demands, "Might have to call Lucy or Kiwi to get it sorted out," He muttered.

Frowning, Rebecca would pull herself up his back and hugged him close, "Oh come on, it can't be that bad. Besides, those would charge you an arm and a leg just for that," She reminded him. Poking him on the cheeks, she then told him, "Come on, let me see it! I know a thing or two about messages and spam."

"Ok but I did warn you," He told him as he pulled out some wires and connected the two. It was strange having to do physical connections in such a futuristic setting but maybe that was just his exposure to bluetooth and wifi technology and its convenience that colors his experience.

There would be some silence between them as he showed her his inbox before she spoke up, "Oh… oh boy," Grimacing, she then turned to him and broke him the terrible news, "Yeah, let me just get them online."

He winced before sighing, his inbox was definitely totalled. He might actually need a new number and it'll be a pain getting this one converted to a business type number. Sitting down on a chair with Rebecca using his laps as her's, he waited for the call for Lucy to connect but it the girl wouldn't pick up. "Huh, Lucy's out. Probably busy," Rebecca shrugged as she dialed Kiwi's number.

This time, the other netrunner would connect as her face would appear before him. The usually dour Netrunner looked far more pissed the usual as she sat there, wearing a large poofy hat of all things while the sound of howling laughter echoed in the background. Shrugging, he then greeted her, "Hey Kiwi," before Rebecca butted in.

"Heya Bitch, what's with the hat?" His little gremlin greeted before frowning as she gave the older woman a questioning look, "And is that Lucy laughing in the background?"

The blonde's eye twitched as she muttered out darkly, "Ask about the hat one more time and I'll gut and use your entrails as scarf."

"Chill," Rebecca raised her hands in surrender, "Didn't mean to poke at you," She apologized before tilting her head to the side, "Something Lucy did to your hair?" She then questioned her.

The woman grumbled, her face burning, as she reached up and pulled her hat down even more, "I really don't want to talk about it," She replied as Rebecca nodded. Turning to him, Kiwi then asked, "So what's this about kid? Another stray?"

"Nah, not this time," He replied, earning him a snort of amusement from the woman, before he replied, "It's more of a tech problem really…" he admitted before sighing as his shoulder sagged, "I fucked up and used my personal number for a hiring ad. My inbox's totalled."

Kiwi would stare at him for a good long while before she asked him, "You called me at this god forsaken hour for that?"

"Your awake aren't you?" Rebecca sassed out before he gave her a bop on the head, sushing before she piss Kiwi off to much.

"Sorry about that," He apologized, "But it's Five Thirty in the Morning?" He replied, tilting his head at her. Sure it would have been way too early for him but he had adjusted to the Night City norm. Even Rebecca woke up the same time as he did, "I don't see the problem?"

The woman let out a heavy sigh as he reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose, "You two gonks really are made for each other," She muttered before shaking her head, "Fuck it, just give me a bit to wake up."

"I can make coffee for you at the store? I can make some mean Iced Cappuccino if you want something cold" He offered. While he did not like how prevalent a certain green coffee chain was back in his time, he did miss their overly sweet drinks. Who knew that there will come a time that their coffee would be more closer to the classic blends than what's served today, "I'm not really in a hurry," He added.

There was a hint of hesitation on her face before she nodded, "Fine, I'll drop by later," "You know this is going to cost you right?"

"Can't you give a friend some discount~?" Rebecca then asked as she flashed the woman her winning smile.

All she'd get from her however was one, big, fat, "No," before the message cut off leaving them with a blank screen.

"Jerk," Rebecca muttered with a pout before she hopped out of his lap. Stretching and cracking her back, she then said, "Welp, good luck on you date~" catching him off guard.

Seeing that playful grin on her face, he asked, "Wait, what?" as he gave her questioning looks. He didn't understand?

"You offered the girl coffee and she accepted~ What do you think it is then?" She teased him as he gave him a quick peek on the cheek, "Didn't knew the hag still had it in here~ Doing it to my own man! That shameless hussy!" She laughed as she waved him off, "But I'll be a good girl and let you have your fun~ Go get him tiger."

He groaned as she walked off cackling, "Come on Rebecca, it's not a date," He muttered. It wasn't, was it?