Chapter 31: Quietly Changing Hearts

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“Today’s meal is on your employer—in other words, me. Order whatever you like!”

Ravenous, Suzy found a local restaurant and sat down. The moment she pushed back her hood, Cha Lun-ho found himself staring. This woman occasionally radiated an atmosphere that made her seem like the heroine of a Korean drama come to life.

The local cuisine was excellent. Since they were there, they had to try the famous tagine, a dish sampled by travelers from all over and cooked in a distinctive vessel.

The pot was made of clay and topped with a conical lid. Beneath it, charcoal slowly simmered the ingredients inside. As the temperature rose, lamb, beef, and vegetables melded with the spices, gradually releasing an irresistible aroma that made the hungry lady employer practically lick her lips.

“This tagine has quite a story behind its origins! Legend says that a young man named Ali Baba was traveling through the Sahara Desert when he noticed drops of water falling from the top of his hat. He had a sudden inspiration and placed the hat over his cooking pot. He discovered that the food became even more delicious because the moisture didn’t evaporate. Instead, it gathered at the top of the hat and dripped back down into the food. That idea eventually evolved into the design of the tagine.”

Cha Lun-ho had no desire to know where the water drops on the man’s hat had come from, why he had been traveling through the desert, or whether the food had tasted faintly of hair grease. In any case, his beautiful employer had not listened to a word of it. She was merely waiting for the lid to come off so she could eat.

Suzy leaned closer and inhaled gently. The steam rising from the pot made her eyes narrow with delight. Seeing how hungry she was, Cha Lun-ho first ordered several skewers of meat. The chunks of beef and lamb, each about the size of a lighter, looked wonderfully appetizing, and red and green peppers were threaded between them, creating a vivid contrast. Naturally, Suzy’s first bite was dedicated to her phone. Even starving, she had to share the meal with her fans first.

“Put it down, put it down! I haven’t finished filming yet. Waiting a few more minutes won’t make you collapse from hunger.”

Suzy slapped Cha Lun-ho’s hand and coyly scolded him, forcing the man, who had been about to devour the skewer, to lower it with a helpless sigh. Women were such trouble, he thought. Se-jeong, on the other hand, was much simpler. At times like this, she would usually start with a large gulp of beer to whet her appetite, then sweep through the food like a storm. Watching her always reminded him of the days when the two of them had eaten relief meals together in their youth.

The manager watched one of her artists seemingly cross a line, but she had never interfered in this rabbit’s romantic affairs. She only needed to do her job. Besides, the girl would soon be leaving the company. As long as no major scandal broke out, the company generally preferred not to meddle. Even in the past, when the company had been in crisis, it had hardly dared interfere with its most valuable asset.

Female actresses tended to have large eyes but small stomachs. Besides, Suzy had filming scheduled in a couple of days, so she naturally could not eat to her heart’s content. When the lid of the tagine was lifted, the vegetables and tender lamb made the appetite surge. There was probably some lemon in it as well, lending the dish a refreshing tartness that made it all the more appetizing.

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“Lun-ho, are you an ox or something? Or did you starve while you were in the army? Good thing I brought you along, otherwise we’d never have finished all this.”

Suzy held an old-fashioned teacup and savored the local specialty, mint tea. Made by mixing green tea and mint leaves with sugar, the drink had quite a kick. The rabbit narrowed her eyes and made an exaggerated expression as the cool sensation shot straight from her throat to the back of her head. In the somewhat hot weather, it was remarkably refreshing.

“I grew up poor, so I still have some memories of hunger. I, Cha Lun-ho, hate wasting food more than anything. I always finish every last grain of rice in my bowl.”

His simple, earnest attitude earned the admiration of both women. They agreed that although he had retired from the military, his soldierly character had not diminished in the slightest.

In truth, he had never suffered much in the army. The so-called hazing was aimed at conscripts, the ordinary enlisted men. No one would have dared bully professional soldiers or officers like them, men with promising futures.

The Army Noncommissioned Officer Academy admitted only around three hundred and fifty students each year, and only about two hundred and eighty survived the selection process and successfully entered the military as officers. Within the enormous conscription-based armed forces, these men served as the backbone. As for food, that was another matter entirely.

If someone was assigned to Seoul or Gyeonggi Province, and their base was not particularly remote, they could use their pay to purchase meals from the military cafeteria if they did not wish to eat the free food. Dishes such as bibimbap and fried chicken were generally available at roughly half the price outside. If a kindhearted superior could not bear to watch his subordinates suffer, he might even allow them to order delivery from time to time.

But if someone was assigned to a rural infantry division in a remote region, the cafeteria might not even offer bibimbap or fried chicken for purchase. Delivery services would not come that far either, effectively forcing soldiers to save money. And if they happened to have a cruel direct superior who enjoyed bullying people, the situation could become utterly hopeless.

Cha Lun-ho believed that although he could not claim to love his soldiers like his own children, he had treated his squad with generosity and leniency. He had also dealt fairly with bullying within the ranks. Every soldier had considered it fortunate to serve under him. When they heard he had been dismissed, they had cried as though the sky itself were falling.

Cha Lun-ho ate with remarkable relish, yet his table manners were excellent. He did not smack his lips or make any unpleasant noises. To Suzy, it felt like watching a handsome mukbang streamer on a short-video platform. Perhaps he could even make money as an online celebrity.

The manager watched Suzy rest her chin in both hands, her eyes and brows curved with amusement as she observed Cha Lun-ho devouring his food. She pursed her lips, feeling like an unnecessary third wheel. Maybe the two of them really were hiding something from her.

She announced that she was going to find a guide and check on the vehicle. After all, they still had to make it back to Tangier, a hundred kilometers away, that evening.

“Relying on the guides around here would be a disaster. Luckily, Lun-ho speaks English very well.”

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Once the locals noticed the two Asians, quite a few men who looked distinctly crafty came forward and offered their services as guides. But Cha Lun-ho had already prepared himself. He had read online that every single person who approached tourists voluntarily was a scammer.

Fortunately, although the official language was Arabic and French was widely spoken, most shopkeepers could communicate in English as well. Even without a guide, they were able to enjoy themselves thoroughly. Suzy was particularly fond of the old yet beautiful architecture. It reflected not only Arab and Berber culture, but also Western influences from Spain and France. Everywhere they looked, residents in long robes and headscarves sat outside their homes, chatting.

“We shouldn’t go too far, should we? If the manager can’t find us, it’ll be troublesome.”

Cha Lun-ho’s warning did nothing to diminish Suzy’s enthusiasm. She said they could simply contact the manager by phone. The town was built along a mountainside with its back to the Mediterranean. From the heights, they could overlook the entire town and even see the distant mountains and sea. Taking the man by the arm, she led him uphill.

The man could not resist the actress. Besides, she was his employer, not his girlfriend. Naturally, the person paying the bill had the final say. He touched the telescopic baton at his waist, then finally agreed to his beautiful employer’s request.

However, just as Suzy was about to charge ahead, he grabbed her. While she stared at him in surprise, he pulled the hood over the back of her elf robe up around her head, then took out a scarf and covered her face with it.

The slightly intimate overstepping of boundaries left her momentarily stunned. During the filming, Suzy had a scene in which she removed the veil from her head. Although he had been standing far away, the beauty of that moment had struck him with considerable force.

The two of them were abroad and had done nothing particularly improper, yet both felt that something inside them was quietly changing. Perhaps it was not genuine affection at all, but an emotional misinterpretation caused by the suspension-bridge effect—a strange attraction produced by the stimulation of their surroundings.

“Put your phone in my bag, Lun-ho! Why doesn’t this elf robe of yours have any pockets? What if it falls out?”

Without giving him a chance to object, she tossed both his phone and her own into the bag. She did not notice that a pair of greedy eyes had already been fixed on her new Dior handbag for quite some time.

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