THAT LOOK

[AH, SO IT'S a conveyor belt sushi restaurant.]

Nikolai was used to the high-end ones, so entering that place was quite interesting.

[It's neat.]

There were a total of eight contestants who were already placed on the tables beside the conveyor belt.

Nikolai and Mona secured a table for two where they could see their daughter.

It was easy to spot Neoma anyway because aside from the fact that there were only two girls among the challengers, his daughter's outfit was pretty eye-catching, too.

Neon hot pink sweat suit.

Yes, neon hot pink.

[My eyes… hurt.]

"Eomma!" Neoma greeted Mona cheerfully while waving her hands. "I'm here."

[Yes, daughter. We can see you clearly. You and your neon hot pink sweat suit.]

Nikolai could also see that Neoma was ignoring him on purpose.

Mona smiled and waved at Neoma while whispering to Nikolai. "I'm sorry, Nikolai-ssi. Neoma isn't usually a rude kid…"

"It's alright, yeobo," Nikolai whispered back. "Neoma has all the right to resent me."

"But that's not an excuse to be rude to you," his wife argued. "I'll scold Neoma later."

Aww.

He was touched.

[As expected, Mona is a really good person.]

How could Nikolai not fall in love with Mona when it was so easy to love her?

"Don't look at me like that, Nikolai-ssi."

Oho?

"Like what, yeobo?"

Mona didn't answer, but she avoided her gaze and her entire face turned red.

[Adorable.]

"Like I'm in love with you?" Nikolai teased Mona. "But I am."

"Stop it," Mona scolded her, then she grabbed the menu and used it to cover her face. She probably did it because she was too embarrassed to look at him. "You can't eat raw food, can you? Luckily, they have tempura here. Let's order that."

Aww.

[She still remembers I can't eat raw food.]

Well, he could force himself to eat sushi especially if his business partners enjoyed it, but he'd rather not.

And Mona knew that.

[Does this mean my wife still cares about me?]

"Alright. Today is my treat," Nikolai said, smiling at Mona even though she couldn't see him because she was still hiding behind the menu. "Thank you for taking care of me, yeobo."

***

103 PLATES of sushi.

Nikolai was shocked when Neoma finished 103 plates in just one sitting, in less than an hour. He was so impressed that he couldn't help but clap hard for his daughter's amazing feat.

The other challengers only had 50-70 plates.

[My daughter… is built different.]

Anyway, Neoma looked happy and proud of herself for winning the competition. His daughter also set a record for the most plates of sushi eaten in one sitting ever since the restaurant opened five years ago.

Right now, Neoma was busy talking to the old couple that owned the sushi restaurant.

And his daughter hadn't put down the camera in her hand yet.

"Neoma was recording herself with her phone when she was eating earlier," Nikolai commented. "Was she doing a mukbang back then?"

Mona smiled and nodded. "When I asked Neoma why she wanted to join this competition, she said she wanted to help promote this restaurant. But she didn't get paid to do that. She just genuinely wanted to help the old couple who owns this place."

Oh.

That was nice of his daughter then.

[Neoma inherited her mother's kindness.]

Thank goodness.

"Yeobo, do you think Neoma would mind if I snapped a picture of her?" Nikolai asked carefully. "Just one."

He actually wanted to ask to have a picture with Mona and Neoma.

But he knew it was too early for that.

"I know we should ask for Neoma's permission first, but I guess it's fine if it's just one picture," Mona said, obviously being as careful as him. "Most people here are taking pictures anyway. Don't worry, I'll tell our daughter about it later."

Nikolai quickly took out his phone. "Thank you, yeobo."

He did his best to capture a good photo of Neoma, which wasn't hard to do because his daughter was beautiful at any angle.

[My daughter is the prettiest in the world.]

As expected, the photo of Neoma smiling while sitting and hugging the trophy– surrounded by the towers of empty sushi plates– turned out great.

"Eomma, I won!" Neoma said excitedly when their daughter finally made her to them after taking a picture with her trophy. "Look at this cute trophy, Eomma! It has a sushi plush on the top that I can turn into a keychain!"

"That's nice, daughter," Mona said softly, but then her face turned serious. "But why aren't you greeting your father? Did I raise a delinquent?"

Neoma pouted and shook her head. "I'm known as a 'thug' in the school and not as a 'delinquent,' Eomma."

Pfft.

While Mona looked like she was about to scold Neoma, Nikolai– on the other hand– couldn't help but laugh at his daughter's cheekiness.

[Yes, that's my daughter right there.]

Neoma looked at Nikolai in disbelief. "You know how to laugh, Ahjussi?"

His laughter quickly died after his daughter called him 'Ahjussi' instead of 'Appa.'

Even so, he didn't resent Neoma for it.

[I need to work hard to gain my daughter's forgiveness.]

"It may be hard to believe, but I'm also human like you, Neoma," Nikolai said teasingly, smiling at his shocked daughter. "I acted like trash for so long that you've forgotten I'm human, didn't I?"

Neoma nodded eagerly. "You did, Ahjussi."

Mona's face turned red, as if she was embarrassed by Neoma's brutal honesty. "Neoma, baby, you're being rude."

Neoma pouted again. "I'm just being brutally honest, Eomma."

"Being brutally honest is just an excuse to be rude," Mona said, scolding their daughter. "Your father hasn't done anything that warrants this kind of attitude from you."

Neoma's pout avoided her mother's gaze.

"It's alright, yeobo. I deserve this," Nikolai said, smiling at Mona who looked at him apologetically. "I see that I'm ruining the mood here, so I'll take it as a cue to leave. Like I promised, I have no intention of overstaying my welcome."

His goal for today was to watch Neoma's competition, and he had already accomplished that. That was enough for now.

[I shouldn't overwhelm Mona and Neoma with my presence.]

"Is that so?" Mona asked, then she nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you for being with us today, Nikolai-ssi."

"No, I should be the one thanking you, yeobo," Nikolai said softly. "Thank you for letting me spend the day with you."

Mona just smiled awkwardly, her cheeks turning pink as she avoided his gaze.

Was his wife embarrassed?

Aww.

[That's adorable.]

Nikolai stopped staring at Mona when he felt Neoma's sharp gaze.

[If looks could kill, my daughter would have killed me already with her glare…]

Even so, Nikolai still turned to Neoma with a smile on his face. "Congratulations on winning the competition, Neoma. I'm proud of you."

Neoma didn't say anything, but her face turned red as she avoided his gaze.

Just like what Mona did earlier.

Aww.

Nikolai didn't know how many times he said 'aww' already, but he couldn't help that he found whatever Mona and Neoma did cute.

[They're so precious to me, after all.]

***

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