A few days had passed since Althea, and I made an amendment to our little arrangement. Just like she promised, Althea provided a substantial amount of money for her own share of the meal.

Thinking back, it was a funny story. When we’d first discussed the price of groceries, Althea believed that she needed to pay an extravagant amount, one that was equal to that of her rent. When I’d explained to her that everyday ingredients didn’t cost that much… the look on her face was priceless.

Either way, ever since that day, we’d been having meals at my apartment since it was much more time and cost-effective.

“Firstly, tuck your fingers in like a cat’s paw.”

“A cat’s paw?”

“Yeah, like that!”

And as per our agreement, I was imparting some cooking techniques to the ignorant young child. Before, when I’d first invited Althea into my apartment, she was like a vigilant hawk that examined every nook and corner of my home.

While it was uncomfortable, I understood why Althea felt the need to be on her toes. However, after a few days, it quickly became evident to her that my intentions were pure. So, she was willing to let her guard down around me, albeit in a restrained manner.

“Make sure that the knife isn’t resting on your fingers. Also, concentrate when you’re using the knife. It’s common for even the most experienced chefs to cut their fingers if they aren’t focusing.”

“N-Noted!”

Althea replied with an extravagant nod. It was quite the sight, seeing a beautiful girl panic over the sharpness of a knife. Her nostrils were flared, and her eyelashes twitching. While her hands weren’t shaking, I could see the odd bead of sweat rolling down her wrist.

Eventually, after a full minute of preparation, Althea had finally finished chopping the onions I’d given her.

“There you go. See? It wasn’t that hard, right?”

“Y-yeah! Perfect!”

“Alright, thank you for helping. Leave the rest to me.” I said nonchalantly as I picked up the remaining vegetables I’d chopped.

“Wait, that’s it? I can do more!”

“There’s no need. The rest is just stir-frying. Only one pair of hands is needed for that job.”

“I see...”

“Yeah, so just watch television or something.”

“Okay...”

I pushed the reluctant Althea out of the kitchen and began preparing our dinner. Since the girl had already recovered, I became a little more adventurous with my cooking. For the past few days, I had experimented with the best food for a young girl of her appetite.

I’d tested what flavours she’d responded best to and researched about what foods girls her age would like.

And today, I believed I’d found the best meal for her.

“Alright, dinner’s ready!”

“Mmmm… Smells delicious. What is it?”

“Take a guess,” I questioned her as I was preparing the kitchen island with plates and cutlery.

“Actually, it smells quite familiar… I think I had it before… but… I can’t remember...”

Oh? Looks like Althea had tried this dish before. Well, I kind of expected that since most girls her age would be tempted to try this dish.

“Haha, I won’t keep you in suspense then. Here, have a look!”

I lifted the lid up and revealed my masterpiece.

“T-This is! Jjajangmyeon?!”

“Yeap! Korean black bean sauce noodles.” I replied with a proud expression. “Do you like it?”

“Yes! I love it! How did you know that I liked it?”

“An educated guess. You liked soju, so I would think you liked Korean food as well. You didn’t like anything spicy or bitter, so anything of that nature is out. Soup-based food was fine, but I didn’t want to make another soup dish for you. So as far as popular Korean food left, it was a toss between Jjajangmyeon and Korean fried chicken.”

“So you went for Jjajangmyeon?”

“Yeah, I didn’t have the cravings for chicken today, so I decided on noodles instead. And based on your expression… It looks like my choice was right!”

If I could provide Althea with a mirror, I would. She was beaming like a sunflower in light, and the whites of her teeth were shining ever so brightly.

“Wow… To think that you’d put so much thought into a meal...”

“It’s nothing much,” I waved off her compliment. “Anyway, let’s dig in!”

I scooped up a sizable portion and handed it over to the eagerly waiting girl. At the same time, I took a good chunk for myself before taking a seat right opposite her.

“How’s the food?”

“Amazing! It’s even better than the restaurant that I’d used to frequent!”

“Haha, that’s nice to hear. It may be a bit more calorie-heavy, but you’re a recovering young girl. You should be able to handle it.”

“Calorie heavy?”

“Yeah, a serving of Jjajangmyeon can be up to five or six hundred calories.”

“Is that a lot?”

“Well… for a thin girl such as yourself, it could be. Here, let me show you.”

I whipped out my phone and opened a health app that I’d been using to track my fitness goals. Usually, I would use it to keep a tab on my calorie intake and prevent myself from overeating. But now, it was able to serve another purpose.

“If it isn’t too personal, can I ask for your height and weight?”

“It’s fine. The last I’d checked… I was 1.68 metres and 45 kilograms.”

Woah… Isn’t she severely underweight then? Add that to her atrocious diet before… No wonder she collapsed.

“Well… According to my calculator, you’ll need about a thousand four hundred calories a day to survive. One bowl of Jjajangmyeon is almost half that amount.”

“Wow...” Althea looked at the app in awe. Evidently, this girl hasn’t paid attention to her own nutrition to be shocked at something as basic as this.

“What about you? How many calories do you need to survive?”

“Me? About two to three thousand.”

“What?! That much more?!” Althea’s eyes widened at the drastic difference between our caloric intakes.

“That’s just biology, Althea. I’m a man standing at 1.87 metres and weigh 80 kilograms. Also, I have much more muscles, which require more calories to fuel. Also, I work out almost every day, so I’ll need that extra energy.”

“You work out every day?”

“Yeap! Right here in my home gym!” I pointed my thumb back to the gym set-up I had prepared. “Fortunately, I made one before the pandemic started.”

“Oh, so that’s what it was...”

Althea looked over my shoulders, eyeing down the magnificent set-up I had. I could see the gears churning in her emerald eyes before she settled down and followed up with a question.

“Hey, if it’s not too rude to ask… Why are you so into cooking healthy and exercising?”

“Huh?”

“N-No, it’s just… Most people I know don’t really care about what they eat or how much they exercise. It’s the first time I’d seen someone who would calculate their food calories to the decimal.”

“Haha, I’m not THAT particular.”

I smiled with a reply. Unlike Althea’s words, I didn’t really measure every single calorie that came into my body. At most, I would estimate it based on the ingredients I had at hand.

“But I get your point… Hmmm, I don’t know. It first started back when I was still in university when I’d first started living alone. I may look like this now, but I was severely overweight before university.”

“What, really?”

“Yeah! At my peak, I was over a hundred kilograms.”

“No way...”

Althea’s eyes widened as she scrutinised my entire body. Evidently, she couldn’t picture me filled with fat now that I’m as lean as a cucumber.

“Haha, it’s true! Back then, I was fat and quite unpopular. So, I went through a phase like any young boy and decided to become thinner and more muscular. Thinking back at it, it does feel a little embarrassing to say.”

I scratched the back of my head while trying to hide my shame.

“However, after I started to research the benefits of a healthy body, I’d started to appreciate maintaining a healthy lifestyle. One thing led to another, and here I am...”

While my intentions when I’d first started were impure, I now enjoyed eating healthy and working out. The energy that I now had and the sharpness of my mind… It was all due to my awakened healthy habits.

As they all say… Health is wealth.

“I see…” Althea nodded and accepted my brief explanation.

“If that’s the case, you must get plenty of attention from girls now, right?”

“Hmmm?”

“I mean, now that you’re ripped, wouldn’t it be easy for you to get a girlfriend?”

“Haha, where did that come from?”

“... Am I wrong?”

I’d thought that Althea was joking, but her crystal clear eyes were telling me otherwise. If it was Len probing, I would have probably brushed him off. However, this girl was genuinely curious.

“Well… no.”

“Hmmm… why not?”

“Well, for one… I’m not into relationships anymore. I would rather be single for the rest of my life.”

“...”

“Either way, it would be hard to find girls that like someone as unattractive as me.”

“I see...”

For some reason, the conversation went cold immediately after. While Althea and I still shared bits of conversation here and there, for the most part, the only sounds in my apartment were the silent slurps of our Jjajangmyeon.