The Onion-Cutting Ninja's Secret Crush

93 He Had One at Home

While the two of them were at home, Si Jin was still at the event, waiting for his turn in the contest. Being focused on what the other contestants were doing, time seemed to fly by for him. Although to be honest, he was a little dissatisfied with the skill level.

When it came to cutting vegetables, he had spotted too many mistakes in the way they did it. The efficiency wasn't up to par, and neither was the orientation for details like the width at which they were cutting. It was clear that these weren't professionals in some didn't even have much experience. It really was just an event for fun.

Thinking of that, Si Jin felt that he was probably doing something wrong. When it came to trying new things and being interesting, he probably shouldn't try to evaluate this to the standard of a professional but should instead try to have fun as well. But what made something like this fun? To be honest, he wasn't sure. Actually, he wasn't even sure how having fun was. Had he ever experienced something like that in life?

To him, every day was just a challenge. Accomplish this goal or that, then go for something new. It hadn't usually been something he specifically liked to do. It was just ... well, something he had to. So he did them and then he was done.

He really didn't get how other people had fun.

Realizing this, Si Jin didn't look at the way they were processing the food any longer and instead started to look at the people themselves. There was a man who was doing especially badly in the next contest which was on frying ingredients. You would need to get the heat and the amount of oil right, but also take the time into consideration to create a good dish.

This guy ... well, whatever he did, it wasn't up to standard by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, no matter which part Si Jin analyzed, there were flaws to be seen. But still, the man was laughing while he did it, looking as if he was very much having fun.

Si Jin stared at him, trying to figure out just what about doing something this wrong might be interesting to the man. Surely, this had to be less about achieving a perfect score and more about just doing it, no matter how badly.

Even though Si Jin got the gist of it, he still had trouble trying to draw a conclusion from this. In any case, he could not imagine being in the same situation.

Doing something good or bad, he didn't derive joy from either. He also wouldn't get frustrated if something didn't work out as intended though. No, he would just start over, doing it again and again until he figured it out. Then, he would slowly refine his abilities.

To him, it was just a matter that ... was, not anything more. But he was realizing that this approach wouldn't get him any further regarding his current endeavor. No, he needed to be more like this man. Which was odd because that man looked like an idiot.

Si Jin retracted his gaze and instead looked at the other contestants, trying to get a better feel for the situation and see if there was a way forward that wouldn't require him to compromise to this degree.

The man who had also been in the cutting contest before and accused him of cheating was also among them but he didn't look as if he was enjoying himself too much. Instead, his brows were tightly furrowed. He seemed to be intent on getting things just right. This was the kind of person who was in this only for the win and not for the fun of it. Definitely not the type of person he should pick as an example on how to become more interesting. Even to him, this man seemed boring.

The other contestants were somewhere in the middle of the two. There were some who were a little more eager to win but they still seemed to be having fun trying to do so.

The one who stuck out to him the most was a woman who had taken up a spot closer to where they were sitting. She was calm throughout the whole contest, her expression not indicating too much. But when looking very closely, one could see a hint of enjoyment in her features. She didn't seem like she necessarily wanted to win, she just quietly worked, wanting to do the best, no matter how that compared to others.