Chapter 85

NINI’S RANDOM QUESTION (MINI SERIES)

•
•

A few days later, the apartment was peaceful in that suspicious way Lisa had started to distrust.

No sudden accusations. No insect-related existential crises.

Just quiet.

Too quiet.

Lisa was on the couch this time, half wrapped in a blanket, watching a cooking video she had already forgotten the point of. Her phone brightness kept dimming because she wasn’t touching it enough.

Jennie entered the living room holding a glass of water.

She stood there for a moment.

Lisa noticed immediately.

“…Okay,” Lisa said slowly, not even looking away from her screen. “I can feel a question forming.”

Jennie took a sip of water.

Then, very calmly, she asked:

“If I become a mandu… would you eat me?”

Lisa paused.

The video kept playing in the background, some chef dramatically folding dough like it was an emotional scene.

Lisa slowly lowered her phone.

“…A mandu,” she repeated.

Jennie nodded. “Yes.”

Lisa stared at her for a long second. “You mean like… a dumpling.”

“Yes.”

“A steamed dumpling.”

“Yes.”

“With filling.”

Jennie nodded again, completely serious.

Lisa leaned back into the couch, rubbing her face with one hand. “Jennie… why is your imagination actively trying to get me arrested emotionally?”

Jennie sat down beside her, very composed. “It’s a simple question.”

Lisa pointed at her. “Nothing about this is simple.”

Jennie tilted her head. “So… would you?”

Lisa exhaled slowly. Deep breath. Patience of a saint being tested.

Then she turned toward Jennie fully.

“Okay,” Lisa said carefully. “First of all, if you became a mandu, that would imply you are now food. Which means you have already lost your human rights in this hypothetical.”

Jennie nodded like she was following a lecture.

Lisa continued, “Second of all, you’re asking me if I would eat my girlfriend if she turned into a dumpling.”

Jennie: “Yes.”

Lisa squinted. “Do you want the honest answer or the safe answer?”

Jennie didn’t hesitate. “Honest.”

Lisa stared at her.

Then sighed.

“Probably not immediately,” she admitted.

Jennie blinked. “Why not immediately?”

Lisa gestured vaguely. “Because I would be too busy crying and questioning my life choices while holding a dumpling that suspiciously has your energy.”

Jennie nodded slowly. “So you would eventually.”

Lisa pointed at her again. “You are really committed to making this worse for me.”

Jennie looked unbothered. “I just want to know.”

Lisa leaned forward, elbows on knees. “Jennie. If you became a mandu, I would have three stages.”

Jennie listened intently.

Lisa raised a finger. “Stage one: panic. I would scream. Possibly call you name even though you’re a dumpling.”

Jennie blinked once.

Lisa raised a second finger. “Stage two: emotional breakdown. I would sit there wondering how I ended up in a world where my girlfriend is now a steamed snack.”

Jennie’s lips twitched slightly.

Lisa raised a third finger. “Stage three: I would carefully hold you and probably talk to you like you can still hear me.”

Jennie tilted her head. “And then?”

Lisa paused.

“…And then I would probably take one bite.”

Jennie gasped softly. “Lisa.”

Lisa immediately held up a hand. “Not in a violent way. In a ‘I love you and this is the worst situation I’ve ever been in’ way.”

Jennie stared at her.

Then, slowly, she smiled.

Lisa noticed that smile and narrowed her eyes. “Wait. Why are you smiling? That was not supposed to be the funny part.”

Jennie leaned closer. “So you would still choose me.”

Lisa groaned. “That is NOT what I said.”

Jennie nodded confidently. “It is what I heard.”

Lisa dropped back onto the couch. “You are impossible.”

Jennie leaned her head lightly against Lisa’s shoulder now, relaxed. “But you answered.”

Lisa sighed, but her hand moved automatically to rest on Jennie’s hair.

“Yeah,” she muttered. “Unfortunately.”

A pause.

Then Lisa added, softer:

“And for the record… if you ever turn into food, I’m filing a complaint with the universe.”

Jennie hummed. “About what?”

Lisa looked down at her. “Bad design. Too emotionally damaging.”

Jennie laughed quietly at that, finally settling in closer.

And Lisa, still stroking her hair, muttered one last thing:

“Also I’m never trusting your ‘random questions’ again.”

Jennie: “I have more.”

Lisa immediately: “I’m moving out.”