As Expected, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong / My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As Expected

We both pressed our palms together before the ramen in front of us.

I scooped up a spoonful of broth. The moment I brought the soup mixed with mapo tofu to my mouth, only one emotion filled my head.

"Delicious!"

The bowl looked incredibly spicy, so I had been worried, but my unease vanished in an instant. The broth was that rich. The mapo tofu I ate with it was certainly spicy, but a flavor that would not be overwhelmed by the heat ruled everything in the bowl.

Next came the vegetables. They had been stewed until soft enough to melt in my mouth, and they went perfectly with the broth. Maybe it's because I played that vegetable-cutting game until dawn yesterday, and now I have some inexplicable affection for vegetables, so they taste especially good. Then I immediately realized those two things had absolutely nothing to do with each other.

Last were the noodles.

This dish was not vegetable soup topped with mapo tofu. What mattered was how well the star of the dish—the noodles—could stand up against the other ingredients. I did not want to face the tragic ending of "everything except the noodles is delicious."

Fearfully, I picked up some noodles and put them in my mouth. Then I slowly chewed.

This...

It was too delicious.

The medium-thick noodles had a wonderful chew. The instant I bit through them, the flavor of wheat spread through and took over my mouth. They blended with the broth, paired wonderfully with the vegetables, and did not lose out to the bold character of the mapo tofu. I had not expected noodles this flawless.

"Hiratsuka-sensei, what is this? It's insanely good."

"Right? When people talk about Nakamoto, they tend to focus on the spice level. But even purely as ramen, this