Episode 10
10.
At Hayun’s words, Sihu’s brow furrowed.
What was word-of-mouth?
It was a type of viral marketing.
Viral?
It was the adjectival form of virus, meaning *infectious* or *contagious*.
Typically, in the past people would say, *“I went to this place and it was really delicious; you should try it sometime,”* whereas these days they post photos on social media and verify it as a famous restaurant.
Hoo—
At Hayun’s mention of word-of-mouth, Sihu grew anxious.
[The Double-Edged Sword]
That was the image of viral marketing in Sihu’s mind.
“Now that I think about it, Ganghun-hyung is really amazing. He never advertised once.”
At Sihu’s words, Hayun shrugged his shoulders and said,
“Right. Even without a single ad, well, it’s hyung. He drew in customers with fresh ingredients, reasonable prices, and outstanding plating and taste.”
Hayun glanced at his watch and stood up.
“Hyung, I should get going.”
“Ah. Yes.”
After seeing Hayun off, Sihu looked up at the sky in the yard.
Because a sudden anxiety—that he would soon have to fully take sole responsibility for running the store—was gnawing at his heart.
**
Sihu arrived at [SeeYou] with both hands heavily full and placed the items on the kitchen table.
Thud—
They were ingredients for Korean food.
Most of the ingredients were vegetables from the garden and high-quality meat from a butcher shop he had visited thanks to Ganghun’s introduction.
Hoo—.
“You’re here? What is all that?”
It was Ganghun, who had approached unnoticed.
Sihu gave Ganghun a slight smile.
“I finished planning the Korean table set menu yesterday.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I wish hyung would try it too and tell me what you think.”
Sihu began trimming all the ingredients he had brought, along with the preparations for dishes going out from [See You].
Seeing that, Ganghun’s gaze darkened slightly.
*‘He’s gotten faster than before.’*
Sihu hadn’t been cooking for very long.
Yet his movements were already that quick.
After checking Sihu’s movement path for a moment, Ganghun went out to the hall alone.
Bubble bubble—
Sizzle sizzle—
Chwaaaaak—
After the sounds of food boiling, frying, and grilling rang out several times, Sihu began placing the dishes into small brassware plates and bowls he had brought.
After bowls and plates neatly filled with food were set on a large tray, he called for Hayun.
“Hyung—. Please serve this.”
“Sure.”
When Hayun lifted the tray, it was quite heavy.
It felt about as heavy as five bowls of pasta stacked on one’s arm, with three more soup bowls added on top.
*‘It’s pretty heavy?’*
Hayun placed the tray on the hall table where Ganghun was sitting.
Thud—
Ganghun let out an exclamation looking at the food on the tray.
“Whoa—.”
“Sihu-ya! Come out here.”
“Yes—!”
After answering, Sihu quickly tidied the kitchen, washed his hands, and came out to the hall.
As he entered the hall, Ganghun and Hayun were holding their phones and taking pictures.
“Do you know this is really too good to eat?”
At Ganghun’s words, Hayun chimed in.
“That’s right. It seems more upgraded than what I saw at Sihu’s house yesterday.”
“What? You went to Sihu’s house yesterday?”
“Yes. He asked me to taste the Korean food menu, so I went.”
Ganghun nodded and picked up the porridge spoon.
Ganghun took a spoonful of the pine nut porridge and closed his eyes.
*‘Huh, this kid really has a knack for bringing out flavor.’*
Ganghun’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the brassware bowls on the tray.
*‘Since traditional hand-hammered brassware (yugi) is heavy, did he use improved ones?’*
Ganghun tasted each and every dish and then put down his spoon.
His gaze sank deeply.
“Sihu-ya. How much are you thinking of charging for this?”
“······.”
Sihu couldn’t answer Ganghun’s question.
Looking at Sihu staring quietly at the tray, Ganghun opened his mouth.
“This takes a lot of work. Honestly, Korean food is labor-intensive.”
Korean food is a cuisine of devotion.
Because of that, a lot of labor cost goes into each Korean dish.
If you think about why Korean table d’hôte restaurants are expensive, the answer is obvious.
Ganghun, who had been calculating ingredient costs, labor costs, and other miscellaneous expenses, opened his mouth.
“Take 50,000 won for this table.”
“What? 50,000 won?”
Ganghun chuckled at Sihu’s surprised expression.
“Why? Too cheap?”
“Ah, no. It’s expensive.”
“What’s expensive about this? Considering ingredient costs and labor costs, it’s cheap.”
“······.”
Sihu wanted to say that the ingredient costs weren’t that much, but he kept his mouth shut.
“Even if you say 50,000 won, those who will eat it will eat it. And what about the other menus?”
Sihu told him about the menus he had been thinking of.
“First, a few signature dishes that the female college student customers who come to [SeeYou] often order, the Korean table set menu, and a ‘Today’s Menu’ that changes daily.”
At Sihu’s words, Ganghun rubbed his chin and fell into thought for a moment.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
The sound of the second hand passing on the analog clock hanging in the hall was heard unusually loudly.
“Good. Let’s structure the menu like that. What about the interior?”
At Ganghun’s words, Sihu looked around the inside of the store.
[SeeYou], which had risen to fame as an SNS-famous restaurant even before his high school practical training.
It looked like only the old wallpaper and tables needed to be changed.
“I think we only need to change the wallpaper. I don’t think it matters if we use the kitchen as it is.”
“Hmm… All right, then put up a sign saying we’ll be doing interior work for three days starting tomorrow.”
Ganghun took out a yellow document envelope from his bag under the counter.
“Read this and sign.”
Sihu read through the documents and looked at Ganghun.
“H-hyung? I think the numbers on this are wrong?”
Sihu was startled looking at the document Ganghun had handed him.
There was no key money, and both the deposit and the monthly rent were much cheaper than expected.
Seeing Sihu’s surprised expression, Ganghun spoke nonchalantly.
“Ah. Since hyung is leaving suddenly, I felt sorry to you, so I wrote down a smaller amount. Plus, the amount you made from selling Korean food was considerable, and thanks to you sales went up quite a bit—so I wrote it considering that.”
Sihu’s head tilted slightly at Ganghun’s words.
“Reducing the monthly rent means…”
Ganghun, grasping the meaning, snickered and said,
“This building. It’s hyung’s.”
Sihu’s eyes widened slightly.
*‘Now that I think about it.’*
He recalled the food prices when he first bought a meal at this restaurant.
When he first came two years ago, the “Napolitan” he had eaten was 5,000 won.
And recalling the prices on the current menu, his head nodded involuntarily.
Ganghun, reading Sihu’s expression, said,
“Ingredient costs have gone up, but I didn’t want to raise prices. I’m also from Hanguk University, and thinking of it as a place juniors come to eat, I didn’t want to raise them.”
Sihu could somewhat understand Ganghun’s thinking.
He came to the conclusion that Ganghun had been thinking about the juniors’ financial situations.
“But hyung, if you think like that, 50,000 won for a Korean food menu is expensive.”
Ganghun, sensing what Sihu was worried about, spoke calmly.
“It is expensive, but while those who haven’t tasted your food won’t know, those who have eaten it once will keep coming back. I guarantee it.”
Hearing Ganghun’s words, Sihu still couldn’t shake the feeling that it was an expensive amount.
“Hyung, college students don’t spend 50,000 won on a meal. It’s almost the price of one or two major textbooks. We even hesitate when buying textbooks…”
At Sihu’s words, Ganghun also recalled buying textbooks in the past.
While he himself hadn’t felt such a financial burden, he recalled his friends grumbling over buying even one textbook.
“Well, I hesitated buying textbooks too, wondering why they were so expensive. But eating is different from buying books.”
“Hyung, it’s the same for food. These days cafeteria meals are between 4,000 to 6,000 won, but 50,000 won for a Korean table set? I don’t think they’ll eat it because it’s expensive.”
At Sihu’s words, Ganghun’s eyes narrowed.
*‘This kid is saying his own food is expensive to try to charge less?’*
Ganghun smirked and asked,
“How much do you want to charge?”
“…25,000 won.”
“25,000 won? Half price?”
“Yes. At that price, even if it’s not busy, I think at least ten sets would sell per day.”
Sihu looked at Ganghun, who had his arms crossed.
He was slightly nervous at Ganghun’s appearance of thinking something over.
“Sihu-ya. You’re admirable, thinking about all that.”
“What?”
Sihu silently met Ganghun’s eyes and smiled.
“There’s one thing you’re mistaken about right now.”
“Mistaken?”
“Yes. This store is yours now. Sihu, if you think that way, you should do it that way.”
At Ganghun’s words, Sihu felt like he’d been struck on the back of the head.
That was right.
*‘My store…’*
Sihu’s eyes sparkled as he signed the contract.
There was no need to quibble about the Korean table set being expensive.
Sihu felt his anxiety disappearing at Ganghun’s words.
*‘Thank you. For caring about me.’*
***
Tok-tok. Tok-tok.
Sihu came down to the garden as soon as he opened his eyes at dawn and began picking ingredients.
Even after several months had passed, he couldn’t see a single ant in the garden.
After Sihu picked the crops, new ones would grow, and everything was kept neat and tidy.
*‘I’m sure there must be someone…’*
Sihu picked crops, and he also bought seeds from a nursery and planted them in trays for the vegetables that went into the salads sold at the store.
Even those vegetables showed incredibly fast growth.
They grew to the extent that if planted the day before, they could be harvested by the next day.
*‘Thanks to that, the supply of salad vegetables continues without issue, which is good, but…’
He looked around.
The scattered footprints on the ground only looked like animal tracks.
Far in the distance, mountain ranges could be seen.
To get there, Sihu felt he would need some form of transportation.
*‘Should I buy an electric bicycle and bring it here?’*
He headed toward the aralia tree he had checked recently.
Tok—. Ttak—
After harvesting enough aralia for use, he headed to where the fruit trees were and picked fruits.
The large mesh bag he had carried down was filled with aralia, various fruits, and garden crops.
Hoo—
Sihu looked around his surroundings once more and then entered the basement of the master bedroom.
Looking at the time on his phone taken from his pocket, it was time to leave.
Heave-ho—
Sihu hoisted the mesh bag onto his back and headed to the kitchen.
He sorted the ingredients he had brought on the dining table.
After neatly placing the ingredients in a large box, he put them in a handcart and tied them with rope so they wouldn’t fall over.
“Ingredient preparation is finished; I should go to the store, clean up, and put the ingredients away.”
Sihu placed the prepared handcart in the yard and began getting ready to leave.
***
Tak-tak. Tak-tak.
Swish-swish. Swish—
Whiiiiir—
Sihu and Hayun were cleaning after the interior work was finished.
College students passing by came into the store and asked when they would open.
“We’ll open again tomorrow!”
Sihu and Hayun looked at each other and shook their heads.
It was a moment that showed them just how many customers [SeeYou] had while Ganghun was running it.
“Hyung. The Korean menu will sell well, right?”
Warm sunlight streamed into the interior of the store, brightly illuminating the inside of [seeYou].
Sihu squinted one eye as if dazzled, gazed at the sunlight pouring into the store, and clenched both fists tightly.
Just then, Hayun’s answer came.
Thank you for reading.
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