Episode 15
15.
When Hayun asked, the guest began to explain.
Just as he was about to enter [SeeYou], the owner of the shop next door suddenly called out to him.
He said that if he spread the word that their food was delicious, they wouldn't charge him for the meal.
“That’s soliciting customers, isn’t it?”
At Hayun’s words, the guest nodded.
“Well—the shop next door has been getting ripped apart on Stargram lately; guess they thought I wouldn’t know.”
The guest took out his phone and showed it to Hayun.
On the screen were photos of the shop’s interior, along with photos taken inside the kitchen.
On top of that, it looked like they had started delivery recently; photos of delivery reviews had been posted too, and there were reviews criticizing the messy food.
Hayun covered his mouth with his hand without realizing it.
‘They’re still running a business like this?’
Still surprised, Hayun took the guest’s order with an awkward smile.
When Hayun entered the kitchen, he saw Sihu sweeping and mopping the floor with a broom.
“Sihu, we got an order for the ‘Today’s Menu.’”
“Yes, just a moment.”
Sihu washed his hands and looked at the person who had just placed the order.
Soon he began cooking, and produced a full Korean meal.
Several brass plates were placed on the tray.
On the plates were fried dishes, eggplant namul, perilla leaf stems, and kkakdugi.
Along with multigrain rice, a red beef radish soup came out in a brass bowl.
It was a table setting that looked appetizing at a glance.
Dding—
When the bell rang, Hayun appeared; his eyes widened slightly at the sight of the full course.
He served the food to the guest who had ordered it, and the guest immediately pulled out his phone as if he had been waiting and began taking pictures.
Click—
“E-Excuse me, is this the ‘Today’s Menu’?”
Hayun nodded at the guest’s question and added,
“Yes, it’s today’s menu. Enjoy your meal!”
After Hayun greeted him, the guest picked up his spoon, took a large scoop of multigrain rice, put it in his mouth, and chewed.
‘The Job’s tears and glutinous rice, plus the red beans and black rice and white rice all go so well together?’
Hureup—
“Kuaah.”
The guest exclaimed and thought to himself.
‘I was craving beef radish soup so badly today, and here it is. This is exactly why I can’t quit this place. Owner! You’re the best. I’ll leave a glowing review on Stargram for you!’
The guest made an extremely satisfied expression.
The guests eating at the table next to him nodded as if they agreed.
Hayun looked at the guest’s expression, then at Sihu.
‘How on earth does this guy serve food that matches the customers’ tastes so perfectly?’
Buzz—
Hayun took out his phone and looked at it; his eyes widened slightly.
Hayun approached the kitchen and said to Sihu,
“Sihu—if anything happens, call me, Hyung.”
“Yes? Is something wrong?”
In response to Sihu’s question, Hayun waved his phone.
“I’m going to take a call in front of the shop.”
“Ah—yes.”
***
Hayun came out in front of the shop and took the call.
He was truly happy to hear the voice on the receiver.
—How have you been?
“Yes, Hyung.”
—What about Sihu? He’s doing well, right?
“Well, more or less. He doesn’t seem to get tired.”
—Really?
“Ah, Hyung—. Father wants you to come by sometime.”
—Yeah, okay. Tell him I’ll stop by soon after I get back to Korea.
“But did you call because of Sihu?”
—Yeah, I heard you had a problem with the shop next door?
“Hahaha—don’t even mention it…”
Out of the corner of his eye, Hayun saw the owner of the next-door shop glaring at him.
He shifted his gaze and continued the call.
“Sigh—. It really makes me want to curse, Hyung.”
—Why? What’s going on?
“Hyung, I’ll tell you over the phone tonight.”
—Sure. I’ll have some time this evening too.
Hayun talked about a few more things and then hung up.
While he was on the call, he frowned upon watching the next-door owner approaching passing customers.
“Excuse me—.”
One of the guests who had visited to eat at the shop called out to Hayun.
“Yes, what is it?”
“How much longer do we have to wait?”
When Hayun looked inside the shop, Sihu held out his fingers wide open.
“I think a table will open up in about 5 minutes. Please wait just a little longer.”
Ding-a-ling—
The shop door opened, and Sihu came out holding a tray.
“Hyung, please give one of these to each of the people waiting.”
“Oh, okay.”
Taking the tray, Hayun handed out cups one by one to the guests waiting outside the restaurant.
It was Solomon’s seal tea prepared for the customers waiting in the slightly chilly weather.
The guests who received the cups held the ceramic cups with both hands, feeling the warmth.
“Wow—it’s warm. And so nutty.”
“It really is. I’ve never had such nutty Solomon’s seal tea before.”
“This is hot, Mommy will blow on it for you—hoo, hoo.”
The guests who received the cups drank the tea and chatted even though they were strangers.
Seeing that, Hayun glanced at the next-door shop; the owner burst into anger and quickly went back inside.
“Excuse me, do you guys do takeout?”
“That’s right, if you did takeout, I think I’d buy meals here every single day. Especially! Korean food.”
The guests waiting started talking to Hayun about takeout.
“Yes, I’ll be sure to tell our owner. I’ll tell him to definitely! do takeout. Please wait just a moment.”
As Hayun came back into the kitchen, he looked at Sihu moving about frantically and thought.
‘Should I tell him we need to hire another part-timer?’
As soon as Sihu saw Hayun, he asked him to collect dishes from the tables.
Once the dishes came in, they were immediately submerged in the washing tub.
First, he dissolved detergent in the washing tub, let them soak in a preliminary rinse, then washed the dishes in the dishwasher.
While the dishwasher was running, Sihu and Hayun wiped down the tables to welcome the next guests.
“Whew—we waited a long time, but the food is so delicious and the service is so kind that the wait feels worth it.”
Sihu scratched his cheek at the guest’s words and said,
“Thank you. I’m sorry you had to wait so long. If you place your order, we’ll prepare it deliciously for you.”
“Aigoo—when you talk like that, it makes me want to keep coming back. Boss.”
Sihu smiled awkwardly and came back into the kitchen.
Hayun followed him in and casually asked Sihu,
“You don’t have any thoughts about doing takeout?”
“Takeout? Why takeout all of a sudden?”
Sihu spoke to Hayun as he moved a frying pan.
“We did takeout for that male customer not too long ago.”
“······.”
“I guess the guests heard about it, because they’ve been asking us to do takeout.”
Sihu glanced briefly at the hall and the front of the shop.
The line of waiting customers wouldn’t die down until at least 3 p.m.
But if they added takeout on top of that?
“I don’t know about doing it right away. Let’s talk about it tonight, Hyung.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Hayun too looked at the line stretching outside the shop door and went out to the hall to begin his tasks.
***
On the way home after closing the shop, as always.
Sihu headed home, thinking that he was glad the shop was doing well, but a little tired.
There were more customers than expected.
‘Were there this many even when Ganghun-hyung was here?’
Sihu recalled when Ganghun had been running the place.
There had been a lot of customers back then too, but he wondered if there had been as many as now.
The daily sales exceeded the monthly salary of an office worker.
Even after deducting ingredient costs (excluding homegrown produce), high-quality meat and seafood costs, utilities, and depreciation, there was still money left over.
A lot was left over.
He thought of Hayun-hyung, who worked with him.
‘He flies around the hall and struggles taking care of customers, so…’
He had increased Hayun’s part-time wages.
But…
Because there were so many customers, the amount of moving around had increased several times over.
Though he was fast, there was no time to sit and rest.
Hoo—
While lost in various thoughts, he saw the iron gate of his house.
Creeeak—
Clunk—
Upon entering the yard, he saw the mini vegetable garden.
It looked like he needed to do some tilling.
Sihu dragged his tired body inside the house.
Thud—
He flung himself onto the sofa.
Every joint in his body seemed to scream.
“Time flies. It’s already been a month…”
A month had already passed since he had taken over the shop.
Despite the next-door shop’s interference, customers steadily increased.
It could certainly be called remarkable growth.
However, there was one big problem for Sihu.
“Should I drop out of school…?”
He was troubled by the thought.
Buzz—
He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.
The moment he took it out, Sihu’s eyes grew wide and a smile formed at the corners of his mouth.
“Hyung—. It’s been a while. How have you been? How is your health? Are you studying well in Japan?”
—Hey, hey—. Breathe while you talk.
“Ah, yes. I’m just so glad to hear from you.”
Sihu had especially wanted to see the person who called him today.
Yun Ganghun, the former owner of [SeeYou] and Sihu’s senior at school.
—I’d heard things had been going well enough for the shop to settle in, but I didn’t know you’d gotten famous.
At Ganghun’s words, Sihu’s pupils rolled to the left.
He was recalling the past.
“I’m famous?”
—Yeah, you didn’t know? [SeeYou] is super famous on Stargram. Seeing that made me so proud.
Sihu had been too busy to spend time on Stargram.
His smartphone was used only for searching, taking calls, and receiving texts.
“Hyung, these days I don’t even have time to take out my phone.”
—Really? You’re that busy?
“Yes, I want to borrow even a cat’s paw to help with the cooking.”
At Sihu’s grumbling, Ganghun burst into loud laughter.
—Sir, we’ve received word that Chairman Gu will be arriving a little late.
Sihu perked up his ears at the faint sound of someone’s voice heard over the phone.
“Hyung?”
—Huh? Hold on…
There was silence; it seemed he had covered the receiver to talk.
Thank you for reading.
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