Episode 18
Episode 18
Sihu’s eyes grew wide as lanterns after checking the text message on his phone.
It was a message from Hayun.
[Photo 1]
[The shop next door got hit with a health inspection, and it’s no joke.]
[Photo 2]
[I saw the post on Byeolgram and thought, no way, but seeing how they actually operate, I can’t believe they badmouthed our shop like that.]
[Photo 3]
[The chef at this shop made a conscientious confession to the inspection team—said they used expired sauce and were forced to mix old ingredients with new ones. I don’t know where they sold their conscience.]
Sihu let out a sigh as he read Hayun’s messages.
‘Just like I learned in high school, it’s become a restaurant shunned by customers.’
Sihu shook his head as he looked at the photos Hayun had sent.
He tossed his phone far away and read the words written in his notebook.
[Put your heart into the food people eat.]
[Put consideration for people into the food.]
[Food and medicine share the same origin—food is medicine.]
Sihu always cooked while keeping these three things in mind.
Whether it was Western cuisine or Korean food, he put his sincerity and care for the customers who visited his shop into the dishes.
Sihu added one more line at the bottom.
[Never Forget Your Original Heart—don’t forget your initial feelings for food.]
Thud-
Sihu thought of a few new menu items and decided to try making them at home.
He headed to the garden plot in the master bedroom basement to get ingredients.
Fortunately, the weather in the ‘Other World garden’ was clear.
Screeee-
As soon as he entered the garden, he heard the sound of something flying through the sky like a bird.
Holding a basket, Sihu walked around the garden here and there, harvesting crops.
The truth was, even as he harvested crops in this other world, Sihu couldn’t feel at ease.
It was because he suspected there might be someone cultivating the crops.
Looking around, he heard various sounds.
Sounds like animals crying.
The sound of plant leaves brushing against each other in the wind.
Footsteps that seemed to be animals coming and going, and so on.
Whew-
As Sihu walked through the garden, he picked pumpkin-like crops, spinach, chives, and chili pepper-like crops, putting them in his basket.
Sihu perked his ears at a sound coming from somewhere.
‘Huh?’
He walked toward the source of the sound.
Splash-
Swoosh-
Sihu thought he was hearing things.
It was because he heard the sound of the sea, which he hadn’t visited since his parents passed away.
Thump- Thump-
Curiosity welled up in him.
He wanted to check whether there was really an ocean or if the sound was just his imagination.
Past the garden, a hill-like mountain appeared.
Seeing the low mountain, Sihu smiled, saying it had been a while since he’d gone on a light hike.
How long had he been climbing?
He was sweating, his back damp.
Standing at the top of the hill, the cool wind ruffled Sihu’s hair.
As if someone were ruffling his hair.
Closing his eyes briefly in the wind, when he opened them, he rubbed his eyes at what he saw.
In the distance, he saw the sea reflecting light off its blue waves.
Swoooosh-
Craaash-
The sound of waves was crystal clear.
Sihu knew for certain that what he was looking at was the sea.
A hollow laugh burst from Sihu.
Harvesting crops from the garden was somehow possible.
‘But using sea ingredients would be impossible, right?’
Sihu felt a pang of regret as he looked at the sea.
‘If only I could catch shrimp, clams, abalone, octopus, squid…’
Sihu smacked his lips as he gazed at the sea.
It was a shame.
If only he had the manpower—or rather, even if he did, this was an ‘other world.’
Kuaaaa- Aaaang-
At the sound coming from the sea, Sihu squinted his eyes and looked.
Something leaped out of the sea.
‘I-is that a whale?’
The basic size of the marine creature’s eye was different.
Its eye had a diameter about three times Sihu’s height, and its body was the size of three small villas combined.
Thud-
When the whale-like ‘Other World marine creature’ entered the sea, waves formed.
Even from where Sihu stood, he could see the waves were high.
‘The waves are high. Hahaha.’
When something is too absurd, laughter comes out.
Sihu snickered and muttered to himself.
“I can’t go in there. Giving up.”
Having confirmed that the sea existed, Sihu decided to come here occasionally to refresh his mood.
Looking around, Sihu thought the scenery was beautiful.
It was a shame to see it alone.
But it seemed difficult to bring Hayun or Ganghun here.
‘Hyung said he couldn’t see the basement stairs going down when he looked at the master bedroom from inside the house.’
After harvesting a few more types of garden plants, Sihu headed to the house kitchen.
While organizing ingredients on the table in the kitchen, he spotted a very large ‘four-leaf clover.’
Sihu was sure he had put only Korean cooking ingredients in the basket.
‘I didn’t put anything like a clover in…? Why is it here? Though the leaves are quite big.’
After setting the clover aside,
he began making test dishes for the menu.
Chop-chop-chop-chop-
Shhk- Shhk-
Sizzle-
Bubble-. Bubble-
While making prototype menu items for a while and tasting them little by little,
Ding-dong-
the doorbell rang in Sihu’s ears.
He quickly opened the door and went out to the yard.
“Who is it?”
“Yeah-. It’s Hyung.”
When Sihu opened the gate, Hayun came in.
“Looks like I came at just the right time?”
“What?”
“Aren’t you developing a prototype menu?”
“…….”
Sihu was curious why Hayun had come.
“Did you really come for the prototype menu?”
“Fifty-fifty.”
“What?”
“Let’s go inside and talk.”
“Yes.”
***
Thud-
Sihu set barley tea and freshly cooked jeon in front of Hayun.
“Thanks. Can you take a look at this?”
He held out a yellow document envelope.
Sihu took out the documents from the envelope Hayun handed him and read them, quite surprised.
The documents were a list of packaging container companies.
“When did you do all this?”
Hayun said, picking up and eating the jeon Sihu had made.
“I figured we’d be busy once the semester starts, so I looked into it. But what kind of jeon is this? It’s delicious.”
Sihu was engrossed in the packaging container company list Hayun had given him.
While reading the documents, he rolled only his eyes to look at the jeon Hayun had picked up and said,
“What? That’s pumpkin jeon. I grated pumpkin, julienned it, and mixed it lightly with frying powder before cooking it. How is it?”
“Huh? It’s crispy and savory. I don’t think jeon usually tastes like this, but this is good.”
Sihu nodded and looked at the bag beside Hayun.
“Hyung, what’s in that?”
“This? Samples.”
Sihu began examining the samples Hayun took out.
They were containers made of eco-friendly materials.
After examining them briefly, Sihu looked at Hayun and said,
“Hyung, shall we try putting the prototype menu in these? Let’s test whether the food stays warm, keeps for a long time, whether the taste changes, and so on.”
Sihu got up from his seat and went to the kitchen to start cooking.
As time passed, Sihu packed the prototype menu items into the sample containers.
He arranged the containers neatly on a tray and set them down in front of Hayun.
“Hyung. Please do the taste-testing honors.”
Hayun was staring at the food Sihu made, captivated.
“Huh? Yeah. I have to.”
Seeing the food packed in the containers, Hayun’s eyes sparkled.
Looking at the food in the rectangular container, Sihu thought of his parents.
It was a dish that had become a somewhat sad memory for Sihu.
Inside, neatly arranged, were one-bite lettuce wraps.
Swish-
Crunch- Crunch-
Hayun picked up a wrap and put it in his mouth, chewing.
“This— is really delicious?”
“Right? It was a dish my parents really loved too.”
As Sihu’s eyes took on a slightly sad light while speaking, Hayun asked,
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, this was the food I packed in a lunchbox when I went on a trip with my parents for the last time.”
“…Is that so?”
Hayun looked down at the food in the container.
‘A dish of memories with his parents…’
Hayun felt he understood what feelings Sihu had put into making this food.
Swish-
Then Sihu pushed another square container toward Hayun.
“What’s this?”
“This is a bulgogi set meal, packed.”
“Please try it.”
Hayun looked down at the ‘bulgogi set meal.’
Well-cooked bulgogi occupied one small compartment.
It was a container designed so that the various foods wouldn’t mix together.
Sihu watched as Hayun ate the prototype menu items with great relish.
“Whew-. I’m stuffed.”
On the paper Sihu held out, Hayun wrote down various evaluations while patting his stomach.
Several evaluation items were written on the paper.
-How is the taste? (1 point: bad. 5 points: delicious)
-Container convenience evaluation (1 point: inconvenient. 5 points: convenient)
-Does the food container emit an unpleasant smell? (1 point: smells a lot. 5 points: no smell.)
Seeing the evaluation criteria Sihu had written, Hayun’s gaze softened.
‘He must have thought quite a lot about the food and packaging.’
Once Hayun finished writing the food evaluation,
Sihu set down a cup of tea in front of Hayun.
Slurp-
Hayun picked up the tea and took a sip, then asked Sihu,
“What kind of tea is this?”
“It’s ginger citron tea. You ate all the prototype menu items, after all. I thought your stomach might feel heavy from eating so much, so I brewed some.”
At Sihu’s words, Hayun nodded.
“As expected, you. You’re amazing.”
Hayun had watched Sihu for several years, but he thought Sihu’s observational skills regarding people were truly amazing.
A person who wants to eat little, a person who wants to eat a lot.
He astutely notices when someone has an upset stomach or when someone has no appetite but has to force themselves to eat, and makes food accordingly.
The customers all said the same thing.
They said, ‘[The food is overflowing with consideration.]’ That’s what they said.
Hayun knew how much one had to move around to make food tailored to people.
Without almost any time to sit in the kitchen, making food and washing dishes, yet he never shows that he’s having a hard time.
Every time he saw Sihu enjoying the process of cooking, Hayun felt respect for him.
Slurp-
“This tea is sour yet sweet? It’s delicious. Thanks.”
“I’m more grateful. I was just thinking I should look into packaging container companies when you did it for me, Hyung.”
“What do you mean—gotta help each other to live.”
Gulp-
Hayun drank the last drop of the tea Sihu brewed and got up from his seat.
“The shop next door is closing down after all.”
“So that’s how it turned out. I thought I should work harder after seeing the photos you sent me earlier, Hyung.”
“I also thought I should clean the dining hall more thoroughly and keep it cleaner.”
Sihu nodded at Hayun’s words and rose from his seat to see him off.
“Ah! Hyung, take this.”
Sihu held out a paper bag to Hayun.
“I made quite a lot, so I packed some in the sample containers you brought earlier. Share them with your family when you get home.”
“When did you prepare this?”
“While I was cooking. Ah! And I’m planning to run the shop from 10 AM to 3 PM.”
“Really? Then I guess you pushed all your classes to the afternoon?”
“Yes. The department head gave me a list of professors who teach afternoon classes. He told me to register for those.”
“That’s great. Then I should switch to afternoon classes too.”
Sihu felt grateful hearing that Hayun was also shifting all of his final-year classes to the afternoon.
Reading Sihu’s expression, Hayun lifted the paper bag.
“I- I’m going. Don’t see me out.”
“Yes. Hyung.”
Hayun looked at the paper bag Sihu had given him and snickered, then took out his phone and called someone.
“Hello?”
Thank you for reading.
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