Episode 02
Episode 02. Huh? Why?
At the sound of the doorbell, Sihu came out to the yard.
*Thud-*
When he opened the front gate, no one was in sight.
Only a carefully placed box sat there alone.
*Hup-*
Feeling the weight of the parcel box, he looked up at the sky.
A clear blue sky without a single cloud.
“Whew. The weather is really nice… It’s already been two years.”
He carried the parcel box and headed inside.
*Creak-*
Looking at the items that came out of the parcel box, Sihu fell into thought for a moment.
Two years ago.
Unable to accept his parents’ death, Sihu had temporarily suffered from aphasia and loss of taste due to the shock.
Unable to taste, it seemed he would have no choice but to give up living as a chef.
It was a society where graduating from university was necessary to get a job or become someone.
Sihu had decided to enter university.
After studying hard for a year, he entered Hankuk University.
After entering, as time passed balancing work at [SeeYou] and his studies, his senses gradually returned as the pain dulled.
After entering, he learned that the two [SeeYou] owners, Yun Ganghun and Ju Hayun, were his seniors at Hankuk University.
‘I was really surprised back then. They all treated me even better after that. I’m grateful to them.’
Coming back from his brief reverie, Sihu took items out of the box.
They were cleaning supplies.
*Rustle-* *Rattle-*
His hands briefly stopped as he took them out.
From the living room, he gazed at the kitchen for a moment.
Even now, when he looked at the kitchen, his mother’s back seemed almost within reach.
His mother’s figure passing by like an illusion.
At the dining table, the vision of young Sihu eating with his parents would appear and disappear like a mirage.
*Whew-*
Sihu’s gaze turned to the calendar displayed on the clock.
*Buzz-*
What woke Sihu, who had nearly fallen deep into thought, was his phone vibrating.
It was a call from Ganghun, the [See You] owner and his school senior.
“Yes, Boss.”
—Why so stiff calling me Boss? I told you to call me Hyung.
“Yes. But is something the matter?”
—This week. You’re working the weekend shift, right?
“Ah… yes. I was going to come out and tell you today, but I can’t work this week.”
—Why? You know weekends are busy.
“Yes, I know. But it’s my parents’ death anniversary.”
At Sihu’s words, the other end of the line went silent.
—……Has it already been that long? Then you should go.
“Yes.”
—Prepare well and be careful.
*Click-*
Looking down at the phone, a smile formed at his lips.
He was always a boss and senior he was grateful to.
After taking out all the cleaning tools, Sihu took out a mask and put it on.
A house with no one in it.
Dust floating in the living room sparkled, reflecting the sunlight coming through the window.
Sihu, who had been blank for a moment, glanced at the master bedroom.
The room that had been closed for two years since his parents passed away.
Having steeled himself, Sihu had decided to clean the room.
Standing before the door, he took a deep breath and exhaled, then turned the handle.
*Click-*
*Screech-*
Perhaps because it was a door that hadn’t opened in several years, the sound was loud.
Sihu’s pupils trembled violently as he looked inside the room.
“Ah-.”
Even though the window was closed, about 1cm of dust had accumulated on the floor and furniture.
He saw that there were cobwebs on the ceiling.
*Creak-*
He opened the door wide and grabbed a broom and dustpan.
Wearing slippers, Sihu took a step into the room.
*Puff-*
Dust rose up.
Sihu went back into the room and opened the window wide.
*Slide-*
As the crisp autumn air flowed into his parents’ room, the dust began to dance.
*Thwack thwack thwack-*
The rhythmic sound of beating dust.
The sound of sweeping in the room continued for a while.
*Whew-*
Looking at the somewhat cleaned master bedroom, Sihu felt his heart calming.
Sihu hadn’t thought of opening the door for a long time.
He looked around the somewhat cleaned room.
Ah-
“I should organize that too….”
*Click-*
Opening the closet door, he saw his parents’ clothes.
Seeing his parents’ clothes, his nose stung.
After finishing the closet, he opened all the dresser drawers and went out to the living room.
*Creak-*
He turned his head at the sound coming from the master bedroom.
“Huh?”
Sihu had forgotten that if you pull out all the dresser drawers, the weight makes it tip forward.
*Thud-*
He caught the falling dresser.
If it had completely fallen, the clothes and items inside might all have spilled out and been hard to clean up….
Cold sweat ran down his spine.
“That was a close call….”
As he was setting the dresser upright, he looked at the wall.
“Huh? What is this?”
The wallpaper hidden behind the dresser looked as if it had split.
This house was a standalone home his parents had bought before Sihu was born.
He wondered if the wall had cracked because the house was old.
Seeing the crack, Sihu tilted his head.
He carefully touched the crack.
From the crack in the wall, a faint breeze was seeping out.
“Wind?”
Sihu moved the dresser aside and felt the wall.
*Ssk-* *Swish-*
Each time he touched it with his hands, the wall parted slightly to the left and right.
When a gap wide enough for his fingers opened up.
He felt a definite breeze coming out.
Carefully inserting his hand, he pushed it sideways as if opening a sliding door.
*Rumble-*
Amazingly, a space wide enough for one person to comfortably enter opened up.
“Wow…….”
Only pitch-black darkness like an abyss was visible.
He took his phone from his pocket and turned on the flashlight.
*Flash-*
What faintly appeared in the darkness was a staircase.
Sihu, marveling that such a space existed in the master bedroom, carefully stepped on the stairs.
Had he gone down about twenty steps?
He shone his flashlight around.
The space visible in the pitch darkness appeared to be about the size of the master bedroom.
He realized there wasn’t a single speck of dust at the bottom of the stairs.
He felt his heart pounding.
When he was young.
It was the same fluttering feeling as when he saw an amazing toy.
He looked up at the stairs leading down from the master bedroom.
Light coming down the stairs.
In the pitch darkness, he saw a place where a ray of light was flowing out.
“What is it?”
Out of curiosity, Sihu approached the place where the light was seeping out.
*Clunk-*
Something caught his hand.
Touching it lightly, it felt like wood.
Sihu carefully tried pushing it.
It didn’t move, so he felt for the edge.
*Clunk-*
Grabbing the edge of the wooden piece, he pushed it as if opening a sliding door.
*Rumble-*
The door opened.
As he opened the door, Sihu shielded his eyes from the intense light.
“Ugh-”
It took time for his eyes, accustomed to darkness, to adjust to the bright light.
Slowly, things came into view.
Sihu rubbed his eyes.
“Huh?!”
When the door was fully pushed open, what he saw was a field commonly seen in the countryside.
He couldn’t tell if what he was seeing was real.
“Am I still half-asleep?”
Muttering to himself, he looked around.
Behind him was the master bedroom basement.
What lay before his eyes was a field.
Sihu cautiously reached out his hand.
Warm air was felt at his fingertips.
“It’s… warm?”
Carefully, he stepped inside.
*Squish-*
He felt the texture of dirt.
It informed him that this situation was reality.
He pinched his cheek.
“Ow-”
“It’s not a dream. Just what is this place?”
Sihu crouched in front of the door and touched the dirt.
The uniquely cool sensation of dirt was felt.
An unbelievable reality in the basement of the house he had lived in since childhood.
He looked around the field.
The crops looked as if someone had tended to them halfway.
Looking at the leaves growing nearby, Sihu’s eyes widened slightly.
“Huh? These are potato leaves?”
Sihu looked around the entrance of the field.
He carefully dug under the leaves before him.
When he dug the dirt, he saw a potato.
“Huh? Wh-what? Is this a potato? Why is it so big?”
Sihu asked the question, but realized there was no one to answer.
When he dug up the potato, it was the size of three adult fists put together.
He dusted off the dirt and looked closely.
*Sniff sniff-*
He smelled it and turned it this way and that.
“Is it some other plant that looks like a potato?”
Tilting his head, he set it aside for now.
Looking around, he saw another plant next to the potato.
It was definitely a plant he knew.
He bent down and examined the leaves.
“Sweet potato leaves?”
Sihu gently pulled the sweet potato vine.
*Thump thump-*
When he pulled the vine, sweet potatoes hung and came out in clusters.
“What? Why is it so big. Is this really a sweet potato?”
They were the length and thickness from an adult’s wrist to elbow.
He wanted to look around more, but he wanted to check if the potato-looking potato and sweet potato-looking sweet potato before him were real.
Sihu hugged the potatoes and sweet potatoes in his arms and came back into the master bedroom basement.
*Buzz-*
Feeling the vibration in his pocket, he took out his phone.
[Web]
Shinhan Bank deposit Yun*h** 500,000 won.
[Use this when you go to where your parents are. Couldn’t put in much. See you in the afternoon.]
It was a text from [SeeYou] owner and senior Ganghun.
Sihu quickly typed a reply and left the master bedroom basement.
Coming up to the kitchen, he placed the potatoes and sweet potatoes harvested from the basement field on the counter and finished preparing to go out.
* * *
That afternoon.
The three of them—Ganghun, Hayun, and Sihu from [See You]—were talking after work.
On the table were squid, the [Spicy Gambas] Sihu had made, peanuts, and beer glasses.
As always, when the shop closed, the three would have a light drink and wrap up the day.
“Sihu. I’ve decided to close the shop soon.”
With a somewhat conflicted expression, Ganghun spoke.
“Huh? You’re quitting? C’mon—it’s a joke, right? Hyung?”
Sihu looked at Ganghun as if he couldn’t believe it.
What Ganghun said was that he would sell [See You] to someone else.
But Ganghun met Sihu’s eyes with a serious expression.
At Ganghun’s gaze, Sihu let out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair.
“No. Why are you quitting? Did something happen?”
At Sihu’s question, Ganghun clicked his tongue briefly and opened his mouth.
“You punk! As if something like that happened—I’m not closing up right away.”
“Then. When?”
To Sihu’s sulky question, Ganghun answered.
“About two months later?”
“T-two months later? No, so suddenly?”
After a brief silence, Ganghun smiled and said to Sihu.
“Then do you want to take over the shop?”
At Ganghun’s words, Sihu fell silent.
Ganghun, seeing that, opened his mouth.
“Sihu, you could take over this shop. You’re good at Korean food.”
At Ganghun’s words, Hayun, who was beside him, opened his mouth as if picking a fight.
“C’mon, Hyung, where would he get the money.”
Sihu, who had been hanging his head, looked at Ganghun and quietly opened his mouth.
Sihu spoke to Ganghun in a faster tone than usual.
“As Hayun-hyung said, I don’t have money yet, and even though I learned Western cuisine from you, Hyung… as you both know, my specialty is Korean food.”
Ganghun alternated looking between Sihu and Hayun, then leaned back against the chair and crossed his arms.
He opened his mouth in a voice lower than usual.
“I’m going to sell the shop, but if possible, I’d like you to take it over, Sihu.”
“I want to take it over too, because I’d be sad to see this place with memories of you hyungs disappear.”
“That’s right. Honestly, I’m not closing the shop because of money, so I’m considering various things. For now, we have time, so think about it more.”
Hearing Ganghun’s words, Sihu thought deeply about something.
Ganghun smiled slightly at Sihu’s expression and opened his mouth.
“Sihu. Don’t worry too much, Hyung will never leave you to live alone.”
At Ganghun’s last words, Sihu’s eyes grew red.
Then a sudden thought occurred to him.
They were not related by a single drop of blood, yet why did they treat him so well? Sihu suddenly became curious about the reason.
Sihu faintly felt warmth seeping into his frozen, cold heart.
Thank you for reading.
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