25 - (Revised)
25.
The customers inside the store grew quiet at Sihu’s words and actions.
Thoughts were contained within people’s gazes.
‘He’s serving food to a guy acting like that?’
‘No, did the owner really get pissed off? His voice sounds incredibly cold.’
‘What a waste of rice to give to someone like him.’
As if unaware of people’s thoughts.
Woodpecker Kim Cheolsu looked at the bowl of porridge on the tray before him with a puzzled expression.
Just then, Sihu’s voice was heard.
“Please eat before it gets cold.”
Woodpecker Kim Cheolsu, seeing Sihu’s expression, answered without realizing it.
“Ah, yes.”
Inside the chat window, as Woodpecker Kim Cheolsu’s figure appeared again, the chat began to scroll rapidly.
└Guri! What have you been doing until now? Did you switch your screen?
└Where is that? Who’s bullying our Guri?
└No, commenter above, Woodpecker was in the wrong. Can’t you read the room?
Woodpecker, unable to read the chat.
Clatter-
Woodpecker Kim Cheolsu picked up a brass porridge spoon and carefully scooped up some porridge.
Hff-
“Urgh- hoo- uh.”
The porridge was too hot.
So hot that it felt like the roof of his mouth was being scalded off.
“Huh?”
Kim Cheolsu looked down at the bowl of porridge again.
He was quite confident in his own sense of taste.
A faint sweetness definitely lingered within the white rice porridge.
Wondering if he had imagined it, he scooped up another spoonful.
Woodpecker Kim Cheolsu had already forgotten that he was even streaming.
The chat window was calling out to Woodpecker.
└Guri, Woodpecker? You haven’t forgotten us, right?
└It’s porridge? Feeding him porridge because he was late? Are you trying to kill him?
Absurd comments were popping up too, but Woodpecker could not read them.
Woodpecker closed his eyes entirely to savor the porridge.
‘I’ve tasted this sweetness somewhere before.’
No matter how hard he thought, he could not remember.
“Excuse me-. Owner.”
Unable to recall it no matter how he racked his brain, Woodpecker called out to Sihu.
The eyes of those dining grew slightly sharper.
‘What is he going to say?’
‘What kind of complaint is he going to make?’
‘That guy really should just shut up and eat, why is he picking another fight?’
Sihu, who had been working in the kitchen for a while, came out alone.
Unaware of the dining customers’ thoughts, Woodpecker Kim Cheolsu politely asked,
“There seems to be a hidden flavor inside this rice porridge. What is it?”
Sihu was slightly surprised by Kim Cheolsu’s words.
One could not notice a hidden flavor added in such a small amount unless their sense of taste was extremely sensitive.
“Your sense of taste is quite sharp. The hidden flavor is ‘shrimp.’”
“Shrimp?”
“Yes. I added one spoonful of clear shrimp broth while boiling the porridge.”
At Sihu’s words, Kim Cheolsu was puzzled.
‘Can you add variations when cooking rice porridge?’
Reading Kim Cheolsu’s thoughts, Sihu opened his mouth.
“If you stir eggs into rice porridge, it becomes egg porridge. If you boil finely ground rice together with milk, it becomes tarak porridge. Variations can be given endlessly, just like that.”
After finishing his words, Sihu went back into the kitchen and brought out a tray bearing a full spread of food.
When he set the food down before Kim Cheolsu, his eyes went round.
It consisted of shrimp sukhoe, shrimp meat jeon, clear shrimp soup, various side dishes, and rice mixed with glutinous rice and grains.
It was a table set entirely with shrimp.
The rice was freshly cooked pot rice, served in the pot itself.
Beside it was placed a brass rice bowl.
Sihu opened the lid, stirred the rice, and scooped the freshly cooked rice into the bowl.
Tap-
Kim Cheolsu felt as if his breath were catching.
His gaze kept following each and every motion of Sihu scooping the rice.
And when the rice bowl was placed before him, he was enveloped by an indescribable feeling.
“S-shrimp alone can produce such a diverse spread of food.”
└Shrimp, really making an entire spread with just shrimp?
└Is that owner a Korean food restaurant owner? Wasn’t that a Western-style restaurant?
└Honey! Take me there too. I said take me too!
At Kim Cheolsu’s muttered words, the stream was also in an uproar.
Sihu glanced at Kim Cheolsu for a moment, then, holding the pot, opened his mouth.
“Please enjoy your meal.”
Sihu turned and headed back to the kitchen.
As Kim Cheolsu looked down at the food, he recalled a memory he had long forgotten.
***
Even after the commotion with YouTuber Woodpecker ended, customers kept coming in.
The time when, after Hayun took the last orders, the final customer finished eating and left. 14:50.
Swoosh- swish-
Swish swish-
Clatter- clatter-
The inside of the store was busy with cleaning up.
While cleaning up the store [SeeYou], Hwijun opened his mouth.
“I’m glad he didn’t pick a fight using the food.”
At Hwijun’s words, Hayun shook his head.
“He was docile here, but he packed some to go. Who knows what he’ll say while eating at home.”
Sihu, who had finished cleaning the kitchen and was heading to the changing room, threw something to Hwijun.
Whip-
Hwijun caught what flew toward him and his eyes grew wide.
“What is this?”
“CCTV footage and the conversations.”
“When did you even…”
Hwijun looked at Sihu in surprise.
Hayun narrowed his eyes while looking at Sihu.
‘That kid is unexpected… Is he holding a grudge?’
Though Hwijun did not know, Hayun was aware that Sihu had a lot of attachment to the store.
However, it was the first time he had acted so prepared, even giving Hwijun CCTV footage files like that.
Sihu waited until the others came out after changing clothes.
Closing the door of [SeeYou], Hwijun alternated looking between Sihu and the USB in his hand and asked,
“But what do you want me to do with this?”
Sihu spoke as if it were no big deal.
“If you watch Woodpecker’s stream and he starts talking nonsense, let me know. Then I’ll reveal it.”
Seeing Sihu’s expression, Hayun and Hwijun felt goosebumps rise slightly on the napes of their necks.
-Buzz-
Sihu took out the phone in his pocket and looked at it.
“Huh? Oh my-”
At Sihu’s reaction, Hayun asked.
“What is it?”
“Ah-. The class rep said today’s class is canceled. The professor has something to do.”
“So there’s no lecture?”
Sihu nodded and continued speaking.
“Yes. Hyung, would you come over to my place after your class ends? Let’s have dinner together.”
At Sihu’s invitation, Hayun shook his head.
“Hey- go home and read a book or just rest. Don’t think about cooking for anyone.”
At Hayun’s words, Sihu pouted.
“So you’re saying you don’t have time?”
At Sihu’s question, Hayun took out his phone, checked his schedule, and shook his head.
“Yeah, after class today, I need to go to a study cafe and write, so I can’t. And I want to stop being a Gimi Sanggung now.”
When Hayun refused, Sihu looked at Hwijun.
“What about you, Hwijun? You said today was a free day, right?”
“Yeah, that’s true, but I have to edit the USB you gave me.”
At Sihu’s words, Hwijun made an excuse about editing.
He, too, had wanted to turn down the suggestion of making Sihu play the Gimi Sanggung at his own house.
Sihu nodded slightly and said.
“…Okay. Then see you tomorrow. Hyung, I’ll see you tomorrow too!”
“Yeah, okay. Go on in.”
“Go home!”
At Hayun’s words, Sihu lightly waved his hand above his head and walked away.
Before walking far, Sihu shifted his steps as if he had remembered something.
***
A traditional market adjacent to a residential area, reachable by walking about 30-40 minutes.
When he was young.
On his mother’s days off, he would often stop by holding her hand.
Fwoosh-
A place selling hot dogs that emitted a savory yet greasy smell.
And the shop of a middle-aged lady selling fish cakes and tteokbokki simply laid out on a handcart.
An old lady sitting on the ground with a vendor’s mat spread out, selling spinach, bracken, and such arranged in small red basins.
Sihu came here for the first time in a long while.
‘It’s been a while. The traditional market hasn’t changed.’
Before walking far, Sihu saw some kids who looked like middle schoolers standing in line.
‘What are those kids lining up for at this hour?’
Driven by curiosity, Sihu peered over.
‘Huh? That thing.’
Sihu’s mother had told him about it before.
‘In Gyeongsang-do, it’s called “jjokja” or “ppopgi.” In the northern regions, was it “dalgona”?’
Sihu recalled his mother’s joyful appearance from that time.
“Watch closely. Sihu. You do it like this. You have to carefully poke along the outline of the shape with a needle, carefully, like this.”
His mother put the needle in her mouth and lightly moistened it with saliva.
Then carefully poked at the dalgona, which had a shape stamped into it, with the needle.
Taptaptap- swish-
After repeatedly poking the outline several times with the needle, the dalgona shape did not break.
Only the edges around it began to crack slightly.
His mother was demonstrating extreme concentration.
She said with a smile that she was trying it based on memories of doing it when she was young.
His mother, who had really enjoyed poking at the dalgona, let out a cheer at the end.
“Wow- Mom did it. Sihu, look. It came out pretty and neat, right?”
His mother held the dalgona shape in her hand and smiled brightly.
The memory from that time came back as he watched the children.
“Aw- why did it break there. Mister, one more round please!”
“So close-. If I had gone just a little further, I could have gotten that carp candy.”
The children held out a bill to the dalgona vendor and, receiving another shape, began concentrating again.
After watching the dalgona vendor put sugar in a ladle and melt it for a moment.
Sihu saw the giant carp in the glass case.
‘I guess they’re aiming for that.’
After watching the children for a while, Sihu moved his steps.
‘Ah, I should stop by the bicycle shop.’
Sihu had wanted to properly look around the ‘Otherworld garden’ for some time now.
‘If I have a bicycle, I can easily look around…’
Sihu headed to the Sacheon-ri bicycle dealership, located not far from the market.
Whoosh-
As Sihu entered the bicycle dealership, the unique smell of new bicycles wafted out.
“Welcome.”
The shop owner approached Sihu equipped with a business smile.
“Boss. Could I take a look at some electric bicycles?”
“Electric bicycles? Who’s going to ride it?”
Sihu pointed his index finger at himself.
The owner, seeming to understand, headed toward the electric bicycles.
The shop owner gave a detailed explanation of the electric bicycles.
Sihu chose one of the newest electric bicycle models that had come out recently.
“You have a good eye. Student? Are you going to ride it back?”
Sihu shook his head.
“Is that so? Let me explain the bicycle first.”
The shop owner gave a detailed explanation of how to use the electric bicycle and handed him a helmet.
“The Road Traffic Act changed recently, so you’ll be fined if you don’t wear protective gear.”
“Ah, yes. How much is this helmet?”
Sihu asked while trying on the helmet.
The shop owner smiled and replied that it was on the house.
“I’ll deliver it to your house, so could you give me your home address?”
“Ah, yes.”
Sihu gave his home address.
After paying for the bicycle, Sihu walked toward home.
Achoo- sniffle.
Sihu rubbed his eyes without realizing it due to the increasingly severe itchiness.
“Ah, I shouldn’t rub them… I should stop by a pharmacy.”
***
After stopping by a pharmacy, the pharmacist told him to go to the hospital, so Sihu stopped by the hospital and then came home.
Sihu collapsed onto the sofa as soon as he arrived.
When he looked at the clock, much of the afternoon still remained.
‘Should I just rest, or should I go straight to the garden now?’
Sihu thought there was definitely an owner of the garden.
But until now, far from an owner, he had only confirmed animals of this world presumed to be wild animals(?).
‘Plus, I found the ocean too.’
Sihu changed into comfortable clothes and went down to the basement below the main room.
When Sihu entered the garden, he squinted his eyes at the scenery before him.
“Huh? What’s that?”
Thank you for reading.
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