2
# Chapter 2
The little girl scampered right up to me.
Then she began circling around me. Thanks to that, the dust piled up on the floor was kicked into the air, making the already murky air even hazier.
“Cough, cough. Ugh... dust!”
The little girl coughed a few times before waving her hand around.
What on earth was she doing?
I opened the windows to let in some fresh air, and the child's coughing gradually subsided.
Sniffling, the little girl scurried back over to my side.
“Who are youuu? Sniff, sniff. You smell like Grandpa.”
“I smell like that?”
I had been sweating from moving, but surely I didn't smell that bad.
Even when I leaned closer and tried to smell myself, I couldn't tell. Before my regression, I was nearly sixty, so it would have made sense then, but now I had the healthy body of a young man in his twenties.
Hearing something like that made my chest ache for no reason.
The little girl giggled and shook her head.
“Nooo. Grandpa's smell is Grandpa's smell. You know, that thing.”
“What do you mean by Grandpa's smell... Ah!”
I had a vague idea of what the little girl meant.
This was the place where my grandfather had always been.
Even though a year had passed, there was something here that stirred up memories.
It made sense that it might manifest in the form of a scent.
“You knew my grandfather too? Do you live around here?”
I had moved to Seoul three years ago, so... Was she the child of a family that had moved to the countryside during that time?
My grandfather had always treated everyone warmly, regardless of their age or gender.
That's why children liked him and followed him around so much.
Perhaps this little girl was the same.
“Yeah. I know him! The white-haired grandpa.”
“His hair had turned completely white.”
“It looked like snow! That's why Nuni liked him.”
“Nuni?”
“Yeah! She's my friend!”
It was as though the floodgates had opened.
The little girl began chattering away at me.
“She only comes in winter. She doesn't like warm things. That's why she's always all grumpy whenever she sees me. But I know. It's not because she doesn't like me. It's because she likes me. Hehe.”
“Sounds like an interesting friend.”
“Yeah! Nuni's cute. You know what Nuni did before? What she said to Grandpa was...”
Now that she had gotten started, the little girl continued telling me one story after another.
The high-pitched voices children had could certainly hurt your ears, but perhaps because every little gesture she made was so adorable, I didn't really mind.
Instead, there was something strangely captivating about sitting across from her and simply listening.
She chattered on about the things that had happened with her friend Nuni, who only came in winter, about how she had played with my grandfather, and about all the memories she had made here.
“I see.”
“Hehe, but the shop was closed, so I couldn't come here either. I was sad, mister.”
Noran stared at me and asked,
“Mister, do you know where Grandpa went?”
“Ah.”
Thirty-one years ago—or rather, one year ago in the current timeline.
My grandfather had quietly passed away in his sleep.
I had greeted the guests who came to his funeral, but this little girl hadn't been there.
I'd heard somewhere that directly talking to a child about death wasn't good for them in many ways.
Perhaps whoever was raising her had decided that bringing a child to a funeral would not be good for her emotional development.
If that was the reason, then it made sense that they had kept my grandfather's death from her.
Then how was I supposed to explain it?
“Mister?”
“Hmm... Grandpa went on a long journey.”
“What kind of journey? That sounds fun! Where did he go? Did Grandpa go alone? Take me too!”
“Yeah. He went alone.”
“Grandpa told me he'd traveled before. He said it was really far away. Is it somewhere as far as that?”
“Uh... I don't know.”
This was the first I'd heard about my grandfather traveling in the past.
Wherever that place had been, it couldn't be the same place he'd gone now.
My grandfather wasn't a god, after all.
...Right?
“So Grandpa can't come back?”
“Really? Sniff... Grandpa said he'd make me honey water when he came next time. He said he'd give me delicious tea too.”
The little girl looked genuinely depressed, apparently shocked by the realization that she wouldn't be able to drink my grandfather's tea anymore.
What an expressive child.
I didn't know whose kid she was, but having a child like this at home probably meant there wasn't much room for depression.
Looking at her made me wonder what my grandfather must have been like with her.
If it were my grandfather...
“Want me to make some for you?”
“Really? You?”
“Yeah. Wait here a moment.”
I didn't know how to make the other teas, but even I could easily make honey water.
Honey didn't really have an expiration date either, so unlike the other leaves, I didn't have to worry about getting sick from it. The water supply was still working too.
I went into the kitchen and turned on the burner. While the water was boiling, I washed a cup thoroughly and put in a tablespoon of honey.
Then I added the warm water and stirred it well.
That was all there was to it.
“You can sit over there... Ah, it's too dirty.”
Everything was covered in dust, so I wasn't sure where I could have the little girl sit.
But she didn't seem to care at all.
She smiled brightly and plopped herself down wherever she pleased.
“Cough.”
More dust flew into the air, and she waved her hands around, but soon she broke into another bright smile.
Just watching her made me smile pleasantly as well.
“I'll clean everything properly next time. Here, honey water.”
“Thank you!”
Well-mannered, too.
The little girl held the cup with both hands and blew on it.
Only after the steam had cooled down a little did she take a sip.
“How is it?”
“Hmm... Grandpa's was tastier.”
They say a child's innocent words can sometimes be even more brutal.
I thought honey water was honey water, but this little girl's evaluation was merciless.
Even so, she didn't put the cup down and continued taking little sips.
As I quietly watched her, the little girl blinked and asked,
“What are you to Grandpa?”
“Mister... Hmm... I'm Grandpa's son.”
“Son? Hmm?”
“Is that strange?”
“It's strange.”
I knew that myself.
After my grandfather adopted me, we were legally father and son, but my grandfather had told me to call him Grandpa.
He said he didn't want to hear me calling him Dad at his age.
I understood how he felt, so I'd continued calling him Grandpa.
The little girl seemed curious about everything and fired another question at me.
“Then are you going to live here?”
“I won't live here, but I'm going to reopen this teahouse soon.”
I'd have to tidy up the garden in front, clean up the parking lot, clean the interior, and refine all the recipes.
There was plenty to do, but I intended to take my time.
There was no need to hurry. Nothing was chasing me from behind, and nobody was threatening me with a knife.
The little girl's eyes sparkled at my answer.
“You're opening the shop?? Really??”
“Yeah, really.”
“Wow! You're opening the shop!”
She even put down her honey water and jumped up excitedly.
Naturally, more dust flew everywhere, and the little girl started coughing again.
As I watched her sniffle, I found myself curious about something too.
“What's your name?”
“I'm Noran! Noran Noran!”
“That's a pretty name.”
It was the kind of name mischievous kids might tease her about, but it really was pretty.
Bright and cheerful, just like the color yellow.
If her parents had chosen the name knowing she'd grow up to be like this, then they certainly had some remarkable foresight.
Before I knew it, Noran had finished her honey water and stood up.
“Thank you for the drink.”
“Sure. Next time, I'll make it even tastier.”
“Can I come again?”
“Of course.”
I understood now that this was a place filled with memories shared by Noran and my grandfather.
I had no desire to declare this a kids-free zone and trample all over those memories.
That would be no different from trampling all over the life my grandfather had lived.
I couldn't do something so disrespectful.
“Come whenever you want. I'll make you honey water.”
“Okay!”
Noran bowed at the waist before walking around the teahouse once and stopping by the door.
“Bye-bye.”
“Goodbye.”
Once Noran left, the teahouse instantly became quiet.
It even felt somewhat darker.
I hadn't realized just how strong the bright energy Noran carried had been.
It felt as though I'd just dreamed the whole thing, but the empty teacup sitting in front of me proved that Noran had really been here.
“I guess I won't have much time to be bored once I open the teahouse.”
With that thought, I finished washing the dishes.
Once I'd started washing them, I felt a strong urge to clean the rest of the place too, but I simply closed up the shop.
If I started, my personality being what it was, I'd probably spend the entire night cleaning.
“It's only the first day.”
There was absolutely no need to rush.
---
The day after spending my first night in the new house.
I hadn't even been there for twenty-four hours, yet I could already tell that there was something special about this house.
“Why is there so much food?”
Meat, eggs, fish, fruit, and all sorts of other fresh ingredients completely filled the refrigerator and storage room.
There was no way these had been here before my grandfather passed away.
Did they get replenished overnight?
It was simply bizarre.
There was one more strange thing.
“It's clean.”
There hadn't been much, but I had brought some moving boxes with me.
Unpacking and organizing everything had left the house quite dirty.
But when I woke up, it was spotlessly clean.
No, it was beyond merely clean.
The central living room was shining as if it had just been newly built.
To exaggerate only slightly, there wasn't even a speck of dust anywhere.
“Does a house goblin live here or something?”
If breakfast had also been prepared, I would have seriously searched the entire house for someone secretly living inside.
I suppose I should be grateful that this was the exact opposite of the situation in the movie Parasite.
Extremely strange things were happening, but I wasn't scared.
If anything, I felt strangely warm.
Almost as if my grandfather were still taking care of me.
“Right. This is a house my grandfather prepared for me. Of course it wouldn't be ordinary.”
He was the grandfather who had even sent me back in time.
It wasn't impossible that he'd put some kind of magic on the house and made it special too.
Rather than wondering how he'd done it, I simply felt grateful to my grandfather for preparing this house for me.
“Grandfather, I'll be back.”
After eating a simple breakfast, I searched through the house and gathered some cleaning supplies.
Today, I planned to scrub away all the grime that had accumulated in the teahouse.
After estimating the work, I knew it wouldn't be finished in a day or two, but everything starts with a single step.
My body, trained by thirty years of working life, even calculated how long it would take to reach the teahouse.
I arrived there precisely at nine o'clock.
“...Huh?”
Huh? What? Huh?
When I arrived at the teahouse, I couldn't believe my eyes.
Until yesterday, the teahouse had been practically a ruin.
Cobwebs hung everywhere, and the weeds growing in front of the door gave the place a distinctly gloomy atmosphere.
But now?
It was spotlessly clean, as if none of that had ever happened.
Just like my house, it looked as though it had been newly built.
Even the sign reading 【Yangjibareun Teahouse】 was gleaming.
“Heh.”
What kind of magic had my grandfather used?
At this point, wasn't it possible that he was actually still alive, hiding somewhere and pulling some elaborate prank on me?
I'd even seen his body myself, so that couldn't possibly be the case.
“...The inside too?”
The shine wasn't limited to the exterior.
All the old, caked-on dust inside had disappeared, and the floor had even been waxed until it was spotless.
All the kitchen utensils had been thoroughly washed and dried.
This would have required at least five house goblins.
As I put down the cleaning supplies and looked around the teahouse, I noticed a notebook that hadn't been there yesterday.
“Recipe Book.”
I gently ran my fingers over my grandfather's handwriting on the cover.
Seeing his firm yet gentle handwriting brought back old memories.
People used to come to my grandfather all the time asking him to write things for them.
I sat down in a chair and slowly opened the recipe book.
On the first page was a message my grandfather had left for me.
“Chan-seong,
I've written down the recipes and effects of the teas I used to serve at the teahouse in this notebook.
I've also written down the characteristics of the flowers, leaves, and herbs in the storage room, so feel free to experiment by mixing them yourself and creating something special.
Give them your own color and aroma.
The same goes for Yangjibareun Teahouse.
It's your shop, so decorate it however you want.
You can even tear it down and rebuild it if you want.
But I have one small request.
Many children will come to this place.
Become happy together with those children.
I hope you'll grant this old man's wish.”
“Grandfather.”
Without realizing it, I raised my head and looked to the side.
The spot was empty, yet somehow, it felt as though my grandfather were still there beside me.
Even though he had left this world, it felt as if he were still looking after me from my side.
“I'll keep your words in my heart, Grandfather.”
After turning my grandfather's words over in my mind, I turned the pages of the recipe book.
And then—
“Huh?”
What is this?
I had already been surprised enough.
But something even more astonishing was about to unfold.