"Land You Can't Farm On. Don't Buy It."
"This land can't be farmed. Don't buy it."
Go Jin-mook squeezed his eyes shut. His conscience had left him no choice — he'd blurted out the whole unvarnished truth. The fact that nothing had ever grown in that field, going back years! These were people who had shown him nothing but kindness. He couldn't betray them.
Now he'll say he's not buying it, of course.
Even though he desperately needed to offload the land, this was the right thing to do. Before long, the answer came back exactly as Go Jin-mook had expected.
"We'll take it."
"Right, naturally, I mean— …I'm sorry, what?"
Go Jin-mook's head snapped up, ready for rejection and getting anything but. Buying it? Why? The man's face was an open book.
"Am I understanding correctly that we're talking about that same field?"
"Yes. The one where nothing grows. That's the one we want to buy."
"Why?"
Why, he asks. Because from now on, the crops are going to grow just fine, that's why. But no matter how friendly this man seemed, he was still the landowner. If I came right out and said that, he might jack the price sky-high. So that fact stays a secret, and I'd have to come up with a different reason.
"It's good land."
"……?"
What is with this kid? Did he not hear a single word of the explanation I just gave? Anything less than that, and there was no way "good" would be the word that came out. I could see the bafflement all over Go Jin-mook's face.
"Every so often you run into land like this. The soil's excellent, but someone planted crops that don't suit it, so nothing grows well."
"You're saying my land is like that?"
"Yes, sir. There's a specific crop it's suited for — you just have to find it."
In truth, no such thing existed. But the man knew absolutely nothing about farming. If I told him that's how it worked, what was he going to say — no, it isn't? He'd have to take my word for it.
"I-is that so……. I don't really know anything about agriculture, so I didn't even realize that was a possibility."
"It's a genuinely rare case. Without studying it, there's no way you'd know."
Good. He seemed convinced. Now for a little tug on the heartstrings.
"Of course, if you still don't want to sell, there's nothing we can do about it. We'd just have to go pounding the pavement for another plot of land again……. My father spent a full day going around checking this one out, but I suppose it can't be helped."
Father, seated beside me, flinched. It wasn't a full day, though. More like four hours. His face was broadcasting the same thought loud and clear. Some professional composure, please. Fact or not, that wasn't the point. What mattered was drawing out the reaction I wanted. Right now, that was what counted.
I ignored my father's look and put on my most mournful expression. I watched Go Jin-mook's face crumple. Yes — he was nearly there!
A moment later, Go Jin-mook spoke.
"……Th-then there's no need to look for other land. I'll sell. If there's a crop that'll actually grow there, I have no reason not to."
"Really?"
"Yes. Honestly, that field has been weighing on me for a while now……. Finding a new owner like this is truly a relief."
His tense shoulders sagging at last, Go Jin-mook gave a small smile. "I've been planning to open my own restaurant, you see. Things were about to get busy, and I couldn't figure out how to manage both — but thanks to you, Ji-on, I can finally let it go and move on."
A heartwarming conclusion. Or so I thought — until a shriek of a question came flying in from somewhere entirely off topic.
"Your own restaurant?!"
Mrs. Kim Mi-suk, who had just finished clearing the table and emerged into the living room, stood there with her mouth hanging open. I knew she'd missed every bit of context before and after, but apparently only one word had made it through to her: opening.
Chef Go Jin-mook was opening his own restaurant. Let's remember who this man was. A star chef who built his name appearing on the variety-style cooking channel Entrust Your Fridge, then stamped his image firmly into the public consciousness as a judge on the wildly popular culinary survival show.
That man was opening his own restaurant? Guaranteed blockbusters reservations, no question about it. Kim Mi-suk had seen his cooking plenty of times on TV and Yootube herself. Getting to actually taste it? She could barely imagine the rapture.
Sensing her reaction, Go Jin-mook scratched his head, flustered. "Ah — right, I hadn't told anyone yet. It's supposed to stay under wraps for the time being."
His mind had relaxed so completely that the words had simply slipped out. "Goodness — are you sure you should be sharing that with us before anyone else?"
Mother's eyes glistened as though moved by the trust he'd shown. "Haha, as long as you don't spread it around, it's fine. We've only just started scouting sites, and there's also the matter of……"
When Chef Go Jin-mook trailed off, Mother asked carefully, "The matter being…?"
"Nothing serious. Just a — well, a mild issue with my eyes, you could say."
He called it mild. It was anything but. For the past three months, his eyesight had been failing him. To be precise, whenever he worked in the kitchen, his vision would warp or double over itself. He was fine otherwise — the moment his surroundings got even slightly hot, the trouble started.
His eyes turned traitorous the instant he stepped into a kitchen, which was maddening enough, but after summer arrived, even stepping outside didn't bring his sight back. He'd fumbled the salt jar and dumped half of it into a pot of soup mid-service; worse, there'd been a time he couldn't tell where the griddle was and nearly burned himself badly. The doctors, every last one of them, could only say they had no idea what was causing it, and prescribed medication to improve the vision distortion. It barely did anything.
In the end, after a discreet consultation with his mentor, he had left the restaurant. He'd told the people around him it was to open his own place, but it wasn't. What good was a private restaurant to a chef who could no longer cook?
Two months had already passed since he walked out of that kitchen, and he still hadn't properly vetted a single site. He'd been too busy chasing treatments. Which left him less than no bandwidth to worry about a farm that had all but gone to ruin.
Go Jin-mook let out a rueful chuckle and rose from his seat.
"……Chef, are you all right?" Mother asked. His face had gone deathly pale.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all."
He forced a smile and nodded. Then he turned to Father. "Will you be going back to finish the contract?"
"The realtor said he has somewhere to be today and has to close early. We'll have to go back tomorrow."
"Tomorrow's a Saturday — will he be in?"
"He said he'd be working that day, yes."
Go Jin-mook nodded in understanding, but his face was full of trouble. He'd only come down for the day to see the deal through, so he hadn't thought to line up any lodging nearby. He'd missed the last train ages ago while unconscious, and there was little chance a village this remote — tucked even deeper than the township — had an inn.
If only I hadn't collapsed from heatstroke, this all would have gone off without a hitch.
Father, watching him flounder, spoke up quietly. "If you don't mind, stay here for the night and travel with me tomorrow."
"……Would that really be all right?"
"Of course. We'll ride together in my car — it'll be comfortable."
Despite his endless apologizing, Go Jin-mook was set up on the living room floor. We'd initially tried the sofa, but he was so tall that his feet stuck clean off the end of our two-seater. In the end, a pad on the floor with a pillow and blanket turned out to be the best solution.
The next morning, the three of us and Bonggu climbed into the one-ton truck and headed for Go Jin-mook's field, the bed loaded to the brim with sweet potato and carrot seeds. The plan was to stop at the realtor's office first, sign the paperwork, then go plant.
"Haah……."
Go Jin-mook sighed quietly. He'd been talked into it yesterday and said it was fine, but he hadn't seen a single thing grow with his own eyes, and doubt clearly gnawed at him. He agonized the whole way there, and with his signature on the contract staring him in the face, he finally asked one more time.
"Is this really going to be all right?"
The realtor and Father both looked at him, taken aback. He looked thoroughly anxious. If I wanted to dispel that anxiety, there was only one way — show him with his own eyes. Whether crops would truly flourish on this land, or not.
I turned to him. "If you're that worried, why not stay at our place for a few days and watch the crops grow on the field yourself? Just one week. In a week, you'll see them growing so well you won't believe it."
Was the offer too sudden? Father stared at me in surprise. But the truth was, I liked the quality of that land — and I liked its price even more. I wanted to buy it. And if the seller stood there looking like that, how was anyone supposed to call it a proper deal?
Go Jin-mook began to deliberate. I pressed again. "Do you have other plans, by any chance?"
He'd said he was busy preparing to open a restaurant, so he might genuinely be short on time. But then, he'd only said the site for his new place was still under review. How busy could a man be who hadn't started anything yet? The reason he hadn't started, I suspected, was that "simple matter" he'd mentioned — the trouble with his eyes. He'd called it simple, but the look on his face when he said it told me it was anything but light. Even Mother, sitting beside him, had wavered.
And sure enough, Go Jin-mook answered with a shadowed face. "No, I don't have any other plans."
It suddenly occurred to me how Mother had looked at him — with such pity. ……A good son can't just let that slide, can he? What had started as a ploy to get the field with an easy conscience was, at this point, going to aim for two birds with one stone. Close the deal cleanly, and solve this man's problem on the side. Letting a famous chef's career end here would be a loss for us, too. But if he recovered and started cooking with our crops? Consider it one more investment.
Mother, forgive me — I'm about to use you as an excuse.
Having apologized to her in advance, I opened my mouth. "Actually, my mother is an enormous fan of yours, Chef. She's been dying to learn from you, I can tell. Just one week. Would you spend one week with us?"
"Haha, what a devoted son. Well, in that case…… I'll shamelessly impose on your hospitality."
He'd taken the bait. Now all that remained was to slip him that naturally, once we got home.
Father, who had been listening to the whole exchange, let out a soft, long breath. ……He's not going to object, is he? Contrary to my expectations, Father simply smoothed my hair with one hand, then turned to the realtor.
"Could we add one more special clause to the contract?"
"Of course! What would you like it to say?"
"If crops are not confirmed to grow on this land within one week, this contract shall be void. The confirmation of growth shall be witnessed jointly by both parties."
Vrrrrmm — vrrrm — thwip.
The printer spat out fresh pages — the new contract, complete with the special clause we'd just dictated.
"Then if you'll agree to the terms, please transfer the deposit and the service fee here."
"Transfer complete."
Father showed the transfer record to the realtor and to Go Jin-mook. "No backing out now."
"No, I suppose not. Haha — for the next week, I'll be in your care……!"