Gukbap
Choi Jeonghun was the second-generation owner of Gamasot Sundae Gukbap House. In this day and age, it was rare to find a shop passed down through generations. Sure, there were those massive 100-pyeong restaurants stacked three stories high, or places with two or three annex buildings, or ones that had successfully franchised. But a rundown neighborhood gukbap joint like this? Even rarer.
Still, Choi Jeonghun was content with his life. The folks who washed away a day's exhaustion with a bowl of gukbap and a bottle of soju. The last hope of the common people holding out against skyrocketing prices. Above all, Korea's soul food. That was the driving force keeping him running the place.
It was past 10 p.m., that dull late-night hour when the only customers at a worn-out gukbap house were the drunks wrapping up their first or second round and gearing up for a third.
Ding-a-ling—
"Welcome… uh…?"
At that hour, Choi Jeonghun naturally assumed the new customer would be the same old type. But he nearly dropped the soju bottle he was holding.
The woman who pushed open the door and tumbled in was a creature that didn't belong in this space, no matter how you sliced it. Baggy gray hoodie. Faded track pants with knees poking out. Black cap pulled low over her face. On paper, it screamed "neighborhood gukbap regular." But she shattered the vibe those rags should have given off.
Skin whiter than the pork bone broth in their signature sundae gukbap, peeking out from under the cap. A tiny face dominated by enormous, lake-like eyes. And with every step, a heavy presence swaying mysteriously inside the hoodie, leaving you unsure where to look.
What the… an idol? Trainee celebrity?
Choi Jeonghun held his breath. His heart pounded without warning. He'd thought running this pig-scented hole-in-the-wall had withered away any romantic cells he had left. But his heart was racing. He could feel his aorta thumping. Blood surging through capillaries, every cell alive.
Why would a woman like this show up alone in the dead of night at a gukbap joint crawling with middle-aged dudes?
"What's with Boss Choi all of a sudden? He thinks he's a soju model or somethin'?"
"Leave 'im be~ He's sayin' heat up the soju nice and warm like you're servin' a lady, guy's got service spirit for days."
"Ah, uh, sorry. Here's your soju order."
While Choi Jeonghun stood there frozen and stammering, the woman approached the counter. Like he'd been bewitched, he set down the soju and headed straight there.
The woman bowed her head in greeting. In response, his heart doubled its pace.
"Um… where's Granny?"
Her voice rang out, unbelievably clear and pure.
"…Pardon? Granny?"
Choi Jeonghun blurted in confusion. First flustered by her unreal looks. Second by that fairy-like tone. Third by her suddenly hunting for some granny. He barely regained his wits and asked again.
In response, the cap-wearing beauty Lee Jua furrowed her brow and glanced around.
"…You know, the granny who used to watch the floor and cuss like a sailor? The one who gave huge portions and threw in pork slices sometimes."
Choi Jeonghun could only panic again.
"My dad ran this place before me, and I've been at it for five years now… No granny's ever run it. You sure you didn't mix it up with somewhere else?"
"…Huh?"
Lee Jua's eyes shook like there was an earthquake as she stared at him.
"No way? I was here just a few days ago. Granny filled my stone pot to overflowing, let loose a barrage of cusses nice and refreshing, then hooked me up with pork slices."
Choi Jeonghun couldn't tell if this was some new breed of troublemaker or a genuine mix-up. Filling the pot to the brim, cussing you out, then demanding pork on top—it sounded like that. But her eyes screamed, I'm only speaking the truth.
Lying with eyes like that? Must be extenuating circumstances; you'd have to play along. But…
He couldn't let some foul-mouthed granny steal the identity of his second-generation gukbap legacy.
"Aigoo, miss, looks like you really got the wrong place. My dad's been slinging it here for over twenty years."
As he wrapped it up, Choi Jeonghun's brain spun into overdrive. Some entertainment agency scouting debut talent, testing acting skills on randos in the street!
No way a girl like this lives around here. Even if she did, no reason to hit our gukbap joint.
That face, that voice. Even crappy acting would rocket her to superstardom. And check this performance hunting a nonexistent granny. She even controlled the quiver in her eyes. Choi Jeonghun felt like he was witnessing the birth of a future superstar.
As he swallowed his inner admiration, Lee Jua muttered in disbelief.
"Ah… shit, this got retconned too?"
"…Pardon?"
"Ah, no, sorry."
He could've sworn something slipped from those angel lips. Blaming his ears, Choi Jeonghun watched as she resignedly doffed her cap and headed to a table.
"Boss, special gukbap here, please. Load it heavy with red pepper paste and plenty of pickled radish broth."
"…Special?"
"Yeah, oh and add thin noodles too. Worked my body hard today, starving."
Her face looked like it ran on dewdrops, but the order details were veteran ajusshi level—like eight years pounding construction-site hambabs.
The insane gap made him pause, then nod like he got it. Future celeb trainee, alright.
YouTube mukbangs blowing up, so now they're training kids with mukbang basics.
He bellowed toward the kitchen.
"One special! Heavy red pepper paste, thin noodles add-on!"
Lee Jua settled at the table with utter naturalness and familiarity. She dragged over a chair to prop her arm on, too.
And then…
An unbelievable scene unfolded.
…No granny from the start?
I sat there blankly, ripping open a wet wipe to scrub my hands. Hands, neck, even started on my forearms before snapping to and dropping it.
The male owner eyed me weirdly. But who cared about stares right now.
Stuff in my house was the same. Celebs on TV, politicians, pros like Odin—all as I remembered. But my bank balance evaporated from 40 million won to 400,000. My Johnson's Baby 2nd Gen King God Emperor Big Dick Johnson was gone. And now the gukbap house's foul-mouthed granny vanished.
…So that's it.
A hypothesis hit me. It wasn't just my body that changed. The world's big picture stayed, but traces deeply tied to Lee Jinsu got slyly edited out. The world reshaped itself around Lee Jua, erasing and overwriting the old me.
"Haa…."
My clone. My 40 mil. My high-peak rice… no, my beloved granny….
Lost in that hollow ache, staring blankly at the table, I felt glances. Peek— peek peek—
Turning, the shop's patrons kept sneaking looks. They'd whip away when eyes met, then sneak back.
Two young guys cracking soju at the corner table. Three laborers in work clothes—night shift done or ongoing, grabbing late dinner. A couple in their mid-30s. Scattered generic neighborhood ajusshis everywhere.
They shoveled gukbap halfheartedly while side-eyeing me.
…What? Why the stares?
In a diner, guys locking eyes and staring means one thing.
Why pick a fight?
Stare-down. Look away and you lose. In the sweaty males' world, you can't ignore it. Hierarchy drops naturally. This was the animal kingdom.
Veteran 8-year construction grunt pride on the line—I held my gaze. Chin up a notch, shot them a fierce, killer glare from the corner kids.
What're you lookin' at? Eat your damn gukbap.
Loaded mental double curses, radiating demon aura.
Of course… if real trouble brewed, I'd apologize pronto. Peace without fists—that's the true man's path.
The corner youths jolted at my glare head-on. One dropped his chopsticks. The soju-sipper startled into a fake cough, then stared at nothing like seeing a ghost to dodge.
…I win.
I smugly downed a cup of water. Victor's leisure.
Body turned chick, but the alpha male spirit inside couldn't be hidden. Those kids folding to my grit proved this Jua bod packed solid intimidation too.
The young guys there for gukbap had no choice but to tense up at the sudden supermodel drop-in. She chatted with the owner like they knew each other, then plopped at a table to wipe her hands, neck—even went for her arms. Looked ready to hit the pits next.
…Po, post-shower glow?
Stopped at arms, disappointingly. But to these guys nursing bitter soju and gukbap after failed hunts, she was the reward. God's gift, they figured, stealing peeks.
Then eyes met.
They panicked, looked away briefly. Couldn't fight male instinct, glanced back.
She was still staring.
…F, flirting?!
Chance… this is our shot!
They locked eyes. Go now. Snag her number. Gukbap tab's on us, right?
Telepathic bros. Nodded, united.
But neither budged.
"You go."
"Nah? You go."
"What the fuck, I just got shot down last time, that's why I'm here for gukbap."
"Exactly, so you go—you need the rebound."
"This asshole pulling bullshit again?"
"What're you on, dipshit? Go already."
"Ah… just ordered food, kinda awkward to bounce now."
"…Yeah, true."
Couldn't move just yet. But luckily, no better males nearby. They were this turf's alphas. Wait it out—their shot would come.
Believing that, they kept eye-contact signaling with Jua.
"…But is that really a green light?"
"Duh, why would a chick stare at a guy she's not into?"
"But… why's her face so pissed?"
Huge eyes narrowed, lips pursed. Gaze intense as hell. Like a feisty kitten prepping a cotton-candy punch.
Meanwhile, at the couple's table next door.
"…Oppa, where you looking right now?"
"Uh, huh? Just scoping the shop interior. You know I'm a pro at this stuff."
"…All the interior's over by the girl who just walked in?"
"Wh-what're you talking about, Soo-jin?"
Fight brewing any second.