The Snack Shop That Never Closed

I didn't even know the name of the Police Commissioner.

"Why do you ask about the Commissioner?"

At my question, Jeong Hyeoncheol scratched the back of his head before answering.

"He ordered us to open an investigation immediately, saying Cho Eun-sun is effectively the ringleader of a criminal organization. Apparently he also received a tip that she's deeply tied to the Seongdo Construction corruption case."

"A tip?"

"Yes, sir."

Who on earth had tipped him off?

"Ah!"

It had to be Moon Seong-il. Or perhaps he'd gone over the Commissioner's head and courted someone even higher up.

Of course. Moon Seong-il knew full well that Cho Eun-sun wouldn't back down quietly after our standoff outside the department store.

Convinced she would come after me, Moon Seong-il must have moved with desperate urgency.

"That's how the police were able to move this quickly — the Commissioner passed the order down to the Gwangjin station chief, and the station chief delegated the Cho Eun-sun investigation to the Violent Crimes Unit leader."

Outside the mountain shrine, searchlights blazed to life.

Arf! Arf! Police dogs and search teams swept the grounds, convinced Cho Eun-sun had fled the scene.

Crackle. Police radio chatter. Forensic detectives filed into the shrine hauling their equipment, paramedics following close behind. They spotted me almost at once, and one of the medics approached.

"Are you alright? It looks like you were abducted by Cho Eun-sun."

"I wasn't abducted. And I'm not injured anywhere."

"Whew, thank goodness. Apparently the Minister of the Interior and Safety himself contacted the local 119 emergency center about you."

The Police Commissioner apparently wasn't enough — now the Minister of the Interior had stepped in too?

"The higher-ups must have lost a whole night's sleep over this."

"An incident is an incident, sir. Though in the end it came to this anyway."

The paramedic sighed as he carefully checked the pulse of the man Cho Eun-sun had killed.

"We were ordered to make sure no more victims came out of this, and now look. What a mess."

"That man was Cho Eun-sun's partner in crime. He committed countless atrocities at her side and clawed his way up to a directorship at Boram Loan."

"A loan shark, you say? Well, he does have a tattoo here, as it turns out."

The same paramedic who'd been mourning the dead man moments ago went cold and stony-faced. Two men who deserved to die, cutting each other down in a knife fight — he swallowed whatever sympathy he had left and straightened up.

"I see. Sir, you've worked hard coming all the way out here in the middle of the night. I'll put in a good word so you don't catch any flak for it."

"To the Minister of the Interior?"

"Oh, no! I just happen to know someone who's close with him."

Moon Seong-il wasn't merely rich in connections — he was the perfect partner to work alongside. He moved fast, summoned the influence of the powerful without hesitation, and above all, I could feel the genuine concern for my safety behind all of it.

"I'll step outside and wait, then."

"Don't wander too far. Right now you're too shaken to notice if something's wrong with you, but the moment the adrenaline wears off, you could faint. You witnessed a murder with your own eyes — you must be beside yourself."

"It was gruesome, that's for sure."

I shuddered, stepped out of the shrine, and called Moon Seong-il. The phone had barely rung once before his voice came through, taut with anxiety.

"CEO Kim, are you safe?"

"I am. Thanks to you."

"The team leader on scene said there's been a homicide."

"Cho Eun-sun tried to use her own underlings as sacrifices to curse me to death."

I explained everything calmly, starting from the moment I'd sent someone to my parents' house. Then I added —

"Part of the curse Cho Eun-sun hurled must have landed on Jeong Su-hwan of Seongdo Construction."

"Oh! It's on the breaking news right now. Jeong Su-hwan died of a heart attack at a Japanese restaurant in Cheongdam-dong — he collapsed mid-meal while dining with his lawyer."

"Jeong Su-hwan's biological father, Jeong Hyeon-taek, also died of a heart attack. You think that's a coincidence?"

Suddenly Abe clutched his head in both hands, wracked with pain.

Yes. That's exactly how I imagined it happened.

Abe had been loyal to a fault — loyal enough to lay down his life for his master without a moment's hesitation. Which meant he would have thrown every ounce of his strength into stopping the woman who meant to murder his master.

But by then Cho Eun-sun already wielded a power that dwarfed his. He never stood a chance.

She could commit murder with a curse launched through a single photograph, after all.

A portion of that same devastating curse had flown at me as well. I'd only survived because I was inside the barrier.

I soothed the weeping spirit.

"You won, in the end. You trapped Cho Eun-sun inside that barrier, and now she'll live in eternal torment."

Abe quietly wiped his tears, prostrated himself at my feet, and bowed. Somehow, the sight looked less like relief than grief.

Revenge accomplished or not, he could never come back to life. And the days when he had taken Cho Eun-sun in as his disciple didn't simply cease to have happened.

I patted his shoulder to raise him, then spoke to Moon Seong-il.

"Cho Eun-sun, like Tachibana who was sealed away near Hwacheon Chilseongru, cannot set foot in the outside world unless someone breaks the barrier."

"S-so that's what you've done? Then no matter how many officers they throw at this, they'll never actually catch her?"

"That's right."

I asked him to relay it politely to the Police Commissioner, so the officers on the ground wouldn't waste their efforts on a manhunt that could never succeed.

"Understood. I'll see to it."

"Also — with the soybean harvest, the Pyeongcheong marathon, and the grand opening of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Ugok-ui Ddeurak Cafe, I need to get back to Ugok-ri urgently. I intend to wrap up everything there by this weekend."

I stole a glance at Abe and continued.

"And I'm thinking of flying to Japan around Tuesday of next week."

"As it happens, the moment I mentioned you'd be going to Japan, CEO Lee Ho-young lit up like a lantern."

Apparently, once Ho-young learned how many of my problems were piling up, he couldn't bring himself to ask me for a favor — and was quietly eating himself alive over it instead.

"How is Sato Genji holding up?"

"Following your advice, they've brought in a shaman who's skilled with talismans that ward off vengeful spirits, and the professor is staying inside the shrine. Thankfully, he seems to be safe as long as he remains within it."

"Which means the spirit is just waiting for the moment he steps outside."

"Precisely."

He'd dreamed of his late granddaughter, and on the day of her cremation he'd tried to go out and lay flowers at her columbarium — only to be nearly struck down by the vengeful spirit's attack. His neck had twisted, his left arm and leg gone limp, and he'd collapsed, nearly cracking his skull open. Ho-young had lunged to catch him, fallen in his place, and hurt his arm instead.

Just hearing about it made my brow furrow on its own.

"That's a bad situation. You're telling me the vengeful spirit twisted CEO Lee's arm?"

"Is that not what happened?"

"It is. Tell CEO Lee not to set one foot outside that shrine, either. Next time it could be his neck that twists and his left side that goes dead."

Vengeful spirits in our country attack only those they bear a grudge against.

Japanese vengeful spirits, on the other hand, would wipe out an entire family — and often went further, trying to kill every last soul in the village.

How deeply unsettling it had been, studying the goryō spirit cults.

Japan had a culture generations deep of worshipping the strong. People — and even ghosts — were venerated only if they were powerful. And so, even after becoming spirits, they kept expanding the reach of their wrath.

"Tell CEO Lee to be careful until I get there. Oh, and one more thing..."

Since I'd be flying to Japan to deliver Abe anyway, it seemed wise to meet the chairman who led Moritake as well. Last spring, the caretaker who managed the cherry trees and white pines had asked it of me — the Moritake chairman wished to meet me, and if I ever came to Japan, I was to contact him without fail.

When someone begs that earnestly, there's no real reason to keep dodging, is there?

I organized my thoughts and told Moon Seong-il.

"I'm planning to meet the chairman of Moritake Brewery as well. He's been saying he wants to see me for some time now."

"Truly? Thank you for finally making up your mind."

I beg your pardon? Since when was that a decision requiring resolve?

"Excuse me?"

"That side has been pleading so persistently to meet our Mr. Kim, and turning them down every single time was sheer torment."

Moon Seong-il's reaction was far more intense than usual. Just how much had he been put through?

"If Moritake was begging that desperately to see me, you should have told me outright."

"I did tell you."

"In passing, you mean."

"I didn't want to burden you. CEO Lee said you're a man of strong personal convictions, and that pressing requests or advice on you carelessly would end in disaster, so..."

Had I really been that cagey about it — like someone agonizing over whether to sell a meteorite? It seemed Ho-young had decided I was far too delicate a specimen to approach directly.

"If something like that comes up again, just tell me plainly. I'm listening."

"Yes, of course. Secretary Yoon will arrange the flight bookings, the lodging, and the appointment with the Moritake Brewery chairman. Would it be alright if Secretary Yoon comes down to Ugok 1-ri and accompanies you from the time of departure?"

That would spare me the drive to the airport, and Secretary Yoon would earn himself a special allowance besides. A good arrangement all around.

"Let's do that. We'll depart Tuesday morning, and in the meantime I'll hurry back to Ugok-ri and finish what's left."

After hanging up with Moon Seong-il, I turned to Abe.

Hold on just a few more days. I'll carry you to Japan myself.

Abe pressed his palms together and bowed his head deeply, again and again.

Had I actually been doing good works?

Oh! Hearing that reminds me of something. There's somewhere I need to hurry to, right now.

A short while later, I arrived at the back alley behind the bank where I used to work.

It was late, and only a handful of bars still had their lights on.

With familiar steps, I came to a stop in front of a little snack shop.

"It didn't go under."

In the phantom Cho Eun-sun had conjured to prey on my guilt, the owner of Min-hee's Snack Bar had despised me. She'd told me she died alongside Min-hee because I refused to defer her interest payments.

It was all a lie.

I'd heard through Ko Min-seok that the shop was still doing business, but I had wanted to see it with my own eyes.

"Thank goodness."

I had never been in a position to defer anyone's interest at my own discretion. So instead, I'd gone to see the building's owner and begged him to lower the rent.

Whether the landlord had actually lowered the rent, I never found out. My body gave out before I could hear the answer.

The ringing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in my ears, the feeling that my skull was about to split open — I'd been certain I would die if I didn't write that resignation letter.

"Oh my! Assistant Manager Kim?"

The door of Min-hee's Snack Bar, shut fast a moment ago, swung open, and the owner appeared.

"M-Ma'am?"

She looked nothing like the haggard figure from Cho Eun-sun's phantom. Smiling, she came toward me.

"What brings you here at this hour? And by the way, why did you leave the bank without so much as a word? I never even got the chance to thank you properly."

"Th-thank me? For what?"

"I heard you went to see the landlord yourself and got him to cut the rent. That's the only reason I managed to hold on instead of going under."

"Ah."

The strength drained from my legs before I knew it. Why, at the simple words I didn't go under, did tears well up in my eyes?

I wrestled my emotions back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠under control and asked,

"But you haven't closed up yet, at this hour?"

"We took a bulk order, you see. The gimbap and rice balls sell quite well these days. Word's gotten around that they're delicious, apparently?"

"Thank you."

For being safe. And for holding on.

At my words, the owner blinked at me in surprise.

"To me?"

"Yes? Ah — yes. Back then, I couldn't defer your interest for you, and I worried that maybe... that something bad... ahem! No, what I mean is..."

There was no need to drag up the bad memories now.

Soon enough, Min-hee's Snack Bar would be famous as a must-visit spot. Only good things were waiting ahead.

"Ma'am, I happen to be an influencer with three hundred thousand subscribers. Let me shoot one livestream — and then you can finally close up and go home."

I flashed her my brightest smile.