Chapter 36
Chapter 36
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: The Ownerless Fierce Gaze (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
No matter what chaos had unfolded last night, business had to go on, so my sister and I headed to work.
Because we'd gotten home late yesterday, our bedtime had naturally been pushed back too. We'd slept about two hours less than usual, and because of that, Yoon-seul made a beeline for the "makeshift chair bed" as soon as she arrived at the shop.
"Oppa... take care of the rest..."
She mumbled.
She'd pushed two chairs together in one corner of the kitchen and sprawled out on them.
But unexpectedly, that ended up having an interesting effect.
The counter seats with a view of the kitchen became wildly popular.
If you sat at the bar table and craned your neck just a bit, you could see Yoon-seul sleeping soundly, and apparently, that was quite the sight for the customers.
- Yoon-seul's sleeping. Her mumbling is so cute...
- Can I record her snoring, Boss?
"Sure, go ahead and record it. Then play it for Yoon-seul next time. It'll give me ammo to complain about how she was snoring while I was working."
"But no videos or photos."
- Got it!
Once I gave permission, a few customers thrust their phones toward the back of the kitchen to record Yoon-seul's snoring.
They played back the recordings.
- Ooh, turning up the volume makes it so clear.
- How is snoring this cute on kids?
They made a racket.
The kitchen must have been noisy with the clatter of dishes, but somehow they'd managed to record it cleanly.
For someone who'd missed two hours of sleep, Yoon-seul's nap dragged on surprisingly long.
She didn't wake up until lunchtime service ended.
Because Yoon-seul hadn't been serving food, we had fewer customers than usual.
But if anything, that was a relief.
I was sleep-deprived too, so if we'd had our normal crowd, I would've been even more exhausted.
During the break time, I dozed off for a bit myself.
Nod, nod.
After finishing preparations for dinner service.
That's when someone entered the shop.
"Oh dear, did I wake you?"
My sleepy eyes had blurry vision.
The silhouette looked like a bandit, but it was familiar.
The voice was familiar too.
It was Uncle Kang.
"Oh, you're here?"
"Sorry about this. I was just gonna sneak in and leave it without waking you."
Uncle was holding a keychain.
It looked familiar too.
"Did you two make up okay?"
"Yeah, we did. Thanks to you guys."
"What do you mean thanks to us? You two just sorted it out yourselves."
I stretched, extending my body.
A brief silence.
Uncle set the keychain down on the table in front of where I'd been sitting.
"What's this?"
"Don't you remember? It's the key to the bookstore."
"Why are you giving it to me?"
"Hold onto it for a bit. Mind the bookstore for me."
"You've decided, then."
"Yeah. My wife's surgery date is coming up soon. Since it's a recurrence, they said the treatment might take longer this time. Something about targeted therapy or whatever. So I want to stick by her side as much as possible."
"What about the rent for the bookstore in the meantime?"
"That building's in my name."
"Got it."
A former pro volleyball player turned big-corp salaryman had capital that was way beyond my worries.
Then Uncle pulled a pile of pointy, chestnut-shaped chocolates wrapped in gold foil from his pocket and placed them next to the keychain.
"And these too."
"Oh? These are pricey."
"I promised to give them to Yoon-seul yesterday."
"What happened? With Yoon-seul."
"I don't remember the details clearly, but it felt like something happened, and I was just really grateful to her for some reason.
And this much is nothing between us, right?"
Such an embarrassing thing to say.
They say people get more sentimental with age. Wonder if I'll end up like that.
"I'm not asking you to open the bookstore regularly or anything. Just when Yoon-seul says she wants to see a book, pop in occasionally, pick out a couple, and take them.
I'd really appreciate it if you dusted the shelves a bit each time."
"Got it. Dusting the shelves first thing won't be a problem. Between us."
With that small agreement, Uncle said he was heading straight back to the hospital and left the shop.
I'd woken up by then, so I pulled out my phone.
I opened the Tycoon app.
[Me: How'd it go?]
[Sun-nim: Gwangbae ate really well today. Planning to grab a protein shake with Ora-beo-ni later.]
[Me: No, not your workout stuff.]
[Sun-nim: Oh, wasn't it about that?]
[Me: Obviously not.]
[Sun-nim: Then it's about Uncle Kang Pil-jung. That should work out somehow.]
[Me: Somehow?]
[Sun-nim: I can't tell you the details. We have our own rules and positions. Plus, there's no guarantee Uncle Pil-jung's wife will make a full recovery.]
Hearing it straight from the siblings was tragic, but it couldn't be helped.
If anything, if they'd helped weaken her condition even a little, that alone was something to be grateful for.
[Sun-nim: Still, watching her yesterday, she seemed strong-willed. Didn't look like someone who'd crumble easily to illness.
Can't promise, but it feels like there'll be a good outcome. I'm no doctor, but they've always said it comes down to mindset, right?]
[Me: Yeah, hearing you say that makes it a bit better. Thanks for the help.]
[Sun-nim: Ora-beo-ni Ju-hyeon, don't get the wrong idea. We weren't helping you—we were just managing the restaurant's customers. It was necessary for us too! Hmph.]
Another ominous feeling she was pushing a new concept after the gym bro one. I decided to brush it off.
"Uuung... Oppa."
Yoon-seul had woken up before I knew it.
Probably stirred by the sounds of Uncle Kang coming and going.
She stood tall in front of me, staring intently.
"Uuum..."
"What's up?"
Then she twitched her eyebrows.
She grunted and tried climbing onto my chair, so I lifted her onto my lap.
"Huu... Oppa smells good."
"Checking to make sure it's really me this time? Can't afford another mix-up."
"Nuu... almost caused big trouble."
The memory of her clinging to another customer's leg and nearly passing out not long ago flashed in my mind.
She stretched long on my lap.
Then she spotted the fancy chocolates and keychain on the table.
"Oppa, chocolate."
"Uncle left those."
"Chocolate Uncle?"
"Yeah, he was just here."
"Eeeh... didn't see Yunseul-i?"
"He saw you sleeping, thought you were cute, and left the chocolates. I told him you stayed up late yesterday and were catching up on sleep now."
"Hmm, okay then."
She pouted like she was a bit disappointed, so I unwrapped a chocolate for her. Peeling back the crinkly gold foil revealed one studded with whole nuts.
Just looking at the mouthwatering chocolate made Yoon-seul's expression change instantly.
She stuck out her tongue flat, like a dog panting in summer heat.
"Oppa."
"Yeah?"
"The promise last time... Yunseul-i remembers everything."
"Promise? What promise?"
"You said... Oppa would eat lots of chocolate for Yunseul-i."
"Oh... in the park?"
"Yeah! Five!"
She spread her five fingers wide to emphasize.
Normally I'd limit her to three to avoid cavities, but I couldn't break a promise.
Kids learn from adults who break promises.
"What did Oppa say you have to do every time after eating chocolate?"
"Brush teeth!"
"You gotta brush after chocolate, right?"
"Yes!"
She bounced excitedly on my lap, thumping her butt.
She was so light it didn't even hurt.
Yoon-seul started devouring the chocolates with frightening speed.
As I watched fondly, my smartphone vibrated in my apron pocket.
"What? Did Sun-nim get mad I left her on read?"
But when I checked, the message was from somewhere else entirely.
[Your valuable item will be delivered tomorrow.]
It was the eagerly awaited delivery from the courier.
"Perfect timing for tomorrow, Yoon-seul."
"Munch munch... what?"
"You'll see tomorrow."
"Mm...? Nuu..."
She was too engrossed in tasting the expensive chocolate.
Grandma had told me Yoon-seul had never properly celebrated her birthday.
May 5th.
It overlapped with Children's Day, making it a somewhat tragic date.
Raised by Grandma, she'd never gotten presents or cut cakes like other kids her age.
Grandma had made sure she ate seaweed soup, though.
So this year, I planned to make it special.
Seaweed soup aside, presents and cake for sure.
**
Meanwhile, the other siblings were having some downtime too.
Sun-nim was today's contact person, but judging by today's business trends, it didn't seem like Song Ju-hyeon would reach out more.
"Huu... why does it always feel so slow on the days I'm in charge of contact?"
"It's just how it goes—some people have all the luck. Think of it as Ora-beo-ni being blessed."
Moon-nim grumbled with her face buried in a comic book.
The siblings lay side by side.
By their heads were stacks of books, from Japanese manga to foreign cartoons.
"How much longer till shake time?"
"1 hour 13 minutes."
"Ugh... I already finished everything I brought."
Moon-nim had completed her quota of exercise for the day.
She was out of things to do.
....
Unable to beat the boredom, she poked at Sun-nim.
"Sun-nim?"
"Yes?"
She flinched.
There was a gap before she answered.
Meaning she didn't really want to respond.
A tiny signal only siblings would catch.
Moon-nim looked at her little sister's eyes.
Her face was fixed on the comic, but her gaze shifted toward Moon-nim.
It was laced with irritation.
'Trouble.'
Normally she'd suggest playing Barley Rice or something, but Moon-nim thought better of it.
'If I say something pointless now, she'll blow up.'
Sun-nim hated interruptions when she was trying to immerse herself. Moon-nim regretted calling out so casually.
But backing off now would just make it awkward—and probably make her even madder.
"Anyway, good thing Onui Restaurant's business is booming!"
She switched to work talk.
"Yeah. Especially yesterday—that was a huge boon for the restaurant."
"Right? And getting a Family-rank customer when they weren't even Regular yet."
"I checked the shop's name recognition earlier. We're about halfway to the next level. At this rate, we might hit Name Recognition Level 2 by summer."
"That's fast! We really picked the right partner, huh?"
"Yeah, Ora-beo-ni Ju-hyeon seems reliable for sure."
Moon-nim breathed a sigh of relief.
She'd successfully changed the subject and avoided getting chewed out.
But then Sun-nim's expression turned serious, and she shot up. Thinking she was about to get hit, Moon-nim raised her guard.
....
"Ora-beo-ni, what are you doing?"
"Oh, no, I was just... shielding my eyes from the brightness. Not raising a guard."
"Hmm..."
It wasn't an attack.
Moon-nim sighed in relief for the second time.
"But isn't it a little weird?"
"What?"
"How does eating just a trigger food boost the shop satisfaction that much?"
"Hmm, yeah, that's not normal."
The reason Moon-nim had tucked the trigger food concept into the secret folder was simple.
She'd judged it unimportant for restaurant management. Most things in the secret folder were useless anyway—just there to make the folder look legit.
Trigger foods, for instance, weren't practical for a restaurant. Everyone has different foods tied to their memories—could you prepare custom menus for every customer to boost satisfaction?
Ingredients and the chef's repertoire have limits.
Plus, satisfaction hitting 100 from that was beyond what the siblings had imagined.
"Maybe someone we don't know intervened. Like in Uncle Kang Pil-jung's memory."
Sun-nim's face was grim.
She looked worried.
Moon-nim carefully approached and stroked her little sister's head.
"No need to get serious about it, right? The shop didn't lose out, and neither did we."
"That's... true."
"And if something happened that we don't know about, it means it's something we don't need to know."
Sun-nim usually teased a lot, but she had to agree with that.
"Or maybe Ora-beo-ni Ju-hyeon's cooking skills just made the food enhance those memories positively?"
"That's a fair hypothesis. Let's go with that for now. And next time, ask him to make a trigger food for another customer."
"Sounds good."