Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Raison d'Etre (5)
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The first holiday in June.
Walking down a quiet street.
A song leaks out from a nearby café.
A tribute to some actor.
"What's the title of this song again?"
"Anna see you agaim—"
Yoon-seul hums along, blissfully unaware of the glances from passersby, clearly loving the tune.
She's just spitting out the words as they stick in her ear, but her pronunciation is spot-on enough to make me ponder the merits of early English education for a solid 0.7 seconds.
"But Oppa, where we goin'?"
"To the bookshop."
"Choco Uncle?"
"No, Uncle's not there right now."
"Then why we goin'?"
"To borrow some books. And maybe tidy up a bit while we're at it."
"Tidy up?"
Yoon-seul perks up at the word "tidy," fiddling with her ponytail.
Having her dust bookshelves with that seems like a disaster waiting to happen, no matter how I slice it.
I'll keep that in mind.
As the pop song fades from my ears, Ho-yeon Hyung pops into my head.
"He's taking the right path, I hope."
After all, he's heading back to his hometown.
[Dal-nim: You want us to find someone who's passed away?]
[Me: Not bring them to me or anything. Just where they're buried.]
[Dal-nim: You mean the grave?]
[Me: Yeah. My info network's not up to finding it myself, so I figured I'd ask you guys.]
Our conversation from the last time Ho-yeon Hyung stopped by the shop.
I'd promised to help him find his grandmother's grave—the one he'd been searching for so long.
I saw his face when he ate that trigger food, the salt-grilled pork neck. It wasn't pained, but there was a subtle regret lingering.
That meant the whole thing with her was still weighing heavy on his heart.
I'd stirred up those memories on my own, so helping out a bit felt right.
Plus, he'd done me favors with the rent and the shop opening.
But Dal-nim's response was...
[Dal-nim: Declined.]
Flat-out refusal.
[Dal-nim: You're asking too much! We have privacy too, you know. We're already bummed 'cause we didn't eat properly today. No way we're doing it, hmph.]
Seeing "hmph" in text is kinda irritating.
[Me: Fine. But you guys did wrong by us once, remember?]
[Dal-nim: ???]
[Me: Uploading that video to Nutube without asking.]
The [Seongbuk Stream Desperado] video that went viral for a bit on Nutube.
[Dal-nim: That brought business to the shop, so isn't it fine?]
[Me: I'll give you that it helped the shop. But uploading it to Nutube without our permission? Not cool.]
[Hat-nim: Knew you'd say that.]
Hat-nim jumps in.
[Hat-nim: Felt off to me too. Should've stopped it. Sorry. Anyway, these days there's this thing called right of publicity. Even with mosaics on faces, it's standard to get permission when someone's the star of the show.]
[Me: So Dal-nim went rogue?]
[Hat-nim: We're basically one entity. But yeah, this time that's the case.]
[Dal-nim: ....]
I could feel Dal-nim's anxiety in those four dots.
[Dal-nim: So who are we finding?]
Gave in eventually.
The next morning after that chat.
Dal-nim sent an address via the Tycoon app.
[Dal-nim: Looks like this place.]
[Me: Thanks, good work.]
[Dal-nim: No prob. Partners and all, gotta help out.]
[Me: Attitude flip from yesterday. Something good happen? Pulldown machine finally fixed?]
[Dal-nim: Nah. Found a new back workout on Nutube this morning! Planning to add it to the routine today. Look forward to it!]
Look forward to what, exactly.
Anyway, that's how I got the grave location for the presumed house-owning grandma.
Passed it on to Hyung via text.
Turns out it was a grave in his and Jeong Min-gu's hometown.
Coincidence or fate, who knows—but those two were from the same area.
"This should square things up a bit, right? Repaid some of that favor."
"Huh?"
"Favor. Y'know, like giving back what we got."
"Who to?"
"Ho-yeon Uncle."
"Ho-yeonie Uncle? Yunseul-i did too!"
"Gave him a favor?"
"Yep! Uncle said thanks to Yunseul-i lots!"
Yoon-seul proudly thumps her chest.
Wonder what went down between those two while I was grilling the pork neck.
My thoughts veer in a weird direction on reflex.
Bits of past incidents flash by.
"No way."
**
Lately, ignoring the Aunties' snide remarks about him ditching the shop so often, he pulled out his car.
Jin Ho-yeon played it cool, thanking the Aunties profusely before slipping out of the restaurant.
"Can't run the place without those Aunties, that's for sure."
He'd trained the part-timers well enough, but the experienced Aunties handling the kitchen were irreplaceable.
Today, his heart was telling him to go.
He'd finally learned the location of the grave for that rooftop room landlady grandma.
After searching for so long, he'd found out through an unexpected route.
"Never thought Joo-hyun would be the one to tell me."
Not in a million years.
Four years back, maybe.
He'd vented once.
The kid was young but mature beyond his years—someone he liked.
He'd spilled his sob story about family secrets just that one time.
Who knew he'd remember it all this time later.
And how the hell did he even find the grave location?
Full of questions.
[Jin Ho-yeon: Where'd you get this?]
[Song Joo-hyun: Secret^^.]
Annoying, but he'd let it slide.
The grave owner's name matched what Jin Ho-yeon remembered perfectly.
Could be a coincidence or some mix-up, but now he had a lead.
Worth skipping a day of business to check it out.
Being a weekday, traffic was smooth.
His car cruised alone on the rare wide eight-lane road.
Feeling oddly sentimental in the vast emptiness, he turned on the radio—something he rarely did.
The DJ rambles.
Introduces a listener story.
Someone who received a favor from an elder long ago, now holding a funeral.
Feeling so empty, requests one song.
Something like that.
"Happens a lot, huh."
He slips into the emotions unbidden.
- Ugh, wow. Sorry to hear that. But... in our country, we say people who've passed have "gone on," right? Not gone forever. I believe they're watching over you from somewhere high up in the sky.
The DJ's sentimental spiel soothes Jin Ho-yeon subtly.
- With that in mind, here's a song, believing you'll meet that person again someday.
Music flows, a pop song.
Yearning for someone.
Lyrics about spilling your heart when you meet again.
He catches most of it if he focuses.
Not too fast a melody or tempo.
....
"Nice song."
He drives carefully to avoid a speeding ticket.
Even so, that melody lingers in his head.
A real classic, he thinks.
"What's the station name."
Might look it up later and listen again.
Snaps out of it—destination near.
Can't drive to the mountain graveyard, so parks on the dirt shoulder nearby.
Worried about a ticket but not staying long, so he commits.
Steps out.
Heads to the trunk.
Opens it, grabs a hunk of meat wrapped tight in black bags.
Left in the trunk the whole way, so it's cold, but still screams "meat."
"Not squished, good."
Pork neck for grandma.
Carries it up the mountain path.
Not deserted—paved or not, easy enough to walk.
A small mound catches his eye, bulging up.
Person's dead under there.
As a kid, that's how he saw graves—scary. Now, he thinks it was silly.
There.
Doesn't take long to find the target.
Sharp eyes spot the name right away.
Sets down the load, bows twice.
Unwraps, plates the meat on a disposable plastic dish, sets it before the grave.
"Long time no see."
Feels like he saw her just recently, irrationally—but it's been ages.
"Sorry for coming so late."
- ....
No reply from the grave.
"Should've treated you when you were alive. Feels like I fell short. Sorry."
- ....
Grave stays silent.
"Self-praise aside, I'm doing okay. Grilling meat. Guess that time you grilled for me sparked something. Got this weird stubbornness about the business, put in the work, and here I am."
- ....
Grave is quiet.
"This on the plate is pork neck from my shop. Cooled off on the way here. Still edible, though. Give it a try."
- ....
Grave remains eerily still.
Person's dead under there.
Everyone knows.
So he's the only living soul here.
Should be.
- Yeah. This meat's even better.
A voice from somewhere.
Not familiar, but missed.
One he longed to hear again.
"Huh?"
Jin Ho-yeon swears he knows it, but can't accept it.
Doesn't get time—the voice continues.
Calm, plain, like a nun's.
- Worth living, now that you have?
"Yeah."
- Better off dying again?
"No. Glad. That I can live."
- Huh. Lucky you.
"Yeah. Really. Truly glad."
- ....
Grave quiets again.
Person's dead under there.
Unchanging fact.
What the hell is this.
Hallucination.
Finally lost his mind.
Or a dream.
Thoughts race—decides to just accept it.
"Not a dream, at least."
Jin Ho-yeon's no genius who can puzzle this out, and he knows it.
But here, hearing her voice after so long—that's undeniable.
Thank you.
Really thankful.
Rest in peace.
Thank you.
....
Endless thanks spill out.
A tear streaks the gAuntie cheek of the middle-aged man; his face looks relieved.
Lighter than when he arrived, he smiles and unburdens his life story.
What made him happy.
What was hard, all of it.
Chats till he's talked enough, packs the bag and plate, leaves.
"Be back."
Humming that memorial song from the radio—full of "see you again"—he strolls out of the mountain cemetery.
Decides to treat Song Joo-hyun to something tasty next time.
Three figures watch from behind.
No—two divine beings and one human.