Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: I'm Not a Stalker, For Real (1)
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The sharp whir of pedals slicing through the sweltering summer air.
It'd been a while since I rode my bike to work, and it felt refreshingly novel.
The scenery along Seongbuk Stream, hugging the roadside, had subtly changed since three weeks ago. The grass was even lusher now.
* * *Croak— croak—* * *
The cicadas' chirps rang out crisp and lively.
They must be hiding among the mature trees lining the street.
"Meee-ow, meee-ow, meee-ow meee-ow meeee-oooow—"
The 5-year-old clinging to my back, mimicking the cicadas perfectly.
Surprisingly spot-on.
Our shop came into view from a distance.
But it looked entirely different from before, starting with its shape.
A wooden balcony jutted out, stepping forward toward the road.
Conveniently, there was a railing perfect for locking up the bike right by the balcony. Two birds with one stone.
"Wow! It grew a bump, Oppa. What's all this?"
"Now customers can eat out on the balcony too. So more people can come, right?"
"Ooh! That's good then? More people can eat Oppa's food?"
"Of course, missy."
Yoon-seul peered around curiously, touching the wooden balcony, tapping it, delighted by the changes.
Even licking it?
"Yoon-seul, that's dirty. No more licking."
"Got it. Just curious."
Curious about everything, our inquisitive 5-year-old.
We headed inside and started prepping for business.
I wiped the sidewalk chalkboard clean of doodles and wrote in today's menu.
[Green Onion Bulgogi]
Meanwhile, I made Yoon-seul brush her teeth as punishment for licking the railing on her own accord. Just a precaution against any viruses.
The five-year-old emerged, toothpaste foam around her mouth from all the touching.
I wiped it off gently with a damp cloth.
"Something's got me curious."
"What's that, ma'am?"
"Um... how do customers outside get their food? You're in the kitchen, Oppa."
"Ah... that."
"Wait! Yoon-seul knows the answer. Tell ya later."
Our 5-year-old, who asked the question herself, claiming she knew the answer.
A new-type know-it-all?
"What's the answer then?"
"Yoon-seul takes the tray from Oppa and carries it like... like this... out there."
"Ooh! Excellent wrong answer."
"Shucks... then what is it?"
"Hold on."
I handed Yoon-seul the vibrating pager.
Then pressed the button to make it vibrate.
*Bzzzzt—! Bzzzzt—!*
"Whoa! What's this? It's shaking!"
"That's what we'll use from now on. For customers outside."
It was a solution for our lack of hands at the shop.
We had a decent number of tables inside for a one-person operation.
With Yoon-seul, you could call it 1.5-person, but the 0.5 didn't help much with actual labor.
Four tables in the dining area.
Bar seat customers could get their food straight from the connected kitchen, so they didn't count.
But now we'd added two tables on the outdoor balcony.
The dining area wasn't too far in terms of movement lines, so I could dash it over quickly without issue.
The balcony was too far.
Hence, the vibrating pagers.
The kind big cafes often used.
Cafes rarely had serving part-timers, so they adopted this system a lot.
Probably the first for a small restaurant like ours.
It'd be inconvenient, but worth it.
"The view from the balcony is better than expected."
"Hm? View?"
I led Yoon-seul to the balcony.
Set her at a table to look outside.
"Ooh! I can see the water flowing down there."
"Pretty great, huh? Customers will love these seats."
"Yeah! Rui would like it here too."
Rui.
Su-an-ssi 's guide dog.
It might be perfect for him too.
Some customers got uncomfortable with guide dogs inside the restaurant.
Dogs did shed fur, after all.
On the balcony, separated from the dining area, shedding wouldn't be as big an issue.
"More cleaning to do now."
Even so, adding balcony seats meant more revenue potential.
Worth the extra cleaning.
I'd stopped by the shop a few times during our three-week vacation to set up the vibrating system and tidy up. Jeong Min-gu-ssi had praised the balcony view too.
—Next time, instead of the bar sometimes, I'll eat on the balcony. Nice to watch the street while eating. Gentle breeze too.
After balcony inspection, I stepped out briefly.
To buy bulgogi ingredients.
Could've ordered from the direct supplier, but I decided to hit the market since it'd been ages, and their butcher shop.
[Seongrae Market]
Right at the entrance, the veggie grannies greeted us warmly as always.
But their greeting was extra spirited today.
*Spin— spin—*
*Twirl— twirl—*
The two usually playful grannies blocked our path, slowly spinning in place like a dance.
"Huh? Grannies..."
—Our Yoon-seul's here, so try it yourself~
—Fashion show!
"Eek...."
Yoon-seul flashed back to that sealed personal skill she'd debuted in the market square before.
She panicked, mouth agape, body twisting.
I scooped her up quick and hurried deeper into the market to calm her.
"Yoon-seul loses it whenever that comes up. Sell lots, grannies."
—Sure thing. Buy something next time!
Such a warm place.
Worlds apart from the fish market in Jumunjin last time. If anything, this was my vibe.
Before reaching the butcher, Yoon-seul thankfully snapped out of it and unleashed pebble punches on my trapezius.
*Tap tap tap—*
"Eek!"
"Embarrassed?"
*Tap tap tap tap—*
"Eeeek!"
"Aw, I see."
Felt more like a massage, healing vibes. Was it just me?
Damage nearing zero—no, positive territory.
HP recovering.
Ah, healing punches.
Hit me more.
Yeah, right there!
Reinvigorated, we marched to the butcher!
At the shop, familiar red lights illuminated the meat chunks on display.
And the elderly couple behind the counter welcomed us.
—Yoon-seul and Ju-hyeon! Long time!
"Doing well?"
—Us? Same as always. He slices meat, I sell it.
"We just got back from vacation. To Gangneung."
—Oh my, must've been nice. Yoon-seul, did you swim?
"Yoon-seul wore a shark costume and went diving too."
—Diving? Haha! Impressive.
The butcher granny laughed heartily, delighted. Our 5-year-old got hyped too, plugging her nose to demo how she dove back then.
Granny beamed for a while, then suddenly sighed.
—Sigh, before I kick the bucket, gotta hit some beach and splash around. But this guy won't let me...
—What do you mean, just you? Can't you see me slicing meat over here?
—That's why I'm saying take a summer vacation! But he's so stubborn. Says who'll slice if he goes. All stubborn.
—Customers coming left and right asking for meat. What about them? Just this summer? Next year too.
—Ugh, keep pushing to next year, we'll be at eighty parties.
The butcher couple, still harmoniously bickering.
Couldn't help but smile.
—So, Ju-hyeon. What meat today? He's mad anyway. I'll throw in extra service. Quick, whisper it.
Whisper while her voice stayed loud.
—Ugh~! Slicing's me, but extra's her call!!
She vented good-naturedly.
They got along great.
"Bulgogi stuff today. First day back after ages. Can't buy too much... about seven jin? Should do."
—Right, I'll give eight and a half. Take it.
"No need for that much..."
—Won't sell? Split with Yoon-seul. Just take it before he sulks more.
—Already sulking! Wife!
Grumbling all the while, grandpa fetched the bulgogi meat as granny said.
So glad Seongrae Market had this butcher couple.
Especially grandpa, ultimate tsundere.
Scored eight and a half jin for seven jin price.
Huge win!
Heavy as the savings, but felt great.
—Business good lately? Ju-hyeon.
"Lately? We were on three-week vacation, didn't sell a dime."
—Ah, right? Saw some young folks poking around the market last time.
"Young people everywhere though...?"
—Yeah, but they seemed to be looking for your shop.
"Our shop? Onui Restaurant?"
—Yep, Onui Restaurant. Didn't stop here. At the bungeOppang stand? Asked there where your place was. Someone told 'em... about a week ago? Missed meals then.
"Yeah. Too bad."
—They seemed curious about your food. We should drop by sometime.
"Then Yoon-seul can bring you cider."
—Really? Cider? Then gramps and I gotta visit.
"Please do. Next time, free cider or drinks on us."
—Deal~ Promise!
Warm promise sealed, ingredients secured.
Young folks asking around market for our shop location...
"Perks of leveled-up fame, I guess."
Nothing else explains it.
Leveled up from local spot to Seoul-wide? Young people hearing buzz on SNS and coming.
Never spent on promo there.
Hence, really feeling the 'fame level' effect.
Hard to predict, but fame up plus balcony expansion? Lucky combo.
More seats overall.
"Gotta prep a waiting list board out front for lines from now on?"
"Waiting? What's that?"
"People who wanna eat here so bad, they wait till others finish. Super grateful."
"But then they'd be bored."
"You could come out and play with them? They'd love it."
"Ah! Right. Our restaurant has Oppa, but Yoon-seul too. Yoon-seul's enough."
Waiting at Onui Restaurant? Our cheerful 5-year-old will keep you entertained!