[What is life, anyway? Just living as it comes]
[What is life, anyway? Just living as it comes]
The chicken shop [Dak-cheo-jul-kka?] finally had its grand opening. I didn't do any opening events or anything like that. I planned to win them over with taste rather than marketing.
If it were another menu, I might have done it to draw customers, but since it's chicken, I'm confident that once they step into this shop, I can turn them into regulars.
"There are no customers. Hey, Hyung. Don't you think we should do an opening event or something?"
"They'll gather as time passes. Let's take it easy."
"Isn't Hyung-su-nim angry?"
"You know the saying, 'Birds of a feather flock together'?"
"I'd like to meet Hyung-su-nim sometime."
Baek-ri chatted with me while looking around the empty shop. He's a pretty sociable guy. Thanks to him, I could pass the time without being bored, even though I wasn't working.
Still, it felt wrong to have no event for the grand opening, so maybe I should put up a 1,000 won discount service.
It's a weekday, but it's spring. Unlike the cold winter, the weather has warmed up, so it's the time when tourists start flocking in from the surroundings. I don't know about places too far away, but mainly from places like Japan or China.
"It's already 1 PM and we haven't done anything. Want to fry a chicken and eat?"
"I'll have the seasoned one."
"Kid, you know what's good."
I took out a chicken, quickly coated it, and fried it. As the chicken went into the hot oil, the sound of frying rose up.
A savory smell started to waft out. Thanks to that, our shop, which hadn't received much attention until now, started catching the eyes of passersby.
"Hey, want to eat chicken?"
"Looks like a newly opened place, let's try it."
Hmm, I should have done this sooner. Since I wasn't doing anything, it didn't really feel like a business, so maybe that's why customers weren't coming. I'm confident in the product itself, but since I've never run a business before, that's what happened.
I'm not omnipotent either. I'm not all-knowing, nor am I all-powerful. Creating a company or starting a business on my own is my weakness. If I were told to do it, I could somehow manage the operations, but anything beyond that is impossible.
"I'll have to eat lunch later. Let's take customers first."
"Yes, Hyung."
Baek-ri had a face that was more happy about the fact that customers had arrived than dissatisfied. He's a good-natured kid. I really picked a good part-timer.
A party of three men entered and sat at a table inside the shop. Baek-ri took the order and told me.
"One fried chicken and one seasoned chicken. And three 500cc beers."
"Okay."
I dropped the chicken into the oil and immediately took out glasses to pour the beer. The ice-cold beer, cold enough to make teeth ache, rose up with white foam.
I also put some puffed rice snacks on a plate as a simple appetizer and sent them out. I'll think about it more later. Wouldn't french fries be better than puffed rice snacks?
Baek-ri took out the beer. Before long, I took out the fried chicken and shook off the oil. If too much oil is left on the chicken, it's greasy. Honestly, oil itself isn't good for the human body. It's best not to eat too much of it if possible.
Soon, I threw one of the finished chickens into the gas stove's wok... well, the big iron pan used for Chinese cooking. Then, I quickly stir-fried it with the sauce to coat it. Seasoned chicken has less crispiness compared to fried chicken because of the sauce, but if you stir-fry it quickly, the crispy texture remains to some extent while the taste of the seasoned chicken is preserved intact.
And done. I put the two chickens, fried and seasoned, on their respective plates and sent them out. Baek-ri took them as they were and brought them to the table.
"Yes, here is your chicken."
Since it's the first customer, should I give them a beer or two on the house? I'm confident in the taste, so what's left is the reaction. I've fed Baek-ri before, but there's a difference between what a part-timer eats and what a customer eats.
Crunch, they started eating the chicken, biting into the drumstick of the fried chicken.
"Wow, this chicken is the bomb."
"It's definitely tastier than the chicken place in our neighborhood."
"Kueh, the beer goes down smooth!"
There are three people, but two chickens. Since they are young men who could easily eat one chicken each, the chicken runs out quickly. They eat it cleanly without leaving a single piece of meat.
"One more fried and one more seasoned here! And two more beers!"
"Yes, order received!"
Baek-ri also smiled and took the order because the reaction was good. I also received that energy and took out more chicken to coat it. It's good that the reaction is good from the first customer.
As I fried more and more chicken, the smell seemed to spread quite far. The gazes and interest of many people began to gather.
"Excuse me, is there a seat?"
"Eh? Japanese?"
A Japanese couple appeared to have entered the shop. Baek-ri didn't know what to do with their words, perhaps not knowing Japanese.
Myeong-dong is a place where many tourists walk around. So, quite a few shops can speak a little foreign language like Japanese or Chinese.
"Welcome! There are seats in the back, so please come in."
I'm in the kitchen, but since our shop is an open-style small shop, it's not that I can't speak. I received the Japanese customers and brought them inside.
"Eh? Hyung, you knew how to speak Japanese too?"
"So-so."
I've been reincarnated several times, so it's not like I only know Korean. Just thinking about it right now, I know Japanese, a little Chinese, a little Russian, and English and Italian. I can speak roughly this much.
Oh, I was surprisingly a foreign language expert. It wouldn't have been bad if I had changed genres to a translator. Still, I don't regret the chicken shop.
Customers gradually increased, and among them, there were customers who spoke Chinese, but I handled it. Before I knew it, the tables were full, and a considerable number of people appeared waiting for takeout orders.
Is this that opening effect or something? Usually, when a new shop opens, people are bound to flock, whether out of curiosity or whatever. If so, I just need to make it delicious enough to make them regulars without missing this opportunity.
I make it with the intention of making every customer who comes here a regular. I like cooking, so I like this job.
Before long, time passed quickly, and before I knew it, it was time to close the shop. There was some chicken left, but honestly, it was a tight point.
Let's prepare more tomorrow just in case.
After the shop work was finished, Baek-ri and I could take a breather. It was quiet in the morning, but we moved busily in the afternoon. The thing we were originally going to do, tearing into a chicken, was only done now.
We fried a couple of remaining chickens to celebrate today's thriving business. The profit will decrease if you subtract this and that, but since there is no rent, the net profit will be high.
"Do you want to take the leftovers? There aren't many left anyway, so I was going to just dispose of them. Since it's aged, it wouldn't be a problem to leave it for a day or two, but my motto is to use good ingredients."
"Ah, I'd appreciate that. My younger sibling will like it."
"Your sibling must like chicken."
"They can't get enough of it."
"You said they're a high school senior this year, right? They'll have a hard time with the Suneung."
"Well, I want to send that kid to a good university at least..."
It seems like a child who was well-educated at home. Or maybe they matured early, they were caring about their family more than themselves.
"Shall I teach you how to fry chicken? Honestly, preparation is important, so you're halfway there, but if you're just good at frying, you'll be able to do it without me."
"No, we opened today, right? This shop?!"
"You never know what will happen in the world. A Dimensional Rift could happen nearby and make a mess."
"Don't say such terrible things. Ugh..."
"Must have bad memories?"
It was a bit unpleasant, but Baek-ri seemed a little drunk on beer and started talking a bit. He said his sibling is a Force user, but most Force users awaken when there's a trigger.
Getting a mental shock, or having external stimuli added. What Baek-ri is talking about is the time his sibling awakened.
"It was when I was 9, I think. My sibling must have been 5. While playing at the playground, a Dimensional Rift happened..."
"Did your sibling awaken then?"
"Yes, they were a plucky child even when young. I was older, but rather..."
"No, 9 or 5, both are young. It's not a time to blame who. It's more important that both of you are alive and well."
Who would deny surviving? The obsession with life is a natural instinct as a living being. If you try to die, there is a determination that transcends that will.
"At that time, besides me and my sibling, several other kids died. Because we were the only ones who lived, the eyes of the neighbors were... so we moved once and it became quiet. That's why I don't like Enemy Species or Dimensional Rifts."
"You must not have good memories. I brought up the subject wrong. I'm sorry."
I changed the subject to something else. When men gather, they only talk about games, soccer, baseball, or dirty things.
"You know, even though I look like this, when I go home, I do it with my wife a dozen times."
"Hyung, stop lying. How can a person do it a dozen times? Men enter the sage time after doing it once or twice."
"You brat, you don't know me. Ask my wife later. Whether it's a lie or not."
"Are you really going to ask later? Don't you know if Hyung-su-nim hits your back?"
After giggling for a while and drinking a few beers, it was late. I packed a few chickens for him to give to his high school senior sibling who studies at home, and closed the shop door.
It's a day without anything special, but I liked this. Not working as a main job, but just running a chicken shop as a hobby and living quietly. It's fortunate that I don't have to worry about getting involved in trouble.
[Continuing with the breaking news. Around 3 PM today, a gas explosion accident occurred near Bosung Apartment in Mapo-dong. There were no deaths, but 12 people were slightly injured, and several vehicles passing through the nearby road, which was in chaos due to the explosion, caused a collision accident.]
"The world is really scary. A gas explosion. It sounds like a typical excuse for a cover-up."
"What do you think is there, Hyung? Conspiracy theory?"
"Last time there was a fire, right? That arson case."
"Isn't this a gas explosion accident?"
"That's what I'm saying."
I hope my gut feeling is wrong. It's my gut feeling that I can't help but feel bad because I don't want to feel bad.
Munching on chicken, I prayed for it to pass appropriately.
The chicken shop [Dak-cheo-jul-kka?] prospered as time passed. Now, not only people eating in the shop but also people taking it out, no, rather the latter was more numerous.
A month later, while organizing the ledger and checking the sales, the net profit for this month after subtracting everything was a little over 4 million won. It's almost double the difference from other chicken shops, but since our shop has no rent, it's natural that the net profit is high.
I paid back the capital I borrowed from Sion to some extent. Used a little for my pocket money... What was the new light novel that came out this month?
"Thank you for your hard work again today, Hyung."
"Yeah, you worked hard too. I'll deposit your salary right now."
The world has changed a lot. In the old days, you had to go to the bank to deposit, but now it's an era where it's possible with a mobile phone. There was no fee either. Bank service is really good.
If I say this somewhere, I feel like I'll be called an old man, so I can't say it carelessly. They say there's a generation that doesn't even know the old-fashioned phones that you use by turning the dial.
"You didn't slack off and worked hard, so I added a little more. Go in and buy some meat for your father."
"Thank you!"
Baek-ri nodded at the deposit message that came from the bank on his phone to see if the deposit was made properly into his bankbook. It's good to see him happy.
"Do you want to go home early today? I can organize it in the morning later."
"Can I really?"
"It's payday and it's Friday, so you should do at least that."
Our shop is closed on Saturdays. At least you should rest one day a week. I exclude Sunday because there will be a lot of sales.
Just as I was about to finish up, Baek-ri received a call. Seeing [Pro Chicken Slayer] written on the screen, it seems to be the youngest. Kid, you're close with your sibling. Own brother... huh? Own sister? Come to think of it, I've never asked if it's a younger brother or younger sister.
Curious about that, I listened to the voice on the phone. It seems to be a younger sister, a girl's voice with a still young feeling comes out.
[Oppa, is work over?]
"Yeah, I'm on my way home, why? Do you want me to buy Melona on the way?"
[That too, but can you contact Dad right now?]
"Dad? Why?"
[I was a bit anxious, so I called. But he didn't pick up. Oppa, go check once. Isn't the road to Dad's fire station similar to the way home?]
"He might not pick up if he's on a dispatch, right?"
[That's why. I'm a bit anxious, so can you go check for me?]
".........Okay. I'll check on the way. But if he's on a dispatch, he won't be at the fire station."
Slyly, with an intuition that tells me to turn on the news at times like this, I picked up the remote control and turned on the shop's TV.
A reporter was on the scene live, as if it were breaking news on a 24-hour news program. The background was a place I knew because I went to Yeongdeungpo Time Square before.
[........Yes, I am currently in front of Lotte Department Store located at Yeongdeungpo Station. Currently, a fire and collapse accident is occurring due to an explosion of unknown cause here. Fortunately, Yeongdeungpo Fire Station is located nearby, so quick response was possible, but the flames and explosion sounds have not yet stopped.]
Baek-ri's complexion turned pale.
Come to think of it, he said his father works at Yeongdeungpo Fire Station. And the incident location is also a department store that is unfortunately very close to there.
"Go quickly."
".......Yes."
They say firefighters experience dangerous things and live on, but a big fire accident like this wouldn't happen often. He must be worried. I quickly sent Baek-ri away.
Should I follow him just in case?
Somehow my gut was telling me to follow. I have a feeling of trouble, but it would be better than losing a good part-timer.
My laziness < Good part-timer (Baek-ri).
The man's eyes were red like fire, but they were murky as if covered in filth. He was chasing something as if he were out of his mind.
"Seong-hye..."
A staggering gait. He was swept away by the crowd and dragged around here and there, but slowly, little by little, he was heading somewhere.
And there was personnel monitoring the man following him.
"The target is not going to a secluded place. If we execute the capture operation now, there is a risk of casualties."
[Capture him no matter what! Damn it....... That guy is the biggest troublemaker right now! And his performance is the best! To think that a fire-type would become an explosion-type in just one month, his mind isn't sound, but he's a case where the experiment is effective. You must capture him and bring him back no matter what.]
"Should we lure him to a secluded alley like last time?"
[Try it if you can. But keep in mind. You must not miss him this time. There is a limit to covering it up in the media.]
The man on the other side of the communication left a warning and cut off the contact. The man who was tailing followed the back of the red-eyed man.
He wanders here and there, wondering where to go. There is a place he wants to go, but unlike his reason, his gradually darkening instinct leads him to another place. Not here. To a place with more people.
"Ah, no... go..."
With a slightly staggering gait, he headed to a place where he could feel the presence of more people.
Something caught his eye. It wasn't anything particularly special. A common elementary school girl you'd see a few times if you walk down the street.
"Seong, hye..."
With instinct and reason mixed, the man followed the girl. It seemed like a mother and daughter came to shop together, holding the woman's hand and heading to a nearby department store.
Seeing that, the man who was tailing frowned.
"The target is moving. Do not provoke him carelessly. It's troublesome if deaths occur."
The personnel who were tailing left only a few and kept their distance. It's not like a large number of men are shopping, and if they show suspicious behavior, that alone attracts attention.
But that was the same for the man. The man, who was not shopping but only moving as his reason and instinct told him, wandered around the department store, and the department store staff's eyes were drawn to him.
"Customer? Is there anything uncomfortable?"
".............?"
"Customer?"
At the staff's question, the man couldn't judge how to act. He just took a few steps back.
An awkward gait. He didn't look like he came to shop, and his clothes were quite tattered. He didn't look like he had a party, and he was alone.
"Customer? Excuse me, could you follow me for a moment?"
Everywhere you look, it's suspicious. At that, the staff approached the man and put a hand on his shoulder, thinking of listening to the story first or calling the police if it were a difficult situation.
"Do, don't come!!!"
The man reacted violently and shook off his hand. With the loud voice, eyes were drawn from the surroundings, and other staff members gathered.
"What's going on?"
"No, this customer seems a bit strange..."
In his fading reason, a piece of memory came to the man's mind. Those who did not treat him as a human. Those who were trying to catch him again on his way back after barely finding himself.
He no longer had the reason to judge that the department store staff were not the same people as them. That became the last thought, and instinct dominated him.
"Damn it! No!!!"
"Don't come!!!!!"
Along with an intense light that seemed to cause silence, an explosion rang out.
Kwa-ang!!!
The fire began to rise fiercely and burn everything around.