A Day That Feels Meaningful
Up until now, she had never eaten anything purely for the sake of its flavor.
Just finish what needed to be done, then spend the rest of the day in idle boredom.
Other people would pour every possible method into growing stronger, but that kind of story had never applied to Ye-eun.
The small child who had appeared before her eyes was making her feel many things—giving her emotions she thought had been lost forever.
“Daddy! Onni says it’s yummy!”
“Haha. Really? That’s great, right?”
“Yep!”
She had come along with no expectations, simply because she had nothing better to do. Yet this was the first time a meaningless action felt like the right thing to have done.
“If you need anything else, please let me know.”
“Understood. Please enjoy your meal.”
The pork cutlet tasted exactly as Seia had promised—truly delicious.
It was every bit as crispy and savory as the description in today’s Today’s Menu had claimed, with perfectly prepared, tender meat that melted in the mouth.
Even while eating such a wonderful pork cutlet, Ye-eun’s eyes never left Seia.
Perhaps because it was already evening, the little girl sitting in her reserved seat was blinking more and more slowly. Her head kept tilting slightly to the side. It was hard to believe this was the same child who had been so delighted just moments ago, proudly declaring that the pork cutlet was tasty.
…She’s adorable.
She was bright like someone Ye-eun had once known, and pure like someone else she remembered.
She had believed those feelings could never be felt again. Because they were returning now, it was difficult to adjust.
There was a saying that people could only forget someone by meeting another person.
At first she had dismissed it as nonsense, but now it seemed to carry some truth after all.
Of course, she had no intention of forgetting her little sister.
But perhaps she could let go of the longing for her sister—and the guilt of failing to protect her.
Her sister would probably want that too.
“Excuse me, Miss Ye-eun.”
“…Yes.”
Park Geon-su was watching her with a deeply intrigued gaze.
It was because Ye-eun’s eyes refused to leave Seia.
Had she always liked children?
No, that wasn’t it either. If anything, she had been the type to avoid them.
…Well. Good is good, I suppose.
Children around Seia’s age could be seen anywhere, just like this pork cutlet. But like this particular cutlet, Seia was a child who could only be found here.
While the two of them finished their meal, Jungwoo was watching Seia, who was nodding off.
“She looks really sleepy.”
It was a little earlier than her usual bedtime, but she probably hadn’t taken much of a nap earlier.
She didn’t seem deeply asleep yet. When Seia fell into a deep sleep, she always made soft breathing sounds.
Right now, he had to lean in close just to hear it, so she wasn’t fully under yet.
“Up we go.”
Jungwoo carefully lifted her into his arms.
“Mmm…”
Seia’s eyes fluttered open for a moment at the sudden change, but she quickly drifted off again as Jungwoo gently patted her back.
Pat, pat.
His large hand covered nearly half her back. Jungwoo was over 180 centimeters tall with correspondingly big hands, so to Seia, his palm probably felt like a warm blanket filled with body heat.
Whenever she sank deeper into sleep while being held, she would always cling tighter. This time too, her small hands gripped his neck with surprising strength. Jungwoo simply continued patting her back, as he always did.
As Seia fell into deeper sleep, the portions of pork cutlet on the guests’ plates gradually disappeared as well.
“Our little boss fell asleep while we were eating.”
“Haha… I’m sorry. She’s still young, so she needs a lot of sleep.”
“Nonsense. There’s nothing to apologize for. She worked hard today—she deserves her rest.”
Park Geon-su approached Jungwoo and looked at the sleeping Seia with fond eyes.
Her face was buried against Jungwoo’s shoulder, which had squished her already chubby cheeks. They puffed out to the side like soft glutinous rice cakes.
“She really is beautifully made.”
“Thank you.”
“Must take after her handsome father. How much do we owe you?”
“Three pork cutlets comes to thirty thousand won.”
“I’ll pay.”
As Park Geon-su reached for his wallet, Ye-eun stepped forward and handed over the money first—three ten-thousand-won bills.
In this era, almost no one used cash anymore, so seeing actual bills was quite rare.
“Thank you.”
“Yes, it was delicious.”
After settling the bill, they were about to leave the restaurant when—
“Please come again.”
“…Yes.”
It was strange. The words were nothing more than what any restaurant owner might say to a customer, yet to Ye-eun they felt somehow different.
The change brought by this one small child was far greater than her size suggested.
Now it was time to return to reality.
Once she stepped through that door, she would have to go back to her empty, meaningless daily life.
She finally understood perfectly why Guild Leader Park Geon-su had called this place a sanctuary.
Ding-dong.
The clear, high chime of the bell that rang whenever customers entered or left was always the same.
It welcomed everyone equally—those who were struggling, those who were happy, children, and elders alike.
As the restaurant door closed and the bell rang once more, Ye-eun stepped outside, then turned back to look inside.
Seia, clinging to Jungwoo’s neck as if it were the most precious thing in the world, fast asleep.
She felt she would never forget that scene for the rest of her life.
It was as if she were seeing her past self overlapping with the little girl.
With all the customers gone, Seona’s Restaurant was once again wrapped in the same quiet stillness she had felt earlier.
The only difference was that this time, Seia was actually asleep.
Yet that single difference created the greatest shift of all.
The warmth radiating from that small body was more comforting than anything else.
Now that sunlight had reached the room, the faint scent of fabric softener from the freshly dried clothes added to the tranquility.
Or was she mistaken?
Maybe it was simply Seia’s own scent.
“Sleep well, our Seia.”
Come to think of it, could he really keep running the restaurant like this?
It wasn’t because his hands weren’t free while holding her.
At this hour, people weren’t just coming for dinner—many stopped by for after-work drinks or casual gatherings. Seeing a child sleeping so peacefully might make them feel they had to stay quiet.
Of course, he could carry Seia upstairs and come back down.
The house wasn’t far; just a few steps up the stairs and he would be there.
But Jungwoo didn’t want to do that.
He didn’t want to be apart from Seia. In truth, he couldn’t bear to be.
Seia wasn’t the type to wake easily, but she didn’t sleep through everything either.
Especially after falling asleep this early, there was a high chance she would wake much sooner than usual. If he wasn’t there when that happened, she might feel anxious.
The restaurant was incredibly important to Jungwoo.
But it was only the best solution he had come up with so he could stay with Seia.
If he put the restaurant first and failed to take proper care of her, that would be entirely his fault and his responsibility.
No matter how many more customers came in the future, that fact would never change.
He must never forget that Seia would always come first.
“Alright. Let’s call it a day here.”
Jungwoo took out the small sign he had left in the corner of the restaurant.
Seona’s Restaurant
CLOSED
The sign that informed customers the restaurant was closed. He had made it so it could hang on the door, but he felt he should add a few more lines.
Supporting Seia carefully with one arm so she wouldn’t be uncomfortable, Jungwoo wrote beneath it.
Business hours may vary depending on circumstances.
And one more line.
Our daughter fell asleep early today, so we’re closing ahead of schedule. We apologize.
After all, the restaurant had only opened yesterday. He didn’t have any regular customers yet, and not many people even knew the place existed.
Of course, closing early or shutting the doors often for his daughter’s sake wasn’t what Jungwoo wanted either.
While Seia was his top priority, setting fixed hours was the most basic promise he could make to the customers who came looking for him.
“Haha… Just for today. I’m sorry.”
After hanging the sign with the added message on the door, Jungwoo closed the restaurant for the day.
He gently placed Seia on her reserved seat and found the softest thing he could to prop up her head.
“Luckily the ingredients I prepared during the day will still be good tomorrow.”
Things like chicken could spoil quickly and change in both taste and aroma after just one day. Fortunately, none of the prepared ingredients were that perishable, and there wasn’t much that needed to be thrown out.
The closing routine was simple: wipe down the tables, clean the floors of both the kitchen and dining area, check the kitchen utensils again, and put away any ingredients that had been left out into the refrigerator.
After turning off all the lights, Jungwoo returned to the reserved seat where Seia was sleeping.
“Now that I think about it, I bought a TV but haven’t turned it on once. Starting tomorrow, I should play something appropriate.”
It would be nice to have some music playing in the restaurant too.
He had spent a long time preparing and thought he had covered everything, but now that the restaurant was actually open, he kept noticing things that were missing.
The only problem was that, sadly, he didn’t have the money for them.
“Oh, right. The cash.”
The three ten-thousand-won bills he had received today. He planned to go to the bank first thing in the morning and deposit them. It was much more convenient to have the numbers in his account than to carry around physical cash.
Today had been a truly meaningful day for Jungwoo.
And perhaps it had been just as meaningful for Seia.
The restaurant he had thought of as a window connecting them to the outside world was fulfilling that role far better than he had imagined.
Above all, it felt natural. He could be with Seia, and she seemed to be enjoying it too.
“A lot of people probably feel the same…”
Everyone dreams of a tomorrow better than today.
And then they dream that the day after will be even better than that.
Jungwoo had been the same. He was the kind of person who worked hard to create a better tomorrow than yesterday.
But today, for the first time, that thought had changed a little.
Rather than hoping for a better tomorrow than yesterday, he found himself wishing more strongly for a tomorrow exactly like today.
“Daddy…”
“Seia, are you awake?”
He thought the voice had woken him, but when he turned his head, Seia was once again breathing softly in her sleep.
“She must have been talking in her sleep.”
How happy it made him that even in her dreams, she was looking for her dad.
Listening to Seia’s sleepy murmurs, Jungwoo returned to their warm, cozy home.