An Unexpected Guest at Lunch
When Jungwoo returned home, the area was still under lockdown.
“They’ve blocked it off like this…”
Watching the people bustling about, it looked like the work was in full swing.
“It’s lunchtime. I wonder if they’ve all eaten.”
The thought came to him suddenly.
Ever since he started running the restaurant, it seemed he had developed a kind of occupational habit.
First, he removed the photo attached to the sandwich board in front of the restaurant.
Originally, he should have shared the cake Seia made with his wife tomorrow, but today he had already eaten some of the cake Jungwoo made while visiting early.
There was no way he could serve the remaining cake to customers.
He planned to treat this as a snack for Seia and himself today.
Since some of it had already been eaten by her mother—his wife Seona—the rest would be shared between Jungwoo and Seia. In the end, it would be no different from all of them eating it together.
After taking down everything that needed to be removed from the sandwich board, he headed straight up to the second floor.
He had returned quietly, careful not to make any noise in case she was napping.
Not a single sound could be heard, so just as Jungwoo had expected, Seia was deep in her afternoon nap.
Seeing her clutching a rabbit doll tightly to her chest as she slept brought a smile to his face without him even realizing it.
“I wonder if our Seia brushed her teeth before falling asleep?”
Jungwoo crept softly to the side of the bed and gently brushed Seia’s hair back from her forehead.
“Mmm…”
Even in her sleep, she must have remembered the familiar and affectionate touch, because a faint smile spread across Seia’s peaceful face.
“Let’s analyze Seia’s usual daily pattern…”
It was already past noon.
Considering the timing of her afternoon nap, there was a very high chance she would wake up around one o’clock.
Unless someone woke her up in the middle of it, that is.
He had fed her a full meal, so a little bit of free time had opened up for Jungwoo.
As he wondered how best to use this spare time, the people he had seen earlier came to mind.
From the atmosphere they gave off, they didn’t seem like ordinary people.
After all, repairing a sinkhole wasn’t exactly a common task, was it?
“But do sinkholes usually look like that?”
Well, he would only know if he had seen one before.
He had never been particularly interested in that sort of thing, so the only thing he could recall was a blurry photo he had seen as a child.
It was only natural, but ordinary people feared hunters.
After all, they were people who wielded powers that defied common sense.
But Jungwoo was different.
It was true that he had been a little afraid at first.
Only, his thoughts had changed over time.
Fearing them wouldn’t change anything.
And the hunters he had met were just ordinary people.
They simply happened to possess power.
Jungwoo left the house and headed toward where the people were working.
The group, who had been deeply focused on their task, paused what they were doing at Jungwoo’s appearance.
“Is something the matter?”
“Ah, I was just wondering if you all had eaten yet.”
“Eaten?”
It was a completely unexpected question.
They had assumed he had come to ask when the work would be finished or whether it could be done any faster.
But it had nothing to do with that at all.
“We haven’t eaten yet, but…”
“Then please take a break and eat. I’ll prepare something simple for you.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes. Thank you.”
Perhaps because the question had been so unexpected, he couldn’t even respond properly.
“Oh, the menu is kalguksu.”
After informing them of today’s menu, Jungwoo turned to leave.
Everyone stared blankly at his retreating figure.
“He’s giving us food?”
“That’s what he said.”
“I thought he was going to press us about when we’d be done. Now I feel kind of bad.”
Leaving the sheepish employees behind, the team leader gave instructions for the remaining work.
“Still, it’ll take him some time to prepare, so keep pretending to work.”
“Yes, sir. Understood.”
The gate subjugation was already underway.
The raid team had entered the gate, so they needed to buy time until the team came back out and properly cleaned up the surroundings.
At first they had wondered why he was so concerned about the restaurant, but after seeing the owner’s character, they thought they understood a little.
People who gave to others were rare these days.
Of course, what counted as “giving” varied from person to person.
To someone it might be a mere thousand won, but to another it could be the driving force that helped them get through the day.
The others might not know, but the team leader thought this:
Giving away something you were going to throw away anyway.
That wasn’t really giving.
It was just that the timing happened to line up nicely.
“Team leader. What did he say the menu was?”
“Kalguksu.”
“Oh… it feels like it’s been ages since I’ve had that.”
“But is the place any good?”
“It looked like a restaurant that hasn’t been open long.”
At those words, the team leader spoke up first for some reason.
“Does the taste even matter?”
The relaxed atmosphere instantly changed again.
“It’s fine to decline someone else’s kindness, but don’t you dare evaluate that kindness in front of me.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“My thoughts were too shallow.”
The team leader gave new orders as if the matter was settled, and the team members focused on their work again in a slightly subdued mood.
A little time passed, and the missing Jungwoo reappeared.
Seeing that he was still wearing his apron, it looked like he had just finished preparing the food.
“You can eat now. It’s all ready.”
“Thank you. Everyone, let’s go.”
The group arrived at the restaurant, bowing their heads in gratitude to Jungwoo.
Through the wide-open door, the neat interior was visible, and even from outside it was clear how clean the place was—a glimpse of Jungwoo’s personality.
This time, the team—including the leader—totaled four people.
Originally the raid team should have joined them, but since they couldn’t reveal themselves, this was everyone.
Four seats by the window had already been prepared, along with the food.
Steaming kalguksu and various side dishes.
Even if they had paid for it, a spread like this would have been quite satisfying, yet here they were receiving it for free.
“Enjoy your meal. If you want more, just let me know.”
“Thank you. We’ll eat well.”
With the team leader’s short but sincere greeting, the team members began to eat.
Clam kalguksu filled with a refreshing broth and plenty of fresh clams.
They lifted chewy, springy noodles that were neither soggy nor undercooked and put them in their mouths. The noodles, soaked in that cool broth, delivered the flavor perfectly.
They filled their mouths with noodles and, before even finishing chewing, took a long sip of the broth.
Along with it came a variety of vegetables and clams that had been carefully shelled in advance.
They had simply eaten noodles and drunk broth, yet the way the flavors of all the different ingredients spread through their mouths made it feel as if they had already emptied an entire bowl of kalguksu.
“Oh… this is really good.”
“I didn’t add any seasoning sauce yet.”
“Where? Ah, there’s sauce too.”
It could get even better than this?
A flavor that surpassed the limits of kalguksu?
There was no way such a thing could exist.
It might look like kalguksu on the surface, but the ingredients were probably completely different.
Still, among all the kalguksu they had ever eaten, this was undoubtedly the best.
Since they hadn’t even eaten breakfast, the ordinary kalguksu felt extraordinarily special.
“Mmm…”
Admiring sighs escaped with every sip of broth.
No one had asked them to, but the reflexive exclamations expressed the taste better than any adjective could.
Jungwoo simply cleaned up in the kitchen.
All the while taking in the occasional “Mmm” sounds and praises of how delicious it was with his ears alone.
“Um, team leader.”
“What.”
“Is it really okay for us to be sitting here like this?”
They had told Jungwoo it was a sinkhole, but of course these were people responsible for managing the area around a gate.
No matter how close and visible they were, it was strange for them to leave their posts like this.
“It’s fine. As long as they’re within my line of sight.”
The team leader answered as if there was no problem at all.
The answer that it was fine as long as they remained in his sight.
With the team leader’s ability alone, the team members weren’t even necessary.
If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t have left his post like this.
The chance of a problem occurring?
Even if something went wrong inside the gate itself, the probability of it affecting this area was zero.
At least when it came to a B-class gate.
“Um… then could I have some more rice?”
Now they understood why he had asked. It seemed the portions had been a bit small for him.
The side dishes were so tasty that they could easily finish off a bowl of rice each.
“Don’t ask about things like that—just order. Does anyone else need more rice?”
“Ah, I’ll have one more too.”
“Me too. It’s really good.”
“Boss. Could we get four more bowls of rice… no, four bowls. We’ll pay for the rice.”
The team leader hadn’t said anything, but he added his own extra bowl to the order.
“Yes. I’ll bring them right away.”
After serving the four additional bowls of rice, Jungwoo smiled and said,
“It’s fine. If you enjoyed the meal, that’s payment enough.”
As he turned back toward the kitchen—
“Kyaa—”
A faint, adorable voice drifted over.
The voice gradually grew closer, and soon its owner appeared.
Seia landed with a soft thud on the cushion at the end of the slide.
Still hugging her rabbit doll tightly, she looked as if the last traces of sleepiness had been blown away by the slide, her face bright with a smile.
“Daddy—!”
“You’re awake? Did you sleep well, sweetheart?”
“Yes. I slept well.”
Climbing off the cushion and looking around, Seia’s eyes met those of the four team members watching her.
She had thought the restaurant was closed today, so a giant question mark seemed to pop up above her head.
“Ah. These are the people who were working out front earlier.”
“Hellooo.”
“Uh, um. Hello—”
The team members waved back in greeting.
“Wow, she’s really pretty.”
“She looks like an angel.”
They had stopped slurping their kalguksu and were all staring at Seia.
Perhaps the attention felt a little overwhelming.
Seia came toddling quickly over to where Jungwoo was.
“Daddy.”
“Yes, Seia?”
“Did you have a good day?”
“Yes, I did.”
Seia asking if he had a good day.
In truth, it had been quite a long time since Jungwoo had “gone to work.”
Ever since Seia came into his life, he had only taken on tasks he could do together with her when she was still so young.
Or he would work from home.
Because of that, he felt strangely like a father coming home from work.
“Then I’ll go sit over there!”
“Okay. I’ll turn on the TV for you. Watch that.”
Seia headed to her designated seat.
Perhaps because she had gone up and down the stairs so many times, she now climbed them with practiced ease and settled into her spot.
Jungwoo set the channel to a variety show and finished cleaning up.
In the meantime, the team members finished their meal. The moment they were done, they all stood up.
“Thank you for the meal, boss.”
“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”
The team leader bowed deeply in gratitude.
The team members followed suit, bowing deeply as well. Jungwoo was startled but soon bowed with them to end the farewell.
With the sound of the bell, the people left.
And so the unofficial guests of Seona’s Restaurant were seen off.
“Seia, let’s go upstairs too.”
“Okay.”
From behind, Seia’s cheeks puffed out adorably as she focused on the TV.
Jungwoo let out a small chuckle and went upstairs with her.
There was only one thing to do today.
Laze around.