A Quiet Afternoon of Chicken and Cats
The restaurant during daytime hours was always the same.
Though it hadn't been open long, this place never bothered with any special advertising or promotions. As a result, its reputation spread purely through word of mouth—from passersby who noticed it while walking by, or customers who stopped in on a whim and found themselves completely won over by the food and warm atmosphere.
Regulars who had visited before did return, but it wasn't an everyday occurrence. For all sorts of reasons, it might not be today but tomorrow. Or not tomorrow, but several days later.
Perhaps that was why the afternoon felt so peaceful. It was as if the quiet itself was preparing for the evening ahead.
"Chicken! Chicken!"
It was still a long way until dinner, but Seah was already buzzing with excitement.
"Seah, aren't you hungry?"
"Seah's gonna eat thiiiiis much chicken later!"
It was past breakfast and edging toward lunchtime, so Jeong-woo had considered making rice. But Seah was stubbornly holding back her appetite, determined to save room for a mountain of chicken.
A soft chuckle escaped him. Jeong-woo was a father, after all. Even though he knew one day like this wouldn't hurt, he couldn't help worrying just a little.
"Hey, Seah."
"Yeah?"
"You know if you skip a meal and then try to eat a ton all at once, you won't be able to eat as much, right?"
"Huh?"
Seah's face filled with genuine surprise. She hopped down from her special seat as if this news was completely unacceptable and declared urgently, "Daddy! Rice! Seah wants rice!"
To think she was going to such lengths for chicken. Jeong-woo let out another quiet laugh and began prepping the vegetables he'd picked up from the market.
"Alright. Then we'll have something light for now. Sound good?"
"Yeah!"
With greasy fried chicken already set for dinner, the only thing he planned to make now was a simple salad. Still, since Seah usually ate her vegetables without complaint, he wasn't worried about picky eating.
"Ugh..."
Of course, if it didn't taste good, there wasn't much even Jeong-woo could do about that.
Seah usually furrowed her brow when she was deep in thought. Those wrinkles hardly showed at other times, but faced with a plate piled high with vegetables today, her little forehead creased dramatically.
So even baby skin could get wrinkles. It was a new discovery, if only for a moment.
He stepped outside briefly to throw out the trash that had built up from the past few days of business. Something was lying right in front of the restaurant door.
"What's this?"
It was a gift set filled with various kinds of chocolate. A single note rested on top.
Delicious meal. I ate well and am on my way.
Since it seemed you wouldn't accept money, I thought of something the child might like.
He knew exactly who it was from. The construction workers Jeong-woo had treated to a meal yesterday.
"...What grateful people."
He hadn't expected anything like this. And because he hadn't expected it, the wave of warmth that washed over him felt even stronger. He hadn't done it hoping for any reward, yet it felt like he'd received a tremendous one in return.
There was no better repayment than enjoying a delicious meal with Seah. Since today was her special day anyway, this would be perfect to enjoy right now.
When Jeong-woo stepped back inside, he found Seah had already cleared about half her plate.
"Hng..."
Her face was scrunched up like she might cry—probably because it was nothing but vegetables—but she was still diligently chewing and swallowing every bite.
"Hehe. Not tasty, huh, Seah?"
"N-no, it's not!"
Seah flinched for a second as if caught, but then she smiled brightly and shook her head.
"It can't possibly taste good. But since Daddy made it for you, you have to finish it all. Okay?"
"...Yes!"
To keep things from getting too boring, Jeong-woo turned on the TV for her, then returned to his preparations.
Dinner would be chicken, but he wasn't only making chicken. He was also preparing the pickled radish that no fried chicken meal could go without.
The method was quite similar to making pickles. All you really needed was water, vinegar, and sugar. Jeong-woo added bay leaves for extra flavor.
He combined water, vinegar, and sugar, then added bay leaves and whole black peppercorns, bringing everything to a boil. After pouring the hot liquid over radish cut into perfect bite-sized pieces, he simply let it sit at room temperature.
"Hmm. A little bland?"
If it felt too mild, a pinch of salt would fix it. It would taste better if it could age longer at room temperature, but they needed it for dinner tonight.
"It's a shame, but it can't be helped."
Any leftovers could simply become side dishes later.
Once the pickled radish was done, Seah came toddling into the kitchen with her empty bowl.
"Daddy! Seah ate it all!"
"Haha, you did? Our Seah did such a good job."
Seeing her openly fishing for praise, Jeong-woo chuckled and gently ruffled her hair. It seemed eating the salad had felt like a major challenge to her. Otherwise she couldn't have worn that proud 'I did it!' expression.
"Want to watch TV for a bit, Seah? Daddy's going to get the chicken ready."
"Can't Seah help too?"
"Hmm... alright. Then it'll be chicken that Seah helped make, huh?"
"Yeah! Seah and Daddy together!"
There wasn't much left to do anyway. The butcher had already cut the chicken into perfect pieces, so all that remained was the marinade.
He mixed milk, curry powder, black pepper, cinnamon, salt, and everything else in the largest bowl he had.
"Okay, Seah. Take the chicken pieces and plop them in here."
"Okay!"
First he washed her hands thoroughly. Then Seah began dropping the chicken from the bag into the bowl. She handled each piece with such care, as if they were precious treasures, gently placing them one by one.
"You have to become delicious—"
She didn't forget to offer her little words of encouragement.
While Seah carefully added the chicken, Jeong-woo cleared space in the refrigerator for the big bowl. Even a good marinade could make chicken taste amazing.
"How much did our Seah put in—"
Because she was adding them so carefully, she hadn't managed to get all ten servings in yet.
"Seah put this much!"
She announced it proudly, but the chicken pieces were already submerged and hidden at the bottom of the bowl.
"Hehe. You put in quite a lot. Should Daddy help you add the rest?"
"Yes! Daddy has to do it too. Make it delicious—"
"Haha. Alright. Make it delicious—"
They sat together on the floor, happily picking up chicken pieces and dropping them into the bowl while chanting their little spell. Suddenly, squatting Seah lost her balance and landed on her bottom with a soft thud.
She looked up at Jeong-woo with wide, startled eyes.
"Hehe."
She smiled sheepishly but didn't drop the chicken piece still clutched in her small hand.
"Sit properly on the floor, Seah. Daddy cleaned it nicely."
There weren't any cushions, but he folded an empty box flat and placed it under her like a little mat.
Bit by bit, the once plentiful chicken disappeared until the bottom of the bowl finally showed.
"Great! Almost finished!"
"Yayyy—"
Seah was practically vibrating with excitement at the thought of eating chicken when a familiar sound came from the restaurant entrance—the sound they hadn't heard for several days.
A meow.
It must have caught the scent of chicken and come running as if enchanted.
"Daddy! The kitty's here!"
"So it is. Must have smelled the chicken. Want to go see?"
Seah shook her head. "Daddy come with me too."
"Shall we?"
There were no customers at the moment, so they had time to spare. Surprisingly, the first visitor to the restaurant today was a cat.
"Ah, we should bring food before we go out."
How had the clever little thing known today was a feast day at Seah's restaurant? Thanks to its sharp instincts, the cat would enjoy delicious food once again.
A quick mental check confirmed that fresh raw chicken was generally safe for cats. The pieces were already cut, but Jeong-woo removed every bone just to be safe, placed them in a bowl, and handed it to Seah.
"Can't kitty have chicken?"
"No. Cats eat different things than people do."
"But Daddy's food is so tasty..."
Seah gazed at the cat outside with regretful eyes. Her expression seemed to say she felt sorry for being the only one who could enjoy these delicious things.
"This is something Daddy made too, so the kitty will enjoy it."
"Can't Seah eat this?"
"This? You mean the raw chicken?"
"Yeah! Meat!"
It seemed Seah still didn't fully understand how important cooking was.
"Eating meat like this raw can make you sick. It's tasty for cats, but not for Seah."
"But this meat is really soft."
"Hehe. Still no. I'll teach you later what you can eat raw."
What came to mind immediately were dishes like yukhoe, raw fish, and sushi. Jeong-woo loved yukhoe while his wife hadn't cared for it much. His wife had loved sashimi and sushi, but he was never that fond of them. He wondered which side Seah would take. Secretly, he hoped she would take after him.
"Come on. Let's go before the kitty leaves."
"Wait for kitty!"
Still clutching the bowl, Seah toddled outside. Jeong-woo followed right behind.
There were two chairs in front of the restaurant. The cat seemed to prefer Seah's seat, because it was sitting in its usual bread-loaf pose there again today.
"Kitty!"
Maybe because she hadn't seen it for several days, Seah's eyes sparkled with pure affection.
The cat, which had been sitting politely, glanced at her briefly before locking its gaze on the plate in her hands.
"Hehe. I brought meat for you, kitty."
When she carefully set the bowl down, the cat immediately began devouring the chicken.
Last time it had shown some wariness, but after a few visits, that caution had almost completely vanished. Was it because of Seah?
Jeong-woo tried to approach slowly, but the cat perked its ears and bared its teeth at him in warning.
"Hey, no, kitty. This is Daddy."
Seah, who had already progressed to gentle petting during previous visits, stroked the cat naturally. And the cat, almost as if it understood her words, gradually lowered its guard toward Jeong-woo.
Smart cat.
But strangely, that look in its eyes seemed slightly displeased. For some reason, it almost looked like the cat thought it was much closer to Seah than Jeong-woo was. Of course that wasn't true, but Jeong-woo somehow felt oddly provoked by the cat's gaze.
"Daddy."
"Yeah?"
"The meat's all gone already."
"Wow, really? The kitty must have been really hungry."
In the brief moment Jeong-woo had looked away, the cat had licked the bowl completely clean and was now grooming its fur. Then, as if its mission was complete, it leaped down from the chair.
With one final meow as a goodbye, it vanished.
"Hng... it's gone."
"It'll come back later. It left last time and returned, remember? Let's head back inside."
Jeong-woo gently stroked Seah's hair as the father and daughter returned to the restaurant together. The cat watched them for a moment from afar, then darted off quickly, as if it had somewhere to be.