A Warm Order
He hadn't stepped into the restaurant yet.
In truth, he hadn't particularly planned to.
But as he stood there receiving the greeting of a child who gazed up at him with an innocent, pure smile, it was becoming difficult not to enter.
…She's quite the excellent salesperson.
Now that he thought about it, it had been a very long time since he'd last seen a child. Especially one whose appearance stood out so strikingly.
The child, who seemed to serve as the restaurant's mascot, hadn't taken her eyes off him for even a moment. Even though a delicious meal was laid out right in front of her, she refused to begin until he came inside.
There was no helping it.
He didn't want to carry the guilt of making such a small child skip her meal.
The clear chime of a bell announced his entrance into the restaurant.
The child's smile grew even brighter, while the owner—who appeared to be her father—wore a slightly apologetic expression. Since he could guess why that look was being directed at him, the man said nothing and simply found a seat.
One farthest from the windows, unlike the other customers.
“Welcome,” Jungwoo said.
“…Yes.”
“If you need anything, please let me know.”
As Jungwoo turned toward the kitchen after speaking, the seemingly blunt customer spoke first.
“You can start eating.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
It was this side that had been eating first, yet the man was thanking him. Having roughly grasped the owner's personality, the man decided that since things had come to this, he might as well order a proper meal.
A menu sat on the table.
Most of the dishes listed were the kind of comforting home-cooked meals commonly found in any household.
There's no children's menu.
The perfectly grilled mackerel gave off an aroma that had first caught his attention, yet that dish wasn't on the menu.
“Mmm, so good…!”
The child's delighted exclamations of how delicious it was kept coming without pause, and the man's gaze naturally drifted toward her.
Her perfectly round little head.
Every time she stuffed her mouth full and chewed, her cheeks could be seen wriggling even from behind.
For several minutes, he watched the child's back as if spellbound. Then came the sound of a spoon clinking against the bottom of an empty bowl, and he realized the meal was finished.
Jungwoo and Seia had finished eating. Jungwoo immediately began cleaning up, and while he was busy moving about, Seia did what any proper little owner of the restaurant should do.
“……?”
The child toddled over on her short legs and stopped right in front of the man.
Then she looked up at him with sparkling eyes.
That was all.
She didn't say anything else, simply staring at him.
“Are you… telling me to order?”
“Ah! Yes! Order!”
In truth, Seia had forgotten something.
She was sure her dad had told her something, but the words wouldn't come to mind.
“That's right! You can order from Seia!”
It didn't feel like a regular employee taking an order. Rather, her face was that of a child who saw taking orders as some kind of delightful game.
The man let out a light chuckle under his breath and asked about the grilled fish Seia had just been eating.
“What was that you were eating just now?”
“What Seia ate was grilled samchi!”
“…Is that so? What's that?”
Of course the man knew what mackerel was. He was simply curious.
Not about the grilled mackerel itself, but about what this child thought of it. After all, in any restaurant, being able to explain the food was basic.
“Umm… it's so good!”
It was exactly the kind of answer you'd expect from a child.
It's delicious.
“And it's warm.”
“Warm… you say.”
Warm. It was a word that invited deeper reflection.
It carried many layers of meaning, but naturally what the child meant was simply that it was freshly grilled and still hot. It had to be. Yet to someone who interpreted things differently, it felt slightly otherwise.
That it warmed both body and heart.
That's how it came across.
“I see. Then I'll have one warm grilled mackerel. If you please.”
“Okay!”
Seia answered energetically and dashed straight to her father.
“Daddy!”
“Yes, Seia?”
“The customer ordered! Samchi gui.”
“Hmm? Grilled mackerel?”
Grilled mackerel wasn't on the menu.
From the looks of it, seeing Seia eat it must have sparked his appetite. It wasn't an impossible request. He'd simply need to make a quick trip to the market to buy some mackerel.
After finishing the cleanup, Jungwoo approached the customer.
“I'm sorry, sir, but grilled mackerel isn't on the menu. I'll need to go to the market for it.”
“I see. Would that be all right? I'll pay generously.”
The man took out a magic stone and some cash from his pocket and placed them on the table.
However, the magic stone was not the color Jungwoo was used to seeing. There was no known information about yellow magic stones.
“The magic stone is fine. Cash alone is more than enough.”
Three ten-thousand-won bills.
That was all the cash, but thirty thousand won was more than sufficient for a single serving of grilled mackerel.
“Seia, let's go to the market with Daddy.”
“The market? Again?”
“Yes. We need to buy some mackerel.”
“Hmm…”
Normally Seia would have answered right away, but strangely, she hesitated this time.
Her gaze shifted back and forth between Jungwoo and the customer before she finally shook her head.
“But Seia has to stay at the restaurant.”
“Oh… is that so?”
Honestly, Seia's response was quite surprising. She had always hated being apart from her father, yet here she was, thinking about holding down the fort at the restaurant.
It seemed that just as Jungwoo cherished the restaurant, Seia had come to treasure it as well.
The only problem was leaving her alone with a stranger. Of course there were security cameras inside the shop, and it was unlikely anything would happen in broad daylight in the middle of the city, but Jungwoo knew absolutely nothing about this customer.
He believed one shouldn't judge people by appearances, yet the only thing he could judge this man by was his appearance.
Will it be all right?
The yellow magic stone the customer had shown him. While magic stones came in different colors depending on their grade, yellow was not among them.
Just as his worries were deepening, the man's voice broke in.
“Boss.”
“Ah, yes.”
“If it's inconvenient, I can go to the market myself.”
“Ah, no, I can…”
“It's all right. I'll go.”
In that moment, the man realized his thinking had been shortsighted. By openly showing the magic stone, he had presented the restaurant owner with a very difficult choice.
Taking Seia along would be like admitting he didn't trust the man, but leaving her behind would leave the owner anxious with no way to ease his mind.
I've grown dull.
After spending ten years in a place where society didn't exist, it seemed he'd become quite slow in these matters.
“Then…”
But Seia smiled brightly, as if a wonderful idea had just occurred to her.
“Let's all go together!”
There was no real need for that, yet somehow when the child said it, it didn't seem unnecessary at all.
In the end, an unexpected trio was formed.
Going to the market with a customer. It was a rather absurd situation, but if not for Seia, when would he ever have an experience like this again?
Seia, brimming with excitement, simply beamed with joy as she walked between the two sturdy adults.
It was a good thing the market was close by. If it had been far, he wouldn't have known what to do.
With a sigh of relief, they arrived at the market.
The grandmother who was always in the same spot wasn't alone today. As it happened, Seong Ye-eun was there with her.
“Grandma! Big Sis!”
Perhaps because two welcome faces were there, Seia darted forward ahead of Jungwoo and ran straight to them.
“Seia, you're here?”
“Didn't you just come earlier? What brings you back?”
Seong Ye-eun greeted Seia with a faint, gentle smile. The grandmother's words still sounded a bit stiff, but a hint of a real smile could be seen, showing how much she had changed.
“Grandma! Big Sis! Why are you together?”
“Well, Grandma and Big Sis know each other.”
“Wow…! Then Seia wants to know you too!”
“Hehe. Of course.”
What was so special about knowing each other? If anything, it was even more special. Seia was no ordinary child.
Still, Seong Ye-eun couldn't yet bring herself to stroke Seia's head. The image overlapped too much with the past, making it even harder. Knowing all too well how cursed it felt to lose something precious, she instinctively held back from giving deeper affection.
The grandmother was the same. Having lived a long life and gained much, it also meant she had lost much.
Even so, the look in Seong Ye-eun's eyes as she gazed at Seia held more warmth than before. That gaze lingered on Jungwoo for a moment before shifting to the man beside him.
“……?”
In an instant, Seong Ye-eun's eyes changed.
She could see a portion of what the man possessed.
And the man, too, did not take his eyes off Seong Ye-eun.
Since she had glimpsed a part of him, he had glimpsed a part of her in return.
The important thing was that what he had seen of her was something he already knew.
“So, what did you come to buy?”
Just as an awkward silence might have settled, the grandmother's voice broke it.
“Ah, we were on our way to buy mackerel. We just stopped by.”
“Tsk, what a bother. Hurry along before they sell out.”
“Yes. Boss, Seia, let's go now.”
Seia was still fiddling with the grandmother's hand, as if it bothered her. She kept rubbing the exact spot where the bandage had been until Jungwoo's call brought her back.
“Grandma! Big Sis! Seia has to go now!”
“All right, take care, Seia. See you next time.”
“Yes. Go safely, dear.”
Jungwoo, Seia, and the man set off once more to find mackerel, and Seong Ye-eun watched their retreating figures.
With a slightly hardened expression.
“Is there something about him?”
“…I don't think I can say there's nothing.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“I'm not sure yet.”
“If you're that worried, go after them. You should check, shouldn't you?”
“Yes. I was planning to anyway.”
At Seong Ye-eun's answer, the grandmother smiled.
When was the last time Seong Ye-eun had taken the initiative to move so actively? It felt like so long ago that she couldn't even recall.
This, too, was a good sign.
“But do you know who he is?”
“…If my memory is correct.”
Even Seong Ye-eun wasn't entirely certain yet. She had only identified him by his power.
That made it all the more important.
Why had this person suddenly appeared with the people from Seona's Restaurant? Especially since he was someone who hadn't been seen for quite a while.
“Then I'll head out first today.”
“All right. Are you heading to Seona's Restaurant?”
“Yes.”
The reason Seong Ye-eun still couldn't stroke Seia's head was the same reason she didn't visit the restaurant every day. But now it seemed she had no choice.
Wasn't this slowly rising anxiety telling her as much?
The reason she didn't stroke Seia's head was nothing more than a self-imposed atonement, a pardon she had created for her past self.