A New Connection
“Welcome,”
“Welcome! To Seona’s Restaurant!”
Two energetic voices greeted Kang Ji-seok as he stepped through the door.
Just as he had sensed from outside, the interior of the restaurant was dominated by a peaceful atmosphere.
It was the complete opposite of Kang Ji-seok’s belief that running a business was like waging war.
Still, he didn’t think he was wrong just yet.
After all, Provan Restaurant made a lot of money.
“One of today’s specials, please.”
“Certainly. Please wait just a moment.”
Jungwoo naturally headed into the kitchen.
Don’t they even have basic things like seating guidance?
Not every restaurant offered to seat their customers.
But this place was, after all, a Korean restaurant.
If there were suitable seats available, they should guide guests to them. And since this was a restaurant frequented by VIPs like Park Geon-su and the hunter Seong Ye-eun, it would be wise to keep certain tables reserved for them.
To do that, they should at least take reservations or provide seating guidance.
“This spot is nice!”
As if mocking Kang Ji-seok’s thoughts, a bright voice immediately offered to guide him.
The owner of that voice was the child who had been intently writing something just moments ago.
“…Why is this one good?”
“Because the sky is pretty!”
The answer came without the slightest hesitation.
When he looked up at the sky, it didn’t seem all that different from the one he saw every day.
No—perhaps because the VIPs had mostly left, it didn’t look particularly beautiful to him.
“Well, if that’s the case, I’ll sit here.”
“Okay!”
At first, he had simply thought of her as a cute child.
Then, after watching her guide him to a seat, he figured she must be quite sociable.
Energetic, bright, and cheerful.
But now his opinion had changed again.
If she were just a bright and sociable child, she would have kept talking to him.
Yet the girl before him showed none of that.
She had simply guided him to his seat. That was all.
And she had done it with genuine sincerity.
After sitting down at the table the child had shown him, it wasn’t long before water and a glass were served.
For a child who looked slightly younger than his own son to handle even this on her own.
Looking at her expression, she seemed to find the task genuinely fun.
He had to admit it was rather charming.
Just sitting here made his heart feel at ease.
This was something you rarely felt in more famous restaurants.
If the food was good, business would thrive, but that also meant there would be little room for leisure.
On the other hand, places like this made it easy to feel that sense of calm.
Because they weren’t busy.
“I suppose the old man did enjoy this kind of atmosphere.”
Was simply decorating a room not enough?
This went far beyond mere decoration.
Hadn’t they even created an environment that felt like eating outdoors in nature, all thanks to a magic stone?
There were a few things that still seemed suspicious, but he would have to taste the food first.
“Hng… it’s not coming on.”
The voice of Seia, who was sitting in her designated seat and staring at the TV, drifted over.
Kang Ji-seok, who had been lost in thought, and even Jungwoo, who had been busy cooking, both turned their gazes toward her.
“Are you looking for something, Seia?”
“The ttakji isn’t coming on!”
“Haha. You wanted to watch the ttakji segment?”
“Yes. Daddy said he’s really good at it, so Seia wants to practice too.”
It meant she was planning to do image training in her head.
After seeing it only once last time, she still wasn’t confident.
“Just wait a little. Daddy will finish making this and turn it on for you, okay?”
“Okay!”
Kang Ji-seok, who had been quietly watching the exchange, suddenly spoke up without thinking.
“I can turn it on for her if you’d like.”
“Oh, really? That would be wonderful. Seia, give the remote to that nice customer over there. He’ll turn it on for you.”
“Wow! Mister, you’re the best!”
Seia, who had already climbed down from her seat, approached Kang Ji-seok’s table and held out the remote with both hands.
The same smile she had shown earlier when guiding him to his seat still lingered on her face.
“…Alright. What are we looking for?”
“The uncles come out and play ttakji.”
“Hmm… I see. Do you remember the name of the show?”
“Umm….”
What was the program called again?
It hadn’t seemed like particularly difficult words, but since it wasn’t a term she used often, it was hard to remember.
She had been far more interested in the ttakji segment itself than the title.
“What were the uncles wearing?”
“They had furry things covering their ears, and it looked really cold!”
“Cold, with ear muffs… and were the people laughing a lot?”
“Ah, that’s right! They were laughing so much!”
That suggested it was likely a variety show.
And which program was still being heavily rerun these days?
“I think I know what it is. I’ll put it on.”
“Yay!”
After piecing together all the clues Seia had given, he figured out which program she meant.
It was a legendary variety show, after all.
Even now, you could watch every episode from the first to the last on reruns.
He quickly checked on his phone which episode featured the ttakji segment and turned it to the right one.
The program began with a familiar theme song.
—Dear viewers…
It was a show that brought back wave after wave of memories.
Provan Restaurant had opened around this time of year.
Kang Ji-seok had spent several years working at other restaurants with his brother, building up experience and know-how.
He had focused on management, while his brother handled operations.
They each worked hard to hone their strengths, hired talented chefs they had discovered along the way, and launched Provan Restaurant.
What could possibly go wrong when people pursued their dreams with such passion?
Money? He had believed it would naturally follow if you simply worked hard at what you loved.
But reality hadn’t worked out that way. Little by little, he had begun to compromise, until one day all that remained in front of him was a version of himself that could never return to the past.
“Is it like this? Like this?”
Seia was carefully studying the stances of the ttakji masters on TV.
Something about it felt familiar.
About what made this restaurant so special.
“Here is today’s special. Please enjoy.”
“Thank you.”
The dish was nothing particularly special—just stir-fried pork.
However, it was immediately obvious that they had used ingredients of a quality rarely seen in a small neighborhood diner like this.
The meat and vegetables were thoroughly infused with seasoning.
The meat looked so tender at a glance that he wanted to bite into it right away, while the fresh vegetables made him eager to taste their crisp, natural flavors.
Since it was right in front of him, he could simply eat it.
Part of him wanted to scoop up the sauce with a spoon and devour everything at once, but as someone in the industry, there was a proper order to follow.
First, the meat in the stir-fried pork.
Then, he would taste each of the various vegetables mixed in, one by one.
“Huh.”
From a purely objective standpoint, this dish was of a level that could be served on the menu at Provan Restaurant without any embarrassment.
The meat was chewy yet tender, releasing both the well-absorbed seasoning and its natural juices with every bite.
The sweet and spicy flavor of the sauce harmonized perfectly with the rich aroma of the meat.
Even at this point it was already a delicious stir-fried pork dish, but there were still the vegetables that had been stir-fried alongside it.
If meat had its juices, vegetables had their own fresh essence.
While different in taste from meat juices, the natural umami of the vegetables and their unique textures kept the dish from ever feeling monotonous.
As the CEO of a renowned restaurant.
As someone who had traveled far and wide in search of skilled chefs and sampled countless dishes.
And to top it all off, the perfectly steamed white rice.
When paired with a generous scoop of the stir-fried pork over that fluffy rice, it surpassed the flavor of any stir-fried pork he had known before.
He tried the rice on its own.
He tried it with the miyeok guk that had come on the side.
He even wrapped it in lettuce.
He exhausted every possible way one could enjoy a single dish called stir-fried pork.
The plate that had been heaped with stir-fried pork was soon empty, as was the bowl of miyeok guk.
There was no need to even mention the rice.
And what about the side dishes?
Restaurants with truly delicious food always started with excellent banchan.
It meant they were faithful to the fundamentals.
There was a part of him that didn’t want to admit it.
The skills of this much younger man were far greater than he had expected.
But strangely, that made it all the more fortunate.
Since he could genuinely acknowledge the taste, it was only natural that there would be fierce competition among VIPs for a seat.
“I got it!”
Just as Kang Ji-seok was organizing his thoughts, Seia’s voice rang out through the restaurant once more.
She had been running simulations in her head while watching the TV, and had finally discovered the ultimate winning strategy for ttakji.
And at just the right moment, Kang Ji-seok’s own mind felt lighter as well.
“Thank you for the meal.”
“Thank you. Please come again.”
When he saw that the payment was by card, he briefly considered having Seia handle it, but seeing how she had gained such a great realization, Jungwoo gave up on the idea and finished the transaction himself.
“By the way, does today’s special change every day?”
“I’m trying my best to make that happen as much as possible.”
“And that writing on the board—was it done by your daughter?”
“Yes. She’s my daughter.”
“She must have written it herself.”
“That’s right. We’re practicing dictation as well. Haha.”
Seeing Jungwoo smile somewhat bashfully, the background checks Kang Ji-seok had done while trying to investigate Seona’s Restaurant now weighed on his conscience.
“Here is my business card.”
“Ah, yes. I don’t have any cards… haha.”
“That’s quite alright.”
Jungwoo, who had accepted the card, looked quite surprised.
After all, he already knew about Provan Restaurant.
He’s… the owner?
After watching him savor each ingredient so carefully, Jungwoo had assumed he was someone deeply interested in both cooking and fine dining, but he never imagined the man was the owner of Provan Restaurant.
“If you ever stop by, I would be happy to treat you to a meal.”
“Thank you. I’ll definitely come. I’ve been wanting to visit.”
Provan Restaurant was quite an upscale establishment.
He had known about it but never dared to go, and now its owner had suddenly appeared before him.
Today really did seem like a lucky day.
His first time running the restaurant had gone well, and he had even made a new connection like this.
“You’re welcome anytime. Just show them my card, and the staff will guide you right away.”
“Yes, thank you. I’ll be sure to come with Seia.”
And so their new connection took his leave.
The now-empty seat was soon claimed by Seia, who had become a master of ttakji.
With the customer gone, Seia brought over the paper she had bought earlier, clearly eager to fold more ttakji, but she didn’t rush him.
After all, once customers left, it was time to clean up first.
“Daddy. Seia cleaned up too.”
“Oh, you did?”
While he had been briefly chatting with the customer, Seia had finished tidying everything.
It was naturally a bit clumsy, but with just a few quick adjustments, it was perfectly presentable.
“What a good girl. Our Seia.”
“Hehe.”
Cleaning up wouldn’t take long now.
He had already taken care of everything that needed doing during the customer’s meal, so all that remained was the dishes.
The dishwashing was finished in the blink of an eye.
As he shook the water from his hands, Seia was already standing behind him, eyes sparkling as she held up the paper.
“Haha, alright. Let’s go.”
“Yay—!”
And so, together with an overjoyed Seia, he sat down at the window seat she loved so much and began folding ttakji with her.