Place to Be Chapter 12

He wakes up around nine o’clock, tidies the house, and finishes personal errands before heading to the shop by noon. Since he never knows when the supplier might stop by between twelve and one, he has to open the shop before then. Until last year, he was even busier because he went directly to the livestock market, but fortunately, through word of mouth, he was introduced to a good middleman, and things have been much easier since then.

Before the supplier arrives, he sweeps the shop once and boils herbal water to soak the gopchang in; then, after performing only the most basic cleaning on the raw gopchang he receives and letting it soak, the early afternoon begins. He then eats a simple lunch and starts the preparations in earnest. Even though it is called preparation, he spends most of the afternoon cleaning the gopchang. Although his hands are accustomed to it, cleaning a large tub full of gopchang piece by piece is no easy task.

Then, around 4:00 or 5:00 PM, the market begins to bustle as the number of people coming and going increases. From this point on, Seo Chiyoung begins preparing for the evening business. By the time he finishes the seemingly simple but surprisingly labor-intensive tasks—such as trimming vegetables and making the seasoning sauce—it is dinner time. Then, the people who came out for evening grocery shopping filter out, and the spots they leave behind are filled by people coming from nearby offices to eat dinner after work. By the time the dinner hour passes and it is time for drinks, Seo Chiyoung’s cramped shop usually becomes full to capacity.

At the earliest around midnight, or at the latest when the night has grown deep, Seo Chiyoung would busily move back and forth inside the shop until he finally sent out the last customer, concluding his day.

Today is no different from any other such day.

At the usual time, he lifted his heavy eyelids, did a rough cleaning of the house, and came out a little earlier than usual. It was the end of the month, so he had to go to the bank. After finishing miscellaneous errands in the morning, he went to the bank to wire this month’s interest, came to the shop to finish the basic preparations for handling the food ingredients, and was just about to have lunch before starting his day in earnest.

Seo Chiyoung scooped out rice from a pot—cooked to a perfect, fluffy consistency—into a bowl. Recalling the bankbook whose balance had plummeted as soon as he paid off this month’s debt, he calculated next month’s budget in his head. As long as nothing unusual happened, he would manage to scrape by, however tightly.

He doesn’t know when he will finally be able to pay off the debt that still remains at a daunting amount. The sum, which would take an ordinary person decades of backbreaking work to repay, has nonetheless been reduced by nearly half during the last ten or so years, while Seo Chiyoung worked day and night with clenched teeth, without even the time to shed tears. However, that was only possible at a young age when one could digest even stones; after working while neglecting his body and skipping meals, he eventually collapsed and was hospitalized once in a major way. After that, he reduced his workload, and the speed of paying off the debt was no longer as fast as before.

Still, while running this small and shabby shop, growing older without realizing it, and taking moderate care of his body, he has gained the mental leeway to pay it back step by step.

Since the house was lost and the family was scattered, he has never properly gathered in one place with his parents to spend a relaxing time. They occasionally make check-in calls, and once or twice he stops by to see their faces when he heads down to that provincial area. It was only the year before last that he learned his parents—whom he thought were just taking refuge separately—had actually divorced on paper. Their meetings had become infrequent, so they were practically divorced in reality as well.

“…”

Seo Chiyoung let out a silent sigh. He should try calling them later. Come to think of it, he thought next month was his father’s birthday; he wondered how much extra room he had in his bankbook. Thinking of such things, Seo Chiyoung pulled his rice bowl toward him.

Lunch was simple, as always. He had to fill his stomach quickly and start his afternoon work, so he didn’t have the peace of mind to lay out various dishes and eat in the shop. Today, as well, rice topped with a raw egg and a couple of side dishes were everything.

However, thinking of the years when he went days without even a proper single meal, Seo Chiyoung picked up his spoon with a heart that was grateful for even this much.

“Thanks for the food,” Seo Chiyoung muttered to himself. He was just about to put a spoonful of rice—mixed with the seasoning sauce and raw egg—into his mouth when it happened.

“Hello…”

There was someone lifting the plastic tent while greeting in a cheerful voice. Seo Chiyoung stopped mid-motion with the spoon he was about to put in his mouth and stared at the person who walked in with a refreshing stride. The person, who had entered with a smile, also came to a halt and briefly wiped the smile from his face.

On a weekday afternoon, at a time he never would have expected, the visitor was the man he had been seeing at least once a week lately, Jang Wigeon.

It felt as though the narrow plastic tent became packed just by that large frame taking one step inside. Yet, the reason it didn’t feel stifling or suffocating was likely due to that pleasant and bright smile he almost always wore on his face. Even though that smile had vanished for a moment just now.

“Uh…”

“…, I haven’t started business yet…”

Seo Chiyoung, who had put down his spoon and stood up awkwardly from the plastic chair, said while habitually wiping his dry hands on his apron. Jang Wigeon scanned the inside of the shop, moving only his eyes. The empty tables with neatly tucked-in chairs, the large rubber basin on the floor containing pale raw gopchang, and the rubber gloves draped over the basin as if he had just taken them off while working, clearly revealed the fact that it was still far from the time to start business.

“When do you start?”

“It has to be around four or five in the afternoon…”

Jang Wigeon frowned slightly and checked his watch. There were still three or four hours left until the time Seo Chiyoung mentioned.

“I was supposed to meet Junyoung here during the day…”

Only after hearing Jang Wigeon mutter vaguely to himself did Seo Chiyoung recall the man who had stopped by late last night. He had said the two of them would meet today during the day. However, he thought the man had said he would call to push the time back; perhaps they hadn’t been able to get in touch.

Jang Wigeon took out his phone and pressed the buttons, but as if the other party wasn’t picking up, he held the phone to his ear for a while before hanging up.

“Is this guy sleeping with his phone on silent again, maybe… I even ran out here without eating for fear of being late.”

Jang Wigeon muttered while clicking his tongue. He then stands there blankly, as if wondering what to do. Seo Chiyoung, who was just about to eat lunch, couldn’t sit back down and was facing him. Jang Wigeon looked around the shop once more and asked.

“Are you not doing business at all right now?”

“Yes…”

“… What’s this?”

Jang Wigeon asked, looking down at the meal Seo Chiyoung had stopped eating. Seo Chiyoung followed his gaze and looked down at his own lunch in turn.

Freshly made pot rice with a raw egg topped with seasoning sauce, seasoned vegetables, and a little bit of gopchang left over from yesterday’s sales.

Since there was no food there that couldn’t be recognized by sight, Seo Chiyoung wondered for a moment what he was referring to before answering, “It’s my lunch.”

“Do you sell it stir-fried white here too? I thought there was only spicy seasoning.”

Only after looking at the gopchang the man pointed to with a tilt of his chin did Seo Chiyoung realize what he was pointing at. When sold at the shop, the gopchang is served stir-fried spicily, so it would be different from what he usually ate.

“Ah… that’s because this is just stir-fried with perilla powder and a little bit of salt and pepper.”

“Hmm.”

“… It doesn’t taste like much… I’m just eating it without seasoning to finish off the leftovers…”

Seo Chiyoung muttered as if making an excuse to Jang Wigeon, who was staring intently at the side dish. Still, Jang Wigeon did not avert his gaze and continued to look at that white stir-fried gopchang, and Seo Chiyoung opened his mouth hesitantly.

“Would you… like to try some…?”

He was reluctant to offer such a humble side dish made to roughly tide him over for a meal, but since the man was staring so intently, he asked out of politeness. Then, Jang Wigeon replied without hesitation, “Oh, is that okay?” and sat down after pulling a chair over with a broad smile.