Place to Be Chapter 61

“I have it with me right now. …Since you happen to be at the site of the new shop, should I bring it over there? It just so happens that I have some free time at the moment…”

The location of the new shop, where the Hanok reconstruction was currently underway, was not that far from Seo Chiyoung’s own shop. It was a distance that felt just a bit too far to walk, but even at a leisurely pace, it would only take about 20 minutes to get there.

He had a little over two hours of spare time. That was more than enough time to walk there and back.

『Ah, you don’t have to go that far… But why do you suddenly have free time? Do you have a lot of it?』

“Oh, yes… well, the person who delivers the ingredients said they’d be a bit late, so for about two hours or so…”

『Two hours? Ah, well then, we should grab a meal together. I’d love to host you at our shop, but since it’s under construction right now, there’s nothing but dust. Let’s go somewhere else nearby.』

Jang Wigeon spoke with a laugh. Seo Chiyoung felt unnecessarily shy and turned around, murmuring a small, “Yes, then I’ll head over.” He quickened his pace, thinking the other man seemed to be in a hurry.

『Where are you now? It would be great if I could pick you up, but a client is scheduled to arrive here in just a moment…』

“Uh, right now, I’m at the Nonghyup bank in front of my house… If there’s something you need from the notebook right away, should I read it out to you?”

Wondering if it was something needed for that client, Seo Chiyoung pulled out the notebook while walking and asked. While he worried about whether it was alright to flip through someone else’s notebook, he held it in one hand and listened closely to the phone. Jang Wigeon, who seemed to be calculating the time by saying, “Nonghyup… if you come from there, it’ll take roughly…”, soon spoke up readily, saying it was fine.

『It’s okay. I just need to place the order before lunch. It’s quite a distance to walk, so take a taxi.』

“A taxi… I think I’d get scolded if I took one.”

Seo Chiyoung spoke as if troubled, thinking of the distance that was a bit far to walk but too close to take a taxi, and Jang Wigeon laughed. The sound of the laughter coming through the phone was pleasant to hear, so Seo Chiyoung listened intently.

『Wait a moment. Then… it’s difficult for me to go personally right now, so I’ll send someone. Wait there in front.』

“Pardon? Oh, ah, no. I can get there quickly on foot. I’m on my way now. I’ve already left the front of the bank.”

Seo Chiyoung moved his feet hurriedly, even waving his hand though the other man couldn’t see him, and Jang Wigeon laughed as if he had no choice.

“Alright then, I’ll be waiting,” the gentle voice said, lingering in his ear as the call ended.

He knew where the shop was located. It was along a road just below a mineral spring, occupying a small plot on the path leading up to a cathedral, in a quiet residential area where modest houses lined the hillside. He had a rough idea of where an old Hanok in that area would be. He had seen it occasionally while passing by. It was a house with a lush, beautiful magnolia tree next to the main gate, surrounded by a low wall.

Sure enough, the house that had always been tightly locked had its gate removed and was wide open. Inside, timber and sub-materials were piled in the yard as if construction were in full swing. He could also see people in loose clothing and white gloves moving back and forth.

Seo Chiyoung, who had been shrinking back slightly from the moment he entered the wooden gate—which possessed an old, elegant charm like an ancient temple hidden at the foot of a cozy mountain—looked for Jang Wigeon, and Jang Wigeon appeared from somewhere almost immediately. Seeing him smile brightly and say, “Mr. Chiyoung, you’re here?”, Seo Chiyoung finally let a smile spread across his face as well.

When Seo Chiyoung held out the notebook first, Jang Wigeon said, “Thank you,” and flipped through it on the spot. He then called over a man in a suit, who was talking with a laborer in front of a small building a short distance away, and handed him the open notebook. Seeing him tell the man to place an order somewhere immediately, it seemed that although he had spoken leisurely about only needing to order before lunch, it had been a rather urgent matter.

While Jang Wigeon discussed a few other things with the man in the suit—things Seo Chiyoung couldn’t quite understand—Seo Chiyoung blankly looked around the surroundings.

It was a house where one could see at a glance that it was old. It wasn’t that it was shabby. It was an elegant house that held a worn, calm charm, making one fall in love with it at first sight. Large, beautiful trees grew along the walls of the spacious property.

Suddenly, he was reminded of a house he had lived in long ago. The house Seo Chiyoung had lived in before his family scattered was a single-story residence. It wasn’t an ancient, beautiful home like this, but an extremely common single-story house; nevertheless, because of his plant-loving mother, the yard had been thick with trees. They weren’t very large trees since the house wasn’t that big.

Most of the other buildings remained almost as they were, but the sarangchae—the detached guest house—which occupied the widest space in the inner yard, looked exceptionally skeletal because the doors and floors had been ripped out, likely because it was the focus of the reconstruction.

Seo Chiyoung was thinking regretfully that it must have originally been a very spacious and imposing building when Jang Wigeon approached him, having finished his conversation with the man in the suit.

“The moment I saw this house, I loved it at first sight and knew I had to take it. The overall atmosphere of the place itself was great, and each building was good, so I worried quite a bit about how to handle the construction. I felt like it would be a shame no matter what I touched. So, I called people over for several days and agonized over it before coming to a decision I could be satisfied with.”

Seo Chiyoung followed Jang Wigeon as he moved a few steps ahead, gesturing for him to come along.

“The building currently under construction is the sarangchae, which will be used as the shop. Since the other areas will be used for different purposes, we’re mainly working on this building, and the others will be used almost as they are. It was originally a house where people lived, so the previous owner had already modernized things like the heating and the bathrooms.”

As they climbed a few stone steps, the sarangchae with various parts torn away came into full view. With all the doors removed and the wooden floors ripped out, the sarangchae looked like an unfinished building. Yet, that old wooden structure, which appeared to be nothing but a roof and a skeleton, did not look gaunt or poor, as it still held the traces of time etched into it over many years.

“We should be able to finish the construction before it gets cold. We’re working during the perfect season, so the workers and I have been spared a lot of hardship.”

“The timing for the shop opening might become a bit awkward, though,” Jang Wigeon said with a troubled laugh. Even if the construction ended before it got cold, by the time they prepared this and that and got ready, it would be the cold season. “You’re right, it will be awkward,” Seo Chiyoung murmured worriedly, which caused the shop owner himself, Jang Wigeon, to burst into laughter.

“Since Mr. Chiyoung is worrying so seriously, I’ll have to set my mind firmly and make sure the shop succeeds.”

As he was looking at the laughing Jang Wigeon with a slightly embarrassed feeling, someone called out to Jang Wigeon from further inside. Hearing them say someone was looking for him, something was wrong, or something needed to be checked, it seemed he was busy.

Jang Wigeon clicked his tongue.

“I’ll be back in a moment, Mr. Chiyoung. Please take a look around the house for a bit. I’ll be quick.”

“Uh… well, you seem busy, so I should probably be going…”

When Seo Chiyoung spoke hesitantly to Jang Wigeon, who had just turned to head down from the sarangchae, Jang Wigeon paused, frowned slightly, and waved his hand.

“We agreed to eat together. I’ve already contacted a Korean restaurant nearby to say we’re coming. I’ll be back soon, so look around.”

Without giving Seo Chiyoung a chance to say anything, Jang Wigeon told him to wait and strode further inside. Behind him, Seo Chiyoung stared at his retreating back with a troubled face, saying, “Uh…”

He thought that since the man was busy, there was no need to squeeze out time just for him, but because of the mention that he had already contacted a place, Seo Chiyoung felt too guilty to cancel and couldn’t bring himself to leave. He stood there dazed for a moment, hesitating, and then decided to look around the house while waiting for him to return, just as Jang Wigeon had said. Ever since the past, whenever he occasionally passed by this road, he had thought to himself that it was a very pretty house, based only on the trees and roof visible over the wall.

“…”