<Episode 13>
<Title: Is there something going on between Hunter Lee Hyunwoo and the bungeoppang shop owner…?>
I went to buy bungeoppang earlier, and the way they were talking felt kinda suspicious lol
Like, “Why did you leave without saying anything…” and stuff… Is there something going on?
– The bungeoppang shop in front of the Management Bureau?
└ Yeah yeah yeah
– No way lol, I heard the bungeoppang owner is F-rank though
└ What’s wrong with being F-rank;;
└ They’re talking about the rank difference. Why are you sweating over it…
– Honestly, I saw them too… Something about having to return clothes or whatever
└ Exactly ㅠ Did he lend them clothes or something?
– Did the bungeoppang owner grab some kind of weakness on him or what?
– How did they even get acquainted? They literally have no connection points
– Who was asking why someone left without saying anything? Don’t tell me it was Lee Hyunwoo Hunter?
└ Yeah, it was him… He sounded mad while saying it, too
– How do you even get Lee Hyunwoo Hunter to lend you clothes? Unless the clothes suddenly burned off or something…
<Title: But are they really dating? Doesn’t that make zero sense?>
What did the bungeoppang owner even do wrong?
– Huh? What is this all of a sudden? Are those two actually involved?
└ They’re dating, haha
– Stop writing posts like this. They just had a conversation, that’s all
└ Do you know how rare it is for someone to have a private conversation with Lee Hyunwoo Hunter?
└ These are facts…
– Even if they were dating, Lee Hyunwoo Hunter would be the one wasting himself. He’s an S-rank
└ What’s the point of being S-rank kek his personality is trash
└ That’s because of his awakening side effects
└ “Awakening side effects” again… Are you his fan or something?
– Fact: They’re not dating X. They’re just close friends O
– But isn’t the bungeoppang owner scared of Lee Hyunwoo Hunter? Even being near him is insanely oppressiveㅜㅜ
└ Probably because they’re F-rank, their mana capacity is almost nonexistent, right?
– But is it okay to use their real names like this?
└ He’s a noble S-rank, there’s no way he’d ever come to places like this kek
***
“Welco– huh? Jung Haneul!!”
“Shinhye, your unnie’s here!”
Ding dong
As soon as I stepped into the café, Shinhye, who had been making coffee, widened her eyes at the sight of me.
It was the weekend, and I had come to see my best friend in a long time, Shinhye.
“What the heck, you should’ve told me you were coming!”
“I called you, but you didn’t answer.”
“…Ahem. Want some coffee?”
“Of course. I’ll have an iced vanilla latte.”
After placing my usual order, I looked around the café. Vintage decorations I hadn’t seen before were scattered around here and there.
It was a small café that perfectly reflected Shinhye’s taste.
“How’s the shop these days?”
“Don’t even ask. Some vlog must’ve featured us or something, because we’re getting tons of foreign customers now. I even started taking phone English lessons.”
She grumbled that mornings were still quiet, but afternoons were so busy she barely had time to breathe.
Looks like business is still doing well.
“What about you? I heard you’ve been busy lately.”
“Ah… well. Actually, I awakened.”
“Whaaaaat!?!?”
At my shocking announcement, Shinhye’s eyes became huge as lanterns.
It made sense. Both she and I had lived lives completely unrelated to awakenings.
“No way! You awakened all of a sudden? When?”
“Not long ago. Things have been chaotic since awakening, so I missed the timing to tell you.”
Shinhye made coffee at lightning speed and plopped down right beside me.
“What rank? What rank are you?”
Ah… right. Rank.
I awkwardly avoided her gaze and muttered quietly.
“Fff…”
“What?”
“Fff…”
“What?? I can’t hear you!”
“F-rank!!!!”
When I suddenly shouted, Shinhye clapped a hand over her mouth.
Hey, take your hand down. You’re laughing right now, aren’t you?
“Pfft, well… awakening is awakening, hah….”
“Just laugh all you want.”
“Really? Puhahahahahaha!!!!!”
Though it was annoying seeing Shinhye clutch her stomach and roll around laughing, I probably would’ve laughed the same way if she told me she awakened as an F-rank.
‘F-rank really was a bit too much. Even the Hunter Management Bureau won’t accept them.’
Honestly, it was basically the same as being an ordinary civilian.
In fact, some people who awakened as F-rank didn’t even bother calling themselves awakened.
“Whew, I haven’t laughed this hard in forever…. Still, congratulations. Awakening is awakening, at least.”
After laughing for a long while, Shinhye wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. Apparently satisfied with teasing me enough, she calmed her breathing and spoke.
“Oh, right, about the spot where your parents’ restaurant used to be. It’s being run again, just with a slightly changed signboard. Did you know?”
“No? I only heard that the landlord’s daughter was taking it over.”
Shinhye shook her head firmly and opened her phone gallery.
Apparently, she’d been so dumbfounded passing by that she took pictures.
“Here, look. Isn’t it insanely similar?”
“…Wow, this is really too much.”
My parents’ restaurant had been called “Jeongdameun Restaurant.”
But the new place that moved in after we left was called “Jeongdalmeun Restaurant.”
Even from the start, when they repeatedly insisted the interior absolutely not be touched, I’d had a bad feeling… but this was crossing the line.
“That’s it. I’m going over there right now to say something.”
I quickly downed the vanilla latte in front of me and stood up.
I already knew that the woman was strange, but she’d seriously gone too far.
“Go give her a piece of your mind! Jung Haneul fighting!”
With Shinhye’s encouragement behind me, I took a taxi toward the restaurant.
The closer the familiar building got, the more furious I became, to the point my head started hurting.
‘Kicking us out suddenly wasn’t enough, and now they copied the sign too? What kind of nonsense is that!’
When I arrived in front of the restaurant, I let out a hollow laugh.
At a glance, it was hard even to tell what had changed. Even the font style and placement of the sign had been copied exactly… maliciously so.
Grinding my teeth, I strode forward, ready to burst through the door and confront them.
“Oh my, isn’t that Haneul?”
“It is! It’s Haneul!”
At that moment, I turned around at the sound of familiar voices behind me and saw the neighborhood people who had looked after me since childhood. The hair salon owner, the café owner, the real estate lady… all the local neighbors who had pitied me when I was practically chased out and had taken care of me.
“Oh dear, our Haneul. You must’ve suffered so much stress that your face has become half its size.”
“You’re doing okay, right? You disappeared so suddenly, we were worried sick.”
“Yes, I’m doing well. You’ve all been doing well too, right? I’m sorry I couldn’t contact you.”
“Oh goodness, no need to apologize!”
After exchanging greetings for a while, their gazes naturally shifted toward the restaurant behind me. Bitter smiles spread across their faces.
“Haneul… you came because of that restaurant, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I heard they even copied the sign, and I just couldn’t let it go.”
At my answer, the salon owner clicked her tongue sympathetically.
“Don’t even mention it. How shameless can a person be to claim they’re the original without batting an eye? Heaven ought to punish them soon.”
“Sigh, but don’t be too upset. I heard the gukbap tastes completely different now. People from the neighborhood don’t even go near the place anymore. Only outsiders who don’t know any better go there.”
The neighbors gently patted my shoulders to comfort me.
Right. They could steal the restaurant, but they couldn’t copy the taste.
Feeling much calmer, I thanked them.
“Thank you. But since I came all this way, I’m still going to say my piece.”
“Want us to help?”
“No. I’ll do it myself.”
After bowing politely, I forcefully opened the restaurant door and walked inside.
The landlord lady, who had been standing at the counter, met my eyes directly and instantly frowned deeply.
“…Hey, you! What are you doing here?!”
“Is there some reason I’m not allowed to come?”
“Ahem! Well, sure. What, are you here to eat? Gukbap?”
Ha, this woman really had no shame.
She didn’t seem even remotely embarrassed about stealing my parents’ restaurant without a single word.
And though she’d claimed her daughter would run it, the daughter was nowhere to be seen… it looked like the lady herself was acting as the owner. Had she coveted our restaurant that much that she even lied?
“Excuse me, ma’am. Don’t you feel even a little sorry toward me?”
When I raised my voice, the people in the dining hall began glancing over at us.
The flustered woman clearly wanted to drag me outside, but I firmly stood my ground and shouted.
“You suddenly kicked out a restaurant that had been doing perfectly well, and now you’re even running it with a nearly identical sign… does that make you happy?!”
“Oh goodness, you startled me! Why are you yelling?!”
“You think I’m supposed to just stay quiet?”
When I tearfully refused to leave, she started with threats about not returning the deposit, then brought her husband to the restaurant every single day to interfere with business, and even spread low-quality rumors criticizing the place.
Eventually, unable to withstand all of it, we gave up the restaurant.
And now she was running an exact copy of it.
‘…Do you know how hard my parents worked to build this place?’
Looking around, even the menu and setup had been copied identically.
Looking her straight in the eye, I said,
“It’s your building, so you’re free to do whatever you want with it. But pretending this is the same restaurant as my parents’ gukbap place is wrong.”
After slowly scanning the inside of the restaurant, I continued.
“Change the sign immediately, and tell your customers this is a different restaurant.”
“Hah, this girl’s ridiculous…. Stop talking nonsense and leave! Before I call the police for interfering with business!”
The woman, nervously biting her lip, shoved me roughly in the back.
I brushed off her hand and walked out on my own.
‘…They said if I made a wish, I could get the restaurant back. For now, all I can do is wait for that time to come.’
Right now, I have no power to reclaim the restaurant.
For a moment, I closed my eyes at the wave of helplessness washing over me.
‘Mom, why are you always at the restaurant? Isn’t it hard?’
‘When customers eat Mom’s food and become happy, it makes Mom happy too.’
‘Then what about Dad?’
‘Dad’s happy because Mom is happy, of course~’
‘Ehh, what’s that… that’s boring.’
Suddenly, a brief conversation I’d had with my parents as a child came to mind.
The desire to make customers happy. Did that landlord lady, stealing the restaurant and running it for business, possess even a shred of that sincerity?
‘No way.’
I lifted my head and looked at the restaurant.
The familiar place filled with traces of my parents now bore a strange new sign that didn’t belong there.
As I stared at the scene, I made a vow to myself.
That I would reclaim this place, my parents’ restaurant, with my own hands.
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