<Episode 46>
“Goodness, why does the atmosphere in the shop feel so strange?”
“Hahaha… Does it really seem that weird?”
“It feels kind of gloomy? That’s odd. The weather outside is clear.”
The customer who had just received her tteokbokki shivered and rubbed her arms.
The shop was usually full of life, but today, she said, the mood felt off.
Of course, the reason was obvious.
“Haah…”
It was because of me, standing there absentmindedly grilling bungeoppang.
Ari even said it looked like a dark raincloud was hanging over my head.
‘…She must be really upset.’
Since that day, Juhee had stopped coming to the shop.
It was completely different from before, when she would come for bungeoppang whenever she wasn’t entering a gate.
“Unni, is something wrong?”
“No, it’s nothing. I’m just not feeling very well.”
I quietly apologized.
When I was depressed, the mood of the shop sank with me.
Even Ari was watching me cautiously.
I knew I shouldn’t be running the shop like this, but my mood kept hitting rock bottom.
I had finally realized just how awful my behavior that day had been.
‘I should’ve considered that this wasn’t just a simple request… it was Juhee’s family issue. I was too reckless.’
The system window always conveniently gave me missions whenever something happened.
It seemed I’d gotten used to that.
Even after hearing Gong Juwon’s request, all I had thought was:
‘I wonder what the reward will be this time?’
I felt pathetic.
‘…I never really thought about how Juhee would feel.’
Juhee had been right.
I had arrogantly assumed I could repair their relationship.
That was why I hadn’t even tried to learn what had happened between her and Gong Juwon before bringing him up so casually.
“Boss? Are you okay?”
“Are you sick?”
Some customers who noticed my condition approached with concern.
I shook my head and forced a weak smile.
“I’m really okay. Thank you for worrying about me.”
There was something else I had realized, though much too late.
The Juhee whom I always thought was difficult to deal with…
Somewhere along the way, I had become comfortable around her.
I smiled bitterly.
‘What good is realizing that now?’
If I’d noticed sooner, maybe I could have approached her more carefully.
I spent the morning digging myself deeper into that pit of regret.
Then…
“This won’t do.”
Ari walked over to me and spoke in a determined voice.
“Ever since you talked privately with Juhee unni the other day, you’ve been acting way too strange. Something happened, didn’t it?”
“No, it’s not that–”
“I can tell, you know.”
Well, she had been watching me the whole time.
There was no way she wouldn’t notice.
Unable to meet her eyes, I nodded slightly.
“I guess you were the one who messed up, right? If it was Juhee Unni’s fault, you wouldn’t be this depressed.”
“…Yeah. That’s true.”
Ari put her hands on her hips and flashed a grin.
There was even a hint of playfulness in her smile.
“Being all droopy like this doesn’t suit you, Unni. Why don’t you just apologize first?”
“But Juhee probably doesn’t even want to see me…”
“No way. Trust me!”
Then she sent me a message.
When I checked my phone, there was an address I didn’t recognize.
Wait.
Could this address be…?
“Juhee unni took a vacation day today and is at home. Why not go see her before it’s too late?”
Apparently, Juhee had once given Ari her address and told her to come visit sometime.
I stared blankly at the address before looking up.
Wait a second.
Was she seriously telling me to go right now?
What about the shop?
“I can handle the shop by myself! You said it yourself, I’m an A+ employee!”
Then she stuffed a huge amount of packaged food into my hands.
“Delicious food always helps. Just like ‘that time’!”
“That time?”
“When Suhyeon and I had our fight!”
Ari winked.
Come to think of it, the situations were very similar.
Friends of the same age.
Misunderstandings.
Arguments.
Eventually, I nodded.
“Thanks, Ari. I’ll go see Juhee as you said.”
And just like that, for the first time, I left the shop during business hours.
A cold wind whooshed past me.
Yet strangely, I didn’t feel anxious.
I felt refreshed.
‘Maybe I should give Ari a bonus when I get back.’
***
“I have no idea why you’re here at this hour… but come in first.”
Fortunately, although Juhee looked reluctant, she still let me into her house.
I was genuinely relieved she hadn’t slammed the door in my face.
‘The interior is exactly what I’d expect from Juhee.’
Elegant marble floors.
Luxurious paintings decorate the walls.
Not too large, not too small for someone living alone.
And despite my sudden visit, everything was neatly organized.
She was apparently tidier than I’d expected.
“Your place is really nice. It even smells amazing.”
“I-I don’t need compliments! Why did you suddenly come here? What are you trying to say this time?”
Wearing a white nightgown with lace trim, Juhee folded her arms and glared at me.
After hesitating briefly, I got straight to the point.
“…Actually, I came because I wanted to apologize.”
Juhee’s eyes widened.
“An apology?”
“Yeah. You were right. I was reckless. I think I really did believe I could solve everything. I shouldn’t have.”
I calmly admitted my mistake.
Completing the request was important.
But Juhee was more important to me.
Once I acknowledged that fact, my heart felt lighter.
“I spoke without knowing anything. I’m really sorry.”
“W-Wait! You’re seriously doing this?”
Rather than accepting my apology immediately, Juhee looked completely flustered and took a step back.
Her lips moved several times as if she had a lot she wanted to say.
Eventually, she let out a small sigh.
“…Well, it’s not like you knew. I’ll forgive you.”
Then, looking embarrassed, she twirled a lock of her wavy hair around her finger.
“Now that I think about it, maybe I overreacted too… I was going to apologize too! I just couldn’t find the right timing!”
Juhee suddenly raised her voice and started rubbing the floor with her slipper, claiming there was dust there.
Her reaction was so transparent and adorable that I couldn’t help laughing.
“W-What? Why are you laughing?”
“I’m just happy. To me, you’re much more important than Gong Juwon.”
And apparently, my honest words worked better than expected.
Juhee visibly softened.
Watching the corners of her mouth slowly rise, I let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
“Oh, right. I brought you a gift.”
“A gift?”
“Yeah. Bungeoppang. And fish cake. And tteokbokki. I brought a lot so we could eat together.”
As I pulled out the food Ari had packed from my inventory, Juhee’s eyes shook violently.
“B-Bungeoppang…”
Juhee used to practically stamp an attendance card at my shop with how often she visited.
But it had been quite a while since she’d stopped coming altogether.
Even if she didn’t say it, she had probably missed our food a lot.
Grinning, I shook the bag of bungeoppang.
“Smell it. It’s fresh off the grill. Nice and warm.”
“…Since you brought it all the way here, I guess I should eat a few. Sit wherever.”
We spread the food across the dining table.
Juhee approached quietly and began eating with a bungeoppang in one hand and a fish cake skewer in the other.
The moment she took a bite, her eyes widened.
Then she started eating faster.
“…Were you hungry?”
“N-No!”
But for someone who wasn’t hungry, she was eating remarkably fast.
Instead of teasing her like usual, I simply smiled.
Juhee handed me a pair of chopsticks and bravely picked up some tteokbokki.
Didn’t she hate spicy food?
As I watched in confusion, she spoke.
“…Well. Today’s a special day, so maybe a little is okay.”
Apparently, she didn’t want to leave the food I had brought untouched.
Watching her confidently eat the tteokbokki only to immediately gulp down milk because it was too spicy, I finally burst out laughing.
“Whew… I’m full.”
“Yeah. I guess I’ll need to exercise more than usual today.”
Most of the food we had brought was gone by now.
Juhee scanned the table with slightly regretful eyes, as if she hadn’t intended to eat quite this much.
“…That person won’t come again, right?”
“Who? Your brother?”
“Brother, my foot. Don’t call him that. We’re worse than strangers.”
Juhee grumbled.
Leaning slightly toward her, I carefully asked,
“…Could you tell me what happened? If it’s uncomfortable, you don’t have to.”
After hesitating, Juhee finally seemed to make up her mind.
“When we were first-year high school students… do you remember our school trip?”
The moment she brought up the high school trip, the memory came flooding back vividly.
‘How could I forget?’
‘A gate erupted on the day we were returning from that school trip.’
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