Chapter 27
“What?”
“A night market?”
At Hayun’s words, everyone opened their eyes wide as if they had been struck on the head with a hammer.
“From sulsi (8 p.m.) until jasi (midnight).”
Hayun paused to catch her breath before continuing.
“We’ll open the market after the sun goes down.”
Hayun’s idea was simple.
But it was also the sort of idea that wasn’t easy to come up with.
“If we open the market then, we can avoid the heat wave and avoid competing with the other markets at the same time. Wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?”
“Th-that kind of method……!”
It was an idea that turned conventional thinking upside down.
If Song Do-hyeon’s idea was merely to cover the market, Hayun’s idea was to cover the sky.
“If we open the market at night, at least it won’t be hot…?”
“It’s definitely bearable as long as there’s shade.”
“It’s not just bearable. It’s like heaven and earth. Isn’t it?”
“Wow, it’d basically be a natural shade canopy, wouldn’t it?”
As poor market merchants, they couldn’t afford to put up expensive shade canopies. So even at noon, when the heat was at its peak, they continued doing business under the scorching sun.
The blazing sunlight not only caused food to spoil easily, but also faded the colors of silk. Merchants exhausted by the heat also became irritable easily and couldn’t properly attend to customers.
But if they did business at night, all these problems would be solved, and without spending a single penny.
“Wait a moment.”
However, there was one major restriction on opening a night market.
Someone pointed it out.
“Who says we can just open a market at night whenever we want?”
“Why? Can’t we open a market at night?”
“That’s not it. There’s a curfew. A curfew.”
“A curfew…!”
The problem was that this was the Joseon era.
The curfew in Joseon began at 10 p.m. After that time, anyone wandering around the streets would be arrested and taken to the government office.
“Are you trying to get all of us dragged off to the government office for opening a market at night?”
There was a reason night markets had never been opened until now.
It wasn’t because people hadn’t thought of the idea.
It was simply because the system wasn’t in place to support it yet.
Various other objections poured out as well.
“If it’s after sulsi, that gives us only about two hours. Will that really be enough?”
“You also have to consider the time customers need to return home. Don’t you?”
“We need time to finish our business and clean up, too.”
“What? Then we’d actually have less than two hours?”
Hayun also looked flustered by the unexpected turn of events.
“Th-that…!”
But the advertising industry was unpredictable by nature.
In this field, you never knew when or what kind of problem would suddenly arise.
The posters that were supposed to be ready by tomorrow wouldn’t be finished, and typos would somehow appear no matter how many dozens of times you checked.
A good planner had to be able to respond flexibly to any situation.
‘It doesn’t matter if it’s short. No, I’ll make use of that instead!’
Hayun knew the appeal of night markets from having experienced modern ones.
The appeal that a night market possessed.
In the evening, after the sun had set. The darkness of night, illuminated by lights, transformed the market into a completely different place.
Whenever she visited a market at that time, everything somehow seemed fascinating and interesting.
Everything looked more splendid for no particular reason, looked more delicious for no particular reason, and made her want to own it for no particular reason.
So she would end up buying things she normally wouldn’t have bought. Even waiting in line for several hours didn’t bother her.
Because the night market itself was a form of content. Simply visiting a night market was enough to make people excited.
Knowing this, Hayun continued pushing her idea to the very end.
“Even if we only open for one hour, it doesn’t matter! As long as we open the night market, customers will come pouring in like clouds!”
But despite Hayun’s pleading, the majority of opinions remained negative.
“What difference would it really make if we kept the market open at night?”
“If we open the market at night and even the few customers we get stop coming, are you going to take responsibility for that?”
“Look at us right now. The sun is already going down, but there isn’t a single customer in sight.”
“Still, telling us to give up daytime business… I don’t know about this.”
In the end, the merchants of Eun-pyeong Market turned their backs one by one and left.
“I understand what you’re trying to do, but this place isn’t going to change just because of something like that.”
“A night market, my foot. If anything, we’d be better off opening the market early at dawn.”
“There’s nothing more to hear. Let’s just go home.”
“Geez, we wasted our time for nothing.”
Complaints could be heard among the departing merchants. Hayun stared at them with a dazed expression.
“This can’t be happening…”
Was it really impossible to open a night market in this era?
Were they really right, and was she wrong?
Even after thinking about it dozens of times, there was only one answer.
‘No. This is absolutely going to work! There’s no way this project can fail!’
Her experiences told her so.
The night market had no choice but to succeed.
Hayun clenched both fists and steeled herself.
If she were going to give up over something this minor, she wouldn’t have stepped forward in the first place.
‘I don’t need those people’s approval anyway.’
If they wouldn’t open a night market willingly, she could simply open it by force.
If customers poured in during the evening, they would have a hard time opposing the night market anymore.
In a market, no matter what anyone said, the customer was king.
‘I’ll draw the people in first!’
Having formed her own plan, Hayun gazed at Eun-pyeong Market with meaningful eyes.
The market under the sunset had an eerie atmosphere.
‘Eun-pyeong Market… I’ll make the most of this place’s characteristics. Heh heh.’
As though a good idea had occurred to her, the corners of Hayun’s lips curled upward.
***
The next day.
The place Hayun visited at the crack of dawn wasn’t Eun-pyeong Market, but a carpenter’s workshop.
Carpenter Hwang, the owner of the workshop, recognized Hayun and welcomed her warmly.
“Why, what brings you here?”
“I came because I wanted to see Carpenter Hwang. How have you been?”
“Thanks to you, I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to breathe. I worked myself to the bone making wooden boxes for an entire month.”
Contrary to his complaints, Carpenter Hwang’s face was filled with a smile.
Thanks to Hayun, work came rolling in every year during the holidays, so how could he not be happy?
“I ate the dried yellow croaker you sent me back then.”
On top of that, Hayun hadn’t forgotten Carpenter Hwang’s hard work and had sent him a box of dried yellow croaker as a holiday gift.
Thanks to that, he had been able to hold his head high in front of his relatives. Carpenter Hwang looked warmly at Hayun.
“But what are you here to make this time?”
“Huh? How did you know?”
“It’s obvious. There’s no way you’d just come here for no reason.”
Having been hit right on the mark, Hayun smiled sheepishly.
Then she got straight to the point.
“Can you make statues here as well?”
“Statues? What are you going to use those for?”
“That’s still a secret.”
As she said that, Hayun looked at the jangseung standing at the entrance of the carpenter’s workshop.
The jangseung, with its glaring eyes, gave off an atmosphere as though it could yell at someone at any moment.
“Well… I can make them. Depending on the size and shape, it’ll take some time.”
“That’s great. Then please take a look at this.”
Hayun pulled out the design she had prepared.
“Huh?”
The smile that had been on Carpenter Hwang’s face stiffened, and he soon looked at Hayun with concern.
“You want me to make this hideous thing?”
“Yes. If it’s possible to make it like this.”
“It is possible to make it, but… are you sure?”
Hayun nodded affirmatively. Even so, concern remained on Carpenter Hwang’s face.
“Hmm. What on earth are you planning to use it for…”
His hesitation didn’t last long.
He had already decided to accommodate everything Hayun asked for from the beginning.
Carpenter Hwang readily agreed.
“Well, all right. I’ll get started as soon as I obtain the wood for it. To make a statue this size, ordinary wood won’t do.”
“Thank you.”
Hayun bowed her head.
Then she made one more request.
“And would it be possible to make something like masks as well?”
“Masks too?”
Once again, it was difficult to figure out what they were for.
Hayun pointed at the face in the statue design.
“You can make the mask look like this too. Just make it a size that a person can wear.”
“Heh heh. I really have no idea what you’re planning to do.”
The statue Hayun had requested was something Carpenter Hwang had never made even once before.
To be honest, it was bizarre. Two horns jutted up from the top of its head, and long, sharp teeth protruded from its gaping mouth.
Its appearance was so menacing that it would be fortunate if it didn’t appear in one’s nightmares.
‘Is she planning to set up some kind of shaman’s shrine…?’
But he had already decided that if it was a request from Hayun, he would put everything else aside to fulfill it.
Carpenter Hwang nodded.
“Well, why not give it a try?”
Once he agreed, Hayun bowed her head.
“Please take good care of it. Let me know as soon as the statue is finished.”
“All right. I’ll send word to Mansang.”
“Then take care.”
After leaving the commission with Carpenter Hwang, Hayun hurriedly moved on to the next place.
***
The next place Hayun visited was an ordinary street market.
There was practically nothing in the street market. No merchants selling goods. No sights to catch people’s attention. It was simply a quiet street with hardly any people around.
“This should do.”
Hayun shifted her gaze to one side. There were children running around the street as though it were their own home.
“Hey! Stop right there!”
“Bleh~ Do you really think you can catch me?”
“You little–just wait until I catch you!”
At a time when everyone was busy with their livelihoods, the true owners of the street were none other than the children.
Hayun approached the children.
“Hello, kids.”
“Who are you……?”
The children exchanged wary glances when a stranger spoke to them.
“I’m not a bad person, so don’t worry.”
With that, Hayun took out the pumpkin taffy she had bought at Eun-pyeong Market a while ago.
“Wow, pumpkin taffy!”
“That looks delicious!”
The moment they saw the pumpkin taffy, the children’s wariness melted away like snow.
In Joseon, pumpkin taffy was one of the finest snacks imaginable.
“Are you giving that to us?”
“If you do one favor for me.”
“What kind of favor?”
Even as they answered, the children’s eyes remained fixed entirely on the pumpkin taffy.
Swish. Swish.
Hayun playfully waved the pumpkin taffy from side to side. The children’s eyes followed it from side to side.
“I’ll give you this pumpkin taffy, so could you go around the neighborhood and sing one song for me?”
“What song?”
The children already seemed won over. As long as they got the pumpkin taffy, they looked ready to agree to just about anything.
“Heh.”
Perhaps finding their behavior cute, Hayun let out a short laugh. Then she cleared her throat.
“Ahem, ahem.”
After briefly testing her voice, Hayun began singing the song she had prepared.
♪ Every night, at eight!
♪ Eun-pyeong Market Goblin Fair!
♪ Open for just one hour!
♪ Come late, and it’ll be over!
The song Hayun had just sung was an imitation of an advertising jingle she had heard in the past.
The shorter and simpler the lyrics, the more easily they remained in people’s memories. On top of that, an addictive melody had the advantage of making people hum along without even realizing it.
When the song ended, Hayun belatedly became embarrassed and scratched her head.
“How was it? Easy, right?”
“Is that all?”
“Yeah, that’s all.”
Hayun looked at the children anxiously.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the fate of Eun-pyeong Market depended on this song.
‘Will the children actually be able to memorize this song?’
She wasn’t certain.
It wasn’t a difficult song, but every single lyric was important.
If they got the market’s name wrong, everything would be for nothing. They couldn’t get the time wrong, either. They had to convey the lyrics exactly as they were.
But her worries didn’t last long.
“Every night, at eight!”
The children began humming the song on their own, without Hayun even telling them to, thanks to its highly addictive melody.
“Eun-pyeong Market! Goblin Fair!”
“Open for just one hour!”
“Come late, and it’ll be over!”
Once children got hooked on something, they would repeat it for days on end. They hummed it constantly, whether they were eating or sleeping.
Hayun knew this, which was why she had chosen children as her target.
“Wow! That’s amazing!”
Hayun patted the children’s heads.
“Perfect! Now, will you go around the neighborhoods and sing that song?”
“Yes, if you give us pumpkin taffy.”
“Then of course I’ll give you as much as you want. Here, eat to your heart’s content.”
“Wow! Pumpkin taffy!”
As payment, Hayun handed out all the pumpkin taffy she had to the children.
“Eun-pyeong Market! Goblin Fair!”
“Open for just one hour!”
“Come late, and it’ll be over!”
After receiving the pumpkin taffy, the children became even more excited and began singing at the top of their lungs.
Their singing continued until the children disappeared down the alley.
Hayun watched them with satisfaction.
“That completes all the preparations.”
Goblin statues, goblin masks, a goblin market.
The theme of the night market Hayun had prepared was goblins. More specifically, a goblin market that would open for exactly one hour.
‘It’s perfect for the atmosphere of Eun-pyeong Market.’
Since Eun-pyeong Market was already eerie to begin with, there was no need to change it much. Put up a few goblin statues and wear the masks, and the Goblin Market would be complete in an instant.
It was a setting that fit the desolate Eun-pyeong Market, where there was practically nothing, perfectly. Bringing out the best possible plan even in the worst possible circumstances.
That was Hayun’s ability.
‘Now all I have to do is wait. Until the sun goes down.’
Hayun gazed at the evening sunset with a meaningful expression.
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