Chapter 6
A little while later.
After arriving at Insaeng Jumak, Dal-jae couldn’t help but doubt his own eyes.
“What in tarnation is all that?”
Even though lunchtime had long since passed, people were lined up all the way around the corner of the wall.
It was a stark contrast to Sanmaru Jumak, where not even a shadow of a customer could be seen.
‘They’re waiting in line? At a tavern?’
In all his years of running a tavern, he had never seen anything like this.
A tavern was simply a place where you walked in and sat down. Then you curtly ordered a bowl of gukbap, and that was it. Nothing else was necessary.
But they were actually standing in line and waiting.
It was difficult for Dal-jae to comprehend with his common sense.
‘Just what is so special about this place…?’
It was difficult to overcome his curiosity.
As the owner of a competing tavern, he would obviously be in an awkward position if they found out he had come here, but he couldn’t simply return empty-handed.
“Ahem. Ahem.”
Covering his face, Dal-jae went to the very back of the line and took his place.
That was when it happened.
“Is this your first time here?”
Suddenly, a woman who appeared to be an employee of the tavern approached him.
Not knowing that she was Hayun, Dal-jae lowered his head and answered.
“Ah, yes. Yes.”
“Here, please have a cup of cool sungnyung while you wait. I’ll show you to a seat as soon as one becomes available.”
Hayun handed him a bowl of sungnyung and walked away.
Dal-jae couldn’t help but be surprised by her kindness.
‘She came all the way out here just to give me a cup of sungnyung?’
It was a service Dal-jae had never once provided in his life.
No, if anything, he would often ignore customers even when they came in because he was too busy drinking. And yet the tavern had run itself just fine… Because that was simply how taverns worked.
Gulp, gulp!
“Ah!”
After gulping down the cool sungnyung, the effects of the alcohol began to wear off a little.
Dal-jae looked around suspiciously.
‘But there’s no way something as simple as this could make this many people gather…’
A little while later, his turn finally came.
Only then did Dal-jae understand why so many people were gathering here.
“Next customer, please come in!”
At Hayun’s voice, Dal-jae entered the tavern.
Even though mealtime had already passed, the place was bustling.
Warm, cheerful voices could be heard from every raised platform, and happy smiles adorned the faces of customers eating their gukbap.
“The gukbap here really is the best!”
“That’s what I’m saying. I’m coming again next week.”
“Jumo! Another bowl of makgeolli here!”
“One more plate of dongtae-jeon, please!”
Overall, there was a warm atmosphere throughout the tavern. Eating a meal in a place like this was enough to revive even an appetite that wasn’t there.
Moreover, despite having so many customers, the well-organized environment suggested that someone was working hard to keep the place properly maintained.
“Hmm…”
By contrast, at Sanmaru Jumak, the drinking table that Dal-jae had been sitting at only moments ago had been left exactly as it was.
There was no need to compare the two.
The answer was already obvious.
‘Hmph. There’s nothing special about it.’
But Dal-jae refused to acknowledge that fact and tried to find the reason somewhere else.
‘Let’s see just how amazing this gukbap really is.’
With that mindset, Dal-jae was about to order gukbap.
“I say! One bowl of gukbap–”
“Just a moment!”
Hayun quickly cut him off and brought over the menu.
“T-This…!”
Dal-jae couldn’t close his mouth after seeing the menu.
This was nothing short of an innovative invention that had never existed before.
[Assorted Set]
(2 people) 2 bowls of Insaeng Gukbap + 1 Dongtae-jeon / 12◎
[Gukbap]
Gukbap / 4◎
Insaeng Gukbap / 5◎
[Jeon]
Pepper Jeon / 2◎
Potato Jeon / 3◎
Dongtae-jeon / 5◎
.
.
.
“Please look over the menu and call me again when you’re ready to order.”
After Hayun disappeared, Dal-jae stared intently at the menu.
‘There are this many dishes? And all the prices are written down?’
Naturally, in this era, there were many people who couldn’t read, making it difficult for a menu to fully serve its intended purpose.
But Hayun had taken even that into consideration. Not only had she drawn small pictures symbolizing the dishes, but she had also thoughtfully indicated the prices with illustrations of yeopjeon so that customers could understand them.
Dal-jae couldn’t help but be amazed by such a small detail.
‘Who made something like this? The jumo in the kitchen over there? Or that fellow Munsik?’
Dal-jae looked around.
Munsik and Ok-bun were so busy they barely had time to breathe, and they didn’t seem to have any idea that he was here.
‘No. If they knew how to do this, they would have made something like this long ago.’
Even if they were capable of making something like this, there was no way he could expect them to have such attention to detail.
The strange writing at the entrance of the shop, too, as well as the colorful drawings scattered throughout the tavern, were surely the work of someone who had received professional training.
Having realized this, Dal-jae’s gaze shifted.
‘Could it be that young woman?’
Dal-jae carefully observed Hayun.
Her short hair, impossible to tell where it had been cut.
Her enthusiasm as she worked without hesitation, rolling up her sleeves.
Even her unusual way of speaking, whose regional origin was impossible to determine.
‘Just where did a young woman like that come from…?’
A young woman, all by herself. Settling down and working at a tavern where she didn’t even know anyone.
There could only be one explanation for this.
‘A criminal? Or a runaway slave?’
Whatever the circumstances, she couldn’t possibly have ended up here under honorable circumstances. Otherwise, would such a beautiful woman be working in a place like this? And dressed in such unusual attire, at that.
A strange woman who had suddenly appeared one day at a tavern at the end of a remote mountain road. This was not a coincidence… it was a story.
‘Hmph, so that’s how it was?*’
Dal-jae looked at Hayun suspiciously.
“Customer, would you like to order?”
“……!”
Just then, Hayun approached, and Dal-jae hurriedly ordered his food.
“I’ll have the Insaeng Gukbap here. And one makgeolli.”
“Yes. Please wait a moment.”
A little while later.
“Here are your Insaeng Gukbap and makgeolli. Enjoy your meal.”
Hayun placed the steaming hot earthenware bowl in front of him and walked away.
Dal-jae grumbled as he picked up his spoon.
“Hmph, for a filthy runaway slave…”
Slurp.
But the moment he took a spoonful of the broth, his eyes widened.
‘The broth really is refreshing…’
Rich stock. Tender meat. A clean taste.
Objectively speaking, the gukbap here was good enough to rank among the top three of his life.
Dal-jae, who desperately needed something to cure his hangover, completely emptied the bowl of gukbap.
‘But it’s not different enough to make that much of a difference, is it?’
Dal-jae tilted his head.
The gukbap at his own tavern, Sanmaru, was plenty delicious as well. It wasn’t significantly inferior even compared to this place.
In the first place, Sanmaru Jumak had been established because his wife, Mrs. Yang, was an excellent cook.
‘Then why are people flocking here?’
The quality of the food was almost identical.
Then the cause had to lie somewhere else.
Dal-jae looked around once more.
‘Ah…’
And immediately realized.
Nine-tenths of this place’s sales were being handled by Hayun. From her friendly customer service to the menu she had created. There was nowhere her touch hadn’t reached.
Come to think of it, if there was one thing that had changed the most between this place and the past, it was the presence, or absence, of Hayun.
‘So that bitch is the root of all this.’
Having discovered the cause of his own tavern’s complete downfall, Dal-jae glared at Hayun.
A little later, he approached Hayun under the pretext of paying.
“That was a good meal. Here’s eight jeon.”
“Thank you.”
“But I’d like to ask you something.”
“Yes?”
At the sudden question, Hayun raised her head and looked at Dal-jae.
“Who changed this place so completely? I don’t remember it being like this before.”
At Dal-jae’s question, Hayun scratched her head.
“I’m embarrassed to say it, but it was my handiwork.”
“You?”
Dal-jae’s eyes gleamed sharply.
“You’re saying you completely redid this place and made things like that menu yourself?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Well, aren’t you impressive.”
Dal-jae continued the conversation sarcastically.
“By the way, your way of speaking is rather unusual. Where’s your hometown?”
“Ah, my hometown is Daegu…”
Hayun was about to answer absentmindedly, but corrected herself.
“…No, I don’t really remember where it is.”
“You don’t remember your hometown?”
Dal-jae looked at Hayun suspiciously.
“Yes. Actually, I lost my memory. So I’m staying here for a while.”
“Of course you did.”
Seeing Hayun’s clumsy excuse, Dal-jae’s suspicions grew even deeper.
“I sincerely hope you manage to regain your memories.”
“Thank you.”
Having learned everything he was curious about, Dal-jae turned around.
That was when it happened.
Suddenly, Hayun called out to stop him.
“Wait a moment! You have to take this with you.”
“?”
As she said that, Hayun held something out toward him.
What she had handed him was none other than an exchange voucher.
“Here’s an exchange voucher. Once you get ten stamps on it, you get a free bowl of gukbap.”
“Free gukbap!”
Dal-jae’s eyes trembled as he looked at the exchange voucher.
‘Why had he never thought of something like this?’
It was an extremely simple yet effective way to encourage customers to return.
“…Thank you very much.”
Dal-jae snatched the exchange voucher and left Insaeng Jumak.
***
Outside the tavern.
Rip! Rip!
The exchange voucher from Insaeng Jumak that Dal-jae had torn apart fluttered away in the wind.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”
He felt as though he had been thoroughly beaten.
He had merely gone there to find out why his business was doing so poorly, but all he had found there was despair.
The menu, the exchange vouchers, and even the friendly customer service. In all sorts of other ways, too, Sanmaru Jumak couldn’t compare to Insaeng Jumak.
He wanted to introduce those methods to Sanmaru Jumak even now, but the problem was that there was no one capable of putting them into practice.
There was an unmistakable talent in Hayun’s touch, which had reached every corner of the tavern… talent that he could never hope to surpass.
Unfortunately, although Dal-jae had some wealth, he did not possess that kind of talent. And even if he tried to imitate her now, it was already too late.
Along with his anger, a sense of crisis enveloped Dal-jae’s entire body.
‘This can’t go on. I have to get rid of them.’
Dal-jae clenched his fists and looked in the direction of Insaeng Jumak.
“How dare you… You’ve got the nerve to hide a runaway slave?”
In Joseon, hiding a runaway slave was considered a serious crime. It wasn’t something that could be settled simply by paying a small fine. Anyone who concealed a slave or helped one escape could be sentenced to 100 strokes of the cane. Depending on the circumstances, they could even be sentenced to three years in prison.
It was one of the most serious crimes imaginable, a grave offense capable of shaking the very foundations of Joseon society, which consisted of yangban, commoners, and slaves.
‘If that woman really is a runaway slave… Munsik will get caught up in this, too.’
Munsik, the owner of Insaeng Jumak, was famous for being a good-hearted man.
That was why he hadn’t pressed Hayun for details about where she came from or what her social status was. He had simply taken her at her word that she had lost her memory and accepted her. And because of that very carelessness, their necks were now about to be caught in a noose.
“Yes… Now I can finally see a way forward.”
A vile smile spread across Dal-jae’s lips now that he had found a way.
Dal-jae turned his head and cast a sidelong glance at Insaeng Jumak.
Cheerful laughter was still ringing out from inside Insaeng Jumak.
“You’d better enjoy laughing as much as you can right now. Before long, those laughs will come to an abrupt end.”
After glaring at Insaeng Jumak for a long while, Dal-jae abruptly turned around.
And the direction he headed was not toward Sanmaru Jumak.
It was none other than the direction of the “gwana”… the local government office.
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