They Told Me to Build Good Karma by Selling Side Dishes - Chapter 95

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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95. A Gift (6)

I grasped the door handle and swung it wide open.

“What’s going on here on New Year’s morning? Did you come to give me a gift?”
“B-b-boss~!”

Shin Yeop-baek practically clung to me as he rushed over. His whimpering seemed exaggerated to the point of theatrical. I closed the shop door and tossed my padded jacket carelessly onto a chair.

‘Alright, let me play along first.’

“What’s wrong with our part-timer?”

Shin Yeop-baek exhaled a long sigh as he looked at me.

“Those customers just stood in the middle of the shop without buying anything, so I calmly asked them what they were here for~!”

At this point, Shin Yeop-baek exaggerated his shoulder movements dramatically and whimpered.

“And they started complaining about why I was talking to them like that~!”

Only then did I furrow my brow and narrow my eyes.

“What do you mean, like what?”

Shin Yeop-baek answered in a lower tone, his voice trembling with emotion.

“They asked if I didn’t know who they were!”
“So what did you say?”
“I told them their face wasn’t one I’d remember! I said how could I possibly remember it when they’re so ugly?”

I bit my lower lip to keep from bursting into laughter. I composed myself, cleared my mind, and patted Shin Yeop-baek’s arm with an expression of complete understanding.

“They didn’t hit you or anything, right?”
“They did.”

A sigh echoed from the Kitchen.

“What happened?”
“It was me!”

Shin Yeop-baek gestured downward with an innocent expression. As it turned out….

“Your part-timer broke our camera.”

Lim Yun-jeong explained calmly.

“Wow.”

Well done.

“But how did it happen?”

I looked up at Shin Yeop-baek.

“I didn’t throw it—it hit the table.”
“Hit the table?”
“Yes…. As you can see, I’m quite large. This person is small, you see….”

Shin Yeop-baek’s eyes widened with his substantial frame.

“With a build like mine, do you know how terrifying it was when someone tried to hit me? But I was acting in self-defense! That customer suddenly started filming our shop and was about to leave a review!”
“Suddenly filming, my foot!”

Seo Jin-hyeok shouted.

“You were the one filming!”

I raised my hand to cut off Shin Yeop-baek and Lim Yun-jeong.

“So where is this broken camera?”

Lim Yun-jeong pointed to the corner beside the counter with a tilt of her chin. The camera and lens lay shattered in the corner next to the display case. It was clear at a glance that there had been quite a scuffle.

“It won’t work.”
“You can see for yourself! What do you want from me!”

Seo Jin-hyeok snapped irritably, his voice rising.

“Be quiet.”
“What! We’re clearly the victims here!”
“Then just check the security footage.”

Only then did Seo Jin-hyeok fall silent.

‘So they filmed it anyway, even after I told them not to.’

I clicked my tongue inwardly.

“How much for the camera?”
“Three million won.”

Shin Yeop-baek interjected as if that wasn’t quite right.

“Didn’t you say two million won earlier…?”
“You have to factor in the lens! You punk!”

My mind, which had been drifting toward thoughts of spring vegetable skewers on the way here, snapped back to harsh reality in an instant.

“Isn’t three million won enough?”
“What?”
“How much more do you need?”

I crossed my arms and looked down at the two of them. I wanted to throw them out like the foreign contaminants they were in my shop.

“…How much?”

Lim Yun-jeong spoke with a frown.

“Yes, how much.”
“Three point one million won.”
“Three point one million won. I’ll transfer it, so write down your account number. And leave the broken camera and the memory card inside here. Consider it payment for the disruption you’ve caused to my business.”

Seo Jin-hyeok flinched, but simply watched me in silence.

Since things had come to this, I might as well find out why they’d shown up. Let me ask.

“This place is only for customers. Why did you come?”
“We’re customers right now too.”

Seo Jin-hyeok shrugged and opened his mouth.

“Customers—”

I continued slowly.

“They usually look at the side dishes first. They don’t shove cameras in people’s faces, right? And these days, some YouTuber just shows up without warning. Real ones contact ahead of time before filming.”

Lim Yun-jeong bit her lip as if acknowledging I was right. That reaction alone was enough.

“If you’re not customers, that means you have business with me, doesn’t it? Am I wrong?”
“Yeah! We’ve got business with you!”

As Seo Jin-hyeok shouted, Lim Yun-jeong elbowed him in the ribs as if to tell him to shut up, then spoke instead.

“…It’s about Ji-gu. We got contacted about the Spring Festival, so we thought we’d stop by and talk about it while we’re here.”
“I see.”

I replied curtly. I turned away from the display case and faced them directly.

“So? I don’t feel like talking about it.”
“Hahahaha! Your personality is still rotten. Absolutely rotten.”

Seo Jin-hyeok pointed at me with his finger.

“Keep pointing like that before the Spring Festival rolls around, and I’ll break that finger for you.”

At my warning, Seo Jin-hyeok gradually curled his finger down.

“You got contacted about the Spring Festival too.”
“Yeah.”
“We got contacted as well.”
“I know. That you recommended me too.”

The phrase “we as well” made me raise an eyebrow. It bothered me. As if we were still standing on equal ground.

“So you knew that too… Anyway, we’re going to participate.”

Seo Jin-hyeok interjected again.

‘He mentioned it twice now.’

This time his face was full of laughter.

“So let’s clear the air beforehand and make sure there are no misunderstandings between us.”
“Oh, really?”
“So neither of us gets hurt feelings.”

I looked between the two of them. Now I finally understood why they’d gone out of their way to come here. They needed a pretext.

‘A pretext, huh?’

Those guys. I couldn’t help but laugh. Something didn’t add up.

“Why what?”
“Why what…?”

Seo Jin-hyeok echoed my words. In the past, he would’ve spat out something crude… but now laughter came first.

‘Only my mouth hurts.’

“I mean. Why me?”

I tilted my head slowly. There was no answer. The longer the silence stretched, the clearer the picture became.

“Look, I had nothing to say, and I didn’t know why you two came here. Or what kind of nonsense you were trying to pull.”

Now I understood. Seo Jin-hyeok’s pupils trembled slightly.

“You two have something on your minds, don’t you?”
“…!”

Lim Yun-jeong clenched her fists.

“…No, it’s nothing, Ji-gu. We’re fine.”

Lim Yun-jeong tried to smooth things over, but Seo Jin-hyeok cut her off.

“What could we possibly have on our minds!?”

The three of us had shared the same space for years. We knew each other’s emotions intimately, even the smallest ones.

“It’s New Year’s. Just tell me.”
“….”
“I won’t kill you. Even though there are plenty of knives in the Kitchen.”

If I’d wanted to kill them, I would have done it long ago. I gestured with my eyes for them to speak up.

“Comments have been posted.”
“What kind of comments?”
“People are talking about us in shorts and videos.”

I tilted my head slowly, deliberately feigning ignorance.

“About things that happened at Cha Beom-seok’s Side Dish Shop….”

So it had come. The exposé comments had started appearing. It felt all too familiar.

“Did you think I did it?”
“Yes!”

Seo Jin-hyeok answered as if shouting.

“Then go ahead. It wasn’t me.”
“But….”

Lim Yun-jeong seemed to believe I was responsible.

“Yun-jeong, because of you two, I cut off contact with all my close friends. I have no one to call, no one to ask favors from. There was never any reason to do such a thing in the first place.”
“….”

Silence pressed itself against the floor. It was so thick and stubborn that it refused to lift. Annoyingly so.

“Even if I had done that, you two should have just stayed quiet.”

Lim Yun-jeong said nothing, her fists clenching. The tendons on the back of her hand became prominent.

“So before I report you for business interference, get out.”

I slowly brushed back my fallen hair.

“Both of you. Or else.”

With that clarity, Seo Jin-hyeok bit his lip, then pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it furiously. The paper made a sound as if it might tear, and he placed it on the counter.

“Put the money in here!”
“Seo Jin-hyeok!”

Lim Yun-jeong shouted, her face flushed. Her tone carried both embarrassment and anger all at once.

“Yun-jeong! You have to accept payment!”

Seo Jin-hyeok seemed convinced he was right until the end. He forcibly grabbed Lim Yun-jeong’s arm and hurried out of the shop. His footsteps looked unsteady.

“Wow.”

Shin Yeop-baek let out a short exclamation.

“What?”
“…I thought you’d be gentler. Boss.”
“Me, gentle?”

I glanced toward the shop door. After confirming those bastards had completely disappeared, I picked up the camera that had fallen in the corner.

“What were they filming?”
“Probably the shop, I’d guess~?”

Hae-tae tilted his head in confusion as well.

“Seems like it, meow.”
“It won’t be.”

I picked up the camera and searched for the memory card. If they’d intended to photograph the shop and its surroundings, the probability they’d taken the memory card with them was high.

“Tell me in detail what those guys did earlier.”

Shin Yeop-baek and Hae-tae informed me of the movements those bastards had made.

“They went to the Kitchen first.”

I gazed down at the camera in my hand.

“That’s suspicious.”
“They didn’t go right in, you know~?”
“Right in?”
“They hesitated, lingering only in front of the Kitchen entrance.”
“Lingering?”
“Like they were scanning the interior.”

My fingers, which had been touching the camera, stilled at those words.

“Was that it, meow?”

At the same moment, Hae-tae seemed to have caught on as well.

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure that’s it.”

A hollow laugh escaped me.

“They know my nature. With the Spring Festival approaching, they probably thought I’d be preparing in advance.”
“So that’s why they came, meow?”
“More precisely, they came to confirm. Or rather….”

What I was making, or how far the preparations had progressed.

“You wanted to see what I had prepared. What ingredients I was using.”
“But there wasn’t anything~?”
“Why would you think there was nothing?”

Shin Yeop-baek shrugged his shoulders.

“There was braised short ribs in the Kitchen and the dish you brought on the table.”
“That’s all there was, right?”
“No.”

I tapped the counter lightly with my finger.

“The less certain someone is, the more obsessive they become. Wanting to know what kind of dish it is.”

Yet ultimately, that very desire brings ruin.

“I want to go to the Spring Festival too.”
“Huh? Just come then.”

Shin Yeop-baek wrapped both hands around his head and let out a hollow laugh.

“I’m not sure if I’ll be able to.”
“That’s right, meow.”

At Hae-tae’s agreement, I blinked.

“You just need to get permission and come, right?”
“Ah. That’s true.”

A peculiar expression crossed Shin Yeop-baek’s face. It was a light laugh, as if he had understood something.

“Then, if I manage to get permission, I’ll see you that day. Boss.”
“Oh? Sure.”

After finishing his words, Shin Yeop-baek moved toward the Side Dish Shop’s door.

“Right~.”

Stopping before the door, Shin Yeop-baek turned around and gestured toward me.

“Since you said something kind to me, I’ll say something kind back.”

He whispered into my ear.

“A white feather will come.”
“A white feather?”
“Yes~ something good will happen.”

Shin Yeop-baek answered lightly and surrendered himself to the prepared space. The empty air slowly warped. Soon the vortex folded in half and vanished.

***

After the new year passed, the weather gradually warmed. It wasn’t the bone-chilling cold of New Year’s anymore. It was still too early to shed the padding jacket, but things were becoming lighter by degrees.

And the white feather Shin Yeop-baek mentioned never appeared. It was becoming oddly bothersome….

“I’m almost done.”
“Almost finished, meow?”
“Yep!”

The work on the spring vegetable skewers was nearly complete. All that remained was deciding how to prepare the broth.

“Try this.”
“I’ve eaten so much I’m tired of it, meow.”

Hae-tae narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

“Just one more.”
“…Just one?”
“This one’s different.”
“Why, meow?”
“I made the seasoning differently!”

I’d created a new sauce by combining sriracha and mayonnaise.

“I’ll try it just to humor you, meow.”
“Yay!”

Hae-tae sat at the table like a person, grasped the skewer with his front paw, and put the fried spring vegetable into his mouth. Unlike usual, he didn’t swallow it whole at once—instead, he chewed slowly while watching me.

“How is it? How is it?!”
“What did you say this seasoning was?”
“Sriracha.”

I watched with wide eyes, waiting for the reaction. Soon enough, Hae-tae bent forward, lowering his head toward the ground.

“Ptooey!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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