AFJE 05

Chapter 5

 

A few days later.

It happened while Munsik was chopping firewood at the entrance of the tavern.

“Is this the Life Tavern?”

“Huh? Yes, it is…”

Three strong-looking men approached the tavern.

They were faces Munsik had never seen around here before.

“I heard this is the place where you get one free bowl after eating ten bowls of gukbap?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I also heard you give grilled fish for free…”

“Ah, that is only being offered for one month as a grand opening event.”

“One month… So we can still get it?”

“Yes. There are still about three weeks left.”

“Good. Everyone, come this way.”

When the information matched what he had heard, one of the men turned around and waved his hand.

Rumble, rumble.

Then, a large group of people, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, began entering the tavern.

“Gasp!”

Munsik’s eyes widened at the sight.

Dozens of people had rushed in all at once.

“W-What is all this?”

Hayoon was flustered by the sudden crowd, but she quickly regained her composure.

“Welcome! Welcome to the Life Tavern!”

Hayoon quickly looked over the customers and counted them.

“Auntie! Customers! Twenty-two people!”

“What? Twenty-two people?”

Okbun’s mouth fell open at the unexpected number. Indeed, nearly twenty people had filled the tavern.

“What in the world…!”

Seeing Okbun standing there blankly, Hayoon shouted.

“Don’t panic. First, prepare three potato pancakes and seven pollack pancakes. Grill only four servings of fish for now.”

“They haven’t even ordered yet?”

The customers were still looking at the menu.

They were fascinated by the strange menu they were seeing for the first time in their lives, so ordering was the last thing on their minds.

But Hayoon saw this time as an opportunity and told Okbun to prepare the food quickly.

“Based on the data we’ve collected so far, that amount will definitely sell. So we need to prepare it now so we don’t fall behind.”

“Ah, all right.”

If Hayoon said so, then it must be so.

By now, Okbun would believe Hayoon even if she said she could make meju from red beans.

Okbun hurriedly began preparing the food.

While Okbun was preparing everything, the yard soon became a battlefield.

“Three bowls of Life Gukbap here!”

“Yes, understood!”

“Five more bowls of makgeolli!”

“Yes, coming!”

“One more potato pancake!”

“Two plates of pollack pancakes!”

“Three two-person combo sets!”

“Yes, yes, coming right up.”

Hayoon was running around like crazy.

Even while she was taking one order, another order came in. She carried five bowls of gukbap at a time on a tray.

But that was only the beginning…

“I heard the gukbap here is really good?”

“And the young lady is very kind.”

“I heard the rumor, so I came all the way from the next village.”

“We’ll have a bowl of gukbap too.”

After that, customers continued to arrive without stopping.

The benches had already been completely filled.

With nowhere to sit, customers looked around and watched the others eating.

Seeing this, Hayoon quickly began organizing the crowd.

“Okay, please line up here in order. As soon as the customers inside finish eating and come out, we’ll let you in.”

“What? It’s already full?”

“Can’t we just wait here?”

“No. It might make the other customers uncomfortable. What if they get indigestion while eating?”

“Good grief, she’s really strict.”

Following Hayoon’s instructions, the customers grumbled as they walked outside.

The power of marketing was tremendous.

Before long, the customers had not only filled the tavern, but a long line had formed all the way along the wall.

It had reached the point where customers were attracting even more customers.

“What’s going on here? Are they having some kind of feast? Why are there so many people?”

“I heard the gukbap here is unbelievably good.”

“Really? Then I should try it too.”

Even people who had never heard the rumors began gathering just to see what was happening.

It was not common for this many people to gather in one place, so people came simply out of curiosity.

“Please have this while you wait.”

Hayoon handed cool sikhye to the customers waiting in line.

“Oh, thank you.”

“I heard that young lady is really good at her job.”

“Really? No wonder she was so kind.”

“Ahh, this sikhye is wonderfully refreshing!”

Customers who normally would have complained about waiting quietly calmed down after receiving the sikhye from Hayoon.

Phew, at least that takes care of one thing for now…

The emergency that had begun in the morning showed no sign of calming down even though the sun was already high in the sky.

“Auntie! The gukbap still hasn’t come out!”

“Wait a moment! It’ll be out soon!”

Okbun’s hands moved frantically as she answered.

“Two regular gukbaps and three Life Gukbaps, right?”

She repeatedly scooped the broth, placed meat on top, and sprinkled green onions without stopping.

She had no time to think.

She simply focused on making the food according to each order like a machine.

“Ugh, next is five potato pancakes and seven pollack pancakes…”

Sweat poured down her face, and her wrists began to ache, but she could not stop when she thought about the customers waiting.

She had run a tavern for more than thirty years, but she had never experienced anything like this.

For Okbun, who was used to having almost no customers every day, she could not disappoint the customers now, even if her body broke apart.

“Three Life Gukbaps are ready!”

That determination kept Okbun moving.

“Ha!”

Meanwhile, her husband Munsik was also busy chopping firewood and carrying water.

Bang! Bang!

The sound of his axe echoed from behind the tavern.

There was five times more work than usual, but he did not feel tired at all.

Instead, he was excited.

If every day could be like this, he felt as if he could cut down all the trees on the mountain.

“Honey! Firewood! Put more firewood into the cauldron!”

“I’m already doing it!”

He could not remember the last time they had been this busy.

Even when they first opened the tavern, it had not been this busy. There had been days when customers occasionally crowded in, but the atmosphere had never been like this.

The energy coming from the customers.

The lively atmosphere inside the tavern was something Munsik and Okbun had never experienced before.

That energy made them forget their fatigue.

Meanwhile, Hayoon was just as busy.

“One Life Gukbap!”

“Yes! Coming!”

“Check, please!”

“Yes, I’ll be right there!”

Welcoming customers, taking orders, carrying food, and clearing tables continued without end.

The soles of her feet were swollen, and her neatly arranged hair was soaked with sweat, but Hayoon did not care much.

“Good grief. If I knew this would happen, I would have made the whole thing a little smaller…”

Despite her complaining, Hayoon’s face was filled with a satisfied smile.

For an advertising planner, perhaps the most glorious moment was seeing a project they had planned succeed like this.

Watching the satisfied customers made a sense of pride rise in her heart.

I had forgotten.

The reason I became an advertising planner.

She could hardly remember the last time she had worked on-site with her sleeves rolled up like this.

At some point, she had stopped taking on projects she actually wanted to do and only accepted projects that would help her succeed.

As a result, her love for her work naturally faded, and she had simply spent each day painfully forcing herself forward.

But now, for the first time in a very long while, Hayoon was experiencing the pure feelings she had forgotten.

It felt as if she had returned to being the little girl who helped her father sell antiques when she was young.

The reason Hayoon had dreamed of becoming an advertising planner had come from a simple desire to help her father with his shop.

Those feelings were coming back to life.

“Huh? We’re out of broth.”

“We’ve also run out of the firewood we brought yesterday.”

“What? Already?”

Fortunately, even this situation that seemed as if it would last forever was finally coming to an end.

Although they thought they had prepared enough, they had run out of ingredients after only four hours.

“What are we going to do about all the people waiting outside?”

“I know. It looks like some of them have already been waiting for hours…”

“Don’t worry. I have an idea.”

Seeing Munsik and Okbun worried, Hayoon went outside and made an announcement.

“I’m sorry, but we have run out of ingredients, so we’ll have to end business for today. However, as a thank-you to everyone who waited for us, I’ll give each of you one stamp.”

Hayoon handed out the stamp cards and stamped them.

Even the customers who had waited for nearly an hour left without much complaint.

“What? They’re already sold out?”

“Nothing we can do. We’ll just have to come again tomorrow.”

“I didn’t even eat the gukbap, but I got a stamp. Isn’t that actually a good deal?”

“At this rate, we’ll just keep standing in line every day until we get a free bowl of gukbap. Hahaha!”

The waiting customers were happy because they got a stamp, and Hayoon was happy because she had gained new customers.

It was a win-win strategy that made everyone smile.

“That was a good meal. I’ll come again next time.”

“Have a safe trip home.”

When the last customer finally left, Hayoon, Munsik, and Okbun immediately collapsed onto the ground as if they had completely run out of strength.

“Haa… It’s finally over…”

“Good grief! My whole body aches! I wonder if one of us is going to die from this.”

“Ugh… I’ve never prepared this much firewood in my entire life.”

All three of them complained, but their faces were filled with a sense of accomplishment.

“Ugh!”

Ignoring the throbbing pain, Hayoon got back up.

Munsik and Okbun looked at her with worried eyes.

“Don’t push yourself. You can take a break. We can clean up later.”

“No. There’s still the most important thing left. I can’t rest until that’s done.”

“There’s still work left?”

At the words that there was still work to do, Munsik and Okbun’s eyes widened.

Then Hayoon smiled and said,

“The accounting.”

“Ah!”

As she said that, Hayoon emptied a sack filled with copper coins.

A small mountain of coins formed on the bench.

Rattle!

“Good grief! How much money is all this?”

“One, two, three…”

Munsik began counting the coins one by one.

“…Ninety, one hundred!”

“That’s one nyang.”

“Don’t just say that. Help me count.”

“All right.”

Once the number of coins passed one hundred, Okbun joined in as well.

When ten pun made one jeon,

and ten jeon made one nyang.

The number of nyang had already passed ten.

“Ten nyang… twelve nyang…”

As the number continued to rise, Munsik and Okbun’s voices began to tremble as well.

“H-Honey…”

“Don’t get so excited. Just keep counting.”

“Nineteen nyang… twenty nyang!”

“Twenty nyang?”

A little while later, after finishing the accounting, Munsik and Okbun could only stare blankly at each other, unable to speak.

A brief silence followed.

“D-Did we really earn all this in one day?”

“It seems to be twenty times more than usual…”

“T-Twenty times!”

On an ordinary day, it was difficult for them to earn even one nyang.

At best, they made one and a half nyang.

But today, they had made twenty nyang.

And they had done it in only four hours.

It was unbelievable.

“Hayoon, thank you!”

Munsik and Okbun tightly hugged Hayoon.

“Where did such a lucky girl come from!”

“Honey! You’ve worked so hard all this time!”

The three of them stayed locked in each other’s arms for a while, enjoying this moment.

Tears welled up in Okbun’s eyes.

Hayoon gently comforted the two of them.

“It’s too early to celebrate. This is only the beginning.”

“Hayoon…!”

“Compared to the kindness you two showed me by saving me, this is nothing. We have to earn several times more than this from now on.”

Hayoon’s first project in Joseon, the Life Tavern.

After making the Life Tavern a great success, Hayoon was already planning her second project.

---

At the same time.

Sanmaru Tavern, which had long been the dominant tavern along the Mungyeong Saejae pass.

A place that would normally have been packed with customers was now completely empty.

“Tsk, tsk!”

Daljae, the owner of Sanmaru Tavern, looked at the empty tavern with displeasure.

A table full of alcohol and food was laid out in front of him.

Sanmaru Tavern had been built several years after the Life Tavern where Hayoon was currently staying.

Normally, opening another tavern in the same commercial district was considered against business ethics.

But Daljae did not care.

He gathered every bit of money he had and borrowed more, using it all to build the grandest tavern in Mungyeong Saejae.

Once Sanmaru Tavern was completed, customers began flooding in.

As a result, the old tavern operated by Munsik and Okbun had been pushed to the verge of closing down.

But now, the positions of the two taverns had completely reversed.

“Tsk! This alcohol tastes awful!”

The tavern, which normally should have been filled with customers until late at night, was now so empty that only flies buzzed around.

In frustration, Daljae threw down his drinking cup.

Crash!

Then he staggered to his feet.

“No, why are there so few customers these days? Where are all those people going to eat?”

Only a month ago, Sanmaru Tavern had been packed with customers.

But suddenly, the customers had stopped coming.

They had not simply been cut in half.

The customers had disappeared altogether.

“Something must have happened. Otherwise, a tavern that was doing so well wouldn’t suddenly become like this. Definitely.”

Daljae suddenly shouted toward the kitchen.

“Honey! Did you put alcohol in the gukbap? Why does the gukbap taste so bitter?”

“What do you mean alcohol? You drink every day, so you can taste alcohol even in the gukbap!”

His wife answered irritably.

“Isn’t that why customers aren’t coming? The owner of the tavern drinks all day! Instead of wasting your time, go outside and advertise!”

“Hmph! Then how do you explain the fact that business was good all this time? Whether I drank or not, the business was doing well.”

“That’s because this is the biggest and nicest tavern in the area! Not because you’re so great!”

“Hmm…”

Daljae had no answer to that, so he closed his mouth.

Just then, he heard the voices of passersby talking outside the wall.

“Wow, the gukbap we had today was amazing! Don’t you think?”

“Absolutely! It’s the best tavern I’ve ever been to.”

“The food was delicious too. Grilled fish and even a stamp card. Where else can you find a tavern like that?”

At the word “tavern,” Daljae’s ears perked up.

“That’s not all. The young lady working there was so kind… I’m going again tomorrow just because of her.”

“Right! That young lady with the unusual short hair. She was really kind.”

“Life Gukbap! From now on, I’m only eating gukbap there.”

“Me too! Hahaha!”

With that, the people’s voices faded into the distance.

Daljae’s eyes turned cold.

“The Life Tavern? Was there such a place?”

It was a name he had never heard before.

Every tavern in this area was either on the verge of going out of business or had already been driven out of business by him.

If a new tavern had appeared, there was no way he would not have known about it.

He had enough power to make sure of that.

Then, suddenly, a memory flashed through his mind.

“Wait… Could it be?”

There had been a rumor about a small tavern at the mountain pass that had been going bankrupt.

Then, its name suddenly changed, and people began flocking to it.

But Daljae had not thought much of it and had ignored the rumor.

He heard rumors like that several times a day, after all.

Could that have really been true?

Realizing how serious the situation was, Daljae’s face hardened.

His drunkenness suddenly disappeared.

“I have to go check it out.”

Daljae hurriedly put on his clothes and rushed out of the tavern.

Behind him, his wife’s nagging voice followed.

“Where are you going all of a sudden? At least clean up the table you were eating at before you go!”

“That’s not important right now, so don’t bother me! The fate of our tavern is at stake!”

“Good grief, that fool…”

Daljae, still drunk in broad daylight, began staggering toward the Life Tavern.