Chapter 1
Hyangsuk’s Side-Dish Shop (1)
The last days of spring, when the sweltering heat of early summer begins to settle in.
Fresh green leaves swayed quietly outside the hospital room window.
I held out a slice of Korean melon that I’d speared with a fork toward my grandmother.
“Grandma, this melon is really sweet. Try some.”
She slowly turned her head and took a bite.
“Jigu.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“How much longer are you going to live like an unemployed bum?”
“…Well, I don’t know.”
To be honest, I had started thinking about getting a job again. I’d spent an entire year doing nothing, and I was beginning to feel restless.
Grandma watched me for a moment before speaking again.
“So… you’re really not going to cook anymore?”
“I don’t know yet. I haven’t decided.”
“Then how about my grandson takes over my side-dish shop?”
I nearly spat out the melon I was eating.
“Cough! Grandma… what did you just say?”
“I’d like my grandson to inherit Hyangsuk’s Side-Dish Shop.”
“…Me?”
“You worked your way up to sous-chef at a restaurant. What’s the problem?”
“That’s not…”
My words trailed off.
“Just give it a try.”
She casually popped another piece of melon into her mouth.
Crunch.
The crisp sound echoed through the quiet hospital room.
Why all of a sudden?
I barely managed to collect my thoughts.
Grandma had always been happiest while serving side dishes to her customers, smiling like a child every day.
The idea that she’d quit running the shop…
It was something I simply couldn’t imagine.
Before I knew it, the fist I’d unconsciously clenched was gently covered by Grandma’s warm hand.
“You know it too, don’t you?”
“…”
“Grandma can’t run the shop anymore.”
I knew.
Of course I knew.
Avoiding her gaze, I answered quietly.
“The doctor said you’ll recover…”
“Jigu.”
“I don’t want to hear it. Just eat your melon, Grandma.”
I really didn’t want to hear the rest.
I pulled my hand away from hers and stood up.
“If it’s Grandma’s final wish… would you do it?”
“…!”
You know I can’t say no when you put it like that!
“Grandma!”
She quietly patted the seat beside her twice.
Trying not to cry, I forced my tears back and looked at her.
“Come. Sit back down.”
“…Even if I do, you won’t listen to me anyway.”
“You’re the only family I have left now. Why wouldn’t I listen to you?”
The sweetness of the melon had long since disappeared from my mouth.
I slowly sat down again.
“…Why are you insisting so much? There’s no reason I have to run the shop. I just… I just want you to get better and reopen it yourself.”
Grandma smiled faintly.
“It’s simply time.”
“…Time?”
I couldn’t understand what she meant.
“No, seriously. Why are you doing this?”
“It’s just… such a waste to leave it as it is.”
…
I thought the shop was too precious to leave behind as well.
“But… you’re more important to me than the shop.”
Grandma smiled warmly.
“That’s my good boy.”
“If I’m all you’ve got, then please listen to me.”
Please…
I silently stared at her face.
“All right. I will.”
She paused.
“But promise me one thing.”
“What is it?”
“Later… after Grandma is gone… go to the back door of the shop.”
“Don’t say things like that. And what do you mean, the back door…?”
“Haha, all right, all right. Much later… if Grandma goes somewhere far away.”
Without waiting for my answer, she opened the hospital drawer and took out an old bag.
From inside, she pulled out a worn black key and held it out to me.
“Here.”
“This is…?”
“It’s the key to the shop’s back door.”
“Uh…?”
“When the time comes, you’ll understand why I wanted you to take over the shop.”
I lowered my head and stared at the old key resting in her hand.
The moment I saw it, an old memory resurfaced.
It was shortly after my parents had passed away, around the time Grandma first opened the shop.
One day, I chased after a paper crane that had blown through the window toward the back door.
Before I could reach it, Grandma came running over in a panic and blocked my way.
She firmly told me—again and again—that I was never to go near the shop’s back door.
“…Okay.”
“So if I go there, I’ll understand?”
“That’s right.”
Without hesitation, I reached out and accepted the key.
Click.
The cold, heavy metal settled into my palm.
For such a small key…
It felt strangely heavy.
And I never imagined I’d be using it again so soon.
One month later.
Grandma’s funeral passed by in a blur.
After all the mourners had left, I couldn’t even remember how long I’d cried alone in the empty funeral hall.
A month slipped by without mercy.
And now…
I stood in front of the shop.
Like a child putting off homework, I couldn’t bring myself to open the door.
But I couldn’t run away anymore.
It was Grandma’s last request.
[Hyangsuk’s Side-Dish Shop]
I looked up at the old signboard, its faded paint peeling away.
My vision blurred again, and I lowered my head.
“…Just what is behind that back door?”
Taking a deep breath, I pulled open the front door.
Creeeak.
The moment it opened, a cloud of dust burst outward.
“Cough!”
Dust stung my nose.
“Ugh… so dusty!”
I stepped inside, coughing repeatedly while covering my nose.
The shop had apparently been closed for quite some time.
Dust filled the air with every step.
I slowly looked around.
Unorganized tables.
An empty display case where side dishes once sat.
The cashier’s counter, worn smooth by Grandma’s hands.
The old shop carried an indescribable sense of nostalgia.
Everything had remained exactly the same.
Everything…
Except Grandma.
“I miss you, Grandma.”
I walked straight into the kitchen and opened the commercial refrigerator.
“Our Grandma really was obsessed with keeping things clean…”
It was completely empty.
Yet the inside still sparkled as though it had just been polished.
Just as I was about to close the door—
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Something knocked from underneath the refrigerator.
“…What?”
Startled, I instinctively stepped back and stared at the bottom of the fridge.
The sound stopped.
“Whew… Maybe it’s just because it’s old.”
Shaking it off, I walked toward the back door.
Standing in front of it, I tilted my head.
Did Grandma really hide some kind of treasure?
I inserted the key.
Click.
Then pulled the door open.
“…What?”
The sight beyond the doorway made me doubt my own eyes.
Beyond the threshold swirled a curtain of pitch-black darkness.
It looked as though someone had poured liquid darkness into the air itself.
Nothing could be seen beyond it.
Yet…
For some reason, I wasn’t afraid.
“So this…”
“…is Grandma’s treasure?”
Instead, a refreshing scent of damp earth and fresh grass drifted through the darkness, tickling my nose like rain falling onto dry soil.
It’s the same scent Grandma always carried…
Gathering my courage, I stretched one foot into the black curtain.
It slipped through effortlessly.
I felt… nothing.
“…Huh?”
I moved my foot up and down again.
Still nothing.
Let’s go in.
I stepped completely inside.
The moment I slowly opened my eyes—
A small vegetable garden lay before me.
In the middle of an enormous forest sat a beautifully tended garden.
Beside it stood a tiny cat statue.
It looked like a secret place straight out of a fairy tale.
I swallowed hard.
“…No wonder she kept it hidden.”
Even the air was different.
Instead of the polluted smell of the city, every breath filled my lungs with cool, refreshing life.
And above…
The sun and the moon hung in the sky together.
“Wow…”
I slowly approached the garden.
There were little wooden signs.
Bracken Fern
Aster Leaves
Canola
Carrots
Potatoes
The labels looked like they had been written in Grandma’s own handwriting.
“Canola… carrots… potatoes…”
But something felt strange.
There was only one or two of each crop.
Normally, a vegetable garden would have rows and rows of the same plants.
Curious, I picked a single canola leaf.
The rich fragrance instantly filled my nose.
My eyes widened.
“This smell is unbelievable…”
After working as a sous-chef for years, I could judge ingredients just by their aroma and color.
These weren’t merely premium ingredients.
They were beyond that.
Then—
“…Huh?”
The stem where I’d picked the leaf suddenly began growing.
Before my eyes, a fresh leaf sprouted.
Within seconds…
The canola had completely restored itself.
“I’ve only seen something like this in mobile games…”
I picked another leaf.
Again, it instantly regrew.
I repeated it.
Again.
And again.
Before long, my hands were full of canola leaves.
They trembled slightly.
“…Now I understand why she hid this.”
Holding the leaves, I looked around the garden.
Come to think of it…
Canola, carrots, and potatoes weren’t even crops that should all be growing in the same season.
Which meant…
Everything here grew regardless of time…
Or season.
Gulp.
I swallowed unconsciously.
Just imagining cooking with ingredients this extraordinary made my mouth water.
Was this…
…why Grandma wanted me to keep running the shop?
As I stood up to explore a little more—
“…Huh?”
The cat statue beside the garden slowly blinked.
Life began returning to its gray stone body.
Little by little…
The statue transformed into an orange tabby cat.
…It turned into a real cat?
A stone statue!
Unable to look away from the impossible sight unfolding before me, I swallowed hard.
This has to be a dream… right?
The orange tabby lazily settled onto the grass.
After leisurely licking one soft paw, it slowly raised its head.
Its golden eyes locked directly onto mine.
As though it had been waiting for me all along.
“So you’ve finally arrived, meow?”
…Huh?
I doubted my ears.
There wasn’t another human anywhere in sight.
“…Are you… talking?”
Despite my bewildered reaction, the cat calmly spoke again.
“You’re very late, meow.”
“…Very late?”
“That’s right. I’ve been waiting, meow.”
The cat slowly walked over until it stood before me.
A round-faced cat…
Speaking perfect human language.
“I’ve been waiting for Hyangsuk’s grandson, meow.”
Meow~
The word at the end of its sentence lingered like the endless chorus of cicadas on a midsummer day.
“…How can a cat talk?”
At my dumbfounded muttering, the cat stopped licking its paw and replied with an air of dignity.
“That’s a prejudice, meow.”
…I’m losing my mind.
