I Quit My Job and Run a Café - Chapter 255



Only Krnovel

Quitting the company and opening a cafe Episode 255

“Ah, I see. Then are your parents coming down?”

“Huh? Oh. Didn’t I tell you? They both passed away early.”

“Huh? Oh, I’m sorry!”

“What are you sorry about? I didn’t say anything.”

To be honest, I don’t feel much interest in talking about it because he passed away so early.

I don’t know if I even have any memories of being with you two, but even those memories are either too old or almost non-existent.

“Actually, I haven’t seen you in a long time, making excuses that I was busy before I came here.”

This time, I had to see my grandfather too, so we were able to see him together anyway. Since we were in the same place.

“It’s right next to the village, so I should go there.”

“Ah~ It’s right nearby. Oh right! Then Cheonho-ri is your grandfather’s hometown?”

“Well, I don’t know about that. It might be my hometown, but it might not be my grandfather’s.”

I heard from my grandfather that he wandered around here and there before settling down in the village.

The people were nice, the town was nice, and my carpentry work there went well, so I even built a house there, so you could practically call it my hometown.

But that was according to my grandfather’s wishes, so I couldn’t say that this was my grandfather’s hometown.

“If you’re hungry, there’s a sandwich in the back. Eat that. It’ll take another two hours to get there. If you eat beforehand, it’ll be less tiring to climb the mountain.”

“I wonder? I was a little hungry anyway.”

“There’s also coffee, so let’s eat together.”

“Aren’t you going to eat, oppa?”

“You should eat. Eat first.”

“Hey, let’s eat together. We can just stop somewhere nice and eat as we go. No one’s chasing us.”

That’s true.

Since we were going on the national road, it was no problem to just stop anywhere and eat.

“Then let’s go a little further and eat.”

“yes~”

First of all, I ran further.

Because we haven’t strayed far from the village yet.

It wasn’t boring because we were driving along the same national highway, enjoying slightly different scenery even though it was the same scenery.

“Shall we listen to a song?”

“I wonder?”

“Yes. An upbeat song would be nice, right?”

I plugged my phone into my car and the song I played after carefully selecting the music was none other than Blue Camellia.

Was it Flower Boom Boom? It was a hit song in the spring and I’m still listening to it.

Sometimes it was played in cafes too.

“The new song needs to come out soon, right?”

“Yeah. I guess I need to change the cafe playlist a bit too.”

“But it’s coming out soon.”

“huh?”

“Naeun told me. Oh, we followed each other on Stargram before and exchanged numbers. We keep in touch sometimes. Especially when Tiger Shelter’s new menu comes out.”

Let’s say we exchanged contact information.

Because when Go Na-eun stayed for a short time at Han Song-i’s house, they became close friends.

But why a new menu?

“Oh, right. Naeun asked if she could order a Chuseok gift set too.”

“How much? I can’t do much.”

“Should I just give it to my family? Or a few close friends?”

“Then it’s okay.”

“Then I’ll tell you. Hey! Hey, let’s stop over there for a minute and have a sandwich before we go.”

The place that Hansong pointed to with her finger was along a winding road, a place that curved like a river.

There was a rocky island in the middle, and trees had grown tall there, giving it quite a charm.

Maybe that’s why it seemed like a place with a lot of people already had parking spaces.

I stopped the car for a moment and got out.

“The air is nice too.”

I had been in the car for a little less than an hour, but when I got out the air was incredibly refreshing.

I stretched a little and took out the sandwich.

“Here it is.”

“thank you.”

I took the coffee that Hansong offered and ate it with my sandwich.

What’s the taste? I made it, but it was delicious.

The combination of the soft, chewy texture of the egg and the rich, buttery bread is simply delicious.

“I think the coffee you make is really delicious. I can’t drink coffee anywhere else now.”

“You never had a reason to drink coffee anywhere else. You just stayed in town.”

“… … Are you T?”

Yeah, it’s T.

I told the truth, but Su-ah said the same thing… I just drank coffee.

It was coffee made from Sooksooki’s second coffee bean.

I harvested the second batch of beans earlier than expected, so I still had some of the first batch left, which I stored well.

I thought I might use it later.

The effect was the same with the second batch of beans, but the taste was subtly different.

And more than anything, since it was the first harvest of mugwort, I wanted to leave some even if I didn’t necessarily eat it.

“Aren’t you going to sell coffee beans?”

“Why? Buy it? I can’t sell it because the quantity is small. If you need it, I can give you some.”

“Hey, I’m not buying it. If I make it myself, it won’t taste the same.”

That could be the case. I know it’s called a hand taste, but anyway, since I’m making it with a hand drip, the taste right now is not completely affected.

So I didn’t say anything in vain when I said I could say the same thing.

I asked if that was another T, but what can I do if it’s true?

“Let’s go now that we’re done eating.”

“yes~”

Now that I had gotten some fresh air and filled my stomach, I decided to run straight to my destination.

* * *

Did we run like that for another hour and a half?

‘I think it’s around here.’

We’ve almost reached the place marked on the map.

It wasn’t Mt. Sokri, but one of the mountains nearby, but I didn’t know the exact location, so I came here and wandered around.

I wish the temple name had appeared on the navigation system.

“Should I ask people around me?”

“Hmm. That might be better. But there’s no one around.”

I looked around at Hansong’s words, but unfortunately there was no one there.

I had no choice but to look around a bit more and eventually found a nearby village. I happened to spot an old man coming out of the village.

“Excuse me, sir. Can I ask you for directions?”

“Huh? The road? These days, everyone uses navigation. What about that?”

“Oh, I don’t know the exact location. Is there a temple around here by any chance??”

“… … There are pickles everywhere here?”

I was momentarily dumbfounded by my grandfather’s words.

Now that I think about it, there are more temples in our country than I thought.

There were always a few near famous or especially sacred mountains.

I thought I could find it right away when I got here… … .

“Oh! Then do you happen to know of a temple that was remodeled around 5 years ago?”

“Theft remodeling?”

Don’t you know? Well, I personally spent my own money on it, so I couldn’t do a large-scale project, so it’s possible that you didn’t know.

And we barely used any heavy equipment.

“Just kidding. Heh heh! Let’s see, about five years ago, a crazy gentleman came from somewhere and overturned a temple. That must have been that mountain.”

“Big. Is that the mountain over there?”

I think that crazy person is me… … I couldn’t bring myself to say that and looked at the mountain my grandfather was pointing at.

It was right next to the mountain we were just circling.

If I had just wandered around a little more I would have found it.

“Okay. You can go up there. But why over there?”

“I just wanted to go and have a look.”

“A place that’s all ruined?”

“Huh? Are you going to fail?”

“The head priest there went into Nirvana and went bankrupt. After that, some vagrant monk set up a temple stay and caused trouble, and now there’s no one there.”

The more I listened to my grandfather’s words, the more surprised I became.

I was surprised by the joke once.

I was surprised again because it was so hot.

This time I was surprised again by such unexpected news.

“Did the abbot pass away?”

“Has it been about three years? He left shortly after renovating the temple. Tsk. He was such a good gentleman, but then a rascal like me came in and ruined the temple.”

He was an old man who, as if he had no good feelings, harshly criticized the person who took over the temple after the head monk entered nirvana.

I don’t know how much of what my grandfather said is true, so I decided to take it as it was and try to get more detailed information…

“There are a lot of snakes there, so be careful when you go up.”

“Oh, yes. Thank you.”

My grandfather left first because he had something to do.

Once I got the location information, I got back in the car.

And I explained it to Hansong.

“Really? That’s too bad… … .”

“So that’s why there was no information in the navigation.”

“That’s right. So, is that just an empty temple?”

“Isn’t that so?”

I was troubled by Hansong’s words. Should I just go back like this, or should I go up again?

In fact, if I were alone, I would have chosen the latter right away.

Anyway, I came to see the temple.

If the temple building itself hadn’t collapsed, I would have come down after taking a look.

But now, Hansong was there too.

Why bother with an empty temple? If it’s a building in the mountains that’s been abandoned for over a year, it’s practically a ruin.

It was hard to ask someone to come up with me since it wasn’t a very meaningful place for me.

“Then should I just take a look and come down?”

“Huh? Are you going to go and take a look?”

“Yes. I came all the way here, and I was curious because it was the place my brother fixed.”

“It must be almost a ruin since it hasn’t been touched by human hands?”

“I think that feeling would be good too. Rather, wouldn’t it be natural and blend in with what you made without your hands?”

That’s quite a romantic story. I was thinking of telling you a realistic story, but I stopped myself.

Anyway, I’m saying that we should go up together.

‘If you do that again, all you’ll hear is T.’

I’ve heard it a lot before, so I swallowed it this time.

Should I say that it has been learned?

“Then should we get ready and go up? The road is already rough, and it’ll be even rougher if no one passes by.”

“Yes. I came fully armed because you scared me so much.”

It’s not that Hansong’s outfit was not much different from that of a professional mountaineer. Everything from her backpack to her shoes was very thorough.

“Okay. Good job. Let’s go then.”

I went straight to the mountain that my grandfather had told me about.

I parked my car nearby. And as I headed down the mountain, I finally started to remember that time a little.

“think.”

Still, there was some road left, as if people had walked there.

It was a bit gloomy, but that was because it was shaded… … .

─This is not good!

‘Huh? Not really?’

─Yeah!

The moment I was about to go up, Soo-Jeong flew over my head, saying it wasn’t very good.

I was already feeling uneasy, but when Soo-Jung said that, I felt even more uneasy.

Should I just not go up?

“Aren’t you going?”

“Huh? Um… … I should go.”

I thought about it for a moment, but decided to go anyway.

The mountain was steep, but there was a lot of grass growing, so I went ahead and made my way.

I also did that carefully because there could be snakes on the autumn mountain, just like the village grandfather said.

Kiyung~

‘doesn’t exist?’

Of course, I also received help from Miho and Sujeong.

We deployed target detection to ensure safety once again.

“Ugh─. This place is really draining.”

“Huh? Are you tired already?”

It was a tough mountain, but it was really just the beginning.

If you say it’s already difficult, it’s a little difficult.

‘Huh? Why is the aura like that?’

When I turned around and looked at Hansong, the first thing I noticed was the aura shaking unsteadily.

What is that? It was something I had never seen before.

Oh, I saw something similar.

Jang Won-jun and Joo Soo-young, a couple who run a hardware store and whose energy and vitality were damaged.

Those two were worse than that.

‘Wait a minute, then maybe?’

Perhaps we can find out what caused the hardware store couple’s energy and vitality to be damaged.

I observed Hansong’s appearance more closely. Her aura was trembling as if she was anxious.

─It’s cold, it’s cold. I hate it because it’s cold here.

And the same goes for modifications.

Soo-jeong was hugging Mi-ho tightly as if she was really cold.

Fortunately, Miho seemed unharmed.

Me too. I didn’t feel anything particularly strange.

‘Sujeong-ah. Is it that cold?’

─Yeah! It’s cold. The ground is filled with chill.

‘Han Ki?’

─Yeah, yeah!

At Soo-Jung’s words, I turned my gaze from Hansong’s aura to the ground. Then, I saw something I hadn’t seen before.

There was a dull aura rising up from the ground around Hansongi.

‘What is that?’

─It’s a cold that occurs because the weather is not good.

‘… … Because the weather isn’t good?’

─Yeah, yeah!

Suddenly, I remembered places that had bad weather.

The land where the ranch’s purification facility was once located, the stream where trash was dumped, etc.

There was a dull aura there too. So here too?

‘Sujeong-ah. Do you know where that place is that is said to be in bad shape?’

─Yeah! Over there!

Sujeong pointed exactly where she was going.

And at the same time!

Rustle!

There was a sound of something moving in the bushes.

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