I Quit My Job and Run a Café - Chapter 69



Only Krnovel

Episode 69

The old sedan drove slowly and stopped in front of Cheonho-ri village.

And after a moment of hesitation, he stopped in the parking lot of the tiger shelter on the other side of the village instead of entering.

A person came out of the car that had been parked there for a while.

She was a middle-aged woman.

Even after she got out of the car, she stood there for a long time without being able to leave.

Then, as if he had made up his mind, he came to the entrance of the path.

[Tiger Shelter]

The handwriting was different from the sign she remembered, but the feeling it gave off was similar to before.

‘… … Nothing has changed here.’

I heard the boss changed.

Yet the warmth remained.

Did you say that your grandson succeeded you?

The thought of turning back and taking the steps she had taken to get here stopped her.

But that was only for a moment.

She had already made up her mind.

I barely managed to get my feet up and climb the narrow path.

I bit my lip at the sight that brought back vivid memories of the past.

It was such a beautiful sight.

But I didn’t have the luxury of fully accepting it.

The steps that had been difficult to take, one step at a time, have now become faster.

As we entered the empty lot, a familiar but slightly different landscape caught my eye.

‘They look alike.’

The changes in the sign stuck under the path are similar to the changes here.

The new owner must have changed it.

But here too, the feeling was similar. It was a cozy and warm feeling that seemed to embrace everything.

With that strength, I slowly walked towards the wooden cabin building standing alone in a clearing surrounded by mountains and forests.

Ding, ding, ding

As she opened the door, the clear sound of a bell greeted her first.

and,

“Welcome.”

A young manager greeted me at the counter.

For a moment, she froze at the sight that reminded her of someone.

The president’s eyes, which seemed to clearly see through my mind, were just like his.

* * *

He was a strange guest.

It was a middle-aged female customer who came in looking familiar yet unfamiliar.

But as soon as he entered, he stared at me intently and froze.

As if I saw someone I knew.

‘I don’t know you?’

But it was my first time seeing him.

No matter how hard I tried to recall his memories, he was someone I didn’t recognize.

And there was something more striking than that… …it was the aura coming from the middle-aged woman.

What can I say, it was a state I had never seen before.

Aura without strength?

It was an aura that emitted a dull light, but also a strangely bright light, but it was so weak that it seemed like it would go out at any moment.

It was as if the aura of bright light had sacrificed itself against the dull light and ended up like that.

“Ah. Hello.”

While I was observing that strange aura, a guest came to greet me.

The expression on his face that had been absentminded earlier seemed to have calmed down somewhat. I don’t know why, though.

“Yes. Please take a seat and order.”

“I will do that.”

The guest sat down at the window seat as usual. Then he looked around, and the sight seemed both unfamiliar and familiar.

It seemed like the customer had been here before.

That was when my grandfather was there, not me.

I observed the guest as he looked around.

[Kim Hye-joo]

*situation

─The guilt that binds you

─Regret

As expected, it wasn’t in good condition.

But it was difficult to guess why the aura was like that just by looking at the text window.

I guess I’ll have to listen to the story to find out.

Of course, there were also ways to use immersion.

‘But I get a little tired every time I write.’

It wasn’t easy to write much because it was in a similar state to a fairy tale with the other person.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I won’t use it again. I just need to find out through the situation and conversation first.

First, I thought of some things that might help with guilt and regret.

Grit? Confidence?

Or is it soft on the outside and strong on the inside?

It’s a little ambiguous.

This was surprisingly tricky.

Self-reproach seems to require consolation, and regret… …what does it require?

‘Regret, have you ever regretted something? Oh, I have.’

I don’t regret the time I spent running forward. Thanks to that, I was able to get ahead of others who were running on the same line.

He rose to the position of team leader at a young age and made a lot of money.

So, it was more of a feeling of disappointment rather than regret.

My regret was not having a cup of coffee like my grandfather served me here.

The point is that we’ve never sat here together and spent time leisurely.

That’s what it was.

‘It’s still ambiguous.’

It’s almost like the difference between the newly acquired resonance and the sacrifices Ha-Jun’s family had previously made.

Both of them seemed to breathe aura into other talents.

The only difference was that sacrifice could not be returned once given, while resonance could be moved freely.

Regret and sadness were similar.

Regret was an emotion felt for something that could not be undone.

On the other hand, should I say that the feeling of regret is not something that can be completely reversed?

I felt like there might be a way to look back and fill the void.

Of course, this is all just my opinion.

Anyway, the more I thought about it, the more I felt that the guest’s condition was not as easy as I thought.

Thud! Thud!

A customer who had been looking around approached the counter as if to order.

I haven’t been able to modify the recommended menu because I haven’t decided what to give yet…

“excuse me.”

“Yes, you may speak.”

“Actually, I have another reason for coming here.”

“yes?”

Instead of ordering, the customer said something unexpected.

Is there another reason?

At that moment, a memory came to my mind.

The person who owned the recipe book and did business at her house, as Hansong-i had told me.

It was a memory that the person wanted to look for once.

“Are you looking for this?”

When I took out the recipe book that I had kept in the closet and showed it to the customer, his eyes widened.

“… … It’s mine.”

“I heard you were coming once.”

That’s right.

This person was the owner of this recipe book.

Somehow… … but why is the condition like that?

Was there something wrong with the business when it closed?

It still seems like an overreaction to relate it to that.

“Is that so?”

“Shall I give you some?”

“Um… … Let me just look at it for a moment.”

The recipe book was returned to its original owner. The customer looked very moved upon receiving it.

To be exact, it felt like something mixed with regret.

I was curious about the story, but I didn’t ask because I thought he would tell me if I waited.

Sarak! Sarak!

Inside the cafe, the only sound you can hear is the sound of someone turning the pages of a recipe book.

That didn’t last long.

Thud!

The recipe book remained open for a long time with the guest’s eyes closed.

What are you thinking after looking at your recipe book that has been touched by your hands?

After a while, the guest opened his eyes and the reason came out.

“This is evidence of theft.”

“… …Theft?”

“Yes. I originally stole from this place.”

I wasn’t particularly moved by the customer’s slow, suppressed words.

I just thought, oh, I see.

I didn’t expect it, but strangely enough, I wasn’t surprised.

“Is that so? I took a peek inside, but it doesn’t seem like it’s worth saying that.”

“I’m not talking about the contents of the recipe itself… … I’m talking about stealing the meaning of that person and this place.”

I tilted my head because it was a little difficult to understand what he was saying.

The guest seemed to understand everything and continued to explain.

“Did you know that I had a cafe inside the village?”

“Yes. I had a rough idea.”

“Then you can see that the appearance there is similar to here.”

“It does look a bit similar. Was that your intention?”

“… … Yes, I was greedy. I was so sad that such a good place was being left to rot. That’s why I told the original owner. These days, if you just promote it and post it on SNS, people will come.”

“My grandfather would have refused.”

The guest nodded.

My grandfather had a personality that was perhaps even more extreme than mine.

There is a reason why he is not doing it, but there is no way he would do it if someone told him to do it.

It was fortunate that he didn’t get angry.

“That’s right. He refused.”

“I don’t think they would have said anything if we opened the same cafe.”

“… … You know a lot.”

Because he is the kind of person who doesn’t tell others not to do something just because he doesn’t do it.

And in the first place, my grandfather probably didn’t even think of it as competition.

People who come here might have a slightly different perspective.

This was a fact that only I knew.

Because I know that Tiger Sanctuary is special.

Of course, even if that wasn’t the case, I knew my grandfather’s personality well, so it wasn’t difficult to infer.

“I opened a cafe there that was similar to this place, or rather, a copy of it. And it went well, as expected.”

“The village chief also said something.”

“… … I thought so.”

“Isn’t that so? I heard you suddenly cleaned it up.”

Was it different from what I knew?

The guest’s expression darkened even more.

It was possible because only he knew what it was like internally.

And I thought that maybe that was the reason why the guest was in his current state.

“If you look at the money, it was fine. For a few years. It wasn’t because of money that we suddenly got rid of it.”

“then?”

The customer tightly gripped the recipe book in his hand.

It was difficult for anyone to speak their mind.

Whether it’s a first time meeting someone or a close friend. So I decided to just wait.

“Oh, I’ll get you something to drink. Please wait a moment.”

“……thank you.”

I made up a reasonable excuse because just waiting in front could be uncomfortable.

And he left the seat so that I could calm down and gather my thoughts.

I didn’t bother asking for a menu since it seemed like he probably didn’t have time to order a drink right now. I already had one thing in mind…

I came into the kitchen and took out some tea leaves to help me relax.

These days, there are a lot of herbs growing in the garden, so they are often made into tea leaves, and this was one of them.

Mint I discovered when I first came here.

There are a lot of crops in the garden now, but back then, this was all there was.

It was a kind of beginner’s crop, perhaps the one that first introduced me to the specialness of this place.

So now might be a good time to choose.

On the sunny roof, the mint dried crisply and broke into pieces, making a pleasant rustling sound.

Just soak it in moderately heated water and you’re done.

It didn’t take long to make, aside from straining the tea leaves into the tea bag.

However, it took us rather some time.

Still, that should be a decent amount of time for guests to clear their heads.

‘Or maybe it’s us again.’

We can store mint tea by just removing the tea leaves.

The water, which was once clear, gradually turns a darker color as it absorbs mint.

The unique, fragrant and refreshing scent also became stronger.

When the tea had soaked in enough, I took a quick look outside to check the situation.

Perhaps it was the scent of fresh mint. He looked like he had finally gathered his thoughts.

The temperature of the tea was just right, and now seemed like a good time.

“It’s mint tea. It’s mint grown in the garden and dried in the sun.”

“thank you.”

He offered me tea with simple words.

And when the tea in the transparent cup had dwindled to just one sip, the guest took a sip.

“I didn’t know what I was doing because I was only chasing money. There was cafe trash rolling around, and the townspeople were suffering from noise and pollution from the customers who came. Above all… … I was so sorry.”

“What is it?”

“It was originally the boss here. He was the one who brought me back to life, but I… … The more my cafe did well, the more I felt sorry towards him. It was his, but I copied it and used it, and I was causing damage by doing so.”

As he spoke, sobbing and as if in confession, I thought I now knew what was going on.

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