Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Episode 7: The Grand Opening Is Pandemonium (1)

I can say with certainty that this was the first time I had ever poured this much oil into a pot and deep-fried something.

An attempt I never would have made if I had not felt apologetic.

Since I did not have any specialized equipment, I had worried that neither the appearance nor the taste could be guaranteed, but all those concerns proved unfounded.

“This is pork cutlet! It looks exactly like the one I saw!”

“It really does. It looks pretty close, doesn’t it?”

A well-fried pork cutlet on a plate, thinly sliced cabbage with dressing, and even fluffy instant rice.

I had not actually made a single thing entirely from scratch, but that made it all the more satisfying.

No matter how delicious home cooking might be, it could hardly compare to ready-made products developed for sale by teams of people with master’s and doctoral degrees.

“But there’s a lot left.”

The raccoon dog smacked its lips while looking at the remaining cutlets I had fried in advance, since I had no idea when I would ever go through the trouble of deep-frying something like this again.

“We can put them in the refrigerator. Don’t eat too much, or you might get a stomachache. Got it? If you get sick, we’ll have to go to the hospital again.”

“I’m only eating this much!”

It would have been fine to give it plenty, but even what was already on its plate seemed like more than its little body could finish.

I had no desire to make two trips to the hospital in one day over a pointless stomachache. I had already been subjected to plenty of suspicion that I might be illegally keeping a wild animal.

But what was I really supposed to do with this much left over?

I almost never ate breakfast, and I often ate dinner at work before coming home. Even if I put it in the refrigerator, there was a very good chance it would end up in the food waste bin three or four days later.

But that concern soon became pointless.

-Jingle.

The number of guests increased.

To three.

“Huh? It’s the nine-tailed fox!”

“Ahem.”

Just as the raccoon dog said, the young nine-tailed fox I had met before and his driver stood awkwardly at the entrance.

Truthfully, I had expected them to come sooner or later.

If he had given up quietly in the first place, he would never have sent the raccoon dog here.

Because of that raccoon dog, I had not only stayed awake all night, but had also gone to the hospital and fried pork cutlets first thing in the morning. I dearly wanted to give him a piece of my mind, but soon abandoned the idea.

It took a fair amount of resolve to coldly throw out someone again when he had gone out of his way to come despite being uncomfortable enough to scratch his cheek awkwardly and clear his throat.

“If you haven’t eaten yet, join us. I made plenty.”

“I need only coffee.”

“I’ll make you some after you finish eating, so sit down.”

“Truly?”

Afraid we might continue exchanging the same questions and answers forever, I said nothing more and went into the kitchen to bring out two additional plates of pork cutlet.

And so the four of us sat around a coffeehouse table flooded with deep sunlight.

“Ooooooh! It’s delicious! This one is sweet, and this one is savory! And this one tastes good with rice!”

“All right, so eat slowly.”

I forcibly sat the raccoon dog back down after it repeatedly stood and sat while taking huge bites of pork cutlet and dramatically delivering its review.

“I knew it from the start, but your cooking skills are rather impressive.”

“I helped too!”

“You did?”

“Helping a human is only natural, ahem!”

“Hmph, how is that natural? The others have all become so steeped in the world that you can hardly tell whether they are humans or monsters anymore.”

“So there are more beings like you.”

“Of course! In the old days...”

“E-Elder!”

“What? Is there anything left to hide from a fellow who has already opened his divine eyes? Heh heh.”

“So that’s what you call them. Divine eyes.”

“Yes, but how have you lived such a life with eyes that good? You should have worked for the country like this fellow, or gone into business, or accomplished something.”

“The world dislikes people like that.”

“Indeed. You are clever.”

I had always been more perceptive than most people.

That was simply how I had thought of it.

Whenever I saw something, I would force myself to rub my eyes until it blurred, and whenever future events appeared vividly before me, I dismissed them as déjà vu.

It was only recently that I realized those eyes could even see supernatural beings like these.

‘How did you know? Who told you? Answer me properly.’

‘Stop saying such ominous things! What accident?’

‘Mr. Kim Jinseong, if you keep insisting you know nothing, it will work against you later in court. Now, I’ll ask again. Why were you trying to start the fire?’

For reasons like those.

That was how I had lived, treating ordinariness as a virtue.

Though now, I supposed it no longer mattered.

“Are there any side effects? Like dying young, or going insane in old age?”

“Heh heh, you treated me like an annoying guest, yet you worry about that?”

“As you know, I had no one else to ask.”

It was true that I was worried.

Hadn’t I gone all the way to an animal hospital with a monster just this morning?

From an ordinary person’s perspective, I was already no different from a lunatic.

“Of course there are.”

“What are they?”

“Divine eyes are, just as the name says, eyes opened by a god. Just as nothing in all creation exists without a purpose, one who opens divine eyes has a destiny unique to that person. On this land, Yi Do, who bound together Joseon’s lifespan, was such a child, and before him there was the Yeon clan’s Great Magnate of Goguryeo.”

Yi Do... could he mean King Sejong? And by the Yeon clan’s Great Magnate of Goguryeo, did he mean Yeon Gaesomun?

“Heh heh, does it feel more real now?”

No.

If anything, the answer was so utterly unrealistic that my head cooled at once.

Setting aside their great achievements, they were people who had lived blazing, turbulent lives.

That had nothing whatsoever to do with someone like me, who had lived with the simple goal of staying at one company for a long time, receiving a generous severance package, and spending retirement on quiet little hobbies.

“You too will soon do something of that sort.”

“My bloodline seems far too unimpressive for that, doesn’t it? I’m neither a crown prince nor a noble.”

“Hmph, do you think their bloodlines were somehow precious? Go back only a few fathers and they were people herding sheep in fields or farming the land. Pay it no mind. You need only live according to the natural course of things. Are you not already doing so? After all, you became the owner of this coffeehouse.”

“I bought this place because I wanted to.”

“And that is why we came here as well.”

“So everything returns to its proper course.”

“As expected, you are clever. Heh heh.”

Everything returns to its proper course.

All things inevitably return to what is right.

Was he saying that my taking over this coffeehouse as if bewitched after seeing the for-sale notice, and these monsters coming here because of it, were all things that were meant to happen?

Despite all my efforts to conform to the world and live an ordinary life, none of it mattered, and things had ended up this way anyway?

That divine eyes had simply been opened because they had an important purpose?

Not a chance.

“Then, now that you understand and we have finished eating, bring me a cup of coffee. As for what comes next, you can slowly discuss it with this fellow who works for the country...”

“No.”

“Hm?”

“These divine eyes, as you call them, were not something I asked to receive. So if you suddenly tell me the price was paid in advance and that I should obediently follow the natural course of things, am I supposed to simply comply?”

“No, I am not saying you must comply. It was simply decided that way by Old Woman Mago...”

“If you would simply open this coffeehouse, I will pay you ten million won a month. What do you think? Even one hour of business a day would be acceptable.”

The middle-aged man whom the nine-tailed fox had said worked for the country cut him off and suddenly offered an extraordinary condition while handing me a business card.

Nothing was printed on it except his name and phone number.

There was no company address or even an email address, things that should normally have been included, making it resemble one of those loan shark business cards scattered on streets at dawn.

But his following introduction was more than enough to explain the sparse business card.

“I am Baek Mahyeon, Director of the Counterintelligence Investigation Bureau of the National Intelligence Service. The National Intelligence Service will guarantee the payment.”

Since he traveled around with a monster, I had vaguely assumed he held a fairly high position, but I never imagined he would be a bureau director.

And on top of that, he had offered ten million won per month.

Look at these guys.

They had clearly expected me to refuse.

It was money they never would have offered if I had meekly agreed from the beginning.

The moment my thoughts reached that point, the calculator in my head began turning rapidly.

If I failed to decide what to take and what to concede at this moment, I would end up gaining neither one thing nor the other.

“Forty million. There’s no guarantee you’ll remain in that position, so I’ll need at least that much.”

“We also have procedures and limits on operational expenses, so anything above thirty million won would be rather difficult.”

“...Then thirty million it is.”

“Thank you for your consideration. Let us do that.”

I took the hand he offered and concluded the sudden deal.

There was no need to ask for time to think.

If things that were destined to happen would inevitably happen, then no matter what I did, I would eventually end up opening the coffeehouse just as this nine-tailed fox wanted.

Defy the natural course of things?

Or give that mighty being what he wanted and secure my own share in return?

Naturally, I chose the latter.

As far as I remembered, few high-ranking government officials at the director level ever completed their full terms.

At most, two years remained until the presidential election.

If some major political incident erupted before then, submitting a resignation while declaring that one deeply accepted responsibility was practically part of the job description for director-level officials.

There was no way a newly appointed official from a rival faction would simply allow thirty million won a month to continue disappearing into a place that generated no income whatsoever.

So I intended to squeeze out as much as possible, then secure the justification of saying, ‘The money stopped coming, so I’m quitting.’

I would give them what they wanted.

If that was the overwhelming current beyond my ability to resist.

It would simply come with an expiration date.

And that expiration date would be determined not by some destiny of divine eyes, but by me.

_____________

The two men and one raccoon dog did not leave the coffeehouse and get into the car until noon, when their shadows had grown short.

“Honestly, I do not understand why Old Woman Mago always gives divine eyes to such difficult fellows instead of choosing someone a little more obedient. Good grief, tsk.”

“But now you can drink coffee as much as you like, can’t you?”

“Do you call that as much as I like? He practically threatened me that he would only continue until you quit!”

“Haha, I suppose that’s true. But how did he know the deal would end if I resigned?”

“He is as wise as a sage even without deliberately using his divine eyes. He must have already seen through it from the surrounding circumstances. Prepare a solution in advance for what to do later.”

“You’re being unreasonable again.”

“Unreasonable? That is your job!”

“You’re fools. I don’t know why you’re worrying when you can just give him a leaf.”

The raccoon dog, which had been silently listening to their conversation while patting its greatly swollen belly in the passenger seat, spoke with a distinctly smug expression.

“A leaf?”

“I gave him a leaf as payment for the coffee.”

“Y-You... Don’t tell me you gave him a leaf from the Divine Tree?”

“That’s right. There are thiiiiis many leaves, so I can drink thiiiiis much coffee. But I’m not drinking it anymore. It was delicious, but I nearly died because I couldn’t sleep.”

As the raccoon dog spread both paws to express an amount impossible to estimate and gave its rambling answer, the nine-tailed fox’s pupils trembled violently, unable to settle anywhere.

“This is bad. Turn the car around! Quickly!”

-Screeeeech.

The black sedan that had been heading toward Mount Gyeryong abruptly changed direction.

“Aaaah! I’m dizzy! I think I’m going to throw up! Urk!”

“Elder, stop him! Car-washing expenses can’t be reimbursed.”

“Is that what matters right now? I said step on it!”