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∼Chapter 03∼
The next day.
“Hmm.”
Ha-yoon wandered around the tavern with her arms crossed, carefully inspecting every corner. Her eyes gleamed sharply as she examined the place.
‘There are more problems than I thought.’
A yard overgrown with weeds.
Earthen walls that looked ready to collapse.
A creaking wooden platform.
The basics of running a business began with making sure customers didn’t feel uncomfortable.
It was one thing if the place only had a handful of loyal regulars.
But if they wanted to serve countless customers in the future, they had to eliminate anything that might make the majority of people uncomfortable.
Ha-yoon already knew very well that the rise and fall of a business wasn’t determined by taste alone.
‘Don’t leave the customer with an unpleasant experience.’
No matter how delicious the food was, if there was a bug in it, all that effort would be meaningless.
The foundation of running a food business was making sure customers didn’t walk away with unpleasant memories.
If she had to put it extremely simply, there shouldn’t even be anything particularly memorable.
The experience should be so natural that customers wouldn’t even remember exactly when they had visited.
In particular, Ha-yoon believed that a tavern like this needed to feel comfortable enough that people could visit every day without getting tired of it.
‘The entrance is narrow and gloomy. I don’t feel like going inside at all.’
Ha-yoon’s gaze fixed on the entrance.
An old straw mat was crumpled carelessly on the ground, while a pile of firewood blocked half the entrance.
On top of that, a musty smell was drifting from somewhere.
It was the foul odor of old rain-soaked wood mixed with mold.
‘No wonder nobody comes here…’
An entrance was like a person’s face.
And the face of this establishment had been completely neglected.
It was a terrible situation.
From a customer’s perspective, this was the kind of place they shouldn’t enter.
‘No matter how good the food is, it’s meaningless if people never cross the threshold.’
Just as maintaining a minimum level of appearance was necessary to date someone, running a business also required a certain amount of upkeep.
‘I’d like to tear the whole place apart and rebuild it, but…’
Ha-yoon let out a long sigh.
They had no money.
No time.
Everything was lacking.
All she had was a healthy body and the knowledge inside her head.
‘I need to choose and focus. I have to get the maximum effect with minimal cost.’
Ha-yoon stopped walking as she thought.
What caught her attention was an old flag hanging in the air.
‘Tavern…?’
The piece of cloth had been torn and faded by the wind and weather to the point where it was impossible to tell what the original characters had been.
The writing fluttered in the breeze, looking more like stains than actual letters.
“A sign!”
Ha-yoon suddenly shouted.
“Goodness, you startled me!”
Ok-bun, who had been peeling garlic in one corner of the yard, raised her head in surprise.
“A sign? What’s that? Can you eat it?”
Ok-bun narrowed her eyes.
Apparently, even the word itself was unfamiliar to her.
“A sign is basically a business card for a store. I’ll make you a proper sign to replace that piece of cloth.”
Ha-yoon pointed toward Moon-sik.
“Mr. Moon! Do you have any spare wooden boards? The bigger, the better! And please give me some ink and a brush too!”
Moon-sik, who had just put down his wooden carrier in the yard, asked with a bewildered expression,
“What do you need a board for? Firewood?”
“I’m going to give the tavern a new name. And I’m taking down that flag.”
At the mention of removing the flag, Ok-bun cried out in surprise.
“Why would you take down a perfectly good flag? People passing by see that and know to come in.”
“Don’t you mean they see it and run away?”
“W-What did you say?”
Ok-bun’s face turned bright red.
But Ha-yoon’s bluntness showed no signs of stopping.
“You need to make it immediately obvious to customers that this is a place of business. Who would look at those faded letters and realize you’re still operating? They’d think the place had already gone out of business.”
“Hmm… Now that you mention it, you have a point.”
Ok-bun was already beginning to be persuaded by Ha-yoon’s words.
In truth, Ok-bun knew it herself.
Lately, customers had often been walking straight past the tavern without even looking inside.
She knew there was a problem, but she hadn’t known where or how to begin fixing it, so she had simply left everything as it was.
But now there was Ha-yoon, who was pinpointing the problems exactly like someone scratching an itch in the perfect spot.
Creak.
Moon-sik opened the door of the shed and rummaged around inside before coming out carrying a fairly large wooden board.
It wasn’t palm-sized.
It was a huge board nearly as large as a person’s torso.
“Will this do?”
“Perfect!”
Along with the board, Moon-sik handed her a short, worn-out brush.
Half the bristles had fallen out, and the handle was cracked.
“Ink is scarce, so I don’t have any. But I do have this mixture of soot and oil… Will you use that?”
“Hmm. I think that’ll work.”
Ha-yoon placed the wooden board in the middle of the yard.
Then she carefully considered what words she should write on it.
‘This is where the real work begins.’
Who casually came up with a name?
The simple word “tavern” wasn’t enough.
Ha-yoon, who understood the importance of naming, fell deep into thought.
‘We need differentiation. If I just write “Tavern,” there’s nothing distinguishing this place from any other.’
Dozens of words appeared and disappeared in Ha-yoon’s mind.
When people thought of design, they usually considered visual elements first.
But language played a surprisingly large role as well, whether it was naming a business or, when necessary, naming a product.
‘A logo would be difficult…’
She considered creating a logo with a highly visible image, but she had no idea whether people in this era would even understand the concept of a logo.
More importantly, images had limited power to spread through word of mouth.
No matter how perfect a logo was, there was no easy way to explain it verbally.
In an era where word of mouth was everything, Ha-yoon realized that she ultimately had to win with a single ‘word.’
‘Something easy and simple that anyone can remember!’
One word that fit all those conditions came to Ha-yoon’s mind.
‘That’s it!’
Having decided on the name, Ha-yoon boldly picked up the brush.
Whoosh!
Ha-yoon was exceptionally skilled at calligraphy.
Creating an identity through nothing but handwriting was one of her strongest weapons.
‘Good handwriting is a design in itself.’
She might not have been as talented as Han Seok-bong, but Ha-yoon had considerable knowledge of calligraphy and began writing without hesitation.
Scratch—swish!
The surface of the wood was uneven, but that didn’t make writing difficult.
The black paint made from soot and oil soaked into the wooden board.
‘There are no second chances. I’ll finish it in one stroke.’
The most important thing when writing calligraphy was not to hesitate.
Hesitation left traces.
Even if the result might fail, boldly committing to each stroke was the key to good handwriting.
The same principle applied to drawing.
Swish!
Ha-yoon put strength into the final character and completed the name of the new establishment.
Moon-sik and Ok-bun, who had watched the entire process beside her, widened their eyes.
“Oh my, what in the world is that?”
“I’ve never seen writing like that before.”
“The letters twist and bend and suddenly get bigger… It looks like a complete mess!”
“But somehow I can still read it smoothly. That’s really strange.”
Naturally, it was difficult for people from this era to understand calligraphy that pushed the Korean alphabet to its limits.
Ha-yoon’s calligraphy went beyond freely manipulating strokes.
It even crossed into the territory of completely different forms of lettering.
It was an original style that existed nowhere in this era except in Ha-yoon’s hands.
Bold, sweeping strokes.
Delicate control over strength and weakness.
And letters with carefully placed accents at the end.
The characters Ha-yoon had written seemed to breathe like living creatures.
“Phew. Done.”
After almost unconsciously wielding the brush, Ha-yoon wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Written on the wooden board was a single name:
[Life Tavern]
A combination of the words “life” and “tavern.”
Ok-bun stared at the new name with wide eyes.
“Life Tavern? What does that even mean…?”
“It means a tavern that everyone should visit at least once in their life.”
Ha-yoon put down the brush and grinned.
“A meal you eat here could change your life. That could be another meaning. What do you think? Isn’t it good?”
In truth, the meaning could be interpreted however one wanted.
The important thing was the impact of the word itself.
‘Life Tavern, Life Pancake, Life Gukbap. There are so many things that can branch off from this. This is my chance while nobody has claimed it yet.’
Naturally, in the future, even if someone wanted to use a business name like this, they couldn’t simply take it.
They would have to check whether the name was already being used and go through complicated procedures such as trademark registration.
But none of those concepts existed here.
This was essentially an unclaimed territory.
Whoever used it first owned it.
Just like painting on a completely blank canvas, what kind of picture she would draw in the country of Joseon was entirely in Ha-yoon’s hands.
“Life Tavern…”
Ok-bun stood there blankly, staring at the sign.
The chaotic-looking lettering strangely captured her attention.
More than anything, the word “life” resonated deeply within her.
“The letters are a little crooked, but somehow they suit the place better than I expected.”
“Indeed. It’s neither Chinese characters nor Korean letters. It’s some strange thing, but I can’t stop looking at it.”
“All right, then please hang it somewhere at the entrance where it’s easiest to see.”
Once the sign was finished, Moon-sik carried it toward the entrance.
Ha-yoon followed behind him, directing where to place it.
“Higher! It needs to be visible from across the road!”
“Is this high enough?”
“Raise the left side a little more. It’s not level.”
“How about now?”
“Center it properly. Move it a little farther to the right.”
“Here?”
“More, more, more!”
“Good grief, you’re ridiculously picky…”
Moon-sik grumbled, but his expression wasn’t particularly unpleasant.
When Ha-yoon had first offered to take over, he honestly hadn’t expected much.
But once she began demonstrating her abilities, it was obvious that she was a professional.
And a highly skilled one at that.
“Good. Secure it firmly there. Make sure it won’t get soaked even if it rains.”
“My goodness. Anyone watching would think you were the owner of this place.”
While Moon-sik fixed the sign to the post, Ha-yoon approached Ok-bun.
“Mrs. Ok.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Do you sell anything besides gukbap? Things like seasoned vegetables or pancakes?”
“Of course we do.”
Ha-yoon immediately continued with another question.
“Then could you tell me exactly what kinds of food you sell here? And the prices too.”
“What do you need to know that for?”
“I’m going to make a menu.”
“A menu?”
“Ah, let’s call it a food list.”
Ha-yoon’s next plan was to create a menu.
‘Most people who eat gukbap are men between twenty and sixty. They never ask about the menu.’
If there were one phrase that represented taverns, it would probably be:
“Miss! One bowl of gukbap here!”
This wasn’t because they didn’t want to eat other food.
It was because they didn’t even know other food was available.
‘If they don’t ask, how are they supposed to know?’
Men were the kind of people who often couldn’t even clearly explain how they wanted their hair cut.
‘If I want to attract people, the only option is to offer a variety of food.’
No matter how delicious the gukbap was, eating nothing but gukbap every day would eventually become boring.
The gukbap should remain the main attraction, but there needed to be various side dishes and menu items to support it.
Only then could the tavern appeal to a wide range of customers.
And all those options needed to be visible at a glance.
“Chili pancake, 2 jeon. Potato pancake, 3 jeon. Pollock pancake, 5 jeon. Seasoned wild garlic leaves, 4 jeon. Seasoned bean sprouts, 2 jeon…”
“Good. Keep going.”
Ha-yoon brought over the remaining wooden board and began writing down everything Ok-bun listed.
She arranged the menu items in a neat line on the left and wrote the prices on the right.
Instead of writing the word for jeon, she used cute drawings of copper coins.
She added decorative elements around the edges of the board, completing the menu.
“Done.”
Ha-yoon looked at the finished menu with satisfaction.
It had been created using nothing but a brush.
It was simple, but that was also its greatest strength.
It was extremely easy to understand at a glance.
The menu Ha-yoon created was as follows:
[ Gukbap ]
Gukbap / 4 ◎
[ Pancakes ]
Chili Pancake / 2 ◎
Potato Pancake / 3 ◎
Pollock Pancake / 5 ◎
[ Seasoned Vegetables ]
Seasoned Bean Sprouts / 2 ◎
Seasoned Wild Garlic Leaves / 4 ◎
[ Alcohol ]
Makgeolli / 3 ◎
Dongdongju / 3 ◎
Life Liquor / 5 ◎
.
.
.
After completing the menu, Ha-yoon looked at Ok-bun with a satisfied expression.
“How is it? It’s much easier and more convenient because you can see all the food at once, right?”
“Oh! It’s neat and easy to look at. You really do have some talent, don’t you?”
“What did I tell you? I’m going to turn this place into the greatest tavern in Joseon.”
“You really do know something about running a business.”
As Ha-yoon enthusiastically renovated the tavern as if it were her own home, Ok-bun’s guarded attitude gradually began to disappear.
“All right, then the next thing we need to do is…”
And just like that, a month passed.
During that time, Ha-yoon carried out various renovations, including completely remodeling the kitchen.
She also trained Ok-bun and Moon-sik in customer service, established hygiene standards, and added various visual elements both inside and outside the tavern.
“Today is the day.”
They hadn’t deliberately closed the tavern, but because they had spent the entire month tearing things apart and renovating, even fewer people had come than before.
Occasionally, someone would approach out of curiosity.
But after seeing the chaotic surroundings, they would assume, ‘Are they finally closing down?’
And turn around.
But now Life Tavern was preparing for a brand-new opening.
The floor had been swept clean.
The tables stood neatly in place.
The sign gleamed.
It had become a completely different place, to the point that even the phrase “a complete transformation” wasn’t enough to describe it.
Moon-sik and Ok-bun asked nervously,
“Do you really think people will come?”
“Don’t worry. In a few days, people will be lining up all the way to the wall to eat here.”
“That would be wonderful.”
Once preparations for the business were mostly complete, Ha-yoon suddenly began walking briskly toward the kitchen.
“Where are you going?”
“We’ve finished preparing. Now we need to attract customers.”
As she spoke, Ha-yoon looked at the enormous iron cauldron sitting in the middle of the kitchen.
Inside was a rich broth that had already been simmering for several hours.
“Here goes!”
Without hesitation, Ha-yoon lifted the lid with a pair of tongs.
Whoosh!
Seeing this, Ok-bun rushed over in surprise.
“What are you doing all of a sudden? You’ll boil away all the broth!”
As Ok-bun tried to close the lid, Ha-yoon explained her reasoning.
“We need to lure people in with the smell! What’s the point of keeping this delicious aroma trapped inside?”
“Lure people in with the smell?”
“Yes. From now on, we’re going to spread this smell as far as possible. This aroma is more precious than any perfume.”
With that, Ha-yoon threw open the kitchen door.
“Don’t you have a fan? Quickly, fan it toward the road! This is the perfect time, right before lunch!”
“Huh? Oh…”
Although Ok-bun was bewildered, she picked up a fan.
“Here.”
“Good. Fan as hard as you can!”
“Good grief, what on earth am I doing…”
Ok-bun grumbled, but she began fanning diligently.
They had come this far.
Now, she had no choice but to trust Ha-yoon.
Flap! Flap!
Hot steam poured out of the kitchen.
The smoke carried on the wind was filled with the rich aroma of meat broth and spread toward the road.
‘That finishes all the preparations. Now all we have to do is wait.’
Ha-yoon stared meaningfully in the direction the aroma was spreading.
At that moment.
At the entrance to Mungyeong Saejae.
A group of traveling peddlers carrying bundles was making their way along the road.
There were eight of them in total, and their backs were loaded with heavy bundles of goods.
“Ugh.”
Crossing the mountain pass while carrying such heavy loads was exhausting.
In the past, traveling peddlers carried bundles weighing an average of thirty kilograms and walked about twenty kilometers every day.
By modern standards, it was practically like marching every day.
As a result, traveling peddlers were constantly plagued by hunger.
They needed to eat frequently just to keep walking.
And it was while these traveling peddlers were silently making their way forward that it happened.
“Sniff, sniff.”
One of the peddlers walking at the front flared his nostrils.
“Eh? Big brother, what’s that smell?”
“This… Isn’t that the smell of meat being boiled?”
“Good heavens, that smell of meat is incredible.”
The rich, savory aroma stimulated their noses, and one by one, the other peddlers stopped walking.
The deep smell of broth was spreading through the air on the wind.
“Come to think of it, isn’t it almost time to eat?”
“I was getting hungry anyway… Why don’t we head over there and take a look?”
“Sounds good. Let’s hurry.”
Drawn in by the aroma, their feet naturally carried them toward the tavern.
A short while later—
The eyes of the peddlers who entered the tavern’s grounds widened.
“Whoa?”
The neatly organized yard.
The walls decorated with murals.
And the eye-catching sign that read:
‘Life Tavern.’
“Life Tavern? Was there a place like this here?”
The peddlers tilted their heads in confusion as they looked at the sign.
“Come to think of it, wasn’t there a tavern here before?”
“Ah! I remember! It was practically falling apart…”
“That place is here?”
The peddlers who remembered what the old tavern had looked like stared around in disbelief.
They had been traveling this road for more than a decade, but they had never once set foot inside Moon-sik’s tavern.
Even when rain and wind battered the road, they always avoided that particular house.
They simply couldn’t bring themselves to use it.
But today was different.
Instead of the shabby thatched house, there was a neatly maintained yard.
A properly mounted sign.
And, most importantly, the rich aroma drifting through the wind had stopped them in their tracks.
It didn’t take long for their hesitation to turn into curiosity.
“Did the owner change?”
“Hmm. Should we go inside and take a look?”
“Sure. Let’s give it a try and see what happens.”
With mixed feelings of doubt and curiosity, the peddlers stepped into Life Tavern.
