🔊 TTS Settings
∼Chapter 02∼
“So, you were in some kind of accident, and when you woke up, you were here… Is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“What kind of accident was it?”
“I… don’t really remember.”
Ha-yoon gave a vague answer.
If she told him she had come from the future, there was no doubt he would think she was insane.
“Well, I suppose you must’ve hit your head pretty hard. You’ve been spouting nothing but nonsense ever since you woke up.”
The man clicked his tongue as he looked Ha-yoon up and down.
Her suit pants were covered in dirt, her blouse was torn, and she was wearing pointed shoes known as high heels.
Anyone looking at her would have thought she was anything but a sane woman.
“Where in the world did you get clothes like those? And why is your hair so short?”
“Ah! This is…”
Ha-yoon hurriedly touched her hair.
Her current hairstyle was a short bob that barely covered her earlobes.
She had paid 300,000 won for the haircut, but this was Joseon.
In a Confucian kingdom where people followed the principle that one’s body, hair, and skin were gifts from their parents, a woman with short hair could only be either a criminal or a madwoman.
‘Stay calm. Just get out of this situation first.’
Ha-yoon desperately came up with an excuse.
“I must have fallen from somewhere like a cliff and ended up like this. Otherwise, why would anyone cut their hair this short?”
“Tsk, tsk. How could such a young lady have suffered such a terrible misfortune…?”
The man looked at Ha-yoon with pity.
Fortunately, it seemed he had believed her lie.
“What about your family? Do you remember where they live?”
Ha-yoon shook her head.
“I… don’t really remember that either.”
“Heh heh. You don’t remember your relatives either?”
“No. I don’t remember anything at all…”
“Then your name? Surely you remember that.”
“Ha-yoon… Lim Ha-yoon.”
Unable to bring herself to lie about her name as well, Ha-yoon gave him her real name.
“Hmm…”
After hearing about Ha-yoon’s situation, the man gazed toward the mountain ridge.
The sun was already beginning to sink.
At this rate, they would have no choice but to spend the night out here.
If a woman who had lost her memory spent the night alone in a place like this, the outcome was obvious.
‘It’ll be a miracle if I don’t end up as a tiger’s dinner…’
The man asked worriedly,
“Do you have somewhere to sleep tonight?”
“No… I don’t.”
“Hmm. Can’t be helped.”
The man gestured toward Ha-yoon.
“Follow me. I’ll give you a place to stay for the time being.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Sir? What are you calling me that for?”
Perhaps feeling uncomfortable being called that, the man introduced himself.
“My name is Moon-sik. Just call me Mr. Moon.”
“Yes. Mr. Moon.”
Ha-yoon cautiously followed behind Mr. Moon.
“Ugh!”
“Ow!”
“Ah!”
Ha-yoon’s ankles kept twisting beneath her.
The mountain path in Joseon was uneven and completely unmaintained.
Trying to walk along such a path in high heels was impossible.
Moon-sik turned around with a concerned look.
“Be careful. You’re going to fall because of those strange shoes.”
“I know. They’re just uncomfortable.”
Ha-yoon stared blankly at her high heels.
Whenever she had an important presentation, she always wore high heels.
To Ha-yoon, high heels were a tool that gave her confidence.
But here, those same high heels were completely useless.
They didn’t even function properly as shoes.
And they certainly didn’t give her any confidence.
Instead, they were more like torture devices designed solely to twist her ankles.
‘I won’t be needing these anymore…’
Ha-yoon looked at the high heels with complicated emotions.
Now that she knew she was in Joseon, the best use she could hope for with these shoes was probably hammering nails.
A moment later—
“Enough!”
Whoosh!
Having made up her mind, Ha-yoon threw her high heels far into the distance.
“Huh! You can do that?”
Moon-sik looked at her worriedly, but a bright smile appeared on Ha-yoon’s face instead.
“That’s much better. Let’s keep going.”
“What a bold young lady.”
Her hair was disheveled.
Her clothes were covered in dust.
And now she was walking barefoot along a mountain path.
If anyone who knew Ha-yoon had seen her like this, they wouldn’t have recognized her.
‘I have to change. If I want to survive in this country called Joseon.’
Surprisingly, walking barefoot wasn’t so bad.
At first, she had been careful, worried that she might step on something.
But there were no discarded cans or pieces of plastic anywhere.
There was nothing that made walking barefoot difficult.
Even the air was astonishingly clean.
The deeper she breathed, the clearer her mind seemed to become.
In fact, despite having walked for several hours, she wasn’t even out of breath.
After walking for some time, Moon-sik pointed toward a shabby building in the distance.
“That over there is our tavern.”
“A tavern?”
“Huh? Didn’t I tell you? My family runs a tavern.”
That was supposed to be a tavern?
Moon-sik’s tavern was so shabby that calling it a tavern felt embarrassing.
It looked more like a thatched house that was about to collapse at any moment.
The roof was worn away in several places, weeds covered the yard, and fallen leaves were piled high on the wooden platform.
There was even only a single lamp lit in an effort to save oil.
Even if dinner hours had already passed, this was unacceptable for a place in the service industry.
‘This place is practically on the verge of going out of business.’
Location.
Appearance.
Cleanliness.
Attitude.
It was the worst in every possible way.
If she could give it a rating, even one star would have been too generous.
“Dear! I’m home!”
At Moon-sik’s voice, a woman appeared from inside the tavern.
“Why are you so late… Huh?”
The woman stopped walking and glared at Ha-yoon.
“Who’s that woman behind you? Don’t tell me you secretly took another concubine without telling me?”
“Oh, come on. What are you talking about? A concubine?”
The woman had the sturdy build expected of a tavern owner.
Her rough hands resting on her waist and the muscles in her forearms bore the marks of someone who had fought tooth and nail to survive.
Moon-sik introduced her.
“Say hello. This is my wife, Ok-bun. And this here is…”
“My name is Lim Ha-yoon.”
Before Moon-sik could finish introducing her, Ha-yoon bowed politely.
She had sensed the hostility in Ok-bun’s gaze.
Even so, Ok-bun’s suspicion did not ease easily.
“You didn’t pick her up from some gisaeng house, did you? Look at her. She’s pretty enough to be a gisaeng. And what’s with those strange clothes?”
“With the way we’re living, what would I be doing at a gisaeng house? I found her unconscious while I was gathering firewood, so I brought her here.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Ok-bun glared at Ha-yoon, who repeatedly nodded as if to confirm that it was true.
Moon-sik continued explaining.
“If that weren’t the case, why would I bring a woman like her home?”
“No, that’s exactly what I’m asking! Why did you have to bring her home?”
“What was I supposed to do? She was lying there unconscious! How could I just walk past her? Why are you being so heartless?”
Moon-sik raised his voice.
Then, as if to put an end to the argument, he added,
“She’ll be staying here for the time being, so that’s how it is.”
“What did you say?”
At his unilateral declaration, Ok-bun raised her voice as well.
She practically dragged Moon-sik inside.
“Stop talking nonsense and come inside. We need to have a serious conversation.”
“Why are you doing this? Let go and talk. Let go.”
A moment later—
Loud voices came from inside, almost as if they wanted Ha-yoon to hear them.
“Are you out of your mind? We can barely take care of ourselves! Do you have any idea how difficult it is to feed another mouth?”
“She says she lost her memory in an accident! What else was I supposed to do? Would you have felt better if I’d left her there to die?”
“That’s not what I’m saying! I’m asking why you had to be the one to bring her here! Business is already so bad that I’m going crazy!”
“Is it my fault that business is bad? What am I supposed to do when nobody comes here?”
“Of course it is! You’re always wandering around instead of staying here! If you actually stayed here and worked, do you think this place would have become such a mess?”
“Oh, woman, you never stop nagging! Anyway, she’s staying here for a few days, so that’s that!”
Bang!
After Moon-sik slammed the door shut, no more voices could be heard.
Ha-yoon felt as though she were sitting on pins and needles because of the argument between the couple that had happened because of her.
‘I feel bad for causing trouble…’
She had forgotten.
This was Joseon.
Unlike the modern era, where material goods were abundant, taking care of someone in this era was practically the same as giving away one’s own blood and flesh.
Moreover, Moon-sik had brought an unexpected guest like her into a tavern that could close its doors at any moment.
From Ok-bun’s perspective, Ha-yoon could completely understand why she was upset.
“That woman has quite the temper.”
Moon-sik scratched his head as he approached Ha-yoon.
In his hand was a large earthenware bowl.
Clunk.
Moon-sik placed the bowl down without a word.
Inside was a generous serving of gukbap in a milky-white broth.
“Here. I brought you a bowl of gukbap. Eat comfortably.”
“Gukbap?”
“Of course. What kind of tavern doesn’t serve gukbap?”
Ha-yoon stared blankly at the gukbap.
Chunks of meat and plenty of green onions were piled on top of the milky broth.
The savory aroma rising from the bowl stimulated the tip of her nose.
“Why aren’t you eating? Go ahead. I already ate earlier, so I’m not hungry. Don’t worry about me.”
“Ah, well…”
The truth was, Ha-yoon had never particularly liked gukbap.
Actually, it was more accurate to say that she had never felt any need to eat it.
To a modern woman who could enjoy delicacies from all over the world with nothing more than a smartphone, gukbap had never been a particularly appealing choice.
Gulp.
But perhaps because she had suddenly been dropped into the Joseon era, the moment she looked at the bowl in front of her, her mouth began to water.
“I’ll eat well!”
Ha-yoon hurriedly picked up her spoon.
“……!”
And the moment she took her first spoonful, she froze.
‘…What is this?’
The rich flavor of the broth spread throughout her mouth.
There was none of the artificial aftertaste or overly manufactured savory flavor typical of seasonings.
Instead, the deep flavor of bones that had been simmered for a long time gently spread across her tongue.
‘It’s delicious!’
She had experienced Michelin-starred restaurants, omakase, and fine dining.
But none of them could compare to this gukbap.
That was how deep the flavor of this simple dish was.
There was no fancy technique.
No elaborate plating.
Just honest ingredients.
Because it wasn’t dressed up with unnecessary embellishments, the flavor stood out even more clearly.
It tasted like the result of an entire lifetime devoted to a single dish.
“Whew!”
Before she knew it, Ha-yoon had finished every last drop of the broth and let out a deep sigh of satisfaction.
Moon-sik looked at her proudly.
“How was it? Good enough?”
“Yes! It’s the best gukbap I’ve ever had in my life! I mean it!”
“She may not look like much, but my wife is an excellent cook. That’s why I’m still living with her.”
Just then—
“Hmph. And what good does that do?”
Ok-bun had come outside and casually threw cold water on the conversation.
“We’re about to close down because we don’t have any customers. What good is the taste of the gukbap?”
Resignation filled Ok-bun’s voice.
Her voice was hoarse, and she even seemed close to tears.
They had somehow managed to survive until now, but if things continued like this, they would have no choice but to close the tavern by the end of the winter.
They would have to leave the place they had grown attached to over the past twenty years.
Having roughly understood the situation, Ha-yoon narrowed her eyes and analyzed the tavern.
‘The location isn’t bad. It’s at the entrance to Mungyeong Saejae, so there should be plenty of foot traffic.’
As she had seen earlier, the wooden platform was covered with fallen leaves, and weeds had grown thick around the entrance, making it difficult even to tell whether the place was open.
But the biggest problem was that there was absolutely nothing about the tavern that made anyone want to walk inside.
‘It’s a classic case of a lack of marketing.’
The food was perfect, but the advertising was nonexistent.
A good product that nobody knew about.
That was always the problem.
‘And that’s my specialty.’
A smile slowly spread across Ha-yoon’s lips.
It was excitement she hadn’t felt in a long time.
Not a sense of obligation, but passion bubbling up from within her.
A pure desire she had forgotten was rising to the surface.
Ha-yoon cautiously opened her mouth.
“Would you like me… to help you with the business?”
“Huh? You want to help us run the tavern?”
Moon-sik and Ok-bun both stared at Ha-yoon.
Ok-bun snorted in disbelief.
“What could you possibly know about running a business? One look at you and I can tell you’ve probably never gotten a single drop of water on your hands.”
She was right.
Ha-yoon had never even washed dishes once in her life.
She couldn’t cook, let alone properly boil a bowl of ramen.
But Ha-yoon possessed a special talent that others did not.
“Even if I don’t look like it, I’m actually pretty good at business. I’ll earn my keep, so please trust me and let me handle it.”
Ha-yoon’s eyes had changed.
They were the eyes of the advertising genius who had handled countless projects.
“……!”
Ok-bun unconsciously shrank back at that confident gaze.
“Just one month.”
Ha-yoon raised one finger and declared confidently.
“That’s all I need. Give me exactly one month. Within one month, I’ll turn this place into the greatest tavern in Joseon.”
“One month?”
“You’ll turn this place into the greatest tavern in Joseon?”
Moon-sik and Ok-bun’s eyes widened.
The greatest tavern in Joseon?
And this shabby tavern that was on the verge of closing down?
“She’s definitely crazy.”
Ok-bun clicked her tongue.
But deep inside, a faint sense of hope was beginning to stir.
And Moon-sik felt the same way.
“If it’s only a month…”
Moon-sik looked at Ha-yoon with a hesitant expression.
Despite decades of effort, the tavern had never improved.
The thought of Ha-yoon transforming the place was tempting, even if only slightly.
Eventually, Moon-sik slowly nodded.
“Go ahead and give it a try. This tavern is going to fail anyway. Doesn’t matter who ruins it.”
With his permission, Ha-yoon spoke in a confident voice.
“Just wait and see. I’ll definitely turn this place into the greatest tavern in Joseon.”
