Chapter 17: The Haunted Air Conditioner
As Kang Jin pondered over the ghost air conditioner, the woman scanned the restaurant and muttered,
“It’s nice and cool here, but…why did we come to this place for dinner?”
“The food is great here.”
“But why travel all the way to Gangnam just for some sliced pork rice bowl?”
While trying to appease his wife, Manager Park smiled awkwardly as Kang Jin brought them water.
He probably heard that.
Although the manager’s wife didn’t raise her voice, she hadn’t whispered either, so it was likely Kang Jin had overheard their conversation.
“I guess working on Saturday and then attending a company dinner afterward…really upset your wife, huh?” Kang Jin chuckled at Manager Park’s comment.
From what he could gather, Manager Park had worked on Saturday, gone drinking until early morning, and returned home late. He seemed to have brought his wife here today to try and smooth things over with her.
“So…can we order something other than bulgogi bibimbap?”
“I’ve already seated another party at that table, so why not? What would you like to order?”
“Well…
The manager paused as he turned to ask his wife what she wanted. She was preoccupied with her phone, looking rather uninterested. It was clear she expected him to make the choice himself.
“My wife loves beef seaweed soup,” said Manager Kim.
His wife glared at him from behind her phone screen.
“You’re paying for seaweed soup?”
“It’s really delicious.”
“Have you even tried it?”
“If their soybean paste stew is good, then their spicy red pepper sauce must be great too.” He echoed exactly what Director Lee had said yesterday while watching Kang Jin’s reaction.
“Beef seaweed soup, stir-fried pork with vegetables… What would you like to order?”
“Anything’s fine.”
The manager clicked his tongue at the disinterested expressions of two kids, one looking to be a middle schooler and the other an elementary student, glued to their phones.
Kang Jin observed this and felt embarrassed for him.
He’s really losing face.
Even when talking to them, they couldn’t take their eyes off their screens.
“Are there any kid-friendly dishes here?”
“What do students usually enjoy?”
“Well…” The manager hesitated, glancing at the children as his wife frowned.
“You don’t know what your own kids like?”
“Hmm… It’s not that I don’t know. They love meat, so…”
“They like squid.” After scolding her husband, she turned to Kang Jin. “Please make stir-fried squid for them.”
“Do they really enjoy that?”
“Yes, please cook it.”
The manager awkwardly glanced at Kang Jin, who smiled and nodded reassuringly.
“I’ll get right on it.”
Kang Jin entered the kitchen and started preparing the dishes.
Good thing I checked out the practice room earlier.
Among today’s menu items were beef seaweed soup and stir-fried squid. Kang Jin soaked some dried seaweed in water first while cleaning the squid and slicing the beef.
Meanwhile, as Kang Jin cooked, Manager An’s wife was texting with friends on her phone.
<We’re dining out today.>
<Where did you go?>
The wife felt conflicted at her friend’s text message. She couldn’t bring herself to admit they were here for beef and seaweed soup due to pride. So she replied:
<Oh! Gangnam! Seems like your husband is feeling generous lately. But why lunch instead of dinner?>
<He’s been working late hours recently, so he decided to take it easy today.>
As she exchanged messages with her friend, Kang Jin brought out some dishes.
“It’d be better if everything was ready together, but please enjoy these while waiting.” Kang Jin placed down stir-fried pork belly, spicy stir-fried squid, and side dishes on the table.
“The seaweed soup needs more time to boil, about ten minutes.”
“Still, that was quick. Let’s dig in.” The manager smiled as he picked up his chopsticks, noticing his family engrossed in their phones.
“Let’s dig in.”
As he spoke, Manager Kim placed kimchi on top of his rice and took a big spoonful.
Crunch! Crunch!
The manager chuckled at the crisp sound despite it being fully fermented kimchi.
“I was thinking yesterday during our team dinner how this kimchi would taste great with some rice…and I’m right; it really is delicious.”
“Enjoy your meal,” Kang Jin said before heading back to the kitchen.
Upon seeing him leave, Manager Kim’s wife clicked her tongue disapprovingly.
“Don’t fuss over restaurant kimchi like that. It’s not like they don’t have food at home. Don’t act so excited in front of others.”
“It’s genuinely good, not just for show. Try it.” The manager picked up some kimchi and put it on his wife’s rice bowl. She used her chopsticks to transfer it into her mouth.
Crunch!
The satisfying crunchiness combined with an explosion of savory flavors caught her by surprise. Seeing her reaction, Manager Kim laughed.
“Told you it’s tasty?”
“It’s…indeed delicious.”
“I told you this place has good food. Try their stir-fried pork too.”
His wife picked up her chopsticks and placed some stir-fried pork in her mouth before scooping rice onto her spoon.
It’s delicious.
As he watched his wife take another big bite of stir-fried pork, Manager An turned to his sons.
“You two eat as well.”
“Yes, Dad.”
At their father’s urging, they put down their cellphones on the table and started eating the stir-fried squid.
“How is it? Tasty, right?”
“Yeah. This is really good.”
“Told ya!”
“But why does that sign say ‘pay if you like it’?” One son looked at the writing on the whiteboard with confusion.
Manager An chuckled. “Just ignore that. Keep eating.”
The boys continued devouring the stir-fried squid and rice. With satisfaction, Manager An glanced at his wife, who had initially been unenthusiastic but was now enjoying her meal just as much.
“The seaweed soup is ready.”
As Kang Jin placed it on the table, Manager An picked up the bowl and set it in front of his wife.
“Please try this.”
With anticipation, she took her spoon at his urging. As he mentioned earlier, his wife loved seaweed soup, and she was eager to taste it now. The side dishes were already delicious, and the stir-fried pork was flavorful as well, so she had high hopes for the seaweed soup.
She scooped some with her spoon. The broth appeared rich, almost milky, reminiscent of a special ingredient added by grandmothers. It emitted the distinct aroma unique to savory beef seaweed soup.
Grandma?
The moment she smelled the fragrance, memories of her late grandmother’s seaweed soup flooded her mind. Her grandmother’s soup always stood out for its depth of flavor, just like this one before her.
Just like this seaweed soup before her. She gazed at it for a moment before taking a sip. A smile graced her lips as she savored the aroma of savory seaweed and rich beef broth spreading throughout her mouth. She brought the bowl to her lips and drank heartily with a grin.
“How is it? Delicious, right?” asked the manager.
The wife nodded enthusiastically, looking up at him.
“It’s truly delicious.”
“Told you! Good thing we came today, huh?”
As he watched the wife happily enjoying her meal, the manager flashed a ‘V’ sign towards Kang Jin. With a laugh, Kang Jin retreated back into the kitchen.
While cleaning up, Kang Jin noticed his wife approaching.
“Um…”
“Yes?” When Kang Jin turned to look at her, she shyly held out her empty bowl.
“May I have another bowl, please?”
“I’ll bring it right over if you’d like.”
As Kang Jin served her more seaweed soup, his wife watched him curiously.
“Um…could you tell me how to make this?”
“You mean seaweed soup?”
“When our eldest was born, my mother-in-law came up from Florida and made this rich seaweed soup for me every day as part of postpartum care. Sometimes I miss that taste, but whenever I try making it myself, it never comes out quite right.”
She had tried adding extra meat to create a richer broth, but all she got was excess oiliness without any depth of flavor.
Kang Jin pondered briefly before responding.
“How about I show you how I make it? Then we can compare with your method, okay?”
Typically, one would need knowledge of different ways to prepare seaweed soup to identify distinctions between them, but Kang Jin wasn’t aware of any other methods.
Kang Jin didn’t know how to make seaweed soup any other way than his wife’s method.
“If you show me your technique, I’ll buy this seaweed soup from you.”
“That sounds good. Please finish eating first.”
With that, his wife thanked Kang Jin and returned to her seat with her bowl of soup.
Kang Jin joined his wife in the kitchen. As he prepared to cook the seaweed soup, she filmed him using her smartphone.
“I’ve already soaked the seaweed. First…”
He placed the pot on the stove.
“You’re not adding oil?” She seemed puzzled as she watched Kang Jin gaze at the pot over the heat.
“Later.” He checked the temperature by placing his hand above the pot before taking out some marinated beef.
Kang Jin grabbed the pot handle with a cloth and poured in the beef strips.
Sizzle! Frrzzt!
His wife cringed at the sound of meat frying in the pan without oil.
“It’ll stick to the bottom if you don’t add any oil!”
As a homemaker, she couldn’t stand seeing food stuck on cookware. It didn’t matter whether it was her own or not. And as predicted, the meat immediately adhered to the pan.
Sizzle! Frrzzt!
When Kang Jin scraped the meat around using a wooden spatula, more bits clung to the surface and tore off.
“You’re ruining that pan.”
“It’s fine. This will dissolve later and clean the pan.”
As he spoke, Kang Jin vigorously rubbed the meat against the pan’s surface with his spatula.
“The key is to ruin the meat.”
“Ruin it?”
“You need to scrape and press the meat against the bottom like this.”
“Why do you have to do that?”
“As the meat sticks more firmly, the broth becomes richer… Ah! This might be the secret behind seaweed soup.”
“The secret?”
“Yes, as the meat gets scraped off and sticks harder, the broth becomes stronger. And once stuck…
Kang Jin pushed aside the loose pieces of meat, then poured soju onto the stuck remnants while scraping them with his spatula.
Scraaaaape! Scraaaaaape!
This loosened the stubborn bits.
“With soju, we can remove the stuck meat, which melts further and enriches the broth.”
As soon as the meat loosened from the pot with soju, Kang Jin added sesame oil and started sautéing seaweed flakes.
His wife filmed it all on her phone, smiling brightly after tasting the finished beef seaweed soup with a spoon.
Yes… This is the taste I remember.
Seeing his wife’s smile, Kang Jin asked, “Do you like it?”
“It tastes exactly how my grandmother used to make it.” She looked up at him with a grin while gazing at the soup. “I truly enjoyed this meal today.”
“Would you like some leftovers?”
“Yes, please.”
Kang Jin nodded at her response and scooped the seaweed soup into a container taken from the kimchi storage area.
Seeing her gaze fixed on the kimchi barrel, Manager Kim placed it back onto the table.
“I’ll return this bowl tomorrow during lunchtime.”
“That’s fine.”
“And…” He glanced between the table and the kimchi barrel before continuing. “How much should I pay you?”
“At my restaurant, if you enjoy your meal, please leave some money; otherwise, feel free to just leave.”
“Oh, we definitely enjoyed it!”
“In that case, kindly put whatever amount you deem appropriate into the acrylic box over there.” Kang Jin pointed towards the container near the entrance while clearing away their dishes with a tray.
“Thank you for dining with us. Please come again.”
Kang Jin smiled warmly as he cleaned up. The manager seemed perplexed, glancing back and forth between the acrylic box and Kang Jin’s departing figure. Eventually, his eyes landed on his wife.
“You enjoyed your meal?”
“Yes,” replied his wife with a nod. The manager took out his wallet and pulled a 50,000 won bill while glancing at her. His wife had a big smile on her face as she gently patted the seaweed soup container inside the kimchi jar.
And then…
If I cut down on cigarettes this month…and just smoke when I really need one…what would happen?
With that thought, he added another 50,000 won bill to make it two bills before dropping them into the acrylic box.
Thud!
“Well, let’s go after finishing our meals.” With that, Manager Kim led his family out of the restaurant.
Kang Jin put down the tray and looked at the acrylic box once they left. Seeing the two 50,000 won bills, she smiled broadly.
They only paid 50,000 won…
Kang Jin gathered up the dishes on the tray and moved them to the kitchen.
The manager’s wife uploaded a video of today’s beef seaweed soup onto her Facebook page. Soon, comments from her friends started pouring in.
<How can the broth look so appetizing?>
<That broth looks rich and flavorful. It must taste amazing!>
<I can almost smell it through my screen!>
<The seaweed looks incredibly tender. Wrap that with rice, and you’ve got heaven on earth!>
<By the way, where was this filmed? The kitchen looks like it’s from a restaurant.>
After reading the comments, the manager’s wife replied:
This chapter is translated using Omni Translator, Omni's state-of-the-art novel machine translation LLM, and corrected by human editors. If you'd like to read ahead, you can try using our translator webapp to translate the raw text or link for free.