***
"Do you remember me?"
The man asked as Hae-jun brought out the morning set.
"Of course. You came last time and had to leave without eating. I'm sorry. I should've prepared more sets, but those are limited edition items."
"No. Not then. Before that."
"Before that?··· Hmm, well."
He tried to recall, but there was no one who came to mind.
In fact, Hae-jun's life was complex yet simple.
After becoming an adult, he served in the military, worked in Noryangjin for 3 years, and now he's here.
"By any chance··· Noryangjin Gosiwon?"
"No."
"I'm sorry. I don't remember."
Hae-jun apologized to the man for not recognizing him.
"Don't be sorry. Maybe it's natural that you don't remember."
The man spoke cryptically.
He suddenly asked if Hae-jun didn't remember him, and now he's saying it's natural that he doesn't.
'What?'
Ko Dong-sik looked at Hae-jun, who was tilting his head, and smiled.
He is the man who saved his life.
"Can I talk to you after I eat?"
"Oh, yes. Of course. Please go ahead."
Dong-sik looked at the food in front of him.
The sandwich he had again after a month.
He took a deep breath, overwhelmed with emotion, and picked up the sandwich and took a huge bite.
'Yeah. That's the taste···.'
Thud-
Dong-sik, who was eating his sandwich, shed hot tears.
Min-ju and Hae-jun, who were puzzled, looked at each other and shrugged.
They didn't know why this man was crying.
***
A month ago.
Ko Dong-sik's once-successful business went bankrupt overnight.
Red stickers were attached all over his office and house, and he was suddenly left homeless.
He was betrayed by a friend he trusted. He entrusted him with the financial affairs, and that was the root of the problem.
He sent his wife and daughter to his wife's family in Busan.
He looked for ways to recover in every way possible, but there was no way.
The friend who stole the money flew overseas, leaving only debts behind.
He gave up everything.
"Will it all end if I just die?"
He found out that if he renounced his inheritance, the debt would not pass on to his family.
Since he didn't have any assets to pass on anyway, it was a good thing.
"Let's die cleanly."
He made a final call to his wife and daughter, who were staying with their family, and left the motel room.
If he takes the subway just a few stops, he'll be at the Han River.
He was scared when he was about to make an extreme choice. His legs were trembling, and his mind was hazy. He was sitting in the park like that when a young man selling sandwiches at the subway station exit approached Dong-sik.
"I have one left. Would you like it?"
"Yes? Oh··· Th, thank you."
"Eat it while it's warm. Then I'll be going."
The young man smiled faintly and walked away with his wagon.
Gulp-
When he saw the food, he felt hungry.
Come to think of it, he hadn't had a proper meal since yesterday evening.
'They say a ghost who dies after eating is happier, so let's eat.'
Even facing death, he unwrapped the sandwich as if he was possessed by something.
His parched mouth opened wide.
The inside of his mouth felt rough as if he had eaten a handful of sand.
As he was pushing the sandwich down his throat like that,
"!!??···"
His eyes flashed open.
"What, what is it···."
It's delicious.
It's so delicious.
So much so that he wanted to eat it again.
The ecstatic taste revived his dying senses.
He felt wronged for no reason at the thought that he might never eat such delicious food again if he died like this.
'Yeah. Let's live.'
Who commits suicide for someone else's sake?
He has to live.
He has to live somehow.
That way, he can eat delicious food like this. And also···.
"Sigh···."
He burst into tears at the thought of his daughter and wife.
He wanted to live somehow, meet his wife and child again, and show them how delicious this sandwich was.
Dong-sik burned his will to live like that and pushed the sandwich into his mouth.
His tears and snot were mixed together, and he couldn't taste anything.
No. Even so, it was delicious.
This is the taste of life.
.
.
.
"Mr. Ko. You worked hard. Here's your pay."
An old man handed Dong-sik the money.
Dong-sik brushed off the dirt on his body and received the money with both hands.
"Thank you, Foreman."
"Can you come tomorrow too?"
"Of course."
"That's good. It's so hard to find diligent people these days."
"I'll come whenever you call me."
"Haha. Okay. Go now and come back tomorrow."
Dong-sik looked at his pay with a satisfied expression and put it in his pocket tightly in case he lost it.
It was far from enough to pay off his debts, but he decided to solve the urgent problems one by one.
'I have to pay off my debts quickly and go eat sandwiches with my daughter.'
He never thought that a single sandwich would ignite his will to live.
He wanted to find the young man who gave him the courage and will to live again.
Then one day, as if by fate, he was given a flyer. It was a flyer with the menu and location of a new restaurant called 'Sunflower'. The moment he saw the flyer, he knew right away. That he could meet the young man who saved his life if he went there.
"There are a lot of people."
Dong-sik, who went to Sunflower before going to the construction site, stood in front of the store and watched the customers visit.
Fortunately, it seemed like business was going well.
'Well, it was really delicious.'
Seeing the successful store made Dong-sik feel proud for no reason.
Even though he didn't get to eat the sandwich.
***
Hae-jun remembered Dong-sik only after hearing his story.
His nose stung for no reason. When he looked beside him at the sniffling sound, Min-ju was already sobbing.
"So that's what happened."
"The owner is my savior."
"No, what did I do? But I'm glad. Live hard from now on. You never know which way life will go."
"Thank you."
His heart felt warm for some reason.
That his actions saved someone's life.
"Cheer up."
All he could offer was warm encouragement and food.
"And if you think of my sandwich, come visit anytime. I'll make it delicious for you."
"Yes. I'll come so often that it'll be annoying. I'm a fan of your sandwiches, you know."
Dong-sik thanked him several times and left.
After that day, Dong-sik visited Sunflower several times.
Hae-jun made sandwiches with all his heart every time and treated him.
Of course, he didn't accept money. If he regained his will to live with Hae-jun's food, that was enough.
Somehow, he felt a new sense of being a chef.
He's not just someone who gets paid and sells food.
He felt a sense of mission in the fact that he could give hope to someone.
"I'm going to start a business in earnest."
He said to Min-ju, who was about to leave work.
"You weren't serious until now?"
"I felt rewarded seeing the customers leave satisfied, but I didn't think about it seriously."
The beginning was simple.
He entered the Dimensional Farm while chasing his father's footsteps and started farming there.
He simply cooked and sold the crops he got there to make money.
However, his thoughts on cooking changed a lot after Dong-sik visited.
"Is it because of that man?"
Hae-jun nodded.
"I really want to run a proper restaurant."
"How?"
"If possible, I'm thinking of doing lunch and dinner service. Since we're only open for about an hour in the morning anyway."
"That's a good idea. But."
Min-ju put down her bag and sat down.
"Umm··· Then, boss. Don't you think it's time to adjust the price?"
And instead of calling him 'oppa' like she used to, she spoke politely, calling him 'owner'.
"What do you mean?"
"The price of the food. It's too cheap."
"Why? Isn't it good if it's cheap?"
"It's good if it's cheap. Of course. But it's not necessarily good if it's cheap. Someone might suffer because of you."
"Suffer?"
"Think about it. Sunflower sells salad for 2,000 won, so why do you sell it so cheap?
It's delicious but you're making too little profit! You might get complaints. If you sell it too cheaply, it's a nuisance to other restaurants that sell similar menus."
Hae-jun nodded.
It's something he hadn't thought of.
He just recalled his own poor financial situation in the past and wanted his customers to eat delicious food at a low price.
He wanted to sell delicious food to people who only had one or two thousand won in their pockets and could only eat cup ramen or triangular kimbap, so he set the minimum profit and sold it cheaply, but if that caused harm to someone else···.
'I might have to think again.'
"That's why I think it would be better to adjust the prices first if you're going to start a business in earnest."
He had to find a price range that everyone would be satisfied with.
If he simply raised the price, office workers and students with thin wallets would be upset.
Hae-jun, who was pondering over and over again, decided to raise all the menu prices except goat's milk by 1,000 won.
Of course, it's still a ridiculously cheap price.
"But only sell it in the morning. It's a kind of special offer."
"Only Morning?"
"Yes. Morning. A menu that's sold cheaply only in the morning."
"Umm··· That's a good idea."
At times like this, Min-ju seemed like the owner, and he was just a chef.
She helped him a lot with business advice, so he felt that way.
On the other hand, she felt like a reliable supporter for Hae-jun, who lacked social experience.
With her, difficult choices became easier.
"But what about the menu?"
"I haven't decided on that yet."
"What about the omelet rice you were working on last time?"
"It was a failure. I don't think it's good enough to sell yet."
"If you want to do lunch service, you have to decide on the menu and hire one more employee."
Min-ju could only work in the morning due to her circumstances.
So if he was going to do lunch service, he had to hire a new person for the front of the house and a kitchen assistant.
"School's almost out, so I think I can help you with the front of the house, but I think we'll have to hire someone new for the kitchen assistant."
He needed an assistant to help with the washing up and food preparation.
Hae-jun wasn't fast-handed.
While they were having a meeting, the door of the store opened carefully.
It was Dong-sik.
"Oh, you're here. Sir."
"Come in, sir. Are you going to have the fat sandwich set today too?"
"No. I came to say hello today. I won't be able to come for a while."
"You won't be able to come?"
The construction site where he had been working for a month was finished today.
Since the building was completed, Dong-sik's job as a day laborer was gone.
Now he had to find a new job, but there was no suitable job nearby, so he thought he would look for a job in the Gyeonggi-do area.
"I see."
"I'm sad."
"I am too. It would be nice if it were nearby."
Dong-sik was so sad.
It wasn't just because of the free sandwich.
The will to live he felt every time he visited Hae-jun's store. He came here, swallowing his pride, because he liked the vitality he felt here more than filling his hungry stomach.
Hae-jun knew that well, so he was also sad.
'I wish I could help him···.'
Then a good idea came to mind.
"Sir. You said you're looking for a job, right? Then how about this?"
"What is it?···"
Dong-sik tilted his head.
.
.
.
After Dong-sik left, Min-ju gave him a thumbs up.
"Oh~ Owner. You're so cool."
"Don't make a fuss. I'm dizzy."
His body trembled at the word 'cool'.
The reason Min-ju looked at Hae-jun with admiration was because of what happened a little while ago.
"I thought you were going to hire an experienced kitchen assistant."
"Experience is less important than desperation. Who will work harder than Dong-sik?"
"That's true."
"I don't have any experience either."
Hae-jun gave Dong-sik a job.
Because after watching him for a few days, he thought he would be the best person to handle the job.
"I hired a kitchen assistant, so all that's left is to develop a lunch menu?"
"Yes. Please make it a delicious and unimaginable dish."
Min-ju said with anticipation in her eyes.
***
"Do you remember me?"
The man asked as Hae-jun brought out the morning set.
"Of course. You came last time and had to leave without eating. I'm sorry. I should've prepared more sets, but those are limited edition items."
"No. Not then. Before that."
"Before that?··· Hmm, well."
He tried to recall, but there was no one who came to mind.
In fact, Hae-jun's life was complex yet simple.
After becoming an adult, he served in the military, worked in Noryangjin for 3 years, and now he's here.
"By any chance··· Noryangjin Gosiwon?"
"No."
"I'm sorry. I don't remember."
Hae-jun apologized to the man for not recognizing him.
"Don't be sorry. Maybe it's natural that you don't remember."
The man spoke cryptically.
He suddenly asked if Hae-jun didn't remember him, and now he's saying it's natural that he doesn't.
'What?'
Ko Dong-sik looked at Hae-jun, who was tilting his head, and smiled.
He is the man who saved his life.
"Can I talk to you after I eat?"
"Oh, yes. Of course. Please go ahead."
Dong-sik looked at the food in front of him.
The sandwich he had again after a month.
He took a deep breath, overwhelmed with emotion, and picked up the sandwich and took a huge bite.
'Yeah. That's the taste···.'
Thud-
Dong-sik, who was eating his sandwich, shed hot tears.
Min-ju and Hae-jun, who were puzzled, looked at each other and shrugged.
They didn't know why this man was crying.
***
A month ago.
Ko Dong-sik's once-successful business went bankrupt overnight.
Red stickers were attached all over his office and house, and he was suddenly left homeless.
He was betrayed by a friend he trusted. He entrusted him with the financial affairs, and that was the root of the problem.
He sent his wife and daughter to his wife's family in Busan.
He looked for ways to recover in every way possible, but there was no way.
The friend who stole the money flew overseas, leaving only debts behind.
He gave up everything.
"Will it all end if I just die?"
He found out that if he renounced his inheritance, the debt would not pass on to his family.
Since he didn't have any assets to pass on anyway, it was a good thing.
"Let's die cleanly."
He made a final call to his wife and daughter, who were staying with their family, and left the motel room.
If he takes the subway just a few stops, he'll be at the Han River.
He was scared when he was about to make an extreme choice. His legs were trembling, and his mind was hazy. He was sitting in the park like that when a young man selling sandwiches at the subway station exit approached Dong-sik.
"I have one left. Would you like it?"
"Yes? Oh··· Th, thank you."
"Eat it while it's warm. Then I'll be going."
The young man smiled faintly and walked away with his wagon.
Gulp-
When he saw the food, he felt hungry.
Come to think of it, he hadn't had a proper meal since yesterday evening.
'They say a ghost who dies after eating is happier, so let's eat.'
Even facing death, he unwrapped the sandwich as if he was possessed by something.
His parched mouth opened wide.
The inside of his mouth felt rough as if he had eaten a handful of sand.
As he was pushing the sandwich down his throat like that,
"!!??···"
His eyes flashed open.
"What, what is it···."
It's delicious.
It's so delicious.
So much so that he wanted to eat it again.
The ecstatic taste revived his dying senses.
He felt wronged for no reason at the thought that he might never eat such delicious food again if he died like this.
'Yeah. Let's live.'
Who commits suicide for someone else's sake?
He has to live.
He has to live somehow.
That way, he can eat delicious food like this. And also···.
"Sigh···."
He burst into tears at the thought of his daughter and wife.
He wanted to live somehow, meet his wife and child again, and show them how delicious this sandwich was.
Dong-sik burned his will to live like that and pushed the sandwich into his mouth.
His tears and snot were mixed together, and he couldn't taste anything.
No. Even so, it was delicious.
This is the taste of life.
.
.
.
"Mr. Ko. You worked hard. Here's your pay."
An old man handed Dong-sik the money.
Dong-sik brushed off the dirt on his body and received the money with both hands.
"Thank you, Foreman."
"Can you come tomorrow too?"
"Of course."
"That's good. It's so hard to find diligent people these days."
"I'll come whenever you call me."
"Haha. Okay. Go now and come back tomorrow."
Dong-sik looked at his pay with a satisfied expression and put it in his pocket tightly in case he lost it.
It was far from enough to pay off his debts, but he decided to solve the urgent problems one by one.
'I have to pay off my debts quickly and go eat sandwiches with my daughter.'
He never thought that a single sandwich would ignite his will to live.
He wanted to find the young man who gave him the courage and will to live again.
Then one day, as if by fate, he was given a flyer. It was a flyer with the menu and location of a new restaurant called 'Sunflower'. The moment he saw the flyer, he knew right away. That he could meet the young man who saved his life if he went there.
"There are a lot of people."
Dong-sik, who went to Sunflower before going to the construction site, stood in front of the store and watched the customers visit.
Fortunately, it seemed like business was going well.
'Well, it was really delicious.'
Seeing the successful store made Dong-sik feel proud for no reason.
Even though he didn't get to eat the sandwich.
***
Hae-jun remembered Dong-sik only after hearing his story.
His nose stung for no reason. When he looked beside him at the sniffling sound, Min-ju was already sobbing.
"So that's what happened."
"The owner is my savior."
"No, what did I do? But I'm glad. Live hard from now on. You never know which way life will go."
"Thank you."
His heart felt warm for some reason.
That his actions saved someone's life.
"Cheer up."
All he could offer was warm encouragement and food.
"And if you think of my sandwich, come visit anytime. I'll make it delicious for you."
"Yes. I'll come so often that it'll be annoying. I'm a fan of your sandwiches, you know."
Dong-sik thanked him several times and left.
After that day, Dong-sik visited Sunflower several times.
Hae-jun made sandwiches with all his heart every time and treated him.
Of course, he didn't accept money. If he regained his will to live with Hae-jun's food, that was enough.
Somehow, he felt a new sense of being a chef.
He's not just someone who gets paid and sells food.
He felt a sense of mission in the fact that he could give hope to someone.
"I'm going to start a business in earnest."
He said to Min-ju, who was about to leave work.
"You weren't serious until now?"
"I felt rewarded seeing the customers leave satisfied, but I didn't think about it seriously."
The beginning was simple.
He entered the Dimensional Farm while chasing his father's footsteps and started farming there.
He simply cooked and sold the crops he got there to make money.
However, his thoughts on cooking changed a lot after Dong-sik visited.
"Is it because of that man?"
Hae-jun nodded.
"I really want to run a proper restaurant."
"How?"
"If possible, I'm thinking of doing lunch and dinner service. Since we're only open for about an hour in the morning anyway."
"That's a good idea. But."
Min-ju put down her bag and sat down.
"Umm··· Then, boss. Don't you think it's time to adjust the price?"
And instead of calling him 'oppa' like she used to, she spoke politely, calling him 'owner'.
"What do you mean?"
"The price of the food. It's too cheap."
"Why? Isn't it good if it's cheap?"
"It's good if it's cheap. Of course. But it's not necessarily good if it's cheap. Someone might suffer because of you."
"Suffer?"
"Think about it. Sunflower sells salad for 2,000 won, so why do you sell it so cheap?
It's delicious but you're making too little profit! You might get complaints. If you sell it too cheaply, it's a nuisance to other restaurants that sell similar menus."
Hae-jun nodded.
It's something he hadn't thought of.
He just recalled his own poor financial situation in the past and wanted his customers to eat delicious food at a low price.
He wanted to sell delicious food to people who only had one or two thousand won in their pockets and could only eat cup ramen or triangular kimbap, so he set the minimum profit and sold it cheaply, but if that caused harm to someone else···.
'I might have to think again.'
"That's why I think it would be better to adjust the prices first if you're going to start a business in earnest."
He had to find a price range that everyone would be satisfied with.
If he simply raised the price, office workers and students with thin wallets would be upset.
Hae-jun, who was pondering over and over again, decided to raise all the menu prices except goat's milk by 1,000 won.
Of course, it's still a ridiculously cheap price.
"But only sell it in the morning. It's a kind of special offer."
"Only Morning?"
"Yes. Morning. A menu that's sold cheaply only in the morning."
"Umm··· That's a good idea."
At times like this, Min-ju seemed like the owner, and he was just a chef.
She helped him a lot with business advice, so he felt that way.
On the other hand, she felt like a reliable supporter for Hae-jun, who lacked social experience.
With her, difficult choices became easier.
"But what about the menu?"
"I haven't decided on that yet."
"What about the omelet rice you were working on last time?"
"It was a failure. I don't think it's good enough to sell yet."
"If you want to do lunch service, you have to decide on the menu and hire one more employee."
Min-ju could only work in the morning due to her circumstances.
So if he was going to do lunch service, he had to hire a new person for the front of the house and a kitchen assistant.
"School's almost out, so I think I can help you with the front of the house, but I think we'll have to hire someone new for the kitchen assistant."
He needed an assistant to help with the washing up and food preparation.
Hae-jun wasn't fast-handed.
While they were having a meeting, the door of the store opened carefully.
It was Dong-sik.
"Oh, you're here. Sir."
"Come in, sir. Are you going to have the fat sandwich set today too?"
"No. I came to say hello today. I won't be able to come for a while."
"You won't be able to come?"
The construction site where he had been working for a month was finished today.
Since the building was completed, Dong-sik's job as a day laborer was gone.
Now he had to find a new job, but there was no suitable job nearby, so he thought he would look for a job in the Gyeonggi-do area.
"I see."
"I'm sad."
"I am too. It would be nice if it were nearby."
Dong-sik was so sad.
It wasn't just because of the free sandwich.
The will to live he felt every time he visited Hae-jun's store. He came here, swallowing his pride, because he liked the vitality he felt here more than filling his hungry stomach.
Hae-jun knew that well, so he was also sad.
'I wish I could help him···.'
Then a good idea came to mind.
"Sir. You said you're looking for a job, right? Then how about this?"
"What is it?···"
Dong-sik tilted his head.
.
.
.
After Dong-sik left, Min-ju gave him a thumbs up.
"Oh~ Owner. You're so cool."
"Don't make a fuss. I'm dizzy."
His body trembled at the word 'cool'.
The reason Min-ju looked at Hae-jun with admiration was because of what happened a little while ago.
"I thought you were going to hire an experienced kitchen assistant."
"Experience is less important than desperation. Who will work harder than Dong-sik?"
"That's true."
"I don't have any experience either."
Hae-jun gave Dong-sik a job.
Because after watching him for a few days, he thought he would be the best person to handle the job.
"I hired a kitchen assistant, so all that's left is to develop a lunch menu?"
"Yes. Please make it a delicious and unimaginable dish."
Min-ju said with anticipation in her eyes.
