The visit from the firefighters was quite a long time coming.

Seo-jun particularly liked firefighters among his customers.

They usually came in groups. That meant a good amount of sales.

Of course, Seo-jun could always make a fortune through raids.

But that wasn’t the reward of labor.

The feeling of earning money through sweat and effort.

That played a significant role in making Seo-jun keenly aware of his identity as a human.

Who is that?

Among the firefighters, there was an unfamiliar face.

Age… early twenties?

From his appearance, he looked like a college student. Was he a new recruit?

Or perhaps a firefighter from another region?

While Seo-jun was wondering, Park Joon-sik put his arm around the young man who was looking around the store.

“This here is my friend, Lee Min-ho.”

“Hello.”

“Nice to meet you. Is he also a firefighter?”

“Ah, this guy is a soldier.”

“A soldier?”

“Yeah. He was on guard duty at a public dungeon, and I saved him. Or rather, I was trying to save him.”

“Ah… You must be talking about the place where the fire broke out.”

“So you’ve heard?”

Seo-jun pointed at the TV.

“They’ve been talking about it all day.”

“Ah… Anyway, the others were all in the waiting room, so I could rescue them all at once, but this guy was the only one deeper inside. It was quite a hassle.”

Lee Min-ho scratched his head with an awkward expression.

“I was just trying to make some pocket money inside the dungeon…”

“Pocket money?”

“Yeah. If you look carefully, you can find high-quality ginseng or medicinal herbs.”

“He said he wanted to pay for his tuition on his own when he re-enrolled, so he wouldn’t have to ask his parents for money. Reckless, isn’t he?”

Park Joon-sik smacked Lee Min-ho on the head.

“Because of this brat, I almost died too.”

So the firefighter the news anchor mentioned—A (37)—was Park Joon-sik.

“…So I told him to leave.”

“The guy who told me to go out alone looked like he was about to cry.”

“……”

“Anyway, this guy says he’s buying drinks today. As a thank-you for saving his life. We’re not the type to refuse that.”

With that, Park Joon-sik slipped his card out while Lee Min-ho was momentarily distracted.

“Use this for the bill later.”

Seo-jun chuckled as he took the card. Park Joon-sik was certainly a good person.

He could have just let him treat him.

Seo-jun understood how Lee Min-ho felt. If it were him, he would also want to treat the person who saved his life.

After all, he was his savior.

And yet, Park Joon-sik preemptively handed over the card. Not because he was worried about violating public servant regulations, but likely because he was concerned about Lee Min-ho’s financial situation.

They hadn’t known each other for long, but the Park Joon-sik that Seo-jun knew was that kind of person.

“Alright, then. Tonight, we’re going to take full advantage of our rescued friend! Boss, bring out the drinks! A whole crate of them!”

Lee Min-ho and the firefighters took their usual table.

Yeon-jun, who was in charge of serving, brought out the basic side dishes and drinks. The firefighters had ordered gochujang pork belly and Arutus fries.

Sizzle—!

They grilled the pork belly first and prepared the Arutus fries.

Once the food was beautifully plated, Yeon-jun carried it over to the firefighters' table.

They were the only customers in the store. Seo-jun rested his chin on his hand and watched them.

“Wow… This looks amazing.”

“I told you.”

“I didn’t expect it to be this good…”

“You’ll be even more surprised once you taste it.”

Lee Min-ho took a bite of the pork belly and his eyes widened like saucers.

“It’s delicious!”

“It looks delicious, doesn’t it?”

“This is amazing!”

Perhaps because the first sale of the night was a good one, customers kept pouring in.

The store only quieted down after midnight. By then, the firefighters were still there.

Of course, they were thoroughly drunk.

“Hic!”

“Hyung-nim.”

With a slurred tongue, Lee Min-ho was now calling Park Joon-sik “hyung-nim.”

Park Joon-sik, who had been dozing off with his head down, suddenly lifted his head and wiped away his drool.

His tongue was just as twisted as Lee Min-ho’s.

“Huh? I wasn’t sleeping.”

“…Thank you.”

“Huh?”

Thump! Thump!

Lee Min-ho pounded his chest and declared,

“If I retar… I’ll becum a firefigder!”

“Alright, then come to my mit. I’ll give you garbages every day.”

Hearing that, Gu Jung-seok, who had been dozing off with his head down, muttered with a tilted head,

“Not jusd anyone can be a firefigder…”

“That’s why! Huh? That’s why I wannna do it… Not just anyone….”

With those final words, Lee Min-ho collapsed onto the table.

Slurp, slurp!

Something was licking his cheek with a tongue. Even half-asleep, he could tell it was a tongue because—

It’s a tongue…

The tongue was very wet. It was fully soaked in moisture. The odd thing was the small bumps on the surface.

It doesn’t hurt.

He could feel the bumps, but they weren’t painful—just ticklish.

Wait… a tongue?

Park Joon-sik suddenly had a realization and opened his eyes. The moment he did, a headache hit him like a truck.

“Ugh…”

Clang, clang!

The familiar sound made him turn his head.

“Yeoksam?”

Clang, clang, clang!

“Why are you here…?”

Was this a dream?

Or something else?

At that moment, Yeoksam pressed his jelly-like paws against his arm. As if urging him to get up.

“Alright, alright.”

Suppressing his pounding headache, Joon-sik finally sat up—only to realize that someone was lying beside him.

“……”

His heart sank.

Judging by the build, it wasn’t his wife.

Then who?

Where was he, and who was this person?

No way…

A chilling thought crept up his spine, and Joon-sik shook his head. He wasn’t the kind of person to do something terrible, even when drunk.

Even at his drunkest, he wasn’t capable of that. But this situation…

Park Joon-sik, you didn’t…!

Please, no…

With a silent prayer, Joon-sik cautiously lifted the blanket, careful not to wake the other person.

At that moment—

“Oh, you’re awake?”

“Huk!”

“Are you alright?”

Park Joon-sik looked around with a puzzled expression.

“Boss?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you here, boss?”

“Don’t you remember?”

“I... don’t remember.”

“This is the shop.”

“Huh?”

Park Joon-sik abruptly sat up. Then, he lifted the blanket.

“Mmm... mumble... Demon King... why are you with the true goddess... No! No, you can’t... ugh!”

Joon-sik let out a sigh of relief.

“You talk in your sleep quite a bit.”

“Today was actually one of the milder nights.”

“By the way, just how much did I drink yesterday?”

“There were seven of you, and you alone drank more than ten bottles.”

“Ah, ten bottles... I guess I lost control drinking with a younger guy. I blacked out, so I don’t remember anything, but... I didn’t make any mistakes, did I?”

“You just slept quietly.”

“Ah... that’s a relief.”

Bark! Bark!

Joon-sik, who had just sighed in relief at not causing trouble, suddenly noticed Yeoksam.

‘Come to think of it...’

He had been too flustered in the dungeon yesterday to realize it, but he thought he had heard Yeoksam barking.

A creature he assumed was Yeoksam had breathed fire, and the Lizardman struck by it had writhed in agony.

‘And then...’

As he continued thinking, Joon-sik suddenly chuckled.

‘I must have had a ridiculous dream.’

Just then—

Brrrrrr!

His phone rang violently. When he looked at the screen, he saw dozens of missed calls and countless messages on KakaoTalk.

His face went pale.

“...Boss, what time is it right now?”

“It’s ten o’clock.”

At that, Joon-sik, his face drained of color, rushed out of the shop in a hurry.

“Ah! Boss, sorry for all the trouble!”

...was the last thing he said before leaving.

Watching his retreating figure, Seo-jun scratched his head with an awkward expression.

‘He forgot his card.’

In the distance, the sound of crickets chirping echoed from Namsan. The cry of iron cicadas could also be heard.

It meant that summer was coming to an end. Soon, even during the day, there would be no need to turn on the air conditioner.

Seo-jun opened the shop door. A gentle breeze swept through his hair.

As he savored the gradually fading lush greenery, Seo-jun opened the windows and stepped into the kitchen.

Today was Chilseok, the day Gyeonwu and Jiknyeo met once a year.

Most people didn’t give much significance to Chilseok. But Seo-jun was different.

Just as people naturally associated Samgyetang with Chobok, for Seo-jun, Chilseok meant kimbap.

It was because of a childhood memory.

When he was around Seo-woo’s age, he had once asked his mother what Chilseok was, as it was written on the calendar.

At that time, his mother had told him the story of Gyeonwu and Jiknyeo and had made kimbap for him.

Maybe because of that memory, every Chilseok, kimbap came to his mind. So today, he decided to make some.

Kimbap was a simple and convenient dish. But surprisingly, making it wasn’t that easy.

Even just the filling ingredients were numerous. Preparing each one was a task in itself.

Pickled radish, ham, imitation crab, and fish cakes didn’t require separate preparation, but egg crepes, carrots, and cucumbers had to be individually handled or cooked.

Of course, nowadays, there were meal kits that made the process much easier.

But that wasn’t any different from store-bought kimbap. Seo-jun wanted homemade kimbap, not the kind you buy.

Every household had a different kimbap recipe. Some used spinach, others perilla leaves, and some even added burdock.

There were even households that put anchovies in their kimbap.

Seo-jun planned to use spinach instead of perilla leaves and burdock.

There was no particular reason. It was just because his mother used to make it that way when he was a child.

Seo-jun traced his childhood memories.

—Why do you fry the eggs first?

—I’ll tell you when you grow up, Seo-jun.

Recalling that moment, Seo-jun chuckled. Thinking about it now, it didn’t matter whether he fried the eggs first or sautéed the carrots first.

His mother had just been playing around.

Following his mother’s method, Seo-jun started by making the egg crepe.

‘Next is the carrot.’

He finely julienned the carrots, added a little salt, and stir-fried them.

—Just a little salt.

—Why?

—If you add too much, it’ll be salty.

Chuckling softly.

Thinking about it now, his mother had just been stating the obvious.

Perhaps she had just wanted to teach her young son about salt’s role in food.

—Now, we’ll set these aside to cool.

Following his mother’s words, Seo-jun set aside the carrots and egg crepe separately.

—I don’t like cucumbers...

—Do you want me to tell you a way to make cucumbers delicious?

—Yes!

—You have to remove the seeds inside. Then soak them in a bit of sweet vinegar water.

As a child, Seo-jun hadn’t understood what sweet vinegar water or soaking meant. He just remembered that making kimbap with his mother had been fun.

—Oh, I forgot the most important part—the rice!

—Kimbap needs rice.

—That’s right. Kimbap needs rice. Seo-jun, why don’t you add some salt and sesame oil to the rice?

—Okay!

As he let the cooked rice, carrots, and egg crepe cool, he prepared the spinach. He blanched the trimmed spinach lightly.

—Now, everything’s ready.

—But this isn’t kimbap yet.

—Now we have to roll it.

—How?

—Place the seaweed on this bamboo mat and spread the rice on top. Spread it out evenly.

Seo-jun tilted his head.

Had he used too much rice?

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

It wasn’t like he was selling it.

—Now, place the ingredients on top of the evenly spread rice—pickled radish, ham, egg crepe, cucumber, spinach, and imitation crab.

—Done!

—Now, roll it up from the inside, pressing firmly.

Following his mother’s instructions, Seo-jun pressed down firmly as he rolled the kimbap. For a first attempt, it didn’t look too bad.

Like that, he rolled a few more kimbap.