A Certain Café in District 12

“I had no idea he was that kind of person. I was introduced by an acquaintance and entrusted it to him...”

“In times like these, who can you really trust?”

“You're right. That's true. Still, he was so confident, saying it would sell quickly if I let him handle it, so I didn’t even consider other agents. Seriously. What a brilliant way to stab someone in the back. Six hundred and thirty million... No wonder the house hadn’t sold.”

The homeowner shook their head in disbelief. Seo-jun took a quiet sip of his coffee, smiling faintly.

By now, he was probably paying dearly. He'd suffer for about a week. If his will was weak, maybe even two.

“Ah... And you’ve seen the whole house already?”

“Yes. I really liked it. That’s why I called you.”

“I... I feel bad saying this in advance, but I can’t lower the price anymore. I just thought you should know.”

“Of course. I just have something to tell you in advance as well.”

“Sorry?”

“I’m not the one buying this house.”

“...Pardon?”

Where am I... And who am I... What am I even doing right now?

“Here, please stamp the seal for both you and your wife.”

No... Why do I have to place my seal here?

“Mr. Hwang?”

At the repeated call, Hwang Tae-su raised his head.

“Here, please stamp the seal for you and your wife. And hand me the power of attorney.”

Handing over the proxy form, Hwang Tae-su placed his seal where the agent pointed.

With just a few more steps through the legal office, the house at 42 Gui Taewon-ro, District 12, would officially be under his wife’s name.

He recalled his wife’s face, smiling as she prepared a full traditional breakfast for him that morning.

- What’s gotten into you today?

- ...I told you. It’s a wedding anniversary gift.

- You never do these kinds of things, that’s why I’m asking. Did you do something wrong?

- ...Nothing like that. I just suddenly wanted to give you something. You’ve been through a lot since meeting me.

- Hehe. You’re so silly. Ah... I’m happy.

- Hearing that makes me happy too.

But honey—

There’s something I didn’t get to say.

That... that thing is—

It’s not really yours.

“Haa...”

Boys and girls, probably around eleven or twelve years old, were chattering noisily as they walked home in a group.

“Finit is the best!”

“No it’s not! LXO is the best!”

“Wow... I see where your standards are.”

“What did you say, Lee Yeon-jun!”

“Obviously, A-my-Girl is the best!”

“Yeah, whatever, cringe.”

“Yeah, back at you.”

“Yeah, auto back at you.”

“Yeah, ultra super mega auto back at you.”

The boys and girls bickered playfully.

One boy, hair styled with excessive gel, looked at them and said,

“Hey, you lame losers. J-Pink is the best!”

“Lee Hyung-seok, know when to join and when to stay out.”

“Then Oh Hye-yeon, you’re out of my birthday party too.”

“Hey! That’s just petty!”

The kids kept arguing over which idol was the best as they hurried along.

They arrived in front of a mansion. Everyone let out a gasp, but Yeon-jun's surprise was the greatest.

He never imagined that idiot Lee Hyung-seok lived in a place like this.

The front gate was massive, literally the size of a bus gate—big enough for a bus to pass through.

There was even a garage like the ones in movies, and a well-manicured garden. The garden was so large it could be called a field.

“Wow...”

As he stood there with his mouth agape, today’s birthday boy Hyung-seok rubbed his nose and said,

“Weird that it’s not an apartment?”

“Huh? No, not at all.”

“Let’s go in.”

When they went inside, Hyung-seok’s mother greeted them.

“You’re Hyung-seok’s friends? Come in, come in.”

“Hello!”

“Nice to meet you!”

“Thank you for inviting us!”

Smiling warmly, Hyung-seok’s mother said,

“It must have been tiring to come all this way. Put your bags down and come here. I ordered lots of tasty food for you all.”

“Yes!”

The children still chatted loudly as they followed her.

The room they entered was a dining room. There was a huge dining table, big enough for all nine kids to sit around.

On top of it were a three-tiered cake and a spread of delicious food.

“Wow... looks delicious.”

“Whoa...”

At the kids' amazement, Hyung-seok grinned with pride.

“Oh right. Hyung-seok, happy birthday! Here’s your present.”

“Me too, happy b-day. Here.”

The kids pulled out gifts one by one and handed them over. Hyung-seok’s mother spotted the only child who was just sitting quietly.

“What’s your name?”

“Yeon-jun. Lee Yeon-jun.”

“Yeon-jun, you didn’t bring a gift for Hyung-seok?”

“...No.”

“It’s fine, Mom. Yeon-jun said he’d carry me in Maple instead.”

“Huh?”

“He’s going to power-level me in MapleStory. Right, Yeon-jun?”

“Huh? Ah... Y-yeah.”

With a less-than-pleased expression, Hyung-seok’s mom lit the candles on the cake.

The birthday party began in earnest, complete with a happy birthday song. The kids were at the age where even falling leaves could make them burst out laughing.

They giggled endlessly as they ate, seemingly having the time of their lives. Watching them, Hyung-seok’s mother asked subtly,

“You said your name was Hye-yeon?”

“Yes!”

“Where do you live?”

“Right in front here, Daehyun Apartments!”

“And Mirae?”

“I live back there in Raemian!”

“Ah... Raemian. And Ji-woo?”

“I live there too. Building 203.”

“Then you two must hang out a lot?”

“Yes! We go to school together. Mirae’s always late though.”

“No I’m not! You’re the one who’s always late!”

“Yes you are.”

Smiling faintly at the bickering kids, she turned to another.

“You said your name was Yeon-jun?”

“Huh? Yes.”

“Where do you live, Yeon-jun?”

“Gongtaek. Next to the school.”

At Yeon-jun's answer, the previously lively mood turned icy, like someone had poured cold water over it.

Hyung-seok’s mom forced a smile, but the other kids...

“Whoa, Lee Yeon-jun, you’re a Gong-go?”

“Damn... you really are from Gong-go!”

“Why was a Gong-go acting all bold?”

At the kids’ baffling words, Yeon-jun panicked.

“W-what’s that even mean!”

“Ugh... He’s from Gong-go and doesn’t even know!”

“Man, I almost kept hanging out with a Gong-go.”

“Hey, Gong-go, don’t talk to us ever again.”

Shocked by the kids' sudden change in behavior, Yeon-jun was stunned. But the real shock was yet to come.

He could faintly hear Hyung-seok’s mother speaking to him just outside the dining room—

“Hyung-seok, how many times did I tell you not to associate with kids from Gongtaek. Your grades dropped because you hang out with kids like that.”

“I didn’t know he was a Gong-go either.”

“Don’t hang out with him anymore. Got it?”

“Yes.”

“……Jun.”

“……”

“Lee Yeon-jun!”

Yeon-jun snapped out of his daze at Seo-jun’s scolding.

“Huh?”

“What are you daydreaming about?”

“Ah… it’s nothing. Why?”

“What do you mean, why. I asked how the house is.”

“It’s, it’s nice. But how much did you say it was again?”

“Deposit of 10 million won, monthly rent of 1.5 million won.”

“That’s insanely cheap.”

Yeon-jun lifted his head and looked around the house again.

Memories from childhood are usually vague. But among them, some fragments remain vividly clear.

For Yeon-jun, Hyung-seok’s birthday was one such fragment.

The house was nice enough to bring back that day.

It wasn’t like Hyung-seok’s house, with a garden and a huge gate that buses could drive through, but it had a small yard and a sleek modern wooden fence gate.

The interior was the same. Whether it had been remodeled or not, the wallpaper and flooring were all new.

On top of that, there was one system air conditioner in the living room and four in the bedrooms.

A total of five system air conditioners had been installed.

“……How much did you say this was?”

“Why do you keep asking? I told you—deposit 10 million, rent 1.5 million.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Is this a scam? You know, like those dual contract scams or something.”

“Nope. I checked thoroughly.”

“Then how is it this cheap?”

The run-down house they were living in now also cost a million won in monthly rent.

A house like this should have a deposit in the hundreds of millions and a monthly rent starting from at least ten million.

But both the deposit and rent were a tenth of that. Yeon-jun couldn’t help but be suspicious…

But Seo-jun had already prepared an answer.

“The landlord lives in Jeju Island. Originally, this place was meant to be passed down to his son after he got married. But the marriage fell through.”

“And that shock made him put it on the market this cheap?”

“Dude, let me finish the story.”

“Alright.”

“Because the marriage fell through, the house’s ‘position’ became ambiguous, apparently. So he put it up for urgent sale. But you know, there was that explosion incident at Gate 12-K98 recently, and creepy rumors have been spreading from the 12-Q dungeon due to some bizarre phenomena. The real estate market’s really shriveled up.”

Yeon-jun nodded. That was true. Every time something happened related to a gate, the real estate market in that area froze up.

“And like you said, how many people in District 12 do you think can afford a house like this?”

“……Yeah, probably barely any. A place like this could easily go for 500 million won.”

“Now you get it?”

“So he put it up for rent at 1.5 million a month?”

“This landlord apparently owns nine properties, including vacation homes. I guess he just wanted to get it over with instead of worrying about it.”

“Hmm.”

“You know how rich people think. Time is money. To them, it’s less stressful to rent it cheap and forget about it than to stress over squeezing every won out of it.”

“I’m not rich, so I don’t really get that mindset, but I kinda get it. But how did you find a place like this?”

“Just lucky, I guess. I stopped by the agency, and the landlord had literally just listed it—an hour earlier.”

“Ah… you really were lucky.”

“Right? So that’s the whole story. Go ahead and look around.”

Only then did Yeon-jun smile brightly and begin to explore the house with a relaxed heart.

It wasn’t a house in his name.

It wasn’t even a lease—just monthly rent.

But somehow, it felt like the wounds of his childhood were being healed. At the very least, Seo-woo—my son—wouldn’t go through what I did that day.

It was “Baek-ro” (White Dew), the day when the first dews of autumn begin to fall. But in Park Yeon’s heart, it wasn’t dew but frost that was forming.

“……Is there nothing more?”

“You’ve already done a lot……”

“There must be more if we look. So go look again.”

“Ah, then could you wipe the TV and the shelf, please?”

“Besides that, isn’t there anything else?”

“Hmm, the leg of table number 2 seems a little wobbly—maybe the screw came loose. Could you check it?”

“Thank you.”

As Park Yeon walked away exuding cold energy, Yeon-jun scratched the back of his head.

“What’s up with Park Yeon these past few days?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s like he’s possessed by the ghost of someone who died from overworking… he keeps asking for more work. He hardly takes any breaks.”

“Better than slacking off.”

“I’m just worried he’ll collapse. He doesn’t even seem to be watching dramas lately. Not even drinking cola.”

“Not even cola?”

“Yeah. There’s not a single empty can in the recycling bin.”

“Guess the damage was worse than expected.”

“Huh? What damage?”

At Yeon-jun’s question, Seo-jun hesitated for a moment, debating whether to say it or not.

‘Better to know and act accordingly than stay ignorant.’

With that thought, Seo-jun opened his mouth.

“Heartbreak.”

At his words, Yeon-jun recalled what had happened recently.

‘Ah… he means about Miss I-seul. I thought he was fine, but maybe not. Well, it’s understandable.’

Looking worried, Yeon-jun gazed at Park Yeon’s back. Maybe he felt the gaze—Park Yeon glanced this way as he wiped the shelf.

“A poem comes to mind. The title is A Maiden’s Heart… stolen. Ah, her heart was stolen. And then even the hero’s love was taken too. What will she steal next, I wonder.”

“Sounds like the heartbreak’s pretty deep.”

“Don’t worry. Time heals all wounds.”

“Hmm.”

“Anyway, did you pick a moving date?”

It had already been a week since they found the new house.

But they still hadn’t moved, for two reasons.

First, settling matters with the current landlord.

Second, Yeon-jun’s insistence on moving on a “hands-free day” (an auspicious day for moving in Korean tradition).

They had already reached a peaceful agreement with the current landlord. Now, only picking the hands-free day remained.

“Yeah. The 23rd happens to be our day off and also a hands-free day. I’m thinking we do it then—how’s that sound?”

“Not bad. But I didn’t know you believed in superstitions like that.”

“It’s not that I believe it, exactly… I just heard a rumor.”

“What kind of rumor?”

“You know Ilseong Dry Cleaners up ahead?”

“Yeah.”

“Next to it is a real estate agency, and apparently the owner there keeps seeing things. After I heard that, it just gave me the creeps. No harm in being cautious.”

Seo-jun gave a small chuckle.

This must be what they call the butterfly effect.