I opened the refrigerator and looked into the lower part. A faint blinking light flickered in the deep space.
Something is there.
I stretched my hand deeper and pulled it out from the bottom. It felt strangely warm, as if it had just finished printing.
“A memo pad?”
On its surface golden letters sparkled as if they were alive and written like this.
Side dish order
Client: God
Ordered side dish: Seasoned spinach
Reason: The last side dish I want to give to someone
Required conditions: 1) Use C-rank spinach of poor quality. 2) Likes the grassy smell of spinach.
Reward: Good deed ‘2’ points.
God…?
Since it was a side dish shop I thought separate side dish orders could be made. But a god?
“Haetae, someone named God placed an order?”
“It is not a person. It is a real god, nya.”
“Gods really exist?”
I stared blankly at Haetae with a dazed face. Then the plump cat who had gained a lot of weight glanced at me sideways and answered.
“There is even a divine beast so why wouldn’t there be gods, nya. And do you think what you are experiencing is normal, nya! Just check the order form, nya.”
I laughed quietly inside. Well… since Grandmother passed away nothing had been normal.
After accepting it in my own way I checked the remaining content.
On the next page the food ingredient delivery conditions of the contract signed by GS Company and contractor Han Jigu are written.
“GS Company? So it had a name? It says delivery conditions.”
“That is the part they did not explain when signing the contract, nya.”
“Yes. They are sending it now.”
Haetae suddenly frowned.
“The order of handling work is strange, nya.”
“Even gods seem equally busy with work.”
I turned the page and carefully started reading.
Food ingredient delivery conditions
- Must ‘perform’ the side dish orders delivered by GS Company.
- If you fail to capture the heart of the relevant ‘client’, be especially ‘cautious’.
- Do not carelessly give your ‘heart’ to various ‘races’.
- Keep in mind that if you fail the requested order, ‘bad luck’ will follow for a while.
- And in any case do not hold ‘doubts’.
The conditions were extremely suspicious.
This company really has something.
“Jigu.”
Haetae, who always called me “you” or “Hyang-suk’s granddaughter”, said my name and I was a little surprised. Haetae looked at me a bit firmly and continued.
“You must not look down on gods, nya.”
“Where would I look down on them.”
“It means you must not think like me, nya. There are not many gentle gods like me, nya.”
There are no gentle gods…. I gently scratched under Haetae’s chin to show thanks.
“Thank you for telling me.”
“Since I told you, is there no reward for me, nya~?”
“I will make the seasoned spinach delicious for you.”
“Isn’t that something you were going to give originally, nya?”
Haetae glared at me fiercely.
“…Well, maybe.”
“Nyaaaaang!”
While gently soothing Haetae I quietly checked outside the shop. As evening came the street was empty and even human shadows were rare. I felt it was okay to close the door now.
“Shall we close the door and go pick spinach? The side dish order…”
At that moment a bell sound rang from the shop’s front door. The sound that seemed to ring once and fade away dragged on strangely long. Instinctively I turned my head and fixed my gaze on the door side as I opened my mouth.
“…Welcome, customer?”
Someone was standing in front of the door. The one who opened the door and entered was a strange being with a face like a village guardian post and a body in human form.
“I am sorry. I came too late.”
A low voice spread heavily inside the quiet shop.
What kind of wooden block is walking around…?
It wore modern clothes that mixed traditional Korean clothes and a suit in a clever way. Its height easily exceeded two meters and seemed about to touch the ceiling. On the face cracked like tree bark there were no pupils, only deep black holes dug in.
Even though it approached with its huge body in big steps, strangely no footsteps were heard at all.
Could it be.
“A-are you… the one who ordered the side dish? H-hiccup!”
I was so surprised that I hiccupped.
“It seems I startled you.”
Anyone could see it was the being written as ‘God’ on the order form.
When it slightly lowered its head my breath caught. My heart pounded loudly as if it was beating right next to my ears.
“That is so. I was too late.”
“…Th-at. Hiccup.”
I opened and closed my mouth and then met eyes with the empty eye holes. Even though it was just black empty space a strange pressure was felt and a chilly energy swept down my spine.
“I do not harm humans. There is no need to fear me.”
“Perhaps… are you Cheonha Daejanggun?”
“Oh? How did you know?”
“It is written on your face……. Hiccup!”
Jangseung are beings that mark the boundaries of a village or act as guardian spirits. Why is such a being here…?
“These days children know it is a jangseung but do not care about such things. As you said, I am Cheonha Daejanggun, a jangseung.”
The jangseung spoke gently and nodded its head.
“Ah, hello. Cough.”
“Is this Hyang-suk’s side dish shop correct?”
“Yes… it is!”
Then the jangseung looked me up and down. It felt a little like it was checking me.
“I heard the human has changed.”
“Yes, my grandmother passed away.”
“I did not hear that news. I am sorry. You must have been upset.”
“It is okay… hiccup.”
Then Haetae who was in my arms trembled his tail and complained.
“Jangseung, because of you this one cannot stop hiccupping, nya!”
The jangseung’s wooden eyelash-like parts moved up and down as if a little surprised.
“Divine Beast, it has been a long time. I did not recognize you because you just look like a fat cat…, I am sorry to the granddaughter.”
“Kyaaaak-! Calling me a fat cat, you have grown a lot, nya! Come here, nya!”
“It is… hiccup. okay.”
I held the Haetae who was thrashing around saying he would sharpen his claws on the wood and barely soothed him. But the way the jangseung avoided that action was something I could not get used to at all.
“How did you come, nya?”
“Divine Beast, it was hard walking all the way here……”
“You walked, nya!?”
“That is so…”
Perhaps because of that water that smelled strongly of tree sap was beading on the jangseung’s body. I pulled out a tissue I had left on the counter and handed it to the jangseung.
“Please wipe with this.”
“It will be absorbed again soon but I will not refuse the kindness you offered. Thank you.”
The corners of the jangseung’s mouth slowly curved.
“I am Han Jigu. You can call me comfortably.”
“Oh. Miss Jigu. Please take care of me.”
I explained the situation right away.
“I have to go to the vegetable garden to pick spinach so I can make the seasoned dish, and just then Jangseung-nim arrived.”
“Oh no, I came too early.”
“No. Rather I am the one who is sorry.”
Right now I had to close the shop door and enter the subspace.
“Divine Beast? Can I enter the subspace together with Jangseung teacher?”
“Anyone except humans can enter, nya.”
“Oho…”
Then the answer was decided.
“Shall we go to the subspace together?”
Hiccup.
I had just arrived in the subspace and was approaching the freshly grown spinach.
“Um… the vegetable garden is that way…”
I was naturally guiding toward the vegetable garden when—
The jangseung’s body that had looked somewhat human peeled off like a zipper opening and a rough wooden pillar suddenly popped out from inside.
“Uwaak! Ha-Haetae! The skin peeled off! Why is it doing that!”
I almost screamed. Haetae scratched his chin with a front paw and said indifferently.
“That is the true form, nya.”
“True form?”
“The hiccups stopped, nya.”
“Ah, uh…”
What was revealed was a huge wooden pillar with only the neck and body remaining. It looked as if an old zelkova tree had been cut and stood up.
In the part that could be called a face only deep grooves without pupils were dug and it sent chills down my spine.
“Because the subspace is a divine realm, I returned to my original form.”
I was so bewildered that I blankly did not know where to put my gaze and avoided my eyes. I hurriedly picked up a knife and cut the spinach stems.
“But do you have to harvest spinach that way?”
“Ah! You startled me!”
I was so surprised that I put strength into my hand and pulled out the whole spinach.
“Did I startle you?”
“You suddenly spoke from the side… haha…”
“I am sorry.”
I tried to explain in a calm voice.
“If you pull out the roots completely it will not grow. So you have to cut right below the roots like this.”
“Is that so?”
“But you know.”
I was really curious so I asked the jangseung.
“About the conditions written on that side dish order form. Why did you set such conditions?”
“Ah. About that.”
The jangseung straightened its body and continued speaking while looking into the distance.
“The seasoned spinach that the mother of the one who will receive it used to make was exactly like that. Not fully trimmed so there was a slight grassy smell… rough but full of affection, they said…”
The jangseung continued with a faint smile as if something was visible at the end of its gaze.
“That child called that taste ‘mom’s taste’ and liked it the most. I want to gift not a perfect dish but the taste of a longed-for time. And it was from the heart that I hope that person does not forget me.”
“Not forgetting… what does that mean?”
“Soon. Because I will disappear.”
“Why will you disappear…?”
My voice asking back trembled by itself. The jangseung’s eyes shook deeply as if searching the distant past.
“As redevelopment came into the village I was protecting, the role of the jangseung ended. Now people no longer need me.”
I tightly bit my lips.
“…Does it not hurt your heart?”
But on the jangseung’s face rather a sense of peace could be seen.
“There is nothing to hurt the heart about. As a jangseung I completed my mission so I only feel light. Originally this body existed to protect them. If they live peacefully that is enough.”
It was a calm but firm voice full of conviction.
“Who is the person who will receive it?”
“I wanted to give it to a friend.”
“A friend? Oh… that is romantic?”
Who would be the one who is friends with a god.
“It is a fellow who greeted me since childhood while looking at me. He called me Tree Grandfather and came every day. Even when he became an adult and moved far away…”
“…”
“He did not forget me. When he came to the hometown he visited me before his parents, and on days he fought with his parents he always complained in front of me. It seems he regarded me as a friend. And… that child is getting married now.”
At the word marriage the jangseung lowered its head deeply. A little sadness came out.
“So… I wanted to gift the side dish that child liked the most.”
That voice contained the earnestness of wanting to give anything.
“How do you plan to meet? In that form…”
The jangseung smiled in a shy voice.
“That form from earlier, is it strange by any chance?”
From earlier, the form with a jangseung head and human body? If you ran into it you would faint…
Haetae who was watching me hesitate without answering quietly interrupted.
“To this one only your real face is visible, nya.”
The jangseung’s wooden eyelash-like parts moved as if it had forgotten.
“To human eyes I appear in human form.”
“Wait, does that mean I am not human…?”
“You have already touched the realm of gods so my true form seems visible.”
…The realm of gods. I cut the base of the spinach with a small knife and increased the speed of my hand movements.
Exquisitely flavored spinach (A)
Slightly disappointing spinach (C)
Slightly disappointing spinach (C)
Slightly disappointing spinach (C)
“Oh, lucky!”
I grinned. Three C ranks in a row. It was just like C rank.
“That is lucky, nya?”
Haetae peeked his head over my shoulder.
“The order condition is C rank.”
“Human way of thinking is hard to understand, nya.”
If I boil it it will shrink…
I need to harvest at least ten more.
“Your expression looks happy.”
At the jangseung’s words I smiled brightly.
“That’s right. I am very happy right now.”
For one year while taking care of Grandmother in the hospital I put down cooking. During that time no matter how much I cooked nothing was enjoyable. I only filled myself with simple things like ramen.
“Cooking for someone after a long time… is this enjoyable.”
The knife moved smoothly in my hand. As if the hand had long remembered that sensation, every time the blade cut the stem my heart pounded.
“If you make the side dish so diligently, I should repay by spreading the rumor of this shop.”
I flinched and stopped my hand movements and asked back.
“To whom…?”
“Of course to the guardian spirits I know.”
“Really?”
“That is so. You have to perform good deeds, right? If the rumor spreads more orders will come.”
At these words the jangseung’s expression became a little subtle. At the same time hesitation passed.
“Of course if the rumor spreads bad gods may also come… but if it is still okay I will spread the rumor.”
…Bad gods. I answered while putting the spinach into the basket.
“It is okay.”
“Are you really sure it is okay? Beings called gods…”
I cut off the jangseung’s words.
“Humans are the same. There are good customers and bad customers.”
The jangseung nodded.
“It is fortunate that you think that way.”
Just as there are difficult humans among humans, there can be difficult ones among gods.
“Oh!”
Finally.
Slightly disappointing spinach (C)
I harvested C-rank spinach.
“Okay, let’s go now.”
“Where do you mean?”
“To the kitchen.”
I naturally stood up and shook the basket holding the spinach.
As soon as I entered the kitchen I took off the gloves and apron and tightly tied my hair.
“Is it okay if I watch?”
“Yes. Please watch comfortably.”
I poured the spinach from the basket into the sink.
Is it because it is C rank.
The quality is really not good. Even the stem color is a bit dull.
“May I ask a question?”
“Yes? What question?”
“Is the root side of spinach originally that red? Looking at the others they are red differently from this one.”
“Ah.”
I took out a small knife and trimmed the spinach while speaking.
“That’s right. The closer the stem touching the spinach root is to red, the sweeter and more delicious it is.”
“Oho.”
“If you choose dark and dull ones they are bitter and not tasty.”
That is why finding good ingredients is the hardest.
“I also want to eat, nya.”
I washed the spinach with my hands and lowered my head to look at Haetae.
“Didn’t you say you didn’t want to eat seasoned spinach?”
“That was then, nya.”
“Just say you want to eat.”
“Hmph, nya.”
I made a cross cut at the base of the spinach and gently shook it under the running water. The dirt hidden between the spinach came out and was washed away by the water stream.
I left the washed spinach on a colander and put a wok on the gas range. When I sprinkled a pinch of salt the grains quickly soaked into the water.
“Miss Jigu.”
“Yes?”
“I am sorry while you are busy, but may I ask one more thing?”
“It is okay. What is it?”
“How much time will it take by any chance?”
I said simply.
“It is almost done now.”
