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In South Korea, there exists an oddly named sum of money called a “key money.” Unlike a deposit, it’s not refundable and is paid when starting a business, essentially serving as a fee for the location.
Naturally, the better the location for business, the higher this key money would be.
“Still, there must be a good place out there.”
“Right? Let’s go inside.”
Seeing his mother struggling in the hot weather from walking around so much, Jihak felt a pang of sympathy.
‘With summer vacation starting soon, I should help her out.’
Luckily, summer vacation was starting in a few days.
“So, Mom, where do you want to open the café?”
“I want it to be somewhere not too far from home. There’s no one to drive me like before.”
The absence of his father.
Even though they had a car, it hadn’t been used for months and was finally sold to a used car dealer a month ago.
With Jihak’s hospital bills being high, his mother needed to sell it to cover living expenses.
It was a necessary choice, but it was still a regretful one.
If only his father were here…
They wouldn’t be worrying about these things.
“With me around, there’s nothing to worry about. I’ll help you, so don’t worry.”
Jihak couldn’t fully take his father’s place. But he knew he had to do his best to fill the void his father left.
‘Still, I’m relieved. Mom wants to start the café again.’
Jihak hoped to see his mother smile like she used to.
Though she pretended to be fine in front of him, she might have been deteriorating inside without him knowing.
Days passed after exams finished.
School was uneventful, and the highlight among the kids was the moment when grades were announced along with the start of vacation.
“Everyone received their report cards, right?”
“Yes…”
At the moment of receiving the report cards, most students, except a few top-ranking ones, didn’t look happy.
“And… Yoo Jihak.”
“Yes?”
When the homeroom teacher suddenly called his name, Jihak felt puzzled.
“Congratulations. You’ve moved up the most in our class. Even though you spent a lot of time in the hospital and had little time to study, you did great.”
“Th… Thank you.”
The teacher’s words were praise for Jihak. His grades had skyrocketed, placing him fifth in the class, despite his difficult circumstances.
Additionally, Ha Dojae was first, and Park Hyemin was second.
Both students who had been tutored by Dojae ranked in the top five, making other students look at Dojae with increasing interest in his tutoring.
However, not everyone looked favorably upon Jihak.
‘How did his grades improve so much? He must have cheated…’
Even though Dojae was a good tutor and taught Jihak diligently, Jihak’s sudden rise to fifth place seemed miraculous.
From barely ranking 20th in class to fifth was enough to arouse suspicion, even without solid evidence.
‘Where is this piercing gaze coming from?’
Feeling eyes on him, Jihak looked around. But, given the considerable attention on him, he decided to brush it off.
“Today marks the start of vacation, right?”
“Yes!!”
“Don’t just play around because it’s vacation. You’re third-year students next year, so study hard.”
“Yes!!!!”
The students’ voices grew louder. The prospect of a break from the dreaded school filled them with anticipation.
“See you all after the break.”
“Yaaay!”
With a loud cheer, the vacation began.
“Dojae, I’ll come to your house every morning, okay?”
“Uh… sure.”
The only one not thrilled about the vacation was Dojae. Jihak seemed determined to make him exercise.
“Hey, let’s go get some tteokbokki.”
Today, Hyemin, unusually energetic, approached Jihak and Dojae.
“I can’t. I have plans today.”
“Plans? You?”
“Why? Do you think I can’t have plans?”
“Tsk… Come on, let’s eat together.”
Despite her disappointment, Jihak shook his head at Hyemin’s pouting face.
“I really can’t today. I’m looking at potential café locations with my mom.”
“Oh, really?”
“Let’s eat together another time. I’ll go first.”
Jihak hurried out of school after saying goodbye.
His mother had already scouted several real estate locations for the café, but nothing had worked out yet.
The biggest problem was money. The more desirable the location, the higher the deposit and key money, often becoming unaffordable.
“Mom.”
“Jihak, you’re here?”
“I’m not late, right?”
“No, you’re right on time.”
“Let’s go. It might be better to look together.”
“Yeah… I hope we find a good place today.”
Despite the hot summer day, Jihak moved around with his mother, checking out various real estate locations.
But the reality of money continued to be a barrier, making it hard to find a suitable spot.
‘Sigh… If only I could sell some of the jewels in the space, money wouldn’t be a problem.’
But since that wasn’t an option, they had to keep looking.
As they walked, Jihak noticed an empty shop and pointed it out.
“Hey, that place is empty.”
“Oh, that place… might be difficult.”
“Why?”
The shop was quite small. Even if they opened a café, it would barely fit a few tables.
“Well… They say it’s haunted. Honestly, price-wise, it’s perfect, but… it might not be the best choice.”
“Haunted?”
At that, Jihak’s ears perked up, and a smile spread across his face.
“Let’s take a look there too.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
The confident look on Jihak’s face prompted the real estate agent to ask if everything was alright.
It was hard to tell whether the agent was more conscientious than expected or simply worried about future complications, but with a reluctant expression, he approached the supposedly haunted shop.
“Son, even to me, this place seems a bit…”
“It’s fine. The price should be cheap, and since it’s been empty, there won’t be any key money, right?”
“Well, that’s true.”
The advantage was that no key money was required since it wasn’t currently a running business.
Moreover, since it was said to be haunted, the deposit was likely to be lower as well.
Above all, the location was excellent.
It was situated between Jihak’s school and home, with the main gate of Jeil Girls’ High School right in front of it.
A cafe in such a prime location would be perfect.
After all, students would probably buy coffee to-go rather than sitting and chatting.
Although it was a bit small, that wasn’t a major issue.
And as for the ghost problem the agent mentioned…
‘With me around, who cares about ghosts? Even if a ghost’s grandparent showed up, it wouldn’t be a concern.’
That’s right.
For a man who once reached the pinnacle of hell, ghosts were not an issue.
“Let’s go inside first. It’s been empty for a while, so there might be some dust…”
As the agent opened the door, dust that had accumulated from being unoccupied for a long time billowed out.
“Phew… there’s quite a bit of dust.”
Jihak was the first to wade through the dust and enter.
The space was very small, but not inadequate for a cafe.
Whatever had happened here for the agent to call it haunted was unclear, but from Jihak’s observation, there were no other spiritual presences.
‘There aren’t even any traces of them?’
Usually, when spiritual beings like ghosts linger, they leave some traces, but there were none here.
‘Hmm?’
At that moment, Jihak sensed something.
‘There is something, after all…’
Satisfied with his discovery of something deeply hidden, Jihak nodded and approached his mother.
“Mom, what do you think of this place?”
“Well… the structure itself isn’t bad.”
“It looks like it used to be a cafe too.”
“Yes, but what matters more is the price…”
With a limited budget, the price was the most important factor.
As the conversation turned to price, the agent quietly approached Jihak’s mother and informed her about the deposit.
“The deposit here is 30 million won, and the monthly rent is 1 million won.”
It was truly a tempting property.
Such a price for a location right in front of a school’s main gate was hard to find anywhere else.
“The owner is a good person, but since bad things kept happening in the shop, they listed it at a low price.”
“Bad things?”
“Yes, honestly, I wouldn’t recommend this place. People avoid it because they say it’s haunted.”
For the real estate agent, earning the commission was all that mattered.
However, this agent, having some conscience, mentioned the place’s issues while discussing the price and did not recommend it.
“The previous tenant, who ran a sandwich shop, had an accident while preparing ingredients and… ahem. The one before that, who had a side dish store, was sued for food poisoning. And the tenant before them, who ran a fresh juice bar, had a serious car accident and was hospitalized for a long time.”
The most astonishing thing was that all of this happened within just four months, and the place had been empty for about nine months since the juice bar.
“I’d be happy to secure a deal, but I can’t in good conscience recommend it. There are other places, so would you like to look around some more?”
For the real estate agent, earning the commission was sufficient.
But since the events here were well-known locally and would eventually be discovered, he decided to disclose them upfront.
“If that’s the case, maybe we should look elsewhere…”
His mother seemed to agree that finding another place would be better.
‘Sigh… this location is so good, though.’
However, Jihak couldn’t let go of his attachment.
It would be hard to find such a prime location at this price anywhere else in Korea.
‘It’s such a shame. What’s the problem here? What is it…’
At that moment, Jihak stopped walking.
Ssssss…
Ordinary people wouldn’t have noticed, but Jihak clearly felt it.
‘As expected. That’s what it is?’
There was indeed something holding onto his foot.
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