Chapter 2: The Father's Legacy (2)
***
“Well, I…”
“What brings you here?”
The woman in a neat suit sitting at the information desk found Hae-jun opening the office door and asked with a bright smile.
“I received this mail…”
“Oh, could you please sit on the sofa and wait for a moment?”
The staff member who checked the documents Hae-jun handed over disappeared somewhere.
A while later.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Kim In-chul, a lawyer.”
A middle-aged man with a neat hairstyle in a sharp suit appeared, handed over his business card, and greeted him.
“I’m Cha Hae-joon. It’s about the mail you sent me…”
“You’ve come to the right place.”
The lawyer placed the will and several court documents he had tucked under his arm on the table. Since the heir has appeared, the inheritance of the property must be done according to the procedure.
“Please wait a moment. The documents are a bit complicated.”
“Yes, take your time. I read the documents you sent me, and it says that my father disappeared…”
“Yes, he’s been missing for over five years, so the court has processed him as deceased.”
“Actually, he left home long before that.”
“I see.”
“But suddenly, it’s strange to hear about death and inheritance.”
“Ah… yes.”
The lawyer seemed uninterested in personal matters and answered in a businesslike manner while looking through the documents.
“It’s an inheritance, but I came here because I thought I could find out about my father’s whereabouts. Do you happen to know much about my father?”
“No. We don’t know about our client’s private life.”
The lawyer drew the line, saying that Hae-jun’s father had visited his office to write a will shortly before he disappeared, and that he was simply carrying out his duties within the scope of the request.
“As you can see from the documents, it’s been five years since your father disappeared and he’s gone through the legal process.”
“I see. So no one has seen the body?”
“Well, for now, that’s the case, but in cases like this, there’s a high probability that he’s dead. He didn’t disappear because he was in debt, and he left an inheritance. Oh, could I see your ID? I need to verify your identity for the procedure.”
At the lawyer’s request, Hae-jun opened his wallet, took out his resident registration card, and handed it over.
The old picture from over 10 years ago, which was placed behind the ID, was revealed. It was a family photo taken when he went to an amusement park with his parents when he was in elementary school. Although his father’s face was folded and hidden.
Hae-jun hesitated for a moment, then took out the photo and unfolded the folded part.
A thick, solid line was drawn between Hae-jun and his father, as if it represented the years they had spent apart.
“I’ve confirmed it. Then, according to the client’s will, we will proceed with the procedure to inherit the inheritance to the son, Cha Hae-joon. These are the inherited items.”
The lawyer handed over a thick document envelope and a piece of paper.
“What’s this?”
“We received it in a sealed state, so we don’t know what’s inside. And this is the building register of the building left as an inheritance. Hmm, looking at the address, it’s nearby. The land area is 200 square meters and there’s a one-story building. It’s probably a house. If it’s real estate of that size in Itaewon, the market price would be around 1 to 1.5 billion won. I shouldn’t say this, but you’ve made a fortune.”
A large sum of money equivalent to the first prize of the lottery. Although he was somewhat surprised by the unexpectedly large amount, he didn’t forget the reason he came here was to find his father’s whereabouts.
Hae-jun opened the sealed envelope and checked the contents.
Inside, there was an old notebook and a key.
‘What is it?’
The handwritten notebook was filled with useless things like how to grow crops and recipes, and the key was an old bronze key that looked like something you’d see in an antique shop, not a key used these days.
“Oh, but there’s one special condition attached.”
“Condition?”
“Yes.”
Unlike when he said he made a fortune with an envious expression, he looked troubled.
“You can never sell or demolish the building, including the inherited land? This is the condition.”
“I understand.”
It didn’t matter to Hae-jun at all.
His interest was not in the building, but in his father’s whereabouts.
‘Anyway, if I go there, I might get a small hint.’
Hae-jun hurriedly signed the document the lawyer handed over.
“Is it all done now?”
“Yes. I’ll contact you separately when the paperwork is complete. Do you have any questions?”
“No. For now.”
“If you have any inquiries, please call the number on the business card.”
“Thank you.”
“Be careful on your way back.”
Hae-jun, who left the lawyer’s office, turned on the map app on his cell phone.
The destination was located about 400 meters away from the office.
Hae-jun followed the direction indicated by the map and entered a small alley next to the forest of buildings.
Before he knew it, a completely different scenery unfolded before him. Instead of large shopping malls, apartments, and 10-lane roads, there was a narrow alley where only one car could barely pass through and short, old houses. It was a very quiet alley where people only occasionally passed by.
After walking around for about 5 minutes, he arrived at his destination.
“This is it.”
He stopped in front of a dilapidated, one-story, red brick house at the end of the narrow alley.
Hae-jun couldn’t go inside right away, so he just looked at the building from the outside.
An old door and a rusty handle. It seemed like no one had touched it for a while, so weeds grew wildly in the yard inside the fence, and ivy vines were wrapped around the red bricks and the entrance. At first glance, it looked like an abandoned house or a house where the original residents had left before redevelopment.
“They say it’s an expensive area, but there’s no management at all. Well, if it’s a house my father left me, it means my father is the owner, but it’s been over five years since he disappeared… Has it been left unattended here for five years?”
As it had been left unattended for five years, the condition was the worst.
Creak-
Hae-jun, who hesitated for a moment, mustered up the courage and pushed open the small wooden door between the brick walls. The weeds that had grown up to his knees felt soft.
Hae-jun felt a strange aura and walked carefully.
As he approached the building, he saw a sign that he hadn’t seen before.
“Western-style Sunflower?”
Next to the words [Sunflower] written in English cursive, there was a clumsily drawn picture of a sunflower. The rustic blue sign had one corner of the stand rusted and fallen off.
Perhaps the house was used as a restaurant, not for residential purposes.
“By the way, Western-style in this day and age…”
Western-style.
As the word suggests, it means ‘light Western cuisine’, and it’s a restaurant that sells things like omelet rice, pork cutlet, and hamburger steak. Along with jajangmyeon, it was one of the two major mountains of family dining, but it naturally disappeared with the advent of family restaurants.
“It’s been a long time.”
If it’s a Western-style restaurant, he had been there several times when he was very young, holding his parents’ hands.
Because Hae-jun liked pork cutlet more than jajangmyeon.
When he ordered pork cutlet, cream of mushroom soup with a strong milk flavor came out first. It was made by boiling commercial soup in large quantities, but he liked the unique savory taste, so he always ordered one more and ate two bowls. After whetting his appetite with the soup, a large, old-fashioned pork cutlet with plenty of pickled radish, beans, pickles, and macaroni salad came out. Pork cutlet with sauce poured over it, freshly fried, and steaming hot. When his mother cut the pork cutlet and he took a bite with a fork, the taste was like heaven. It was a lot for the young Hae-jun to eat, but he remembered that he always emptied the plate because it was a food he couldn’t eat often.
‘It was delicious though.’
A strange smile appeared on Hae-jun’s lips as he recalled the old memories.
Hae-jun hadn’t attached much meaning to food until now.
After his mother passed away and he was left alone, food was simply a tool to sustain his life, nothing more and nothing less. Because food eaten alone can’t be delicious.
But for some reason, his appetite was unusually stimulated today.
Maybe it’s because he remembered a small memory about the Western-style restaurant.
“But did my father run this restaurant? In person?
…”
His father in his memory was far from cooking.
He had never seen his father cook, except for the occasional Sunday morning when he would stand in the kitchen to make a special meal for his late mother. However, this restaurant was definitely an inheritance left by his father. Hae-jun headed towards the front of the building, passing through the garden, thinking that the Western-style restaurant called Sunflower must be somehow connected to his father.
‘It’s quite spacious.’
The yard was quite large.
Currently, only weeds were growing, but if the grass was pulled out and cleaned up, it seemed like it could be transformed into a pretty decent garden.
Hae-jun, who arrived at the entrance, picked up a fallen branch on the floor, roughly removed the vines and cobwebs, and took out the key from the document envelope.
“Hmm… what is it?”
Hae-jun, who took out the key, made a troubled expression.
The key left by the father had an antique design like an item from an RPG game, but the keyhole of the front door was so modern. It was an obviously mismatched key to anyone who saw it.
“Isn’t this the front door key?”
Hae-jun, who tilted his head, carefully turned the handle. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be locked. The door opened with a creak. As soon as he opened the door, the stale, musty air and the smell of dust hit Hae-jun.
“Whew, it smells.”
Hae-jun, who frowned slightly, waved his hand in the air and looked around the inside of the store.
Unlike the outside, the inside was quite clean. It had a somewhat old-fashioned but not rustic look.
There were about five or six round and square wooden tables and chairs in the hall, and old LPs and a turntable were placed on a shelf on one wall. In addition, cute and old props were neatly displayed. Although dust had accumulated heavily because no one had touched it for a long time, it was well-maintained enough to be put into operation immediately after dusting and a little touch-up.
Hae-jun looked around the store carefully to find any traces of his father. However, this place was just an ordinary Western-style restaurant, and there was no trace of his father here at all.
Hae-jun, who had been looking around inside for a long time, gave up and sat down on a chair, letting out a sigh.
“What do I do now?”
There was no trace of his father.
Hae-jun, who was feeling desperate and pessimistic, saw a small side door that he had not noticed before.
When he went closer, he saw a small sign that said [Staff Only] on the door.
Hae-jun carefully turned the handle and opened the door.
Creak-
As expected, the door wasn’t locked either.
At this point, he became curious about the use of the key his father had left him.
“There’s a space like this?”
It was a room about the size of a small studio apartment where he used to live. There was a single-size bed, a small desk, and an old wooden wardrobe, as if someone had lived here.
Hae-jun’s eyes, who was looking around the room, caught sight of a very familiar face.
“Oh, Dad?”
Read ahead by supporting me on Ko-fi. Access 5 advance chapters with the Beginner Chef Tier ($10) or 10 advance chapters with Intermediate Chef Tier($18)
For every $15 collected on Ko-fi, I will release an extra chapter.
Choose your tier by clicking the 'Support me' button!
Rate and review this novel on NU to help people find this novel. Bonus chapters upon reaching specific milestones.
Happy reading!