Chapter 4: Abandoned Farm (2)
***
"W-what is this?"
Hae-jun was startled and blinked at the empty air.
The hologram was still floating.
*
[Cha Hae-jun] Lv.1
Age: 25
Title: One Who Crossed Dimensions
Occupation: -
Experience: 0 (0%)
Stamina: 10/10
Skills: 0
Fame: 0
*
He couldn't understand the words like title, experience, etc.
It was a natural reaction since he was experiencing something that could only be seen in fantasy novels or games.
"As I thought, this wasn't an ordinary place."
Come to think of it, there were more than a few strange things.
The place he came out through the passage was a cave, and in the middle of Seoul, in a neighborhood known for its expensive land prices, there was a park and a vegetable patch. It was suspicious. Moreover,
"Was that there originally?"
A small sprout was sprouting from the branch Hae-jun had planted in the ground just a few minutes ago. Not only that, a green aura spread around the branch.
He rubbed his eyes, thinking it was an illusion, but the situation didn't change.
Hae-jun, who was looking for a place to escape, pressed the fog wall he had bumped into with his finger.
Thud-
As expected, the soft yet solid wall pushed Hae-jun's finger away. He could vaguely see beyond the fog, but he couldn't cross it. That meant that for now, the only accessible entrance was the passage in the store. What if his father had been running a farm here and for some reason couldn't return to the original real world? That's why no one had found him in over five years of being missing? It was a somewhat convincing reasoning.
'Yeah. My father might have disappeared somewhere here. I should investigate this place more.'
The aura emitted by the branch subsided for a moment.
He thought that now that the floating text like a hologram was gone, it was the perfect opportunity to escape this suspicious place.
"Let's go back for now."
He hurriedly retraced his steps. He went through the cave made of artificial stone walls, passed through the humid passage, and safely returned to the store.
Hae-jun left the store and went around to the other side of the building. The empty lot, farm, and forest he had seen earlier were nowhere to be seen. He checked the map by turning on the real estate app, but it was the same.
"Haah, am I going crazy?"
He couldn't tell anyone what he had just seen.
If he talked about the absurd story of going through a mysterious door in the back room of the store to a space in another dimension, he would definitely be looked at with strange eyes. He might even be confined to a mental hospital.
'I'll keep it to myself for now. It'll be easier to investigate that way.'
***
Knock, knock, knock-
The cheerful sound of meat being pounded on a cutting board was heard.
The hands of a man in a pure white chef's uniform moved busily over the cutting board and the gas fire.
Sizzle- Crackle-
When he dipped the meat covered in thick breadcrumbs into the frying oil, a pleasant sound and the savory smell of fried food filled the kitchen.
The man's back looked familiar.
A tall and broad figure, a wide back, and tanned forearms with veins that bulged whenever he exerted strength.
From the outline of his face that was slightly visible whenever he moved his body, Hae-jun instinctively realized that the man with his back turned was his father.
He wanted to call out, 'Father!', but for some reason, his voice wouldn't come out.
"Uhhh... Fa... ther..."
There was a lot he wanted to ask his father if he met him.
Why did he abandon his mother and himself and leave home? What had he been doing all this time? And why did he leave this store to him? ... Decisively, what on earth was the farm beyond the door?
Unfortunately, his voice wouldn't come out, and his father silently focused on cooking, looking straight ahead.
***
"Aaah, I'm tired..."
Hae-jun, who hadn't slept all night, muttered in a hoarse voice, barely able to open his eyes.
He had been searching about the farm until dawn, and since he had changed his sleeping place, he even had strange dreams.
'I had a dream about my father.'
He hadn't dreamt of his father since he became an adult.
After his mother passed away, his longing for his father soon turned into betrayal.
When he was young, he had the happiest family in the world, but everything changed overnight because of his father.
His harmonious family. His mother.
"Ugh..."
Hae-jun let out a light groan due to his throbbing head and opened the internet window of his cell phone that he had left on his bedside.
[Mokdong weekend farm] [T/N: Mokdong is the name of the area where the restaurant is located.]
[Mokdong empty lot]
[Mokdong abandoned land]
[Light-emitting seeds]
[Plants that grow as soon as they are planted]
...
When he touched the search bar, the search terms he had entered last night were listed in order.
According to the search results, there was no such farm in the middle of Seoul, and he couldn't find a place similar to the one he had seen anywhere on the internet. It was literally a space that didn't exist in reality. Or rather, it was a space in another dimension.
Hae-jun stared blankly at the door hidden by the wardrobe while lying on the bed.
'Through the door in the corner of the Western-style restaurant's back room, to a farm in another dimension...'
There was a door leading to another dimension in the building he had inherited as his legacy, and beyond that door was a farm. He somehow felt like he had become the main character of a fantasy novel. It didn't feel real.
What was clear was that the space beyond the passage wasn't a dream but a real space, and that it might be related to his father's disappearance and the farm.
"By the way, what was that hologram text?"
He hadn't seen 'that' after returning to the store.
He was curious, but on the other hand, he was relieved that he wasn't crazy.
Yesterday, he was so surprised that he ran away, but he had to go back and find out what was going on there.
"I can't go there empty-handed, so let's prepare everything and cross over again."
Since he couldn't cross the jelly-like fog wall, he had to start by investigating the 100-pyeong farm.
Hae-jun, who had organized his thoughts, got up from the bed and went outside. He bought a backpack, a compass, a flashlight, binoculars, a carabiner for mountain climbing, and a rope at a nearby shopping mall.
He also bought sandwiches, milk, and bottled water at a convenience store and put them in his bag.
Thanks to the unexpectedly expensive price, he spent most of the money he had.
"This is bad. I have to find a job quickly, even if I'm investigating the farm."
He left the bustling area and entered the quiet residential area again. He arrived at the store and was about to open the door when,
"Excuse me..."
Someone called out to him.
He turned around and saw a young girl who looked like a high school student standing there.
"Me?"
"Yes. Do you live here?"
Since he had inherited it from his father and started living there yesterday, he answered yes.
"Thank goodness. I was about to go back because there was no one inside, but I met you just in time."
"Do you have any business here?"
"Oh, that's... Actually, I've been here a few times."
"Here?"
He continued the conversation, wondering if she was someone related to his father.
"Yes. But every time I came, the door was closed, so I thought it wasn't open for business. The weeds were growing wild too."
"Oh, it's been empty for a while."
"I see."
"But who... are you?"
"Me? Oh, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Kim Min-ju, a freshman majoring in art at Hongik University."
'She looks like a high school student, but she's a college student.'
The girl kept smiling brightly as she answered.
When she smiled, her big, round eyes turned into crescents.
The girl who introduced herself as Kim Min-ju was about 165 centimeters tall with a slender figure and distinct features. Her skin was fair, and her shoulder-length natural hair was dyed brown. If she passed by on the street, she was attractive enough to make people turn around and look at her.
"You're... an oppa, right?"
"I'm twenty-five, so if Min-ju didn't skip four grades, I guess I'm an oppa."
"Keuk, I'm a freshman. But oppa looks really young. I thought we were only a year or two apart."
'Is that a compliment?'
Since Hae-jun thought Min-ju was a high school student, if they were a year or two apart, that meant she thought Hae-jun was twenty years old.
He didn't feel bad.
"What's your name?"
"Cha Hae-jun."
"Can I call you oppa?"
"You can call me whatever you're comfortable with. But why are you looking for me?"
"I'll be straightforward. Can I borrow the wall of this house?"
"The wall? Why?..."
"I want to draw a picture. You know, a mural?"
He wondered why here of all places.
Since it was a neighborhood with many old detached houses, there were plenty of walls to paint on, not just here. However, he was curious why she had come to this ownerless house several times.
"Why?"
"Because this wall is the perfect size for drawing. You know about the mural village in Busan, right? There are also some in Seongsu-dong and Ihwa-dong in Seoul. There are a lot of projects these days where they paint murals on old residential houses. I'm doing something like that too. If you look at it, this looks like a restaurant, so if I paint a mural, a lot of customers will come. It'll become a hot place!"
"Oh, but this place isn't open for business..."
"I have 3,000 followers. If you just give me permission, I'll draw it nicely and promote it on SNS. Please~."
When he tried to refuse with a troubled expression, Min-ju clasped her hands together as if praying and lowered her eyebrows, pleading.
"I understand your situation, but this place isn't open for business anymore."
"Really? Ah..."
Min-ju looked very disappointed when he expressed his gentle refusal.
"Can't I draw a picture though?"
'This is difficult...'
"Please. Huh? Huh? I'll beg you like this. I won't do anything else. I'll just come outside and draw quietly. Huh? Please let me."
It was a heartfelt request that was hard to refuse.
'Yeah. It's not like she's going to come inside and do something. She says she'll just draw on the wall outside, so it shouldn't be a problem.'
After some thought, Hae-jun accepted Min-ju's request.
"Alright."
"Kyaa~ Really?"
"Yes. But please don't bother me."
"Of course. I'll come quietly and just draw. Hehe. But are you really not open for business here?"
"No."
"Why? I thought a restaurant in a corner of a residential area like this would be a great restaurant. So I was kind of looking forward to it."
"There's no chef to cook."
"Aww, that's too bad. Then what about oppa?"
"Me? I'm not a chef, but I somehow became the owner of this place..."
He suddenly had a thought.
What did this restaurant taste like? ...
Did his father cook? ...
Or was there a separate chef? ...
Were there many customers, or were there few? ...
He didn't cook much at home, but sometimes his father made him dishes.
He couldn't remember exactly what kind of food it was, but he remembered that it was at least delicious.
"I see. I'm totally envious. How did you end up becoming the owner of a detached house with a yard in such a nice neighborhood? Did you win the lottery or something?"
"Something like that."
"Really? How? Tell me the story."
Min-ju chattered non-stop.
She seemed to be the type of character who was talkative and outgoing.
"If you're done talking, can I go inside? I have to go somewhere urgently."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was talking too much. Hehe. I'm like this."
Min-ju stuck out her tongue slightly and looked embarrassed while she was talking.
It wasn't annoying. Rather, it gave Hae-jun, who had been quietly studying for the civil service exam and going to the library for three years, a strange sense of joy.
"Here."
"?..."
Min-ju took out her phone from her pocket and handed it to Hae-jun.
Hae-jun, who was staring blankly at her hand, looked at Min-ju with a 'Why?' expression.
"My phone number. Please put in your number. I'll contact you before I come to draw the mural."
"Oh!..."
'So that's what it was.'
Getting his number from a girl.
It was his first time experiencing this in his 25 years of living, so he was a little flustered.
Hae-jun awkwardly took the phone, entered his phone number, and returned it to her.
"This is my number, so don't ignore it and be sure to answer it. Hehe."
When Min-ju pressed the call button, a call came in from an unsaved number.
"I got it."
"Since I'm younger, I'll speak formally, oppa. Can I call you oppa?"
"Oh, yes."
"I told you to speak informally."
"Uh, yes."
"Then I'll see you next time. Bye."
After exchanging contact information, Min-ju waved her hand cheerfully as if they had known each other for a long time and disappeared.
Hae-jun also waved his hand reflexively, but it was very awkward.
He felt like he had gotten involved in something without realizing it.
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