Ring..! ring..!
The bell above the shop doors jingles, the sound rung through the small establishment and catching Daniel's attention. it wasn't often that he gets customers so close to closing hours, but he couldn't afford turning down a paying customer now. "welcome to miyun's sushi shop, how can i help you tonight?"
the man's eyes widened abit in surprised as he saw the customer, a foreigner? why would they come to this part of seoul? his only customer so far had only been locals so it was surprising how a foreigner, a well dressed looking one too would come to the smaller and less touristy part of the city.
"what do you recommend?" the foreigner's voice snapped Daniel back to his senses.
"the pork gyoza has been one of our best selle-"
"i'll take that then"
"...i'll start preparing it for you then"
daniel turned back to his work area, his hands working swiftly to prepare the new customer's order. He made sure to fold the dough carefully and put extra extra care to each gyozas before getting his pan hot and ready. "How long have you been running little shop for?" the customer chimed, his hands fidgetting with the chopsticks he had picked out from a container the shop provided.
"About a decade or so, it's a family owned business" daniel explained, searing the first of few of the dumplings.
"That's quiet some time....the decor here feels very personalized" the man remarked, his eyes taking special interest to a framed picture of his aunt and her sister when they first opened the small shop. Theur smiles full of genuine, young passion and pride as they held the certivicate that made their dreams come true. "Those are the owners of this place. my aunt, miyun and her sister, lihua." daniel pointed, seeing how oddly interested this customer seems to be.
"Do they work here? You seem to be the only available one"
"...it's...personal, but miyun fell sick so i've been taking over ever since" daniel explained simply, not wanting to spill anything personal to someone he just met. Daniel platted the gyoza nicely before presenting them in front of the customer. "Enjoy" he spoke simply, his focus already wandering off to wipe down the counter.
He felt this weird sense of unease towards this customer, maybe because they're a foreigner? No way, He's not like that. Or maybe the way he dressed? Sure it looks nice but they look...rich, with the clean crisp button down, nice slacks like they were brand new and a watch that shined like it's worth more than his life savings.
"I'll say, your cooking is incredible" the customer chimed again, a charming smile flashing his lips that snapped daniel out of his thoughts. "...thanks" he mumbled, feeling his chest flutter in pride and flattery from the compliment.
He puts away the damp cloth before realizing he's done all the things he needed to do before closing, just need to wait for this guy to go.
"What brought you to this part of the city? It's not often i see tourists come to visit"
"I'm just here to visit an old friend"
"Oh? Are they a local here?"
"He's been one for 30 years now" daniel was abit taken aback by this, he had never met anyone here that knew a foreigner like this one. Let alone be so close for him to refer to them as 'an old friend' "are you two work partners?"
"I suppose you could call us that" the customer nodded, taking another bite of the dumpling, Setting aside his chopsticks to a tissue. His hand reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet to pay "keep the change, thank you for the meal" he smiled. Handing daniel his money before walking out of the sushi shop.
Daniel watched as the man strides out before his focus turned to the money, seeing the crisp 500k won in his hands. He could buy anything with this money... As much as his fingers trembled, he took a moment to sigh before pocketing the money, making sure to use it sparingly.
...