Clatter.
"Hoo..."
After the sound of the shutter coming down, someone let out a long sigh.
"So this really is the last day of business here."
Standing alone in the dim alley, Lee Jinseo looked up at the signboard of the shop whose shutter had just closed, his expression a mix of relief and regret.
「Jinseo Snack Bar」
A small snack shop run by his parents, named after their only son, and later taken over and managed by Jinseo himself.
Jinseo Snack Bar had opened the year he was born, and for over thirty years it became a small haven for people passing through the alley.
Office workers ordering toast early in the morning to quickly fill their stomachs on the way to work.
Students stopping by to ease their hunger on the way from school to their academies.
Fathers, exhausted after overtime, still taking snacks home for the families waiting for them.
Many people passed through Jinseo Snack Bar.
"It really was a long time."
But it was no longer feasible to keep running a snack shop here.
The hospital bills from his parents' long illnesses, which ended with their passing, were added on top of his previous debts, weighing heavily on his shoulders.
On top of that, the rent that had risen over the past few years was no longer something he could endure.
After months of deliberation, Jinseo decided to close the snack shop that itself embodied his family's memories.
That didn't mean he was completely leaving the food business.
He walked up to the vehicle parked in front of Jinseo Snack Bar and brushed the dust off its door with a few taps.
Instead of moving the shop elsewhere, it was a food truck he had prepared a few days earlier.
「If we ever get some breathing room, how about driving a food truck around the country? Going to places you want to see too, Jinseo.」
His father's words resurfaced in his mind—spoken in response to Jinseo's complaints about never having gone on a trip, not even once.
"In the end, I'll be the one traveling alone."
Climbing into the driver's seat, Jinseo placed a photo of his father, mother, and his younger self together in the center of the dashboard.
"Alright, then. Let's go."
He started the engine and began driving.
The food truck carrying him exited the alley and merged onto the road.
Before he knew it, it was running along the highway.
As Jinseo sped down the highway, his heart was half full of anticipation, half full of worry.
"Hoo… I hope this works out."
With the ingredients loaded on the food truck, he could make tteokbokki, fried snacks, and soondae.
(Translator's Notes: Tteokbokki (떡볶이) is an immensely popular Korean dish of chewy, cylindrical rice cakes simmered in a rich, spicy, and slightly sweet sauce. It is a beloved comfort and bunsik in Korea, known for its addictive, bouncy texture)
He couldn't prepare as many menu items as he had at Jinseo Snack Bar, but he planned to expand gradually depending on how things went.
Before he realized it, midnight had passed, and on the wide road there was no car other than Jinseo's food truck.
"Haaam..."
Maybe it was exhaustion from closing the shop and disposing of unneeded ingredient stock.
Yawning, Jinseo rolled his neck.
Even so, the drowsiness didn't fade easily, and he rummaged through the storage compartment to grab some gum.
"Huh? Did I just press something like a button…?"
{—10 seconds until system activation.—}
"Huh?"
At the artificial mechanical voice, Jinseo reflexively looked at the navigation screen.
"Did the navigation malfunction?"
But it was operating perfectly.
Turning his gaze back to the front, Jinseo froze and snapped his head left and right.
"What the hell? Is it my eyes, not my ears?" He rubbed his eyes with his right hand and blinked.
But it wasn't a mistake.
The streetlights installed along both sides of the highway began turning off one by one, and his surroundings gradually grew darker.
With an ominous feeling, Jinseo turned the wheel to pull over to the shoulder.
At that moment—
{—Complete. Initiating spatial transfer of the Mobile Cooking Facility to the location designated by the previous owner.—}
Flash!
A blinding light burst from the direction Jinseo was facing. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head aside.
"Aaaagh!"