Before the lights even illuminated the darkened stage, sounds could be heard first. Hyungseok felt like he was in the middle of a pedestrian crossing as car horns could be heard from time to time. The lights only turned on after the sounds settled down.

Two tables were placed on either side of the stage. There was a slightly raised stage at the back where another table was, and on each side of that were sliding doors. There was red cloth on the ceiling, and golden threads were embroidered on it like a rainbow. On the sidewall was a store sign that said ‘Azure Dragon Pavilion’, and below that was the menu. Jjajang-myeon, Jjam-ppong, tangsuyuk, kkanpunggi, etc^[1].

Just as he was starting to feel puzzled by how there was no one on the desolate stage, the sound of the roller shutter rolling up could be heard. It was followed by the sound of lights being switched on. The lights on the stage then turned on, dyeing the stage red.

“Geez, those cars are so damn loud.”

A man wearing white chef clothing appeared from the side. Hyungseok smiled. The one who was staring towards the front while fixing his chef hat was none other than Maru.

“It won’t show, will it?”

Maru peeked outside through the invisible door. People’s murmurs could be heard from the speakers. After looking around outside while groaning a little, Maru dusted his chef clothes...