Seoul Kitchen: Chapter 34

Meet the Neighbors

With pots of bubbling marina and fresh pasta cooking over the boiling water that was salty as the sea, Chef found himself once more locked in battle against the ravenous appetite of Night City. No matter how many he served, the line kept growing. As one customer left with their plate full of Spaghetti meatballs, two more took their place.

"Three orders and extra breadsticks!" An elderly gentleman shouted as the line shifted once more. It was already three o'clock and yet the line still stretched across the block.

"Three plates and some extra breadsticks coming right up!" He rang in the order as he turned back to his kitchen to fetch their order.

Despite the sweat pouring down his brow, Chef still couldn't help but smile. Breathing in the wonderful scent of tomatoes mixing in with the peppery scent of fresh basil and the mild, herby scent of parsley made his mouth water. It was just a simple dish, one made of tomatoes, herbs, pasta and meatballs but it still sold like flat cakes; perhaps even better than it!

Scooping up some meatballs he had frying in the grill, then then turnred to his pot as he grabbed his ladle, "Let me just… ah fuck," he cursed as he looked down the giant stock pot and found all that's left was dried up sauce. All 60 quarts of the sauce he made, gone in just a few hours.

Turning to the crowd, he broke them the news, "We're all out of sauce! Come back in thirty minutes!" Almost immediately, he could hear them groan in disappointment. As much as he wanted to continue, there was nothing he could do. He ran out of sauce so he had to cook a whole new batch.

"Well just my luck," his last customer muttered as he snapped his finger. Already, the crowd behind them dispersed. It was still working hours after all so the crowd was a bit lighter this time around.

Feeling sorry for the man, he grabbed a bunch of breadsticks and handed it over back to them along with their payment, "Here's your refund sir. I'm really sorry," The old man immediately brightened up at the offered food, "Don't worry though sir, Seoul Kitchen's expanding soon enough. I just need to get my staff hired and trained up as well as get the loans needed for the expansion. Will probably take a month or so."

He had already set the interview by the end of this week and he should have a full staff by then. After all the preparation is done, he should be serving more customers than ever before, "Oh really?" The man asked with an intrigued look across their scared face, "Well consider me your first customer once you open back up!"


"Unfortunately, we might be raising our prices soon," He then told the man as he pulled up the food processor, "A bigger operation does require more funds but don't worry, the food quality will still be top notch!" he assured the man.

"If there's anyone here in this city that deserves to raise their prices, it's you boy," The man snorted in amusement before he reached up to his bushy beard and stroked it, "Well if you're expanding, here's a little donation."

His eyes soon widened as a not so insignificant amount soon flashed across his eyes. Just as he was about to return it, the man gave him a hard look that stopped him dead in his tracks, "Don't" the man said firmly, "You're a good kid, definitely something that this city needs. It'd be a shame to see this shutdown because you worked yourself down to the bone."

Looking back, he only noticed now what the man wore. With his bulletproof vest along with the old american flag bandana wrapped around his biceps, Chef felt uneasy yet the soft smile the man sported quickly eased what worries he had, "Just think of this as the community paying you back for everything,"

"Thank you!" He thanked the man as they left. While he didn't like the gangs all that much, they were still people and it was nice to meet another good one after his party with Don Orto. Maybe they weren't all assholes.

-x-x-x-

Cutting tomatoes and loading them up the food processor, he watched as the red puree poured down his large pitcher. A few more of this and he'd have enough to fill his sauce pot/stock pot. Looking down at the half empty pot, he was all too tempted to fill it up on his own. Just as he was about to pour in the puree, he paused before turning around towards the commotion.

"Blake!" He heard a man's voice as the sound of struggle filled the air. Frowning, he dropped what he was doing and hopped over the counter to see what it was all but perhaps it might have been best if he didn't.

There, just outside his kitchen was a young female teen being restrained by another red headed teen. He almost grabbed his gun from his waist only to pause to see that the young cat girl exotic had a butcher's knife in her hands. Not even his neighboring stall owners could talk sense to the girl.
"Get off me!" The girl shrieked, her eyes a bit unfocused while her speech sounds slurred, "I just want to give him a piece of my mind!"

"Damn it Blake! Don't make this any harder for all of us!" The man holding her back shouted as he started to pull him back. Seeing him, the man looked up at him as he shouted, "My friends are just a bit drunk! Nothing to worry about!"

Whoever it was that this girl was angry with, he felt pity for them. Unfortunately for him, that poor man was him; something he realized when their eyes met. Her hate filled gaze froze him on the spot as she spat out, "You!"

"Me?" He asked, pointing at himself. He didn't remember bumping into any Cat Girls before. He was pretty sure the only girl he might have beef with was Yang and even that was solved. He hasn't even seen her before!

"You fucking asshole!" The girl hissed as she pulled at her companion before elbowing him down between his legs. Chef winced as he watched the man double over and crumple down on the floor. Stumbling forward, the woman lurched and almost tipped over before catching herself.

As he steadied her step, she gazed up once more as she gritted out, "Youuuu!" Clutching her butchers knife, she marched forward. Teeth barred while her tail swished around in anger.

Holding up his hands, Chef started to back away, "Miss, just calm down," He tried appeasing her but it only served to incense her even further.

"Calm down? Calm down after everything you've done!" The woman raged as one of the stall owners tried reaching up for her only to wither away as she glared back at them, "This is between him and myself ok!" She shouted at the crowd as she waved his knife.

While he could pull out his gun, he rather not escalate. He didn't want to stain his hands over this misunderstanding, "Look, I don't want any trouble, ok? Let's just put the knife down before anyone gets hurt," He tried once more. She was drunk so perhaps she just mistook him for someone else, "I don't want anyone here doing something they'll regret!" He tried reasoning with her.
Glaring at him, the girl then let out a hollow laugh, "You see that's the thing," The brunette hissed out as her golden eyes locked on to him, "You say that you don't want trouble, but here you are with your messing up the Market!" How was he messing up the market? With a frown, he kept quiet as the girl raved on.

"So, what is it? Do you just want to price us out or do you want to buy up more stalls!?" Was his price really hurting them? Looking around, he felt his stomach drop at the looks of the other stall owners. He saw it in their eyes, the anger they had hidden beneath that of concern, "Is this what it is you corpo piece of shit! Don't think you can just walk in here and ruin the Cherry Blossom Market!" The woman accused him.

Chef stood there frozen as he just listened along, realizing the problem he had just caused. He was so busy with wanting to help that he hadn't realized what that help ment for the stall owners of the market. Had his presence really messed things up that much?

"We won't give in to your tactics! We've seen worse!" The girl shouted as a wild look filled her eyes, "We won't sell out-!" She screamed out but she wouldn't get to finish her words before someone tackled her from behind. Two more quickly followed as they finally wrangled the blade out of her hands, "Let go!"

"Blake!" An older woman's voice shouted. Turning, he found a woman sporting the same features as the teen rushing over to the scene, "Get a hold of yourself!"

Still, the teen would prove resistant even as she was dragged away, "No! Let me go!" She shouted, her voice heard even as form disappeared into the crowd. With the commotion all but dragged away, the crowd finally dispersed, leaving him with the teen's older sister? Her mother?

"I'm really sorry for my daughter's behavior," the girl's mother bowed before she leaned close, pulling her closer as she ran her hands over his form, "Did she hurt you in any way? Any scratches or bruises?" She asked before letting him go. Biting her nail, she paced around as she said, "Oh dear, she's really not like this. She's a good girl, I promise!"

Finally gathering his wits, he flashed the woman a shaky but reassuring smile, "N-no, I'm fine. I'm just a bit shocked is all," He admitted as he sat down a nearby seat, "And it's ok, no really! Emotions got high but no one got hurt,"

"A-are you sure?" The woman asked as she sat by his side and held his hands, "Is there anything I can do? I can pay for any damages!" Her insisted as fear filled her voiced.

Eye windening, he held up his hands as he reassured the woman, "No really, it's fine" while he could bring charges to the girl, that felt petty, especially after what was said. Looking down, he really couldn't even bring himself to be angry; he was simply ashamed, "I don't really want to raise a fuss for something so trivial. It's not like anyone got hurt."

"Thankfully so," The woman nodded before shaking her head in dismay. Runnig her hands over her short black hair and her fussy cat ears, she sighed out, "I really don't know what to do with that girl. She's just so… passionate," Hearing the pain and worry in the woman's voice, he offered her a comforting pat on the back. She really sounded like she had her hands full.

The woman's shoulder sagged as the frustration melted away from her features, "Thank you," She whispered as they sat there in silence for a bit.

While he was reflecting on the girl's words as it echoed inside his head, he felt the woman calling for his attention. Turning, he found the women holding out a small card, "Here, let me give you something."

"Wait-! Oh?" For a moment, he feared she was trying to give him money only to pause as he saw the stylized chibi cat girl printed on the card. Taking in gingerly to inspect, he found himself looking at the name of a shop.

"It's a free coupon for some tea," The woman explained as she flipped the card over, showing him the coupon printed on the back, "Maybe you can come in sometime? We're just the store down the street. We're practically neighbors!" She told him as she gave him a comforting smile. He felt the weight on his shoulders already lightening.

"I probably will," He whispered back. He should really talk to his neighbors. Maybe then, he could have caught this before it blew over like this; that the daughter of a neighboring stall felt like she needed to shout at him to make him see.

"Great! Just come by when you want to!" Kali grinned as he found himself drawn in by her infectious energy, "I'll make sure my daughter apologize to you properly, mark my word!" With that determined look on her face, he couldn't help but laugh. He couldn't help it, She was simply just a ball of sunshine.

Pouting at him, she was about to say something before somebody called out to her from the crowd, "Miss Kali!"

"Oh, right. I have to go now," She apologized as she bowed to him once more before running off, waving at him, "Don't be a stranger ok! See you over my shop later!"

"Yeah…" Waving at him, his smile slowly fell as he sat there, thinking about the woman's words. He really hadn't talked to anyone else huh? Shaking his head, he stood back up before returning to the store. He had much to think about.