Seoul Kitchen: Chapter 13

A Foxy Logo

As much as he felt uncomfortable having someone just give him an industrial stand mixer, he had to admit that was a god send. No longer did he have to toil kneading the dough for his baking needs, now he can have as much pasty as he wanted. He could now make giant batches of bagels and it it couldn’t come at a better time as the shift workers came out in droves.

“A dozen everything bagels and coffee!” A voice screamed out from the crowd he had gathered up. The streaming throng of tired shift workers, each trying to vye a spot in line.

With thongs in hands, he bagged them as swiftly as he could. Sneaking in a thirteenth piece and emptying the tray, he gave his customer his order with a smile in his face. “That’ll be thirteen eddies!” he replied.

In keeping with tradition, he kept his price at a reasonable eddie per item. It was a bit more expensive than his pizza but hey, he was using real sesame and poppy seeds here! Not that it would have cost him anything but it was the principle.

As the man paid him and retreated into the crowd, he turned to them and shouted, “That’s the last of this batch! Next batch will be in a few minutes!” There was some groans and shouts of protest from the crowd but they remained civil, staying in line.

Glancing over to the empty box of paper cups he had, he then added, “A reminder to everyone! We ran out of coffee cups so bring your own if you want to get served!” He had severely underestimated just how much coffee people were needed.

Loading up another batch of beans in his coffee maker, he wiped the sweat off his forehead as he turned towards his last batch waiting to be thrown in the oven. As fun as it was to make bagels, this was more of his new morning routine. The real dish of the day has yet to be picked; he was thinking mexican.

With the lull between, batches he had sometime to sit down and enjoy a drink. Leaning down under the counter, he made himself a nice and cold NiCola. Getting back up, he had been rather curious about this drink ever since he gotten here. This was just everywhere and he was more of fan of the Red and White. Now, he wanted to try it for a change and he needed cola for his Carnita’s anyways so might as well use some of the more local flavors.

“Let’s see what you got NiCola,” He said out loud as he took a drink before setting it down on the counter. Shaking his head and wincing he noted, “Fucking hell that was strong.” The fizzy, artificial taste of cough syrup clung to his tongue, refusing to be washed down as he got himself a glass of water. He also found it mildly alcoholic but that might be more of the classic flavor he made. He expected Coca Cola or Pepsi, not something that’d be more at home in a frat house.

Looking over to the opened bottle, he grimaced as he grabbed it and chugged it down. Waste not, want not; that was the motto. He opened it so now he was going to finish it.

As he drank his can, he turned over to the sign Kiwi had set up. The clean lines, tasteful design and calligraphy was just a sight to behold. Along with the art, he knew that he needed to use this from here on out. This was Kiwi’s art however so he needed her permission. Dialing his number, he waited for her to pick up.

It wouldn’t take long for the grumpy woman to answer as she immediately told him, “I want dozen poppy seed bagel for myself and a dozen cinnamon sugar bagels for Lucy. I swear that girl has quite the sweet tooth.”

He was taken aback by the rather abrupt reply, “I… how the hell did you know I’m making bagels?” he then asked.

He heard a snort on the other end of the line as she replied, “News travels fast kid and you’re Night City’s hottest new topic.” Chuckling, the woman then said, “Who knows, maybe you’d actually get rich by selling at an eddie a piece for whatever you have on sale.”

“Fair enough I suppose,” He nodded as he glanced over to the crowd to check for cameras. Thankfully, there was none that he could see at least. Turning his attention back to the call, he then said, “Anyways, I called you because I’m planning on using your art for my store. Is that ok?”

“You want my doodle for your store? Why the hell do you even need to ask? It’s already there anyways so use it,” She replied in a mildly scolding tone, “I mean, it’s just a quick and dirty doddle anyways so there’s no harm done.”

He breathed a sigh of relief at her answer. “It’s more of a courtesy call,” he explained as he took another sip from his can and finding it more palatable. He had to admit, he was slowly getting used to the taste. The mild buzz was an added bonus. “But are you sure though? It has your chibi on it and I could trade mark it you know,” he then told her.

“Your not that type kid,” The woman chuckled, “You’re one of those soft ones, the type that’ll get eaten up by a corpo if they ever managed to get you to sign something.” Hearing a puff of smoke from the other end, she then added, “Word of advice, stay the hell away from Corpo’s if you know what’s good for you. Trust me on this one.”

“Alright,” he nodded. Thinking about it, his brand might become a trophy for these Corpo. He’ll probably have to face someone trying to buy him out one of these days but not now. “Oh one last thing, I’ll be making a small edit on your chibi. Just a small addition to fit in with the name of the store.”

There was short pause on the other end of the line before she asked him, “What kind of edits?” He shivered at the impending sense of doom coming from the other end of the line but as he starred at her chibi, he couldn’t help but want to add it in. Those fluffy features was just perfect for the store if she was going to be a mascot.

“Thinking of adding fox ears,” he admitted as he pulled grabbed a chopstick and used it as a stylus to make his edit. Finding a template online, he then added, “It’s honestly a perfect fit for you, you know. Just a crafty gumiho like in the legends of old.”

“You added fox ears on my Chibi?” The woman hissed out as he heard choking laughter in the background. “I will stab you,” she then grounded out. It was too late however and now he was a proud owner of a fox eared Kiwi.

“I’ll get a courier to get you your order,” He replied as he started dialing another number. “Thanks for the drawing, bye~” he then said before quickly closing the line. He was going to die the next time he meets Kiwi but looking over to the doodle, it was well worth it.