Our Restaurant is Operating Normally Even in the Apocalypse - Chapter 9

Episode 9. Ham and Cheese Toast (1)

A quiet rural town where you couldn’t find a traffic jam even if you scrubbed your eyes looking for one.

So, most of the residents would have evacuated quickly due to the emergency order.

Those who couldn’t leave the area inevitably would have also focused on securing daily necessities and food.

And since there are no special tourist spots, there’s no way any outsiders would have come.

Therefore, Su-a was strongly convinced.

That the medicine she was looking for would definitely be here.

The interior of the pharmacy she arrived at was exactly as Su-a had expected.

Untouched by outside hands…

A peaceful appearance, as if it had dodged the current situation that broke out simultaneously across the world.

Only then could Su-a let out a sigh of relief.

If even this place had been a chaotic mess like the other pharmacies nearby…

If she had failed to meet others’ expectations again…

She probably would have collapsed.

She calmed her mind to deal with any potential variables and examined the inside of the pharmacy.

But that variable came from the outside, not the inside of the pharmacy.

“No, it’s not like I’m trying to brag or anything… But isn’t it common courtesy to at least say thank you when someone saves your life?”

Two men entered the pharmacy with the jingle of the doorbell.

Su-a slowly examined them.

One was the crazy guy who had been screaming his lungs out to aggro the zombies until just a moment ago.

The other person next to him was a middle-aged man with a strange impression who seemed to have a story.

A combination that looked unusual at a glance.

Su-a greeted them with an attitude tinged with wariness.

“…Thank you for helping me earlier. I was so flustered that I couldn’t even offer a word of thanks. My name is Lee Su-a.”

Since she didn’t even know what kind of people they were, she couldn’t carelessly give out other information besides her name.

“I’m Kim Gil-ho. I survived by luck after this and that happened.”

Gil-ho introduced himself briefly as well.

And.

“My name is Park Jae-hyung. I’m a normal restaurant owner by day, but at night, I’m an undead hunter who ruthlessly burns zombies! You could also call me a mage.”

Su-a furrowed her brows and scrutinized Jae-hyung.

‘He looks normal, but he’s completely lost his mind. Well, how could anyone stay sane in a world like this? But what was that blue light flickering around earlier…?’

There was more than one suspicious thing, but she didn’t have the luxury to leisurely worry about such things right now.

The guy turned away with a short greeting.

Jae-hyung snorted at her overly nonchalant appearance and said.

“You seem pretty out of it. Want some help?”

If he had said it gently and kindly, she might have felt like leaning on him a little.

But Jae-hyung’s attitude, which seemed to be picking fights and acting cocky, only heightened Su-a’s wariness.

Watching this whole situation, Gil-ho silently started packing bandages and recognizable medicines into his backpack.

“Oh, do you know what all these medicines are for?”

Medicine bottles that were not only written in English but also filled with complex medical terminology.

Su-a was putting them into her bag so nonchalantly.

Seeing Jae-hyung approach her side and look at her with curious eyes, Su-a nodded while still maintaining a wary attitude.

“…I don’t know everything, but I know, at least briefly, which medicine is prescribed for what.”

Even at her cold tone, Jae-hyung smiled brightly as if it were a good thing.

“Oh, really? That works out perfectly. That guy over there is also looking for household medicines like antibiotics or fever reducers, can you tell us which ones to take?”

A bright voice with no particularly impure intentions felt.

However, she shouldn’t let her guard down.

The opponent is a crazy guy who screams at zombies.

Who knows what crazy thing he’ll do next.

“For medicines that require a prescription, it would be faster to search the manufacturing room rather than the sales counter.”

It was a blunt tone, far from a kind answer, but Jae-hyung didn’t feel offended or hold a grudge.

Because she was the person who might hold the clue Jae-hyung was looking for.

“The first survivor I met as soon as I crossed over to Gangwon-do is a medical professional? Wow, this is a jackpot right from the start?”

Unhesitating hands that seemed to know exactly what medicine was used for what.

This person must be a doctor, nurse, or pharmacist who worked in the medical field.

If Su-a really was someone who worked in that field before the world ended, and specifically someone who operated in the Gangwon-do region.

Su-a was definitely a noble person who could be a huge help to Jae-hyung’s plan.

“…Are you looking for someone in the medical field?”

Su-a asked cautiously at Jae-hyung’s appearance, who seemed excessively excited for some reason.

Along with the worry that her previous job might become a problem.

“To be precise, there’s a high probability that people in your field would know information about the place I’m trying to go.”

A voice that sounded like it was entangled in some complicated story just by listening to it.

But as mentioned earlier, there was no luxury to satisfy personal curiosity right now.

Especially if the other person is a strange man who isn’t in his right mind.

“…What kind of information are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for a hospital. If it were the old days, I could have just searched the internet, but that’s not possible now, right? To make matters worse, I can’t find maps anywhere… So I have to collect information by going around on foot like this.”

In a normal case, he would have suggested eating a meal and talking slowly.

But he couldn’t hold onto someone who looked extremely busy even at a glance.

‘Hmm…’

If he left her like this, this woman would finish her business and leave.

So he had to come up with some excuse to start a conversation somehow.

“Gwoooo…”

Just in time, a zombie appeared from what looked like the pharmacy’s storage room.

Su-a looked at the zombie with a startled expression.

Gil-ho, who had been packing bandages, quietly took out his axe.

“Bang.”

A childish onomatopoeia imitating the sound of a gunshot.

Soon, the zombie burst into flames in an instant.

“…!”

Su-a couldn’t help but look startled at that sight.

There was nothing in the pharmacy that could catch fire.

‘If it’s not spontaneous combustion, it must mean it’s artificial fire, but no way…’

Su-a turned her head toward where Jae-hyung was just in case, but only Gil-ho with a blank expression was standing there.

“Could you wait a moment even if you’re busy? I won’t take up much of your time.”

Su-a asked, trying to calm her heart.

“What is all this…?”

The absurd answer that returned.

“It’s hard to believe, but as I said earlier, that guy is a mage.”

What time is it, and he’s talking about a mage, not a magician…

Just as she was about to ask him not to joke around and what his scheme was.

“Ta-da?”

She was left speechless at the sight of Jae-hyung suddenly, literally popping back into existence out of thin air.

“We don’t have time, so I prepared some toast that we can eat quickly and simply, how is it?”

Something brown, steaming, held in Jae-hyung’s hand.

It was definitely the appearance of toasted bread.

“What on earth is this…?”

A sight she couldn’t believe even with her own eyes.

But Jae-hyung smiled and placed the toast in Su-a’s hand.

“Eat it while it’s warm. I did wonder what toppings to put on it, but I just put the simplest ones that everyone likes.”

“…”

The warm heat felt in her hand.

Thin sandwich ham and a fried egg visible between the nicely toasted bread.

And a slice of cheese melting into a mush from the heat.

Plus thinly sliced cabbage.

The visual was definitely the ham and cheese toast Jae-hyung was talking about.

‘But how…’

Su-a stared at the toast with suspicious eyes.

And without realizing it, she gulped down her saliva.

“It’s fine, so don’t be self-conscious and eat. I never mess with food that goes into other people’s mouths.”

Can she trust him?

A sight that destroys all the common sense she has built up while living until now.

But Su-a wanted to believe it deep down.

That these absurd scenes she is looking at right now are reality.

Reason succumbed to instinct.

Su-a immediately brought the toast Jae-hyung handed her to her mouth.

And the moment her tongue touched that hot heat.

Finally, she realized.

That mages truly exist in this world.

“Listen while you eat. Do you have any other survivor companions with you besides yourself?”

She had no intention of answering the question, the motive of which she didn’t know.

Chew chew.

But Su-a’s mouth, having succumbed to the taste of human-like food for the first time in a while, answered on its own.

“Besides me, there are about five more people…”

The voice where the initial wariness or hostility had melted away like snow.

Jae-hyung looked at Gil-ho and asked.

“Do you want one too, ahjussi?”

To this, Gil-ho shook his head and replied.

“I’m fine.”

“Okay, then I just need to make about five more.”

Then, Jae-hyung’s figure disappeared in an instant once again.

Su-a was no longer surprised.

She just nodded repeatedly, expressing her admiration for the taste of the food.

“I never thought I’d be able to eat food like this again…”

And not long after, Jae-hyung appeared out of thin air again.

In his hand, he held a neatly packed small thermal box.

“Is the place where your companions are far from here?”

“…It’s about 4km away.”

“Fortunately, it’s not that far. For now, keep eating. I think we can talk while we go.”

Jae-hyung, who said that, smiled and slowly looked around the inside of the pharmacy.

And slowly reached out his hand toward the empty air.

Paat!

Then, the blinding light that was blocking her view disappeared in an instant.

Along with the display shelves where all kinds of medicines had been placed.

“We don’t seem to have time, so I took everything first. Let’s sort it out after we put out the urgent fires first. Do you agree?”

Su-a nodded mindlessly and opened her mouth.

And took the last bite of the toast.

It was a truly happy taste.

However.

‘…Ah.’

The happy moment disappeared in an instant, and soon a cold reality came to her.

Su-a, who came to her senses belatedly, stared at Jae-hyung’s face and asked.

“…Are you really a mage like the ones from those movies, games, or fantasy novels?”

Jae-hyung asked back in a voice that sounded absurd at her question.

“If I’m not a mage, how would you explain what you’ve experienced so far?”

Certainly, as Jae-hyung said, this was a magical moment.

“If you understand, let’s talk in detail while we go. Because you’re in a hurry and we’re in a hurry too.”