Jincheol brought the standing sign inside and flipped the status sign on the window. The hand-written ‘open’ sign now could be seen from the inside. Just as Jincheol was reaching up the glass door to lock it, two women, who seemed to be customers, came around. Jincheol poked his head out of the door and talked to them with a smile. He seemed to be apologizing for closing early.

“Give us some freebies next time.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll give you some buns the next time you’re here.”

“Have a good day.”

The women turned around after saying goodbye. They didn’t seem to feel unpleasant at all as though this happened frequently. It probably meant that the café was just that comfortable for the customers.

“Don’t your sales take a hit if you close so early?” Maru asked Jinjoo who was busy inside the kitchen. It was 6 p.m. It was the golden hour when they could attract people going home from work and school, yet they had closed the store and were preparing to eat dinner. He was a little envious seeing them being leisurely, but he was slightly worried as well.

“We don’t need to be in a hurry since we don’t have to pay rent. Well, normally, we stay open from 9 till 8, but we should close early on a day like this when we have some people around.”

He had forgotten. Forgotten that...