There’s a saying: the early bird gets the worm.
For Lee Jun-ho, the best times to sell were usually from seven to eight in the morning and from four to five in the afternoon.
He had barely been able to sleep the night before.
Whenever he closed his eyes, his thoughts returned to the Absolute Mastery Archive, the long lines, and the toast selling out.
Because of what had happened yesterday, Jun-ho didn’t want to repeat the same mistake this time.
He prepared enough ingredients for around two hundred Gilgeori Toasts.
After showering, Jun-ho pushed his cart outside while humming.
‘My life is finally starting to change.’
“Jun-ho?”
A middle-aged woman who lived near his building turned toward him.
Her name was Kim Hye-ja.
“You look awfully happy this early in the morning.”
Jun-ho smiled.
“Ajumoni, you look even prettier today.”
Hye-ja immediately burst out laughing.
“What’s gotten into you? Did you win the lottery?”
Jun-ho thought of the Absolute Mastery Archive.
“You could say that.”
He went back to pushing his cart.
As he approached his usual spot in Bujeon-dong, Jun-ho began to feel that something was off.
A lot of people had already gathered around the school area.
“Since when are there this many parents?”
He looked more closely.
Most of them were even too young to look like parents dropping their children off.
Jun-ho kept moving forward.
Then his expression changed.
Someone else had taken the spot he usually used.
A hotteok cart stood there.
A middle-aged man stood behind it.
Park Tae-sik.
Oh Mi-sook’s husband.
‘So they really did take my spot.’
Jun-ho started getting irritated.
But before he could even approach—
“There he is!”
“The little boss is here!”
“Jun-ho-ssi!”
The people who had been gathered there immediately moved toward him. Jun-ho froze.
Within seconds, his cart was surrounded by customers.
“I’ve been thinking about your toast all night!”
“Me too! After eating it, everything else tasted so ordinary.”
“Why are you only getting here now? I’ve been waiting forever!”
Jun-ho stared at them in confusion.
A big man held out a fifty-thousand-won bill.
“Take this. Make as many as I can buy.”
“I want ten!”
“Five!”
“I’ll take three!”
For the first time since he had started selling, Jun-ho was nearly overwhelmed simply by taking orders.
His chest felt warm.
‘Who says a street vendor can’t succeed?’
Yesterday, he had barely had any customers.
Now people were waiting for him even before his cart arrived.
“Hold on!”
Jun-ho raised a hand.
“Let me get the cart to its usual spot first.”
“Boss, hurry! I have to get to the office!”
“I haven’t had breakfast!”
“Stop pushing!”
Jun-ho hurriedly steadied the ingredient containers.
“Easy! If my ingredients fall, nobody gets to eat!”
His words immediately made a big man turn toward the people behind him.
“You hear him? Stop pushing!”
He even raised his hands as if he were directing the crowd.
“Stay calm! Easy! If the cart falls over, we all lose!”
The crowd finally became somewhat orderly.
The other vendors could only stare.
They had never seen a toast vendor mobbed by customers like this.
Several parents dropping their children off at school also looked on in amazement.
On the other side, Park Tae-sik turned to his wife.
“Mi-sook, what’s going on?”
Oh Mi-sook snorted.
“It’s probably just a temporary rush.”
She clearly didn’t want to admit that Jun-ho had suddenly gained so many customers.
“You stay there. We already took his spot.”
Tae-sik smiled.
“With a crowd like this, maybe some impatient customers will buy hotteok from me.”
Jun-ho heard their conversation.
He pushed his cart closer.
“I usually use this spot.”
Tae-sik frowned.
“Does your name happen to be written here?”
Jun-ho stared at him.
“I’ve always used this spot since I started selling.”
“If it’s really yours, show me proof that the land is in your name. If you can, I’ll move right away.”
Jun-ho hadn’t had a chance to answer when the big man holding the fifty-thousand-won bill lost patience.
“For crying out loud! How much longer?”
He glared at the hotteok cart blocking the way.
“We just want to buy toast!”
Several other customers began complaining as well.
“I’m already late for work.”
“Just move the cart.”
“Yeah. Don’t waste our time.”
Park Tae-sik immediately became wary.
“What do you people mean?”
The big man stepped forward.
“Brothers, give me a hand.”
Several men quickly moved in with him.
They lifted and pushed Tae-sik’s hotteok cart away from Jun-ho’s spot.
“Hey!” Tae-sik panicked. “What are you doing?!”
“What do you think?”
The big man looked at him impatiently.
“We’ve been waiting since morning. Don’t get in the way of someone trying to sell.”
Several men behind him also fixed Tae-sik with sharp looks.
Tae-sik, who had initially wanted to protest, eventually swallowed his words.
Jun-ho himself could hardly believe what he was seeing.
Yesterday, people had walked right past his cart without even looking.
Today, they were moving someone else’s cart just so he could start cooking right away.
Jun-ho brought his cart back to its original spot.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
He immediately turned on the griddle.
“The toast will be ready soon.”
“Great!”
“Finally!”
“I’m first!”
Jun-ho began preparing the ingredients.
Egg mixed with cabbage hit the hot griddle.
Sizzle!
The first aroma immediately spread through the air.
The people in line swallowed hard.
Jun-ho smiled as he raised his spatula.
There’s a saying that the fastest way to someone’s heart is through their stomach.
Jun-ho was starting to believe it.
At the very least, he had already managed to win over the stomachs of the men standing in front of him.