On the morning of the festival, Eun-chae woke up at five. She made one last check of the supplies she had prepared the day before.
The cooler was packed with fresh lettuce picked from the kitchen garden the previous evening. She neatly arranged the ssamjang, plates, disposable gloves, wet wipes, and even the rosemary-infused hand towels.
"Gran, I think we've got everything, but take one look, will you?"
Grandma checked the list one item at a time.
"Lettuce, ssamjang, plates, gloves... It's all here. Oh, bring aprons too. So the guests don't get their clothes dirty during the activity."
"Oh, right."
Eun-chae added a few extra aprons. After loading everything into the truck, the two of them headed for the village community center plaza.
The plaza was already bustling. People at each booth were busy arranging their tents and displaying their goods. Eun-chae found their assigned spot and unloaded the supplies.
"This is our spot."
She set the cooler on the table, took out the lettuce, and arranged it neatly on plates. She placed the rosemary hand towels in a small basket beside them. Finally, she put up a small sign in front of the booth.
*"Sandeul Haven Guesthouse — Kitchen Garden Lettuce Wrap Experience"*
Grandma watched Eun-chae set everything up from the side, a pleased look on her face.
"Looks pretty professional."
"Right? I stayed up half the night figuring out the layout."
By the time they finished preparing, the opening time was drawing near. Villagers and visitors from out of town began gathering in the plaza one by one.
Their first guest was the owner of the account Eun-chae had seen in the photo—the one that had left a comment on Instagram.
"Um... this is Sandeul Haven Guesthouse, right? I came after seeing you on Instagram!"
Eun-chae greeted her with a delighted smile.
"Yes, that's us! Thank you for coming. Would you like to try our lettuce wrap experience?"
"Yes! I've been looking forward to it."
Eun-chae handed her a pair of disposable gloves and set a plate of lettuce in front of her.
"Pick out your own lettuce and dip it in the ssamjang. Wipe your hands first with the rosemary hand towel."
The guest smelled the towel and marveled.
"Wow, that smells so good."
Eun-chae felt relieved at the reaction. The little details she had spent weeks worrying over were reaching guests one by one.
As the lettuce wrap activity continued, Eun-chae suddenly remembered the thermos sitting beside her. It held rosemary tea she had brought that morning, just in case.
"Please try a cup of this too. It's tea brewed with rosemary we grew in our kitchen garden."
Eun-chae poured the tea into a paper cup and handed it to the guest. The guest's eyes widened.
"You made this yourselves too?"
"Yes, with rosemary we picked from the garden."
The guest took a sip and broke into a bright smile.
"It's so lovely and subtle. Are you selling this?"
"Oh, no. We're giving it to the activity guests as a complimentary drink today."
Grandma, who had been watching from the side, came over and spoke quietly to Eun-chae.
"You even thought to serve tea."
"I had a lot of rosemary left after making the hand towels yesterday, so I tried brewing some tea too. I figured we could keep doing it if people liked it."
"It's more than just good. Look how much people like it."
By then, several more people had gathered in front of the booth. While explaining the lettuce wrap experience, Eun-chae handed out cups of rosemary tea whenever she had a spare moment.
"Oh my, this smells amazing. Where do you sell it?"
"We grow it ourselves in the kitchen garden at our guesthouse. If you come visit, you can enjoy even more things like this."
Eun-chae naturally turned the conversation into a promotion for the guesthouse. Instead of business cards, she handed out the small cards she had prepared. They listed the guesthouse's Instagram handle and booking link.
"Take one of these. You can see more pictures of our kitchen garden and yard on our account."
People accepted the cards with interested expressions. A few of them even pulled out their phones and followed the account right there.
As the morning passed and lunchtime approached, the booth had grown fairly crowded. More than half the lettuce was already gone, and she had brewed fresh rosemary tea several times.
"Gran, this is getting a much better response than I expected."
"See? People recognize the care you put into things."
Wiping the sweat from her brow, Eun-chae welcomed the next guest. Laughter spread across the plaza. The day was turning out to be far more rewarding than she had expected.
At six in the evening, an announcement came over the speakers set up in the plaza, informing everyone that the first day's events had ended. Only then did Eun-chae notice how sore her legs were after standing all day.
"Gran, let's clean up now."
As she put away the remaining lettuce and hand towels, Eun-chae looked at the empty plates. Almost all the lettuce they had arrived with that morning was gone.
"Gran, I wonder how many people came today."
"I didn't count, but there were quite a few. We had to make more hand towels and tea several times."
As they folded the table and loaded everything into the truck, Eun-chae thought back over the day. The Instagram follower she had met for the first time, the children happily eating lettuce wraps, and the guests marveling at the fragrance of the rosemary tea.
"Gran, I feel so proud today."
"You worked hard. There's another day tomorrow, so get plenty of rest tonight."
On the drive back to the guesthouse, the sun was setting beyond the window. Eun-chae sat in the passenger seat and cracked the window open. The fatigue from standing and working all day seemed to ease little by little in the cool breeze.
When they arrived at the guesthouse, the yard felt unusually quiet. After spending all day surrounded by people, the silence was actually comforting.
"Gran, I'm going to wash up first."
"All right. Let's have something simple for dinner. We're both tired today."
After washing up, Eun-chae came out and sat on the veranda. Her body was tired, but for some reason her heart felt light. When she opened her phone, she noticed that her Instagram follower count had risen significantly.
*"I had the rosemary tea at the festival today, and it was so good!"* *"The lettuce wrap experience was so much fun. I'll visit the guesthouse next time!"*
As she read through the comments one by one, Eun-chae realized that the day had not been for nothing.
Grandma came out to the veranda carrying a simple dinner. There was soybean paste soup, a few side dishes, and the lettuce they had left over.
"Gran, we gave away so much lettuce today that I thought we wouldn't have any left for ourselves, but there is some after all."
"I set a little aside. We have to eat too."
The two of them sat facing each other on the veranda and ate dinner. With their legs stretched out after standing all day and the quiet yard before them, the meal tasted especially good.
"Gran, I think we can do even better tomorrow than we did today."
"You already did well today. Tomorrow, just enjoy yourself."
After they finished eating, Eun-chae lay down on the veranda and looked up at the sky. Stars were beginning to appear one by one. She thought she should turn in early for the sake of tomorrow.
After clearing away the dishes and sitting back down on the veranda, Eun-chae scrolled through the photos she had taken that day. People lining up in front of the booth, children choosing lettuce, and guests smiling as they drank rosemary tea.
"Gran, do you think I can post a few of these now? Just to sum up today."
"Go ahead. If you want more people to come tomorrow, it'd be good to show them how people responded today."
Eun-chae selected a few photos and created a post.
*"We made it through the first day of the festival! 🌿 More people than we expected came to try our kitchen garden lettuce wraps and rosemary tea. We'll be waiting for you at the same spot tomorrow!"*
As soon as she tapped the post button, the likes began to trickle in.
"Gran, look. We're already getting reactions."
Grandma sat beside her and peered at the screen.
"That's amazing. People see it and react that quickly?"
"Maybe even more people will come tomorrow."
"Then we'd better bring more lettuce tomorrow. We almost ran out today."
At that, Eun-chae jumped to her feet.
"That's right. I should go check the garden and see what we can use tomorrow."
When she went out to the kitchen garden with a flashlight, the lettuce had grown quite a bit even in the darkness. Eun-chae gently touched the leaves with her fingertips and gauged how much would be ready to pick tomorrow.
"Gran, I think this will be enough for tomorrow too."
"Good. Don't pick too much. We need to leave some behind."
After looking around the kitchen garden, Eun-chae returned and sat down on the veranda again. She checked the rosemary pots as well. Their scent had grown noticeably stronger over the past few days.
"Gran, we'll have to brew more rosemary tea tomorrow too."
"We will. From what I saw today, that was the most popular thing."
Eun-chae nodded, opened her spreadsheet, and organized the list of things to prepare for tomorrow.
*Harvest extra lettuce (tomorrow morning)* *Prepare extra rosemary tea* *Restock hand-towel supplies*
After writing everything down, Eun-chae felt the day's fatigue turning into a sense of pride.
"Gran, let's do our best again tomorrow."
"All right. Now go to bed. You have to get up early again tomorrow."
As Eun-chae went inside, she took one last look around the yard. The kitchen garden and herb area stood quietly beneath the moonlight. Tomorrow, that greenery would once again be shared with people.
Author's Note
I wanted to show Eun-chae successfully making it through the first day of the festival. The next chapter will continue with the second day of the festival. Thank you for coming this far with me.