Seoul Kitchen: Omake#2 (Patreon)

One Good Day

The day started like usual, with the ear piercing blare of his alarm. Groaning awake, he laid there in bed as he struggled to opened his leaded eyelids. With blurry eyes, he gazed up listless at the dingy ceiling of his apartment. Everything was hurting.

His body felt like the weight of the world rested on his chest while his head felt like it was being stabbed by a long painful spike. Each and every ring slammed into his head, making him want to puke his churning stomach out. It felt like the mere act of existing was agony.

“I shouldn’t have drank that entire bottle,” he groaned out as he reached out and slammed his balled up fist against the clock, hoping to get it to stop only for him to knock it off the night stand. Letting out a muffled sob, he turned to his stomach as he buried his face on his pillow in a futile attempt to get the sound to stop.

Thankfully, it stopped, giving him some peace and quite but he knew it was temporary. In five minutes time, it’ll ring again. He needed to get up to turn it off but he did not want to get out of bed. He just wanted to stay there, to lay down and to sleep it all off.

After all, the bed was warm and inviting while the world outside was cold and unwelcoming. Why should he get up when he would just have to do this again tomorrow? For a moment, he considered just going back to bed, to just wait out the alarm but he couldn’t. With a sigh, he threw his pillow off himself and got up; It’s not going to stop until he do something about it.

Despite his creaking joints and aching muscles, he pulled himself up from the bed. On unsteady legs, he shambled to the alarm across the room, kicking the cans littering the floor. He should clean that… but he did not have time, he had work to do. Picking up the alarm, he turned it off before laying it back on the night stand.

-x-x-x-

Slamming his fist against the glass of the Vendo, he groaned as it ate his eddies. So preoccupied was he that he didn’t notice that the Vendo had ran out of food and had yet to restock. As there was no failure as it had “dispensed” already, he could not refund it. He could press a claim… but it was just a few eddies.

He just shrugged as he turned around, only to pause as he heard an to familiar rumble. Looking back, he saw the vendo has been restocked. He cursed out, fuming as he grabbed the gun he had kept around for self defense to shoot the infernal machine before he stopped himself. It already happened. He just had to suck it up.

Sighing, he holstered the gun before punching the button for a recaff. He needed something strong to get things out of his mind. Grabbing the dispensed drink, he sat there in his table, unable to purchase anything else. He already spent his eddies for a meal that wasn’t there, any more and he’ll be starving tomorrow. Today was second to the last day before payday. He couldn’t afford anymore expenses if he wanted too.

Speaking off, he quickly opened his mail to check on the piled up bills he had. Surprisingly, he had none though he had forgotten to make payments for his pass. Paying for the actual ticket is far more expensive than just the pass itself which would prove annoying. “I’ll just pay it when I’m at work,” he told himself. He probably had time there.

As he sat there, sipping away at his drink, he felt his eyes wonder to the wall of his kitchen. There, framed in cheap plastic were photos of all to familiar scenes. From a boy grinning back at the camera he was flanked by his parents, to the same slightly older boy holding a drone with all while sporting a gold medal, it was pictures of happier times, of his far more innocent self.

He smiled as he watched himself grow up, becoming a rebellious frontman for a band as his eyes reached the final photo in the wall. His younger teenage self there in the stage, playing his guitar before a small audience. His younger self look so happy, so vibrant and full of life.

Getting up, he walked up to the wall, inspecting the relics of that part of his life. From his old jacket to the old guitar leaning against the wall. Reaching down for the instrument, he inspected it, frowning at the dust that had settled on its once glossy surface. It had been ages since he last played. Plucking a few strings, he could feel the music but his fingers proved unresponsive. He needed a bit more time to practice… but that was time he didn’t have.

With a sigh, he laid it back down before he forced himself to the bathroom; He needed to get ready for work. Washing his face, he looked back at the mirror to see a washed out and miserable face staring back at him. He almost didn’t recognize the figure until he realized, this was him, this was who Johnny Norton has become.

Reaching out, he touched his reflection, tracing the large bags and frown upon his face. Gone was the youth and energy he once had, all that was left was a sad sack of bones and misery. “Ma and Pa are probably rolling in their graves right now,” he mused out as he let out a wry grin, “Letting your dreams go all for the promise of a stable job.”

It wasn’t by mere chance that he was named after the iconic singer. His parents were big fans and so to was he. With his name, came his parents dream, to have him be a star just like their idol… but things just didn’t pan out.

Ma got sick and Pa died in a shoot out. With the mounting medical expenses, he had to give up their shared dream and work. Unfortunately, his efforts weren’t enough. He couldn’t work hard enough, he couldn’t save enough so eventually he lost her as well.

Left by his lonesome, he could have tried pursuing his dreams… but life has taught him its lesson already. How could he pursue his dream if he didn’t have the eddies to do so. It’ll just be useless in the end. He was just one in thousand other aspiring dreamers, many of whom were far better than him. Why should he continue when he could end up with nothing once more?

Clenching his eyes shut, he breathed in deeply. Resting his head against the cool surface of the mirror, he then sighed as he gaze back at himself. He really shouldn’t be reminiscing too much. Pulling away, he walked back to his room. He still had an hour long commute before his twelve hour shift, best not to waste more time.

-x-x-x-

In his haste, he had forgotten that he brought his gun with him. Thankfully, it slipped by the guards and he got himself inside without trouble. It seemed that his luck holding up and things were finally going for him up until he was called to his supervisors office.

“Disappointing, your performance has been lacking this past few weeks!” Hisboss grilled him as he sat there, head bowed down. Sitting there on his tiny chair in the middle of the gigantic room, he felt so small… so weak as his boss went on about his work.

“I’m sorry,” He whispered in apology as he stared ahead unseeing. Normally, he would have cowered before the mountain of a man but today, he felt… nothing. He felt numb with the world going silent as the man blabbered on, their meaty jowl jiggling with each shout.

“Not only are your sales down but you fumbled on some of your cases!” The man screamed, spittle flowing down their many chins, “You don’t ever let them win a claim! Ever! We are a life insurance company, not a charity! Think of the metrics! The lost in revenue!” the shouted as their hands slammed down on their table.

Looking up to them, he wondered why he had been so afraid of them for so long. Now that he had time to think, he just now noticed that the rolling mound of fat that was his with their upturned nose and pale skin looked more like a pig than man. It would have made him laugh but he was simply too tired.

“I’m sorry,” He once more replied. Anything else would have sent the man into rage and he would have spent more time here when he already felt so cold. He just wanted to get back to his work station.

Wagging their sausage like fingers at him, the man warned him, “One more failure of this magnitude, one more damn failure and I will have your head!” Plopping back down on their seat, his boss shook his head before telling him, “Your parent aught to be ashamed at raising such a failure! How can one man be so idiotic!”

He clenched his fist, hands shaking as he felt his words struck him. He felt his hands twitch for the gun by his belt, it’s heavy weight taunting him, asking him to pull it out. His one way to protect himself against the world finally used for that purpose… but what use would that be? It’ll only get him into trouble. At this point, he wasn’t sure if arguing would take him anywhere so he just sat there and took it.

His boss did not that take that kindly as the man spat out, “What are you standing there for? Stop wasting my time, get out of my sight!” With a stiff nod, he excused himself before walking out of the room.

No one appreciated him.

As he was about to go back to his station, a voice called out to him, “Hey Johnny, get your skinny ass down here!” Looking back he, saw the bored glare of his coworker, “The boss ain’t paying you to just stand there, do something!” The man scolded him.

For a third time in the day, he just let it go as he nodded and told him, “Give me a sec,” It’s not like he could do anything to change things.

-x-x-x-

After twelve long hours, His shift finally ended, freeing him from this nightmare of a day. He barely had time to breath as work quickly piled up along with the constant breakdowns on the work stations. Things got so bad that he couldn’t even grab a bite to eat, something which his stomach made all too clear as it grumbled. Thankfully, the day has ended.

“It’s finally over,” He whispered tiredly as he shuffled along the faceless masses to the the train station. As the gates approached, he felt a sense of relief, knowing that he was just an hour away from finally having a meal before he could sleep once more.

Scanning his pass, all things should go smoothly now or so he thought as alarms blared around him. “Non Paying Customer, your Train Pass has expired! Please step away from the line or you will be terminated!” An automated voice shouted, making him look around. He wondered who was the unlucky schmuck that forgot to pay there’s?

He wouldn’t have to wait for two long as he faced the barrel of a turret. “Please step away from the line!” The voice shouted, making him bolt back in fear. He… he forgot? How could he have forgotten? Then he remembered, he was suppose to pay for it at work but things were busy.

Stupid, How could he have forgotten!

Thankfully, he jumped far enough not to get turned to ribbons as the machine thanked him, “Thank you for your cooperation. Please proceed to the ticket booth to buy your ticket or pay the fee owned. This is a message from the Night City Transportation Bureau, good day.”

With a grimace, he picked himself up, his face burning at the hushed whispered his way. With his head held down, he shuffled away, forced to hear the harsh whispers. What kind of failure was he to not have enough eddies to pay for his pass.

As he stood there on the booth, staring at the exorbitant price, he wondered if it was worth it. If he buy it now, he wouldn’t have anything to eat later What kind of disappointment was he for everything to turn out like this?

He hated how he had forgotten, hated how cruel his work could get. Tucking his hands in his pocket, he walked off and headed outside. It was not worth it, he decided. He just had to walk all the way back home.

It was a cold night, a harsh contrast to the boiling heat during the day. He could feel the heat sapped away by the bone chilling wind all while he felt gaze upon him. He expected to be robbed, to be stabbed but even the drugged out maelstrom junkies gave him pitying looks.

With clenched fist, he powered on, his wandering. When did things get so bad? Why was everything going to shit? Why is it happening to him alone? He hated it, he hated everything, he wanted it to end. He was just so… tired of it all.

Maybe he could just end it all, grab the gun and paint the pavement with the brains of his coworkers. No one would miss them, after all, they were just insurance workers. A few bodies piled up the already sky high mound wouldn’t hurt. All it take was one bullet for each, just one pull of a trigger.

So lost was he in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the person in front of him.“Hey, what’s the big idea!?” A gruff voice called out, making him look up to see the angry visage of a cop staring back at him.


“H-huh?,” he stumbled, looking around in confusion at where he was. The Cherry Blossom Market? How did he get here? He then froze as he felt his hands on the handle of his pistol. He had it on a death grip, already half way out of its holster.

His response only served to make the cop angrier as their face turned all red and menacing. So this was it, death by cop? To think that his life would end just because he wasn’t paying attention. Strangely though, the cop just huffed out before turning their back to him.

“You’re lucky it’s One Eddie Burger Night,” shaking their heads, the man then said, “Damn kid, pushing won’t make the line any shorter.” Did the cop not notice what he had in his hands? Deciding not to question things, he just stayed in line and wondered what the fuzz was all about?

One Eddie Burger Night? Looking ahead, he noticed that he had someone stumbled in a long queue. He wouldn’t have questioned it for some shops can get quite popular but what caught his attention were the people that queued up for the line. From normal office workers like himself to rough and tough ganger that openly displayed their allegiance to even some high rolling execs with their guards and some kitsch star trying to act low key in their trench coat and big sunglasses. What had he stumbled into?

In a daze, he moved with the line, his day all forgotten as he tried processing the strangeness of it all. He chalked it off as a mere hallucination, his mind finally giving up after all this. The scent of meat grilling was just his mind begging for food. The sound of sizzling fat, a mere illusion. The sight of patties getting flipped in a griddle just his mind wandering. He thought he was merely dreaming it all up, up until he got to the register.

Smiling back at him, a kind looking man asked him in concern, “Hey man, you doing ok? You’re looking a bit pale, is something wrong?”

He felt his mind halt at the friendly question. Why did he ask him what’s wrong? There was long pause before he let out a sigh, his shoulders sagging as he replied honestly, “Not really,” He really shouldn’t have told him that. This was his burden to bear.

Instead of being frowned upon or insulted for his worries, the kind man merely smiled as he replied, “Let make make something to cheer you up,”

Before he knew it, the man was already making him a burger. With double patties, a selection of fresh vegetables, several slices of cheese and a healthy serving of a brownish sauce, the meal looked straight out of an advert. There was no paste, no slimy look to it… it just looked like a burger, a burger in all its essence.

Bagging it up, the man pushed it to his hands as he told him, “Here’s a double quarter pounder with cheese and vegetables. I added some fries as well so cheer up man, the day isn’t over yet,”

Looking around at the counter, he wondered where was the QR code for payment was. “Um, this is an eddie right? How much is the fries?” he stuttered out, feeling all anxious about holding the line.

“Oh yeah, that,” The man replied as he slapped himself on the forehead. “Here’s the code, just pay it after you eat,” The man told him as he was mailed the bill. Two eddies, two eddies for everything he was given.

“Yeah… I’ll do that,” he whispered as he walked away, unsure if anything was real at this point.

Sitting down near one of those cherry blossom holograms, he unwrapped at his meal and stared at it. He felt its heft in his hands, smelt it, hoping that it wasn’t just a mere figment of his imagination. Despite everything, despite how unlikely he should have food as good as this, it still remained in hands.

Bringing it up to his mouth, he savored the scent, enjoying the wonderful flavor of beef fill his lungs. It felts so real which made him wonder what brand of Scop did the cook used to make these. And the vegetables, they weren’t so soggy and wilted. They looked crisp and life like, so much so that he feared they were made of plastic. A cursory touch and inspection proved that to be false.

What he had was a wonderful burger, all that’s left for him to do was have a bite. Opening his mouth wide, he chomped down, feeling the wonderful crisp and toasted flavor of the buns along with the explosion of flavors filling in his mouth. He took one bite and another, mixing in the fries until nothing was left but his satisfied stomach. It was… wonderful.

Sitting there, he felt at ease. His heart lifted and world no looking so dull. Now that he had time to think, he could see the people milling about. They’re hateful gaze no longer on him, instead, he saw them as how they truly were, just people minding their own business. How could he have mistaken their curious gaze for hate and indifference?

Closing his eyes, he sighed out before he pulled his gun. Pulling out the magazine, he unloaded the bullet in the chamber before pocketing the magazine. It was too much of a risk holding a loaded gun out in public.

Just as he was about to leave, a message pop up in his view. “Johnny, get your sorry hide back on the office now! We need all hands on deck as we just had a major company applying for insurance. Don’t fuck this up!” his supervisor all but screamed at him.

He clenched his fist once more, his blood boiling at the sight of the man. He hated going to work, he hated his god forsaken job. He threw everything aside, his dreams and aspiration just for the stability that this job game him? Was… was it worth it?

“No,” he found himself speaking.

“No?” the man asked him in disbelief, “What do you mean no?!” His boss then screamed, their face turning puce in anger.

“I quit,” He replied, leaving the man’s mouth flapping like some catfish out of the water, “You can have what I’ve left on my desk, good bye,” he then said before he closed the line, refusing to let the man even have a say at his decision.

For a moment, he sat there in silent as the repercussions of his actions slowly settled in. He was jobless… and probably barred from ever holding a corporate job for breach of contact and yet, he couldn’t help but laughed. He laughed as hard as he could, loud enough that people were giving him side eyes but he couldn’t find himself caring.

“I’m free,” he whispered, wiping a stray tear from his eyes. Closing his eyes, he reflected on his decision. There was so much thing in this world to live for, so much to do and to waste it all trying to survive? What was the point if he couldn’t live? He didn’t want this life, thus he freed himself.

It’s not like he’s totally fucked, he still have some eddies squirreled away, he still had his guitar with him. He might not be the best artist but at this point, he had nothing else to lose. The world might be kind to him but that was just life is. Staying down on the ground however, that was on him. The hurting might never end but if he did not do something about it, it’ll only get worse.

“Well Johnny, it’s you against the world,” he told himself as he got up before he smiled, “Hey, that’s a good name for a song,” he muttered as he walked back to his apartment. Looking back at the shop, he made a silent bow to thank them one day. There was so many things in this world to live for so why give up now?

A/N:

Sorry for the rather late reply. Holy Week rolled around and I had some familial obligations to fulfill. I hate how jam packed March was with personal matters. I need to make up for it this month, hopefully this one was worth the wait.