Chapter 176. Will You Marry Me? (2)

By the time he finally broke through the holiday traffic and arrived in Gongju, lunchtime had just begun. As he parked in an open lot next to a buckwheat noodle restaurant, a cloud of pale dust rose beneath his tires.

[Kang’s Makguksu Restaurant]

The white sign with rounded lettering looked bigger and more old-fashioned than it had in the photos. The first floor was the restaurant, and the second floor was the family home. Minkyung was most likely somewhere in this building—if not, he’d just wait until she came back.

Steadying his nerves, Lee-Seob slowly walked toward the restaurant.

“Hey, mister!”

A loud voice struck his ears from behind.

‘Wow, that woman has some lungs.’

“You there, mister!”

‘… Is she talking to him?’

Turning around, he saw a sturdy-built woman briskly approaching.

“That your car?”

“Yes?”

“You can’t park there.”

“I’m here for this restaurant.”

“Oh… Well, even so, you can’t park here. Go around the building, there’s a designated lot.”

“…Alright.”

The woman pointed firmly in the direction of the parking lot, leaving no room for negotiation. Left with no choice, Lee-Seob got back into his car and drove to the so-called designated parking area. Even there, it wasn’t a simple process.

“Sir, not there. Park behind that blue car, right up against it.”

The parking attendant directed him to a different spot, making him inch his way in with painfully precise instructions.

“Left a bit. Right a bit. A little more. Keep coming, keep coming… Stop! Perfect!”

Only after getting a booming stamp of approval did Lee-Seob finally escape.

Braving the scorching sun, he headed toward the restaurant, only to be stopped again at the entrance—by the same woman who had sent him to the parking lot.

“Did you make a reservation?”

“No?”

Did buckwheat noodles require reservations? He was baffled.

As if expecting this, the woman flipped open a spiral notebook. The top had today’s date, and beneath it was a numbered list of names. Half the names were crossed out, while about ten more remained.

“How many in your party? Just you? Write your name on the waiting list.”

“I… I’m not here to eat.”

“Then why are you here?”

The woman stared at him blankly. Saying I just want to check if someone’s inside sounded absurd. Blurting out ‘I’m here to see Kang Minkyung, the eldest daughter of the restaurant owners’ sounded just as awkward.

With no other option, Lee-Seob scribbled his name on the list. He briefly considered using a fake name, but the only one that came to mind was Joon-Seob. Whether it was Tae Joon-Seob or Tae Lee-Seob, it made no difference. So he neatly wrote his own name.

Tae Lee-Seob.

Just in case, he glanced at the woman, but she merely marked a ‘1’ next to his name with a thick marker, unfazed.

“Wait over there. Next!”

Looking behind him, he realized that in the short time they had spoken, two or three more groups had already lined up.

The waiting area inside the restaurant was full, so the woman pointed to a row of chairs lined up outside. The red synthetic leather covers were worn and peeling in places, and the blazing sun shone directly on them.

Lee-Seob’s turn was sixth, following two- and three-person family groups. As he looked around, he noticed quite a few people loitering nearby. Some were holding canned drinks from the vending machine, sitting in the shade of a tree—likely others waiting for their turn to eat buckwheat noodles.

Still wearing his dark-tinted sunglasses, Lee-Seob sat down on the sun-warmed chair.

‘I can’t wait to see her…’

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