A week later.

The days that followed Arin’s arrival in Jeju were eerily quiet, as if it were all a lie.

“Sigh.”

The only thing amiss was Arin’s heart. Ever since meeting Jae Hyuk, her heart refused to settle down. Jae Hyuk’s eyes kept appearing in her mind, and the thought of his wounds made her eyes sting with heat.

“What’s wrong?”

Yu Hyun, who had finished cleaning the kitchen, asked as he wrapped his arm around Arin’s shoulder.

“Huh? No. It’s nothing.”

Arin composed her expression.

“It was tough, wasn’t it? We had a lot of customers today too. It would be great if we could quickly hire some part-timers.”

Yu Hyun naturally massaged Arin’s shoulders as he spoke.

“Oh… right.”

Zzzing.

Arin’s cell phone, which was placed on the counter, started ringing.

“It’s Cheol Yong. I wonder what’s up.”

The caller was Cheol Yong, who worked at Memoria’s Yeonnam branch.

“You should answer it.”

“Okay.”

Arin pressed the answer button.

As soon as the call connected, the voice of a sobbing man came through the speaker.

[Boss, what should we do?]

“Why? What happened?”

[The building owner is here right now and says we have to leave within this week.]

“…What?”

Did she hear that wrong?

Arin doubted her ears.

“What did you just say?”

[The boss says we have to clear out the store within this week, what should we do?]

Arin widened her eyes and looked at Yu Hyun.

“What on earth is this about? He said he would give us a month last time, so why all of a sudden?!”

The building owner of the building where the Yeonnam branch store was located had demanded a rent increase, saying that the market price in the surrounding area had gone up.

From what Arin had heard, the real estate agent said that the current location of the Yeonnam-dong store was a so-called “failing location.”

That’s why the stores kept changing frequently, they said.

Once the bad rumors spread, no one wanted to move in anymore, they said. After much deliberation, the building owner had put it up for a price lower than the market rate.

However, after Memoria’s Yeonnam branch opened, the rumors were dispelled. As the store started doing really well, to the point where it was easy to find Memoria among the many stores in the area, the building owner’s greed grew.

Twice the current rent.

It was an amount that couldn’t be easily decided upon for a store that had just started to establish itself, but they couldn’t move either.

Arin recalled what Ji Yun had jokingly said before.

[I heard that when a store does well, they raise the rent, right?]

She had heard about it, but the amount the building owner was demanding was just absurd.

How could they double the rent? She even felt resentful.

She tried to complain to the real estate agent, but there was nothing he could do either. After much deliberation, Arin and Yu Hyun had asked the building owner for some time to think.

There were still about two months left until the contract renewal period, so they were also looking for a new location.

But it seemed that in the meantime, he had put the store up for sale.

It was a bolt from the blue.

[I don’t know either, boss. They said the store has been sold. They’ll give us moving expenses, so we have to leave right away.]

“Does that make any sense? The contract period hasn’t even ended yet… I’ll try calling the boss for now. Were there any customers when the boss came?”

[No, when I saw his face as he opened the door, I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be good news, so I took him to the back and listened to him alone.]

“Phew. That’s a relief at least.”

We hadn’t even expressed any intention to leave, so how could this happen?!

Arin was perplexed but tried not to show it.

“For now, calm down. The customers will be flustered if they find out, so don’t let it show. How much bread do we have left?”

[About 200 pieces.]

“I see. Don’t worry and focus on the customers. I’ll take care of it. Cheol Yong, it’ll all be okay, you know what I mean, right?”

[Yes, boss. I’ll just trust you, boss.]

Even long after hanging up the phone, Arin couldn’t put it down. Her hand holding the phone was trembling.

“Oppa.”

Since he had heard the entire conversation through the speaker, Yu Hyun’s expression was also grave.

“I’ll try calling. Give me your phone.”

Yu Hyun took Arin’s phone and tried to call the building owner.

[The customer you are trying to reach is unavailable. You will be connected to voicemail after the beep, and charges will apply.]

But once again, a mechanical voice came through the speaker.

It was the fifth missed call already. The last one even felt like he had intentionally ignored it.

Arin bit her nails anxiously, as this was the first time something like this had happened.

The face of the elderly man who owned several buildings in the Yeonnam-dong area came to Arin’s mind.

[Hoho, Boss Choi, are you some kind of chairman? You make me feel like a grandfather. I think of our Boss Choi as my granddaughter too.]

She hadn’t taken his words at face value, but wasn’t this too much of a sucker punch?!

[He’s not that kind of person. I asked around, and they said he’s someone who looks out for his tenants.] [Well, that’s a relief then.]

Arin felt pathetic for reassuring Ji Yun’s concerns in the past, saying it was alright.

Trusting him because he had a good impression was the root of the problem. Not only had the building owner doubled the rent, but he had also put the store up for sale without them expressing any intention to leave.

“How could President Shin do this? No matter what, this is going too far.”

“Sigh.”

Originally, it was a failing location, but when they opened the Yeonnam branch, they had paid a premium to the person who had previously run a bakery there. Although the rumors weren’t good, they chose this place because the previous owner had kept it clean and there was nothing that needed fixing.

It was a place where everything was ready to the point that they could start business right away, so there was no hesitation. They signed a 2-year contract and had been renewing it annually since then.

From what they had found out, they just needed to inform the building owner up to a month in advance whether they would continue to run the store or move.

With two months left until the contract expired, they thought it wouldn’t be too rushed.

“It’s not like moving a single piece of luggage.”

Yu Hyun held his forehead and staggered, grabbing the table.

“But Arin, it hasn’t been that long since we asked for time to think, so how could the store be sold already?”

Yu Hyun had a point. That was what Arin was wondering too.

“They probably wanted to receive the increased rent too, right? At that price, it’s on the expensive side in this area, so it’s not a price that people can easily afford.”

Yu Hyun and Arin simultaneously held their foreheads. Then they exchanged glances.

“I think he intentionally set the rent high, knowing that we wouldn’t be able to do it.”

Yu Hyun nodded in agreement with Arin’s words.

“He must have expected us to refuse and taken in the next person. It was already decided!”

“I never thought he would do this. It’s really too much for an adult to behave this way.”

At Arin’s voice filled with lamentation, Yu Hyun stroked her head as if to comfort her.

“For now, we still have some time left until the lease contract expires, and I heard that the Commercial Building Lease Protection Act has been revised, so we don’t need to leave until the contract ends. I’ll ask Sang Hoon hyung about it.”

“Then I think it’s best for me to go to Seoul. I’ll go visit the boss’s office and stop by the lawyer’s office.”

At Arin’s words, Yu Hyun tried to dissuade her, saying she shouldn’t go.

“Let’s go together.”

Yu Hyun somehow didn’t feel good about sending Arin to Seoul alone.

“You have to run the store, oppa. You know we can’t take more time off after closing for a week for the pop-up store.”

Arin gently grabbed Yu Hyun’s arm and continued.

“Don’t worry, I’m not a child. I’ll go to the office with Cheol Yong and go to the lawyer together. I’ll take care of it and come back.”

Arin raised both arms, telling him to just trust her. Yu Hyun’s eyes looking at her flickered like rough waves.

‘That’s not what I’m worried about. I don’t like the thought of you possibly meeting that man again.’

The words telling Arin not to go rose to Yu Hyun’s throat. But he didn’t want to burden her.

‘It’s not time yet. If you start seeing me as a man a little more, it won’t be too late to express my feelings then, so I’ll endure it for now.’

Yu Hyun just bit his lower lip hard.

“Okay. I understand. Have a safe trip.”

“Yeah. Oppa, please take care of things while I’m gone.”

Arin patted Yu Hyun’s back. Yu Hyun smiled, trying hard to ignore the rising anxiety.

“Of course. I trust you, so be careful and have a good trip.”

Yu Hyun thought that someday, the person who would fill her empty side would be him.

The vague and natural fact was something that should be fulfilled.

Yu Hyun held Arin’s hand, hiding his true feelings.

But the ominous premonition that he shouldn’t let her go alone still lingered in his mind.

[This is the timeline separator]

The next day.

Arin boarded a plane to Seoul. As soon as she arrived, she headed to Yeonnam-dong.

“Hello, boss.”

“You’re here?”

As Arin entered the cafe, Cheol Yong and Yu Sik greeted her.

“Yu Sik, I’ll be back. Please take good care of the store.”

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

Yu Sik answered vigorously. Sung Han was off today. According to Cheol Yong, he was going to meet with a lawyer he knew for consultation.

Leaving the store to Yu Sik, a part-timer who had been working at Memoria’s Yeonnam branch since the beginning, Arin and Cheol Yong headed to the building owner’s office.

Three hours later.

Arin and Cheol Yong had already been waiting for the building owner for two hours.

“Wow, it seems like he’s avoiding us on purpose.”

At Cheol Yong’s words, Arin let out a deep sigh. Unless there was something special going on, no, most of the time, the building owner was in his office.

She often saw him when she came to the Yeonnam-dong store, even though she had no intention of meeting him. But now that she actually wanted to meet him, she couldn’t even find his shadow.

After a while, the employee who was guarding the office instead of the building owner looked at Arin and bowed his head.

“Um, I’m sorry, but I think it’s best for you to leave for today. He said he was coming in, but something urgent came up.”

“What did you say?”

Arin was at a loss for words at the absurdity. But there was no point in getting angry at the innocent employee.

“I see. Understood.”

Feeling dejected, Arin and Cheol Yong left the building owner’s office and immediately headed to the law office of Sang Hoon, Yu Hyun’s high school senior.

Sang Hoon was a real estate lawyer. Arin handed the documents she had prepared to Sang Hoon.

“Here’s the contract. As you can see, it’s still before the contract expiration.”

Sang Hoon thoroughly examined the lease contract Arin had given him.

“You’re right. Then there’s even less reason for you to leave right away. There are two ways to handle this. When there is clear evidence that the building owner’s actions are unjust, you can apply for mediation to the Commercial Building Lease Dispute Committee.”

Sang Hoon pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses and continued.

“The second way is to receive a premium from the new tenant and leave.”

“Is that possible?”

Sang Hoon answered firmly to Arin’s question.

“Yes. It’s legally possible. But the problem is how much to set the premium.”

“Will there be enough time? The building owner threatened us to leave within this week.”

“That doesn’t matter. As long as there is time left on the contract, there is no reason for you to leave.”

Despite the resolute answer from the legal counsel, Arin’s heart did not easily settle.

It was because she was worried that someone who used such malicious tactics would really let them continue their business.

“Is there any chance that the building owner might interfere or cause trouble?”

“That can’t happen. Even if he does, if the building owner interferes with the collection of the premium, you can claim damages, so you don’t need to worry. The most important thing is that if the evidence is clear and the store’s monthly rent is not in arrears, you can be protected under the Commercial Building Lease Protection Act.”

“So you’re saying that there’s no way to avoid a dispute either way.”

“Yes. To be blunt, given the way the building owner is acting, I don’t think there’s a peaceful solution. From what you’ve said, it seems like he’s avoiding you.”

At the place she had come to find a solution, Arin’s confusion only deepened.