Seoul Kitchen: Chapter 30 (Patreon)

The Unwanted

Walking down the street, Chef found himself in a rather cheery mood. Humming out a half forgotten tune as he passed by the various stalls in the Cherry Blossom Market, he found fellow store owner cleaning up yesterdays trash. "It's a good day today, isn't it" He greeted only to be meet by foul scowls and dark muttering.

"Yeah… maybe not," He whispered disappointedly as he averted his gaze and moved on. Despite being here for close to a month now, his neighbors had yet to warm up to him, "Probably just how things are here," he told himself as he finally got to his little corner of the market.

It was a dog eat dog world out here in Night City after all and earning an honest eddie was hard enough on its own. His added presence probably strained some of his neighbors but he mostly only sells a few dish at time. He hasn't really touched drinks for the most part aside from his coffee and cola so it It shouldn't be bad?

"Probably best not to think too much about it," He told himself as he stared at the odd assortment of chairs and tables littered just outside his shop. Despite their haphazard arrangement, they still managed to look like they were part of the place and even added a bit of charm to it. It's probably why they haven't been tossed away.

Unlocking the metal shutters his shop, he walked inside and filled himself a bucket of soapy water before grabbing a sponge and trashbags.

They were not really his but something which his clients brought over and just left. Just bits and pieces that overtime turned this little something of food corner. He was eventually going to get himself some as an upgrade but people beat him to it and he couldn't but smile as he swiped away the trash into his bag and washed the table.

Despite the coldness and brutality of the city, there was still some warmth left in it. People still cared and despite the actions that brought these chairs over was borne out of just having a place to sit down in later, it still was quite the kind gesture of leaving it. And so he did his part, making sure that his corner of the market was clean.His neighbors already did their part so it was best he did his fast.

"Huh, lots of people yesterday," he muttered, grunting as he lifted the bag over his shoulders and walked over to the alley nearby. Hidden away from the foot traffic, it was the perfect place to hide the markets trash before it gets picked up later. Still, despite how close it was, it never failed to put him on edge and it didn't help that it was a dead end.

"Fucking Scavs," he muttered. He can understand how desperate someone can get for money and he wouldn't really wouldn't mind if they just scavenge of dead people (so long as the loved ones of the dead had a share) but they really weren't just after the dead.

Staring at the dark alley, he found himself reaching for the gun holstered in his belt. The sun was starting to rise and a bit of the light was filtering in but it was still dim enough that he had to rely on his clear but unaugmented vision, "Maybe I should really get some chrome of my own," He muttered as he gazed up at the buzzing and flickering lights.

Stepping in cautiously, he almost jumped as heard some clattering inside. Pulling out his gun, he scanned the alley and found someone rummaging through the trash bins head first, their feet dangling behind them. "Just someone dumpster diving," he sighed out, holstering his gun

He was about to just let them finish when they pulled themselves up and their hand was a clearly opened, but uneaten pack of greenish tinged sandwich. Panic filled his vein as he saw that hungry look in the teens eyes. "Hey! Drop that!" He shouted as he dropped his bag and ran towards them at full tilt.

The teen let out a panicked yelp as they pulled themselves out of the bin and made a run for it, "Damn it!" The boy was fast, far faster than his heavy ass, "Wait!" He called out, trying to stop them. Fortunately for him, the teen ran towards wrong direction. He soon heard the sound of cursing as the boy finally ran into the dead end.

Cornering them, he found them huddle up in the corner with their backs against the wall. With fear written across their face, they shouted, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have dumpster dived her but I was hungry!" Holding up their hand against their face, they begged him, "Please don't shoot me!"

"Shoot you?" He asked, tilting his head at the teen, "Why the hell would I shoot you?" He had a gun yes but he wasn't about to put a cap in someone's head for simply dumpster diving

The terrified teen in turn would give him a bewildered look as they slowly cautioned out, "Because… I was dumpster diving and a public nuisance?"

Running his hand over his hair, Chef would shake his head before replying, "If I'm going to shoot you then it's cause of that!," pointing at the cheap vendo sandwich the boy had in this hands, "Just look at that thing!" he added as his face twisted in disgust.

"It's a sandwich?" The boy asked as he turned at the sandwich in question, a perfectly sealed and unassuming prepackaged product. However…

"It's a a moldy sandwich," Chef deadpanned as he leered at the thing. Large green patches dominated the loaf and it was actually starting to look soggy of all things. The paste was probably breaking down inside.

Still, the teen looked unconvinced as he held the sandwich close to his chest, "Yeah…" the boy admitted before he then said "But I can just pick it off right?"

"Pick it off? That's not how that works!" Chef shouted, making the boy flinch. Taking a deep breath, he then side as he asked the boy, "Look, do you know what food poisoning is?" Seeing the boy nod back, he then told him, "Because that's a sure fire way to get food poisoning"

Pointing at the large greenish spots, "See these spots? These isn't the mold, this is the fruiting body of it, the seeds if you will," He lectured him. It was an all too easy mistake for any would be thrift or just hungry person, "The rest of it? It's inside the bread and everything else. A web of mold which you wouldn't even know until you're blasting on both ends."

He couldn't fault someone for eating food out of a trash can if it was perfectly fine. Plastics is a really good packaging despite it's flaws. He could not however, in good conscience, allow someone to eat something that could endanger them.

The boy gazed down on his bread as a pained look passed over their face, "I was hungry…" he whispered as they looked down at the sandwich they had

Reaching out to them, he gave the boy a pat on the shoulder as he told, "That doesn't excuse you from eating something dangerous," He had been here once and it wasn't a good time but this time around, there's someone that could actually help, Reaching for his pockets, the then said, "Beside, if you wanted some leftovers, you could just drop my place," before he pulled out a sandwich similar to the boys own, "It wouldn't hurt to have someone eating outside."

The teen looked up to him hopefully before sighing out, muttering something he couldn't quite hear. Frowning, he asked, "Wait, what was that?"

"Even if we have money," the boy then grumbled making Chef wince, "The enforcers just doesn't like us," He had almost totally forgotten about them.

"The… ohhhh, oh shit, fuck, right… them," Japantown was Tyger Claw territory and as such, it's not too uncommon to have one or two "enforcers" around. Just a few guards ready to beat up anyone that made some trouble there or if it gets too hot, a pair of eyes to get the whole gang down there as fast as possible, "Yeah, sorry about that," he apologized.

As much as they kept the peace, they also kept out those that were undesirables, the unwashed homeless population of the Night City. Nobody wanted beggars out and about and they were easy to intimidate so he can see why the boy fled like that. Come to think of it, there's no homeless inside the Market.

"It's ok, at least you sound like you care," The teen sighed out as he stubbornly refused to let go of the sandwich he fished out of the dumpster and hid it inside their ratty cloth.

"So you can't stay inside the market," He really didn't think this through huh? He thought to himself as he frowned. He might have some heat on him if he force this issue. Yes, he sells cheap food but good will can easily run out. There however, other options for him, options he's all to happy to do as he grinned, "Hey kid, you guys know other homeless kids right?"

"We all know each other," The boy replied with a shrug, "It's how we survive against the Scav. The old ones teach us the ropes and how to walk around while we protect those that are younger than us," the boy then told him.

Nodding, he gave the boy the sandwich he had as well as some XXL Burritos he pulled out of his pockets much to the boys surprise, "Good, call as much as you can over here," He instructed him, running back to his kitchen and passing by his trash he had almost forgotten about, "Just trust me on this one!" he called out just as he got out of the ally.

Now, If he couldn't bring this kid anywhere near his stall, then he just had to bring the food to them.