The rain had stopped almost an hour ago.
The streets were still wet, reflecting the yellow city lights like broken glass.
A foreign girl walked alone through the quiet road, holding her phone near her ear.
“I’m starving,” she complained dramatically. “This city seriously has no street food? No ramen stall? No burgers? Nothing?”
Her friend laughed from the other side of the call.
“You’re the one who got lost.”
“I am NOT lost.”
She was absolutely lost.
Then suddenly
She noticed a small shop standing between dark buildings.
Warm lights glowed through the windows.
The tables inside looked strangely elegant for a roadside restaurant.
Too elegant.
And too empty.
The girl hesitated for a moment before entering.
Ding.
The bell above the door rang softly.
Inside, an old woman around sixty stood behind the counter, slowly preparing noodles.
The old lady looked at her.
No smile.
No greeting.
Just silence.
“Uh… hello, granny,” the girl said awkwardly. “Do you have anything cheap? I’m super hungry.”
The old woman quietly handed her the menu.
Her hands were trembling.
The girl noticed it immediately.
Maybe she’s cold?
But when she looked down at the price..
Her soul almost left her body.
“What the hell?!”
Even the bread with vanilla cream cost more than her dignity.
After staring at her wallet in pain for a full minute, she finally sighed.
“I’ll take… two cream breads.”
The old woman nodded silently and pointed toward a table near the corner.
The girl sat down alone.
The restaurant was strangely quiet.
Too quiet.
She scrolled through her phone while eating, but slowly… she started noticing something.
Men.
A few men sitting far away were staring at her.
Not talking.
Just watching.
The girl’s appetite disappeared instantly.
Then suddenly..
More food appeared on her table.
Hot ramen. Fried chicken. Dumplings.
She blinked in confusion.
“Granny… I didn’t order these.”
The old woman looked at her quietly.
“Someone already paid.”
“…What?”
“The man said you don’t need to pay for anything tonight.”
The girl froze.
Her eyes slowly scanned the restaurant.
“Who?”
The old woman looked away.
“I don’t know.”
That was obviously a lie.
The girl became nervous, but hunger defeated fear.
So she ate everything.
And behind the crowd of men
A young man sat lazily against his chair, watching her eat with amused eyes.
Black coat.
Sharp eyes.
Dangerous smile.
He rested his chin against his hand and chuckled softly.
“How cute.”
A few days later, the girl excitedly told her friends about the restaurant.
“The food was AMAZING. Expensive… but amazing.”
Her friends immediately wanted to go.
But the moment they arrived near that road—
Their expressions changed completely.
“Let’s leave.”
“What?”
“NOW.”
Confused, the girl followed them away from the area.
Only after reaching a crowded street did one of her classmates finally speak.
“Do you seriously not know what kind of place that is?”
The girl frowned. “What do you mean?”
“That area belongs to gangsters and illegal debt collectors.”
The girl’s face slowly paled.
“People who go there alone sometimes disappear.”
Another girl whispered nervously
“And girls… usually don’t come back safely.”
Silence.
Cold silence.
The girl remembered the men staring at her.
The strange restaurant.
The old woman’s trembling hands.
And the unknown man who paid for her food.
One of the classmates suddenly smirked.
“Maybe some gangster fell in love with you.”
“Shut up!” another snapped immediately. “This isn’t funny!”
The girl forced a laugh, but her hands felt cold.
“I...I’m never going there again.”
But somewhere in the city
A man smiled after hearing those words.
Because he already knew…
She would come back.
Eventually.
Years later.
A seventeen year old boy sat on the sofa, listening carefully to the story.
Then he blinked.
“…Dad.”
The man looked up from his coffee.
“That story… was about mom, wasn’t it?”
The man smiled slowly.
“Maybe.”
The boy stared suspiciously.
“So you met mom in that creepy restaurant?”
“Yeah.”
“…Were you a gangster before?”
The man suddenly laughed loudly.
“Do I look like one?”
“No,” the boy answered honestly. “You’re literally a professor.”
The man smirked.
“A professor can still be dangerous.”
The boy rolled his eyes.
“Nah. Real gangsters look scary.”
The man only smiled.
A quiet, unreadable smile.
Then the boy stood up.
“Mom said dinner’s ready. I’m going first.”
“Go ahead.”
The boy walked away casually.
But after he disappeared
The man leaned back slowly in silence.
And under the dim light, his soft smile changed into something darker.
More dangerous.
More familiar.
“You really know nothing…”
he whispered quietly.
Because the truth was—
Back then—
Everyone on that street feared him.
And the girl he married?
She was the only person who walked into hell…
…and came out smiling
