Before the lights even illuminated the darkened stage, sounds could be heard first. Hyungseok felt like he was in the middle of a pedestrian crossing as car horns could be heard from time to time. The lights only turned on after the sounds settled down.
Two tables were placed on either side of the stage. There was a slightly raised stage at the back where another table was, and on each side of that were sliding doors. There was red cloth on the ceiling, and golden threads were embroidered on it like a rainbow. On the sidewall was a store sign that said ‘Azure Dragon Pavilion’, and below that was the menu. Jjajang-myeon, Jjam-ppong, tangsuyuk, kkanpunggi, etc[1].
Just as he was starting to feel puzzled by how there was no one on the desolate stage, the sound of the roller shutter rolling up could be heard. It was followed by the sound of lights being switched on. The lights on the stage then turned on, dyeing the stage red.
“Geez, those cars are so damn loud.”
A man wearing white chef clothing appeared from the side. Hyungseok smiled. The one who was staring towards the front while fixing his chef hat was none other than Maru.
“It won’t show, will it?”
Maru peeked outside through the invisible door. People’s murmurs could be heard from the speakers. After looking around outside while groaning a little, Maru dusted his chef clothes and left through the exit on the right. There was a sign that said ‘kitchen’.
“Owner, I’m here.”
A woman wearing a deep orange Chinese dress appeared on stage. Maru peeked out from the kitchen and told her to get ready. While the waitress was cleaning the tables, the bell chimed.
“Welcome to Azure Dragon Pavilion. Please, allow me to guide you.”
Two guests sat at the table on the left. They were holding large sports duffel bags. When the waitress gave them an order sheet and turned around, the two men started looking around in unease. The stage darkened, and the table the two men were sitting at was given the highlight.
“Hey, you really wanna rob this place?”
“Didn’t you hear? The owner of this place has bars of gold inside the kitchen.”
“Bars of gold? Are you serious?”
“Yes, I am serious. There’s a bunch of gold in a safe that’s as large as this bag.”
“But that’s just a rumor.”
“It’s only called a rumor. Do you think I came here without even validating it?”
“It’s real then?”
“Trust me. If we do this, we can start our lives anew and take our hands off the dirty business. You can go back to your house with your face held proud.”
“Lives, anew.”
The two men uttered in resolution and nodded. At the same time, the lights turned on again. The two people sitting at the table slowly reached out to their sports duffel bags. The moment they tried to open the zipper, the bell chimed again. The two men exchanged gazes and took their hands off their bags.
“Welcome.”
The waitress greeted another pair of customers. This time, they seemed to be husband and wife. The married couple, who seemed to be in their early thirties, were carrying hiking bags on their backs. After looking around, the husband looked at the table where the two men were and clicked his tongue.
“Allow me to guide you.”
The waitress pointed to the table on the right. The man and woman awkwardly walked over and sat down. When the waitress put down some cups on the table and gave the menu to the woman, the woman became startled and flinched back.
“M-ma’am?”
“Sorry about that, my wife gets startled easily.”
When the waitress turned around after putting on an awkward smile, the lights once again dimmed, putting a spotlight on the table on the right.
“I told you to be careful.”
“Sorry honey. I was too nervous.”
“I know, I’m nervous as well. But what can we do? We should endure it. It’s just this once. As long as we get through this, everything will be over.”
“But is there really gold in a place like this?”
“I’m certain. I got that intel from a colleague of mine.”
“What do we do about the other customers? I’m scared because they’re two men.”
“We should look for an opportunity. They’re ordinary customers anyway. We have a gas-powered gun, so we can subdue them if it comes down to it. Honey, you practiced how to use it, right?”
“I did. Aim and shoot.”
“Good. Aim for their faces. It’ll be okay as long as you do that.”
“What if we get caught?”
“Why would we get caught? This isn’t the bank or anything; it’s an ordinary restaurant. We just have to stay calm. We’ll take them out in an instant and begin our new life with bars of gold. You and I will live together in a splendid place where we can be happy together.”
His wife looked touched after listening to his words. The woman’s klutz attitude was quite eye-catching. Hyungseok chuckled at the black comedy. The laughter of the audience could be heard faintly.
The lights changed, and the waitress and the men at the other table started doing their work again. The two men looked around while reaching out to their sports duffel bags, and the married couple, who were looking at that duo, were taking out their gas powered guns while gulping. It was a moment before chaos. Just then, the waitress walked between the tables with some food. The four people, who had come in pursuit of gold, all took deep breaths. While the sense of tension continued on, the bell chimed once again. This time, the customer was wearing a police uniform. With his appearance, the four people who were getting ready to rob gold all stuffed their noses into their plates.
The two men and the couple raised their hands in confusion.
“This tastes….”
“Absolutely terrible.”
The people sitting at the two tables glanced at each other before giving the other party awkward smiles. Meanwhile, the waitress approached the policeman.
“W-welcome. Are you by yourself?”
“Yes. I’d like to order jjam-ppong-bap please.”
“Ah, okay.”
The waitress, who was taking orders proficiently until now, suddenly started stuttering and returned to the counter while swaying. The moment the waitress placed her hands on the counter, the lights all switched off, and a spotlight shone down on her.
“No wait, why is there a police at this hour? How is it possible? According to my investigations, there was zero chance that a police officer would appear at this hour. I will be in danger if I don’t rob the gold bars by tonight and leave this place. What do I do?”
The waitress muttered to herself while shaking her feet. Even the waitress turned out to be a robber. Hyungseok’s gaze naturally headed towards the policeman. As though they had seen through the psychology of the audience, the spotlight fell on top of the police officer this time.
“Why are there so many people at this hour? I went through the pain of buying a uniform. No one should be suspecting me right? I was acting natural, so it should be fine. Still, there are a lot of people; I should think about what I should do while I eat.”
The policeman grabbed the cup of water with shaky hands. The water ended up overflowing due to his shaking, and the policeman flinched at the sensation of the cold water and let go of the cup. The stainless steel cup fell on the ground, and at the same time, clanging noises came out of the speakers on the side.
At the noise, everyone in the store became startled. The two men who were holding their duffel bags in their arms threw them away like they were trash, and the wife who was holding a gas-powered gun started hyperventilating and fell down. The waitress opened her mouth wide and stuffed her fist into it before biting it down, and the policeman crouched on the ground, wiping the spilt water with his clothes.
“Why is it so noisy?”
Maru peeked outside from the kitchen. The people who were acting out of panic all returned to their places as though nothing had happened. Maru, who looked around the restaurant for a bit of time, discovered the police officer and turned around, startled.
“Father in heaven, please bring me salvation.”
Maru drew a cross on his chest and started praying. The stage darkened again. Maru, who received the light by himself, kneeled down.
“God, I may have killed the owner of this place out of greed, but it has already happened, has it not? The living should continue to live. Please let me go until I find the safe with the gold bars. Please? I will present a lot of offerings. I will also bury the corpse in the fridge somewhere good. Can you please turn a blind eye just this once?”
The lights all turned on during his prayer. The waitress tapped on Maru’s shoulder as he was still kneeling.
“Owner? What are you doing?”
“O-oh, it’s nothing. Anyway, how’s work?”
“It’s my second day, but I think I’m getting the hang of it.”
“Th-that’s good.”
“But, uhm, owner.”
“Yeah?”
“Can I go inside the kitchen? I have always been interested in Chinese-style kitchens.”
Maru freaked out and waved his hand.
“No! Absolutely not!”
“Absolutely not?”
“The kitchen is a sacred place! It’s also very dangerous. What’s more, inside the fridge is a cor….”
“Cor?”
“Anyway, you focus on your work for now. You must never look inside the kitchen. If you do, I will fire you immediately, so keep that in mind!”
Maru was expressing that he had done something bad with all of his body. The waitress started shaking her legs even more after the owner’s words.
“I should quickly….”
“Rob this place….”
“How should I….”
“Get rid of them?”
The people inside the store each spoke their line and uttered their worries. Just then, smoke started coming out of the kitchen with a loud popping noise. The people inside the store were shocked as though it was their own houses that were set on fire. They all flocked towards the kitchen.
“Is there a fire?”
“No!”
“We should take out everything inside.”
“Don’t ever call 119[2].”
“Let’s go in for now.”
With the waitress at the helm, everyone rushed into the kitchen. The stage turned dark, and silhouettes could be seen moving around busily in the darkness. A new stage set was brought in from the exits on either side. A fridge, the sink, various food ingredients and cooking tools. The stage was changed into a kitchen.
When the lights were turned on again, what entered Hyungseok’s eyes was the burnt black wall, the ripped open refrigerator, and the person lying down in front of it.
The waitress pushed the policeman’s back.
“Th-there’s a person over there. Is he dead?”
“D-don’t push! I can’t touch stuff like that!”
“But you’re a police officer!”
“F-forget the notion that all policemen are good at things like this!”
The husband, who had been watching the incident from the back, quietly spoke,
“Isn’t that a corpse?”
“A corpse?”
The waitress called out to Maru who was clutching his head next to the sink.
“Owner, who is that person? Why is he in the kitchen?”
“U-uhm…..”
“He looks frozen too. Did he fall out of that freezer?”
Maru, who was panting heavily as though he had been sprinting until just moments ago, quickly changed his eyes and spoke quietly,
“M-maybe he’s a thief?”
* * *
Hyungseok spoke as he clapped,
“The play’s pretty decent. It was more interesting than a movie.”
“Yeah.”
Gitae had stood up to applaud. The story of robbers gathered in the restaurant continued going down the unexpected path. Although there were cliché plot twists at times, the comedic handling of events didn’t make any part boring. The acting of the actors moving across the stage also added to the charm. By the end of the play, Hyungseok found himself liking these evil criminals. If it was reality, he would never befriend such people, but these cute fictional robbers were characters with their own charms.
“Hey, Maru-hyung’s pretty popular.”
There was a photoshoot event after the play, and many female fans took photos with him. Many people gave him presents and bouquets as well. Other actors were taking photos while holding the gifts they were given, but Maru couldn’t hold all of them and had to put them down to take photos.
“He sure keeps his word alright. He said he would become successful after getting discharged, and he definitely seems popular.”
“Should I get Sarge Han to introduce me to a girl? I like that person who played the waitress.”
“Do you even have a conscience? You want to date someone like that with your face?”
“You never know. Anyway, he’s really cool. I didn’t know I would be absorbed until the end.”
Hyungseok agreed with those words. Unlike in films, the audience could make eye contact with the actors on stage. Although it would only be for a brief moment, that short eye contact would transfer a wave of emotions. At that time, Hyungseok felt like he was the one standing on stage.
After the photoshoot, Maru stepped forward.
“Thank you for watching the play, The Suspicious Azure Dragon Pavilion. We will not forget the love you have shown us. Also, I hope you can continue to support us, Blue Sky, in the future. We will return with even better performances. Thank you for your support,” Maru said while bowing.
Hyungseok applauded once again. While everyone applauded passionately, a woman sitting next to him stood up. Hyungseok gave her a glance. Although he couldn’t see her properly because she was wearing a baseball hat and a pair of thick glasses, he could tell that she was a beauty.
“Congratulations.”
Hyungseok tilted his head when he heard the voice. That voice sounded quite familiar. He tried to have another look at the woman again, but she had already left.
[1] Popular menus in Korean-style Chinese restaurants. Respectively, black soybean noodles, spicy seafood noodles, sweet-n-sour fried pork, and fried chicken with sauce.
[2] Korean 911
