The Heavenly Demon's Bakery - Chapter 2

(2/656)

Jin-hyeok’s eyes snapped open. He didn’t have to struggle on his own. This wasn’t the Murim. It wasn’t a world where he had to figure out everything by himself or constantly worry about betrayal. He had family here. He could ask for help.
“Mum! Where’s my baker’s uniform?”
“Baker’s uniform, my foot! Your chef’s coat is at the bakery!”
It was his father’s booming voice, not his mother’s. Im Jin-hyeok finally nodded, a wave of relief washing over him. That’s right. His chef’s coat was already there. No need to panic.
Looking at the colourful assortment of clothes, Jin-hyeok picked up the black set that most resembled the Heavenly Silkworm Robe (天蠶衣). Fearing he might accidentally shred the fabric, he carefully controlled his strength while pulling on a black T-shirt and black trousers.
He successfully got dressed and came out. His father asked,
“Aren’t you putting on any socks?”
“Socks. Yes.”
His father stared at Jin-hyeok as if he were an utter idiot. Jin-hyeok simply nodded, his mind racing. Socks… What were socks, again?
“It’s socks, not beoseon (traditional Korean socks). Yes.”
“Put these on.”
The sun was already rising outside the window. His father hastily tossed him a pair of thick socks patterned in an indecipherable mix of grey, red, yellow, and brown. They looked like something for winter, yet it was clearly deep summer.
Decades had passed, and he was forgetful, yet the sound of cicadas screaming on that midsummer day he was discharged from the military was still vivid in his ears.
“They’re a bit thick.”
“You said you liked thick socks because your feet hurt when you wore your chef clogs.”
Had he? He supposed he must have. His father chuckled.
“You even complained about wanting to pull out the steel toe caps. Don’t you remember?”
“Yes.”
“Such a simpleton.”
The safety shoes worn in the kitchen had thick steel plates embedded in the front to stop knives from dropping on his toes. Without socks, the plate would rub against his toenails. That’s right. He had tried a few times to secretly wear trainers to work, only to be caught and scolded by his father. His father always looked out for Jin-hyeok’s safety—a heavy, uncomfortable kind of safety.
That’s why he always insisted on thick socks. His father was that kind of man: traditional and old-fashioned, speaking with authority but caring affectionately. This was the father Jin-hyeok had missed so desperately.
“Thank you.”
“No worries, son.”
Jin-hyeok felt his eyes well up and wiped the corners with his hand.
He left the house with his father, walking the familiar path together. In the dark sky, only a few satellites shone faintly. The sign of a 24-hour convenience store flickered. Jin-hyeok did not look at the city he had missed so much. He only meticulously checked the pavement, the paving slabs, directly in front of him.
“Do you think someone dropped a ten-thousand-won note? Stop looking at the ground and look ahead.”
“Yes.”
His father chided him. Jin-hyeok started looking forward to it. If he thought about it, there was no need to use his eyes. He spread a faint, subtle Qi to check the surface of the road and pavement for about a metre around him. At his full level, he could inspect all of Seoul, but in this body, here, this was his limit.
If I need the fastest mind technique, it must be that one.
He knew hundreds, thousands of mind techniques, including those of the Orthodox Factions. But if he had to choose one that was both fast and stable, it was the secret Mind Technique passed down only to the Sect Leader’s direct disciple.
The Rock Heaven Mind Technique (巖天心法).
His body, which he thought was strong after his military discharge, was hollow; his dantian was completely empty, without a single wisp of internal energy. He scanned the roadside with his eyes and simultaneously absorbed the surrounding Qi through his skin, laying the foundation for his dantian without breaking stride.
Early commuters walked past with tired, hunched shoulders. There was a piece of discarded chewing gum, and vomit left by a drunkard. Beside it, a half-grown dandelion was shyly opening its belated bud. A house centipede the size of a pinky fingernail scurried between the paving blocks. But none of that interested Jin-hyeok.
The pebble. The protruding pebble had to be there somewhere. The pebble that ruined his family. His father’s nemesis! The blasted pebble he must destroy! He would crush it. The circulating energy fiercely surged and enveloped the surroundings. A subtle wave of Qi flowed outward, erasing every bump and protrusion on the road. The rock fragments, shattered into dust too fine to see, scattered in the wind. A minor technique that didn’t even need a name.
“Jin-hyeok, I’ve got the shivers all of a sudden. It’s cold.”
Jin-hyeok carefully withdrew his energy. He hadn’t known that even without a speck of internal power, his killing intent alone could affect others. His father laughed.
“Strange, isn’t it, for summer?”
His father was still young. It felt odd to even call him young. Martial artists usually reached their peak after forty, and Jin-hyeok lived for several decades after that. His father looked so young now that it felt bizarre.
“Yes, it is strange.”
“Strange? You’re the strange one. You used to talk back so much once you grew up, but why are you so docile all of a sudden?”
His father wasn’t stupid. This father, who looked almost boyish, gazed at his son with deep eyes. Jin-hyeok slowly spoke.
“I had a dream last night.”
“What kind of dream?”
“A dream where you got hurt, Father, and Mum got sick. A dream where I regretted everything, very, very much.”
“You simpleton.”
His father chuckled. It was a smile without a single shadow, one he hadn’t seen in over 160 years. His baker father, a man who’d lost the use of one arm, could never smile like that. The two images overlapped.
“We’re here. Lift the shutter.”
“!”
They had already arrived at the bakery. His father had not fallen over. He had destroyed all the pebbles. He had changed the future. A surge of satisfaction hammered in his chest. Jin-hyeok grinned.
“Yes!”
His father smiled faintly and said,
“My boy. You’ve become a man since coming back from the military.”
No. I came back from Murim.
Chapter 1
His father looked around the display counter. It was six in the morning. He checked the amount of bread left over from the day before and immediately decided how much and what to bake today.
He did all the kneading and baking himself. It was a one-man baking system; he didn’t entrust it to his son or his wife.
He said it was to maintain the flavour, but it was no help at all when he was sick.
Im Jin-hyeok swept the shop floor. He was happy to do this chore, which he used to dread. As he swept, he glanced at his father.
Fresh organic eggs, sourced directly from a nearby farm, were stacked on one side. His father cracked eight eggs in an instant, separating the yolks. He brushed the fresh, yellow, and firm yolks onto the newly made round dough and placed it on a tray. He hummed a tune and moved with a rhythmic, almost dance-like flow, his movements unbroken.
The first bread he made was the best-selling bagel. Checking that four trays had sold yesterday, he decided to bake five trays today. At twenty per tray, that meant a hundred bagels.
While his father kneaded the dough, cut it, and individually shaped the bread, Jin-hyeok’s job was simple: clean, preheat the oven, and take the bread out of the oven when the time was up to display it. It was necessary work, but not the central task of baking.
A fragrant aroma began to waft from the bread in the oven. It would need to be taken out in 15 minutes. Jin-hyeok looked at his father again. He was thinking he needed to talk about his second regret today when he noticed something. Jin-hyeok’s eyes narrowed. He hadn’t noticed it before because he had only been focusing on the road on the way here.
Father’s right shoulder is sloped.
Looking at his posture while kneading the dough, he was clearly putting less power into his right arm. That was strange for a right-handed man. Unless he was in pain, there was no reason for him to twitch so oddly while kneading.
“I’ll start kneading the dough today.”
Jin-hyeok declared. His father, who was just rounding the third tray of bagel dough, widened his eyes.
“Jin-hyeok.”
And Jin-hyeok knew exactly what his father was going to say. His father opened his mouth.
“It’s not easy to maintain the exact same shape and taste even when the same person makes it every day. If you make the bread, wouldn’t the taste inevitably change?”
“That is a betrayal of the customers.”
“That is a betrayal of the customers. Huh?”
Father and Jin-hyeok said the exact same words simultaneously, and his father tilted his head.
“Did I tell you that before?”
“Dozens of times, Dad.”
It’s what you kept saying after you got hurt, watching your clumsy son bake bread. Then, as a son, I would have nothing to say and would just shut my mouth. But I’m not that son anymore!
Jin-hyeok continued.
“Your shoulder hurts, doesn’t it, Dad?”
“Oh? No, just a tiny bit. I must be tired lately. It’s great the bakery is doing well, but it’s tiring.”
“I’ve been discharged from the military and need to start my own work, but I can’t just clean your bakery forever, can I? You were planning to teach me how to knead soon, weren’t you?”
“Oh? How did you know?”
Of course I knew, because you told me yourself. He had said he planned to let Jin-hyeok rest for a month or two after his military service, and then start teaching him.
He considered waking up at 5:30 am and clocking in at 6 am just to clean the place a ‘rest’. What a sweet holiday for his son!
He intended for Jin-hyeok to ease into the shop’s atmosphere before formally starting the difficult work of kneading and baking.
In truth, from my perspective at the time, waking up at 5:30 am wasn’t a holiday at all.
When his father baked, Jin-hyeok would take the bread out of the oven at the set time and temperature. He had only observed the baking process and had only dabbled in a few items at home as a hobby. Even though he had graduated from a pastry school, the quality and quantity of his experience were nowhere near his father’s, who had been practically making mass quantities of bread every day.
“Well, shall we try starting today then?”
His father didn’t seem reluctant. The corners of his mouth were slightly turned up. Things he hadn’t noticed before were now visible.
My father’s happy. He’s very happy.
He was absolutely delighted, like a child who had received a coveted toy on Children’s Day. Jin-hyeok’s heart warmed.
“Let’s start with the streusel bread. Watch what I do carefully.”
Jin-hyeok nodded and focused on his father’s instructions.