Uncanny Convenience Store 2 - Korean version

Index

Manager Seon-Sook Oh
soul snack
kkondae of kkondae
two plus one
convenience store at night
Owner Alba
ALWAYS
inconvenient convenience store

Acknowledgments

Into the book

“I came because you said you were looking for a night job.”
In an instant, the corner of his mouth twitched automatically. It was fortunate that the mask hid much of the expression. Seon-sook quickly scanned her man.
Her big eyes and drooping eyebrows reminded her of a herbivore somewhere, and her long, mustard-colored or poop-colored T-shirt and her messy curly hair gave her an overall sloppy look.
She said, “Why are you buying toilet paper when you say you came to apply for a part-time job?”
“Well, my mother said that if you go to a store you know, she must sell it. I just ran out of toilet paper at home. Ahaha.”
what? What is this excessive courtesy? She wasn't without a burden, but she was somewhat relieved by her friendly smile. Above all, it was a night part-time job resource. Rather than being strict, it was something to pick out and see. (pp. 36-37)

I never paid attention to who was at the convenience store counter. At a convenience store, isn't it an unspoken national rule that both employees and customers silently and quickly pay bills and receive goods? What if I suddenly talk to you! That's also Mr. Black's latte! Besides, it's tuna!!
So-jin feels bad because she thinks her taste in alcohol and snacks, which she loves, has been discovered. Who would feel good if an anonymous person discovered their taste? It's really stellar. It wasn't like this before here, but has the owner changed? How could you hire such an ignorant employee? Or is that person the manager? Then I thought I would know why this store was out of business. (pp. 51-52)

Even if business doesn't work, even if the world is a mess due to Corona, this guy writes 'Hong Geum-bo' on his name tag and just smiles. What an enviable talent. In a word, it is a mental gold spoon. It is clear that he is over 40 years old, but he is so relaxed when he works at a convenience store at night.
“Hey, Hong Geum-bo. What is your true identity?”
After paying the bill, I asked the guy who handed me the card.
"Me? Convenience store night job.”
“No, isn’t this your original job? what did you originally do? what do you do during the day Where is your house? Why did you write red and gold on your name tag?”
"hmm… … From the beginning, I lived part-time. In the past, I did a bit of nogada. Catch it during the day. If you work at night, you have to sleep for a long time because the quality of sleep during the day is poor. I live in Namchang-dong, above Namdaemun Market... … What else did you ask? Ah, Hong Geum-bo is a nickname since childhood. My real name is Keun-bae. Geunbae Hwang. Ahaha.” (pp. 96-97)

"student. This is a discarded sandwich 17 minutes old. Would you like to eat?”
A man in a uniform vest that was so tight on his body that the buttons were about to burst at any moment held out a pork cutlet sandwich to Mingyu. For a moment, Mingyu's clown inevitably shook. Between his favorite pork cutlet sandwich and his mother's advice not to eat anything others gave him, Mingyu had to think quickly.
“This is delicious. I really like it too.”
Mingyu's vigilance grew at the man's words.
“But why are you giving this to me?”
“Um, that… … It's because I also have a tonkatsu lunch box that was 17 minutes old. Ahaha.”
"ah… … .” (Page 133)

I came down the hill in Cheongpa-dong and passed a small three-way intersection with an ALWAYS convenience store. He reached the main road and walked down the back road to Seoul Station. Following the shade provided by the ginkgo tree, exhaling through the mask, I passed the Galwol-dong street and took the escalator up to Seoul Station. After passing through Seoul Station while cooling off with the air conditioner, Mingyu took the escalator down to the underpass and found Exit 11 of Seoul Station. It wasn't easy for him, but he found his way through the crowds and took exit 11, where he found a path leading up towards Namsan. Damn, it's uphill. Mingyu climbed the uphill like an adventurer marching toward a remote area. He was short of breath in the sweltering weather even though it was still morning, but he couldn't give up the library with many books, canteens and air conditioning. (page 157)

A convenience store on a summer night without customers is like a refrigerator. Like a refrigerator that works non-stop in the silence of the night, convenience stores operate without stopping for twenty-four hours. Just as refrigerators have compressors to create cold air, convenience stores have clerks to generate profits. And just like a compressor makes sounds like uh, wing, and weeng, Keunbae also made sounds from time to time. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Geun-bae made noises when displaying things, stretching to chase sleep, and reading books in his free time. As if to confirm that he was alive, as if to let him know that he was trapped in the refrigerator, Geun-bae spoke to himself. Then, as if a customer would come in and prove the clerk's reason for being awake tonight. (Page 163)

Compare cancer, worry poison.
It was something her mother always said to Geun-bae.
"son. Comparison is cancer, worry is poison. Living in a difficult world, think only of me now and live.” (page 186)

When the corona era began, I started a part-time job and met various people while doing a lot of work. People struggled as if the mask was blocking their breath. Jobs were scarce or precarious, dirty or dangerous. Someone rich would have been able to focus on their work in their own time and space by wearing a good mask and keeping distance, but for the urban poor like Geun-bae, the corona era was no different from an exhibition system. I had to worry about survival, and after being infected, I was evacuated like an injured soldier, and it was impossible to recover. (page 203)

Seafood lunch box.
Minshik let out a mocking laugh. Once, when business was going well, I really only ate delicacies. I became a regular at a restaurant where political and business figures go, visited restaurants with seasonal cuisine, and enjoyed a dinner course at a hotel. But now, the red ones are side dishes and the white ones are rice. Even the name of the lunch box seemed to make fun of him. (Page 216)

There were countless questions and the voice of my heart to put in those questions, but I was silent. I don't know if it's for his son or for myself. It was clear, though, that we were both going through hard times. For a year and a quarter of the time, I was becoming more alone than alone here. It wasn't just because of the non-face-to-face days. It was necessary days immediately, but I had to soak my whole body in the time that contained certain ingredients that were lacking because I couldn't take care of it. (pp. 248-249)

Publisher book review

Welcome back.
This is ALWAYS convenience store in Cheongpa-dong.

Summer, a year and a half after Dokgo left,
A new nighttime part-time job comes to the ALWAYS convenience store in Cheongpa-dong.
This man, who reminds us of someone with his large size and burdensome behavior,
Despite the scoldings from store manager Seon-sook and the pressure from president Min-shik,
I spend a leisurely night at the convenience store...

A place where hearts stay, stories come and go, and tears and laughter burst
The deeper story of the convenience store that I keep wanting to go to despite being inconvenient begins!

Where is the man who recovered her memory while guarding the dawn here 1 year and 6 months ago? She said that she spent the cold winter here warmly, but where is she staying in this tropical summer? I heard that this refrigerator-like convenience store, which was not cool enough, was a warm stove-like space in the winter when he was there... … Was it really so?
Geun-bae projected Dok-go’s image all over the convenience store. It wasn't easy, but that was his job.
_in the text


A more immersive story and a character full of questions
People going through difficult times gather at the convenience store again!

Welcome back
This is ALWAYS convenience store in Cheongpa-dong.

A novel that has been loved by readers for more than a year after its publication and has been at the top of the bestseller list, Kim Ho-yeon's "Inconvenient Convenience Store" came back with the second story. 『Inconvenient Convenience Store』, which warmly and pleasantly depicts the lives of our neighbors living in difficult times, set in a small convenience store in Cheongpa-dong alley, recorded a record of 700,000 copies sold and number one overall bestseller counted by Kyobo Bookstore, Youngpoong Bookstore, and Yes24 in the first half of 2022. has built In 2021, it was selected as Yes24's 'Book of the Year', and in 2022, it was selected one after another as 'Book of the Year' selected by citizens from 25 local governments across the country.
The story of the first episode, which starts with Dokgo, a homeless man at Seoul Station, working at a convenience store at night, gave a calm impression with unpredictable laughter and warmth. 『Inconvenient Convenience Store 2』 continues the wit and deep gaze of the previous part and attracts readers with a more compelling story. The novel begins by sketching a convenience store on a summer day, a year and a half after the time of the first episode. In the meantime, the world has changed and the ALWAYS convenience store in Cheongpa-dong has also changed in many ways. The introductory description of having to wear a mask even in the suffocating heat makes us guess that corona exists in reality in the novel. Seon-sook, who was frustrated by the discord with her son, became the manager, and Mrs. Yeom's troublemaker son Min-sik, who begged to sell her convenience store, became the president. Speaking of the president, Min-sik is not interested in management, talking about profits, and only focusing on reducing expenses such as weekly allowances. … . Meanwhile, as Mr. Kwak, who was in charge of the night shift as Dok-go's successor, quits and a new night shift job comes in, the convenience store faces a change once again.
The new part-time job is a man in his 40s whose big size and burdensome behavior reminds him of someone. He boasts a splendid part-time job as if he were a human part-timer, but his convenience store job is clumsy. Besides, he is a talkative person and can't stop talking, so he often takes criticism from the store manager, Seon-sook. Either that or not, he wears a name tag with the nickname Hong Geum-bo written on his chest instead of Hwang Geun-bae, and goes out to the convenience store at night, welcoming customers at a leisurely pace.

A place where hearts gather, stories pile up, and tears and laughter burst
The deeper story of the convenience store that I keep wanting to go to despite being inconvenient begins!

Keun-bae approaches customers and colleagues who visit the convenience store with amazing affinity and listens to their stories. Colleague So-jin, a job seeker who thinks of herself as a hodgepodge who almost got hit by a notorious black company after failing to get a job, and the president of a nearby butcher restaurant, Choi, who is terrified of drinking alone at an outdoor table at a convenience store every night because business is not working due to corona distancing. Mingyu, a high school student who spends more time at home due to classes, is hurt by the poor family environment and frequent quarrels between his mother and father. Geun-Bae's interest in them is sometimes regarded as 'Latte', 'Ojilap', and 'Nasty conceit', but 'Sincereness with goodwill' is eventually conveyed to the other person. He even moves the heart of president Min-sik, who is full of bluff and bravado.
When Geun-bae hands a light brown drink to So-jin, who is crying out of upset, and asks for a toast with a drink that looks like beer next to President Choi, who is drinking alone, Min-gyu, who visits the convenience store to avoid the heat and the house every day, is given a product that has just passed its expiration date as a snack. When divided into , Dokgo overlaps without fail in the mind of the reader. In fact, Geun-bae often thinks of Dok-go in the quiet dawn.

Where is the man who recovered his memory 1 year and 6 months ago while watching the dawn here? He said that he spent the cold winter here warmly, but where is he staying in this tropical summer? I heard that this refrigerator-like convenience store, which was not cool enough, was a warm stove-like space in the winter when he was there... … Was it really so? Geun-bae projected Dok-go’s image all over the convenience store. It wasn't easy, but that was his job. (Page 164)