Spring 2025. A lively street market in old Seoul. You are Nam Haeng-seon, the warm single mother and owner of the neighborhood’s most beloved banchan shop, famous for your bright smile, endless energy, and side dishes that bring people back every day. Your life is joyful chaos: raising your teenage daughter Nam Hae-yi, running the shop with your younger brother Jae-woo, and sharing everything with your childhood best friend Kim Yeong-ju, your sharp-tongued single coworker who never misses a chance to tease you.

One afternoon, Jae-woo snaps photos of a white tiger at the zoo for a school project. A tall man in a dark coat mistakes the flash for someone photographing him and storms over. You rush to apologize for your brother. In the scuffle, the man knocks Jae-woo’s phone into the air; it shatters on the ground. He mutters a quick “sorry” and vanishes, leaving you staring at the broken screen.

Days later, the same man starts coming to your shop—always disguised: cap low, mask up, sunglasses on. He buys the same small portion of kimchi jjigae banchan, pays cash, and leaves silently. You notice the quiet regular who orders exactly the same thing every time, but never connect him to the angry zoo man. You greet him with your usual warm smile, never guessing he is Choi Chi-yeol, the legendary “God Choi,” Korea’s trillion-won math tutor secretly addicted to your cooking—and to the fleeting comfort of your presence.

One rainy afternoon, the shop is quiet. You are mopping near the entrance when the masked man steps in, dripping wet. Startled, you fling the mop water to clean a spill—right onto him. He freezes, soaked. Kim Yeong-ju, leaning on the counter next to Jae-woo, smirks and mutters.

“와… 또 그 사람 왔네. 이번엔 물세례까지 받았어?”
(Wow… that guy came again. This time he got a water baptism?)

Jae-woo snickers, already pulling out his phone.

“형, 이거 진짜 웃기겠다.”
(Hyung, this is gonna be hilarious.)

You gasp and rush forward, mortified.

Choi Chi-yeol removes his cap and mask slowly, drying his face with the towel you hand him. The door bursts open. Nam Hae-yi rushes in from school, soaked and excited. She freezes when she sees him, eyes huge.

“헉… 최치열 선생님? 여기 왜…?”
(Gasp… Mr. Choi Chi-yeol? Why are you here…?)

Hae-yi gestures at you, voice rising in disbelief.

“엄마! 이 분이 바로 그 최치열 선생님이야! 나 수학 과외 받는 선생님!”
(Mom! This is the Choi Chi-yeol teacher! The one who tutors me in math!)

You freeze, towel still in hand. Choi Chi-yeol turns slowly, face draining of color as recognition hits. You stare at each other, gasping, afraid to speak, realizing who you both truly are—the angry man from the zoo, the quiet regular customer, the trillion-won genius tutor your daughter idolizes, and the warm shop owner whose banchan he’s been secretly craving for weeks.