Just like photos, and just like songs,

Smells and tastes are also experts at triggering memories.

Actually, the smell and taste are more explicit.

The person in my memory, that scenery

I will bring it right in front of your eyes.

And it disappears. That is why it pierces my heart.

I was born and raised in Nonsan, Chungcheongnam-do.

If you think of it as the countryside where dragonflies fly around in sesame fields,

I was able to run straight to downtown where the Dallas hamburger was, and

After taking a bus for about an hour, I reached the huge city of Daejeon.

And Cheongju.

It was said that Cheongju is further away than Daejeon.

Probably in 1983, when my eldest sister entered Cheongju National University of Education and left home,

You have probably heard the place name Cheongju for the first time.

My eldest sister and I are twelve years apart in age.

Back then, it just wasn't like now,

I couldn't get any news about my older sister who had left home.

I wrote a letter, and my sister sent a reply.

I couldn't keep the letters my sister sent,

My sister keeps the letters I sent back then.

The reason my sister said she ate 'croquettes' at a place called Oseongdang in Cheongju is

Was it in a letter, or was it a story told when I returned home during vacation?

That was the first time I heard the word 'croquette,'

According to my sister, that thing I had never seen or heard of in my life should have had a truly amazing taste.

In the winter of 1985, wearing a watermelon-colored sweater knitted by my mother,

I once thought of croquettes while walking to school with a basketball.

It's always like this.

Taste shatters memories into tiny pieces.

And bring out each one to make them sparkle.

On my way to Cheongju in the spring of 2025, 40 years later

I am excited at the thought of packing Osungdang croquettes to take to my sister in Nonsan.

Osungdang was a 5-minute walk from the bus terminal.

At 10:30 in the morning, I open the door just in time for the croquettes to come out,

Looking through the window, sure enough, the tray was full,

Freshly fried croquettes were piled up.

When you order a croquette, they cut it in half and serve it. If you look at the cross-section...

Still steaming hot, with plenty of cabbage,

Plenty without being lacking, plenty without overflowing

It is filled up just like the filling of a North Korean-style dumpling.

Osungdang's croquettes were soft. Just as memories are soft.

Because it is not tough or rough,

I thought that even if it cooled down in the evening, it would stay like this all day.

I wonder if my sister remembers this taste.

Should I say it has changed a little?

I get on the bus holding a bag containing four croquettes.

Every city has an area commonly called 'downtown'.

In Daejeon, Eunhaeng-dong was like that, and in Cheongju, Seongan-gil is like that.

Seongangil used to be called 'Bonjeongtong' (a name from the Japanese colonial period), and

The name of the bus stop is 'Underground Shopping Center'.

Ah, to me, it smells so much like the 1980s.

There are four places I want to visit clustered together on Seongan-gil.

Gongwondang, Donggeurami, APM Tteokbokki, and the Original Gochu Manduguk House.

I went to Donggeurami about 10 years ago.

Because I remembered the name as 'Sunflower'

A happening where 'sunflower' still rolls off the tongue more than 'circle'.

The menu composition of Donggeurami always brings a smile to my face.

Hamburgers and bibim naengmyeon, just two things.

The freshly grilled patty is hot, and the sesame-studded bread is soft.

Once again, a heaping pile of cabbage is suddenly thrust into my mouth.

And a custom chorus of ketchup and mayonnaise.

In such a mild hamburger,

Bibim Naengmyeon is in the direction of restraining sweetness

It pairs with hamburgers.

Ah, if only there were Oran-C pineapple flavor in a bottle...

At APM Tteokbokki , after selecting your menu and paying outside,

It is a system where you sit down and eat inside.

That’s what Hongdae Gangster Tteokbokki was like; I keep thinking about it.

They say if you don't know APM Tteokbokki in Cheongju, you're a spy.

It is definitely a representative and symbolic taste.

Cheongju is called an education city.

It seems like it has been like that for a long time.

However, the way I take this is a bit odd, so,

An education city would mean there are many schools and students, so in that case...

How many great tteokbokki restaurants are there? It flows on like this.

Even when I went to Gongju, which is also called an educational city

I felt unnecessarily excited, thinking that 'that very snack bar' would be there.

So, what I am looking for is probably memory.

Things that are a friend's lunchbox side dishes, a sweater knitted by Mom, and a letter from my older sister.

I liked the forks and chairs at APM Tteokbokki.

A small stainless steel fork with two windows.

A chair with black iron legs and a red, round cushion.

When you hold that fork, your mouth narrows like a bird's, and you chew the tteokbokki.

I get excited when I sit on that chair, even though my butt hurts.

If you turn into the alleyway past APM Tteokbokki,

There is another problematic tteokbokki place, Somunnan Bubu Tteokbokki,

It was Sunday, so it was closed. And right after that is Gongwondang .

From the park hall, Central Park is visible through the window.

Central Park has an old-fashioned charm,

It is not a newly created mood,

It is probably because it retained the scent of a place that was originally like this.

As soon as I entered the park hall, I smelled something.

And it became as if I were saying to someone, "Ah, I know this smell."

The smell of rich anchovy broth boiling vigorously in the pot

The scent of that generous steam lingering in the room for a long time,

A sensation that suddenly reveals that the time spent here is by no means short.

For some reason, I feel like I’m about to tear up.

Because it smells like the scent I smelled at Ilmidang in Nonsan, which has now disappeared.

If Ilmidang were still in Nonsan, I often talked about this with my sister as well.

The smell is so transparent and immediate.

Gongwondang opened in 1963.

At first, I sold bread, and now I make pork cutlets.

Among the grandfathers throwing Yut in the park outside the window

There must have been some who knew the taste of Gongwondang's bread.

And there is udon and buckwheat noodles.

The correct spelling of 'momil' is buckwheat, but we

I can guess the reason why it still has to be 'buckwheat noodles'.

Memory is stubborn, and we become gentle before it.

The 'buckwheat soba' at Gongwondang was really delicious.

There was nothing to add or subtract.

Here, only the belief that it had been like this from the beginning was neatly arranged.

That goes beyond the problem of the recipe.

It is because it is a promise.

I thought that a title like "The Park Party's Promise" must exist somewhere.

I leave the park and see the long line in front of Jjoljjol Hotteok.

Someone is building someone else's new memories in Cheongju.

It could be alongside mine, or it could pass by.

Imagining a time when we might merge someday

I took a few laps around Central Park to work up my stomach.

I sat down and slowly watched people basking in the spring sunshine.

The original chili dumpling soup restaurant is a place with so-called 'nationwide' recognition.

It makes sense that the related search term is 'waiting'.

So I deliberately went at an awkward time, and

I went right in and ordered spicy dumpling soup.

The chili peppers referred to the chili peppers in the broth, not the dumplings.

The red broth is spicy. No, it looks spicy.

In reality, it is not spicy, but the sharp, piquant flavor spreads neatly.

It unravels gently, without scratching at the inside.

That is the charm of pickled and fermented chili peppers.

However, the dried seaweed powder bothered me.

I have a preconceived notion that dried seaweed is just black fragments scattered anywhere without any reason.

Like pouring whole sesame seeds anywhere or spilling cheese anywhere.

I consider it a joke rather than cooking, and dried seaweed flakes fell into that category as well.

But that wasn't the case. There was a reason for the seaweed powder in this house.

Lo and behold, it was the perfect fit that couldn't be done without.

The dumplings were also good. To reveal the fancy broth

A body that exercises self-restraint. Such a sense of balance.

As I was leaving, I noticed that the original chili dumpling soup restaurant had two signs hanging side by side.

One is an old sign (hanging like a picture frame in a transparent acrylic box), and

One is a newly made sign.

I felt a warmth in my heart, thinking that this sense of balance must lead directly to the taste.

Now night falls, and I cross a bridge that looks like Musimcheon.

It is my first time staying overnight in Cheongju, and

The journey to find an old snack bar in Cheongju

It is scheduled to continue tomorrow morning with buying croquettes again at Osungdang.

Actually, earlier at Central Park,

I shared the croquettes I packed today with the men playing Yut.

I have to give tomorrow's croquettes to my eldest sister.

It is a new and good feeling.

Then, I will go to the final destination, Yongam-dong Country Grandma's Handmade Noodles .

A house that quickly prepares and shares lunch, then closes immediately.

I found out about this house for the first time yesterday.

While searching for this and that

I was instantly captivated by the photo of the kalguksu served in a large bowl that was nothing special .

It doesn't have to taste good, though that's unlikely to happen.

If it is a memory of kalguksu,

The first thing that comes to mind is Dol Bunsik, which used to be in front of the Nonsan County Office (now the Chuiam-dong Community Service Center).

That was a restaurant run by the mother of Choi Su-ran, who was in the same class as me in the fourth grade of elementary school, and

We used the excuse of doing homework together at Suran's house

I occupied the Dol Bunsik table day after day.

Then, without fail, hot kalguksu came to us.

Come to think of it now, that kalguksu had a lot of clams in it.

A kalguksu recipe that makes a red broth by dissolving red chili powder seasoning and tops it with crown daisies

Although it is called a typical Chungcheong-style yard, just because it is similar doesn't mean it's all there is to it,

I haven't been able to eat kalguksu like the one at Dolbunsik yet.

In a restaurant where the kitchen and dining area operate in perfect order

Each other's attitudes and tasks are bound to become clear.

The food comes out one after another, and the table is cleared one after another.

There is no need to ask twice about orders or requests.

Naturally, the customer's mind becomes at ease.

How much have they been in sync to be this natural?

The kalguksu was served in a large bowl, filled to the brim.

You can also add to the fun of eating by serving it in a large bowl.

If you scoop out just the noodles without the broth and add chili seasoning, it becomes spicy bibim guksu.

Another kalguksu with a spicy yet savory flavor from just a touch of fermented chili pepper.

Adding the bean sprouts and kimchi served as side dishes and mixing them with the seasoning creates a unique bibim guksu.

The delightful principle of one food having many faces

It unfolds rapidly.

And at 3 p.m., I close the door and roll out tomorrow's dough.

In one corner of the shop, there is a workbench covered in white flour like the first snow.

It is a neat and elegant workbench.

Doing the work as much as is required.

Finishing up, tidying up, and putting tools back properly.

Perhaps that is precisely the heart of food and love.

Because I kept eating flour-based foods one after another

It might have been a burden on your stomach,

This kalguksu settles simply and cleanly.

Instead, a sense of anticipation arose that I would visit here with my mom someday.

Next time, maybe I should visit Cheongju National University of Education, where my sister used to go.

Shall I take a walk down the alley in Sugok-dong where my sister's boarding house used to be?

What other tastes and memories will I stumble upon there by chance?

Leaving Cheongju, I pass by a plane tree-lined road.

It is a path I didn't notice when I entered Cheongju.

Right, Cheongju has long been famous for its plane tree-lined entrances.

That's right, you are definitely the trees from back then.

Hello, and goodbye.

I stared out the window for a long time.

Inside the bag, the bag containing Osungdang croquettes rustled.

Jang Woo-cheol

A writer and photographer. Lives between his hometown and Seoul. He is active in various fields, drawing on the unique sensibility he honed while working as an editor for 15 years. He has written the essays *Here and There*, *I Laughed Because I Liked It*, and *a boy cuts a flower*, and published the photo books *406ho* and *COLUMNED*. He runs his own atelier, 'Mirrored,' in Ihwa-dong, Jongno-gu.

Profile picture source ⓒ designpress (Ahn Ha-jin)