For as long as Lee Jinki could remember, he had been a lover of chicken. 10 years ago, on his SNS, Jinki had listed chicken as his favorite fruit to eat on an autumn day. He also listed eating chicken as his cheering-up activity on gloomy days. Jinki loved spicy chicken, soy chicken, garlic chicken, and every other chicken cuisine that he’d ever tried in his 30-year lifespan. Jinki’s friends sometimes about his “chicken mania,” but he doesn’t care about the teasing. No amount of teasing could discourage him from going out to his favorite restaurant to order his favorite chicken of all, fried chicken!

Jinki walked toward his favorite restaurant, Onew DuBu, sporting a goofy grin across his handsome features, causing his eyes to crinkle slightly. He tightened his teal scarf around his neck as a gush of wind brushed past him. He shivered slightly and quickened his pace, nearly tripping over the brightly colored fall leaves littering the walkway as he eagerly approached the restaurant. He could already smell it, the savory aroma of crispy fried chicken wafted over him as the restaurant loomed a few feet away.

As his hands touched the door of Onew DuBu, he paused briefly to regain his composure. He took a deep breath to calm his rapidly beating heart and slowly opened the door to the restaurant. At this moment, Jinki was so excited with the anticipation of having his favorite meal, that he had to resist the urge to leap for joy, as that certainly would have earned him strange looks from the other restaurant patrons. With an air of calmness that belied his bubbling excitement, Jinki informed the tall headwaiter, who was dressed in white from head to toe, that he wanted a table for one and coolly requested the Onew Chicken Special, a crispy whole chicken platter seasoned and fried to perfection. Jinki is a regular of Onew DuBu, coming 5 days out of the week, with the Onew Chicken Special being his standard order.

The headwaiter gave Jinki a slight knowing nod, before leading him to his usual table. He left a bottle of beer on Jinki’s table, before winking at Jinki and returning to his post at the front of the restaurant. Jinki’s table was somewhat secluded away from the other patrons. This allowed him to savor his meal with some privacy, but also allowed him to observe others as he pleased. Jinki lightly drummed his fingers on the table while waiting for his food. He noted that the restaurant was more crowded than usual. As he glanced around, he could see families and couples all around the restaurant. And every single patron was eating chicken! Why was everyone suddenly eating chicken at the tofu restaurant? What kind of strangeness is this? Jinki thought he had been the only patron who knew that Onew DuBu, widely known for their tofu dishes, was the best fried-chicken joint in town. Jinki shook his head wistfully and wondered if he would have to compete with others to get his heavenly fried chicken from now on.

Just then, Jinki was jolted out of his thoughts as a kindly server brought him the much anticipated Onew Chicken Special. Jinki’s mouth watered as he glanced down at the fried chicken in eager anticipation. He slowly leaned closer to the platter of chicken, wafting the fragrance up to his nose using his hand. He giggled with anticipation and gingerly lifted a drumstick to his mouth.

As he slowly chewed the drumstick, Jinki began to weep. No, these were not his usual tears of joy and happiness from savoring the Onew Chicken Special. These were bitter tears of sadness and despair. The amazingly crispy chicken that he’d loved so much, that he’d wanted to eat daily for as long as he could remember, had now suddenly become bland. Jinki signed despondently, unable to accept the end of his 30-year love affair. He wiped his bitter tears and forced himself to swallow the rest of the drumstick, chasing it down with a mouthful of beer. He never thought this day would come, a day when he no longer wanted chicken. Jinki stared down at his Onew Chicken Special, smiling sadly at the beautiful chicken he’d once loved more than anything in the world. “We’ll always have Onew DuBu,” Jinki said softly. He then signaled for his server. “I’ll take your best tofu dish,” he requested.