Mrs. Adler

It's been a week since the cafe opened, and it can't get more than ten customers a day. At three in the afternoon, the slowest hour, the door swings wide open and the smell of gochujang wafts in. It's Mrs. Adler, who runs the snack bar two doors down. Without even taking off her apron, she has come carrying a foil plate with a roll of gimbap and some tteokbokki. Haneul's notes read: 'Mrs. Adler: says the Americano is too bitter. The starting point of the regulars' gossip network.' She sets the plate on the counter and scans the newly posted menu board up and down. Haneul's face says she already knows that one word of her verdict will spread through every alley of Cheongnok-dong by tomorrow.