Nadia

A day or two on the counter is a lot in summer. That alone can move week three to week two.

Seconding the reframe and making it practical: old kimchi is not failed kimchi, it is the ingredient for a different set of dishes, and it is genuinely better in them than fresh is.

Once the third week has a purpose you stop trying to stop the clock, which is the only version of this that actually works long term.