Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Suspicious Customer (2)
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"Your ordered Catharsis is ready."
"…."
The woman silently took the cocktail glass I offered her. Was she the quiet type, maybe?
Well, just like how some people don't like it when hairdressers chat them up at the salon, there are customers at a cocktail bar who don't appreciate the bartender striking up a conversation.
For the record, I'm one of them. My default at the salon is to close my eyes and pretend I'm sleeping.
'Just a difference in tastes.'
Usually, those kinds of customers prefer sitting at a table rather than the bar counter... but that didn't make it particularly strange.
"Ajusshi. The two customers at that table over there ordered a pepperoni pizza and two Pineapple Fizzes."
"Got it. And."
I spoke to Ji-ah cautiously.
"When there are customers around, call me Boss. Okay, Ji-ah?"
Ajusshi felt a bit off.
*
A little while later, Ji-ah finished clearing the table where the customers had left and came over to me.
"Um, ajusshi."
"…I told you to call me Boss in front of customers."
"Got it.... But isn't that person over there just staring at you the whole time?"
Ji-ah whispered to me in a quiet voice.
"…."
At the end of Ji-ah's gaze sat that peculiar customer from earlier.
Her sunglasses were too dark to see her eyes, but I could tell her attention was fixed on me.
She couldn't possibly have fallen for the way I shook the shaker... right? Obviously not.
"Um, could you take this order here?"
"Ah, sure!"
After that, Ji-ah went off to take orders from another table, leaving just me and that customer at the bar counter.
"Hey, bartender."
At that moment, she—who had been quietly sipping her cocktail while looking my way—called out to me.
"Yes?"
"I've got something to talk to you about. Mind coming over here for a sec?"
"Talk about?"
I approached her, puzzled. What could she want to discuss?
"A little closer. Just a bit more."
Her lips curved up as she took a sip of her drink.
The moment that faint smile appeared, she whispered to me.
"Our darling. What's your deal with Hero Yoon Seol?"
"…."
I stared at her face, wondering if I'd misheard.
She still wore that subtle smile, her lips slightly upturned.
I couldn't see her eyes behind the sunglasses, but my gut told me she was definitely amused.
"Haha. No idea what you're talking about, ma'am."
I played it cool at first, but...
"Don't lie. Hero Yoon Seol's been pacing around the office like a dog desperate to take a dump lately. And it's all because of you."
...she shot back as if she already knew everything.
Her casual remark sent ripples through the calm of my mind.
'Hero Yoon Seol? Office?'
What was her connection to Hero Yoon Seol that she could say something like that?
As various thoughts tangled in my head, Ji-ah—back from taking orders at another table—approached me right on cue.
"Boss. What's wrong?"
"Huh, what?"
"Looks like an interloper showed up, so I should get going. Oh, bartender. Mind lending me your ear real quick?"
A request similar to before.
Too intrigued by what she'd just said to refuse.
In the end, I leaned in toward her face as she asked, and...
"The office might not be ideal, so come to my personal studio. Address is on the card. I'll be waiting."
With that, she slipped something into my jacket pocket and stood up.
She asked Ji-ah to handle the bill, then leisurely exited the shop.
"…What was that just now? Was she hitting on you?"
Once the payment was done, Ji-ah came over with a slightly displeased tone.
"Beats me."
What she'd tucked into my jacket pocket was,
***
Later, after closing up shop, on the way home.
Ji-ah and I walked the somewhat empty street, chatting about this and that.
"Good work today. Not too tired? Working till 2 a.m. is tougher than it seems."
"I'm fine. I used to do night shifts at a convenience store before."
"Oh, yeah?"
Come to think of it, she had mentioned that. Saved me the trouble of teaching her the POS system.
"…Though I quit because creepy college kids and ajusshis kept confessing to me."
Ji-ah made a weary face.
"Ah, aha…."
I could roughly guess what happened.
"And the owner kept trying to cut my pay, saying I was too young. So I quit on the spot in a huff."
"What a jerk. Oh, right."
As I nodded along, a sudden realization hit me.
'Come to think of it, I'm in the position of having to pay Ji-ah her daily wage.'
I'd prepared an envelope before opening shop, but where did I put it... Ah, here it is.
"Here. Your pay for today."
I pulled a white envelope containing Ji-ah's wage from my jacket's inner pocket and handed it to her.
She looked a bit stunned, clearly not expecting it right then.
"Huh? Oh. Thank you…."
She carefully checked inside the envelope, then looked at me with wide-eyed surprise.
"Ajusshi. Isn't this... too much?"
"Huh? I put in exactly minimum wage…?"
Truth be told, I'd have loved to give more, but my pockets weren't that deep.
That aside, to be so shocked by this amount...
It made me a little sad, imagining the treatment she'd gotten from past part-time gigs.
"I-it's okay...? You're already letting me stay and eat here, so even less than this would be…"
"Nah. Don't make me out to be some shady boss."
Ji-ah still seemed a tad dazed.
She clutched the envelope to her chest preciously and said,
"…Thank you. I'll work hard."
Ji-ah broke into a beaming smile. The kind that warmed anyone who saw it.
'Kinda embarrassing….'
Getting such gratitude just for paying a part-timer her wage as the boss. Felt like I came out ahead somehow.
Crunch crunch
A slightly awkward but comfortable vibe enveloped us as we walked.
The city was still bustling. Car horns, neon signs, people's laughter, distant music.
Sounds that were mere background noise when walking alone now felt oddly pleasant with company.
'Am I the type who gets lonely?'
I'd never really thought so. Maybe it was the late hour making me sentimental.
"…."
Ji-ah walked silently beside me, clutching the envelope like a treasure.
'That happy over it? Should've slipped in a bit more.'
Call it weird, but it felt like I understood why adults give kids pocket money.
Ji-ah would probably get mad if I said that.
Lost in such trivial thoughts as we walked, I suddenly recalled the incident at the shop.
"Our darling. What's your deal with Hero Yoon Seol."
That customer had seemed awfully suspicious.
I fiddled with the business card in my pocket and asked Ji-ah,
"Hey, Ji-ah. You know a hero named Hwa-young?"
"Of course. She's from the same management company as Hero Yoon Seol who came in today. Super popular."
...From how she treated Hero Yoon Seol earlier, I'd sensed it, but Ji-ah was surprisingly knowledgeable about heroes.
I'd only seen her once or twice on TV and didn't even know they were from the same company.
"But why bring her up all of a sudden?"
"Oh, uh? Just curious."
What to do. Should I just tell her the truth?
'The customer from earlier slipped me her card, and it said Hero Hwa-young.'
But if I said that, I'd have to explain what we talked about,
"Don't lie. Hero Yoon Seol's been pacing around the office like a dog desperate to take a dump lately. And it's all because of you."
Which would drag in the whole thing with Hero Yoon Seol last time.
"…."
That wasn't a decision I could make alone. Ji-ah didn't seem the type, but... you never know with people.
If rumors spread, I'd have no face left to show Hero Yoon Seol later.
As I hesitated, Ji-ah dropped the subject and changed topics without prying.
"Oh. Right, that customer who just left. The one with the hat pulled low who whispered to you."
"Yeah."
"Was that... y'know, her hitting on you?"
Ji-ah asked about the shop incident, her face faintly flushed for some reason.
'Well, that's normal for her age.'
Prime age for being obsessed with romance.
"Nah, nothing like that. She was just complimenting the cocktails."
"And she had to whisper it...?"
"Probably embarrassed for others to hear."
Ji-ah eyed me with a soft "hmm," clearly a bit skeptical.
She didn't seem to demand an explanation, though.
'...Would've been better if it was flirting like Ji-ah said.'
With those thoughts, we arrived home before I knew it.
"Well, good night."
"You too, Ji-ah."
Even right up until I fell asleep, my mind kept replaying the day's events at the shop.
"The office might not be ideal, so come to my personal studio. Address is on the card."
Sheesh. Did she think I was someone she could beckon at will?
'Yeah. I'll ignore it and prep for opening tomorrow.'
I had plenty to do... or not, really. Anyway.
With that resolve to never go to the address she mentioned, I drifted off to sleep...
"Haa…."
...and the next day, I headed to the address on the card from that customer.
Well.