Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Competition or Admiration
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"Hey, wait a sec..."
The office after Do-han had left.
'...Hold on.'
Unfinished words lingered in Hwa-young's mouth.
How long had it been since she'd been treated like this? Hwa-young sat there in a daze, rummaging through her memories.
Before becoming a Hero, and even after. Times like this could be counted on one hand. Practically nonexistent.
"...".
Hwa-young stared blankly at the office door Do-han had exited through.
The reason she'd offered him the manager job was simple. She wanted to see Yoon Seol's reaction.
If the prince who melted that haughty princess's ice was by her side, what kind of face would she make?
Would she get angry? Choke up? Or pretend it didn't bother her at all?
She just had to know.
His unusual personal details piqued her interest a bit, but Do-han was merely a tool for that. Nothing more, nothing less.
But.
"...".
Hwa-young stood up and watched through the window as Do-han left the building.
"...You're more interesting than I thought."
Several days after the meeting with Hwa-young.
I'd thought she might drop by the shop at least once more, but fortunately, she never showed up again.
"Ajusshi."
"...I told you to call me Boss here at the shop."
"No one's around anyway."
...The problem was, not only Hwa-young—no other customers had come today either.
As Ji-ah said, it was just me and her in the shop. And we'd been open for quite a while now.
'I thought we'd been getting a decent crowd lately...'
This was why running a business was tough. Especially for a niche place like a cocktail bar.
Luckily, since it was the building where that murder happened, the landlord barely charged rent, so we could breathe... Wait.
'...Is it ethically okay to say I'm glad there was a murder?'
As I questioned my own morals,
Ding.
The shop's entrance bell rang for the first time today.
"Welcome... Oh, sigh."
It was the customer I'd been waiting for, but the moment I saw who it was, a reflexive sigh escaped me.
Familiar hat and sunglasses. And red hair sparkling under the lights.
"...What brings you here today?"
"To scout you."
Dressed just like last time, Hwa-young had come to my shop.
...This time holding what looked like a contract in one hand.
"You, huh? See, he really is interested in you, Ajusshi..."
No, that's not it, Ji-ah.
While Ji-ah, oblivious to the situation, jumped to weird conclusions, Hwa-young immediately handed me the paper she'd been holding.
'One-Day Manager Contract?'
As expected, it was a contract. The specifics read as follows:
[Party A (Hwa-young) employs Party B (Kim Do-han) as a one-day manager, and Party B shall perform the duties listed below at Party A's request.]
- Manage and adjust the Hero's daily activity schedule.
- Reserve and manage events, interviews, shoots, meetings, etc., related to Hero activities.
- Provide support for other activities.
If I had to compare, it seemed similar to an idol manager's duties.
Work hours: 10 AM to 6 PM. Daily pay...
'...That's way too much.'
For just 8 hours. One day only. And yet the pay was beyond imagination.
"What do you think? Tempted now?"
Hwa-young asked with a confident smile.
Like last time. Why was she so fixated on me?
I cut straight to the point.
"Why offer this to me specifically?"
"Hmm. Didn't I tell you last time? My manager quit... er, resigned."
"Then anyone else would do, right?"
If word got out that Hero Hwa-young was hiring a manager, people would line up for the chance.
Yet she was insisting on me. Truth be told, I had a pretty good guess why.
"...".
I leaned close to her ear, still smiling at me.
It was something Ji-ah shouldn't overhear.
"A-Ajusshi?!"
Ji-ah, watching from a distance, seemed startled. Probably just my imagination.
"Oh my. You're being bold."
Her face seemed a bit flushed for some reason, but I whispered softly.
"Is this offer because of Hero Yoon Seol?"
What I'd sensed from yesterday's meeting was that Hwa-young paid a lot of attention to Yoon Seol.
...Whether it was affection, jealousy, or something darker, I couldn't say.
From our talk, she seemed to misunderstand my relationship with Yoon Seol as something special.
So my guess was, this offer was deliberately meant to poke at Yoon Seol...
"Hmm. Who knows~?"
Hwa-young gazed at me with a meaningful smile in response to my question.
...The moment my guess turned to certainty.
"You look like you're hesitating... Hmm. How about this?"
She glanced around the shop slowly.
"This cocktail bar. I'll help out a bit. Can't do direct ads, but one Insta post should be fine."
Backdoor promo?
A proposal that might stir some social controversy!
...Not really.
Events giving a free drink for an Insta or Facebook review were pretty standard promo tactics.
"...".
Why Hwa-young made that offer.
Probably because, aside from her, there were zero customers in my shop right now.
It was 10 PM, prime time for a cocktail bar. Not a good sign, obviously.
"Gotta pay that cute little lady her wages, right? I'm pretty popular, you know."
A celebrity mention was huge promo for a shop.
I'd been toying with making an Insta account lately, so her offer was even more appealing.
Especially since she was Hwa-young, one of the top Heroes alongside Yoon Seol.
"...".
But accepting too readily still felt off.
People's favors usually hid motives.
"What, you're greedier than I thought. Want more? Hold on."
Maybe sensing my hesitation, Hwa-young sighed like it couldn't be helped.
She pulled a fountain pen from her pocket.
She struck through the salary on the contract I'd handed her and wrote a new number to the right.
'Does she think I'm holding out for more money?'
If so, she'd be wrong.
"Sorry, but I can't be bought with mo—"
Wait. Glancing at the amount on the contract... one, ten... hundred? Per day?
"...Looking forward to working with you."
"Ajusshi?!"
It was too much money to turn down.
Why did that quote pop into my head—If money can't buy it, it's just because you don't have enough?
"Alright, then. Wednesday this week, as written. See you then."
She left the shop with a satisfied look.
"That customer left without ordering... What did you say to her?"
Maybe to avoid interrupting our talk, Ji-ah had watched from afar and now approached lightly.
She scanned the contract on the bar table.
"...Oh my god."
Realizing the customer who'd just left was Hwa-young, her face lit up in near shock.
"A-Ajusshi. B-Bend down a sec."
She beckoned me to bring my ear close. Whispering, maybe.
'Why whisper...?'
No customers around.
"Knew it. You really were a famous retired Hero...!"
I told you no.
Modern Hero management companies differ somewhat from those handling regular celebrities.
Unlike idols whose main income is events and shows, Heroes' core duty is responding to Villain incidents.
Thus, Heroes under management firms often use the company as their base.
Yoon Seol was a prime example. But if they had their own office or base outside, they might not commute daily. Hwa-young was a case like that.
"Oh. Hwa-young. Long time no see?"
"Hehe. Hello, Boss."
Kim Soo-ah, president of Hero Management—the one Yoon Seol called "Boss Sister"—met Hwa-young in the hallway and greeted her with an awkward smile.
"So, what brings you here today? You look pretty happy."
"...That obvious? Something good happened."
"I-I see. What's the company business then?"
Honestly, Soo-ah found her a bit uncomfortable.
Unlike Yoon Seol, who'd signed with her firm right at Hero debut, Hwa-young had joined after gaining fame.
No one knew her true intentions. Big agencies would've welcomed her with open arms.
"Gotta show my face here sometimes. And check on our princess."
"Princess? Oh... Seol, right?"
She seemed oddly fixated on Seol.
Competition? Or admiration?
Soo-ah hoped for the latter.