Chapter 68
Chapter 68
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Is the Author Omnipotent?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
One week later.
My parents returned from their Europe trip.
"Did you have a good trip?"
"Oh, my son. Thanks for coming to pick us up."
"Of course I had to."
My father asked as I lightly hugged my mother.
"Yeah, we had a great time thanks to you. How's the store been?"
"Honey! After a week away, the first thing you say when you see your son is about the store?"
"Ahem."
A smile crept onto my lips at the sight of my parents, unchanged as ever.
"The store's doing great. Min-ju's been handling everything really well."
"Really?"
My father gave me a skeptical look.
Laughing at his expression, I grabbed their suitcase.
"You must be hungry. I made a reservation at a restaurant—let's go eat."
"You even made a reservation? I was dying for some Korean food anyway."
"You can't go back to Europe twice. They have Korean food, but it just doesn't taste right."
"Oh, come on! If we get the chance, we should go again."
I led the way as my parents chatted.
* * *
After dinner, we arrived home.
Before even unpacking, my father grabbed his jacket.
"Where are you going?"
"To check on the store."
"You should rest today."
"No. After being away for a week, I just can't relax. I need to see it for myself to feel at ease."
My father was the type who hated leaving his work to others.
Most men his age were like that.
They had to finish their own tasks themselves or at least see it with their own eyes to be satisfied.
Knowing that side of him, I stood up as well.
"I'll come with you. Mom, we'll be back from the store!"
"What do you mean, the store? You haven't even unpacked... Goodness..."
Leaving my sighing mother behind, father and son headed out.
The store was just a five-minute drive, so we arrived quickly.
"Huh? Why are there so many customers?"
As I parked, my father peered inside and exclaimed in surprise.
The store had always been dead quiet, so the bustling scene felt totally out of place.
"You'll see when you go in."
I didn't explain and finished parking.
My father, in such a hurry, got out before I'd even turned off the engine and rushed inside.
I followed behind.
Ding-a-ling-!
"Welcome...! Oh?! Boss!"
"Huh? Yeah."
My father's eyes filled with puzzlement as he saw Min-ju greeting him with a bright smile.
The Min-ju he knew never smiled while greeting customers.
She was always curt—just a greeting and the checkout.
This version was unfamiliar.
"Checkout, please."
"Yes! I'll ring you up."
It wasn't just the greeting.
Her whole demeanor toward customers had changed.
'Heh... Did he work some magic?'
My father glanced back at me with wonder.
"I'll help out too. Dad, you take a break."
"Oh? Should I?"
I passed him and headed to the counter.
Standing at the empty POS terminal, I started helping with checkouts.
Meanwhile, my father looked around the store.
'The displays have been rearranged.'
He frowned for a moment.
Changing displays made it harder to find things.
That was why you usually avoided messing with them.
'Hm?'
But something was off.
Even though they'd changed, finding items was surprisingly easy.
'Oh ho... Did Tae-seong organize this so well?'
It wasn't just the displays.
The stockroom items were organized so you could tell at a glance where everything was.
'No wonder the store looks so much bigger like this.'
Just from tidying up, the place felt more spacious.
With organization this good, he'd adapt in no time.
"Thank you! Come again!"
As he emerged from the stockroom, he saw Min-ju smiling brightly and bidding farewell to a customer.
'She looks so much better when she smiles like that.'
Before, even if you told her to smile, it only lasted a second.
She was diligent, showed up every day without being late or absent, and it was hard to find a replacement—that's why he'd kept her.
Seeing her smile at every customer felt good.
'How did he pull off all this?'
My father found his son, who'd done all this, fascinating.
So he stood to the side, watching me work.
"Thank you, come again."
There was genuine sincerity in my soft baritone as I met customers' eyes and bowed politely.
"The bread is over here."
I responded quickly and accurately to customers looking for items.
I didn't just explain—I came out from the counter and guided them right to it.
Customers appreciated that.
And one more person.
Min-ju was watching me closely too, mimicking how I'd handled customers.
"Hmm..."
A sudden thought struck him.
'How did I treat customers?'
It was a question he'd never considered while running the store.
Pondering it, memories of his own customer interactions flooded back.
His face flushed red.
'I was no different from Min-ju.'
He'd always sat at the counter with a stern face.
Proper greetings were rare.
He just checked them out when they came.
For those asking where things were, he gave verbal directions.
He'd never gone to fetch it himself.
'Expecting Min-ju to do a good job when I set such a poor example— that was selfish.'
It was unreasonable to demand perfection from a part-timer when the owner slacked.
'Heh... I've turned into one of those old fogeys without realizing it.'
There was a time he'd vowed never to become that kind of adult.
But seeing himself now, mirroring them, felt bittersweet.
'I'll start doing it right myself.'
Steeling his resolve, Jeong Gi-yong watched how I treated customers, trying to etch it in his mind.
"Hmm... No apple juice?"
Just then, a customer was hunting for an item.
Jeong Gi-yong lightly slapped his cheek and approached with a smile.
"Sir, looking for something?"
His attitude toward the customer was already different.
* * *
Weekend evening.
I sat with my parents in front of the TV, snacking on fruit.
"Tae-seong, Mask Singer's about to start."
"Got it."
I changed the channel at my mother's words.
"But is the Mask King still that guy? The one with Pen on White Paper or whatever."
"Yeah. Still the Mask King."
"He's lasted a while. You enter the Hall of Fame after defending five times, right?"
"Yep, after five defenses."
My father nodded at my answer.
Mask Singer had one unique rule.
The Mask King ascended to the Hall of Fame after five successful defenses.
The Mask King who reached the fifth defense stepped down still masked.
Meaning, their identity remained a secret forever.
Because of that, the audience held the fifth-defense Mask King to a harsh standard.
If it wasn't now, the chance to learn their identity was gone—so any slip-up or subpar performance got votes thrown against them without mercy.
Naturally, very few had made it to the Hall of Fame.
"How many have gone into the Hall of Fame so far?"
"Two, I think."
"Right, two."
I confirmed my mother's words.
"Hmm, wonder if this Pen on White Paper guy will make it too."
"Who knows? There are still plenty of rounds left."
"True, fair point."
My father nodded at my words.
I had no particular interest in the Hall of Fame.
Week by week.
I just poured in my best effort.
"It's starting."
I smiled watching my mother stare at the TV with sparkling, girlish eyes.
Seeing her like that meant my reason for appearing was more than fulfilled.
* * *
[The Mask King Pen on White Paper succeeds in his third defense!]
[Can he make it all the way to five?]
[Netizens continue to debate the identity of Pen on White Paper.]
[Just who is Pen on White Paper?]
Monday.
Entertainment news exploded with Mask Singer coverage.
The hot topic was, of course, the current Mask King, Pen on White Paper.
Having crushed his third defense by a landslide, he'd delivered stellar performances every round.
"Did you watch Mask Singer last night?"
"Of course. These days, I'm camped out in the living room for the live Sunday broadcast."
The office buzzed every Monday with Mask Singer talk.
After lunch, during break, employees gathered to chat about it.
The office was close enough that their conversation reached my ears clearly.
"I was shocked when he sang that idol song this round."
"Everyone says so. Never expected a BtoB track."
Third defense battle.
The song I'd chosen was BtoB's "Beautiful and Painful."
No special reason.
I just liked the song.
"All the people guessing he was older based on this pick got hit hard."
"Yeah, yeah. I thought he was pretty old from the previous songs too."
"First round was Family Photo, second was Kim Sang-min's You, third Millennium Love."
"Right. Family Photo's recent, but the singer's Kim Jin-ho from SG Wannabe. You and Millennium Love are '90s and early 2000s tracks. So everyone figured at least thirties."
"Then bam, idol song—total backstab."
I hadn't aimed for that.
I just really liked the song.
"But who could it be?"
"Not many male singers casually hit high 3-octave."
"3-octave? He went up to 4!"
"Most think he's a rocker."
"Yeah, voice is deep but he scratches it out."
All sorts of singers' names got tossed around.
It was fun hearing the reactions up close.
"Representative-nim, who do you think it is?"
Then the question arrow flew my way.
"Right! You're close with the Mask Singer PD! And Gabriel's a regular now! Heard anything?"
I shook my head with a smile.
"Nope. They wouldn't spill with security that tight."
"True..."
"Yeah, makes sense."
"Alright, everyone, back to work."
"Yes!"
"Yep~"
Time to get back to tasks.
As I turned to my monitor, one article caught my eye.
[Can Pen on White Paper become the third Hall of Famer?]
Just two more wins, and I'd be in the Hall of Fame.
Before, I hadn't cared much.
I'd joined because Mom loved it, and that goal was met.
'Well, wouldn't hurt to go for it.'
I closed the internet and focused on work.