Putting the Third Balance Game to Use
I settled for fast-forwarding through the remaining twenty minutes. I could even crank it up to sixteen times speed.
"Hah—!"
The moment I opened my eyes, I knew exactly what situation I was in this time.
"Whew…"
The clock read 12:30. It was Sunday.
The first thing I needed to do the instant I woke up… was nothing in particular.
The scene I'd just watched was set for the next day — Monday. For now, it was enough to think about how I would step in.
Should I make her quit?
If it were up to me, I'd want to suggest she leave the job. Since they were coworkers, cutting off any chance of contact would be the cleanest solution. But I didn't even know exactly why Ajeong was working there, and even if it was for the money, it wasn't something I could fix for her. The male employee hadn't done anything immediately dangerous, either, so figuring out how to handle it was genuinely awkward.
For now, I should go back to being physical with her…
It wasn't that I wanted to — absolutely not — but increasing physical contact with her again seemed like a decent approach. The reason that guy would try again tomorrow was because Ajeong and I had been giving off an awkward vibe lately.
In the end, it was Ajeong's business, so it was also ridiculous for me to decide what to do first. For now, tomorrow I'd arrive before her 10:45 and talk through how to handle it.
Once I'd sorted out the most important things from the future I'd confirmed, I felt much more at ease. By the time I finished thinking it through, it was one in the afternoon. There was still a long stretch of time left until the next day.
I thought about what I should do now, turning over the future I'd checked.
"Ah."
I quickly got dressed and headed outside. The moment I stepped out of the building and drew a breath, that strange strawberry scent hit me.
She's still at it?
What should I do. I'd only told her once, so should I let it slide for now? Or, like I'd considered last time, I could make her taste something disgusting instead of strawberry. Or…
A pink background with a teddy bear floated into my mind, but I didn't think I could do much with that.
Still deliberating, I walked up to her.
"…"
Whether she recognized me or not, she hid one hand. Even so, her expression stayed stiff — she didn't look the least bit sorry.
"Haa… Hey."
Nod—
Before I could even speak, she nodded as if she already understood. Was she saying she got it, so don't bother talking? That attitude actually made me angry. She turned her head completely the other way, ignoring me outright.
"Excuse me."
"…"
"That's a Vita-stick, isn't it?"
"Ah… No, it's not."
"Then show it to me."
"Why should I…"
Bingo. She was still uncooperative, but she'd started answering me properly. Feeling like I had the upper hand, I pressed harder.
"Have you been sucking on vitamins this whole time, pretending to smoke?"
"…"
"Trying to look tough, hanging around here for over thirty minutes every day just eating vitamins~"
"I said it's not…"
"And that tattoo isn't a sticker, right? I tried sticker tattoos back in elementary school too."
"…"
After blurting out whatever came to mind, her tattoo caught my eye. Come to think of it, compared to the first time I'd seen it, the position and the shape had both subtly changed.
No way?
"Is that a sticker tattoo?"
Now genuinely curious, I asked carefully.
She jumped up—
Without so much as an answer, she went straight into the building. As she brushed past me, her eyes were welling with tears.
…
"Whoa… wow."
Left alone in the alley like that. I'd supposedly driven off a delinquent girl smoking in front of a no-smoking building, yet I felt like I'd committed a crime.
Was she even a delinquent…?
Thinking about it again, she didn't seem like one. What I'd thought was a cigarette was a Vita-stick. And looking at her reaction, the tattoo really did seem to be a sticker tattoo.
"Heh heh…"
I had no idea why she was doing all that, but if I ran into her again, it was going to be seriously awkward. I deliberately decided to forget what had just happened and started walking. Originally I'd planned to school the smoking, tattooed delinquent girl and immediately run home — but I didn't want to go back into the building right away and risk running into her.
So the place I ended up was, once again, the cafe Ice Bean. Even with my body back, the places I could go were limited.
Inside the cafe, as leisurely as ever with not a single customer. The owner, who'd already locked eyes with me before I even stepped in, greeted me warmly.
"Woohyun, what brings you here?"
"Hello. I just had some free time, so I dropped by."
"Is that so? Your girlfriend again today?"
"No, I came alone today."
I arrived at the counter and pretended to look at the menu, but ended up ordering a strawberry smoothie.
"All my part-timers drink free."
"Huh? But still…"
"Ah-hem! If you want to pay for it, then quit."
What kind of logic was that. When I tried to pay for a drink, the owner told me to quit if I wanted to do that. She was clearly running this place as a hobby.
"Then should I do that?"
"Hmm?"
"Is it okay if I quit?"
"That's not what I meant~… Woohyun, has anything been hard about working here?"
"No, it's not that…"
"Tell me everything. I'll make it as comfortable as I can."
I'd wanted to see the always-composed owner get flustered, but her reaction was more disappointing than expected.
"I was just kidding. More importantly, can I try making it myself?"
"I'll make it for you~"
"No, I want to make it myself — for practice."
I went straight behind the counter, looked around, then casually pointed at her phone and asked.
"Oh, what do you usually watch, Owner? Looks like you were on your phone?"
What the owner had been looking at on her phone at this hour was a big-size specialty lingerie shopping mall. And she'd been browsing various pieces of underwear that came up under the search term "maximum."
"Haha… Just, you know…"
She quickly snatched her phone and hid it behind her back.
"What were you looking at that you're hiding it like that?"
"Well…"
Unable to come up with an excuse, she trailed off, visibly flustered.
"I'm curious what would make you embarrassed, Owner. You've always been so confident and composed around me."
"Ahaha… Is that so? Thanks."
"Sorry. I wasn't really going to look — I was just teasing."
I should stop here.
"You startled me…"
"Help me make the strawberry smoothie. When I make it, it never tastes like yours."
That wasn't empty flattery — it was true. Strangely, other drinks were fine, but the strawberry smoothie in particular always tasted better when the owner made it.
"Hehe… Is that so?"
Pook—
Whether she still had no awareness of her sensual body or not, the owner wandered around behind the counter, brushing against me as she passed. I'd been really surprised on my first day of work, but now I was somewhat used to it.
"Don't put it in right here…"
"Yes, yes."
…
In the end, the owner made the whole thing by herself again. I'd lost count of how many times she'd started teaching me, then at some point taken over completely and finished it herself.
"This way it's just you making it again, Owner. When do I get to make one myself?"
"Is that so? Next time I make one, I'll teach you again~"
"Heh heh… Then why did you even hire me~?"
With so few customers, the times multiple orders came in at once could be counted on one hand. Thanks to the excessively kind owner, except for those occasions, we'd always made the drinks together. If you had to break down the contribution ratio, the owner usually did more.
"You said it was your first part-time job, right? You're supposed to learn slowly."
Tap tap—
"Oh my! I'm sorry… I thought of my niece and did it without thinking…"
"It's fine…"
I didn't know why so many people were after my butt these days.
Is my ass looking good lately?
I was fairly confident in my lower body, but having this happen several days in a row was startling.
…
Unable to bear the awkward atmosphere, I spoke first.
"How old is your niece?"
"Six…"
"You mixed me up with a six-year-old?"
"I'm sorry…"
It was clearly a mistake. Even though I'd teased her hard wanting to see her flustered, I hadn't managed to draw out this much of a reaction before. The situation being similar, I was reminded of what had happened with Ajeong.
This time too…?
I glanced at the owner, who was fidgeting while reading my mood. The ribbon tied with her apron strings was sticking out in a plump curve.
"Gulp…"
Ajeong's firm one, built through exercise, was impressive — but this one felt more like the word "voluptuous" suited it. Even my unusually large hands probably wouldn't fully cover it.
No. Hold back.
Even so, we were owner and part-timer. More than anything, we weren't close enough that I could brush off a mistake with the same kind of joke.
"Hoo…"
"I… I'm sorry…"
I hadn't been that upset from the start, and just now I'd decided to let it go — but the owner had no way of knowing that. If anything, after I sighed while thinking for a moment, she seemed even more anxious.
"Owner."
"Y-yes?"
"From now on, you're my strawberry smoothie slave."
"…Pfft. What?"
My words finally seemed to break the tension — her expression relaxed.
"Whenever I want, you have to make me a strawberry smoothie."
"And that means I'm forgiven?"
The owner, back to her easygoing expression, smiled softly.
"Yes. I'm letting you off just this once."
"Want me to make you another one?"
"No. One a day is enough."
"Hehe… Alright then."
Honestly, if I wanted another one, I could just turn the water at home into the owner's special strawberry smoothie. But the feeling was different. Just eating something she'd made herself and having her look at me with that proud expression was…
At first it had been embarrassing, but now it gave me a strange sense of security and warmth.
Slurp—
"Is it that good?"
The owner watched me with satisfaction as I took a sip of the smoothie. Her hand briefly approached my butt before quickly veering away.
"…"
"Ah… I didn't touch it, right?"
It really seemed to be a habit. If I kept working here, I'd probably run into similar situations often going forward. And if that really happened, maybe I could demand something more than just a strawberry smoothie.
"I'll be careful, Owner…"
"It's fine~"
Now it really was fine. Because the owner was a kind person who paid the price for her mistakes.