I Haven't Even Milked Much of This Easy Job Yet...
The day after my date with Ajeong.
Thankfully, nothing turned awkward this time. If anything, we'd grown even closer.
Of course, we still couldn't take our physical contact any further than what we'd already done at the gym—but there was no missing the way her eyes held far more affection than before.
If things keep going like this…
I knew I shouldn't be thinking this far ahead when we weren't even properly dating yet, but maybe I really could create that perfect scenario I'd imagined during the fourth Balance Game.
Plenty of steps still stood between me and that future, sure—but none of them were the kind of hard, forced endurance that made you grit your teeth. Just holding her hand after a workout and chatting behind the counter was enough to fill me with happiness. There wasn't even room for impure thoughts yet.
These days, I was spending every single day happily with Ajeong. That whole thing about the world looking more beautiful when you're in love? That was exactly my situation right now.
Even Hayun, standing at the alley entrance with her Vita-stick, looked cute to me now. Once I'd learned it wasn't actually a cigarette, she wasn't doing me any direct harm. We'd reached the point of at least exchanging greetings whenever we ran into each other.
Sometimes she looked like she had something she wanted to say, but she never quite managed to get it out.
Is she worried about something?
If she was a re-taker, her grades were probably the biggest concern. And since I happened to attend the university she was aiming for, she might have all kinds of questions. Next time I saw her, I decided I'd try bringing it up myself.
Being in love really did make you more generous toward other people.
Even so, there was one thing I simply could not feel happy about no matter what.
The café part-time job.
The hours, the pay, the owner, the distance from home—everything about it had been a perfect cushy gig. Lately, though, the honey was slowly running dry.
Did I milk it too hard? No, that can't be it.
A fair amount of time had passed, but I only worked once a week, so I hadn't even properly enjoyed the easy ride yet. The pay and the owner were still just as kind as ever. What had changed was an external factor.
Namely—the customers had multiplied.
"Um… one strawberry smoothie, please!"
"And for me… could I get a recommendation?"
"Hmm… the strawberry smoothie is the best."
I really did like the strawberry smoothie, so that was a genuine recommendation—but it occurred to me that it might look like I was just lazily parroting whatever the person next to them had ordered.
"Then I'll take a strawberry smoothie too!!"
"Oppa, I guess we have the same taste!!"
A pointless worry. The two girls in school uniforms clearly weren't going to let their energy die over something that small.
"Next, please~ I'll take your order!"
"Yes, I'd like… maybe a recommendation…"
…
"Alright~ One café latte, payment complete. Just wait a moment and I'll bring it out."
The second I clocked in, I spent ten straight minutes just taking orders. The silver lining was that the tables were so small it was physically impossible to seat that many people. The downside was that I also had to manage the line of customers waiting outside because of it.
"I'm so sorry! Please come in only once you see another customer leaving! Takeout customers, line up over here, and enter one party at a time!!"
"Okay~"
"Yes!!"
In this heat, they had every right to get irritated, so I was grateful they seemed to understand.
After that, I had to head back to the counter and actually make the drinks I'd taken orders for.
"Woohyun, just rest."
"Huh?"
"You're handling all the orders by yourself, so I'll make the drinks."
"But still…"
"Shh!"
I'd come to work a café shift, and somehow I'd ended up in the bizarre situation of not making any drinks.
"That's a good boy. Just rest for me."
She flashed that signature easygoing smile of hers and went right back to making drinks. Even when she managed to hold back her usual habits, the moment she said something soothing like that, her hand would start to come out—then flinch and pull away.
The owner was working hard, so resting felt awkward, but after she'd gone that far, I decided to just sit. It wasn't like I'd been working that long, and the work itself wasn't particularly intense. The mental fatigue, though, was bigger than I'd expected.
I didn't know if it was always like this, but there were a lot of detailed requests and picky orders.
Just pick a menu item and pay, come on…
Asking the guy who only ever drinks strawberry smoothies here for a recommendation wasn't going to get them anything impressive. Of course the customers had no way of knowing that, so I understood.
"Woohyun~ Can you take this to table three?"
"Yes~"
The owner was buried under the backlog of orders, so delivering the drinks fell to me as well.
"Sorry, customers! Let me just drop this off and I'll take your order right away!"
"No, no… take your time!"
"Thank you."
Thankfully, the customers were following the rules remarkably well. Not coming in when there were no free tables was common sense, in a way—but the fact that they were actually respecting it was something I was deeply grateful for. Even the takeout customers were only entering one party at a time. They could easily have complained about wanting to come inside and wait in line, but no one did. They just filed in, one group after another, right on cue.
"Two strawberry smoothies for you~"
"Thank you!"
"Enjoy~"
After setting down the drinks, I hurried back to the counter.
"Just say it already~"
"Kyaa~ It's embarrassing…"
My small, precious little café had suddenly turned into a famous one. The past version of me who'd fretted over whether business was too slow felt almost laughable now.
"Phew… Great work today!"
"You did great, Woohyun. There were so many customers today…"
"Right? What did you do?"
"Beats me? Even I don't know."
"Maybe some famous person stopped by…?"
"I'll have to search later~ More importantly—was anything hard or uncomfortable for you today?"
All the fatigue and irritation that had piled up during the shift melted away at once. She'd been working hard herself, and yet she was checking on me first. I was genuinely moved.
"There was way too much."
Being moved was one thing. I still had things I needed to say.
"Owner, was it fine up through yesterday?"
"Not this bad… Today was really something else."
"Hmm… Then how about watching it for a few more days and hiring one more person? It was rough for me too, but when you're working alone, I don't think 'rough' is going to cover it."
"Heh… Fair point. I'll look for someone who actually knows how to work."
"Was there anything else that bothered you?"
This was a first for her as well, so she was actively asking for my input. I went through every little thing that had struck me during the shift as a way to make things more efficient.
"Ah, and also—why do the customers take their receipts and then just throw them all away?"
"Do they? Maybe they're planning to write reviews with them?"
"It got so weird midway through that I started collecting them."
I pulled the receipts out of my apron pocket. I hadn't even gathered all of them, and there was still a solid pile.
"Whoa… That's more than I expected?"
Even the owner looked startled as she took them. Eager to clock out, I went straight into cleaning. After mopping the entire floor, I headed back to the counter—and she was still holding the stack of receipts in her hands.
"What is it? Is something written on them?"
With this many people for the first time, both of us had been pretty green. I wondered if someone had written insults or something.
"Hmm? No~ I've just never taken this many orders before, so I was looking through them. I'll get back to work too. Sorry?"
"No, today was the kind of day that called for it… You made every single drink by yourself. You worked the hardest."
"Heh… I like how nicely you talk, Woohyun."
"Thank you."
After that, she tucked the pile of receipts into her apron pocket and started tidying the counter. It was a little strange that she was keeping them instead of throwing them out, but like she'd said—she'd never had this many before. Maybe she wanted to keep them as a memento.
It took longer than usual, but we still finished closing well under the allotted thirty minutes. That was thanks to the owner wrapping things up quickly, saying she'd handle the rest at open.
Ever since the first day, she hadn't offered to drive me home again. I'd figured she was being considerate after I'd turned her down once—but today, I desperately wished she'd just ask one more time. I was ready to jump on it instantly.
"Woohyun, want a ride?"
"Really?"
"Sure~ You had a rough day, didn't you?"
"Thank you!"
She must have read the look in my eyes, because she actually meant it. The car she'd driven today was, to my surprise, an SUV with a winged B emblem on the front.
"It really is close, huh?"
"Yes. Still, thank you for driving me."
By car, it hadn't even taken five minutes. I thanked her and was about to get out when—
"Um… Woohyun?"
"Yes?"
She called my name and got out after me.
"You're not thinking of quitting or anything… right?"
"Pfft—ah, sorry. It was tough, but it's only one day a week, and it was actually kind of fun in its own way. Don't worry!"
"…Woohyun, you're just too cute. Really. See you next week?"
Tap, tap—
"Ah… Take care~"
I quickly said goodbye and moved away. When I glanced back for a second, she looked embarrassed too—hurrying back toward the car, then bowing her head in apology the moment our eyes met.
Was this what it felt like to have a much older church noona? That easygoing smile, that somehow benevolent air about her. She treated me so well that a little slip like this didn't really bother me. It was probably just a habit from having a nephew, too.
And besides—there was already someone in my life who'd made even light touches like that feel like nothing at all.
Lately, no matter what happened, my thoughts always seemed to circle back to Ajeong in the end. In a better mood, I headed straight into the alley toward my apartment building.
"Hey~"
As always, I ran into Hayun standing by the wall in front of the apartment complex, puffing on her Vita-stick.
Is she an NPC?
Ever since I'd found out about the Vita-stick, she'd been hanging around out here even more often.
"Hello…"
I smiled at her and kept walking into the building.
"Hey…!"
"Hm?"
"Just a second… Come over here!"
She called after me from behind, then suddenly started scanning the area. I had nothing to do once I got home, and I was in a good mood, so I walked over without hesitation.
"What?"
"Lean your ear over…"
"What is it?"
Still checking our surroundings, Hayun suddenly told me to put my ear close.
"Just say it."
By this point I was curious enough that I leaned in and waited for whatever she was about to tell me.
"…"
"Spit it out already. What is it?"
Gulp—
Just how serious was this, for her to be that tense?
"…Oppa."
"Yeah."
"Are you… having an affair?"
"What??"
The look on Hayun's face as she blurted out that absurd question was more serious than I'd ever seen it.