Part-Timer Hotspot, Cafe Ice Bean

The sixth Balance Game.

The result of FM Boss vs. MZ Employee was standing right in front of me.

"Hehe… Hello!"

"Uh… you…"

"I work here too!"

The brand-new MZ employee at Ice Bean was someone I'd recently gotten fairly close with. The girl who puffed on her Vita-stick at every opportunity, a college entrance exam re-taker who spent all her time reading manga and entertaining weird thoughts.

Jin Hayun.

Today she seemed to fall somewhere between the delinquent mode I'd first seen and the crumpled shut-in mode from the manga cafe. Her yellow-dyed hair suited her face well, and the cafe apron somehow made her figure look even more stylish. She still felt more at home working a PC bang shift than a cafe, though.

"You work here?"

"Yes!"

"What about studying…?"

"I'm trying to earn the money I need for retaking the exam myself! But I only work weekends, so it's fine!"

"Alright… go get to work."

"Hehe… Got it!"

She threw a salute with her hand blade at a completely arbitrary angle. Either way, she seemed like she'd listen well enough, and her energy was solid, so it wasn't a bad thing.

"Did you two already know each other…?"

The boss, who'd been watching from the side, asked carefully.

"Yes. We live in the same apartment building, so I've run into her a few times."

"Really? Is that… a good thing?"

"Hmm…"

I didn't answer right away and started thinking it over, and the boss zeroed in on my response with full concentration.

"Hmmmmmm…"

I hadn't exactly demanded she hire a skilled part-timer, yet she waited for my answer with visible nerves.

"She passes!"

"…Heh. I figured as much."

Relieved, the boss went back to making drinks.

"Does she listen to you okay?"

"Of course~ She grumbles a little, but she does what she's told pretty well."

"If she doesn't listen, just tell me. I'll train her properly."

"Hehe… Having you around really is reassuring, Woohyun."

I hadn't expected Hayun to come on as a part-timer, but having one more person definitely made things much easier. Just as the boss had said, I stayed behind the counter taking orders, and in the downtime I watched her make drinks and tried making a few myself.

Hayun, the new hire, was on serving duty. Though with only a limited number of tables, she didn't exactly have a mountain of work either. Instead, she periodically had to go outside and ask the people waiting in line for their understanding.

"Haa…"

"Tired? For some reason the crowd exploded starting two weeks ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ago."

"Really? I think I know why…"

"Hm?"

"I feel like the boss knows too, but she just hasn't told you?"

What was she talking about all of a sudden? Both Hayun and the boss knew why the customers had surged?

More than that—was it even possible to suddenly pull in that many people just because you wanted to?

I immediately turned toward the boss and asked if she knew anything. Like she'd mentioned before, maybe we'd been featured on some famous SNS account. For a cafe that had been nearly dead to turn around this hard, it had to be somewhere huge. Raising the prices had thinned the line a little, but the inside of the cafe was still packed solid.

"Well…"

"You said last time you'd look it up. Did we get posted somewhere famous?"

"Yeah, something like that…"

"Can I see too? What do I search for?"

"Um…"

For some reason, the boss was hesitating.

"Over here!"

That was when Hayun, standing beside me, thrust her phone in front of my face.

"This is the first post that went up, and it got shared like crazy!"

What she showed me was a blog post. The content itself wasn't anything special. It felt no different from the other blog posts I'd searched up before. Were places that got featured like this always the ones that thrived?

"Just this made the place this packed? Must be a really famous blog, huh?"

"Hehe… Oppa, read the very last line."

"Hm?"

"Ah…"

"I bet a ton of customers come here just to see you, Oppa. Honestly, I came to work here after seeing this too."

Embarrassing as it was, Hayun's words seemed to be true. Once I knew that, the customers' reactions and requests up until now all made sense. They'd probably just wanted a little more time talking to me.

Ever since the talent-seeing eye had made the level of my looks crystal clear, I'd been too embarrassed to stay humble even if I wanted to. I was probably the best-looking guy in this neighborhood—and very likely the best-looking person most of these customers had ever seen in their lives.

"Ahaha… Sorry, Woohyun… I didn't say anything because I thought it'd make you uncomfortable…"

"…It's fine. You didn't post it, Boss."

"…"

"You didn't post it, right?"

"Of course not~ Your boss is terrible at that kind of thing."

She didn't look particularly flustered, so it definitely hadn't been her. Honestly, the thought that people might be coming to see me had crossed my mind before—but it felt so self-absorbed that I'd kept denying it.

I swept a look across the whole cafe. At most of the tables, people glanced my way and hurriedly turned their heads.

It's real…

I had no choice but to accept it now. The reason this cafe had suddenly become hell-tier part-time work was entirely my own ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠doing.

Thanks to the new worker named Hayun, I was able to work much more comfortably today, and we finished right on schedule at closing time as usual. More people meant more mess, but the closing cleanup still went quickly.

We even had a full twenty minutes left. Instead of heading straight out, I sat down for a bit.

"Good work today~ Just keep doing what you did today, Hayun~"

"Yes…! I'll work hard."

"Boss, but Hayun said she only works weekends, right?"

"That's right."

"Won't you be busy working alone on weekdays?"

Wanting a new part-timer had partly been for my own convenience, but I'd also been worried about the boss handling everything alone during the week.

"Well… on weekdays, the crowd's been thinning out more and more."

"Huh?"

"They must've figured out you only work Saturdays and stopped coming. Sundays still get some traffic, but weekdays might go back to how they used to be soon."

"Ah… I see."

Customers who didn't know my schedule had still been dropping by on weekdays at first, but over time they'd zeroed in on exactly when I worked. Amazingly enough, this place had turned into a cafe where people only flooded in during my shifts.

"Woohyun, if it's too much pressure…"

"I'm fine. After today, it doesn't feel that hard."

"That's because I'm here."

Poke—

"Eugh."

Still buzzing from her first day, Hayun kept horsing around beside me, so I jabbed her in the side and put her in her place.

"That's a relief… If anything bothers you, tell me anytime."

"What about me?"

"Of course that includes you too, Hayun."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Our gracious boss was someone who could accept even Jin Hayun.

"Shall we head out?"

"Yes!"

"Let's."

Today the boss drove both Hayun and me home.

"You believe me now?"

"Huh?"

"I told you she really is the cafe owner."

"Ah~ I already believed her. I'm not that dumb."

"Right… good."

Between Hayun joining and learning that customers were coming just to see me, I was completely drained.

"I'm gonna go rest…"

"I'm coming too!"

She wasn't smoking her Vita-stick today, so Hayun followed me in. Inside the elevator she kept eyeing my fingers, but I didn't have the energy for that tonight.

Ding—

We reached Hayun's floor first.

"Go on."

"Okaaay… See you later."

I gave a short wave and closed the door.

Back home, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠checked my phone just in case, but nothing had come from KokoaTalk. Looks like I'd have to wait for the next round for any bonus rewards.

A peaceful Sunday morning.

Normally I would have spent the morning at a leisurely pace, with the Balance Game at noon as the first item on the day's schedule—but today was different.

Kokoa—!

I had a date scheduled with Ajeong. A so-called Rift date.

The plan to play LoL with Ajeong starting at eight on a Sunday morning had been set three days earlier.

And that was how I ended up with a LoL date with Ajeong starting at eight in the morning.

Rrring—

"Hello, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, can you hear me okay?"

"Hehe… This is gonna be fun!"

Talking through Discord while we played would keep our coordination tight and make winning easier.

Four hours should be plenty.

Climbing one tier would be quick enough, and then I could get ready for the next Balance Game.

"You in yet?"

She still hadn't logged into the game. Ajeong's account was still showing offline.

"Just a sec~"

Ding—

That was when a new friend request popped up.

Who's this?

I couldn't think of anyone who'd send a friend request at a time like this.

A strangely familiar nickname. It looked like it'd been made the same way as mine—[181 75 20].

"Hurry up and accept the friend request!"

"Ah, this is you?"

"Yep! I made a new one."

The moment I accepted, a ranked game invite came flying in.

"It's a completely fresh account?"

"Yeah! I have to do placements first."

"…So we have to finish all the placements and then climb a whole tier?"

"Obviously! We said we'd play all day!"

"Ah…"

There was absolutely no way this would wrap up in four hours. Half a day minimum, guaranteed. At this rate, I'd have to call a short break in the middle and check the Balance Game KokoaTalk message.

"What… you don't want to?"

"No~ Let's just try it."

She might get tired as we went, so there was no need to refuse outright.

"Hehe… I even matched my nickname to yours!"

"Yeah, I see that. But why the 4X?"

"That's a secret…"

Apparently she didn't want her exact weight public. If the first digit was a four and she still wouldn't share it, it was probably higher than forty-five at least. I didn't know much about women's weights, but Ajeong had so much muscle mass that the number on a scale would look ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠higher than it felt.

"Was this an account you already had?"

"Nope?"

"Then…?"

"I made it after we played together at the PC bang that time and leveled it up!"

LoL addict…

And not just any addict. She already had a main account, and she'd still slogged through the entire grind to hit level thirty.

"Hehe… I'm only gonna use this account with you, Woohyun!"

"So it's my personal account?"

"Yep! If I don't, I feel like we won't be able to play together for long!"

Whatever warmth I'd briefly felt evaporated on the spot.

This time, for real—I was going to prove my skills to Ajeong.

"Ajeong, wanna make a bet?"