The Boss with a Big Heart
Playing League of Legends with Ajeong every evening had sent my rank rocketing straight up. With a win rate over seventy percent, we'd broken free of Platinum and just hit Emerald yesterday.
The goal Ajeong and I had set together was Diamond. Since I already had Diamond-level skill on every champion, I figured holding Diamond was about as far as we could reasonably go.
What surprised me was Ajeong's own skill. She'd originally been Platinum, but it never felt like she was just riding my coattails. If anything, with me supporting her, she was carrying almost every single game. It really drove home how important a well-synced bot-lane duo was — especially for the ADC position, which had so little agency during laning phase. The benefits seemed even greater there.
Maybe because Ajeong had hit her highest rank ever, we were granted a special break this weekend.
"Take a good rest over the weekend, then we grind again starting Monday. Got it?"
"Oh! Got it."
"Why do you look so happy? Don't want to play with me?"
"No~ I'm just happy we get to play again next week."
"Heh... I'll text you~"
"Okay, rest up~"
For ordinary people, gaming was a form of rest. But for a League fiend like Ajeong — and for me, who played right alongside her — we actually needed separate downtime just so we could keep gaming. From today, Saturday, through tomorrow, we had been given a sweet little break. Unfortunately, Saturday still meant my part-time job, and Sunday had the Balance Game waiting for me.
"Welcome in."
"Why are you so late!!"
The moment I stepped into Ice Bean, two people greeted me at once. I always arrived five minutes before my shift, but somehow Hayun was always there even earlier than me.
"Take your time getting ready, Woohyun."
"Yes, thank you."
The boss offered me a warm, motherly smile. After dealing with League-addict Ajeong and Hayun — who'd gone from aloof cat to clingy dog-cat — the boss's presence felt relatively peaceful. I even felt a fleeting urge to bury myself in those broad, soft-looking arms of hers. Suppressing the sudden impulse, I put on my apron and headed out to the counter.
"We've got quite a crowd again today..."
I didn't want to admit it, but these customers had come to see me. They weren't here to devour my face or anything — but if they were going to a cafe anyway, they figured they might as well come somewhere with a handsome face to look at. I got it. Back in school, I'd gone out of my way to frequent the PC bang with the pretty part-timer unnie. I never even talked to her, but just catching a glimpse as I walked by made that place worth the trip.
"One cafe latte and one decaf americano, ready."
"Hoho... thank you."
"Of course~ Enjoy your time."
They didn't demand much — a brief exchange was enough to satisfy them — so it wasn't particularly uncomfortable. You'd think I'd be happy about becoming popular with women, unlike before, but that wasn't quite the case. The age range of our regulars was extremely polarized. Mostly groups of underage schoolgirls, or women who had clearly sailed well past their thirties. Customers around my age did show up occasionally, but most of them just got takeout. The rare twenty-something who actually sat down never lasted long — they couldn't handle the teenage energy mixed with the chatty thirties crowd and quickly fled the cafe.
"Oppa, do you like being popular?"
"...Ugh."
Hayun, completely oblivious to my inner thoughts, poked my side with a mischievous look, trying to tease me.
"What's with that reaction!"
I glanced at her clueless expression, sighed, and went back to work. Thinking about the downsides first might make it seem like I was unhappy with the cafe job, but setting those aside, it was pretty much perfect. My hourly wage had recently been raised, so working just four hours a week brought in five hundred thousand won a month. Sure, I'd boosted sales enough to justify it, but a boss who immediately reflected that in your pay was incredibly rare. Plus, the shop was small, so the workload was light — I didn't have that much to do. The boss had outright told me to just handle orders and serving, so I didn't even need to read the room. If anything, Hayun — who'd started after me — looked busier.
"Haa..."
Having finished the dishes, Hayun was about to grab a rag and wipe down the tables again.
"Aren't you hot?"
"A little..?"
Feeling sorry for her, I stopped her before she could go and wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead with a tissue.
"Eek!.. You're messing up my bangs.."
"Oh, really? Sorry."
"It's fine..."
She looked at me for a moment, then picked up the rag again and went to wipe the tables. She usually wore her bangs down, so I'd thought I was careful not to mess them up — but apparently I'd still disturbed them a bit. Normally I'd have flicked her forehead for not appreciating the gesture, but knowing she was working hard to cover my share too, she just looked adorable.
"Woohyun, come over here for a second?"
"Yes~"
Whenever we had downtime — limited as our seating capacity was — I was learning drink recipes from the boss. Before starting this job, I'd heard cafe work was just following recipes like a machine. But this being a privately owned cafe, I was getting one-on-one instruction from the boss herself.
Wiiiiiiing—!!
What we were making now was a banana smoothie. Unlike the syrupy smoothies at other cafes, this place made fresh fruit smoothies blended on the spot. That meant you got the pure fruit flavor — and once it hit your palate right, there was no going back. I was living proof. The banana smoothie in particular was something special. You could taste that slightly bitter, chalky banana quality, but somehow it worked perfectly.
"Hehe... is it good?"
"Yes. After having the boss's smoothies, I can't drink them anywhere else."
"Thank you for saying that. You're giving me confidence."
"Of course. Look how well the cafe is doing."
"That's because you're here, Woohyun."
"Ah.."
"Hehe..."
The boss patted my head like I was a good kid. Apparently, having fully overcome the habit of patting my butt, her target had simply shifted to my head. The combination of the cool smoothie and her warm hand was thoroughly satisfying.
"Oppa, are you slacking off again?"
"There's nothing to do."
"...Could you help me a little?"
"Sure. First, take a sip."
"..*slurp*!"
"Good, right?"
"...Yes."
"Want me to help with the dishes?"
"No, I'll do it myself..."
Her face suddenly flushed red, and she refused my help.
"Go rest..!"
I still wanted to help and stepped closer, but Hayun insisted she was fine and told me to rest. Left with no choice, I went back to sipping my banana smoothie and watching the customers.
...Huh?
I was enjoying the downtime when a seat opened up and I took a new order. The customer who'd just walked in was a face I knew.
"Welcome~"
"Hello~"
Since she'd come as a customer, I treated her normally — and she treated me like a regular barista right back.
"Um.. one vanilla latte, please."
"Sure~ How would you like to pay?"
"Card, please."
"Alright~ Just have a seat and I'll bring it out."
I turned toward the boss to pass along the order.
"Woohyun, isn't that your friend?"
"Oh.. yes. You remember?"
"How could anyone forget a face like that?"
"True enough."
The customer who'd just arrived was Kang Ajeong. She really did have the kind of beauty that, once seen, could never be forgotten. I just hadn't expected the boss to notice that sort of thing.
"What, who is it?"
"Just a friend of mine."
"Is he hot?"
"She's a girl."
"Eh.. player."
I had no idea what chain of logic led her to that conclusion, so I just ignored it.
"Anyway, boss — one vanilla latte just came in. Mind if I make it?"
"Sure. Since it's for your friend, want to make it yourself?"
It wasn't that we had no customers today, but people had adapted to the cafe's current system, so we were enjoying a surprising amount of free time. We didn't even need to seat people separately anymore. Thanks to that, I'd already learned five drinks today. At this rate, I might master every drink on the menu by next week. The boss made everything so comfortable that I picked things up quickly without any pressure.
"Oh. How's this?"
"Nice work~ Want to try the finishing touch too?"
After a moment's thought, I decided to draw a heart.
"Oh... boss, what does it look like?"
"...A cloud?"
"It's a heart..."
"H..I thought it was a heart-shaped cloud. Let's get it out quickly. Your friend is waiting."
"Yes."
Poke—
Feeling a bit sulky for no good reason, I jabbed my finger into the boss's side. It sank in deeper than with Ajeong or Hayun, and the way her flesh wrapped around my finger felt oddly pleasant. I wiped away that involuntary observation and checked the boss's reaction — my original goal. She just looked at me with a smile, as if nothing had happened. With no reaction from her, Hayun washing dishes didn't even notice. Her non-reaction actually made me more embarrassed, so I quickly grabbed the drink and went to serve it.
The boss really is an adult, huh.
Was that what adult composure looked like? The boss seemed to have a heart — and a chest — as big as her fortune. Thinking about her, I arrived at Ajeong's table. Even our Ajeong, whom I'd thought was perfect, didn't have that kind of big heart — and that was a little disappointing.
"One vanilla latte~"
"Thank you. Um.. what's this?"
"..It's a heart."
"A heart?"
"Yes, a heart."
"Um... I have a boyfriend."
She glanced around, then whispered to me in a small voice.
"Haha.. it's a design we put on everyone's drinks."
"So you didn't do it just for me..?"
She suddenly dropped the customer act and spoke with a hint of disappointment.
"Oppa, is something wrong?"
While I was playing along with Ajeong's teasing, Hayun came over. She must have gotten worried that I was taking too long.
"It's nothing~ Just chatting with a friend for a bit."
"Ahh... okay, come back soon."
I'd already told her it was a friend, so I wasn't sure why she'd come over — but she left quickly enough that it didn't matter.
"Woohyun, who is that?"
Ajeong, on the other hand, clearly wasn't going to let it go.