The Cat's Loathing
The cat didn't just dislike the puppy—she loathed her with a passion. And it was so blatant that even I, a mere customer, could tell at a glance. No matter how you sliced it, the situation had to be suffocating. The puppy looked like a total ace who could run the place flawlessly, yet now she was saddled with this disciplinary-officer type who was nothing but dead weight.
If this were League, it would be a Diamond ADC forced into bot lane with a Bronze support. If it were singing, it would be a national-treasure vocalist stuck doing a duet with a tone-deaf amateur. They were on the same team and had to make it work somehow, but one of them wasn't even playing the same sport—one was basically just a sandbag. If they got along it might not have been so bad, but unfortunately the cat seemed to despise the baggage puppy for some reason.
And the baggage puppy wasn't just low-skilled; her self-esteem looked rock-bottom too. Having read their dynamic in a single glance, I was deliberately praising the puppy to provoke the cat. It was all part of the bigger picture to adopt her smoothly. How hard could it be? If the ill-tempered cat tore into her until the puppy slunk off to some back alley to cry, all I had to do was slide in, pat her shoulder a few times, and her heart would be mine. I knew from personal experience—low self-esteem made this tactic infallible.
Of course the odds of everything unfolding exactly as planned were low, but the bait was worth casting. There was more than enough justification.
“Ah… th-thank you!”
The puppy seemed overjoyed by my praise. She bowed deeply and thanked me in a loud voice—at least loud for her. How should I play this? Since it was the last line before I moved to a table, I could afford to cross the line into outright flattery.
“What are you talking about? The café’s sales are about to shoot through the roof. The part-timer is this cute and does her job perfectly.”
“Huh…? Ahh… um… th-that’s…”
The greasy compliment hit her like butter. The puppy didn’t know what to do with herself. Understandable. Even my own cheeks were burning.
“You said you’d bring the coffee to the table, right?”
“Yes? Y-yes!”
I spun on my heel, walked to a table near the counter, and sat down. Thinking back on it again, it was utterly cringeworthy. I’d thrown those lines out on purpose because puppy-types melted under direct praise, and the effect seemed decent, but my body could barely endure delivering them.
Still, what choice do I have? When a chance to make money appears, I have to grab it.
Yeah. What else could I do? This kind of thing was part of my hustle now. And not just any hustle—this was a massive payday with thousands on the line. Honestly, for ten million won I’d suck a random stranger’s toes without hesitation. A few cheesy pickup lines were nothing.
No, if anything they were still too weak. With that much money at stake, these lame lines? Next time I’d analyze it more systematically and craft something that could dig deep into her emotions—
“Yeonju! You spilled ice all over the floor again!! You did the same thing earlier—why can’t you do a single thing right? Are you retarded?”
“I-I’m sorry…”
Damn. The puppy must have messed up while making a drink, because the cat had begun her ultimate roast. Calling someone retarded for spilling a little ice—truly artistic. I pretended not to hear the shrill voice from the counter, casually pulled out my Bluetooth earphones, and slipped them in. To sell it completely, I opened YouTube, played a random video, and set the phone on the table so the screen was clearly visible. To anyone looking, I was fully absorbed in watching. The earphones, however, were on mute.
Sliiiide—.
Sure enough, I felt the cat’s sharp gaze sweep across the store. She was checking the atmosphere thoroughly; it looked like she planned to thoroughly crush the baggage puppy beside her. There was nothing in this café the cat needed to worry about. Luxurious jazz flowed from the speakers, and besides me there were only two other tables of customers, both near the entrance and far from the counter. As for me, sitting right by the counter, I outwardly appeared completely engrossed in my video with earphones in.
In other words, the timing was perfect.
The cat seemed to reach the same conclusion and opened her mouth again.
“Yeonju… honestly, you don’t want to do this pathetic job, do you? Right? You’re deliberately acting like a stupid bitch because you don’t want to work, aren’t you?”
“…It’s not… like that…”
So the puppy’s name was Yeonju. Noted. That aside, I’d guessed from her face, but the ace cat wasn’t just good at her job—her verbal DPS was insane. Her word choice was vicious to the extreme, yet her voice stayed low and her tone eerily calm. That gentle, whispering way of destroying someone with nothing but words was a high-class skill. Those kinds of attacks sank deep into the brain and refused to fade.
“You were doing fine earlier, weren’t you? When that handsome customer came in you followed my instructions perfectly, so why are you messing up again? Huh?”
“Th-that’s not…”
“Ah~ I get it now, Yeonju. Your intelligence only spikes when you’re trying to flirt with men. That’s your type, right?”
“That’s not true!… I wasn’t flirting or anything…”
“What do you mean it’s not true? You were making those coy little eye smiles, fully intending to seduce him. You think I didn’t notice? Pretending to be innocent, acting all cute, turning into a horny little bug every time you got a compliment… It was so disgusting I almost threw up watching you. If you like men that much, why don’t you just go beg him to fuck you right now? Flash him that gross eye smile and ask—I bet he’d say yes.”
Wow. This was harsher than I expected… Being called a handsome customer felt good, but the longer I listened the more sorry I felt for Yeonju. I’d engineered the situation, but I hadn’t imagined the cat’s verbal assault would be this brutally effective. She was skillfully reducing the girl to nothing but a dirty rag… though the one who’d actually done something rag-like was me. Ah, conscience, where have you gone?
“Jeonghye… your words are too much…”
“Too much? Yeonju’s intelligence level and the disgusting rag stench coming off her body are far worse. Got it? And why does a retard who can’t even handle simple tasks keep talking back so arrogantly? Ohhh~ You’re relying on the boss’s protection, right? That’s it, isn’t it?”
“Why are you bringing up my mom here…”
Another note-worthy detail. It seemed Yeonju’s mother was the owner of this ultra-luxury café smack in the middle of Cheongdam-dong. Yeonju, you’re not only cute but an absolute gold spoon. Mm, I like you more and more.
“But what can we do? The boss doesn’t like you much, Yeonju. She told me that since you’re a kid with nothing better to do, if you can’t work properly I should scold you harshly. Oh, and the ‘retard’ comment came from the boss first. Though honestly, seeing the way you act, I would’ve figured it out quickly even without being told.”
“Retard… I’m… not a retard…”
“Really? Then could you at least speak properly? Slowly, stuttering… speak clearly. I’m not even expecting you to work well anymore.”
“I… I… so… I just…”
“See? See? Sigh~ Why am I even bothering to talk to a retard. Still, I’m jealous, Yeonju. If you hadn’t been born rich, your lacking intelligence would’ve meant you couldn’t even earn a living. But you were born with a gold spoon in your mouth, so you get to work part-time at a place like this. Count your blessings. Do you have any idea how hard I worked to get a job here? Do you know how fucking nauseating it is to earn the same hourly wage as someone who has nothing but her parents’ connections?”
“……”
The reason the cat—Jeonghye—hated Yeonju beyond simple dislike seemed to be pure inferiority. She had clawed her way in through sheer effort, only for this worthless girl to waltz in through nepotism. No wonder her temper had exploded. Just being a little slow and bad at the job wouldn’t warrant this level of verbal annihilation. This was practically beating someone to death with words.
“Oh dear. Are you crying? Did I go too far? Well, if you can’t handle it, you can leave right now. It’s not like you’re here for the money anyway.”
“…I’m not crying…”
“No? Then at least serve this. The customer is waiting. If you have even a shred of conscience, you can manage that much, can’t you?”
She’s actually making her do it again. Ugh.
I was so frustrated I stopped pretending to watch the video and stared openly at Yeonju as she approached. She picked up a tray from the counter and began walking toward my table, but her posture was anything but normal. Her head hung low as she fought back tears, and her legs wobbled side to side while also creaking up and down with every slow step. Naturally the iced Americano on the tray shook dangerously, yet somehow nothing spilled. Maybe she did have some serving skill after all…
Wait. She said today was her first day. How could she have serving skills?
Thud.
“Ah!!”
Yeah, fuck. I knew it. The scene unfolded like slow motion—probably because it matched my expectations so perfectly. Yeonju, head down and walking unsteadily, caught her foot on the leg of the table right beside mine. Luckily she caught herself with her other foot before completely losing balance, so she didn’t fall. She also kept her death-grip on the tray. The problem was the iced Americano on top of it.
Swoooosh—.
Like a bowling pin struck cleanly, the tall cup flipped beautifully off the tray, floated through the air, and then gravity took over. The contents inside poured down on me like vomit. The landing zone was my t-shirt. Thank god it wasn’t my head—the part I’d just touched. If it had been, no matter how cute Yeonju was, I might not have been able to stop myself from spanking her ass raw. Though honestly I wanted to spank her even without being angry…
Splaaaaash—.
The coffee and square ice cubes that had been free-falling finally crashed across my white sweater. Of course I’d worn white today. The slow-motion time snapped back to normal speed.
“I-I’m sorry!! I’m really, really sorry!!”
“No, it’s fine.”
Yeonju had watched the coffee drench me with an expression like her country had fallen. Now she bowed like a criminal facing execution and apologized profusely. But I was genuinely okay. In fact the situation had unfolded even better than planned, so I felt great. This gave me the perfect excuse to get her contact info under the guise of laundry fees, plus I could plant a sense of debt and secure an advantageous position with her. Getting a little coffee on my clothes was an excellent trade.
“I’m sorry! I’m truly sorry!”
“I said it’s really, really okay. You don’t have to apologize so much.”
“Still… I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
I was laughing inside, but Yeonju looked like she was dying. Her mentality had completely shattered; she could only repeat “sorry” over and over.
“Customer, are you alright? I’m so sorry. Because of our staff… I’ll wipe it for you.”
“Huh? No, I’m fine, but—”
Jeonghye had rushed over from the counter. She shoved Yeonju’s shoulder, pushing the girl who was standing with her head down out of the way, and approached me. Even though I said I was okay, she knelt in front of me anyway and began furiously wiping my shirt with a napkin.
“I’m so, so sorry. Our staff makes mistakes all the time… She’s committed a terrible offense against you.”
“I understand, but I said it’s fine? Just give me the napkin. I appreciate the thought, but it’s a bit much.”
“Ah, yes. I’m sorry.”
Jeonghye obediently handed me the napkin and stood. I wiped the coffee off my clothes myself. The reason I’d stopped her from helping wasn’t politeness—it was because of Yeonju standing right beside me. The girl had her hands politely clasped, staring at me with dead eyes.
I’m not a mind reader, but I could guess what she was thinking.
So that’s what I should have done. I was too busy apologizing… Am I really a retard who can’t even think of something so basic? Maybe someone like me really is better off dead…
Not exactly the same words, but the feeling would be close. Her posture, facial expression, and the faint trembling of her body suggested she had fallen into a serious panic attack. On top of Jeonghye’s earlier verbal barrage still echoing in her head, she had just committed a massive troll at the worst possible moment. It was completely understandable.
And that was exactly why continuing any further was dangerous. Big picture or not, the smartest move was to end this quickly before Jeonghye’s competence or Yeonju’s incompetence became any more obvious. Any more stimulation and it looked like Yeonju might actually go check the Han River’s water temperature tonight—with her own body.
“Yeonju. Apologize properly to the customer.”
“…”
“Yeonju. Can’t you hear me? I said apologize properly!!”
“S-sorry… sor…”
“That’s enough. I’m fine.”
But unlike me, Jeonghye seemed determined to push Yeonju until she actually jumped in the river. At Jeonghye’s fierce shout, Yeonju’s body—which had only been trembling slightly—began shaking violently, like a phone that had been added to a group chat and bombarded with messages. How the hell was she supposed to apologize properly in that state? Jeonghye, you’re such a bitch even Satan would give you a standing ovation and two thumbs up. Still, thanks for shredding Yeonju’s spirit so thoroughly. It made landing the final blow that much easier.
“S-sor…”
“Ha, seriously. This is insane. You do know how to apologize, don’t you, Yeonju? To a customer you should do it like—”
Seeing Yeonju stutter and freeze, Jeonghye’s eyes rolled with pure rage. She grabbed the back of Yeonju’s head and forcibly shoved it downward.
“You have to bow your head when you apologize.”
“Sorry… hic… sorry… huuuhk…”
“I said don’t cry and apologize. The customer is the victim here, so why are you crying?”
Okay. That was the line.
No matter what, forcibly shoving someone’s head down was clearly Jeonghye’s mistake. I’d been waiting for the right timing anyway. If she gave me an opening like this, there was no way I could stay silent.
“Look at this. Hey. Are you kidding me right now?”
“I’m sorry, customer. I’ll make sure to properly educate the staff—”
“No. You. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Yes…?”
Tap.
I shot up from my seat as if I couldn’t stand it anymore and slapped Jeonghye’s wrist away from the back of Yeonju’s head.