Payday
"Good evening, hyungnim!"
"Oh, you still haven't clocked out?"
As I stepped off the elevator, the daytime manager — that perpetually horny bastard — greeted me with his usual ninety-degree bow, all smiles and enthusiasm. Ever since Hyojin and Eun-ha had publicly eviscerated him in the group chat, I couldn't look at the guy without cracking up. If he'd just been a little better at his job, he might've gotten laid. Instead, he was stuck with a fate this pathetic.
I headed for the counter and found Big Boss and Dongpal seated in the chairs, with Jeonghun standing behind them, hands clasped at his back.
"Good evening, hyungnim."
"You eat yet?"
"I'll have the spicy pork, hyungnim."
Dongpal picked up the shop phone, called the rice-and-soup place, barked "One spicy pork," and slammed the phone back down.
"Jin-sik."
"Yes, hyungnim."
Big Boss looked at me with an unnervingly gentle expression. Something about it made me uneasy as hell.
He fished around in his pocket, pulled out a thick wad of bills bound tight with rubber bands, and held it out to me.
"Your pay. Count it."
"Yes, hyungnim. Thank you."
The paycheck I'd been waiting for. A full month of grinding my ass off, and now I had a cool 1.2 million won in my hands.
"I said count it."
I'd been about to just shove it in my pocket — figured it was fine — but he insisted. When the boss says jump, you jump. No choice. I peeled off the rubber bands and started counting the bills one by one, all hundred and twenty of them.
The buzzer went off twice — beep, beep.
Nobody needed to check the CCTV. Everyone knew it was that bitch Hyojin. Jeonghun walked over in my place and pressed the round button while I kept counting.
"Hello~"
Hyojin's voice filled the counter area. Big Boss raised a hand in greeting without a word. These days she no longer held the buzzer down long enough to blow out your eardrums — just two short, sharp taps. Thanks to that, the atmosphere between her and Big Boss seemed to be improving, little by little.
I glanced at her as she headed for the girls' waiting room, and I could feel that bitch's eyes lock onto something. The wad of bills I was counting.
Ah, fuck. This bitch is seriously sketchy.
She flashed me a smile that was half-knowing, half-not, and vanished from sight. Why the hell would she smile at a pathetic little stack of 1.2 million? Goddamn bitch.
Anyway, I was still counting. Through sheer force of will, I pushed past the limits of a middle-school dropout's patience and finally finished all hundred and twenty bills.
Exactly right, the bastard. The way he'd told me to count it, I'd half expected a few extras on top.
"It's correct, hyungnim."
"Good. You worked hard."
I stuffed the 1.2 million into my pocket, but it bulged out so ridiculously that I had no choice but to tuck it into the far corner of the counter drawer instead.
I checked the ledger. Nabi, Do-yeon, Hyojin — listed in that order. Even for a weekday, three girls was thin. Big Boss was going to lose his shit again. If just one more would show up...
Dambi had already called out — she was hitting the town hard with her old drinking buddies from her room-salon days. Kkotnim and Mi-ho would've been nice, but those two usually came in early; if they weren't here by now, they were out for the night. That left Pureum, Eun-ha, and Hyeona, more or less...
A moment later the buzzer sounded once — a single beep.
I checked the CCTV. My cute little disciple Eun-ha was riding up. Relief washed over me as I hit the round button.
The elevator doors opened, and that familiar face appeared.
"Hello~"
"Hey, Eun-ha. You've got a designated request at eight-thirty."
Jeonghun said it without so much as shifting his stance, hands still clasped behind his back. Sure enough, the reservation memo had Eun-ha booked for a jimyeong at half past eight. Starting the night with a designated request already locked in... she'd come a long way. At this rate, hitting two jimyeong in a single night didn't even seem impossible. Until recently her ceiling had been one a day, and even that only every other day. Now she was pulling one every single night.
Eun-ha beamed and disappeared into the girls' waiting room. Was sucking dick really that much fun? Goddamn girl.
"Hey, she's actually getting designated requests?"
Big Boss looked at Dongpal, genuinely surprised.
"Yes, hyungnim. Lately it seems so."
"Ha~ that fucking girl. She screwing guys in the rooms or what?"
"Doesn't seem to be the case, hyungnim."
Dongpal glanced at Jeonghun like he was calling for backup.
"She's getting one designated request every day, hyungnim."
"Is that right? Damn. The sun must be rising in the west."
"Yes, hyungnim."
"Keep an eye on her just in case. If she's fucking clients, it'll give us headaches."
"Yes, hyungnim."
From what I knew, full sex happened at handjob parlors more often than people admitted — but I still didn't get what he meant about headaches. The shop probably had its own reasons.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I unlocked it and saw that Hyojin had dropped a message in the girls' group chat. A bad feeling crept in, but I opened it anyway.
Ah, fuck. This bitch could smell cash from a mile away.
Goddamn girl was cracking up again. Fucking bitch.
I'd gotten somewhat used to her, but that bitch Hyojin still had no idea how terrifying a telephone-pole dick could be and kept running her mouth. One good taste of it and she'd learn to keep that trap shut...
Wait. Wasn't this an opportunity?
Eun-ha had just clocked in and was probably scrubbing herself clean for the eight-thirty jimyeong client — no reply from her yet.
Goddamn girl was scraping at my pride. I was about ready to wreck her.
Eun-ha had finished prepping for dick-sucking duty and crashed the chat. Thank god for Eun-ha. A restaurant would drain a third of my paycheck; gopchang, even stuffing ourselves, would top out at maybe a hundred thousand.
I'd completely forgotten the most important part. After we closed at four in the morning, pretty much every restaurant was shut. And meeting up during the day for gopchang and soju wasn't happening either.
Classic Hyojin — a real expert at not giving a single fuck. But how exactly were we supposed to bounce early and hit a gopchang place?
Hmm... with Hyojin, it was entirely possible. But whether I could actually leave early was another question. For now, I had no choice but to trust her. If it worked out, I could pour soju down their throats and maybe get some action.
Bakjirang Gopchang Alley — the famous food street in the area packed with grilled tripe joints.
The thought of sitting face-to-face with a couple of fresh twenty-two-year-old girls, trading dirty jokes over soju glasses — my dick was already twitching. Whether the early exit actually worked was another story.
A group of customers arrived. I dumped them into empty rooms and headed for the girls' waiting room. It was already past midnight, and still nothing from Hyojin.
"Do-yeon, room five. Hyojin, room seven~"
"Okay~"
"Okay~"
Three guys in the group. Nabi and Eun-ha were still with clients, so Do-yeon and Hyojin had to go in first. The remaining customer would get whichever of Nabi or Eun-ha came out first — just shove her straight in to start sucking. By rotation it should've been Eun-ha's turn, but even if I sent Nabi first, Jeonghun's smooth handling of the books meant the chance of anyone complaining about a one-session gap at closing was basically zero.
"Let's grab a drink sometime too, Manager — me and unnie~"
I was turning away after the call when Do-yeon's soft, silky voice floated over. What the fuck was this bullshit?
"Huh?"
"The unnies said they'd help us bounce too, oppa~ hehe~"
"Yeah~ I love gopchang too~ Let's go together next time~"
Wait. That bitch had spilled our private, secret conversation to Nabi and Do-yeon? And what the hell did "help" even mean?
"Ah... yeah. Let's grab a drink next time, Do-yeon."
I was so flustered the words just tumbled out. Drinking with girls — young or older — was always fine by me, but these two had deep ties to the two big bosses. They were the shop's senior girls. They didn't exactly run military drills, but they got the unspoken respect of being the head bitches. Which meant they could rat me out to the bosses anytime.
Fuck, I was sweating. Did I just screw myself by suggesting drinks?
"We didn't tell the boss or uncle, so don't worry, oppa~ hehe~"
"Uh..."
Do-yeon was reclining against a pillow under a summer blanket, reading a book, and she shot me a look that was pure heat. She looked delicious, no question — but given her history with Dongpal, I'd never had the guts to make a move. Now she was casually saying "drinks next time," backing Hyojin and Eun-ha's early exit, and giving me that look... I felt my dick start to firm up. She had a sweet face, but every so often those eyes flashed like she wanted to devour a man whole. That look proved she wasn't just some older girl who'd wasted her years.
I went back to the counter, dropped into the mesh chair, and quietly lit a cigarette. Hyojin blabbing to Nabi and Do-yeon about drinking with the manager was a little sketchy, but replaying Do-yeon's reaction and Hyojin's words, it didn't seem like the news would reach Big Boss or Dongpal's ears. More than that — Hyojin, who'd always used formal speech with the other girls (except Eun-ha), had just talked in front of Do-yeon like they were ball-buddies. It was basically a declaration of equality, right out in the open. From a bitch six years younger, no less. From now on, I'd have to present myself to the girls as the friendly older-brother type who looked after them. Within reason. Without crossing the line too far...
Looking at it another way, things had actually worked out pretty well. From what they'd said, we were bouncing tonight and hitting the drinks with those two bitches.
Right after Do-yeon and Hyojin went into their respective client rooms to start sucking, Eun-ha finished her session and came out arm-in-arm with her customer, heading for the hallway entrance. I hustled over, took the customer off her hands, hit the elevator button, and helped the bastard on his way out. One of the three group customers was still sitting alone in a room, desperately waiting for a girl, so I wasted no time getting back to the counter, grabbing the landline connected to the waiting room, hitting zero, and calling Eun-ha to crawl right back in. Good little Eun-ha — less than thirty seconds after the call, the CCTV showed her heading back in to suck more dick. I watched with satisfaction.
A moment later the shop phone rang. Jeonghun answered without even checking the number.
"Yes, hyungnim."
Probably Big Boss or Dongpal.
"Yes... yes... understood, hyungnim. I'll call back after we close. Yes, hyungnim."
He hung up and set the phone back in place.
"Jin-sik. We're closing after this round. Get ready to clock out."
"What?"
I was genuinely shocked. It was barely past midnight. Once the current sessions wrapped, it wouldn't even be one o'clock. I'd roughly figured from Do-yeon and Hyojin's talk that we'd be bouncing, but this was way too early.
I was about to ask Jeonghun again when I heard a door open and close — Nabi finishing her session. The CCTV confirmed it; she was escorting her customer out. I bolted into the hallway, steered the customer to the elevator, and hit the button. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jeonghun approaching Nabi. I was curious, but getting the customer out came first, so I finished the job and returned to the counter.
A moment later Jeonghun reappeared, heading back. He'd clearly said something to Nabi, and from the vibe, it had everything to do with closing early. There were no more reservations, so Jeonghun started prepping for close the second he got back to the counter — like it was already four in the morning.
Whatever. He'll tell me after we clock out.
Not knowing was frustrating, but nothing seemed to be going wrong, and for now I had no choice but to trust the girls. Especially that bitch Hyojin. She was currently in a room sucking client dick, so I couldn't even ask.
The agonizing minutes ticked by. One by one, the girls who'd drained their customers dry came out escorting them. Then Nabi and Do-yeon appeared at the counter already changed into street clothes — even though it was only one o'clock.
"Good work~"
"Good work~"
"Yeah~"
"Good work~"
Nabi, usually all ice, glanced at me and turned her head. She wasn't smiling or anything, but something about the air between us felt different than before. Do-yeon looked at me too, the corner of her mouth slightly raised. I'd always written them off as hard to approach, but maybe going forward there'd be a chance to actually talk and get friendly with these two.
My phone buzzed. I unlocked it — Hyojin had messaged the group chat.
So we weren't walking over arm-in-arm with Eun-ha and Hyojin — they'd go separately. A moment later the two of them appeared, collected their dick-sucking money from Jeonghun, and left.
Alone with Jeonghun at the counter, an awkward silence settled in. He pulled a ten-thousand-won bill from the cash stack, pocketed one for himself, and handed one to me.
I was about to chase after those bitches to Bakjirang when a sudden thought hit me. I opened the counter drawer and stuffed the 1.2-million wad into my back pocket. True middle-school-dropout brain — I'd almost left it behind.
"Good work today, hyung."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow. Good work."
I rode the elevator down, smoked a cigarette while walking to the main road, and flagged a taxi. I slid into the back seat.
"Bakjirang Gopchang Alley."
The taxi pulled away with my expectations soaring, and I felt my dick throb hard.