Toto
"Woof!"
A white ball of fluff came barreling at me, pink tongue lolling. I flinched and nearly dodged, but the moment I saw the black eyebrows drawn in above those eyes, I snorted and scooped the Pomeranian up anyway.
"Aigoo, yeah. Long time no see. Look at all that drool."
He licked at my face and thrashed, but it wasn't the thrashing of a dog trying to get free. Just happy, heaving pants, thick with delight. The long leash on his harness started to jingle, and a moment later light, tapping footsteps rang down the alley.
"......Honestly. Aigoo."
"Toto hasn't changed a bit."
"I know. Goodness, I'm winded."
It was the cafe owner herself. Not the long, wavy hair she usually wore, but a rough twist pinned up with a claw clip, and everyday clothes instead of an apron — the first time I'd seen her out of uniform in a while. She'd lost the leash again, by the look of it. She came puffing up, saw the dog in my arms, and sagged with relief, bracing her hands on her knees while she caught her breath. The sweater gaped enough to show the cleft of her breasts, so I yanked my eyes away and talked to Toto instead.
"You're basically a grandpa by now, aren't you? Healthy as anything. You'll live forever."
"Hehe. That's right. He's ten now."
"You all right?"
"Ugh, I'm dying. A little jog and I'm like this."
She laughed and waved it off, as if there was nothing to be done. I scratched Toto's head, then glanced at the collar around his neck. Turned over, it had her name — Ju Hayeong — and a phone number written on it.
"Now that I think about it, Toto, it really has been a while."
"It has. Aigoo. A year ago, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. He came charging at me that time too."
"I know. This is bad. I really can't keep dropping the leash."
"Maybe it's lucky it was me."
"What do you mean? If he got hurt, that'd be awful."
"He's the size of a fist. How hard can he shove anybody? Aren't you supposed to be open?"
"Ah, I'm off today. I'm trying to take one day a week."
At that I could almost hear the wailing of her uncle-fans, and I remembered the look on her face — the cafe owner who couldn't quite call her regular uncles to mind.
"That's good. Your place does well, doesn't it?"
"Not really. It's only thanks to the people who stop in for a bit in the morning...... I'm at a loss."
Of course. The crowd that had carried the afternoon trade was gone, so maybe it couldn't be helped. If anything, she was one of the people this changed world had cost a little. It wasn't my fault, so I didn't exactly feel guilty. It still nagged at me. She'd been the only person in this neighborhood who felt like a friend.
"Are the other cafes in the same spot?"
"More or less. I thought I'd finally catch my breath once the pandemic ended. Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if I should hire a male part-timer."
"A part-timer?"
"Yeah. You know that cafe on the corner? The intersection, one stop up."
"Yeah. Their coffee tastes like dirt. I know it well."
She blinked, round-eyed, as if that surprised her, then let out a soft laugh.
"Ahaha, really? I've never tried it. Anyway, they hired a guy — their nephew, I think? — and now people are walking a whole extra stop just to catch the bus from there."
"......Aha."
"So a lot fewer people are commuting from the stop in front of my cafe."
"I see."
In a world like this, maybe one extra stop was worth the morning walk. I wouldn't know. I'd rather spend that precious morning in bed.
"They say they think of it as a stroll. Well, I might go too. First thing in the morning...... oh, sorry."
"It's fine. Is he good-looking?"
"Mm, no. Much, much uglier than you, Shinwoo."
"There you go again, just trying to make me feel good. This is why I like you, boss."
And then both of us broke out laughing. A cafe. The thought of it made me notice Toto starting to squirm in my arms, so I set him gently on the ground. Done with me already? Cheap little thing. I'd wanted to pet him more.
"......Um, Shinwoo."
"Ah, yes."
Her face said something was coming. A little hope, a little worry, a carefulness. She kept glancing at me, hesitating, twirling the hair at her temple around one finger before she slowly opened her mouth.
"......Would you maybe work a part-time shift? Even just for a little while?"
"I really can't make coffee, though. Pouring it the way you do, that tasty — that's the realm of talent."
"Oh, what are you talking about. I can teach you everything. It wouldn't be for long. Just two or three hours in the morning. Hm?"
"Morning through around lunch, you mean?"
"Yeah. Ten to twelve, and if you're all right with it, through the lunch hour. I'll pay better than other places, too. What do you think?"
I studied her face, scratched my cheek, and turned it over. I didn't have anything to do in the mornings. My workouts with Kang Rahee were in the afternoon. I could have moved them up, but I didn't feel any need to. I was interested in coffee, so I could treat it as learning a little. Still, cafe work, as far as I knew, was no soft job. Everything behind the counter was basically grunt labor.
"Um, you don't have to do anything, Shinwoo. Just taking orders, serving, a little cleaning — that's plenty."
"Then you'd be losing too much, boss."
"Aigoo, losing what. Then how about just orders and serving? I'll teach you coffee whenever there's a gap."
She must have heard refusal in what I'd said, because she came back with an offer that dropped the cleaning entirely. Even so, cleaning was something an employee ought to do. And that wasn't what I'd meant. Things had to be desperate if she was offering a serving job — the kind of work that had all but vanished. I understood the intent, too. I'd never imagined being asked to be the pretty face out front.
Would I even work? I might just get in the way. And the unemployment benefits are a problem. What were the conditions again?
I wasn't a labor attorney. There was no way I had it straight. Only that my calculated daily wage had filled up to the cap, and since I'd barely cleared three years, it came out to something like a hundred and eighty days. A little over eleven million won in total. I also knew that keeping the benefits while taking day wages or part-time pay was stricter than people thought. Even a very short gig counted as employment, and the days got deducted.
It's a lot of money, if you want to call it a lot.
It was just a neighborhood cafe. I could talk it over with her and roughly hide it, and that would be that — but I didn't want to live lying over something this small. I'd take a hit on the money, sure. Her coffee had healed me more than a little, though, and refusing outright felt hard. While I stayed sunk in the thought, she watched my face with a slightly tense look.
Right. I never really expected to collect it in the first place. Giving up after a few days is a little ridiculous, but.
I decided to think of it as paying back a little of what I owed her — the woman who had dosed the zombie I'd been with coffee, like a vaccine. It was a shame. I'd be giving up sixty thousand won a day, just like that. That was when she swallowed hard in front of me and held up three fingers.
"Th-thirty thousand."
"......What?"
"I'll give you thirty thousand an hour. In exchange, do five hours. From the morning rush straight through past lunch."
"......Did you win the lottery, boss? What do you have left if you pay a part-timer thirty thousand just to sell coffee?"
"I'm taking a gamble too. If customers keep getting stolen like this, there's nothing I can do. And I can afford that much. I'll make you lunch, too. You eat alone, right?"
"I do, but... no......"
Even if the cafe was doing well, a hundred and fifty thousand won a day for a part-timer. I didn't know business, but that had to mean she was cutting into her own pay. Twenty days alone was three million. This was not the moment to stand around thinking.
"Lee Shinwoo. As of this moment, I'm in your service."
"......Really? You'll actually do it?"
"Where do I start? Should I wipe the cafe floor with my body? Licking costs extra."
The salary from that miserable zombie life had been four million. Three million for five hours a day? Pledging loyalty wouldn't begin to cover it. Unemployment benefits? Who cared. To think she'd had this kind of nerve. If anything, I ought to be grateful she'd picked me.
"Pfft. Why would I make you do that. You really will?"
"Of course. I'm prepared to roll over like a dog."
"You don't need to."
She waved a hand, cradling Toto, smiling softly — and it might not have been an illusion that she looked like an angel.
"Then let's start today."
"Didn't you say it was your day off?"
"No. Even if I rested, I didn't have anything to do. Let's go."
I wasn't tired either. And if I was being treated like this, I had to be worth the money.
"Then for a while, let's call it training, and I won't take the hourly wage."
"Really?"
"Of course. I don't even know if I'll actually help. Try me for about a month, and if sales don't go up, just match minimum wage."
I was worried about her, too. If three million suddenly punched a hole in the take. If it were me, I might have been dying for a drink. At the very least, I had to make sure she wouldn't regret it.
"Don't worry. I'll handle it. Are you all right now?"
"Sure. But today, just feed me. Think of it as teaching me the job."
At that she smiled, bright, nodded several times, and answered.
"I'll make you something good."
Then she picked up the leash of the panting Toto and held it out to me. I turned back down the alley I'd come in by, and she and Toto fell in beside me, walking slow.
"As long as it isn't that cookie from back then."
"N-no. That was only because it was the first time I baked them. You still remember that?"
"Of course. It was very memorable. I learned that day that a cookie can be spicy."
"C-could you please forget it now?"
"Mm. Thanks to that, where cookies are concerned, I've become a man who can't taste anything."
"......So that's why you never bought any?"
"Ah. Caught."
"This won't do. Today I'll feed you and show you how much this ajumma has improved."
"What ajumma? You're a noona."
"......Noona?"
"Of course. So how old are you, boss?"
"......Don't ask it like I'm elderly. It's depressing."
"Ah. Right."
"I-I'm thirty-five. You were thirty, weren't you, Shinwoo?"
"So you are a noona. Only five years apart."
"......Yeah."
She twisted the hair at her temple around her finger, shy. In truth, the gap between me and her was smaller than the one between me and Hyunji. Tease her about age, and I'd only be dealing splash damage to myself.
Teasing her about age is out. Not that I was planning to.
We talked a little, and before long we were in front of the cafe. There were still some people at the stop, but the morning rush had passed, so it was quieter than it had been.
"Just a moment."
"You always carry the key?"
"No. I left something at the shop. I was going to stop by while I walked Toto."
I nodded and looked around. The cafe sat right in front of the bus stop, small enough for about six tables. Even so, for coffee alone, hers was the best in the neighborhood. People knew it, and business had been good. Even during the pandemic, the place had been packed. Then, with a bright little chime, the cafe door opened.