Ju Hayeong
"...A, a vanilla latte, please."
"Would you like that hot?"
"Ah, iced..."
"And the size?"
"L-large."
"All right. I'll ring you up."
"...Yes."
Then I saw the hand offering the card, and for a second I didn't know what to do with it. Where was I even supposed to take hold? She had the whole card hidden under her fingers, and she was holding it out to me like that. Come to think of it, there wasn't even a chip reader here.
Sharp, isn't she?
I had to wonder whether a trick like this was really worth the effort, but I brushed my fingers lightly across her palm and took the card as if it were nothing. I turned my eyes to the register. Even so, I could feel all of it—the way she stared at me in a daze, her mouth slowly falling open.
"Here's your card. Would you like a receipt?"
"...Yes. Please."
I'd been sure she wouldn't want one. She was better at this than I'd thought. From the order itself she'd deliberately broken every sentence into pieces, handed the card over in the most awkward way she could to coax a little contact, and then there was this long spool of receipts I had to sort through before I could tear one off and give it to her. Well, she wasn't bad-looking, so I wasn't exactly put out. Come to think of it, the customers today had been attractive on the whole. It was a little unusual how dressed up they were, full faces of makeup and all, but women like Hyunji or Rahi, who barely wore any, were the rarer kind, so it made sense.
"Here you are. Your drink will be ready over there."
"...O-okay..."
The woman who'd been watching me clicked her tongue, plainly sorry to go, and the moment she turned, another woman—who'd been glaring at her back—came up beaming and launched into an order. Just like that it was the lunch rush, and people began pouring into the cafe past anything we could handle.
"...Boss."
"...Y-yeah."
"...Thirty thousand won isn't going to be enough."
"Ah. I know..."
I never thought I'd be saying we'd burned ourselves white-hot over pulling coffee. The idea of a cafe having to call a break was absurd, but once it crept past two, the boss and I were both nearly dead on our feet.
"In all my years... first time we've sold out of bagels running this place..."
"Did you put in a restock order? People were asking for cake a lot, too. Tiramisu and cheesecake."
The stock was already gone. If she hadn't cut the line off partway and turned people away, it could have been a real disaster. With that many customers flooding in, I'd had to make coffee I didn't even know how to make. On top of that I'd started splitting the dishes and the orders with her. At first the brush of her body had been a pleasure; at some point I stopped feeling it at all. By the time lunch was over, we were in such sync it felt like gears turning together.
They say when you're desperate, things just click. Busy as I was, I was learning anyway.
It must have tasted awful, obviously, but the women who heard I'd made it lit up and went straight to the corners of the cafe to sit. Thank god we couldn't use disposable cups for in-store orders. If all of them had stayed, this old building might have burst at the seams. Sales had already blown past the previous day's total. The toast and bagels we'd had to keep baking until the stock ran dry had done their share.
"Yeah. They're coming. Cake is such a pain to manage, I was going to skip it. I suppose I have to now...?"
"Just from what I remember, I heard people ask more than twenty times. Don't you have some in the freezer?"
"I just felt bad putting frozen stuff out, so I didn't..."
With that she leaned her back against the wall and murmured, her face blank.
"...I didn't think it would work this well."
"If you do this every day, you really might collapse."
"...I think so. Should I hire one more person?"
Even then, a crowd this size was more than we could handle. The counter itself was too cramped to begin with. A big cafe might have managed, but with a layout like this, getting through that many orders was impossible.
"Then how about this? Now that it's come to this, I just come in one or two days a week."
"...Would that be better?"
"Someone showed me Instagram earlier. One of the customers posted something, and it looks like it spread all over."
"Ah. So that's..."
"I don't know social media well either, and taking photos without asking is a bit much, but she did promote us, and it worked. Let's use that."
"How?"
"From what I know, opening an account isn't that hard. If you don't have Instagram, we can make one in your name. Either way, we open one for the cafe, hang the handle up in front of the counter, and do a little promoting ourselves."
"Hmm. Will it really work that well? Our cafe isn't exactly the Instagram type..."
"If it doesn't, I'll come back in then. Keep this up and you'll collapse. Of course, today might have been a one-off because of that post."
She turned my words over, but the decision came quickly. And arranged this way, I wouldn't have to give up my unemployment benefits. Still, ever since I'd heard what the average hourly wage for men was in this world, I'd gone a little lukewarm on the whole thing. If an opportunity came along, I probably wouldn't need to cling to those benefits at all.
"All right. Let's do that. I'd rather just be a neighborhood cafe. This is too much."
"That's why I like you, Boss."
"I-it just makes me look like I have no ambition, though."
"That's what makes it cooler. Do you know how many people can't even decide for themselves? There's a reason they came up with decision paralysis."
"...Y-you think so?"
She flushed as if embarrassed and twisted a fallen lock of hair at her temple between her fingers. In that same moment, a growl rose from her stomach and mine, almost at once.
"Ah, you're hungry, right? Let's hurry. We should close up, too."
"Yeah. But is there anything left on the menu?"
She'd gotten up to tie her hair and head off. At my question, her steps stopped.
"...Want to have ramyeon before you go?"
"Sounds good."
Our eyes met, and the two of us let out a soft little laugh at the same time. Said aloud, it was that ancient line—the one that had never really been about noodles.
"Got it. I'm good at making ramyeon. Just a second... ah."
As she passed in front of me, I quietly caught her hand. She felt the touch, startled, and stopped. I looked up at her and slowly opened my mouth.
"You said thirty thousand won wouldn't be enough."
"...Ah. R-right. I did. H-how much would be good? I'll give you whatever you ask."
"Are you saying that because you're worried what I'll ask for?"
"Still. I didn't know I'd work you this hard... today."
At her apologetic words, I quietly stroked the back of her hand. She had frozen mid-sentence; then she finished and began to look down at me, unblinking. The tension slowly blooming between us stirred a strange anticipation along with it.
"The money's fine. Honestly, if you take my day's wages out of today's sales, there isn't much left."
"...Don't worry about that."
"It isn't that. There is something I want, though."
"What is it...?"
She swallowed, and worry settled in her eyes. Just a simple worry, born of not knowing what I was about to say. It wasn't a big request.
"Show me your breasts."
"...Huh?"
"Your breasts. Breasts."
"N-no... why would you..."
"Because I want to see them. Your body, Boss."
She asked again, eyes round with disbelief, and a short laugh escaped me.
"Y-you're joking. God, you startled me."
"You don't want to?"
"N-no. It's not that... is something that small really all right?"
The right hand caught in mine began to fidget, and before I knew it her left was pressed to the center of her chest, clenched into a fist.
"I'm... getting old, and..."
"How far are you taking this? I only asked you to show me your breasts."
"Ah, ah... r-right."
At my words her milk-white skin flushed all at once, and I let out a soft laugh. She flinched at it, flustered, then looked at me and nodded.
"D-do you really want to see...?"
"Yes. I'm curious about your body, Boss."
"...Okay."
She glanced once at the blinds, already lowered, then slowly brought her hands behind her waist. I watched her, and our eyes met. She immediately avoided mine and dropped her gaze again.
"...Th-this is embarrassing. More than I thought."
With a soft tap the apron fluttered and fell open down her front. I quietly took in the sight of her blushing and murmuring at herself, then spoke.
"Is this your first time?"
"...Showing someone?"
"Yes. A man."
"...Th-the pool, or..."
"Come on. Not that. This."
She swallowed, and her cheeks had already gone pink.
"...N-never..."
"I'm the first?"
"...Yeah. B-but you really won't tease me...?"
"Of course not."
She looked at me again, then took off the apron and set it carefully on the side table. With hands that had been fidgeting, she caught the hem of her sweater and slowly began to lift it. Then, as if she'd suddenly remembered herself, she hurriedly covered her pale stomach.
"...M-my belly sticks out..."
"It's cute."
"...Really. I knew you were strange from the moment you started walking around drooling, but..."
"If you don't want to, you don't have to."
"...I don't not want to. If anything... I'm sorry for showing you something like this..."
Eyes squeezed shut, she slowly began to lift the sweater again. It was a milk-white stomach. Not firm like Rahi's or Hyunji's, but like soft, billowing whipped cream. And it was hard to call it sticking out the way she claimed. If anything, it was a stomach that made you want to touch it—right down to the dainty little navel.
"Ah..."
The moment I reached out and my fingertips met that stomach, she squirmed, a very small moan slipping out of her.
"Does it tickle?"
"...N-no... It's w-warm..."
"If you're uncomfortable, tell me. I'll stop. You were so cute I did it without thinking."
"...Hn."
At my words she swallowed her breath, swallowed again, and set her stilled hands moving, lifting the sweater once more. As the reddish-purple cups of a bra slowly came into view, all I could do was nod. Only the lower portion had appeared, but it was enough to guess at their grandeur.
I'd thought they wouldn't be ordinary.
There was no way I could have missed the presence of her chest from behind her. And the bra slowly revealing itself was a grown woman's. The lace wasn't excessive, but it wasn't plain either—and what made it stand out was the milk-white skin filling it to the brim.
Without meaning to, I'd been staring, dazed, my eyes stolen by that bewitching softness. She swallowed and asked, her voice thick with worry.
"...I-is it all right...?"
"Yes. They're incredible. Beautiful. They suit you."
"...Th-thank goodness..."
She even let out a sigh of relief. But I was still looking at her breasts. At that, she stole a glance at me with trembling eyes, then slowly began to part her lips.