The Unspoken Convenience Store Rule
Ring-ring-ring-ring—
Kim Hyunsoo silenced the noisy phone alarm and stretched as he got up. His body felt heavy and sluggish; he clearly hadn't slept well. The bed was so cheap that it was neither soft nor pleasant to the touch, and he made a mental note that once he moved to a new place, he'd have to buy a whole new set of furniture.
"Hmm..."
Today was his day off, and Kim Hyunsoo had decided that on his days off, he would rest properly. After all, there wasn't much he needed to do anyway. Now that he was working one Saturday each month, he'd earned himself a blissful Sunday of doing absolutely nothing. Scratching his head as he rolled out of bed, he threw on a cap and headed for the convenience store, deciding he'd just grab a lunch box there and call it a meal.
He had a rice cooker at home, but cooking rice was a hassle. Living alone was, at its core, one long chain of hassles. Kim Hyunsoo had no money, and perhaps because he'd been living by himself since he was young, he was used to getting by without appliances. It was the kind of pitiable lifestyle that made other women's protective instincts flare up — though the man himself couldn't have cared less about that.
Dressed light and casual, he opened the convenience store door and stepped inside. The air conditioning was blasting at full power. Eating his lunch box in the cool store beat sitting at home sweating over it, so the choice seemed like a good one.
He could toss his trash here afterward, too, and there was the nice cold breeze of the AC to enjoy. Decision made, Kim Hyunsoo picked out a reasonable-looking lunch box and something to drink, then headed toward the register where the part-timer was working. The part-timer was, of course, a woman — or should he call her a "pyeonsuni," a convenience store girl? The moment she saw him, the clerk flinched and trembled slightly before quickly composing herself.
"Shall I ring you up?"
"Yes, please."
"That'll be 7,600 won. How would you like to pay?"
"Card, please."
Kim Hyunsoo tapped his card, peeled open the packaging of his lunch box, and made his way over to the microwave. The plan was to heat it up there and eat on the spot.
Kim Jiyeon, the convenience store girl hard at work as always, was busily scrolling through her phone. Wasn't the whole charm of a convenience store part-time job the chance to play around to your heart's content when there were no customers? Sure, there was stock to sort, floors to clean, and a hundred other chores — but she'd already finished all of them. Now all that was left was her phone. When there were no customers, no part-time job on earth beat a convenience store.
Then the clear chime of the doorbell rang out and a customer walked in. Kim Jiyeon set down her phone and gave her greeting. If a customer had come in, the phone had to go away — she needed to keep an eye out in case they tried to shoplift, or help them if they needed anything.
Oh!
But today's customer was a young man — the kind you rarely got to see. Kim Jiyeon's gaze swept over him from head to toe in a quick, practiced scan. He wasn't celebrity-level gorgeous or anything, but among ordinary people, that face was absolutely top-tier. Kim Jiyeon firmly clamped down on the urge to confess her feelings. A young male customer this rare had come all the way here, and she wanted to keep looking at him for as long as possible. A confession assault was strictly off the table.
The young man bought a lunch box and a drink and settled into the seating area the store provided to eat. Kim Jiyeon quietly slipped out from behind the counter. Minding the register was part of the job, but a sudden and very important task had just appeared on today's schedule. She began enthusiastically emptying the trash can. It wasn't even half full yet, but this was more than enough reason to take it out.
Kim Jiyeon started circling around the young man, busying herself with little odd jobs. At first he paid attention to her approach, but once he saw she was just cleaning and tidying shelves, his eyes drifted back to his phone. Meanwhile, Kim Jiyeon worked hard while sneaking glances at him every chance she got. He was young, and even though she hadn't gotten anywhere near him, a wonderful scent seemed to drift off him. Was this what they called a man's natural scent?
She felt like she was getting dizzy, drunk on it. The only man she'd ever known in her life was her father. The young man was pleasant enough to talk to, sure, but she'd never actually gone on a date or anything like that.
Regrettably, once the young man finished his lunch box, he left the store. He must have been kind-hearted, because he'd thrown away his trash and empty drink on his way out. Kim Jiyeon gazed dreamily at his retreating back. Young men were always, always right. And watching that young man walk away, Kim Jiyeon made up her mind to do the thing she'd been keeping tucked away in her heart.
"Rental... boyfriend..."
Back home after her shift, Kim Jiyeon searched for rental boyfriend websites. There were plenty of them. Like celebrity fan-signing events, rental boyfriends in this world carried exactly that kind of prestige — because the whole thing was perfectly legal.
Strangely enough, the Ministry of Men cracked down on prostitution with an iron fist, but rental boyfriends and other services that involved no physical relationship were not only tolerated — they were actively encouraged. Prostitution was banned by law, yet rental boyfriends, sponsorship arrangements, and all manner of similar services were perfectly legal. It was a strange world. Not that Kim Jiyeon gave it much thought.
She was planning to book a rental boyfriend today, after all. Seeing that handsome young man at the store had left her utterly unstoppable. As she was browsing through one of the better-known rental boyfriend sites, a familiar face appeared on her screen.
"Wait, that's the guy from earlier!"
The young man who'd eaten his lunch box at the convenience store was registered on the site. His photos here were retouched and Photoshop-perfected, making him look even more stunning — a face that could genuinely make it as a world-class model or celebrity. Kim Jiyeon raced through the information below the photos.
"50,000 won per hour... Nineteen years old... New to the job, but has great manners...?"
From her perspective, he was the perfect choice. He hadn't been doing rental boyfriend work for long, which meant there was no one better. The only downside was that the price was a little steep. Kim Jiyeon made just under two million won a month at the convenience store — and hiring this rental boyfriend would cost at least 200,000 won a pop.
Bookings required a minimum of four hours, and on top of that, all the dating expenses during the date came out of her own pocket. But Kim Jiyeon could absolutely afford it. Maybe this was exactly why she'd been scrimping and saving at her convenience store job all this time. She applied on the spot.
Strike while the iron was hot, as they say. She set the date for the very next day — it was her day off from the convenience store, after all. Kim Jiyeon drifted toward sleep lost in happy daydreams. Getting to go on an actual date with that young man from today... nothing in the world could be better than this.
"Hmm..."
Kim Hyunsoo tallied up what he'd earned this month. On average, he was pulling in 200,000 to 300,000 won a day — though that was because he never worked more than six hours. Once he was a bit older and the evening curfew lifted, he figured he could manage around eight.
He had worked a Saturday, but only that single day; the rest of the week he stuck to five days. It hadn't been a bad choice — when he'd first arrived in this world, he'd needed to learn its information and basic common sense. A month in, Kim Hyunsoo could now live as a respectable man in this other world. Not that he was entirely free of gaps in his knowledge.
Expecting anyone to fully adapt to a world flipped 180 degrees in just one month was asking a lot. Didn't people who spent years in prison sometimes fail to readjust to society? Kim Hyunsoo's situation was a little different, sure — but the underlying principle was much the same.
"Whoa. Five million won in a single month..."
Kim Hyunsoo's total income for the month had come to nearly five million won. And this was the take-home of a rookie who'd only been a rental boyfriend for a hot minute. The agency boss had told him that once he built up tenure, date fees would go up and he'd be earning at least twice what he made now.
And above all, the work intensity was pure honey. In his old world, what job on earth paid you this much simply for eating meals and going on dates with pretty women? Absolutely none existed. You'd be lucky to spend money on women — actually getting paid by women to make a living was next to impossible.
But this world had made it possible. The gifts he'd received on dates alone were worth a few hundred thousand won. And that was after word got around that he refused expensive presents, so his female clients had gotten creative with alternatives — mostly cosmetics, admittedly.
Plus, single men in this world enjoyed their own special tax benefits, meaning he wouldn't owe a single won in taxes on up to 100 million won in income. The policy was apparently designed to help men save up for marriage quickly, and for Kim Hyunsoo, it was an absolute godsend.