The Boss
Shin Yuna had no sense of how the time had slipped away. She'd been having such a wonderful conversation with Hyunsoo, and before she knew it, the service hours were already up.
"Noona, your time's up."
Kim Hyunsoo checked the clock and let her know. Shin Yuna made fumbling, hesitant gestures to stall, but it was no use. She didn't have the money to extend the service. If she'd known this would happen, she should have worked harder to save up.
She had never once asked anyone for money before. Life at the church provided meals and clothing, and honestly, Yuna had never had any hobbies to speak of. But now she had a reason to start saving. Today had been her very first date, and just talking with a man had made her feel absolutely wonderful. So this is why everyone else chases after men so desperately.
She'd never realized that a one-on-one conversation with a man could pass the time so quickly and be so much fun. Yuna wasn't foolish enough to cling pathetically to the hem of Hyunsoo's trousers, though. She could just save up again and rent him another time. Simple as that.
"Okay..."
Since the café bill had already been settled, they left without any additional payment. Kim Hyunsoo gave a polite bow and turned to go. The hours were over now—this was no longer a relationship between big sister and little brother, but between buyer and seller. And then Yuna blurted out,
"C-could we take just one photo together, Hyunsoo?"
Kim Hyunsoo listened, thought about it quietly for a moment, then nodded.
"Of course, Noona. One photo is fine."
"Yay, thank you!"
Yuna snapped a picture with him. She made up her mind to treasure it forever, and she didn't forget to title it Commemorating My First Date with a Man. It was the moment an enormous change began in Shin Yuna's history with men.
So this was dating—now she understood why women staked their lives on it. Hyunsoo also had some kind of lovely scent about him, something that put her heart at ease. It was the reason a first-time client like Yuna had been able to chat so freely all day.
"Hmm hm~"
Kim Hyunsoo hummed a tune on his way back to the office, like every day. To think he could earn this much money just by chatting with pretty women—he'd truly found his calling. His old days of busting his hump in construction for pocket change now seemed laughable. Even grinding away like a dog back then, he hadn't made half of what he earned now.
He made his way back to the office on autopilot. He needed to settle the day's earnings there. Sure, he could technically do the rental boyfriend gig solo, but between recruiting clients and juggling a dozen other hassles, it was simply more comfortable to belong to an agency and enjoy nothing but the dates themselves.
There was a reason people worked through companies. Scrounging up work on your own was freelancer territory; for ordinary working stiffs like him, it was far easier to live off the jobs the Boss lined up.
Hyunsoo climbed up to the office tucked into a corner of downtown. Around twenty men, himself included, were affiliated with this rental boyfriend agency. He'd never actually visited whatever webpage the office supposedly had posted on the internet, though.
He simply didn't have the nerve to look at a website staffed entirely by men. If he saw a photo of himself, freshly made up and plastered on a screen, he'd curl up in embarrassment and die on the spot. Hyunsoo arrived at the office and flung open the Boss's door.
"Boss!"
"H-Hyunsoo! You're here?"
The Boss hastily hid something away, whatever she'd been doing, and greeted him. Hyunsoo narrowed his eyes at her. Noticing that look, she laughed awkwardly.
"Hyunsoo, want some cake? Gicheol's client gave it to us as a gift."
"You really need to cut back, Boss. You'll gain weight."
The Boss was in her mid-thirties—the age when a person really should start taking care of their body. Then again, her years as a Hunter had left her with a rock-solid physique, so his remark was just a casual jab.
"But... it's so good. What am I supposed to do about that?"
Mid-thirties or not, judging by her behavior you'd easily take her for a woman in her twenties—and she looked the part, too. Given the sheer violence of her bust, Hyunsoo could understand why the Boss loved her cake. Keeping a chest that size fueled probably required a serious calorie surplus.
"I'm here to settle up for the day."
"Right? Great work out there, Hyunsoo!"
By default, bosses in this kind of entertainment business were supposed to be rough and terrifying. In his old world, the manager of an establishment like this would conjure the image of a scar-faced, bald gangster—a knife scar across one cheek, towering height, a hulking frame... But the Boss of this world looked nothing like that. She was the picture of a college girl you'd pass on any university campus.
Still, Hyunsoo had once seen the Boss angry, so he never judged her by appearances alone. A while back, a problem client had come in and started tormenting one of the rental boyfriends, and the Boss had gone absolutely ballistic.
That was when Hyunsoo realized she hadn't become the head of a rental boyfriend agency by accident. Watching the atmosphere flip 180 degrees in a heartbeat, he decided their Boss was someone you could count on. The sight of her hoisting the rowdy client up with a single hand and slamming him into the floor had given him genuine chills. The troublemaker fled without so much as a peep. Apparently even a client willing to bully one of her employees couldn't quite find the courage to fight someone who could pick them up one-handed and plant them into the ground.
Of course, to Hyunsoo and the other employees, the Boss was nothing short of an angel.
"Any trouble today? It's been two whole weeks since you started, Hyunsoo. You're due to run into one or two nightmare clients around now..."
"None at all. Everyone's been sweet and gentle, honestly."
"Really? That's a relief. If anything comes up, you tell your Noona right away, okay? I'll handle it on the spot!"
The Boss was immensely strong, so Hyunsoo felt like he'd gained himself a dependable big sister.
"Hearing you say that, Boss, I feel invincible."
Hyunsoo began settling his accounts. Both he and the Boss already knew roughly how much he'd be bringing in. The service fees for a rental boyfriend varied by grade. Hyunsoo was still at the entry tier, charging 50,000 won an hour. Word was that once he built a reputation and clients started specifically requesting him, he could command 70,000 to 80,000 won per hour.
"Six hours today, so that's 300,000 won."
"Yes. I collected it all in cash."
Rental boyfriend services were strictly cash-only. The work wasn't illegal, but if clients could pay by bank transfer, some would dine and dash—enjoy every minute of the date, then wipe their mouths afterward and pretend they'd never met you. Reporting them was legally murky, and letting it slide only invited more freeloading troublemakers. That was why services like this almost universally demanded cash.
"Knocking off 10 percent, your day's pay comes to 270,000 won. Good hustle!"
The Boss, running the rental boyfriend agency, took a 10 percent commission. Considering that construction day-labor brokers skimmed about the same, it didn't feel like an unreasonable cut. She was the fixer for every employee under her roof, after all—more than fair compensation.
"I'll head out then, Boss."
"Want a ride in my car?"
On days when back-to-back dates wore him out, he'd sometimes take her up on it and ride home. But today, he felt like walking.
"No thanks, I'll stroll. You must be tired too, Boss."
"See you tomorrow, then."
The Boss waved him off. Hyunsoo stepped out of the office—and right then, someone was coming up the stairs.
"Gicheol, hyung?"
"Oh, Hyunsoo! All done for the day?"
"Yes, hyung. Just heading home."
"Nice. Good work today. Did you get any cake? I told the staff to share it around."
So that's what the Boss was hiding. She was wonderful in every way except one—she was hopeless around food. She ate enormous amounts. Every visit to the office, there was always something to snack on within arm's reach.
"Yep, I had some. It was delicious."
"Really? Glad to hear it. See you tomorrow?"
"See you, hyung!"
Everyone who worked here was kind. Maybe that was why, despite being the new guy, Hyunsoo hadn't run into a single inconvenience. He'd half worried that the men of this world might all wiggle and preen like women, but nothing of the sort. They behaved nothing like the women of his original world. A relief, honestly.
Granted, some men had been touched a little by this world's influence—but the kind who acted like that rarely crossed paths with you in this line of work, so he counted himself lucky. To be blunt, there were men here who swung the other way, with mannerisms to match. But it was nothing he'd have to deal with on the job.