Chapter 33: First Day of Business
"Boss! We really are your fans!"
"Yes. When you only had a thousand subscribers, we subscribed right away? We saw one video and pressed the subscribe button, and suddenly it jumped to two thousand. Hehe."
The couple demanded autographs from me while claiming to be my fans.
They even turned on the YouTube app to show they were subscribed. It was a hassle, but they went through all the settings to confirm the subscription date.
It was the day the article about Madam Jangmi, my mom's friend and a journalist, was posted.
In other words, they were subscribers from the very beginning.
"Wow... I really can't refuse."
Being subscribers from the early days, I couldn't refuse the autograph request. Plus, they were holding the most expensive drink we sell in the cafe, so I definitely couldn't say no.
I immediately went to the counter and got paper and a pen for the autograph. I had prepared them just in case, but I hadn't expected to use them so soon.
As expected, I wasn't unprepared. Following my practice, I quickly signed with the pen.
'With today's date...'
"What's your name?"
"Write 'For Jiwoo and Jiyoo Couple'!"
"Your names are so similar."
I lightly smiled at the couple who looked like they were matching names, and finished the signature.
I wrote my name in a cursive style, then curled the end like a tail. Below that, I wrote the two names, and stuck a common phrase 'Happy' at the bottom.
Then, I drew five circles like animal paw prints to complete the signature.
"Thank you!"
"Wow, this is my first autograph!"
The two people took the signed paper and smiled brightly, looking very happy.
That said, getting an autograph for the first time?
"You know, this is my first time giving an autograph too."
"Really?!"
The woman among the couple heard my words and shouted "Wow!" and jumped up and down.
Of course, the man wasn't sitting still either.
"Shinsoo-nim! Then, can you write separately that this is the first autograph you're giving?"
"Of course."
I immediately took back the signed paper and wrote the words "First Autograph" on it.
"Hah... I can't believe it."
Just as I was wondering what he couldn't believe, the man took off the bag he was carrying and pulled out some kind of frame from it.
'What, carrying a frame?'
It was a frame that seemed based on A4 paper size. The man quickly pushed the signed paper into the frame and sealed it. It looked like he was going to preserve it without any wrinkles.
"Haha, isn't it weird? But we really are fans of Shinsoo-nim. We should keep this well and pass it on as a keepsake to our kids."
I couldn't say it was weird since he was my fan, so I lightly smiled.
After that, I took another photo for them and handled autograph requests from other people one by one. Of course, not everyone who came to the cafe asked for an autograph, so it wasn't particularly difficult.
After finishing the last autograph request, I was about to check if anything was wrong in the cafe when...
"Ah... in the end..."
The thing I had expected happened.
"T-this? Or this?"
The lazy guy Natae, who properly lives up to his name, was being held in the arms of a customer in front of the snack vending machine.
The snack vending machine was placed to allow interaction with animals by directly giving them snacks, since it's an animal cafe.
We put in snacks that animals like, and marked which animals like them. Thanks to that, some people bought Churros and fed them to the animals.
And Natae was using the vending machine in a completely different way.
Other animals were waiting for people to bring them snacks, but that guy Natae, whether smart or having a sharp mind, was making people bring him snacks. Specifically, snacks he liked.
"..................That."
When the person holding Natae pointed with a finger at the photo drawn on the vending machine, Natae reacted.
Clunk!
The internal mechanism of the vending machine turned, and a snack shot out to the dispenser.
"Oh! He's wagging his tail!"
Natae, who had confirmed the snack, was wagging his tail. Natae, who hadn't wagged his tail even once while being held, was now wagging it.
Because the guy who wasn't moving well was moving, the customer holding Natae was giggling with his companions and looking happy.
The customer holding Natae immediately returned to their seat, laid Natae on their thigh, and started feeding him snacks little by little.
It felt like a slave who was taking care of a master with poor mobility, as if enjoying the master's movement.
'Is this okay?'
I thought I should correct Natae's behavior a bit, but since both the customers and Natae were happy, I decided to leave it.
Since customers liked it and Natae liked it, there was nothing wrong with it.
"Kyaa!"
Just as I was trying to look away from the customers who were completely obsessed with Natae, a small scream came from somewhere.
I immediately turned my gaze to the direction of the scream, and there was one female customer lying on the floor.
"Are you okay?"
I ran to the fallen customer and immediately helped her up and asked if she was fine.
"I-I'm fine. I just suddenly passed out between someone's legs..."
The woman covered her face a bit, as if embarrassed about falling.
But I didn't miss her words.
Passed out between legs? Then the culprit, or rather the dog, was only one.
"Jjamong-ah."
"...I'm sorry."
From right next to the large flower pot, Jjamong secretly popped out.
She knew she was wrong, with a dejected expression, she came to my side.
"I'm sorry. Jjamong has been sneaking under people's legs from time to time... If you get hurt or anything, please go to the hospital and contact me."
I handed the cafe business card to the woman.
The woman tried to refuse saying she was fine, but since I kept offering, she reluctantly took the card.
"Jjamong-ah, you should apologize too. I'm sorry, say."
"I'm sorry!"
Jjamong, following my words, gathered her two legs and bowed her head to the woman. Thanks to the training that allowed her to perform various actions like greeting humans.
"Wow..."
The woman was amazed by Jjamong bowing her head with paws together in apology. Watching her mouth open wide in amazement, I thought she had trained her well.
"You, don't run around inside the cafe from now on. It's dangerous for you, and if a customer carrying food falls, it's a big deal."
"I understand."
Jjamong said she understood my words, and sat down near the woman.
She had been lurking around the woman she liked and then sneaking under legs.
"Here, this is a snack Jjamong likes."
I gave her a little snack that Jjamong usually liked, and the woman smiled while feeding snacks to Jjamong.
But after solving one problem, another popped up.
"Huff, hah...! I-I can't anymore!"
From the door leading to the lawn, some zombie... no, a male customer walked leisurely and sat down in his seat. Then, looking like he was dying from the heat, he gulped down the iced Americano in front of him in one go.
Why was this guy sweating profusely from the morning breeze? But looking at the lawn, I understood the reason.
Maru and Soolbbang were trying to get the ball from the customers nearby and throwing it, demanding "Throw it!"
They were forcing the person to throw it again and again until it was taken back, and it was one person who was tired.
Among the dogs, they had stamina that could be considered superhuman. So, people had no choice but to give up first.
'Well, there's nothing I can do about it.'
There was nothing particularly wrong, and if the parties didn't throw it, I'd give up, so I decided not to worry.
Thinking about it, there was nothing wrong. It was strange for the person who kept throwing until tired.
Seeing these special behaviors one by one, I felt the need to check on other guys as well.
"Jelly is so soft..."
"Look at the soft fur."
"Me, this is my first time petting a cat?"
"Jelly, let me touch too!"
Namcat was surrounded by female customers who seemed like college students, getting his whole body massaged. There were people combing his short fur, others playing with the paw pads called Jelly, and some even touching his tail.
But that guy. Didn't he give me the Nyangnyang Punch when I grabbed his tail? Why are these people just letting him be grabbed?
Whether he's showing off to the women or not, he wasn't resisting their hands at all, instead purring with pleasure.
As a man, I felt a bit envious for a moment, but I shook my head to dispel the envy. I have a Noona! I don't envy at all! Not envious!
Since I kept watching, the envy... no, not envious, but anyway, I didn't want to keep watching, so I immediately turned my gaze away.
Nearby, some other customers were waving a fishing rod with a cat toy attached.
"Die!"
"Take it! Take it!"
There, Poksini and Chikin-i were running around energetically trying to catch the toy.
'Do these people know? That the two guys are trying to kill the toy.'
I thought for a moment, and finally approached the place where Yubu was.
Since he couldn't fly inside, we installed a perch so he could sit on the lawn, so it wasn't hard to find.
"...What is this?"
And what I saw as I went back to the lawn were people who seemed to be performing some strange ritual.
Centered around Yubu sitting on the perch, three people were circling around the perch, oohing and aahing.
"Wow, look at the head turning. It's amazing."
"I'm a bit scared..."
"If I see it at night, I'll pee myself?"
"Right. You'll pee yourself."
"Shut up, kid."
The three were friends, circling around Yubu and exchanging stories.
Hearing their stories, I understood why they were doing ritual-like actions.
They were watching Yubu slowly turning his head to look at the people circling him.
'Well, thinking about an owl's neck turning almost 360 degrees is impressive. I sometimes get startled when I see it too.'
I felt relieved seeing the animals interacting harmoniously with people without any big problems.
Instead, seeing the odd behaviors of some people made me feel a bit strange, but I decided not to worry too much. The people who came today were all my subscribers, and I didn't want to badmouth my subscribers.
'Still... those people circling around Yubu are hard to understand.'
Even though I didn't want to worry, there were people who were worrying, but anyway, the cafe business itself was going smoothly without any major issues.