A-ra's New Job
A-ra's New Job
Today was my first day back at the convenience store after a long while.
Was it because of the biweekly schedule?
It really felt like it had been quite a long time since I was last here.
When I walked into the convenience store, the dawn-shift noona was doing the cash count.
The store was already clean, as if she'd finished cleaning, and the inventory was well organized.
That was why having a competent person on the previous shift made things so easy for the next one.
Doing those chores before leaving was entirely out of her goodwill.
She knew I was a guy and that customers always flooded in during my shift, which made things harder.
I should at least thank her.
That was basic manners.
I looked around the store and approached the counter to greet her.
But for some reason, her face looked a little pale.
No, it was very pale.
"Noona, is something the matter?"
"Seong-hwan-ssi... the thing is... I recalculated it several times, but..."
"Don't tell me it came up short?"
Recently, as card payments became more common, cash count shortfalls had become rare.
But there were still people who disliked handling anything other than physical cash, so plenty of customers still used it.
Older people especially tended to use cash more than cards.
Was it a sense of satisfaction?
I'd heard there was something you felt when you held a thick stack of bills.
First, I decided to go behind the counter and check the cash myself.
The method was simple.
You calculated the day's sales and compared it against the amount of cash in the POS machine—done.
If the cash check was positive, you could just laugh it off.
If it was negative, there was no laughing it off.
Usually, the part-timer on that shift had to cover the shortfall out of their own pocket.
Though I'd heard that a kind owner would sometimes let it slide...
First, I calculated the items sold that day and counted the money in the till.
The check took less than a minute, so it was over in an instant.
The dawn-shift noona beside me swallowed hard, and I broke into a cold sweat from nerves too.
"...It's exactly 50,000 won short."
"Right...? What should I do..."
Being exactly 50,000 won short meant one of two things.
First, the part-timer skimmed it and played dumb.
Usually, this accounted for most convenience store theft cases,
but I didn't think this noona was that kind of person.
Second, a third party had opened the till and stolen it.
This happened sometimes
when someone went to the restroom or the storage room to organize inventory.
It had even been on the news a few times—incidents where someone with convenience store part-time experience pressed the POS at another store and took the money.
The latter seemed far more likely.
If it weren't, she wouldn't have asked me to double-check the cash count in the first place.
"First, I think you should contact the store manager."
Since theft seemed very likely, it would be best to inform the manager and contact the police.
If it really was a thief, they'd be on the CCTV anyway.
"Then I'll go make a quick phone call..."
Still, maybe because she couldn't avoid taking responsibility, she slumped, looking dejected.
Well, 50,000 won was basically a whole day's wages...
***
"You came?"
"Ah, so you had the shift today, Seong-hwan-ssi."
Around the time my shift ended, the store manager opened the door and came in.
I didn't know where she'd been, but she came in stretching, looking a little stiff and half-asleep, which made me smile wryly.
"Ah, what kind of behavior is this in front of a man... I'm sorry."
"No, but did something happen?"
"I just came from getting PT at the gym, and my muscles are screaming."
As she said that, rolling her shoulders and ankles, the store manager looked pretty flexible.
Women in this world were basically physically broken, so they were just too active.
A-ra also went to the apartment gym to work out whenever she had a spare moment.
"Seong-hwan-ssi, don't you exercise?"
"I have a weak body..."
"...You, who do the most physical work in our store, are weak? Come on..."
The manager chuckled like that, then went into the storage room, put on a convenience store vest, and came back out.
"Are you covering the evening shift, Manager?"
"Yeah, Hye-eun's younger sister is a bit sick, so she couldn't come in today."
"Ah..."
"I'll do the cash check, so Seong-hwan-ssi, finish up and head out."
"Okay."
I nodded and headed to the storage room.
Well, finishing up was just taking off my vest and throwing a windbreaker on over my clothes.
"Seong-hwan-ssi! Here, 50,000 won... ah."
When the store manager saw me come out, she cut herself off mid-sentence.
She must have suddenly remembered. She rubbed her head and gave an awkward smile.
"Right, you mentioned there was a shortfall on the earlier shift today."
"Since it was exactly 50,000 won, I suspect theft."
"I'll have to call the police. Anyway, good work today, Seong-hwan-ssi."
"Yes, Manager, take care."
I bowed my head in farewell and started to leave the convenience store, but the manager came over and handed me a coffee.
By now, I'd decided to just accept it without refusing, so I thanked her and stepped outside.
"Kkeu-eu-eu-eu-eu-eung....."
While I was at it, encouraging myself for another day of hard work, I stretched my arms out wide.
It felt so good I almost wondered if it was the only drug my body could tolerate.
"Oh... a celebrity car."
A large van was approaching in the distance, and an exclamation slipped out of me.
Celebrities who ride around in cars like that must make a ton of money.
I shifted my step to head home. At that moment.
The van that had pulled up right in front of me honked its horn.
Beep beep...
"Seong-hwan-a~"
Was my intuition right?
The window suddenly rolled down and A-ra popped out, waving her hand at me.
I quietly walked over and looked up at her.
Maybe because the vehicle itself was so tall, it felt like looking up at a bus.
"Didn't you say you had a shoot today?"
"It's all done! I'm off to film a Qtube video now!"
"Then what brings you here?"
"Obviously I came to get you, because I plan to film it with you!"
Obviously, she said.
Come to think of it, A-ra had made up her mind to go public with her private life now.
She'd said she'd made a Qtube channel too...
"What kind of video are you planning to film?"
"A cooking show! You cook, and Noona eats it."
"Ah..."
It was very A-ra, and it was definitely a subject that required me.
Home cooking made by the husband. That was definitely a topic that would appeal to viewers.
Deureureuk...
The door opened automatically.
Was it different because it was A-ra's ride?
At the very front, a huge TV was mounted, and game consoles and things were equipped there too.
I'd seen it on a program before—they said that the cars of celebrities who had to travel far were usually outfitted like this.
"Ooh..."
Of course, I was impressed like a country bumpkin.
Because it was my first time seeing it.
I looked around for a moment, then sat down next to A-ra.
When I sat beside her, A-ra took my hand and beamed a wide, easy smile.
"Seong-hwan-ssi, please take good care of us!"
"Ah, no, it's my pleasure. Please take good care of me."
The manager noona greeted me, so I greeted her back.
Since she was in charge of the entirety of A-ra's celebrity life, she was so important you could practically call her essential; it was best to be careful not to upset her unnecessarily.
We drove for quite a while, and our destination turned out to be our house.
I'd wondered if we were going to a studio or something, but it seemed A-ra had told her manager in advance that home was better.
Well, our house was well-equipped with cooking appliances and tools, so there'd be no problem doing a cooking show. We had an oven, an air fryer, and that sort of thing.
"What would you two like to eat?"
"Huh? Is it okay if I eat too?"
"Of course. Is it okay, Noona?"
"Yeah, Soo-young, you can come out too, right?"
"Uh... coming out is fine, but..."
"Then that's settled."
As if refusing to hear any more objections, A-ra cut her off firmly.
They seemed to be on much closer terms than I'd thought.
Since A-ra even shared her food with her...
"Me! Me! Tomahawk steak!"
"I'm... fine with anything as long as it's meat."
The manager, whose name was Soo-young, spoke as if embarrassed, but A-ra answered in a loud voice, faithful to her desires.
So she'd seen something on Qtube again...
"Tomahawk... where can I even buy one?"
"I asked at the meat counter yesterday, and they said if you ask separately, they'll cut it for you!"
"Then the meat issue is solved..."
Would eating just a hunk of meat by itself look like a cooking show? Subscribers wouldn't increase; I'd be lucky if they didn't unsubscribe.
Even cooking Qtubers these days worked hard to make their menus diverse.
"Subscriber count? I don't think we need to worry about that, though?"
A-ra opened Qtube and showed me her channel.
There, a dizzying number of 7.8 million subscribers greeted me.
Clearly... it hadn't even been a week since she'd made the channel?
"I just left it up, and it kept going up."
"........"
With an expression that seemed to say 'See? It just works? Hm?', A-ra tilted her head. She often watched Qtube, but she seemed a little out of touch with Qtube common sense. Did she know that the cooking Qtubers she liked to watch had around 300,000 to 500,000 subscribers?
"Wouldn't it be fun to try something like a collaboration offer later?"
"I feel like a lot of mosquitoes will show up trying to stick their proboscis in."
"Mosquitoes?"
"Never mind. Please try to think of other things you'd like to eat, too."
"Umm... button mushrooms? Truffles?"
"Truffles are hard to get right now, so no."
"Mmm... I guess they don't sell things like that at the mart."
Truffles, she said, and I let out a sigh. There was no way a mart sold those, and did she even know how much a single lump cost? The manager noona was likewise letting out a sigh.