Part-time Job (2)
Part-time Job (2)
In the world on the other side, he was slightly good-looking, but not to the extent of drawing much attention.
Of course, he had received a few confessions, but to him, struggling just to get by day to day, dating itself was a luxury.
He had turned them all down.
He didn't have much reason to look in a mirror, so he hadn't noticed at first.
The first time he saw a mirror was probably after finishing his first night with A-ra and stepping into the bathroom.
His face had become more refined, his hair a bit longer, giving him a somewhat androgynous look.
Should he say it just looked like he'd been well-groomed?
It wasn't a drastic transformation like in web novels or comics.
The framework remained the same, but the styling had changed.
"Well... even if I'm popular, I'm a married man..."
He thought as he stabbed the straw into the coffee and sucked it up.
Even if he hadn't married A-ra, it seemed he wouldn't have struggled to make ends meet.
The manager of the convenience store where he worked part-time had no limits on meal expenses.
High school girls blushed and offered him coffee as tribute.
His slightly refined looks mixed with the gender-reversed world had birthed a new harmony.
Sssssssip.
Inhaling this expensive coffee without savoring it.
He had become a complete pretentious guy.
"But this is good. So this is why women lived with coffee glued to their hands."
He had never touched anything other than the Le It Bee coffee he drank daily.
So he was surprised that there was this level of difference.
Should he call it a taste that felt like corruption?
A taste that made you crave it once you were hooked.
"Like A-ra Noona..."
What the hell was this perverted bastard thinking again?
He shook his head.
Worldly desires, be gone...
Be gone...
Ding.
At that moment, customers began to flock in one by one, creating chaos again.
The second wave of the dimensional species had begun.
To snap himself out of it, he slapped his cheeks lightly and shouted in a loud voice.
"Welcome! Customers!"
It had been 4 hours since he clocked in, and with 5 hours left until he got off, he resolved to work hard until then.
***
"Ughhhhhh."
16:37.
The number of transactions since lunch was 150.
This was simply not a workload one person could handle alone.
There needed to be at least two people: one for checkout and one for restocking and tidying the store.
Did he expect him to do this alone?
He might as well just live off the allowance A-ra gave him.
He wouldn't do it.
No, he couldn't.
Just then, the bell jingled and the door opened.
Another customer.
"Welcome."
"Ah, you're the morning-afternoon shift part-timer."
"Are you the evening shift part-timer by any chance?"
"Yes, yes. Please take good care of me. My name is Yu Hye-eun."
"I'm Yoo Seong-hwan."
Same Yu surname.
He wiped his hands on his vest and held one out.
She hurriedly took off her glove and grabbed his hand too.
Was it because it was cold outside?
"Seong-hwan-ssi, I'll do the facility inspection, so please take a break. Let's see... Eek, what the—"
"Yes? What's wrong?"
"Wh-what's with the afternoon sales?"
"Ah... I thought I was going to die today... The business here must be really good."
"There's no way... This is a bedroom town, so it's usually very quiet except when students get out of school."
What.
Then what was that dimensional species raid he had experienced during the day?
He had assumed this was a thriving commercial district because some people even came twice, but she said it wasn't?
"The number of people actually starts increasing from the afternoon when I work... I guess this is that effect."
"Effect?"
"You know how they say business booms when a handsome man stands at the front? But that usually only happens in places like cafes..."
Hye-eun stared intently at his face.
She turned it to the left, turned it to the right...
Then her face turned red.
This person was cute too.
"It's already time. Take care."
"Seong-hwan-ssi, you've worked hard too. You should really get hazard pay for this, you know?"
"Nah, it's not that serious."
He chuckled as he said goodbye and walked outside.
The sky was still just showing the beginnings of sunset, otherwise clear and blue weather itself.
It was this tough from the very first day of his part-time job.
He was really glad he only worked weekend shifts.
If he did this on weekdays, it would've been hell, wouldn't it?
"Seong-hwan-a!"
Just then, A-ra's Porsche Boxster GTS pulled up in front of the convenience store.
Every time he saw it, he felt it—the style was truly off the charts.
"Noona, you're here? You finished early?"
"I came quickly to pick you up. Get in."
He opened the passenger door, sat down, and buckled his seatbelt.
Once she confirmed he was seated, A-ra suddenly put on her sunglasses and closed the roof.
A-ra closing the roof, that was unusual.
"Let's drive a bit today. Where should we go first?"
"Hmm... the supermarket, first?"
"Supermarket? What's for dinner tonight?"
He hadn't thought about it yet, but A-ra's eyes were sparkling.
When she looked at him with those eyes, how could he not make something delicious?
He put on an expression of generosity.
"Today, for a grand main dish, sirloin..."
"Drive! To Costco!"
Since A-ra's recent Qtube watch history was full of steak videos, he had blurted it out, and her eyes had completely flipped.
He really hoped she would drive safely.
***
"Seong-hwan-a, I think it'd be good to trim your bangs a little?"
"Definitely, they've been poking me in the eyes lately..."
He pulled at his bangs and pouted.
Because of these guys, he felt like dying from the tickle when he slept.
He had thought about just snipping them off with scissors, but A-ra looked like she was about to cry, so he had refrained.
"I'll take you to the shop I frequent. Put on some clothes."
"Now?"
"Of course now? Strike while the iron is hot, as they say."
He caught the clothes A-ra tossed to him one by one.
Her execution ability was truly amazing...
"I'll start the car and wait downstairs, so come down slowly."
"Okay."
The front door closed with a click, and he gathered up the clothes and changed into them.
But didn't the kind of shops idol stars usually go to operate by appointment only?
To just show up seemed like it would be rude...
Ah, whatever.
Considering the value of A-ra's name.
He changed roughly, locked the front door, and headed to the parking lot.
"Oh... oh...?"
The place they arrived at with A-ra was a massive salon that used an entire building.
He had seen it on the news before; it was a crazy place where just getting a cut cost hundreds of thousands of won.
Thinking about how he used to go to a men's barbershop in the other world that charged 10,000 won for a cut, he felt terrified enough to scream.
"No... Noona, you're burning hundreds of thousands of won just to cut a guy's hair once!!"
"What do you mean? You're a man, so you have to be more careful."
"No... I mean..."
"And you're about to enter university soon, so you need to have a clean haircut, right? Let's go in, quickly."
Without being able to say anything back, he was dragged into the building.
"Oh? What brings you here, A-ra-ssi? Wasn't your appointment a little later?"
"Today, I'm here to get this kid's hair tidied up a bit."
"Hmm. He's cute. Your younger brother?"
"No, my husband."
"That's right. You had a young husband, didn't you? I'd forgotten for a moment."
A man wearing a weird curly perm approached him and touched his hair this way and that.
Ugh... I don't like men doing this...
"Since he's your husband, A-ra-ssi, the cut today is free."
"Are you sure...? Director, didn't you say your income had dropped recently?"
"Between us, it's nothing..."
Income had dropped?
Running a salon of this scale and still making money was what amazed him.
"Anyway, go on in. Seong Staff! One cut here!"
"Yes, Director."
He was led in by A-ra again... no, dragged in.
***
"How is it? Good?"
"Yeah. It's definitely different."
If you compared it to martial arts novels, it was a salon like a demonic cult, but the skill was no joke.
After a few snips of the scissors and a wash, the styling itself wasn't different, but everything that was irritating or messy had been neatly erased.
So this is what a pro is...
"The director here is a very famous person."
"I've seen it on the news too."
Although it was news about the prices.
He could definitely understand why idols and actors frequented this place.
And he didn't know what they did, but his hair felt noticeably softer overall.
They could make such a dramatic difference?
If he were an idol or actor, he'd drop a few hundred thousand won on a cut.
"We got your haircut and there's plenty of time, so what should we do?"
A-ra's two eyes were sparkling.
These were eyes that wanted a date.
It was a rare day off, and with it only being past noon, he also felt a bit reluctant to just head home.
"Shall we go see a movie?"
"Good! Do we not need to pre-book?"
"We can just buy tickets on-site. It's a weekday afternoon, after all."
A-ra smiled from ear to ear.
No, she must have smiled.
He couldn't see well because she was disguised with sunglasses and a mask, but he could bet it was certain.
"Anyway, Noona, what genre do you like?"
"Action? Fantasy? Thriller?"
"What about romance?"
"Does... Seong-hwan like... romance...?"
"So you don't like it?"
"...If Seong-hwan wants to watch it..."
It seemed even her tastes had changed like this.
Women liked things that were risqué, brutal, and stimulating, while men liked movies with a poetic and leisurely atmosphere.
But who was he?
A macho man who knew the flavor of having lived in the era of masculinity.
Dates were obviously action movies.
"I don't like romance-type things either."
"Really?"
"Have you forgotten what I watch?"
"Huh? Ah... right..."
He used to lie down and read web novels before bed, and A-ra had butted in saying she wanted to watch together.
It just so happened to be an R-19 scene, and the ending led to A-ra getting excited and them doing it, though.
He sent a signal asking her to link arms.
Because here, women were the ones who led men.
Of course, since A-ra had incredible situational awareness, she instantly grasped his intention and linked her arm with his.
Ah... was linking arms this nice?
He felt like he was going to melt because of her soft, plush chest.