Landing a Big Catch

Ever since things had turned intimate between them, Seong-min spent far more nights on the first floor than up in the rooftop room.

His clothes, socks, and underwear no longer got washed in the rooftop room either. Hye-suk did them together with her own laundry downstairs, hanging everything out in the yard or running it through the dryer whenever rain came.

Day after day, life on the first floor simply continued.

"Gombang jobs keep rolling in lately. Word of mouth really must have spread, huh?"

"Seems that way. Thanks to it, the money's been pouring in."

Seong-min could now put three million won a month toward his debt instead of a mere three hundred thousand.

Two weeks ago he had cleared 2.07 million. Last week he had made 1.7 million. And this week, after only two days of gombang work plus Wednesday's courier unloading, he was already sitting on 1.17 million. Add it all up and the total came to 4.94 million. One more gombang shift today and he would crack five million in under three weeks.

"At this rate you'll be free of that debt in no time~"

"Looks like it."

He had already deposited the usual three hundred thousand this month. Even after that, the remaining haul still topped 4.6 million. Today's gombang job paid four hundred thousand, so the grand total would hit five million clean. Living expenses still came out of it, of course, but those were covered by money he had already set aside. If this pace held, clearing half a million a week would stop being anything special.

After polishing off the hearty breakfast Hye-suk had laid out, Seong-min brushed his teeth and stepped into the study to change. His clothes hung there now; the room had become his de-facto wardrobe.

"Go do a good job today, too~"

"You have a good day yourself, Auntie… and think of me while you're at it, heh heh."

"Oh, Seong-min, you little—"

Hye-suk cupped one cheek with her left hand, blushing.

"I'm off, then."

"Wait."

She closed the single step between them and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

"Come back safe."

"I will—promise!"

Hye-suk watched him cross the yard and open the front gate, a happy smile lingering on her lips.

It feels like I'm newlyweds all over again…

The same flutter she had known when she first set up house with her late husband had returned.

Ever since she and Seong-min had become lovers, her life had shifted in every direction. It was no longer a solitary existence; now it was a life lived for him as well. She cooked for him, washed his clothes, and filled the tub the moment he mentioned wanting a bath. She had always looked after her tenant, of course, but the feeling was different now. Back then it had been pity and kindness. Now it was the care of a woman looking at her man.

She turned back inside after he left, the thought rising unbidden.

Am I even allowed to be this happy?

She had believed that kind of life had ended forever with her husband. She had been wrong. Living as one man's woman, these ordinary hours—they had become precious beyond measure.

On the bus, following the address Team Leader Jeong had texted him, Seong-min replayed the last two weeks in his head.

Auntie's completely become my woman.

The new relationship had felt awkward at first, but that had faded. In those two weeks he had slept in the rooftop room fewer than three times. Almost every night he had shared the master bedroom downstairs with Hye-suk. Both of them were burning hot. They wanted each other every single day, bodies locked together. There had not been a single night spent on the first floor without sex. In a way, Seong-min himself was drowning in her body, in the pleasure she gave him.

This life isn't bad at all.

It was good—nothing bad about it. Being able to burn this fiercely with Hye-suk had something to do with his sturdy twenty-something body, sure, but the real key was the Vigor stat. Over the past two weeks he had steadily poured points into it.

As of yesterday his level sat at 294, Vigor at 100, Appearance at 22. Burning so hot with Hye-suk had naturally pushed Vigor all the way to the hundred mark. That made sense—every point made his sensitivity sharper and his libido more ferocious. The most obvious change, though, was downstairs. Past fifty, every further increase in Vigor had steadily thickened and lengthened him. Veins had risen; the whole thing had taken on a powerful, almost aggressive look. It had left ordinary size behind and now earned comments of "pretty big." A little more growth and people would start calling it a monster.

One worry lingered: he did not want the thing growing without limit just because he kept dumping points into Vigor. He still did not know the ceiling, but if it kept expanding every time he raised the stat, he would have to rethink the whole approach. Cross a certain line and size itself became a problem.

Raising Vigor had taught him something else, too.

Every time I finish, I gain ten percent EXP.

That had been a genuine shock. After a night with Hye-suk he had woken past the fifty-percent mark. He had suspected sex was involved; now he knew for certain. One climax equaled ten percent experience. For a man who had believed only exercise could level him up, the discovery was staggering—and welcome. Sex and experience points in the same package.

Auntie notices the change, too.

Hye-suk felt the difference in him ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and could not hide her surprise. The only explanation Seong-min offered was that training his member had made it grow. He never went into detail, and luckily she never pressed. They simply moved past it. Telling her a Status Window had enlarged his cock was never an option.

Either way, Seong-min was thoroughly lost in the time he spent with Hye-suk.

A body like that, and she spent more than ten years alone… it's almost unbelievable.

She was fiery, responsive, perfect. That a woman like her had lived without a man for over a decade spoke volumes about how deeply she had loved her husband and how fiercely she had guarded her fidelity.

Last week he had not slept in the rooftop room even once. The week before that he had managed three nights upstairs; since then it had been first floor only. Because they went at it every single day, Hye-suk took expensive, reliable birth-control pills without fail. That let them enjoy each other without worry.

He arrived at the site on time, exchanged greetings with Min-hyeok, Team Leader Jeong, and the rest of the gombang crew, held a short briefing, and got straight to work. Today's load was stone, tile, and sand—four hundred thousand for the day, so the intensity was nothing to sneeze at. To Seong-min, whose Physicality and Martial Power both sat at 100, it barely registered as hard. While Min-hyeok and the others made one trip, Seong-min made two or more. He was the undisputed ace, and word had already spread through the industry that he was a monster. The crucial part was that his pace never dropped until the final bag was moved. They finished more than two hours ahead of schedule. The contractors were delighted—fast work, clean finish, no sloppy corners even when they rushed. A few of the older hands and Min-hyeok, whose stamina still lagged, occasionally fell behind, but no one ever made a real mistake.

Today's job ended the same way—more than two hours early.

"Everybody gather up."

Team Leader Jeong called the crew together.

"Before I hand out the pay envelopes, I've got something to tell you."

"Something to tell us?"

"Another job already come in?"

"Work's been pouring in lately~!"

"That's how good our reputation's gotten, right?"

"Damn right~!!"

"Yeah! Except for Wednesday we've been booked solid all week…!"

Min-hyeok chimed in, buzzing with energy. The work left him exhausted, but the fat envelope at the end of the day always recharged him. He was about to move into a new place soon; every won counted.

"It's a job, yeah… but a different kind of job."

"Different how?"

"Hyung-nim, why the dramatic pause?"

Jeong's serious face had everyone leaning in.

"Next week we've got a big one. An old hotel near Seongjeo Reservoir in Yongin is doing a full remodel and they're short on time. They want every last piece of stone, tile, paint, and lumber moved by Saturday."

"So we'd be camping out there from Monday through Saturday?"

"If we take it, yeah."

Murmurs rippled through the crew. They had never done a live-in job before.

"How many floors?"

"Eight."

"Are we the only ones they asked?"

Seong-min's question made Jeong shake his head.

"They came to us first. If we can finish by next Saturday we take it; if not, it goes to someone else."

Monday to Saturday meant a mountain of material. The fact that the offer had reached them at all meant their reputation for steady, fast work had done its job.

"So what's it gonna be? Volume's huge. Outside of sleep and meals you'll be pouring every scrap of energy into hauling."

Take it and you had better be ready.

Min-hyeok raised his hand.

"Go ahead."

"If we take it, what's the daily rate?"

"That's the real question~! Good one, Min-hyeok!"

"The money's what matters…!"

"Hyung-nim, how much? Doesn't look like it'll be light."

Every eye locked on Jeong.

"Fifty in the morning, fifty in the afternoon—hundred a day total."

"Holy shit… a hundred a day?!"

"That's insane!"

"Through Saturday that's…?"

"Six hundred. Six hundred!"

"Six hundred?! Grab it right now!"

"Nobody's worried?"

Seong-min cut into the excited chatter.

"Worried about what?"

"It's six hundred~! Of course we grab it!"

"The money doesn't just fall out of the sky. Fifty morning, fifty afternoon means the work is brutal. You sure you're ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠okay with that?"

The mood cooled at once.

"Yeah… when you put it that way."

"It's not free money."

"They want it done Monday to Saturday—volume's gotta be massive…"

Worry crept back onto faces that had been glowing a second earlier.

"Hell, let's just do it…!"

Min-hyeok stepped forward.

"Giving up without even trying feels wrong, doesn't it? And if we crush this job, our name gets even bigger. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yeah, it's hard and yeah, it's brutal—but this might be the chance that found us~~!"

"A chance…"

"Looked at that way, it really could be."

"Damn right… a chance."

"So don't get cold feet—let's go for it~!! We finished two hours early today, didn't we?!"

"Yeah…!"

"He's right!"

"Two hours early! And we've got our rock-solid ace right here~!!!"

Every gaze swung to Seong-min, eyes saying the same thing: We're counting on you.

"You all know the base rate is a hundred. If we take the job, our ace Seong-min gets more than that."

"Of course he does, hyung-nim. You weren't planning to pay him the same as us, were you?"

"An ace gets ace treatment~ Right, everyone?"

Min-hyeok and the rest nodded hard.

"So how much do I get?"

Seong-min asked, curiosity plain.

"You get an extra fifty—hundred and fifty a day."

"How much is that total?"

"Hundred fifty a day… three hundred for two days, six hundred for four, nine hundred for six?!"

Jaws dropped all around.

"Anybody got a problem with that?"

Silence.

"So nobody objects to Seong-min taking one-fifty?"

"Hyung-nim, he's the real deal. Of course he deserves that much or the work wouldn't even be fun."

"Exactly. Our reputation and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠our speed both come from him. He should get paid like it~~!"

"Yeah~! Watching hyung work makes me push harder so I don't fall behind."

The consensus was clear: the ace earned the extra cash. Team Leader Jeong Gi-bok smiled.

"Then we're taking the job. Everybody know that."

"Better start prepping hard from tomorrow."

"Gonna hit the sauna and loosen everything up."

"Just one good week and it's six hundred, huh?"

"Let's crush it~!"

"Me too! I'm gonna work my ass off! Then I can finally move…!"

"That's right, Min-hyeok…! Do well and we'll get you into a nice villa."

"Call us when you move. We'll show up with a proper housewarming gift~!"

"You know, Min-hyeok's really something."

"Yeah… gasping for air but never quitting—that's worth praise."

"I am pretty impressive, aren't I?"

"What?"

"Hahaha~!!"

Min-hyeok's shameless grin set the whole crew, Seong-min included, roaring with laughter.