Small Talk
The news that the wrecked convenience store building had finally been repaired reached me just as I was slowly tidying up after finishing lunch alone.
It was an ordinary weekday like any other—I stayed home while Cecilia went off to school.
Spotting a text that had arrived late in my inbox, I hurriedly pulled out my earphones, plugged them into the laptop, and called Jaeseop hyung.
Of course, since Cecilia had my phone with her right now, I used the laptop’s voice chat instead of a regular call.
The rhythmic electronic ringing tone filled my ears.
After that soft toororong sound had echoed for only a moment, hyung—who seemed free at the time—picked up right away.
"Ah, ah. Hello?"
"Yeah, hyung, it’s me."
"Eunhyuk? Why the voice chat? You weren’t picking up earlier—did you forget your phone?"
"Not exactly. You called?"
"A little while ago. Figured I’d check in real quick before heading back into my shift."
"Ahh."
That exchange broke the ice, and we started with a simple catch-up on how things had been.
We hadn’t really talked since that semi-company dinner last time, so there was plenty to share.
"…So you handed her your phone? Yours?"
"Yep, yep."
"That’s why you didn’t pick up."
"Yeah, well. When I give it to her I turn off the sound and all the extra functions. She doesn’t know how to use it yet—could mess something up if she starts poking around."
"Thorough, aren’t you."
His reply came out sounding half-incredulous.
A very brief silence.
A thin sigh, then hyung spoke again.
"…You’ve gone full dad mode."
"Even for a metaphor, that’s a stretch."
This time it was my turn to sound incredulous.
A soft chuckle came through the earphones.
"Nah, just… you’ve gotten pretty good at looking after her."
"…Is that a compliment?"
"For now? There’s that saying, right? Even a medieval sage would be a newborn baby if you dropped him into the modern world."
"Because he couldn’t adapt to society or technology?"
"Exactly. Those beastkin and the other kids are the same. Electronics, laws, all the rest of it…. Take good care of her."
"R-right, yeah…."
I’d thought he was just joking around, but his tone turned surprisingly serious.
Feeling a little awkward, I scratched my head, and hyung continued in the same earnest voice.
"And if you practice like this now, you won’t panic later when you have kids of your own. Looking at you two, it seems like that’ll be soon enough."
"…So that was the real point you wanted to make, huh?"
"Not a fan of ‘soon’? Want me to personally send over a box of condoms?"
"You absolute ass."
"Or if you’d rather, I could do the morning-after pill instead—"
"You crazy bastard."
Cheerful cackling laughter spilled through the earphones.
I listened to it blankly, resting my chin on the table.
Why was everyone suddenly so eager to hand me condoms these days?
The morning-after pill was a new one, though….
"Ahh, this is fun."
"…How’s your own love life going, by the way?"
"Hm?"
"Heewon. You’re still in contact, right?"
"Ahh~. Yeah. We go shopping together, stop by cafés. We’re doing pretty well, I guess."
"Dating? Or still just talking?"
"Still just talking. …Honestly we both have feelings, but Heewon’s dad is apparently pretty strict."
"Ahh…."
So they had their own headaches over there.
Both of them knew the feelings were mutual, yet they still hadn’t properly started dating and were stuck in the talking stage.
Pretty unique situation.
"For the record, I already bought condoms."
"……What exactly am I supposed to say to that?"
I lost my words for a second before answering.
What comment was there even to make when an older guy tells you he bought condoms….
I let out a hollow laugh of pure disbelief, and hyung kept going.
"Just saying you can be prepared even if you’re not officially dating. We’re all adults—nothing to feel weird about. Same for me and Heewon. Same for you and that cat… ah, is the kitty still a student?"
"Yeah. She’s of age, though."
"Then no problem."
There is a problem, though….
I pressed a hand to my forehead with a soft tap.
Somehow this hyung seemed determined to speed-run every relationship.
Acknowledge mutual feelings, start dating, then prepare for the physical side in advance….
In short, he had zero hesitation about moving things forward.
Completely different from me, who fretted over every detail—when and how to confess, what if I got rejected.
What was the difference between hyung and me?
…Experience?
Well, unlike me, I’d heard he had quite a bit of dating experience… so yeah, that was probably it.
…Should I try to learn from him?
"You two already live together, don’t you? A guy and a girl living under the same roof, no awkwardness, and you seem pretty close. Why not stage an ‘accident’ and make a move once? Check her true feelings."
Yeah. Let’s not learn from him.
Hearing that last suggestion, I nodded to myself and reached a firm conclusion.
We would move at our own pace, and that was enough.
"Anyway, changing the subject."
"Now you’re just ignoring me completely."
"…You’re on shift right now, right? No customers?"
I asked, partly to change the topic and partly because something had been bugging me.
He’d said the convenience store was open again, and it was around lunchtime, so he should be working.
Yet there hadn’t been any sign of him dealing with customers during the call.
Was it really that empty?
"Yeah. First day open in a while—customers aren’t really coming in."
"Ahh…."
So that was it.
Well, it had always been the kind of store that could go completely dead sometimes, so I figured that made sense.
"How many weeks has it been since we opened? Two?"
"More than two. A little under three. Construction was supposed to take two weeks, but something came up on their end and it ran a bit late."
"Still, for a building that got wrecked that badly, finishing around three weeks even with problems is pretty impressive."
"True. Our boss’s capital power really is something else, yeah."
I nodded along.
I was pretty sure hyung was nodding the same way over at the store.
"…Oh. Completely forgot we were supposed to talk about the shift schedule."
"Shifts?"
"Yeah. I’ve been thinking for a while that I’d like to swap with you if possible…."
"I’m free enough that I don’t mind, but why all of a sudden? Ah—because of the kitty?"
"Yep. The way it is now, our schedules completely miss each other."
"Ahh."
A voice of understanding came through.
After a short hmm~… of thought, hyung spoke again.
"Doesn’t matter to me. Morning or afternoon, either way."
"Huh. You’re fine with it?"
"Why the surprise?"
"…There’s a time difference."
"Ah. Because of that?"
His casual tone made me scratch the back of my head.
Jaeseop hyung’s weekday morning shift ran from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.—eight hours.
My afternoon shift was 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.—six hours.
A two-hour difference.
With the convenience store’s hourly wage system, I’d thought it was something to be careful about….
"You or me—it’s not that big a difference. And it’s not like either of us has a ton of places to spend the money."
"You’re pretty laid-back."
"You’re the one with the bigger problem, actually. How much are you making right now?"
"Exaggerating a bit, around 2.5 million? Usually in the low two millions."
I answered lightly, recalling last month’s paycheck that should still be sitting in my account.
A part-time monthly wage in the low two-million range.
Thinking about it again, it really was an abnormal amount of money.
Which just meant our boss was crazy in the best possible way.
"You’re raking it in."
"You make more than I do."
"True. But are you actually okay?"
"Huh? With what?"
"Your household grew. Savings have started shrinking, haven’t they?"
His offhand remark made me flinch.
That hit a nerve—hard.
"…Only a little so far…."
"So they have shrunk. And this month’s pay was light, so it probably dropped even more."
"…I spent a lot at first on clothes and stuff. Food costs haven’t changed that much, surprisingly…."
"‘Not that much’ still means a lot. Alcohol isn’t free either. Plus plenty of other expenses."
I clicked my tongue.
Hyung had way more experience with this kind of thing than I did. There was no way I could hide it.
"Our store pays ridiculously well for a convenience store, sure, but it’s still a little short for fully supporting two people. And it’s not like there’s an easy way to boost the income. No matter how loaded the boss is, there’s a limit."
"…So?"
"Don’t freak out too much. Just keep it in the back of your mind. Me, I’ve got Hee—… Heewon’s income is higher than mine, so I could bury my bones here no problem. You’re different."
And then, with that, he continued.
"More than anything, you’ve actually got the ability to move somewhere bigger if you wanted, right?"
"…Not something I really want to think about."
"Well— ah damn, group of customers. Those old guys are gonna be a pain…. Let’s finish this later. Talk soon. …Welcome~."
The call cut off with a sharp click.
Feeling a vague sense of frustration, I pulled the earphones from my ears and stood up from my seat.
Income, huh.
Yeah… it really was about time I started thinking about it seriously.
But.
"Um, Cecilia?"
"No—way!"
I never expected I’d have to start worrying about this instead of income…?
After finishing my shift and getting ready for bed, late at night.
Cecilia, who had changed into her usual thin sleepwear, hugged a pillow tightly to her chest and looked up at me from close range.
As if telling me not to run away, she lightly held the hem of my clothes with one hand.
"…Let’s sleep together!"
Her next words made my head spin.
The dark room.
The feel of the blanket and pillow underfoot.
Cecilia’s slightly flushed cheeks, and yet the determined look on her face.
Sleep.
…How did things end up like this?