I Have to Go to My Part-Time Job
There had been a long, heated argument in the living room.
From Shihyeon's point of view, it was the last chance to make memories with her high school friends, so why couldn’t they just help her a little? That was her argument.
From my aunt’s point of view, though, memories mattered, sure—but what mattered more right now was creating an environment where Shihyeon could actually enter college and study.
I can understand both sides.
As far as I was concerned, neither of them seemed to be stubborn just for the sake of it.
For Shihyeon, who had only just become an adult, it must have felt unbearably sad to be the only one left behind while all her friends went on a trip together.
And my aunt would be thinking that, however important memories were, money was still finite, and it was better to use what they had on something that could help with her future—like her education.
Especially when life itself wasn’t exactly easy right now. That made the lesson even more painfully clear.
Just how important studying was at this age.
In the end, the two of them never found a middle ground, and the argument cooled into an uneasy stalemate.
At the very end, Shihyeon left for her room after asking, in a voice thick with tears, whether she couldn’t be a little selfish just this once.
The sigh from the living room was so deep that even I, all the way in my room, could hear it.
Of course my aunt wouldn’t want to refuse her. She was just forced to compromise because reality was so harsh.
It’s okay.
If this had been before, I would have stayed cooped up in my room, carefully reading the mood and never even thinking about going out. But now I wanted to run to the living room as fast as possible and help.
The only question was whether I should give her the money through my aunt or hand it to her myself.
“I’ll give it to her myself.”
That was the conclusion I came to.
My aunt was already burdened enough by fifty million won in living expenses. If I paid for Shihyeon’s trip on top of that, she’d probably reject it out of sheer pressure, if not outright worry.
A little while later, after I heard my aunt go into her room, I stepped out into the living room.
I stood in front of Shihyeon’s room and knocked.
“Who is it? Mom?”
“Ahem. It’s me, Doyun.”
“.. What is it?”
“I’ve got something for you.”
“Just a second.”
It seemed she’d become a little less awkward with me than before. I’d never even once been invited into her room before.
The door opened.
Wow.
My aunt’s genes really did run strong. Even without makeup, her skin was flawless—practically pure white, with not a single blemish.
And her body was insane too. Even in pajamas, her curves were obvious enough to make it impossible not to notice.
Get a grip.
The moment I let my eyes wander up and down, this relationship would be over, so I clung to my sanity with all the Mahaprajna I could muster.
“What’s going on?”
“Could I come in? I’d rather not show this to your mom.”
“.. Fine. Come in.”
I stepped into her room.
Shihyeon was sneaking a whiff of the air, and for a second I almost lost my mind from the feminine scent hanging in the room.
“I heard what happened earlier.”
“.. And?”
“Take this.”
“..”
She must have thought I’d caught her in something embarrassing, because she answered me sharply—but then she froze when she saw the envelope I held out.
Her eyes shook violently, and I could tell she was wrestling with herself inside.
“I’ve been taking a lot from you guys, you know? Your mom especially, but you’ve probably been uncomfortable too. I can’t do much, but.. think of this as me paying you back for at least a little of it.”
“.. I can take it?”
“Of course. It’s not enough for a full trip, but it won’t be too little either. Work has been going well for me lately, so I really wanted to do this.”
“.. Thank you. I feel so much better now. Honestly, even after asking Mom, I still didn’t feel right about it.”
“I figured as much. Get some rest.”
“Thank you, truly.”
Her eyes, as she saw me out, were much softer than they’d been before. She wasn’t pretending.
When I went back into my room, I flopped onto the bed and snickered to myself.
Before I knew it, I was indulging in some thrilling little fantasies.
Aunt and Shihyeon and me..
“I’m a crazy bastard.”
When I thought about it honestly, I really was crazy. But unlike before, I didn’t feel guilty about it. This was just who I was.
“That should be about right.”
The envelope contained 1.5 million won.
One million felt too stingy, while two million felt too excessive.
1.5 million should be enough for a trip to Japan without causing any real trouble.
I was lying on the bed, happily letting my imagination run wild, when—
Knock, knock.
I heard a knock at the door.
When I opened it, Shihyeon was standing there awkwardly, fidgeting with her hands.
Before I could even ask why she was there, she bowed her head, thanked me, and handed me a single letter before vanishing just as quickly as she’d appeared.
“Cute.”
The letter was full of how happy she was thanks to me, and how grateful she felt.
She was only three years younger than me, so I had no idea why she was this adorable.
Of course, it was only her behavior that was cute—her looks were downright lethal.
Lying in bed and reading her letter, I saw a KakaoTalk notification come in.
When I checked it, it was from Seola, the female streamer.
“What’s this?”
After that first greeting, we hadn’t really talked anymore.
I’d been busy dealing with what was ahead, and Seola hadn’t exactly gone out of her way to message one of her many fans again.
I figured that was only natural. Honestly, if she had kept trying to talk to me, I would’ve been disappointed.
After all, with just 100,000 Star Balloons, you became the kind of person anyone would want to meet.
I opened the message.
Excel Broadcast was a show where several female streamers gathered together and split status and earnings through Star Balloons.
If they didn’t receive enough Star Balloons, they could even be kicked out of Excel.
Setting aside everything else, being expelled was an enormous humiliation for a female streamer, so everyone did their best to make sure it never happened.
I went into the broadcast.
Seola was biting her lip so hard it looked like she might cry any second.
When I checked, she was dead last, and to escape last place she needed 50,000 more Star Balloons.
“Wow..”
I looked at the other streamers’ totals and was momentarily overwhelmed myself.
Everyone had received well over a million Star Balloons.
That was, roughly speaking, money worth more than a hundred million won.
Of course, the lower-ranked ones were only getting a few hundred thousand.
I couldn’t even imagine where other viewers found the money to throw around that many Star Balloons.
Even I might have felt a little pressured if this happened every week.
Or maybe not..?
Come to think of it, it didn’t seem all that burdensome.
I’d just checked my Bitcoin a moment ago, and after setting aside the hundred billion won I’d already separated, another hundred billion won was already on the verge of being created.
Of course, I’d need to keep an eye on it a little longer.
The kid looked like she was about to cry.
I sent a message.
Seola, who had looked like she was on the verge of tears under the pressure from her colleagues, checked my message and her expression brightened at once.
This time, too, I had her topped up through a proxy recharge service.
I kept it simple and added 1 million Star Balloons.
It wasn’t a huge burden. Compared to what I’d spent on shopping yesterday, it was barely half.
The other streamers hyped it up after seeing her changed expression.
That was another kind of pressure in itself.
If a big one didn’t come now, the criticism would only get worse.
The viewers joined right in.
And I had no intention of letting them down.
“What the hell.”
The streamers were stunned by the sponsorship, and the host praised Seola.
“Wow, Seola really found herself a patron. Another 300,000 too.”
“Thank you so much, RichBastard oppa.”
“What are you all doing? It’s 300,000.”
“.. Huh?”
“Eek— RichBastard oppa..”
I told them I had some business tomorrow and wouldn’t be able to keep watching.
It was only natural that Seola freaked out.
“I’d better get to bed early if I have to go to my part-time job tomorrow.”
Fuck..
I had to go to my part-time job tomorrow.
It used to be a hobby, but now that I’d gotten used to it, it had become work again.
I should just watch the broadcast at that time instead..