Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: New Year's Blessings
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“New Year's Blessings.”
Huh?
I spaced out for a second.
New Year's Blessings? New Year?
Oh.
“……Yes. New Year's Blessings to you too. That'll be 13,900 won.”
“I'll pay by card, please. Oh, and ring up a 20-liter pay-by-weight bag as well.”
“14,580 won.”
“Thanks. Have a good night!”
After sending off the customer,
I plopped down at the convenience store counter and checked my phone.
[January 1, 2025]
[12:12 AM]
It really was the new year.
[Shin Taehoon: New Year's Blessings.]
[Park Byunghyun: New Year's vibes]
Including my college buddies,
friends, family, and acquaintances from all over were flooding my messages with New Year's Blessings and emojis.
I reflexively went to reply, then flinched and pulled my hand back.
Last year, I'd fired off energetic responses without a second thought. But now? I didn't have the energy or the will.
Probably because
I had no blessings left to share with anyone anymore.
“That damn blessing…… I really want to catch some this year.”
I meant it. Desperately.
Name: Kim Hyunwoo.
Age: 29.
At this age, I'd never even landed an internship. Unemployed slacker…… or, to put a fancy spin on it, freeter.
Convenience store night shift part-timer.
-Yeeeah! New Year's Blessings!
-Haha. Right back at ya, Kim.
Out there, in the freezing cold,
people bundled in thick puffer jackets, chugging soju straight from the bottle, were shouting excitedly.
Just seeing myself stuck in this convenience store, slinging night shifts, made my pathetic lot hit home like a punch to the gut.
!
The chime at the store entrance jolted me to my feet on reflex.
“Welcome. Hello.”
“Oh. Hi. New Year's Blessings.”
“Yes. New Year's Blessings to you too.”
Honestly, I didn't want to hear it.
In my gloomy state, those words just soured my mood even more.
A guy and a girl.
Strolling in side by side, they grabbed five bottles of soju right off the bat.
They're really tying one on.
That's what I was thinking as I watched them toss a few snack bags into their basket too. Then, when they hit the counter, there were two whole boxes of five-condom packs staring back at me.
“……”
Soju. Condoms. Snacks.
Even an idiot could tell what this couple was up to next. Starting the new year off on a high note, huh.
While some poor sap's stuck scanning barcodes.
“Oh. Don't you check IDs?”
No. Fuck off.
Anyone can see you're adults.
“Oh, right. Give me a Hesse Lights too.”
No matter how grown-up they tried to act,
no high schooler pulled it off that smoothly.
“Yes. 38,720 won.”
“Thanks. New Year's Blessings.”
“New Year's Blessings.”
I sounded like a machine.
Or was I?
A part-time machine dealing with convenience store customers.
I watched that couple head straight into the swanky hotel across the street.
Hot Night Hotel.
What a killer name.
Though, could they really go through ten condoms?
“……”
Lost in that dumb thought,
another customer walked in.
January 1st.
Sending customers flocking like it was a New Year's giveaway. On a night like this, skip the convenience store grub and splurge on something fancy, why don't ya.
I cursed them inwardly while keeping a smile plastered on my face.
But then.
“Hey, part-timer. When a customer's here, you gotta smile, right? Hic.”
Oh……
A belligerent drunk asshole…… fuck.
“……Sorry about that. Would you like some help with checkout?”
I thought I'd cracked at least a small smile. But staring down this nitpicking prick, I sighed internally while forcing my lips into an even wider grin.
It was torture.
How long did I have to keep living like this?
All soju.
Soju. Soju. Soju.
How many bottles had I sold tonight?
No wonder the store manager had ordered a massive shipment yesterday.
Soju was flying off the shelves.
The parade of customers finally died down at 3:30 AM.
Prime freezing hours.
The kind of time no one wants to step out, even without a night shift.
Outside was dead quiet.
“Phew.”
I could finally breathe.
I just hoped it'd stay peaceful until my relief showed up at 8 AM.
“Oops. Better step out for a smoke now.”
Can't smoke with customers around.
I shoved my phone back in my pocket instead of pulling it out and headed outside.
Freezing my ass off or not,
I couldn't skip my mid-shift cig……
……Plop.
My precious cigarette fell from my lips to the ground before I could even light it.
“Fuck.”
Yeah. Fuck.
No other word for it.
Not content with nagging me, those self-righteous pricks yelling New Year's Blessings had dumped a massive "blessing" right in my lap.
Two convenience store tables flipped over.
Innumerable snack bags scattered everywhere. Five cups of ramen, broth and noodles still inside.
Not to mention the trash strewn all around—my brain refused to even tally it up.
I was losing my mind.
Part of me wanted to say screw it, hail a cab, and drive straight into the Han River.
“Fuck…… fuck.”
29 years old,
and while my friends were probably shacked up in hotels with hot girlfriends, condoms in hand, here I was.
What the hell was I doing?
Goddamn it. Goddamn it……
Rustle. Splatter-.
Couldn't even have that one smoke.
I started cleaning up in front of the store right away. Deep down, I didn't want to, but I couldn't just leave it either. That's the kind of half-assed guy I was.
A customer showed up midway, so I went back and forth.
Actually, I was grateful.
At least my hands weren't freezing solid the whole time.
“Damn it.”
I folded up the parasol on the convenience tables with a snap.
If more drunks came and sat down, I might actually snap.
Luckily, after that, things stayed calm except for a few late-night munchies seekers.
As I tidied up in the morning, the store manager arrived.
“Good work.”
“Thank you.”
Grabbing the discarded bentos and milk to head home, the manager called me back.
“Oh, right, Hyunwoo.”
“Yes?”
“How long you planning to keep this job?”
“……”
Not a big question,
but it always made my chest ache. I wasn't doing anything wrong, wasn't mooching off my parents as a bum, yet it stung.
“……Until I land a job, I guess.”
“I'd love for someone I know to stick around longer, but you gotta get employed before you hit 30.”
“Yes. I'll do my best.”
“Yeah. This year'll be good. Give it a shot. New Year's Blessings.”
“Thank you. New Year's Blessings to you too, Manager.”
Everything spun.
Basic chit-chat I used to handle effortlessly now made my head reel.
My stomach churned.
Even speaking a word or taking a step felt exhausting.
[Terra One-Room]
Beep beep beep beep!
5844.
I punched in the code and entered my one-room apartment, where rent was a whopping 600,000 won. Insanely expensive.
Maybe it was time to move.
It'd been two years since college graduation already.
“……”
Exhausted to death,
stomach not even rumbling,
but feeling so damn sorry for myself,
I found myself nuking a discarded bento in the microwave without thinking.
Ding!
Only after it finished did I regret it.
Shouldn't have bothered.
“Gotta save money.”
Stupid pride…… Should've skimped when I met up with friends for that year-end party. Made an excuse to skip the second or third round and gone straight home.
The working guys' spending was on another level from mine.
A sparrow following a stork tears its leg, they say—and chasing them cost me ten days' food budget.
“……”
Anyway, I choked down the reheated bento.
Tasteless.
Overeaten so much it made me nauseous. Still, I forced it empty and went to toss the bag, when the bills underneath caught my eye.
Maintenance. Water. Electricity. And those fucking taxes.
Money drained just for breathing.
Wanted to twist the jaw of whoever said part-time work was enough to live on.
Yeah.
You could scrape by, sure.
But how many people in the world were content with this life?
And this month? I was in the red.
“Fuck……”
Muttering my new favorite curse, I headed to the bathroom.
Shhh!
“Grrr……!!”
Freezing my balls off.
Couldn't run the boiler. Gas bill was insane. Only after going independent in college did I get why they say save money by sticking at home till you're kicked out.
Everything cost money out there.
The water we drank without a thought, toilet paper, detergent, dishes—all money.
I gritted my teeth, washed my hair in cold water in one minute flat, and got out.
No hair dryer.
Broke ages ago, no budget for a new one.
All I had was the electric blanket I'd bought on sale and been using faithfully for over a year.
“Fucking spacious.”
Big for a one-room.
First time living alone, so I'd splurged on a nice one. That's why even in this outskirt, rent was 600,000 won.
Factor in maintenance, and living here bled me dry even more.
[Temperature 3]
I set the electric blanket to 3 and lay there, waiting to warm up. Forgot again today.
Should've set it before washing up.
With my damp, freezing hair starting to ice over on the pillow, I squeezed my eyes shut.
How long did I have to live like this?
In front of friends, I'd bragged about applying to Samsung Electronics, Dyson, all those dream companies.
Couldn't even pass document screening.
I knew I had to lower my standards, bone-deep. But I'd boasted to the guys, and heard that once you take a step down, you just keep sliding. Scared shitless, I couldn't lower my gaze.
I knew times had changed—college grad didn't guarantee a job.
Still, I'd never imagined this life.
At least I'd land somewhere, live like normal folks.
Function as a bare-minimum human.
That's what I'd thought.
“Goddamn it.”
All I had left were countless failures and one year of convenience store part-time experience—a half-baked resume.
Too overwhelmed to even notice the new year.
Hadn't made the most of my time.
Couldn't even do that.
Now I was another year older, worrying if I'd make next month's rent. Scared I'd hit 30 without achieving shit.
Terrified.
……Wishing a hundred times to fall asleep and never wake up, I drifted off.
“No way.”
5 PM.
Slept like a rock from 10 AM. A short nap, and it'd be time to head back to the store.
Already…… January 1st was nearly over.
So anxious I was going crazy.
Knew I should stay calm, but the jitters were unbearable.
Even so, my body betrayed me, opening the freezer for food.
[Chicken Galbi Fried Rice]
Just bulk-buy frozen fried rice stocked to the brim.
Pulled one out and microwaved it.
“That fucking New Year's blessing……!! Let me catch a break for once. Fuck!!”
I yelled it out, rice grains flying from the bland fried rice.
New Year's Blessings
📍 Task: Accept new residents into your one-room apartment.
⏰ Progress: [0/3]
🎁 Reward: 300,000 won per person
What the hell is this?