A Ten-Million-Won Morning

Riiiing. Riiiing.

An unfamiliar ringtone dragged me up out of sleep. I was still half-drowned in a dream, too groggy to string a single thought together, when a woman's voice drifted in from somewhere close by.

"Yes, we'll be right out."

Who is that?

I was still struggling to pry my eyes open when the same voice came again, brighter this time, and a lot closer.

"Minseok oppa, wake up already~. Time's up."

The blanket wrapped around me was yanked away. Cold air swept over my bare skin from head to toe, and my eyes snapped wide open.

"Hurry up and wash, then come out."

Cha Heejung stood over me — the same woman I'd spent last night absolutely wrecking a motel mattress with. I had no idea when she'd gotten up, but she was already in a full face of makeup and wearing the same black sleeveless dress as yesterday.

"Yaaawn. What time is it?"

"Eleven-thirty. The front desk just called. They want us out."

Ah. So that ringtone had been the front desk. I'd slept in pretty late. Then again, last night I'd decided to find out where my limit actually was and gone through four condoms. Four rounds in a single night, and I hadn't even passed out until almost five in the morning — no wonder I felt like death.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Got it. What time did you get up, Heejung?"

"About an hour ago? Come on, get up~."

When I still didn't climb out of bed, she came around to the side and stroked my chest. The instant Cha Heejung's cold fingers touched my bare skin, goosebumps shot across my whole body.

"Okay, okay. I'll wash up and come out."

Unable to hold out against her prodding, I headed for the bathroom.

As I showered, I found myself newly impressed by Cha Heejung. She'd fallen asleep around the same time I had, and she'd put away that much booze last night — yet she'd gotten up first and done a full face of makeup? Not that I was complaining about the morning view.... Was it a girl thing, not wanting anyone to see her bare face?

When I finished and came back out, she was sitting at the vanity. I wondered why she'd picked that spot, then glanced at the bed — and yeah. The wreckage of what we'd done last night was scattered across it in a thoroughly indecent state. Even I wouldn't have wanted to sit in that.

"All washed up?"

"Yeah. Let me just grab one cigarette before we go. I'll smoke it in the bathroom."

"Hmm... I guess that's fine. Hurry back."

I did want a cigarette, that much was true. But there was something a lot more important. I casually picked up a smoke and my phone — the one with the Sex Coin app on it — and headed for the bathroom.

How much did I pull in last night?

I'd been dying to know since the shower.

About thirty-eight thousand coins. Roughly...

Ten million won???

I punched it into my phone calculator just to be sure I hadn't botched the math.

I swallowed hard at a figure that cleared ten million won — nearly ten thousand dollars. Of course I wouldn't cash all of it out. A good pile of coins would get burned in the shop. But still. Ten million won. A month of grinding my ass off at the chicken place didn't even bring in two million....

Thoughts of what I could do with that kind of money crashed over me like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a tsunami, but I shoved them aside and checked the log to figure out why I'd earned so much.

The empty entry for December 24th made sense — that had been Christmas Eve. December 25th, Satisfaction of 75. Considering we'd started at eleven and only had about an hour, that was an excellent number.

The problem was the 26th. This morning, before dawn. Satisfaction had hit 89, an all-time high — but Difficulty had plunged by fifty-one points.

Spiderweb had been worth fifty, and the sex count had gone up by one?

It was exactly what I'd expected. I still felt a twinge of regret.

"Two pork rice soups!"

The first place we went after leaving the motel was a gukbap joint. I'd been hoping for something a little nicer, but she insisted — loudly — that she'd drunk way too much last night and that hangover soup was non-negotiable.

"Nothing beats pork rice soup for a hangover!"

Watching her ladle up dwaeji-gukbap in an outfit that belonged in a club was a little surreal, and somehow completely natural at the same time.

"Yeah, yeah. Eat up~."

There was something genuinely nice about watching her eat with that much gusto. I was hungrier than I'd realized, too; the soup went down easy.

We both focused on our bowls for a while. Then, out of nowhere, Cha Heejung looked up and asked me a question.

"Oppa. Are you going to keep working at the chicken shop even after you go back to school?"

Go back to school?

Originally I hadn't been planning to return at all, and I hadn't been planning to quit the shop either.

"No. I haven't said anything at the store yet, but I'm thinking of leaving soon."

Finding out this morning that Sex Coin had just handed me ten million ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠won made walking out today sound pretty damn appealing, if I was being honest. I still needed to find someone to take my shifts, though, and I still hadn't landed Lee Jieun — so I'd probably stick around through January.

"What about you?"

"Hmm... I actually like it there. I'd keep working through school if I could, but the hours don't work."

Heejung's shift ran from one to five. Yeah — once university started, that window was going to be a problem.

"Wait. Don't you have to go in today?"

"Nope. The owner's family was on a trip. He said they'll get back around lunch and they're opening in the evening."

"Phew~."

Thank God. If Heejung had been on the schedule today, we'd have been heading straight to the chicken shop right now...

In that outfit?

I looked at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her — still in last night's drinking clothes — and pictured Dongmin and Choi Seongyong's faces. Anyone with eyes would assume she'd stayed out all night with me. Maybe those two wouldn't care, but it would make seducing Jieun later a whole lot messier.

I was still patting my chest in relief when she grinned, like she'd reached right into my head and read the thought.

"What? Were you worried I'd show up at the shop like this?"

"Didn't you say the boss hates it when the staff start seeing each other?"

"He does. And you haven't even told him you're quitting yet. If you hook up with me and then turn around and say you're leaving, he'll lose it."

I was grateful all over again that she'd let that slip last night over drinks. A whole parade of catastrophically wrong answers had flashed through my head in the space of a second. I let out a quiet breath.

"Anyway, I'm just glad you're not late for a shift. But you really want to keep working there?"

"Yeah. I'm used to the work, and the owner's a good guy."

"Hmm... then how about you take my hours when I leave?"

"Your hours? With Jieun?"

She started turning it over. We'd still have to run it by the owner and Dongmin, but if it worked, everybody won. She could keep the job through school, and I wouldn't have to hunt down a replacement. And from what I'd seen last night, she and Jieun already got along.

"I'd like that, but... your shift is really long, hmm~."

Fair enough. She'd been doing about four hours. The evening block I'd been working was eight.

"Think about it. I'm staying through January anyway."

"Okay! Jieun manages it just fine while she's in school — why couldn't I? When you quit, I'll take evenings!"

"Deal. I'll talk to Dongmin and the owner when I go in later."

I walked into the chicken shop and went straight to Dongmin without even changing. I told him everything — that I was quitting, and that Cha Heejung wanted to take over my hours. The first thing he asked was...

"When did you even talk to Heejung about this?"

Fair question. From his side, we hadn't exactly looked close enough for a conversation like that. Luckily, we had a decent alibi.

"After you left last night. I was already thinking of quitting since I have to go back to school, and once Heejung starts classes she can't do the afternoon shift, so..."

"You're both in school, but one of you wants to quit and the other wants to work nights?"

Okay, it did sound weird. Same situation, opposite conclusions.

"C'mon, hyung. Jieun and Heejung are the impressive ones. I could never pull that off. Just showing up here without even being in school is already killing me..."

"Aish... well, thanks for giving me a month's notice. You're staying through January, right?"

He wasn't just being polite. Places like this were full of kids who'd call in one afternoon, say they were done as of today, and vanish.

"Yeah. We still need someone to cover the afternoon floor shift Heejung's leaving anyway. I'll stay through January."

"Alright. I'll talk to the owner. Go change."

"Yes, sir!"

I ducked into the storage room that doubled as a locker, swapped into my uniform, and came back out — and Lee Jieun, who had just walked in, came straight over.

"Oppa, are you really only staying through January and then quitting?"

"You already heard from Dongmin?"

"No, Heejung unnie told me."

When?

I'd been with Cha Heejung until an hour ago. I swallowed the words that had already climbed all the way to my throat.

"Oh yeah? What'd she say?"

"She said you two got a meal and went to karaoke today, and that's when you told her you were quitting?"

Ah... she told her all of that? Even today's date?

"I said I wanted to come to karaoke too, and you two cheapskates went by yourselves... Anyway, let me change first and I'll be right out!"

At least she hadn't mentioned the scorching night we'd spent together.