Correct Posture

After parting ways with Lee Jieun at the karaoke place, I made it home well before midnight.

Click—

Thanks to how suddenly I'd shot up in height, the doorknob still sat at an awkward level.

I kicked off my shoes and stepped into the studio apartment that had already grown familiar, and regret came welling up thick and fast.

It had been an incredible opportunity born of the boss's sudden whim…

Ah, seriously. Today really felt like the right timing…

I'd gone to karaoke alone with a girl. There hadn't been any physical contact, but we'd even sung duets together, and the mood had been pretty good.

"Jieun, you really sing amazingly."

"Aww~ Oppa, saying stuff like that just makes me embarrassed."

"What's there to be embarrassed about? When someone's good, you say they're ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠good."

"Heehee~ Oppa, you're a really good singer too!"

Even with that warm, easy atmosphere, we'd walked out of the karaoke place at barely eleven-thirty.

At an hour when, on a normal day, my shift wouldn't even have been over yet—

"I had fun today, Oppa! Okay, I'm heading home now!"

—Lee Jieun had breezed off toward home without a second thought.

Should I have been the one to suggest grabbing a drink first? Or maybe a walk?

Even after I got home, the regret of letting the chance slip wouldn't fade.

Ah, whatever!

I couldn't tell whether she was playing hard to get or whether she was just so genuinely serious about singing that she'd wanted to go even if it was just the two of us.

Still, it wasn't as if I'd walked away empty-handed.

The strategy I'd built to reel Lee Jieun in boiled down to three big points.

First: kindness and consideration.

I was already showing that plenty during our shifts. But if that was all I ever did, I'd end up stuck as the convenient pushover instead of a romantic prospect.

Which brought me to the second: advice and praise.

When someone gives you advice or compliments, you end up thinking about them whether you want to or not. After hearing praise and tips about her singing the way she had today, she'd have no choice but to think of me whenever she sang for a while.

The last piece was atmosphere.

Since dating wasn't the goal, I needed us both carrying some mutual interest, then ride the mood and push all the way through in one go…

Hard. This is hard.

Maybe my solo stretch had just gone on too long, but I couldn't find any real certainty. I wished she'd show clear interest the way Cha Heejung did, right out in the open…

That thought reminded me I still hadn't spent the Sex Coins I'd mined from Cha Heejung.

Still fully dressed, I lay down on the bed and checked the burner phone.

New?

Checking the shop in the Sex Coin app, I found a brand-new item had appeared.

As total mining volume increases, the number of items available for purchase in the shop expands.

Come to think of it, I remembered something like that written in the help section.

Is it because I crossed a hundred thousand this time?

The numbers lined up a little too cleanly for it to be a coincidence.

With a new product on the board, I started wrestling over where to spend my coins.

Twenty thousand locked in for a trait, no question. I'd liked Drinking, Singing, and Dancing so much this time that I'd already decided on Trait Gacha ages ago.

And originally I'd planned to pull one skill too, then cash out whatever was left…

Skill, or item…

Logically, pulling a skill that would raise the Sex Coin value was the right call. But I was curious how an item from Item Gacha would actually end up in my hands.

Would it pop into existence out of thin air, or through some kind of portal? Would an inventory open up?

More than what item I'd get, I wanted to know how I'd receive it.

In the end, the first thing I bought from the shop today was Item Gacha.

Heart pounding, I hit confirm—and a new text ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠window bloomed across the app screen.

Are you kidding me!

Where was the portal? Where was my inventory? At the very least, shouldn't it tell me what the item was?

That was a full 10,000 coins. At the current coin value of 276, that was a 2.76-million-won item.

And that was it?

A dull ache started crawling up the back of my skull. I wanted a cigarette right then and there, but I forced myself to settle down.

Right. I've still got Trait Gacha left, don't I?

Besides, I wouldn't even know whether Item Gacha was a dud until the package showed up tomorrow.

Clinging to the best, most positive thoughts I could manage, I selected Trait Gacha.

And what was this supposed to be?

Same as Drinking, Singing, and Dancing, it carried a value of 50.

Just looking at the number, it doesn't seem bad?

At least it wasn't a 10 or a 20. Hoping for details, I tapped Correct Posture with my finger.

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

Mixed. Really mixed…

Was this actually good? Automatic posture correction for every action was obviously better than nothing, but was it worth 5.52 million won—no, now that the Sex Coin value had gone up, 6.52 million won? That felt like a hard no.

Come to think of it, Item Gacha wasn't 2.76 million either—it was a 3.26-million-won pull.

Aigoo. There went my ten million won, vanishing into thin air.

The ache at the back of my skull tipped over into full mental fog. I barely managed to hang on to my sanity and tried to cash out whatever coins I had left—

—and my mood flipped instantly.

Ohhh yeah!

It was almost bipolar at this point, but looking at that number, how was I supposed to stay upset?

Trait or item, who knew how those would turn out—but that money was cash that would hit my account right now.

Grinning ear to ear, I withdrew the maximum amount, and my regular phone buzzed.

No matter how many times I saw it, that text always hit the same thrill.

A faint worry about taxes and the like started to creep in, but the fact that money had just landed in my account mattered more right now.

In a thoroughly elevated mood, I stripped down to shower.

"Once this night is over~ we'll~ have to part ways again~."

A tune hummed out of me on its own. Even that seemed to catch the Drinking, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Singing, and Dancing effect—I sounded way too good.

Bzzzt— bzzzt—

The second I was fully naked and about to step into the bathroom, my phone started buzzing over and over.

Who's messaging at this hour?

Still bare, I checked the screen and found KakaoTalk messages from Cha Heejung.

Why didn't I invite her…

Earlier, before I'd even started my shift, she'd said she was tired and was going home to sleep. So even though I'd had a ton of things I wanted to ask her while I was working, I'd held back and left her alone.

And when exactly had she talked to Lee Jieun to find this out?

The two of them seemed closer than I'd thought.

I mulled over a reply, then a good idea hit me.

Midnight had already passed and the date had rolled over, which meant mining with Cha Heejung was back on the table.

I was still stewing over how lukewarm things had ended with Lee Jieun, and I hadn't showered yet anyway—all I had to do was throw clothes back on and walk out the door.

I just needed Cha Heejung to say yes…

The "1" next to my messages disappeared, and a moment later—

?

The two of them were together right now?

Not texting—actually meeting up?

No, hold on. Lee Jieun had just split from me a little while ago. Why was she hanging out with Cha Heejung?

A flood of questions hammered through my head.

The trait and the item I'd just pulled were already the last things on my mind.

Why, though? No—how?