The Number I Couldn't Call
Because I'd taken a taxi, I ended up clocking in a little earlier than usual. I'd just changed into my work clothes and stepped out when the shop phone started ringing.
"Minseok, grab the phone for me!"
Dongmin hyung shouted from the kitchen, where he was clearly in the middle of something. It wasn't quite time to start working yet, but answering a phone was no big deal.
"Yes, this is Choi's Hof."
"This is XX Apartment, building XX, unit XXX. I'd like one fried chicken and..."
I was taking down the phone order when the shop door opened and a bright, refreshing voice rang out.
"Hello!"
It was Lee Jieun, our shop's resident vitamin. I gave her a little wave in greeting and kept my focus on the phone, jotting down the order.
"Dongmin hyung — one fried, and one boneless seasoned."
"Got it~."
Jieun had gone to change, apparently, because she'd vanished from sight. I finished prepping the takeout packaging and stood blankly at the counter for a moment. Then she came out of the storage room in her work clothes and called out.
"Wow, oppas! It smells amazing in the storage room!"
"What kind of smell?"
"I don't know, just a really nice smell? Did the boss put an air freshener in there or something?"
She glanced back at the storage room door with a faintly disappointed look. I hadn't smelled anything like that when I was changing earlier.
"By the way, oppa, you came in ear— huh?"
Jieun had been chatting as she came up beside me, but she stopped mid-sentence and started sniffing the air.
"Oppa, did you change your cologne?"
"Ah~ I tried something new this time. How's it smell?"
"It's totally amazing! So that smell in the storage room was your cologne!"
I was grateful she'd picked up on it so quickly.
"Oppa, what brand is this?"
The Sex Coin app...?
Obviously I couldn't tell her the truth.
"Just a gift from someone I know... I don't even really know what brand it is."
"But like, the maker, or..."
She seemed to like it a lot, because she kept grilling me about the cologne. Watching her like that, I started feeling oddly proud of myself.
"Minseok, grab me some boxes."
"Yes~."
Dongmin hyung called from the kitchen — we must have run out of chicken boxes. I headed for the storage room slash changing area to grab them, and Jieun, who was supposed to be manning the counter, started following me.
"It really smells so good! Can't you just ask that person? Just the name..."
Watching her trot after me, sniffing the air, I couldn't help thinking of a puppy. But I didn't get to enjoy the sight for long.
"Two draft beers over here, please!"
"Excuse me! Ready to order!"
Yesterday had been dead, so of course today the place was packed. It had been a while since a weekday was this busy.
"Yes, just a moment~!"
In no time at all, the little shop was completely full. Once it got like this, neither Jieun nor I had a second to chat. Taking orders, serving tables, pouring draft beer — we were so slammed that even Dongmin hyung, who was supposed to stay in the kitchen, came out to take phone orders.
Then the storm passed, and we could finally breathe again. We'd have some breathing room until the customers currently eating their chicken all left.
"Jieun, go take a little break."
"Okay, I'll go rest first then."
There were no official break times, so we had to take turns resting among ourselves. After sending Jieun off, I got bored standing at the counter by myself.
Maybe I should try using Aura?
I'd used it earlier in the day and collapsed on the spot, but I'd raised my stamina since then, so it should be fine now... right? I'd been meaning to test it somewhere with people around anyway. Using it now seemed as good a time as any.
Aura
My body felt a little heavier. But this much was manageable.
I really must have been too exhausted earlier.
What had changed? The duration was supposed to be an hour, so when Jieun came back from her break, I'd casually ask if she noticed anything different about me.
I was fiddling with my phone at the counter, waiting for her to come back, when something felt off. I looked up and found some middle-aged guy standing right in front of me.
"Um... young man...? Where can I get some water...?"
"Ah, I'll bring it right over."
And after that, things kept feeling strange. Nobody was calling me over from their tables. If they needed something, they came up to me in person and asked carefully, almost timidly.
So this is Aura?
A refined, distinctive air of dignity and class, was it? I could feel the customers treating me — a waiter — with a kind of wary respect. Fewer people calling me over made the work easier, sure, but that wasn't all.
"I'll just leave the pickled radish here."
I went over to a table deep in conversation and set the dish down as unobtrusively as I could.
"Ah! Thank you!"
They all stopped talking, turned to look at me, and answered in unison. And then they just kept staring at me until I stepped away. Being respected by everyone felt nice, but at the same time, this was a little much. It was like...
A hidden camera prank?
It almost felt like they'd all gotten together beforehand to mess with me.
"Uh... Minseok oppa...?"
I hadn't even noticed Jieun come back. She called my name carefully, tilting her head.
"Ah, you can rest a bit more."
"No, it's okay.... Maybe you should take a break too, oppa...?"
The girl who normally treated me so warmly suddenly seemed shy, like she couldn't even meet my eyes.
Okay, this is getting serious.
The ability's effect was definitely real, but when the hell was I supposed to use something like this?
Riiing— riiing—
"I'll get it!"
Watching Jieun's back as she bolted for the shop phone, I could only let out a hollow laugh. She wasn't the type to slack off, of course, but that was a bit...
About thirty minutes left until Aura wears off?
It'd be easier if I just went and took a break myself.
Even after Aura's duration ended, the aftereffects lingered. The customers all filed out at once, and in the middle of that chaotic rush—
For the first time in my life, a girl hit on me — or rather, I got a girl's number. At a glance, she had a young face that looked like she'd just barely become an adult. She was one of the girls at the table that had gone silent when I brought over the pickled radish while Aura was still active.
"Kyaa! Jiyoung actually gave it to him!"
I could just barely hear her friends who'd been sitting with her. Jiyoung, the girl who'd given me her number, must have heard them too — she ducked her head and fled back to her group.
Looking at the scrap of paper she'd left me, I felt strangely conflicted. Getting hit on for your number was supposed to be the exclusive privilege of good-looking people, wasn't it? And yet... me?
My face was absolutely not the kind that got you phone numbers. Exhibit A: on the Sex Coin app, my appearance value was 51 — barely average. Sure, I'd gotten a bit taller, but tall guys weren't exactly rare these days. The fact that this had happened anyway was 99% because of the Aura I'd used earlier.
So it's not completely useless after all?
I'd figured I'd never need it again for the rest of my life, but maybe I needed to rethink that.
"Oh~ Minseok oppa, you got a number? Are you gonna call her?"
She must have seen the whole thing, because Jieun had appeared beside me at some point. The distant, wary attitude from earlier seemed to have vanished. That was a relief.
"I dunno...? It's the first time anyone's ever given me their number..."
"No way... you player! Do you know how nervous that unnie must have been giving you her number? You have to at least text her once!"
Even if Jieun hadn't said that, I was obviously planning to contact her. A guy with the Sex Coin app wasn't about to turn down a girl who came to him. Besides, this Jiyoung who'd given me her number was pretty decent-looking — not on Jieun's level, but still pretty solid. A young-looking face, porcelain-white skin, and so on.
In terms of mining Difficulty, maybe around 60?
...Should I check?
"Jieun, I'm gonna hit the bathroom real quick."
"Are you gonna hide and text her by yourself?"
"No, it's not like that~."
I peeled her off and immediately opened the app in the bathroom.
"Hack, cough!"
The screen was so far beyond anything I'd imagined that I choked on my own spit. Every single field was filled with the words Inaccessible. And the Difficulty was negative one thousand? For a second I thought the app had glitched out.
A minor...?
I had zero interest in that kind of thing myself, but wasn't this a bit extreme? I could feel the app's unspoken will: minors were absolutely off-limits. I hurriedly stuffed the spare phone back into my pocket and left the bathroom.
"Oppa, did you text her?"
Jieun fired the question at me the instant I walked out, like she'd been waiting for me.
"No. I thought about it, but I'm not going to."
"Huh? Why not~?"
Because she's a minor! Because I don't want to end up in handcuffs!
I screamed it internally and kept my voice as casual as I could.
"I'm not even thinking about getting a girlfriend yet. I'd feel bad if I texted her and got her hopes up for nothing."
"Ugh~ that's so annoying!"
She made a face like she was disgusted, but she still kept trailing after me.
"By the way, Minseok oppa, did you spray more cologne?"
"No? I left it at home."
"Wow, but the scent lasts this long? What cologne is it really?"
"It's just, like, fist-sized... ah, I don't know! I'll take a picture and show you tomorrow."
"Then find out the name too, please~."
Watching her put on that cute little act, I genuinely thought that if a pet like this existed, I'd want to keep one.