The Best Waste I Can Afford

By the time I got back to my studio in Cheonan, the hour was sitting in that awkward dead zone.

Four in the afternoon.

And two hours from now, I had to—

"Ugh! I don't wanna go to work!"

I bellowed it at the ceiling, sprawled across the bed in a room with nobody in it.

Who the hell has to clock in on New Year's Day, January 1st of all days? I knew perfectly well that a chicken shop did better business on holidays. If anything, a fried-chicken joint that took every Sunday off was the real oddity. The boss is a devout Christian, so I suppose I should be grateful we even get Sundays...

That was a separate issue. Today, I genuinely did not want to go in.

I'd pulled in twenty million won from a single night of hunting yesterday. Wanting to stand over a fryer for pocket change after that was the part that didn't make sense.

Still. I have to go. I gave my word, and I still need to win Jieun over...

I tried to steel myself by manufacturing reasons I couldn't just quit on the spot, but the pep talk landed with a thud. I had nothing in the tank. Some things you just don't want to do, no matter how you dress them up.

In the end I stayed there, melted into the mattress, and started poking at my spare phone.

Before I knew it, the value of a single Sex Coin had more than doubled since the day I'd first gotten the app. Most of that growth had come from Technique Value — the other numbers had barely budged — but looking at it still put a warm little glow in my chest.

But is this actually sustainable?

Aside from Technique Value, every other stat was capped at a hundred. Wait — was Stamina Value the exception? Either way, the rest of them barely moved anymore, and even Technique Value was getting harder to push. The real problem was the shop. Anything that raised the Sex Coin's value doubled in price with every purchase, a system ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with inflation so deranged it bordered on parody.

Mining had changed, too. These days I was already hitting near-maximum Satisfaction almost every time. Unless I started sleeping with new women, faster growth from here looked unlikely. That dizzying daily climb was about to hit a wall.

Compared to when I'd first opened this thing, the prices were completely unhinged.

Still. Look how far I've come. No point getting impatient.

Right. It hadn't even been a month. This wasn't some online game, and a month was nothing against the rest of the life I still had to live. If anything, the fact that it had grown this much in that short a stretch was the part that should have amazed me.

I stared blankly at the shop screen and picked up the debate I'd abandoned back at the motel.

Was pulling an ability the right call? Or should I keep saving for a trait, or another Appearance Change Ticket? Or should I just go insane, cash the whole pile out, and blow it?

The Sex Coin's growth was going to slow down anyway. Trading this dingy one-room for a decent officetel didn't sound half bad.

Officetel. That makes me think of Gaeul...

Hers had been clean and spacious, no question. But these days I only came home to sleep. Did I even need the upgrade?

I'd been pulling in millions of won a day since I got the Sex Coin, and yet my actual spending habits had barely changed. A few cheap fast-fashion pieces. Dating expenses with the girls, if I was being generous. Even that restaurant I'd taken Lee Jieun to recently hadn't been my kind of place — and if I filed that under the cost of doing business, I could honestly say I hadn't spent a single won on anything purely for my own satisfaction.

Maybe this is the chance to actually spend some money. Properly.

The more I turned it over, the more cashing out started to win. Then I'd waste it on something that was just for me. I wouldn't be able to withdraw all forty-six thousand, of course, but if I pulled a decent chunk...

Okay, but spend it on what?

A place? That kind of money wouldn't buy me an apartment. It wouldn't even cover a jeonse deposit. Which left monthly rent — and I could already afford monthly rent without a windfall like this.

A car, then. I had a license, but aside from commuting to the chicken shop I couldn't picture myself actually using one. And if the point was dating, or pulling women, I was better off saving longer and buying a foreign luxury car anyway.

They say people who've had a taste of the good life know how to enjoy it — and people who've spent real money know how to spend it. Faced with the actual prospect of drawing the money out, I had no idea where it was supposed to go.

My only real hobby used to be computer games, and I hadn't touched those since the Sex Coin app landed in my life.

I finally want to spend some money, and I've got nowhere to put it.

I scratched at my scalp, still melted into the bed. Hair slid between my fingers. The sides I'd had buzzed for a two-block cut had grown out a little.

"Ah. I should get a haircut."

Hair I used to cut once every two months, and here I was getting it done again in less than three weeks. Taking a taxi for a distance I could have walked. That was the best waste of money I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could currently manage.

"Would you like the receipt?"

"No, you can toss it."

Cha Heejung watched the customers out the door, then headed for the table they'd left behind. Boneless chicken, so there weren't even bones to clear, and they hadn't dripped any sauce. They hadn't ordered drinks either — just the chicken, then gone — which meant there was almost nothing to clean.

If only every customer was like this...

She was still wiping down the table when the door chimed. A customer? She glanced over — and it was Choi Seongyong, back from a delivery.

"Hey, Choi Seongyong! I told you to use the back door!"

"Too much work~."

The boss had gotten on him about that more than once, and he still insisted on the front. She knew pushing it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wouldn't change anything and would only waste her own energy, so she finished the table instead.

Only after the last of it was cleared did Cha Heejung look around. An empty shop, wide open and quiet. In the far corner, a head of bright yellow hair.

"Seongyong, what time is it?"

"Now? Four. One more hour and I'm out."

"Nice!"

She threw a little one-handed fist pump and walked over to his table, pulling out a chair across from him. He hadn't taken his eyes off his phone.

"Pretty sweet shift today, huh?"

"Sweet? I just got back from a delivery, you know."

"You sat around all day and went out once. Come on... Anyway, what are you so glued to that phone for?"

"Me? Just Kakaoing with Jieun."

She'd asked to kill time, nothing more — and the answer made her blink.

"Huh? With Jieun?"

She and Choi Seongyong were close enough, working the same shifts. But Jieun and Choi Seongyong? She'd never once heard Jieun mention him in their occasional Kakao chats, and thinking back to the two of them at Christmas drinks, this was the last pairing she would have expected.

Wasn't Jieun into Minseok-oppa?

Heejung was already about halfway sure of that. The two of them seemed to meet every afternoon, and last time she'd even busted them at the movie theater. And now, out of nowhere, Choi Seongyong was texting Lee Jieun?

"Yeah. We swapped numbers last Christmas, remember?"

He still hadn't given her so much as a glance, all his attention locked on the screen. Her eyes narrowed.

"Have you two been texting this whole time?"

"Nah, not really. But she messaged me first today."

Heejung's mind started turning fast. She knew Kim Minseok had gone up to Seoul yesterday and was coming back down to Cheonan today. Factoring in when she'd last heard from him, he was probably home by now. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Meaning Minseok and Lee Jieun hadn't seen each other this afternoon.

So that's why Jieun texted first?

That was too much of a leap. Even if she was talking to Choi Seongyong, she still couldn't see Minseok during the day — so why would Jieun bother? And the Jieun that Heejung knew was the type to keep guys at arm's length, not some sly little fox who strung them along.

Then what is this, actually?

The idea that Jieun had suddenly taken an interest in Choi Seongyong made no sense at all.

"Jieun actually texted you first? For real?"

"That's what I said. What, you think I just go around getting lied to?"

Apparently tired of being talked at, Choi Seongyong stood up. He still hadn't looked away from his phone, and that alone was enough to get under her skin.

"Hey! Where are you going? Give me more details."

"Gonna go have a smoke~."

He waved her off and headed for the back door, and the sight of it just made her more annoyed.

"That little— He usually won't shut up asking me about Jieun. Like I won't find out just because he won't talk?"

Heejung pulled out her own phone and fired off a Kakao message on the spot.

Jieun, who normally fired back instant replies, didn't answer.

She's been chatting with Choi Seongyong this whole time, and she's leaving mine on read?

And just like that, on the very first day of the new year, Cha Heejung's head was a mess.