Business as Usual - 7

There are moments when an unexpected truth smacks you across the back of the head and leaves you seeing stars.

Im Hayeon was having one of those moments right now.

"Manager Kang Yunho likes me?"

What nonsense was this? A crooked merchant. A schemer who bled every last drop from devoted Dangga Pungun readers. A bookstore owner who exploited the great Author Hopil himself. The man's hidden agenda alone made her grind her teeth — and that man was supposed to like her?

Im Hayeon's jaw hung open in shock.

"Sis, you really didn't know?"

"Didn't know what?"

"Manager Kang Yunho keeps giving you those lingering looks, Sis Hayeon."

Worried she might pull another stunt like entering the First Wife War, that was. That was why Kang Yunho had taken to watching Im Hayeon so closely.

"A manager keeping an eye on his staff is only natural."

"Oh, come on. Even during meal breaks? Just now he was staring at you again, Sis Hayeon. It looked like he had something important to say and was biting it back."

Like a man holding in a confession, no less. Ha Soso said this with a knowing, crescent-eyed smile, playing the part of a self-appointed romance expert.

In truth, his face had been the look of a man agonizing over whether to offer Im Hayeon a management position.

"I'm sure he just had some business with me."

"And besides, he keeps his distance from all the other employees. With you, it's different — he's strangely warm."

That observation, at least, was dead on.

"Th-that's! There's another reason for that."

As if something pricked at her conscience, Im Hayeon drew her shoulders in slightly as she spoke.

She was the daughter of his sworn brother, after all. He had gone out of his way for her more times than she could count. Im Hayeon made no effort to hide her cold attitude toward him, but she couldn't bring herself to fault a man who kept helping her anyway.

"And what reason would that be?"

"...I'd rather not say."

She had earned her position through the literary society's fair selection, granted — but without that man's quiet backing, she would never have been standing there at all.

Im Hayeon couldn't bring herself to be honest about her history with Kang Yunho. She lowered her eyes and dodged the question.

It had to be Ha Soso's imagination. How could that man possibly like her? Not after how many times she'd refused his help and snapped at him.

"Sis... have you ever actually dated a man before?"

"Wh-why would you ask that?"

Bullseye.

The Gyobang was a school for courtesans. Much like a boy shuttling from an all-boys middle school to an all-boys high school and on into an engineering college, Im Hayeon had received her apprentice ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠courtesan training in a zone strictly sealed off from men.

She had trained for years to become a full courtesan, posting grades high enough to make her a candidate for Pure Courtesan — only to flee before earning the title and become a runaway instead.

The finest flower the Usan Gyobang had ever raised. That woman was Im Hayeon.

Realizing her hunch had been right on the money, Ha Soso clapped her hands together softly and spoke up.

"Whoa! So it's true. Sis! It's written all over the way Manager Kang treats you. He has fallen for you, Sis Hayeon — I'm sure of it!"

Sure of it. Ha Soso's voice brimmed with conviction.

"Even if it were true, I wouldn't care. He's a crooked manager, that one." Im Hayeon shot back, jutting out her lip in a brusque tone.

"I'm sorry — crooked? Manager Kang? Our Manager Kang?"

Ha Soso tilted her head at Im Hayeon, wondering if she'd misheard.

"Yes, crooked. Everyone in Yichang knows he made his name with ruthless business tricks."

"Pfft! You must have never seen a truly ruthless merchant, Sis. Manager Kang funnels whatever he earns into supporting poor scholars, and he even covers his employees' lunches and work uniforms. What other manager like him exists in Yichang — no, in all of Hubei? Manager Kang is simply a capable merchant, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that's all."

"That may be, but... even this outfit is really just one of his schemes."

Outmatched by the sheer force of that logic, Im Hayeon launched a half-hearted counterattack, fingers fidgeting with her qipao.

"So what if the outfit's a scheme? What other manager dresses his staff in silk? My dream used to be wearing a silk dress just once in my life — at my own wedding."

Watching Ha Soso caress her qipao with a blissful smile, Im Hayeon found she had no words.

Was Kang Yunho really a crooked merchant?

To a question she'd have nodded along to without a second thought just days ago, she now found she couldn't nod so easily.

What had happened at the Wushan docks and aboard the boat. How he had stood up for her at the Yichang literary society's event. Even his efforts on behalf of the penniless scholars.

These were things a genuinely heartless merchant would never have done.

"...He does seem like a crooked merchant with a decent heart, I suppose."

She couldn't outright acquit him of the charge — poor, exploited Author Hopil was evidence enough against that. And then there was the small matter of the man's hidden agenda.

Kang Yunho: good man, crooked merchant.

That was as far as Im Hayeon was prepared to concede.

"You're beautiful enough that you can afford to take your time, Sis, but if you just keep shoving him away, you might end up kicking away a fortune that rolled straight to your door."

"What fortune?"

"Manager Kang! He's right at prime marrying age. He runs the biggest building on the busiest street in Yichang — the most profitable bookstore in the city, no less. Sure, the black hair and the lack of family count against him badly, but set all that aside and suitors would still be lining up around the block for a match with him."

Marriages were made between households of like standing. The fact that Kang Yunho was a black-haired barbarian and an orphan was, admittedly, a genuine disqualifier.

But such disqualifications only truly governed the great houses and rising clans. Strike his disqualifications from the ledger, and he remained — undeniably — an eligible match with real demand behind him.

"Love isn't something you do by weighing conditions. Love that only sees money isn't love at all."

So declared a bookworm who devoured romance between pages and a courtesan who had never once been in love. Im Hayeon retorted, sounding thoroughly displeased.

A person was more than their money. Were courtesans meant to fall head over heels for any client with deep pockets? No. Even if she was a courtesan, the man to whom she gave her heart would have to be different.

Someone like... someone like Dang Jeong from Dangga Pungun...

"Sis. Yeah — you really have never dated a man."

Ha Soso's words severed Im Hayeon's train of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thought.

"Ugh."

She couldn't muster a rebuttal.

"And think about it — if a beauty like you started seeing Manager Kang, all the men who toss glances your way would have to back off for good, wouldn't they?"

"It's your delusion, Soso. That man could never like me."

After all the romance novels she'd read, how could she fail to recognize what a man in love looked like? Im Hayeon summoned up Kang Yunho's everyday manner and examined it.

"Aargh! Honestly! Sis! Just think it through properly. All this time — assume he likes you and look back at everything he's done. Just once!"

Did that man truly like her? At Ha Soso's urging, Im Hayeon began replaying everything Kang Yunho had done for her.

Had he really helped her merely because she was his sworn brother's daughter? If so, shouldn't he have given up the moment she refused him?

Then why had he helped her to the very end — unless...

Don't tell me that man... me?

Ha Soso pounced on the flicker of Im Hayeon's expression.

"See? Something's coming to mind, isn't it?"

"Th-that's impossible."

"Come on, Sis, don't be like that. Try unloading your worries on Manager Kang for once. Then maybe he'll hear you out — and maybe things will actually work out!"

I'm telling you it's a delusion. And what exactly would 'work out'? Im Hayeon couldn't push the words out of her mouth.

Dangga Pungun, Volume 3.

Maybe his liking her was pure fantasy. But still — if she asked to see Volume 3, surely he would show it to her? Surely there'd be no need to steal it at all?

"I-I'll... think about it. A little."

To Im Hayeon, the temptation of Dangga Pungun Volume 3 was simply irresistible.

I was hungry.

This was the kind of moment where it would be lovely to be a freelancer — free to order premium-cut barbecue at will, cap it off with a pot of oolong tea, and blow over a hundred thousand won on a single meal.

Reality: I was a small business owner who had debts to pay down again this month, supplier invoices to settle, and employees to look after.

Having wrapped up one task, I dispatched my belated lunch swiftly and cost-effectively.

"I'm telling you, no."

"And I'm telling you, yes! Sis, so if things work out, put in a good word for me when the next round of hires comes in, pretty please!"

The familiar voices made me turn my head, and there stood two women whose outfits were pulling the gazes of every passerby like a lodestone.

"Miss Hayeon?"

Heading back from lunch already? I'd run one more errand before I even ate.

"Ugh! What are you doing here?"

The instant Im Hayeon spotted me, she hid her flustered face behind one hand.

If my face were really that unwelcome, you'd think she'd have gotten used to it by now.

"Manager! I'm here too!"

Ha Soso threw her hand up and hailed me in a bright, chipper voice.

"Miss Ha Soso."

"I guess from far away, you only ever see Sis Hayeon, Manager."

Ha Soso gazed up at me in a tone of theatrical hurt.

"Ha ha. I just called out to whoever I happened to spot first."

"You only called Sis Hayeon by name, though."

Miss Soso Soso. See? Say it out loud and it's just ridiculous. Tell me I'm wrong, Im Hayeon?

And Im Hayeon — what was wrong with her? Had she committed some terrible sin? She stood staring at me with trembling eyes.

"Miss Hayeon?"

"See, Sis? I was right, wasn't I?"

Right about what? Ha Soso jabbed Im Hayeon in the ribs with her elbow, grinning at me in triumph.

"I'm telling you, I'm not!"

"Miss Hayeon. I have more errands to run, so take this home for dinner. You complained the other day that it was kimchi mandu every single time, so tonight it's yubu chobap."

The dish that made you an instant superstar at any picnic where everyone else brought nothing but gimbap rolls. I held out the yubu chobap — sweet tofu-pouch sushi that tasted just as good cold — toward Im Hayeon.

"Manager Kang looks after Sis Hayeon's dinner too?"

...it would have ended there, if Ha Soso hadn't asked that in a voice full of astonishment.

Ah, crap. It slipped my mind for a second there. I'd been handing Im Hayeon her dinner on the sly, away from the other staff.

"Ah, well, you see. Employees who aren't in a position to feed themselves dinner of an evening, unlike the others — I do provide for them separately."

"And that employee is Sis Hayeon, and Sis Hayeon alone, isn't it?"

This is exactly why I can't stand sharp-eyed little imps.

"Ha ha. It could be mistaken for playing favorites, so please keep it to yourself."

I shrugged with a roguish grin and made it out to be nothing at all.

"I seeee. Hehehe."

Apparently Ha Soso did not, in fact, think it was nothing. Eyes curved into crescents, she swung her gaze back and forth between Im Hayeon and me.

I appeared to have acquired a troublesome misunderstanding.

"It's not like that!"

Im Hayeon had clearly caught on too, and hurried to deny it — but it seemed already too late.

"Don't worry, Manager. My lips are sealed. And Sis — looks like I spoke up for good reason after all."

"It. Is. Not. Like. That."

Stone-faced, Im Hayeon set about correcting Ha Soso's misunderstanding.

That attitude of hers. It felt very familiar.

Why did you two get to decide between yourselves whose boyfriend I was and then fight over it? Give me a say in this. I have eyes too, you know. Verdict: both of you, eliminated.

"Miss Hayeon. Take it."

Hey. I wasn't the only one who'd rather not squirm here. Just take it. I held the yubu chobap out to Im Hayeon a second time.

"I-I don't need it!"

That was fast. Im Hayeon stared at the yubu chobap as though it were a lit fuse, then fled in open horror.

Too late already, so just take it. Yubu chobap is delicious.

"Go get 'em, Manager Kang! I'm rooting for you!"

Rooting for me in what, exactly?

Kang Yunho's security protocols were airtight.

What an exhausting day. I shut the doors of Daseogak, ran through the checks on my security mechanisms, and was on my way up to my bedroom —

— if I hadn't heard someone muttering.

"Where is it? Honestly, why can't you ever leave things where they're supposed to be?"

From a corner of the second floor drifted an irritated voice. Now what? Every employee had gone home.

Don't tell me — a thief?

I'd always known a day like this would come. I snatched a hidden weapon from inside my coat.

Fine. Catch one measly thief, win this month's Righteous Citizen Award for service to public order in Yichang, and watch my name shine all the brighter for it.

I crept warily toward the source of the voice.

Who was it? What kind of lowlife? The closer I drew, the more strikingly familiar the silhouette's back became.

"Miss Hayeon. What exactly are you doing here?"

The thief's true identity was Im Hayeon.

So this was how it finally happened. She really had come to rob the Dangga Pungun, hadn't she?

Hey. However much cover I've given you, the moment you cross the line, I can't look the other way.

Meeting my eyes, Im Hayeon mumbled with her face gone the color of dead grass.

"I, um... I forgot to take my dinner home..."

Up close, I could see the tea cabinets on the display shelf hanging open — the very spot where I left Im Hayeon's dinner for her to collect at closing time.

"Ahh."

So that was it. Come to think of it, anyone set on robbing the Dangga Pungun would have hit the printing room, not the second-floor shelves.

"You never told me where you'd put it, that's why!"

You ran off. So I ate it.

"I had the doors locked. How did you get in?"

"Well, you see..."

— CRASH! —

Im Hayeon's answer was swallowed by a tremendous din that rattled every beam of Daseogak.

"That's the security mechanism?! The printing room? Don't tell me — thieves?!"

"What did you say?"

What kind of day was this turning into? I tore off toward the printing room, Im Hayeon right behind me.

Racing toward the printing room, I laid eyes on figures that had no business existing.

"Ack! Some kind of flying weapon!"

"The bookstore has security mechanisms! No wonder it was so hard to break into!"

"Find the Dangga Pungun, hurry!"

"Thieves!"

With a single cry, Im Hayeon darted in and brought one of the thieves down with blurring kicks.

High kicks in a qipao. Bold choice. The moonlight flashing off those pale calves was frankly dizzying.

"Run for it!"

Three thieves in all. One dropped cold where he stood; the other two scrambled out the window they'd come in through.

"Did those bastards just make off with the Dangga Pungun?"

"The printing room door is hanging open, all right."

"Even I held back! And these! Greenhorn nobodies go tripping security mechanisms!!! Robbing the Dangga Pungun?! Unforgivable!"

"Um, Miss Hayeon. Calm yourself."

She looked ready to take a life.

"How am I supposed to calm down?! I WILL drag them back here! Wait for me!"

Hold on— Before I could get a word of restraint in, Im Hayeon shot off in a blur of lightness skill, demonstrating for all the world exactly why she was the Shadowless Divine Thief.