A Little More Than Minimum Wage

"What the hell are you talking about?"

By now Sihyun spat out the crude words with perfect, practiced ease.

Yuri didn't so much as blink.

"You. You're working under me from now on."

"…What?"

"Ugh, seriously… stop playing hard to get already."

She clicked her tongue and muttered under her breath.

"You're making this ridiculously expensive. How much do you even want?"

Yuri pulled a thick wad of cash from her wallet and tossed it straight at Sihyun's feet.

Flutter—!

Bills scattered across the floor.

"…Huh?"

Sihyun stood there for a second with a completely blank look on his face before the reality hit him.

"What kind of insane bullshit is this!?"

He scrambled down in a panic and started scooping up every last bill.

Watching him, Yuri wore a leisurely little smile.

"You picked up the money, so from this moment on you're mine, right?"

She continued as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"I'll take such good care of you that you won't have to worry about money ever again. So relax."

"Ha…!"

Sihyun shoved the gathered wad of cash back at her with a look of pure disbelief.

"Here. I picked it all up, so take it back!"

"No."

"Why the hell are you even doing this!?"

"Quiet. Keep yelling and you'll wake not just your mother but the entire neighborhood."

"Mother? What mother…! Oh, for the love of—"

Sihyun's mouth opened and closed uselessly; words simply failed him. Why this crazy woman had shown up at the crack of dawn to pull this stunt was beyond him. Faced with her utterly unhinged, steamroller behavior, he decided conversation was pointless.

So he tried a different approach.

"I have to go to work, so move."

He gave her a light shove and tried to slip past.

"Move? Why would I move? You're the one who has to come with me. You're my bodyguard now."

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

Yuri stepped right back into his path.

"I'm actually going to be late at this rate!"

"Late for what? The café doesn't even open for ages."

"Haa… I have other jobs too, you know."

"Other jobs…?"

"…"

Sihyun didn't answer. Instead he forced the wad of cash into her hand and quietly walked past her.

"Hey! You little—!"

Yuri stomped after him, fuming. For a moment Sihyun considered ditching her completely, but she would just keep chasing him anyway, so he let her tag along.

That was how they arrived at a local newspaper distribution agency.

"Oh~ Sihyun's here? Huh? Who's the young lady stuck to your back?"

The branch manager greeted Sihyun cheerfully, then tilted his head at the woman glued to him.

Sihyun answered simply.

"Someone I don't know."

He grabbed the bundle of papers for delivery and hurried outside. The moment he climbed onto the agency bicycle and prepared to push off, the bike felt strangely heavy. He didn't need to look to know why.

He glanced over his shoulder.

"What are you waiting for? Aren't we leaving?"

Just as expected, Yuri was perched on the rear rack.

"…"

Sihyun stared at her in silence, then calmly reached back and shoved her off.

Thud—!

Without a second of hesitation he stomped on the pedals and shot down the road like a rocket.

"Hey—!"

Yuri's shout rang out behind him, but Sihyun ignored it and kept pedaling. He was just about to start the actual deliveries when a voice cut through the morning air.

"Stop right there—!"

Somehow Yuri was already on another bicycle, chasing him down.

"That's theft!"

"I didn't steal it! I just paid to borrow it!"

"Haa—!?"

So dumbfounded he actually looked back, Sihyun saw the branch manager standing there with a thick wad of bills in his hand, counting them with a blissful smile. The sight nearly made Sihyun black out; he had to grip the handlebars for dear life just to keep from crashing.

In the end Sihyun had no choice.

"Hey, how many more left?"

With Yuri riding behind him the entire time, he was forced to finish the newspaper route.

Thud—!

"…"

Without a word he chucked a bundle into a mailbox.

"Hmph. Do whatever you want. I already told that old man ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you're quitting after today anyway."

The completely unexpected remark made Sihyun whip his head around and glare at her.

"…What?"

"What."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. I told him you found a new job and it would be hard to keep coming in."

"Ha…! You really think the manager would just accept that from some random stranger?"

"Hmm? I gave him more money and he said okay."

Sway—!

This time Sihyun truly thought his mind was leaving his body. He nearly toppled off the bicycle. He had worked there for ages—how could a few bills make them fire him that easily? Of course, the amount that crazy woman had handed over probably hadn't been small… Still, the sense of betrayal washed over him in a cold wave.

"Haa…"

He let out a long, heavy sigh. Yuri, deciding on her own that this meant he had finally accepted everything, brightened and pressed on with delight.

"Oh, and you don't have to show up at the café either."

"…"

Sihyun no longer even looked surprised. His expression said, Fine. Let's hear whatever fresh nonsense comes out next.

As if bestowing some grand favor, Yuri declared with total confidence,

"I already told the manager there too."

"Hahaha…"

Sihyun laughed hollowly. Yuri drove the final nail in.

"I offered to cover double the hourly wage so he could hire someone new, and he found replacements right away."

Ah. So that was why the manager had suddenly vanished from the store yesterday. Now even the café manager had betrayed him. Sihyun looked at Yuri with a face that was almost on the verge of tears.

"…Do you realize this is basically a threat to my livelihood? No—it's a full-on assault on my livelihood."

Yuri waggled her index finger left and right with a smug little shake.

"Wrong. It's livelihood support… no, a blessing!"

Seeing that shameless grin, Sihyun could only tremble from head to toe, completely at a loss for what to do.

"Uuuu—!!"

"~♪"

Seonye hummed a cheerful little tune as she headed for the café where Sihyun worked—Luminous. Normally she went to headquarters first, handled a bit of light work, then dropped by the café afterward. Today was different.

That crazy bitch is probably already planted there first thing in the morning, right?

Han Yuri was the reason. So for once she deliberately arrived a little late to work and visited the café first.

Plus I want to see Sihyun's face sooner~♪

Honestly she no longer felt she needed to stay on guard against Han Yuri. The match was already decided. That bitch was a cus-to-mer. She was his noo-na. The difference was night and day. There was no way the proud Sihyun would ever fall for a complete lunatic like Han Yuri. The one she actually needed to watch out for was…

Kang Yoona…

The craziest of the crazies. Sooner or later that woman would definitely try to kidnap him.

Seonye was forced to realize her miscalculation the moment she stepped inside the café. The person who greeted her was not Sihyun.

"Hello! Welcome to Café Luminous!"

It was a young female part-timer she had never seen before.

"Huh…?"

Meanwhile, in a completely different café—one very, very far from Luminous—

"Here. It's a contract, so take a look."

Yuri slid a document across the table to Sihyun, who sat opposite her.

"…"

With an expression that suggested half his soul had already left his body, Sihyun began scanning the papers with empty eyes. Watching him, Yuri let out a short snort of laughter.

"Nothing complicated in there, right? Easy to read?"

"…Yes."

Sihyun answered weakly. He had never held a proper full-time corporate job, but after countless part-time gigs he had signed more than a few contracts. That was exactly why he could tell at a glance how absurd this one was. Because the contents were…

The terms were that outrageous. If the owners of any company in South Korea ever saw this contract they would clutch the backs of their necks and collapse. If ordinary office workers saw it they would drop everything and come running to take the job themselves. You didn't even need to read further to understand why. Above all else—the pay was insanely high.

Sihyun silently slid the document back across the table.

"What? Something you don't like? Is it not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enough?"

Yuri tilted her head with genuine confusion.

Sihyun shook his head and answered feebly.

"…It's too much."

At first he thought he had misread it as a million won a month. But a million won a day…? Part of him desperately wanted to accept on the spot. Yet the greater the reward, the greater the risk. He knew Yuri was not the type to deliberately throw him into danger or deceive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him. Even so, this was simply too much money.

Yuri looked at him as if he had grown a second head.

"Hey."

"I actually wanted to add another zero, but I wrote it low because I figured you'd freak out this much!"

The words nearly gave Sihyun vertigo. This was writing it low? As expected of a daughter of the Cheonryong Group—a genuine chaebol heiress. The scale of her world was on an entirely different planet. He suddenly realized she really might be willing to pay ten million won a day without batting an eye.

Still…

"…Just give me a little more than minimum wage, please."

Sihyun's request was extremely modest.

"Whaaat—!?"

Yuri recoiled in pure shock at the incomprehensible answer.

"Minimum wage…? Hold on, let me check… minimum wage is…"

She hurriedly pulled out her phone and searched the internet.

"A little over ten thousand won an hour? Are you serious right now?"

She looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

"Yes."

For someone who hadn't even finished high school, even that amount would be more than enough. Because of Seojin he knew he would never be able to properly guard Yuri's side anyway. So he had made the most realistic decision he could. Yet for some reason the woman who seemed ready to argue him into the ground simply said,

"Fine. Whatever."

Without further protest she took the contract back and began rewriting it. Sihyun breathed a quiet sigh of relief inside. A moment later, when the revised document was shoved in front of his face again, he could only cry out in horror.

"Excuse me—!?"

Because the new line read:

She had simply drawn a "1" over the first zero.

Faced with Sihyun's utterly flabbergasted expression, Yuri smirked.

"What? I gave you 'a little' more than minimum wage, didn't I?"

"Ha…!"

All Sihyun could manage was a strangled, empty laugh. Because in the first place—

This isn't even an hourly wage, you crazy bitch!