Chapter 10: I'm Earning a Million Won a Month
Exhaling softly, Kim Suhyun entered the waiting room of the massage parlor. He had just finished one session and was now rubbing his hands and forearms.
With a calm expression, he sat in his chair as usual. Ha Jinseok approached him after finishing his own work.
“You worked full time again today, huh?”
Ha Jinseok asked in his usual polite tone.
Thinking back to the days when he had been treated like a dog by Suhyun still sent a chill down his spine.
But after that, Suhyun had stopped harassing him.
He had learned not to cross the line and hit.
That was why Ha Jinseok could now treat Suhyun with a bit more ease.
“Yeah.”
“But why don’t you ever get tired?”
Ha Jinseok had always thought Suhyun was insane.
Logically, even three back-to-back massages should leave anyone exhausted.
Yet this crazy guy worked twelve full hours every single day, skipping only his rest days.
And he wasn’t just killing time either.
Everyone at L Massage Parlor knew Suhyun’s schedule was packed solid all day long.
Ha Jinseok watched it in real time from the side.
This physical monster kept up the insane twelve-hour massage routine every day without complaint.
“I get tired too. I just distribute and use my energy efficiently.”
“Efficiently?”
Ha Jinseok’s ears perked up.
Was there something special about Suhyun’s massage technique?
He had always assumed Suhyun got so many bookings because of his handsome face.
But the high repeat rate and constant full schedule proved Suhyun was genuinely excellent at massage.
And the reason he could handle twelve hours straight was probably because of his skill.
“Want me to teach you?”
“Huh! How do you do it? Let me see.”
Suhyun sat Ha Jinseok down in front of him.
When he announced he was showing his massage technique, the other therapists resting in the waiting room subtly leaned in to watch.
“When you learned massage, what did they say was the most important thing?”
“Acupressure and finger movements?”
“Of course that’s important too. But the most important part is finding and pressing the exact acupoints accurately.”
“Acupoints?”
Ha Jinseok asked, surprised.
Of course he had learned about acupoints at the academy.
But they hadn’t taught it in depth, and he had only memorized a few for the exam.
After all, massage training emphasized sensing muscle and tendon flow more than acupoints.
“Yeah. Just knowing how to identify acupoints properly can cut the power you need to give by half or more. For example, like your shoulders are stiff right now. Then you’d massage the whole shoulder like this?”
“Ah…!”
Ha Jinseok let out a sound without realizing it.
A refreshing yet painful sensation spread through his shoulders.
But this wasn’t particularly special massage.
The truly special one was about to begin.
“But if you press the acupoints accurately…”
“Aaaaaah…!”
A completely different moan escaped Ha Jinseok’s lips.
He didn’t even realize he had made a shameful sound, his mouth hanging open in pure astonishment.
With this single technique, Ha Jinseok finally understood why Suhyun’s reservations were overflowing like a flood.
It was a different level of massage entirely.
His shoulders felt like they were melting away smoothly.
Yet it wasn’t cold at all.
After just a few seconds of kneading, the stiff muscles from his grueling day had completely relaxed.
“Crazy…”
“How was it? Different?”
“Yeah. I admit it. This is possible just with acupoints?”
“You need to perfectly understand the acupoint locations and how they connect to other parts. The Jianjing point I just pressed is excellent for shoulder pain and stiffness.”
“Wow… Suhyun-ah…”
Ha Jinseok called out with a strangely serious tone.
Suhyun, who seemed to understand his meaning, let out a faint smile and answered.
“Why?”
“Can’t you teach me this?”
“Teaching isn’t the problem, but studying is up to you. Keep studying acupoints on your own. I’ll teach you little by little. I saw on the internet there are a lot of organized summaries about acupoints.”
Responding briefly to his colleague’s request, Suhyun kept it simple.
Ha Jinseok had definitely been a bad kid.
But after being beaten badly by Suhyun, he had changed a little.
He was still a bit scared, but at least he had stopped acting out.
And teaching acupoints and massage techniques was no big deal.
It wasn’t some secret martial arts technique.
“Ah… studying…”
Ha Jinseok’s expression turned disappointed at Suhyun’s words.
He had always been terrible at studying.
Otherwise he wouldn’t have dropped out of school and would be living a normal university life like everyone else.
He hated studying.
But with clear motivation right in front of him, the feeling wasn’t that he didn’t want to do it, but that he wanted to try it.
The motivation was none other than Kim Suhyun, who had gotten his massage license on the same day.
Honestly, Ha Jinseok had no real passion for being a massage therapist.
It was just a part-time job to make money.
And if he was lucky, he could even flirt with pretty girls.
But after seeing what Suhyun did, his heart had changed.
He had started the same way, but now Suhyun had become the star massage therapist at L Massage Parlor.
He had envied it, calling it talent or luck, but gradually his mind had changed.
Watching him work twelve full hours of massage every day made him have no choice but to.
Then he wanted to catch up, envying Suhyun.
And he started thinking about the job of massage therapist again.
If he could massage as well as Suhyun, he could earn a million won a month.
And he could cling to pretty girls like Suhyun did.
The motivation was a bit greedy, but it was natural for humans.
Motivation is improvement, and improvement is ultimately a branch of greed.
Anyway, Ha Jinseok decided that if Suhyun taught him, he would study acupoints diligently.
“Do you want chicken and beer today? I’ll treat you.”
“Oh? What’s the occasion?”
“Haha, I got a tip today. They said my hard work is admirable. I got fifty thousand won.”
“Really? But I’m going to Suwon today. Can’t make it. What about tomorrow evening?”
“Going out tonight? You always go down in the morning on rest days.”
“I’m going today to sleep there. So let’s do the chicken and beer tomorrow.”
“Okay. But tomorrow, you’ll treat me.”
“Me? For real?”
“… No, I should treat. Haha… Have a good trip…”
Every Wednesday.
Kim Suhyun took the subway to Suwon.
At Suwon station he had to take a bus, but today he splurged a little.
He took a taxi.
This level of transportation cost was nothing to him now.
Kim Suhyun was a star massage therapist who earned a million won a month as his base incentive.
And with the occasional tips, his income was even higher.
If he started premium courses, he would earn even more.
So this level of luxury was fine.
“Ah! Arrived exactly on time. I put it in the box here.”
And a small luxury was also effective at the KFC in front of the orphanage.
When he had first visited, his pocket had been tight, so he could only buy a bucket of chicken.
But now he had enough economic freedom to buy one chicken per person.
Since there were many children, he had bought thirty, but settled on about twenty.
Just that made the chicken smell waft through the air.
“I’m here! It’s Suhyun oppa!”
“Waaaaaaa!”
Today was Tuesday evening.
The day Kim Suhyun visited every week was tomorrow.
But perhaps the director had told the children that Suhyun was coming, so they were waiting for him at the orphanage.
Of course, their main purpose was chicken, not Suhyun.
“Thank you! Oppa!”
“I’ll eat well! Oppos!”
Still, the kids didn’t forget to say thank you.
Kim Suhyun was happy to see the orphanage children smiling.
“Here… oppa…”
He gave one chicken to each child.
Then the kids ran like sparrows, hugging the chicken and dashing to the restaurant.
But one kid didn’t run and stayed beside Kim Suhyun, who was walking slowly.
His name was Ha Jinseok.
A nineteen-year-old high school student this year, who would have to leave the orphanage after graduating next year.
“Why? Got something to say?”
“You said you’re a massage therapist, right?”
“Yeah. So?”
“Do you earn a lot of money?”
Short Q&A.
Kim Suhyun quickly understood what Ha Jinseok wanted to say.
His future was uncertain.
Going to university or getting a job.
High schoolers had two paths.
But for orphanage graduates, both paths were difficult.
It was too long ago, but Kim Suhyun remembered that time.
He had wanted to go to university, but thinking about tuition, it had been dark before his eyes.
So he had done various part-time jobs and ended up at the massage parlor.
“Well, you know the saying ‘it depends on the case’?”
“It’s been a month since I returned to the modern world.”
“Thanks to Ha Jinseok who always talks beside me, I’m getting used to modern language.”
“I know. Case by case… it depends on the person?”
“Yeah. People with good skill and technique can earn ten million won a month. Conversely, those who can’t even earn one million won a month barely scrape by. The massage therapist industry is a name-based system. Of course, there are places where it’s not, but in normal places, customers name the massage therapist.”
Kim Suhyun explained the world of massage therapists calmly.
Kim Suhyun couldn’t take responsibility for Ha Jinseok’s life.
But he could generously share the knowledge he knew.
“Then how much do you earn, oppa…?”
“Me? I earn a million won a month.”
“A million won a month…? No way, ten million won?”
With a strong reaction, Kim Suhyun let out a faint smile.
“What do you mean no way. You don’t believe it?”
“Not that I don’t believe, but it doesn’t seem easy to believe. Honestly, there isn’t even one person who is doing well among those from the orphanage.”
That was the word.
Since he was a high schooler, he didn’t hide his feelings.
Kim Suhyun maintained a smiling face and answered.
“Why not. There’s me here. What’s the point of me lying to you? To feel some superiority? Would I lie to get that?”
“Ah… No. Then oppa. Can I become a massage therapist too?”
“Of course. If you get the license, you can get a job anywhere in the country.”
“Is getting the license difficult?”
“If you work hard, it won’t be that hard.”
“Okay.”
“Yeah, hurry up and go eat chicken. The others are all eating.”
“Yes!”
The conversation with Ha Jinseok ended there.
Kim Suhyun didn’t know if Ha Jinseok would really get the massage therapist license, or really become one.
At that age, the career path changed dozens of times a day.
If he really became a massage therapist, he could give some help like teaching massage techniques or finding job opportunities.
Or, if Kim Suhyun had a business, he could be an intern.
After lightly listening to Ha Jinseok’s worries, Kim Suhyun headed to the director’s office where Seong Sugyeong was.