Ch.10Kahlua Milk 1

“Oh, it’s starting.”

“Take a picture with me in it too.”

The female hunter guest strikes a V pose. Her boyfriend captures both her and me pouring drinks in the same frame.

My shoulders are killing me. I can’t feel my wrists anymore.

Champagne and beer overflow across the table. Gritting my teeth, I push the dripping glasses toward the guests.

“Pleashure to sherve Black Velvet…”

They happily accept and drink the cocktails that are half-empty and mostly foam.

Seriously…

Why do they even drink this stuff?

“Oppa, look at this. Such perfect vibes.”

“It definitely looks better in person than in the videos.”

The hunter couple fiddles with their phones. They’re probably going to post this on that damn SNS too.

After making this wretched drink all day, I recently discovered something. That pretty girl who came with her father yesterday was an influencer from the Hunter Academy.

With her 100,000 followers, she secretly recorded me making Black Velvet in front of Anna. Thanks to her, the inn went viral through that video, and now customers are flooding in.

So that’s what she meant by “promoting” us. While it’s certainly good for business, something about it feels unfair.

My hands have become wrinkled. From constantly pouring drinks, my skin never gets a chance to dry.

This isn’t even how a proper Black Velvet should be made…

Irritated by these people who know nothing about alcohol, I’ve grown sick of this show.

Eventually, I started pouring drinks carelessly with an expressionless face out of annoyance. But the customers liked it even more, calling it “dirty plating” and getting even more excited.

Has everyone gone mad because of all the monsters running rampant in the world?

I shoved an empty champagne bottle into the kitchen corner. Already the twelfth bottle… We’ve run out of everything in storage, so this couple gets the last of it.

I put my hands together toward the customers waiting in line and announced:

“We’re closing early because we’ve run out of ingredients. I’m sorry!”

The disappointed sighs of hunters waiting in line hit my ears. Some even mutter curses like “How could they after we came all this way?”

It’s not my fault we ran out of ingredients…

The corners of my eyes droop involuntarily.

Just how famous is that Anna girl to have such an impact? She was certainly pretty, but still, she’s a psycho killer.

Probably none of these people have actually met her in person. Once you’ve faced those pale eyes, you’d never want to see her again.

“Siho, great job today. Thanks to you, we’re completely sold out of ingredients.”

Jiwook approaches with an exhausted face.

“I just poured drinks. You’re the one who worked hard cooking everything, senior.”

“Yeah… This is the first time we’ve had so many customers since last year…”

He collapses onto a counter stool.

Right.

This place used to be a famous bar.

Even Jisu noona, who was a heavy drinker, mentioned it. But why did the owner abandon such a good inn?

Did something happen?

There are usually two reasons why a grown adult would abandon a perfectly good business.

Money or family issues.

Given that Jeoksa, Seoul’s biggest loan shark, came looking for him, the former is definitely true. I wonder if the reason he borrowed money was related to family matters.

Family…

I was deep in thought as I saw off the last customer.

The cash register is stuffed so full that bills might pop out. With the economy collapsed and hardly any functioning banks left, most payments are made in cash.

With this kind of profit, I wouldn’t even need to change careers to become a hunter. Though I’m not sure what percentage of this will actually end up in my pocket.

Suddenly I imagine a future where the owner never returns. Would this profit be split between just the senior and me?

That wouldn’t be so bad.

“—.”

Someone enters the shop.

“We’re closed for the day.”

I answered casually while counting bills. But despite my words, the customer calmly walks into the hall.

That’s when I finally looked up. And I come face to face with someone who looks completely out of place in a bar.

“It’s been a while.”

A girl I’ve never seen before smiles brightly at me. She’s wearing the same school uniform as the pretty girl I saw yesterday.

It’s 10 PM now. What kind of girl would come to a bar at this hour and say “it’s been a while” to me?

“Who are you…”

“Unni, don’t you remember me?”

She has pure black-brown straight hair and distinct cat-like features. I really don’t know her…

“You ran away from the shop saying it was too hard, but now you’re back?”

She must know the original Siho before I possessed her.

“I guess no one else would take in someone with no abilities?”

This girl’s way of speaking is a bit too harsh…

“Ah, sorry… We had so many customers today that I mistook you for someone else.”

I tried to brush it off by pretending to know her.

“Right~ There are so many customers today. When you were running the place, it was usually empty.”

The schoolgirl looks around the inn with her hands behind her back. Then her eyes meet Jiwook’s as he’s cleaning the tables.

“Oppa~ It’s been a while.”

She greets him in a completely different voice than the one she used with me. Her nasally tone makes my jaw drop.

“Oh, Sehee. What brings you to the shop?”

“A friend posted about our place online. So I thought I’d drop by~”

“How’s your father doing? I’m worried since he hasn’t shown up at the shop for months…”

He rests his chin on the mop with a troubled expression.

“Dad’s probably fine, doing his own thing.”

“Weren’t you living together?”

“I haven’t been home for a while. You know how dad gets when he drinks…”

She sits casually on a table. Sehee’s short skirt is quite irritating to look at.

“Just manage all the income yourself, oppa. He’ll die from alcoholism soon anyway.”

“Don’t say things like that… We need to pay off the shop’s debts with whatever profit we make.”

“Oppa, you’re too nice. If it were me, I would’ve run away from the shop like Siho unni.”

She keeps taking subtle jabs at me. I wanted to smack her, but since she’s the owner’s daughter, I couldn’t…

“Come on~ We’re not bloodline hunters like you, Sehee. We need to earn money steadily.”

At the mention of “bloodline hunter,” my desire to hit her vanished. That title is usually given to the children of rankers or famous hunters.

So the owner was at least a famous hunter, and this girl inherited his power. I feel both envious and resentful.

“You two should head home. I’ll close up today.”

Sehee says as she gets off the table.

“Huh? No, we should do it since we’re the employees.”

“I usually don’t come because there are no customers, but since it’s suddenly so busy, I should help too.”

What’s this?

She seems to be speaking with good intentions, but something feels off.

Sehee takes Jiwook’s mop and enthusiastically sweeps the floor. Footprints remain wherever she passes, making the cleaning completely pointless.

After pushing the mop from the hall to the counter, she stops abruptly in front of me.

“You should go too, unni.”

She whispers in a cold voice, unlike how she spoke to Jiwook.

“Um… okay.”

I smiled awkwardly as I untied my apron. I put on the shabby hoodie I had stashed under the counter.

“Wow, unni. You still don’t care about your appearance at all, huh?”

“It’s not like I have anyone to impress…”

“True~ You probably don’t. It suits you.”

She snickers with narrowed eyes. I disliked her voice so much that I left as quickly as possible.

Outside, Jiwook was already waiting, dressed in his coat. Seeing myself in contrast to his tall, handsome figure, I understand why Sehee said what she did…

“Did you just come wearing that? It’s cold today.”

“I don’t really have many clothes at home…”

He looks down at me with concern.

“Do you want to wear this?”

As he starts to take off his coat, I shake my head.

“I’m fine. My place is nearby anyway.”

I walk alone through the night streets. How many times have I been called “unni” today?

My situation is starting to feel real. Will I have to live with this face forever?

Well, at least I’m not completely flat-chested for my height. That means I don’t look like a child to others.

Even if I am short…

With such pointless thoughts, I shoved my hands into my pockets.

“It is getting a bit cold.”

I should buy some clothes when I earn money. Shopping malls are starting to reopen these days.

But how do I shop for women’s clothes? I’ve never bought them before, so it’s awkward.

I don’t know any girls either…

“…!”

Something bumps against my hand in my pocket. With a bad feeling, I immediately pulled it out.

“Ah, the shop key.”

I sigh involuntarily. I forgot to give it to Sehee before leaving.

I rushed out of the shop because she kept saying things I didn’t want to hear. Now I have to see her face again…

Reluctantly, I headed back to the inn. The return path was dark except for a few streetlights.

As a result, the street feels eerie like a ghost town. Even this much light is provided by the Hunter Association’s efforts to rebuild the city…

But it’s woefully inadequate for someone at the bottom of the food chain like me.

“…?”

As I get closer to the shop, I hear loud music. What’s this? Did Sehee turn on music while cleaning?

I carefully opened the front door. Inside were people I’d never seen before, sitting at the sofa tables.

They were freely drinking the shop’s alcohol as if they were having a party. What’s going on?

I scratched my temple in disbelief. Then I made eye contact with a large boy.

“Who’s that?”

That’s what I want to ask. Who are you people?

“Sehee, did you say kids from other classes were coming today?”

“No~ I didn’t.”

Her voice comes from the kitchen. If they’re Sehee’s friends, these kids must be Academy students too.

What on earth are they doing in the shop?

Two female students who were lounging at the table approach me. As they stand on either side of me, I feel even smaller.

“I work here, and we’re closed…”

I try to speak to them as clearly as possible. But perhaps because of the overwhelming height difference, my voice seems to get smaller and smaller.

“What? Why are you back?”

Sehee rushes out from behind the counter after hearing my voice. She looks like a little sister caught doing something wrong.

Since I used to have a younger sister in the past, I feel a bit more courageous. I should say something to these minors, being the adult here.

“I forgot to give you the key…”

“Thanks. I just invited some friends to dad’s shop, so don’t worry about it.”

Wasn’t he someone who was going to die soon? Now he’s “dad” when it’s convenient?

She casually takes out a cigarette from her chest pocket. The sudden appearance of the cigarette makes sweat run down my back.

Was that student-like appearance all an act?

“S-still, you shouldn’t use the shop’s alcohol as you please…”

I mumbled, fidgeting with my fingers. Sehee smirks and starts looking down on me.

“It’s up to me as the owner’s daughter. What’s it to you? You’re just a part-timer.”

The girl blows cigarette smoke toward me. Because of the acrid smoke, I cough and grimace.

I should be standing up for myself more firmly at times like this…

Somehow tears well up in my eyes.

It must be because of the harsh cigarette smoke. Must be…

“What’s this?”

A large man enters the shop through the back door. The shop seems to vibrate with his low, heavy footsteps.

He has tanned skin and black two-block hair. If he’s the same age as Sehee, he must be 17, but how did he end up looking like that?

“It’s you, right? The bartender who was acknowledged by Anna.”

He asks in a heavy voice. I should answer, but…

My body freezes, and I can’t get any words out. That’s how intimidating his presence was.

“Pour me a drink too.”

He commands as he sits at the center table. But I just stand there blankly, not following his order.

“What are you doing? Go serve him. Don’t you know who he is?”

Sehee scolds me in a quiet voice.

“Who is he…”

I stammered as I asked her.

“That’s Choi Siwoong, the youngest A-rank hunter at the Academy. Don’t you even watch the news?”

A… A-rank hunter?

Even noona who killed the wyvern had just been promoted to B-rank… He’s even higher than that?

Something’s wrong. Why is someone like him here?

Siwoong flicks his hand at the girls. Immediately, the two beside me grab my arms.

Forcibly dragged, I was thrown down in front of the table. Only then did I truly realize my powerlessness as a “non-ability” person.

“Are you acting high and mighty? I heard you have no abilities.”

Siwoong’s tanned face comes closer to mine.

“Up close, your face is kind of cute.”

The large man pokes the mole under my eye with his thick finger. My body shrinks at that unpleasant touch.

At this late hour, there’s no one who would help an NPC like me…