Chapter 34: Got It…! – 1
by fnovelpia
Monday morning.
Aki woke up in the convenience store’s break room.
“Ugh…”
Still wrapped in a blanket, Aki glanced at the phone lying nearby.
The time was just past 5 AM.
Outside the window, where the cool river breeze drifted in, sparrows chirped cheerfully.
Aki sat up.
“…”
After a deep sleep, there was a slight fog in their head.
So, scratching their cheek, they remained seated on the bed.
‘I slept from 10 PM last night… Seriously, not a single customer came. Do I have to go donate with the manager again this week? Honestly, the donation activities themselves are fun, like a little outing, but…’
Is ‘our’ convenience store really doing okay?
A sudden worry crept in.
The thought of ‘our’ space disappearing felt a little lonely.
“…”
But the worry quickly faded.
Honestly, Seonwoo Taek wasn’t someone Aki needed to worry about.
‘Someone as diligent as the manager must already have a solid plan. Or maybe he’s making enough from the stocks he trades…’
Ever since returning to the convenience store, Seonwoo Taek would always check stock charts on his phone whenever he had time.
Amid the fluctuating red and blue numbers, his eyes remained calm.
-Manager, are your stocks doing well?
-Well, more or less. Still within margin of error.
-I see…
“…”
Aki didn’t know much about stocks or investments, but there was no trace of the desperation typical of someone losing money.
‘I still worry about losing even a single penny when it comes to money, but the manager is always composed, listening to others, sharing what he has…’
Giving to those in need.
Creating a place like this for me.
Always indifferent, quietly watching over others from behind— like a giant.
He was the first person of that kind Aki had ever met.
Someone they couldn’t help but respect, someone they wanted to lean on…
“…”
How should I put it?
“So mature.”
Aki murmured blankly.
“Even though there’s barely any age gap between us.”
And then, without thinking, a memory surfaced.
“…Like Big Man.”
The last part was,
In fact, just a figment of imagination.
A fantasy Aki occasionally entertained on her own.
“….”
-No matter what you do, no matter where you are.
[No matter what you do, no matter where you are.]
-I’ll cheer for you.
[…I’ll cheer for you.]
If he and that person were the same, it would be nice.
Realistically, it made no sense— causality-wise, it was absurd— but she still couldn’t help but indulge in the delusion from time to time.
Maybe her brain had short-circuited from too many extraordinary things happening in a row.
And yet…
‘If that were the case, repaying those feelings would be so easy.’
“….”
Huh?
Repay?
“With what…?”
Aki quietly buried her face in her hands.
The warmth of her palms seeped into her skin.
“…What a stupid fantasy.”
She must still be half-asleep.
Was she influenced by what Master Kwon and the abbot said yesterday?
-Is she your girlfriend?
-You’ve even found yourself a partner.
Seonwoo Taek had been beside her.
And when he heard those words,
What kind of expression had he made?
No…
More importantly, how had she felt at that moment?
“….”
Once the delusion started, it wouldn’t stop.
‘Me? With the store manager?’
Hmm.
Mmm…
Not…
A bad idea, maybe.
‘Then… would I keep living at the convenience store?’
Hmm.
Mmm…
That…
wouldn’t be so bad either.
“Mmm.”
Aki let out a quiet sigh.
Her stupid thoughts had completely woken her up.
At the same time, a wave of self-loathing crashed over her.
“Haaah.”
‘…Come on, that was just the adults joking around. I’m not some middle schooler, getting carried away with wild fantasies over something like this. Besides, the manager has always been a kind person.’
Aki lightly slapped her own cheeks.
Tap
Tap
Then, her inner self scolded her.
-Girl, you’re 23 years old. What is this?
-Your real job is being a VTuber, not some kid who makes the manager uncomfortable. This is the kind of thing immature middle schoolers do. Hurry up, wash up, eat, and get to work.
“……”
It was strangely high-definition nagging.
‘Can’t even argue with that…’
Following the voice in her head,
Aki nodded quietly and got up.
Then, she went into the bathroom and washed her face.
“……”
But before leaving,
She glanced at the mirror one more time.
“……”
It was nothing.
Just her mood playing tricks on her.
*
Aki left the break room.
Then she gathered her bag and closed the door.
Through the slowly closing gap, the cozy space disappeared from view.
It was a secret base in this world that no one else knew about.
Creak—
A special secret base,
Known only to us.
A faint smile crept onto her lips.
“…I’ll be back.”
She descended the stairs without hesitation.
Out into the sparkling morning sunlight, beyond the convenience store.
There, a blue sky stretched above,
And beyond it, the rippling scenery of the Han River.
And there he was, sitting at an outdoor table.
“!”
Seonwoo Taek had come out early and was blankly sipping his coffee.
He looked at Aki with slightly dazed eyes— his gaze always seemed fixed on something far away.
“… .”
“… .”
Did you rest well?
Did you sleep and wake up okay?
Want to grab a cup of coffee?
None of those words were spoken.
The two simply looked at each other in silence.
“… .”
“… .”
Aki chuckled softly,
Then suddenly charged at Seonwoo Taek.
Like a rhinoceros,
She attacked his back with the brim of her baseball cap.
“Hyah!”
Thump—
Seonwoo Taek’s back flinched.
He stared at her with a puzzled expression, like a chicken that had been pecked in the head mid-meal.
“?”
“Hehe…!”
Aki flashed a mischievous grin and dashed off.
As she ran farther away, she swung her arms wildly and called out.
“I’ll be back again!”
“… .”
Seonwoo Taek took another sip of coffee and replied.
“Alright. Have a safe trip. See you on Friday.”
“Hehe.”
“?”
Aki smirked triumphantly.
‘I never mentioned what day it was.’
What if she suddenly showed up around Tuesday?
Would he be flustered?
-Huh?! A-Aki, why are you here—?!
-Fufu! You fell for it~! My schedule just happened to be free on Tuesday, you see—!
-Whaaat?! No way—?!
Ha-ha-ho-ho
Lul-la-la-la
They’d perform a little comedy skit together.
“Pfft, he might actually play along if I tried….”
Just this small fantasy felt like a chance to catch Seonwoo Taek off guard.
It was the pleasant start of a new week.
*
Before heading to the office.
I came for my last pronunciation lesson.
The pronunciation instructor smiled warmly at Aki and said,
“You’ve improved so much in just a month. Have you lived in Korea for years or something?”
“R-really? So I don’t sound awkward anymore?”
“Yes. You were already good at the tricky pronunciations like ‘ui’ and ‘eo,’ or consonant endings— things beginners from Japan usually struggle with. I guess living here long enough made you fully accustomed to it.”
“…”
Hmm…
To Aki, that part was the painful result of relentless practice.
During her trainee days, she had endured many humiliations because of her unmistakably Japanese accent.
‘Mom said last year that I sounded like an international student who’d lived abroad for a long time…’
As that thought crossed her mind, the instructor continued.
“The real issue wasn’t your pronunciation.”
“!”
“You were so focused on nailing the consonants and intonation that your tongue sometimes lifted slightly. It’s called palatalization, right? Trying to correct that made your sentences drag out repetitively. That’s what made your speech seem ‘halting’ or ‘awkward.’”
“…I see.”
Ouch.
The instructor replayed the recorded lesson files— one from the first day and another from the last.
-And she said, “To… to me, the… the thing, the thing you gave me… uh… lo-love-filled…”
-And she said, “The thing you gave me was a bouquet filled with love and a jewel inside the box…”
“But after just a few sessions, you started speaking much more smoothly. Compared to the beginning, your enunciation has also gotten clearer.”
“!”
“You must’ve heard a lot of compliments about your pronunciation lately. From now on, when reading long sentences, try practicing breath control. You’re practically at the finishing stage.”
“Yes!”
Truthfully, the only person whose opinion she cared about was Doda…
-Oh, Aki-chan, your accent sounds totally native now.
-Really?
-Yeah, like a native who doesn’t care if their pronunciation slips a little.
-…
Anyway,
She felt more confident now, and that was good!
Aki grinned brightly.
*
As soon as we arrived at the company,
CEO Baek Socheol shared some exciting news.
“The record label said they can handle all the cover work for us. They’ll bill Big Plan for the production costs, so no worries there. They said if we pick a date and go in, they can finish all the follow-up work on the same day.”
“!”
“!”
“!”
“!”
Personal cover song projects.
The members of ABCD each reacted with joy in their own ways.
Aki was simply happy to start working on the covers.
‘We’ve done a lot of song broadcasts before, so we can just go by the most requested ones. That means the first one we’ll work on is…’
Choi Yeseo was pleased for financial reasons.
“Whew, I’ve been waiting for this. I couldn’t do it before because of the cost. This is really great.”
“!”
Kang Doda was the one who interrupted with a scolding.
“How dare youuu—!! When Big Man-nim is with us!! How could you forget his glorious care and guidance?!”
It was Kim Aeri who stopped her.
“Doda, we’re in a meeting right now…”
“Ah, sorry.”
Then Doda also apologized to CEO Baek Socheol.
“I’m sorry for shouting.”
“…”
He raised his palm in response.
“Okay. Thank you!”
“!”
Kang Doda grinned.
“4 dollars?”
“4 dollars, thank you!”
“Damn it! You’re completely insane!”
Choi Yeseo let out a small sigh.
“CEO… You don’t have to play along with Doda’s jokes.”
“Huh? Ah, I’m just in a good mood today.”
“Huh?”
Baek Socheol laughed heartily.
“Did I ever mention my older sister is a shaman?”
“…No.”
Choi Yeseo flinched.
This was bad.
She could already sense the unfunny vibes…
“My sister’s always had a mystical aura. At 20, she suddenly got a divine calling and just secluded herself in the mountains, becoming a shaman. But she still comes down sometimes to eat at our place. She even plays with my son…”
“Ah, I see…”
“Anyway, yesterday she came over and told me, ‘Your luck has turned.’ It was the first time she ever said something like that to me. She’s notoriously hard to impress, like, nationwide level.”
“Ah… Is that so?”
“And I was feeling so good that as soon as I got to the office, I checked the keyword searches for our PC bang special broadcast last week. And guess what shocking fact I discovered?”
“A shocking fact?”
Flutter—
Baek Socheol pulled out a sheet of A4 paper, grinning.
“We completely beat Romantic Drive in average weekend viewership.”
“!”
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