Chapter 9 : Sister Rice Bowl (2)

Double pay event…?

Don’t tell me it means they’ll pay double?

[As the name suggests, it’s an event where the base pay starts at 400,000 won.]

The [Rental Papa] app quickly satisfied my curiosity.

The usual base pay for papa-katsu is 200,000 won.

It really was a double-pay event.

However… I had already earned 300,000 won from my papa session with Sewon today.

Not a huge amount, but enough to eat white rice with side dishes.

Well, not meat, but at least some kimchi—for a while.

‘I’d really rather not do it.’

I guess it sounds like an excuse.

But honestly, I want to keep [Rental Papa] as a last resort.

Because it feels like I’m squeezing money out of a bright young girl.

Now that I have a little breathing room,I decided to turn down the double-pay event, even though it came at such a rare time.

Just as I was plating a pair of perfectly fried eggs.

Ding-dong.

The doorbell rang.

It was past 10 p.m. Who could it be?

After the apartment I bought as a newlywed got sold for pennies,there are only a handful of people who know my address in this cheap villa.

And none of them are the type to show up unannounced.

‘It’s not the police, right…?’

“Mr. Joo Yeonho, what exactly did you receive from that high school girl?”

“I was just playing a dad role. Honestly. We just ate lunch together. That’s it.”

“Ha. You expect us to believe that? Are you saying absolutely nothing happened?”

“………!”

I could picture myself under a dim interrogation light, being questioned by a female officer.

Bang!

Bang!

I didn’t open the door because I was lost in terrifying thoughts.

The nighttime visitor began pounding on the door.

If I left them out there, it could cause trouble with the neighbors.

Especially since the landlord lives upstairs.

Even if it wasn’t the police or a loan shark or some other shady type,the landlord might use this as an excuse to complain.

“Yes! I’m coming out!”

I quickly cleaned up my humble drinking table.

“Ruff! RUFF!!”

“Ugh.”

As soon as I stepped out, a Maltese with pink-dyed ears came charging at me, barking loud enough to burst my eardrums.

I don’t particularly hate dogs, but I can’t stand aggressive ones.

Right before it reached me, someone lifted the dog up.

“Yeonho, come on. You scared Happy.”

It was the landlord.

She’s around my age but already owns a whole building.

She lives off the rent from this villa.

She doesn’t have kids, so she spoils that not-so-cute dog like it’s her own son.

She was wearing a white tank top and loose pajama pants.

In a past life, I guess you’d call this the classic uncle-who-doesn’t-care look: an undershirt and shorts.

I don’t care how others dress in their own homes,but I couldn’t look her in the eyes.

‘It’s see-through…’

Maybe because of the summer heat and sweat, the tank top was sticking to her skin.

And with her objectively large chest, everything stood out even more.

In a gender-reversed world, moments like this are really awkward.

When I awkwardly averted my eyes, she narrowed hers like an icepick.

“Oh my, Yeonho, feeling guilty, are we?”

A chill ran down the back of my neck for a second.

This landlady lady—She might try to blackmail me over the papa-katsu thing and turn me into her sex slave.

Judging from the buttery smell coming from Happy’s mouth, she totally seems like the type.

“G-guilty? About what…?”

“Don’t play dumb. When are you going to pay your rent?”

He held out his palm demanding the rent.

It wasn’t quite a threat of making me a sex slave, but it felt just as unfair.

“The rent will be paid via automatic transfer. Have you checked it properly?”

I had put enough money in the rent account.

There was absolutely no way the rent wouldn’t be covered for about a year.

The landlord’s stern face twisted like a goblin’s.

She looked so angry.

Even when Happy—the Maltese dog—let out a scream, crushed like a sandwich between her arms and chest, she didn’t notice.

“Yeonho, you’re funny. I checked the payment two or three times. Did you check it properly?”

I couldn’t argue with such confidence.

I quickly checked my internet banking.

Sure enough, the rent account balance was zero.

Completely empty.

It must’ve been the day last month when the rent fund ran out.

“I’ll deposit it right away. I’m sorry.”

Feeling embarrassed for doubting the landlord, I nodded apologetically.

From experience, apologizing submissively in these situations always works best.

“No, Yeonho, ‘right away’ won’t cut it. This is a contract. You have to pay by the exact deadline. Can you deposit it by Monday? And you won’t be late next time, right? You haven’t been going to work lately, have you?”

The landlord came on strong.

And since she was right, I couldn’t really argue.

I guess she’d vaguely noticed that I’d been fired.

“Well….”

I couldn’t give her a clear answer.

My spare funds were definitely gone this month.

“If you start chipping away at the deposit little by little, it’s hopeless.”

I was about to ask to deduct this month’s rent from the deposit.

But the landlord beat me to it like a ghost.

“Understood…”

I answered in a drained voice.

“If it’s really hard, pay in some other way. I think you’ll handle it well, Yeonho.”

The landlord licked her lips with a sly smile.

Happy followed her lead and licked his own lips.

Wow, a chicken coop without a blink?

I didn’t have the nerve to ask what that ‘other way’ was.

“No, no. I’ll definitely deposit the 400,000 won rent by next Monday.”

I hurriedly lied to send the landlord away.

She muttered something outside, but it was like reading to deaf ears.

I didn’t want to become a butter dog panting after the landlord.

“Dou-double event. I’ll participate! No, please let me participate.”

I said desperately, knowing [RentalPapa] wouldn’t hear me.

[You’ve made a wise decision, user Joo Yeonho!]

[Registering your information for the Double Event.]

The AI PapaBot’s jangly character started moving as if waiting.

[…Matching… 58%… 69%… 74%… Match complete!]

Already matched!?

The [RentalPapa] app definitely had more users than the entire city’s population.

I was glad to be matched so quickly but also felt uneasy.

‘What kind of event is this where you pay double money? What’s the benefit?’

This time, it didn’t seem like the app would pay the extra amount.

What kind of weirdo applies to a double payment event?

I scratched my head and checked the sender info the PapaBot sent.

[Applicant: (Processed secretly according to event details)]

Last time, Sewon’s name and age appeared.

This time, for some reason, the applicant’s info wasn’t shown.

I didn’t know why it had to be kept secret.

But suddenly, a terrible thought popped into my head.

‘Are they lying about their age? That could be it.’

I imagined Manager Kim or the landlord showing up in school uniforms on PapaKatsu, calling me “Dad.”

Just the thought of it made my brain crack.

But the really surprising part was what came next.

[Location: Sunday, July 5th, 2 PM, TCG Duel Creatures Official Shop]

[Desired Dad Type: A dad who plays well]

???????

My mind went completely blank.

The meeting place was an unexpected wonderland.

‘Duel Creatures…? I kind of miss it.’

TCG card game Duel Creatures.

It was a card game even back when I was a kid.

It was popular among the neighborhood elementary school girls.

Though my past life memories weren’t fully restored yet, I remembered that even I—just a little ‘girlish’ kid back then—and my wife, who was my bad friend since then, both collected cards enthusiastically.

We tried to collect four out of five cards needed to win, but the last one was impossible to find.

She cried about never being able to get that last card.

In the end, I secretly found that missing card and added it to my childhood friend’s deck, who would later become my wife.

She liked it without knowing it was me.

I was a kid who tried to act sophisticated but had a simple side.

As I reminisced about old memories, I couldn’t help but smile.

There must be a box in some corner of the bed with an album that includes my wife’s deck.

‘It’s still around. And there’s even an official shop.’

Living a long life really does show you things.

The PapaKatsu client wanted a dad who plays well.

Playing well together is important in a father-daughter relationship after all.

There was a pure, untainted intention behind the request.

I roughly guessed what kind of client it would be.

Definitely an elementary school student.

Because of that special circumstance, the [RentalPapa] fee was much higher.

Because the meeting place was at a Duel Creatures shop where only kids hang out.

Because the dad should play well with her.

My heart softened.

It seemed mentally much easier than PapaKatsu with Sewon.

‘Maybe I just need to enjoy playing card games with the kid.’

I knew my wife’s deck had god cards and rare cards.

She boasted about them to me endlessly.

‘Should I just let her win sometimes after winning a little?’

Like playing handicap Go with the clients’ wives.

Taking 400,000 won from an elementary school kid felt a bit weird, but.

The landlord’s teasing tone, flickering like a mirage, made me push that obvious worry aside.

I accepted the request lightly.

And I painfully realized that was a mistake.

Whether it’s Duel or PapaKatsu.