episode_0014
by fnovelpia#14
“The catharsis you ordered has arrived.”
“… .”
She silently accepts the cocktail glass I offer her. Is she a bit of a reserved type?
Of course, just as there are people who don’t like their hairdressers talking to them at a beauty salon, there are also customers who don’t like their bartenders talking to them at a cocktail bar.
By the way, I’m like that too. Once I go to the hair salon, my default is to close my eyes and pretend to be asleep.
‘Well, it’s just a matter of taste.’
Usually, such guests tend to sit at tables other than the bar table, but that’s not really unusual.
“Sir, the two customers at that table ordered a pepperoni pizza and two pineapple pizzas.”
“Okay. And.”
I spoke carefully to Gia.
“When there are guests, call me boss. Jia.”
The old man is a bit like that.
*
A while later, Zia, who had finished cleaning the table after the guests left, approached me.
“Hey, sir.”
“… Call me boss in front of customers.”
“Okay… But, hasn’t that person been looking at the boss since a while ago?”
Zia whispers to me in a small voice.
“… .”
At the end of Jia’s gaze is the peculiar guest who had arrived earlier.
I can’t see his eyes because of the dark sunglasses, but I can tell that his gaze is directed towards me.
You’re probably not in love with the way I shake the shaker… of course not.
“Excuse me, please take my order here.”
“Oh, yes!”
After that, Jia went to take orders from other tables, leaving only me and that customer at the bar table.
“Hey, bartender.”
At that moment, she, who had been quietly drinking a cocktail and looking at me, spoke to me.
“Yes?”
“I have something to tell you, would you mind coming this way?”
“What do you want to talk about?”
I approached her with a puzzled mind. What was she trying to say?
“A little bit closer, a little bit closer.”
The corners of her lips were revealed as she drank her beverage.
As the corners of her lips slightly rose, she whispered quietly to me.
“My dear. What’s your relationship with Yunseol?”
“… .”
I looked at her face, wondering if I had heard wrong.
She still has a faint smile on her face, the corners of her lips slightly raised.
I couldn’t see beyond the eyes because of the sunglasses, but I had a gut feeling that it was true.
This guy is clearly having fun.
“Haha. I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir.”
I tried answering politely at first, but…
“Don’t lie. Lately, Yoonseol has been restless at work like a dog that needs to take a dump. It’s because of you.”
…she speaks again as if she already knows everything.
Her light words sent strong waves through my calm heart.
‘Yoon Seol? Company?’
What is this person’s relationship with Yunseol to say something like that?
As various thoughts were becoming complexly tangled, Jia, who was taking orders at another table, approached me with perfect timing.
“Boss. What’s wrong?”
“Huh, huh?”
“I guess I should go now that the intruder is here. Oh, bartender. Can you put your ear to my ear for a second?”
A similar request as before.
I’m too concerned about what you just said to refuse.
Finally, I followed her advice and put my ear towards her face.
“The company is a bit like that, come to my personal office. The address is on my business card. I’ll wait. ”
As she said that, she put something in my jacket pocket and got up from her seat.
After asking Jia to pay the bill, she leisurely leaves the store.
“… What was that just now? That guy. Was he hunting?”
After finishing the calculation, Zia came to me and said in a tone that seemed a little displeased.
“I don’t know either.”
Something she put in my jacket pocket,
_____________________________________
Hero Hwayoung / Hero Management
Business Partnership Inquiry
Office address: OO Building, OO District, 3rd floor
Tel. 0XX – XXXX – XXXX
___________________________________
It was a business card that said,
***
After finishing closing the store, on the way back home.
Jia and I were walking home on a somewhat chilly road, chatting about random things.
“You worked hard today. Aren’t you tired? Working until 2 a.m. must be harder than you thought.”
“It’s okay. I used to work at a convenience store at night.”
“Really?”
By the way, I said that I used to work part-time at a convenience store. Thanks to that, I didn’t have to teach you how to use the POS machine, so it was convenient.
“… I stopped because weird college students and old men kept confessing to me.”
Jia looks a little tired.
“Ah, aha… .”
I had a rough idea of what happened.
“That too, and the boss there kept trying to lower my hourly wage because I was young. I quit in a fit of anger.”
“He really was a bad guy. Oh, that’s right.”
A thought that only occurred to me after I agreed with Jia’s words.
‘Come to think of it, I was also in a position where I should have given Ji-ah a raise.’
I had prepared an envelope before I left for work at the store, but where did I put it? Ah, here it is.
“Okay. Today’s daily wage.”
I took the white envelope containing Zia’s paycheck out of my jacket pocket and handed it to her.
Then, Jia looked a bit bewildered, as if she hadn’t expected me to hand her the envelope at this timing.
“Huh? Oh. Thank you… .”
She then carefully checked the contents of the envelope and said to me with a surprised expression.
“Oh, sir. Isn’t this too much?”
“Huh? I put in just the minimum wage… ?”
Actually, I would have liked to have given you more, but my pockets are a little empty.
By the way, I can’t believe you’re so surprised by this amount of money.
I felt a little sad because I could guess how Jia had been treated while working part-time.
“Is that okay…? I let you sleep and feed you, but if you give me just a little more… ”
“Hey. Who are you trying to make into a bad CEO?”
Jia still looks a little dazed.
She then said, carefully holding the envelope I gave her in her arms.
“… Thank you. I will work hard.”
Jia then smiled brightly. It was a smile that made everyone who saw it feel happy.
‘It’s a little awkward… .’
I feel like I’ve gained something from the store owner giving his part-time workers a daily wage and receiving this kind of gratitude.
Step step step
As we walked along the street, a slightly awkward but comfortable atmosphere enveloped the two of us.
The city was still noisy. Car horns honked, neon signs flashed, people laughed, and music could be heard from afar.
When I was walking alone, the noises that had been nothing more than meaningless noises didn’t sound so bad now that we were walking together.
‘Was I the type of person who got lonely?’
I’ve never really thought about it that way. Maybe it’s because it’s the middle of the night, but I feel a little sentimental.
“… .”
Jia followed me silently, holding the envelope I gave her carefully in her arms.
‘Was it that good? I should have put in a little more.’
It may be a bit odd to say this, but I feel like I understand why adults give children pocket money.
Would Jia be angry if she heard that?
As I was walking down the street with such trivial thoughts, I suddenly remembered what had just happened at the store.
“What’s your relationship with Yunseol?”
A guest who looked very suspicious.
I asked Zia, fiddling with the business card she handed me in my pocket.
“You know, Ji-ah. Do you know the hero named Hwa-young?”
“I know. He’s a hero from the same management company as Yoon Seol who came to the store today. He’s super popular.”
… I felt it from the way you treated Yunseol today, but Ji-ah is surprisingly detailed about heroes.
I’ve only seen it once or twice on TV, but I didn’t know it was the same company.
“But why all of a sudden?”
“Huh, huh? Just.”
What should I do? Should I just tell the truth?
‘The customer who came earlier left a business card for me, and the name written on it was Hero Hwayoung.’
But if I say that, I’ll have to tell you what we talked about.
“Don’t lie. Lately, Yoonseol has been restless at work like a dog that needs to take a dump. It’s because of you.”
Then I guess I’ll have to tell you what happened with Yunseol last time.
“… .”
That’s not something I can decide on my own. I don’t think Jia would do that, but… you never know what will happen to people.
If even a rumor spreads, I won’t have the face to face Yoon Seol later.
While I was hesitating to answer with that thought in mind, Zia didn’t ask any further questions and brought up a different topic.
“Ah. Right. You know that guest who just came? The one who was whispering to the old man with his hat pulled down low.”
“Yeah.”
“By any chance, did you go hunting?”
For some reason, her face turned slightly red as she asked me about what happened at the store.
‘Well, that’s normal for that age.’
Isn’t this the age group that is most interested in dating?
“No, that’s not it. He just said the cocktail was delicious?”
“Why are you whispering that…?”
“I guess you were embarrassed for others to hear it.”
Zia looks at me blankly, groaning.
He seems a little incredulous, but it doesn’t seem like he’s really asking for an explanation.
‘… It would have been better if it had been hunting like Jia said.’
As we walked along the street with those thoughts in mind, we arrived home before we knew it.
“Okay, good night.”
“Jia, you too.”
From then until I fell asleep, the events that happened at the store that day wouldn’t leave my mind.
“The company is a bit like that, come to my personal office. The address is on my business card.”
Oh my. Are you the kind of person who goes when I tell you to go and comes when I tell you to come?
‘Okay. Let’s just ignore it and get ready to open the store tomorrow.’
I don’t really have much to do… but anyway.
So I fell asleep, vowing never to go to the address she gave me…
“Sigh… .”
… The next day, I went to the address written on the business card I received from the guest.
what.
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