-“Hello!”
-“Oh, welcome.”
The person who opened the door and came in with a cheerful greeting was Joo Mi-eun, the representative in charge of this convenience store. She had stopped by to check on the store, as well as discuss the various promotions and events that were coming up.
-“Out of all the stores in this neighborhood, this one has the best sales these days. You ranked first this month.”
-“Oh! Really? I think it’s been like that ever since Jaekyung started working here~!”
The manager beamed, clearly pleased by the compliment. Jaekyung felt embarrassed. He really wasn’t used to receiving praise like this.
-“By the way, you heard about it, right? Sounds like they’re going to call all the store owners to headquarters soon.”
-“Ah, yes, I got a message about that. But what exactly is going on?”
It sounded like something Jaekyung wasn’t supposed to know—or perhaps simply wasn’t meant to hear about—so he quickly excused himself from the conversation between the two of them and went to check the display shelves one more time.
-“Apparently, our convenience store chain is going to be acquired by one of the affiliated companies.”
-“What?”
-“But I don’t think the terms are bad. You don’t need to worry. I heard about it too, and everything sounded fine. From what I understand, it’s basically just a change in ownership while everything else stays the same… Still, I suppose it’s unsettling for the store owners, so they’re probably going to hold an information session or something.”
-“The terms really aren’t going to change or anything?”
-“As far as I know, they might actually get better. They’re a company that operates supermarkets, so we won’t have to keep getting food and other products through an intermediary like we do now. Apparently, that’ll bring down the wholesale costs and reduce the burden on the stores. They’re also supposed to lower the commission… I guess they’ll listen to what the store owners have to say and make any further adjustments that are necessary. Honestly, headquarters has always been a little shaky, hasn’t it? If we get the chance to become part of a major corporation, that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
-“Honestly, people who already have plenty always want more. You’d think they’d have enough to live comfortably, but their greed really has no end.”
-“That’s geu-se-sa. Geu-se-sa.”
-“What does that mean?”
-“The world they live in. How would we know what it’s like? For all we know, they might have less money than we think.”
-“…Good grief. Then I must be a beggar without a single ten-won coin to my name.”
Jaekyung chuckled at the two of them, whose conversation occasionally sounded like a little comedy routine.
The world they live in…
It was an expression he often came across while searching the internet. Such a clever abbreviation. A perfect little shorthand. There probably wasn’t a better way to describe them.
Jaekyung technically belonged to their world too, but from the perspective of someone who had temporarily escaped? from it, the reality was beyond anything he could have imagined.
Anyway, so the convenience store was going to be acquired.
It probably wouldn’t affect Jaekyung much since he was only working there, but for the store owners, he imagined it must have been enough to make their hearts drop. No matter how much the representative assured them that everything would be fine, the manager continued to worry and sigh all the way through the store owners’ meeting.
Then, after returning from the two-day, one-night gathering, the manager came back looking unexpectedly radiant.
Her smile practically reached her ears. The moment Jaekyung arrived, she gave him a few pats on the shoulder, looking thoroughly satisfied.
“Sounds like everything went well?”
-“It did! Of course it did!”
“Tell me about it.”
The manager looked like she was dying to talk about it, so Jaekyung sat down on the chair behind the counter, eyes lighting up to show he was ready to listen.
It wasn’t quite the time when customers would start flooding in, so the manager sat down on the chair at the neighboring counter as well, and the two settled in for a good long chat.
-“I guess I had a bit of a distrust of young people without even realizing it. You know, there’d be some kid who’d work for ten days and quit because he’d saved enough for a trip. Or someone who’d say they just wanted to get some real-world experience, work for a week, and then quit… But after Jaekyung came along, I could really feel that little flower of faith blooming again! And then, wouldn’t you know it, the executive director from the company taking over our convenience store is so young and so decent! He listened to everything the store owners had to say! And he just wiped out all those unreasonable clauses that had been in the contract! We didn’t even have to bring them up ourselves! Read the latest chapters at novelping.com.
-“On top of that, they’re going to subsidize our labor costs, and they lowered the commission rates across the board. When the takeover happens and the convenience store gets a new name, they’re even going to pay for the entire renovation with company money!”
-“That’s incredibly generous. I’d imagine they’re going to have to shell out several tens of billions of won….”
There were only about four major convenience-store chains larger than this one in terms of the number of stores, but nationwide, it was still a substantial operation. The fact that the company was going to cover the cost of renovating every single one of those stores was no small thing.
-“Exactly! And they said convenience stores should be bright, so they’re replacing all the lighting with LEDs, too. By the end, all the store owners were so dumbfounded they said they couldn’t tell whether they were dreaming or awake.”
“I know. Just listening to you, it sounds too good to be true. Conditions like that are hard to come by these days.”
-“Exactly what I’m saying! Wow, I kept hearing that this year was supposed to be my lucky year, and maybe it really is! It feels like things have gotten even better since you started working here. You’re our lucky charm, Jaekyung, so stay with us for a long time.”
“Haha. I’ll do my best.”
Jaekyung had no intention of quitting the convenience store anytime soon. He didn’t want to quit, either. Even if it was only in a small way, he needed to keep moving forward like this. Otherwise, he was afraid he’d start stagnating.
-“Oh, speaking of which, Jaekyung, how was the movie?”
“Oh, yes!”
The day after receiving his first paycheck, Jaekyung unfortunately didn’t get to see a movie. Instead, he bought a book at a bookstore and sat in a café reading it. He deliberately chose a seat in one of the busiest areas of Myeongdong, where he could watch all kinds of people passing by, read his book, listen to music, and enjoy some much-needed time to himself.
Afterward, he returned to the convenience store to help the manager.
He had almost deposited his paycheck the day he received it, but then decided that it might be nice to have some actual cash on hand, so he kept it safely at home.
Part of him wanted to spend it frivolously, but there turned out to be surprisingly little he wanted to buy. He had no particular interest in clothes or electronic gadgets.
He did think about taking a trip to Jeju Island, but to make it feel like a proper vacation, he would need at least three nights and four days. There was no way he could be away for that long.
Still, he thought he needed some time to heal, so he decided that when the day came for him to quit his convenience-store job, he would take a trip somewhere. Traveling didn’t necessarily mean going abroad, after all.
The only other thing he really wanted was a car… but Jaekyung didn’t even have a driver’s license yet. Ever since he was young, a chauffeur had driven him around, and it had been the same after he got married, so he had never really felt that he needed a license.
He was thinking that maybe he would at least attend driving school next month.
In the end, no matter how he looked at it, there simply wasn’t anywhere to spend the money, so he just kept it safely at home.
I guess I’ll just keep living day by day, and before I know it, that money will be gone. By then, I’ll get another paycheck.
That’s probably how life works.
A few days earlier, one of the part-timers had asked to switch some dates because they were going on a trip. So Jaekyung had agreed to cover the convenience store alone all day a week later, and in exchange, he got yesterday off.
That was when he finally went to see the movie he’d missed.
Jaekyung normally enjoyed romance movies, but lately he’d also developed a taste for action films and had been watching them more often. He had even gone to see the superhero movie that was supposedly the biggest hit these days, and after watching it, he could understand why people loved that sort of thing.
He had ordered a large collection of DVDs related to the movie and was waiting for them to be delivered.
Of course, there was the minor problem of wondering where he was going to put all those DVDs.
Well, it’s okay if I make a mess of the house.
I can now.
-“So, what movie did you see?”
“Ah, well…”
It seemed like it was finally Jaekyung’s turn to talk, and he was just settling in for another enjoyable round of gossip with the manager when she suddenly walked in.
The manager had arrived without giving them any notice, so both Jaekyung and the store manager immediately stood to greet her.
-“Hello! Ah, actually, there’s something I wanted to tell you. In about—maybe ten minutes?—the representative from the company and the executive director are going to come by.”
-“What?”
The manager was so startled that she opened the gate blocking off the register and hurried out from behind the counter.
-“What do you mean?”
“They suddenly came to headquarters today and said they wanted to make a tour of the stores. They’re going around the locations with the highest sales, and this one came up.”
-“Ah… What do we do? What are we supposed to do?”
-“Just a moment.”
The conversation between the two seemed to be flying back and forth in a flurry. From what Jaekyung could gather, the representative and executive director of the company acquiring the chain were coming to inspect this store.
Then we can’t just stand around like this.
The store needed to look its best.
Jaekyung immediately jumped to his feet. Mi-eun took a quick look around the store and pointed out a few things that needed to be wiped down and cleaned. Jaekyung immediately rolled up his sleeves and started clearing away everything she pointed out, sweeping and wiping down every surface.
Fortunately, neither the manager nor Jaekyung could stand seeing things out of place, so the merchandise had already been arranged almost perfectly according to the company manual.
They moved with remarkable efficiency, and within ten minutes, everything visible at a glance was clean and neatly organized.
Everyone finally let out a relieved breath.
Then Mi-eun checked the time again.
-“They should be arriving with their entourage any minute now… Ah, they’re here. When they come in, just greet them. The way you always do.”
She lifted her head toward the entrance and spoke in a tense voice.
Jaekyung and the manager swallowed nervously and looked toward the door as well.
About five people came pouring into the convenience store, which was barely ten pyeong—roughly thirty-three square meters.
“Welcome to Happy Convenience Store.”
Then Jaekyung saw the man entering slowly at the back of the group, and it felt as though his heart dropped straight into his stomach.
Those footsteps…
The way he dressed. His hairstyle. The watch visible on his wrist. His tie….
Afraid their eyes might meet, Jaekyung hurriedly turned his head away.
No… This can’t be happening.
He didn’t even need to look.
That pheromone scent belonged to him.
Han Taeseok.
Jaekyung instinctively backed away. There was no need to think about it.
He had to get out of here. Right now.
He had no idea why Taeseok was here, but there was nothing good that could come from them running into each other.
Suddenly, nausea rose in his throat, and his head began to throb.
As Taeseok’s pheromones slowly crept toward him, seeming to reach out and ensnare him, Jaekyung felt every hair on his body stand on end.
He grabbed hold of the manager.