Chapter 45: CH 6.4

The woman was alone at the cashier’s desk, and the man was organizing boxes in a corner. I approached the woman.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

“I came here because it’s written that this place is looking for a part-timer.”

I gathered both my hands forward, and said, trying to look polite. The woman opened her eyes wide, then quickly turned her head.

“Boss!”

“Yeah?”

“He comes for the part-time job!”

The woman looked somehow happy. Is she perhaps planning to quit if I get accepted? The man who was called boss soon approached me. He scanned me. I felt his gaze go to the band-aid on my cheekbone. I made up my mind to hold myself if something a tad bit unpleasant would happen.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty, sir.”

“I see. Have you worked in a convenience store?”

“No.”

I only ever did the serving in the barbecue restaurant, never did I ever touch the cash register. Will that be difficult for me to handle? But I can do well in jobs using the body.

I thought I couldn’t give a good impression. While I was thinking that I might get rejected, the woman poked the boss’s arm. She sent a glance to the boss, but I didn’t know the meaning of that. 

“I got you kid. Erm, did you bring in your resume?”

“Oh. No, sir. I came only by looking at the paper outside…”

“Then first, I’ll give you a resume, so can you fill it down and then have an interview?”

“Yes, sir.”

The boss brought out a paper and pen under the cashier’s desk and gave them to me. I went to the table near the window and sat there.

After jotting down my name and birth date, I wrote Yeon Woojeong’s house as the address. For the phone number… What’s the number of this phone?

I raised my head and looked around. A customer just walked in in time, so they weren’t paying attention to me. I then called Yeon Woojeong.

—Mhm.

“This phone, what is the number?”

—… Huh?

“What’s the number of this phone?”

I heard a faint laugh after a brief silence. I put the phone away from my ear and put it back again. 

—Did you call me because you wanted to know that?

“Yeah.”

—I’ll send it through the message. But why so sudden?

“You don’t need to know.”

—Hmm, you’ll tell me later, right?

It was a carefree voice as if he thought I would obviously tell him. I wouldn’t tell him. I ended the call without any words. A message soon arrived.

An 11-digit number was on the screen. The last numbers were similar to Yeon Woojeong’s number. I slowly jotted down the number, but then I grimaced. Now that I thought about it, the numbers were similar to the house passcode. Half-assed.

As I finished writing down my number, the space below was dreading. Educational background. I swallowed a sigh.

I stopped coming to middle school a week before graduation. Since I didn’t attend the graduation, I had no idea whether I graduated or not. However, when I searched on the internet, it said that not attending for a week is fine. If the homeroom teacher showed generosity, wouldn’t I graduate safely?

For now, I circled the word ‘graduated’ after noting down the middle school name. For high school… I wrote down the name of the school I planned to go to if I graduated from middle school. I also lied when I applied for a job in the barbecue restaurant, so it wasn’t hard. This kind of part-time job wouldn’t ask for a diploma anyway. I had an identification card and was not a minor anymore, so I wouldn’t need a student ID.

I wasn’t embarrassed with my educational background, but I did know that it would be my weakness and label. That was why I wanted to at least graduate from high school… For now, it was no problem because this was a part-time job, but later, it would be difficult to look for work with a middle school diploma. Would it be good to take a GED test? If I asked about it, Yeon Woojeong would likely say to do as I wish again. I got a lot in my head.

After circling ‘graduated’, I looked down at the work experience space. Even though the barbecue restaurant sucked, it was fortunate that I worked there because I could note down a line in my work experience. 

I took a last look at the resume after filling it up, then I stood up.

“Have you filled it up?”

“Yes.”

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The boss approached me and sat across from me. I followed him to sit again, gathered my hands and put them on my thighs, then sat upright.

He scanned my resume thoroughly. I got nervous as he took a look for a long time even though there was nothing to see. I was tearing off a hangnail, and the boss looked up.

“If you are accepted, how long do you plan to work?”

“As long as I can, for… long.”

“Hmm. Where did you work before? A barbecue restaurant?”

“Yes.”

“Was there any reason you quit in a month?”

I should have written the period longer. I thought over the answer for a moment then opened my mouth.

“I decided to do it for a while because it was during the school holiday.”

“I see. We pay the lowest rate, and the work may feel overwhelming because there are many customers coming and going during the supply arrival time. Is that okay with you?”

“Yes.”

“At least that fellow over there is a veteran, so you’ll be okay even though this is your first time working in a convenience store.”

At first, I had thought that I would fail, but the flow of the conversation was quite positive. I relaxed my expression and nodded.

“Seems like you live across from here?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’ll contact you by tomorrow, so Jiho… you can also think about this.”

“Yes, sir.”

I stood up, then bowed my head, giving a greeting. I felt a gaze, so I also greeted the employee behind the cashier’s desk, then walked out.

I had a good hunch. My steps got lighter.

***

I woke up earlier in the morning. I made up my bed, took a shower, and even opened the window to do ventilation—acting busy. The cold air permeated inside.

I saw people outside through the window as though they were going to work. Though my shift would be later than those people, I started working today.

It did concern me whether I would be able to do it well, but I wasn’t that anxious. Like what Yeon Woojeong said, I could just quit if the work sucked. The fact that I had a place to come to even though I quit my job made me confident.

I heard the sound of a door being opened. Yeon Woojeong with bed hair walked out of his room with faltering steps, then he suddenly stopped when he saw me.

“Are you going?”

“No?”

Yeon Woojeong stared at me intently as he heard my answer then entered the bathroom. I sat on the sofa and turned on the TV. Looking at the news, I thought about what I would do today. I would find a stationery store or PC room nearby and copy the bankbook. I had nothing to do except for that. The shift started at 11 a.m. so there was still a long time to go.

After some time, Yeon Woojeong came out. He, who walked out while looking wide awake, looked at me.

“You woke up early.”

“I always woke up early.”

“Alright, morning person.”

His tone sounded like teasing me, but before I could check his expression, he had entered his room.

I heard the rustling sound, and not long after, Yeon Woojeong walked out. Wearing a formal suit and a coat and with his hair brushed back, he was in his perfect prosecutor appearance I saw in the prosecutors’ office. I have seen it a few times, but it amazed me to see him, who strutted the house with comfy clothes and bed hair, being neat like that.

I looked at Yeon Woojeong walking to the entrance, then I stood up and followed him. As I stood in front of the entrance, he, who was wearing the shoes, turned around. He stared at me intently then smirked.

“This motivates me to work.”

“What?”

“Take care of the house.”

He patted my head. I slapped that hand away roughly.

“Don’t treat me like a dog.”

“What? You make me sad.”

Yeon Woojeong, who was being cheesy with a face that wasn’t sad at all, made me annoyed in the morning. As I extended my hand and yanked the end of his necktie, Yeon Woojeong was pulled towards me.

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