“I bought it.”
When I offered coffee with a smile on my face, Kwon Se-hyun accepted it with an uneasy look.
“Do you have anything to say?”
“No.”
When I asked, pretending not to know, he shook his head. Kwon Se-hyun looked at the Americano in a transparent plastic cup, and then bit the straw, grimacing and hastily removed it from his mouth.
“Ugh, what?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Why is it so bitter?”
“You look tired, so I added three shots to the Americano.”
“Three shots? You crazy…”
Kwon Se-hyun, who was disgusted by covering his mouth with his hand as if he had taken herbal medicine, found another coffee in my hand.
“What’s that?”
“Ah, this? This is my vanilla latte. I wanted to drink it, so I ordered it with the Boss’s card. Is that okay, right?”
“Ha…”
When I answered in a deliberately innocent voice, Kwon Se-hyun rubbed his forehead and burst into laughter.
“You’re an annoying bastard, leave…”
“Why are you swearing like that, Boss.”
“Don’t call me Boss.”
I knew he hated being called Boss.
“…call Go Dong-ju.”
“Yes.”
Go Dong-ju is probably organizing the room on the second floor by now. As I went down to the second floor, I saw Go Dong-ju, who was working hard with his younger brothers.
“Boss is calling you.”
“Boss? Ah, Hyung-nim?”
Go Dong-ju, who had been staring at me with trembling eyes as I approached while sipping a vanilla latte, woke up belatedly at my words.
“But what are you drinking now?”
“Coffee.”
“What? From whom?”
“Boss bought it for me?”
“Hyung-nim bought it for you?”
Go Dong-ju, who had a bewildered expression on his face, headed to the third floor after I replied shamelessly. I followed closely behind him.
“Drink this.”
“Pardon?”
When I returned with Go Dong-ju, I drank a few more sips. Kwon Se-hyun, with a more contorted face, handed the Americano to Go Dong-ju. As if moved, Go Dong-ju, who was handed the Americano with both hands, vigorously sucked the straw.
“Blaargh!Blech blech, why is it so bitter?”
“Added three shots.”
“Three shots? Hasn’t it been a while since Hyung-nim hasn’t drank bitter drinks?"
“Dunno… you drink it all.”
I sipped the sweet vanilla latte to the bottom while watching Kwon Se-hyun handing an Americano to Go Dong-ju.
Kwon Se-hyun’s gaze was astonishing, but I completely ignored it. Who told me to run a coffee errand before?
* * *
After 8 p.m., the inside of the store started to fill with people.
“Oi, newbie. This is table number 8. And this is number 11.”
As soon as he came back from serving, new servings flooded in. Ha Tae-heon, who was moving the cocktails to the tray without any complaints, suddenly got out of the kitchen and found Kim Woo-jin making cocktails at the bar table.
“Hey, you’re really good. Let’s make this one next time.”
Kim Woo-jin silently moved his hand at the words of the bartender, who was stuck next to him. Kim Woo-jin, who made everything he pointed out, looked pretty and the bartender had a smile on his face.
“Is it really your first time making cocktails? It’s not easy to be good at this even if you’re good at cooking.”
“……”
Despite Kim Woo-jin’s unwillingness to open his mouth even once, the bartender didn’t care and continued to ask questions. It’d be better than listening to what he said than being scolded for not working well. Ha Tae-heon turned to finish serving.
“I’ve seen you before… do you by any chance have a girlfriend? I like you so much.”
“There is.”
“It’s too bad. Aren’t I pretty good though? If you change your mind, feel free to contact me.”
Ha Tae-heon, who took the business card from the woman, sighed as soon as he turned his back. He was thinking of throwing away the business card later.
‘It’s been a while since I have this situation.’
It was something he experienced often before awakening as a talented person. Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he had the service job.
It was a world with no talents and no gates. Again, this place felt unfamiliar.
“Ahem. I…”
Someone cautiously approached Ha Tae-heon, who returned from serving. It was the man who owned this store. Han Yi-gyeol was also behind him.
When Ha Tae-heon turned around, the man hesitated and asked.
“How is your work? You can do it?”
Normally, he would have ignored it, but given the circumstances, he answered bluntly.
“It’s doable.”
“Ah, um. You can speak comfortably.”
Ha Tae-heon, who hadn’t expected that he would say something like this, frowned. Speak comfortably. Employer wanted their employees to speak informally?
When Ha Tae-heon just stared at him without answering, the man was slightly embarrassed and added his words.
“That… it doesn’t mean anything. Anyway, Ha Tae-heon-ssi… I mean since you are not a regular employee here so you can speak comfortably with me.”
“It’s comfortable to use honorifics, so I’ll do it like this.”
The man rubbed the nape of his neck with an awkward expression at the clean refusal.
“……?”
Ha Tae-heon felt a sense of déjà vu, but soon shifted his attention to Han Yi-gyeol, who was standing behind the man. Whether or not he felt nauseous from the stranger, Han Yi-gyeol, who was helpless with a pale complexion, was more important than that.
“Han Yi-gyeol, are you sick?”
“Yes?”
Seeing that his complexion, which had been fine up until now, had deteriorated so quickly, it must have been that he was in pain. Ha Tae-heon, who walked passed the surprised Kwon Se-hyun and approached Han Yi-gyeol, put a hand on his forehead.
“Is it a cold? You don’t have a fever.”
“No, I’m fine…”
“Han Yi-gyeol, are you sick?”
Kim Woo-jin rushed over after he heard it from a distance. Park Geon-ho, who came back from serving just in time, saw the people gathered and also stepped in with a puzzled expression.
“Han Yi-gyeol is sick?”
“I’m not. I’m fine.”
“Your complexion is bad.”
“Hm, you are definitely whiter than usual.”
“Should I buy some medicine?”
“No, it’s okay. I’m fine.”
As they said, even in Kwon Se-hyun’s eyes, Han Yi-gyeol’s complexion looked bad. Han Yi-gyeol, who slapped the hand reaching out toward his own face, spoke in a withered voice.
“I think you misunderstood because of the lighting. How could you joke around like this while working?”
“What do you mean joke? I’m just taking a break. No, aren’t I, Boss?”
Park Geon-ho, who replied playfully, sent a clever greeting, pretending to have noticed Kwon Se-hyun belatedly. Kwon Se-hyun, who unexpectedly accepted the slapping, quickly removed his hand and opened the door.
“Please call me Manager rather than Boss. If you need a break, you can rest now. It will be busier later in the middle of the night because there’s a lot of people.”
“Is that okay? Then, I’ll borrow our Yi-gyeol for 10 minutes.”
“What? Wait a minute…!”
Park Geon-ho, who smiled brightly, took Han Yi-gyeol and headed to the changing room. Then Kim Woo-jin and Ha Tae-heon followed him like a dog possessed by snacks.
Go Dong-ju walked to the side of Kwon Se-hyun, who was gazing at the ridiculous scene.
“Hyung-nim? Is something wrong?”
“…no. I told the newcomers to take a break now, so let them come back in about 10 minutes.”
“I understand. They all needed a break if they were going to survive until dawn. There are a lot more customers than other times.”
“How many?”
“About 1.5 times. When I asked my younger brothers, they said that the rumour had spread on SNS. It seems to be more crowded in the morning.”
“Prepare in advance so we don’t run out of alcohol.”
“Yes.”
Kwon Se-hyun, who had been staring at the area where Han Yi-gyeol was standing before, turned around. He had a hunch that it was going to be a hectic night.
* * *
“It’s harder than I thought.”
“Drink some of this.”
Late at night, past five in the morning, the store, which was full of customers, had left, and there was still a heat. I handed the bottle of carbonated water that Go Dong-ju had taken out to drink to Park Geon-ho and looked around the cluttered hall.
‘There aren’t usually this many. What is it?’
It was at least twice as many as I remembered, so I was a little surprised. Later, we were so short of hands that I had to join in to serve.
“Han Yi-gyeol…”
“Great job.”
I greeted Kim Woo-jin, who was walking with a feeling of exhaustion, and stroked his hair.
“I don’t think I would be this tired if it’s just a simple effort.”
“You have to deal with people to some degree. And isn’t this the first time something like this has happened? It must be difficult.”
It must have been difficult because it was the first day, but there were so many customers that even the most talented people were mentally exhausted. In particular, Kim Woo-jin, who was brought out of the kitchen and worked as a bartender’s assistant, must have had a harder time.
“Rookies, you have cursed me from the first day.”
Go Dong-ju, who brought out more cold carbonated water and reached out to Ha Tae-heon, opened his mouth with a much more gentle voice than before. After spending time together like a war, his vigilance seemed to have softened a bit.
“Now, all you have to do is clean up, so cheer up a little bit more. You, the little guy over there, go to the third floor.”
Little guy… I, who was the shortest among them, got up from my seat without even reacting. Looking back, Han Yi-gyeol wasn’t that small. The others were uselessly big.
As I entered the office, lamenting inside, I saw Kwon Se-hyun looking outside in front of the window. The blue light of dawn was faintly falling over Kwon Se-hyun’s face, who was standing with his arms crossed.
Knowing all too well what was in the direction he was looking, I walked silently without saying anything and stopped beside him.
“…I have a question for you.”
Kwon Se-hyun slowly turned his gaze to me and opened his mouth.
“The power to fly in the sky that you showed me on the rooftop… is that wind ability?”
With that alone, I could guess what Kwon Se-hyun was thinking. I lowered my gaze.
“That’s the wind ability.”
“Can you use it without any restrictions? If there’s a place you want to go to, you can fly right away.”
“Yes. It’s possible.”
Kwon Se-hyun, who smiled bitterly at the clear answer, muttered lowly.
“I envy you…”
As soon as I heard it, an unknown emotion surged. I couldn’t spit it out and swallowed it hard through my throat.
Kwon Se-hyun, who sighed a little, continued talking.
“Business hours are over, so let’s finish the deal today.”
“……”
“One piece of information about the future. Say it now.”
Even though I was prepared enough, when this moment came, hesitation flooded in. But now it was too late.
Slowly raising my head, I quickly came out with an answer.
“Go Dong-ju doesn’t betray.”
Kwon Se-hyun’s eyes, which were even darker as they were dyed by the shadows of dawn, shook slightly.
“The traitor you are looking for isn’t Go Dong-ju-ssi.”
“…are you going to spit out their names one by one like that every day?”
“No way.”
What a useless question. You’re suspicious of me, although it was completely understandable. I didn’t hide the sneering that came out of me.
“I pointed out one of the four people you were thinking of.”
“…you even know who the four people I thought were? Is this also part of ‘Future Information’?”
“Think of it. That’s it for today about the information.”
As soon as a line was drawn, Kwon Se-hyun frowned with a confused face. The joy that Go Dong-ju, who remained by his side, wasn’t a traitor and the anxiety that the remaining three might be traitors must be mixed.
Even though I knew it for sure, I turned around calmly. Kwon Se-hyun also just looked at me as I was leaving, but didn’t hold me.
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