Everyone has different personalities, but fundamentally, I’m not a fan of socializing. The reason is simple—I feel like it drains me. That’s why people who are always upbeat and full of energy tend to clash with me.
"It’s fate that we’re meeting like this! Let’s introduce ourselves!"
"My name is Jihoo Lee."
I introduced myself with a thirty-degree bow. It’s better to greet people formally when meeting them for the first time. It helps avoid unnecessary conflicts.
"I’m Yehwa Shin!"
"Ah, yes."
With the introductions done, the boss lady, who had been watching us, approached and started explaining our duties.
"Jihoo, you’ll be on the register, and Yehwa, you handle the coffee. If there’s a rush, Jihoo, you can jump in to help with the coffee too."
"Yes, ma’am."
So that’s why she spent so much time teaching me how to make coffee—just in case of emergencies. It was strange to see someone who looked tough enough to turn an orc into minced meat also be this meticulous.
With all the instructions given, she stepped back.
"Alright, I’m heading out. Do a good job."
"Yes, ma’am."
"Take care!"
Since I was here, I decided to help out at the café for now. With that thought, I put on one of the neatly folded aprons in the corner.
"Jihoo."
"Yes?"
"It’s still early, so we won’t have customers for a while. How about some small talk?"
My instinct was to say, "I’d rather not," but I had to play along for the sake of social etiquette, so I forced a friendly smile and replied.
"Alright, let’s chat until customers come. I was getting a bit bored myself."
In truth, I had planned to watch some videos I hadn’t finished yesterday, but since we’d agreed to talk, I figured I might as well make the best of it. After all, my goal was to keep this job for as long as possible.
During our conversation, I learned a few interesting things.
One of the most surprising was that the boss lady, with her intimidating presence, owned not only this café but six other shops nearby in her name. I also found out that the previous part-timer had been fired after getting caught sneaking money from the register and was now facing legal action.
"Wouldn’t it be easy to get caught stealing money? How did they think they’d get away with it?"
"Some people just lack common sense."
At first, Yehwa seemed very gentle, but the more she spoke, the more I sensed something lurking under her calm exterior. She was probably a different person outside of work.
Just then—
Ding-ding!
The sound of the door chime signaled our first customer.
"No, I specifically ordered an iced café latte. Why is it hot?"
"According to the record, it was marked as a hot café latte."
"You must’ve heard wrong. Seriously."
"I apologize."
"Make sure you don’t make this mistake again. This is why young people these days are so incompetent."
"Yes, ma’am."
One thing I learned while working at this café was that there are more difficult customers than I’d expected. Since we were near an all-girls high school, the main customers were students, but before school let out, the clientele was mostly locals, usually older people.
"Jihoo, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I’m used to people like that."
I’d encountered plenty of difficult people in the past, so it didn’t really bother me. It was just one of those things—seeing people who talked like that. As long as they weren’t getting physically aggressive, it was tolerable.
Taking advantage of a brief lull, I sat down to rest.
"Jihoo, I think you should get ready."
"Oh."
Yehwa’s serious expression made it clear that "it" was about to start. Though I hadn’t experienced it firsthand, I’d heard enough to get an idea of what was coming.
Just then—
Ding-ding!
The chime on the door jingled, and a wave of girls in school uniforms poured in. The weather was a bit chilly, but with the sun out, they all seemed to flock to the café. Standing at the counter, I mechanically took orders.
"How can I help you?"
"Three iced Americanos to stay, please."
"Got it."
Then, amidst the flurry of orders—
"What the—?"
"Oh."
I came face-to-face with Yeram. Honestly, I expected this to happen at some point. She did frequent this café, after all. Still, I didn’t think I’d run into her this soon. But priorities first—taking orders.
"Would you like to place an order?"
"Wow, ignoring me, huh?"
"If you’re still deciding, please place your order when you’re ready."
Acting familiar with Yeram in this setting would have been a bad move. Drawing attention from those around us wasn’t ideal. With that thought in mind, I waited.
"I’ll take six iced Americanos, to stay."
Yeram gave me a sidelong glance as she completed her order. Something felt off. I didn’t give her that much allowance, yet she came here often enough for the boss to remember her.
"Hmm."
I decided to ask her about it after the rush died down. Fortunately, the customers finally stopped coming. Any more, and I would have collapsed.
In the meantime—
[Me: Hey] [Me: Don’t mention this to your friends] [Me: Come outside]
I didn’t want to call attention to us, so I texted her. Moments later—
"Hey, come here."
Yeram motioned to me with a wave, looking right at me. Maybe it’s time to cut her allowance by ten percent. I sighed and reluctantly walked over to her.
"I told you to come out, not to call me over here."
"Why should I listen to you?"
"Ugh, seriously."
I couldn’t exactly knock sense into her, so I sighed. As we were talking, one of her friends spoke up.
"Are you Yeram’s brother?"
"Yeah… I am."
That’s when her friends started bombarding me with questions. They asked if she really studies hard at home, how weird she acts at school, and so on.
"Most of it’s true."
"What? She actually studies at home? I figured she just played League all day."
"I’m not you."
"And there’s the Korean history 8th grader."
Her friends seemed to be on the same wavelength as me, joking about Yeram’s infamous Korean history grade. While we chatted, one of them asked:
"Why are you working here? Isn’t this your usual gaming time?"
"I decided to take a break from online interactions and engage in some real-world productivity."
I have no shame about gaming, but saying I’d be playing games during work hours would’ve come across as pretty pathetic.
"Do you play games too?"
"I play casually for fun when I’m bored."
I tried to keep up a “normal person” front. If they knew how much time I’d actually spent on games, they’d probably look at me like I was some kind of recluse.
"Who spends a thousand hours on a soccer game just for fun? Lie better."
"A soccer game?"
"Wow, really? I play soccer games too!"
"Well, if it’s a soccer game, I can understand. Those are addictive."
What’s wrong with a soccer game? It’s fun. Sure, I might not be good at soccer in real life, but I can at least excel in the game, right? Anyway, it was about time to head back to the counter. There were no customers yet, but it’s still work hours, so I had to be prepared.
"Alright, I’ll be going back. Enjoy yourselves."
"Wow, that’s so fake."
I headed back to the counter, resolving to shake some sense into Yeram when we got home. Just then, Yehwa subtly asked about my relationship with them.
"What’s your connection to them?"
"Oh, that short-haired one’s my sister."
"That makes sense. I thought I’d seen your face somewhere before."
Oh, right—I’d meant to ask Yeram where she got the money to come here so often, but I’d forgotten. I could ask her at home.
After some time had passed, I finally got to leave.
"I’ll be heading out now."
"See you!"
It seemed Yehwa stayed here nearly all day. I had no idea how she managed that. Impressed, I quickly exited the café.
"Whew, that was tiring."
It had been a while since I’d worked a part-time job, so I was feeling the fatigue. Still, I figured I’d get used to it over time. With that thought, I texted Yeram.
[Me: Hey, my beloved little sister] [Me: I have something to discuss, so don’t start gaming yet.]
It was time to have a little chat about her coffee expenses.