Chapter 189 – Episode 189

“Hey, please give me one cigarette! “Challenge!”

“Wow!”

Although I frowned at the terrible cuteness, I obediently handed the store manager a cigarette.

「Chik!」

As I lit the fire, I blinked a few times. As if I was seeing a mirage.

No, but really, why did this person come here at this time?

“Oops. Oh, why am I so dizzy? Bastards… They say he’s not the same as he used to be because he’s old, but it seems like he’s healthier than I. “I am the oldest, I am!”

Looking at you talking, it seems like you’ve been meeting friends for the first time in a while.

You said that after you left the company and started running a convenience store, you had less time to spare. And, I also said this.

I guess I’ll just stick to the company like that. You should have humbled your pride and lowered your head. Why is it so difficult?

Outside the company is a series of abysses.

… The word. It was also a very famous saying. Because it was aired in a drama.

When I was looking at the store manager, those words would reach out to me for no reason.

“Whoo, whoo!”

The store manager exhales a long puff of cigarette smoke along with a somewhat sad sigh.

Now my gray hair has started to grow noticeably to the point where I need to dye it. Fine wrinkles that cannot be hidden with cosmetics. Unhealthy weight gained from occasionally skipping meals with convenience store waste.

‘Who is telling whom to cheer up?’

The word “Cheer up” Means… In some ways, I didn’t know that this person needed it more.

I felt thirsty for no reason. I wiggled my fingers and opened my mouth.

“Manager, how about a beer for a light hangover? Beer?”

“Wow, have you seen this crazy bastard? “Is that what you say to someone who drinks and gets tired?”

“I’ll shoot. Snacks too.”

“Call! No, you bastard. You are at work. What should I do if guests come?”

“Well, you only have to deal with me when you come. But for some reason, I don’t think he will come, so it’s okay.”

The store manager lets out a hollow laugh at my words.

“Fuck you bastard… That’s even sadder. “I am the boss here.”

“… “I’ll bring beer.”

I rushed in and brought back a non-alcoholic can of beer, popcorn, and potato chips. The store manager applauded.

“Good choice of snacks!”

“I didn’t think I would eat much anyway, so I brought a decent appetizer.”

“Good sense, good!”

We clinked beers together with the store manager who raised his thumb.

I took a refreshing drink of half, and the manager took a small sip and quickly put it down.

“Ugh! I think I drank a lot. “Why didn’t you go home right away and come here?”

“Uh? Um, sure. Why?”

Seeing as he was answering questions with questions, he must have been very drunk. The store manager, who purred and pursed his lips, leaned his chin on the chair and opened his mouth. This pose reminds me of a detective who got hit with a sleeping gun in a cartoon.

“I met my friends today.”

“It seemed like that.”

“I’ve been so busy making a living these days that I haven’t been able to see you at all. “It was a bit difficult to fall out this time.”

“Why?”

The store manager laughed.

It was a smile that seemed to contain a lot of emotion.

“My friend recently went from being a manager to an executive. “Everyone gathered together to celebrate, even if it was just a few friends.”

“Omg. “Executive?”

“Okay. Executives. That’s fucking amazing, man. I don’t know because you haven’t worked at the company. To put it bluntly, only about 0.8% of new employees become executives.”

I know it’s great.

I wasn’t as surprised as I thought. I was even more surprised by that. I guess it’s because I met Chairman Han Se-ryong twice.

‘The experience is terrifying, scary.’

I mutter that to myself.

The store manager chuckles.

“Oh, what would a child know? Anyway, so to speak. Even when he was a manager, he was paid a lot of money. When he became an executive this time, his salary jumped sharply. To be more specific, I didn’t reveal the amount because it would make the atmosphere uncomfortable. We’re not kids, so don’t you know roughly how much we get paid? Even when I was the manager, I had a harsh voice.”

“I see.”

“After hearing that, I thought it was over. I regretted it again. If I had continued to stick to the company, I would have gotten at least a manager position. Ugh.”

The store manager sighed, ruffled my hair and said.

“You can’t make the same mistake I did.”

“What mistake?”

“Just because my brain got a little bigger and because I got some small tricks. Unlike other guys, I studied perfectly… The moment you take on a challenge with that kind of mindset and confidence is the most dangerous moment in your life. “The person who overcomes that moment humbly becomes successful like that friend before.”

“I’ll engrave it in my bones.”

“Yeah, dude. “Engrave it clearly.”

After clinking the cans of beer one more time after saying “Taeng”.

The store manager shouted in an excited voice to brighten the mood.

“Well, that’s it. I met my friends for the first time in a long time, but I guess I was depressed all day. The depression that comes from comparing each other’s different heights and lows is something that can’t be helped. You have to overcome that to be a true friend. “After congratulating him on becoming an executive, we had an exciting chat, starting with the Korean beef he had shot.”

“Hanwoo noodles… I definitely shot it.”

For a person living alone in a studio, Korean beef was literally like a magic word. It’s the type of meat that is hard to find. Of course, I’m talking about the expensive one, not the cheap one.

“If you called me to show off, you should shoot me that much.”

“That’s true too.”

“Anyway, what is there to talk about at this age? It’s all about the children. One guy said his son is only in kindergarten, and he gave him an allowance this Parents’ Day. Another guy was so proud that his son was now in the third grade of elementary school, and that he went to the soccer club on the weekend and kicked a ball with him.”

I snorted.

“The store manager wouldn’t have done it either.”

“I did it! Of course, I did! I don’t know how many times I’ve talked about my two daughters, who don’t get any pain when they put it in their eyes. He even showed me the picture and boasted about it. “I don’t know about anything else, but my daughters are the oldest, so everyone is very envious of them.”

“Why?”

“Why! When they turn 20 and grow up, my wife and I can take a breather from then on. “How happy would it be to have a drink with my daughters again?”

Um.

I think it won’t be as easy as having that drink. Besides, it’s not easy to catch your breath just because your daughters are turning 20…

“I’m saying this because I thought about the kids going to college and saved up the money, you idiot.”

“Aha. “You saved more than you thought?”

“Baby. “At this age, if I worked like a dog and couldn’t earn that much, I would have just gone to work in a factory and worked second shifts.”

The store manager, who was secretly boasting about his earnings, said.

“Well, I guess a lot of my friends have sons. So, I hear people are very envious of me for having two daughters… I heard them bragging about their son, so I felt jealous for no reason. If I had a boy, I would have played soccer and baseball with him. Tsk.”

“What if you have one more child right now?”

The store manager jumped at the lightly asked question.

“You crazy bastard! Do you want to kill anyone? Having a child is not that easy. Besides, what guarantee is there that the third child is a son?”

That too.

You would know that I had to get married and have children. It’s definitely different for married people.

“Anyway, while I was thinking about how I wish I had a son, your face just came to mind.”

“Huh?”

I blinked a few times.

“Son? Me?”

“Hey, you bastard! Who would have thought of you as a son? Isn’t that what it is? Can’t you stop making that weird face right now?”

I guess the shock he received when he saw my expression was significant.

The store manager seems to have sobered up already.

“It’s not that I specifically think of you as my son. Then you would actually feel sorry to your father. “I just thought about my son, and your face came to mind.”

I nodded.

“Well, for the past two years, I’ve seen the store manager more often than my dad.”

“Look at that, you bastard.”

Moreover, I got a strange reaction because it was cringy.

The store manager’s words weren’t particularly unpleasant.

I looked at the store manager. Yes, it was a face that I had become as familiar with as my father.

That’s how long I worked here, as a part-time worker at a convenience store.

I did.

[The time has come to make important decisions for the future]

[0/1]

[Reward: 2 million won, stamina +1, stamina +1, strength +1, agility +1, low golf skill]

It seemed like the time had come to end it.

“That store manager…”

“Whoa! By the way, I had that thought while drinking today.”

As I was about to speak, I hesitated and asked with a smile.

“What is it again?”

Okay, let’s talk a little more.

Anyway, nothing will change if we postpone it a little longer.

“After you get a fancy job, you come to buy me a drink.”

I thought it was a good idea to talk a little more. If I hadn’t listened to those words, I would have regretted it.

“Do I have to buy it? “It’s not the store manager who buys it for you?”

“Hey, you shameless bastard.”

“It’s a joke, a joke. “I have to buy it, including the beef.”

The store manager chuckles.

“Hey, I can’t imagine. I can’t imagine. I can’t imagine you coming to see me in a suit, saying you got paid. But, just talking about it makes me feel better.”

I said while looking at the store manager with a happy expression.

“Manager. “I will quit my part-time job.”

“… !”

The store manager seemed to widen his eyes for a moment after hearing what I said.

Soon, he nodded with a more satisfied expression than ever.

He looked more excited than me.

* * *

[The time has come to make important decisions for the future. The quest has been completed.]

[As a reward, you will receive 2 million won, stamina +1, stamina +1, strength +1, agility +1, and low-level golf skills.]

When I returned to the convenience store after seeing off the manager who was staggering home, this message came to mind.

“Goodbye does not mean eternal separation.”

I looked around the convenience store again, humming the song I sang at my high school graduation. These are scenes that are all too familiar.

It has to be that way. I worked here almost as long as I was serving in the military.

Something feels very strange.

I think we’ve really experienced a lot of changes this year. In some ways, quitting this part-time job might have been the biggest change right now.

Because I agreed to work until this week. They say I won’t be going to work here starting next week.

“Wow, I can’t imagine.”

It’s already awkward.

I don’t go to work here on weekday nights.

Fixed income disappears right away. I wasn’t worried about that at all. Because the money received from the quest is still in the account.

I am much richer now than I thought.

Maybe that’s why they paid me money through quests?

… I also thought about it. That can’t be possible!

‘If I quit here, I will really run towards a new beginning in earnest.’

The situation had to be that way. It was a position that should not have been done otherwise.

When I think like that, my heart races with an appropriate mix of fear and anticipation.

Meanwhile.

“Excuse me, Hyunwoo. Are you working hard at work?”

The moment I saw Oh Hanam coming in from the entrance, my heart, which had been beating so vigorously, stopped.

Fuck you.