Chapter 20 – Episode 20 – Proposal (6)

When the sun went down, I finished training.

Perhaps it was because of the overuse of the payroll law, sweat was flowing and my whole body was throbbing.

As I struggled, Kim Ji-hye snapped her fingers and threw a towel over my face.

“Wipe it.”

Even though he looks blunt, he is a kind person at heart.

After I nodded to say thank you, Kim Ji-hye walked over to me and put on her necklace.

“Your body is overflowing with yang energy. Why do you think you are suffering so much right now?”

“…Why is that?”

“It’s because you’re pouring water into the broken dock.”

“Ah.”

Adjustment of output, perhaps pointing out my inability to control the pay rate.

Kim Ji-hye silently looked at me and clicked her tongue.

“It’s hard for a guy who can’t even control the output to convert.”

“…Yes?”

“No, Tara. I’ll buy you some food.”

After Kim Ji-hye turns her steps to her chic, she walks to a black van.

Kim Cha-ryeok ran to ask Ji-hye Kim if she had just heard our conversation.

“Could it be protein! Can it be meat?!”

“Okay, pick whatever you want to eat. Don’t mind the money.”

“Hmm! Unexpectedly, you’re a woman with a big chest!”

I wiped my sweat and watched the sun go down.

After watching for a moment the clouds touching the horizon, I followed Kim Cha-ryeok and Kim Ji-hye.

* *

After getting a meal from Kim Ji-hye, I returned home and immediately took a shower.

After taking a shower, the first thing I did was contact Miho.

“Yes, Han Jun-ah!”

After two beeps, Miho received my call as if he had waited.

“Uh, Miho. I just finished training and came home.”

Shaking off his still-dry hair, he answered Miho.

Miho worried about me with a kind voice.

“It’s okay, aren’t you hurt?”

The image of Miho worrying about me, with his ears pricked up, came to mind.

“No, thank you for your concern.”

Hehe… I’m glad.”

Hearing his voice brought a happy smile.

After that, Miho and I had many simple conversations.

Even though it wasn’t a big deal, both Miho and I burst into laughter.

Is this happiness?

I sat down on the sofa with a proud heart, feeling a part of my heart warming up.

“Ah, by the way, Jun-ah… Do you remember what we said yesterday?”

“Yes…?”

Meanwhile, Miho suddenly asked me a question.

What am I talking about, let’s ask the question again.

Suddenly, Miho was taken aback and spoke to me.

“Ah… No! You know, when we had a video call yesterday… I said something…”

Miho seemed to be talking about a conversation I had on the phone yesterday when I lost my memory.

I straightened up and sat down and asked Miho seriously.

“… By any chance, did I make a mistake?”

Miho must have sensed a change in my tone, and she began to speak more flustered.

“It’s absolutely not like that! Yes… Han Jun-ah, you didn’t do anything wrong. I just wanted to remember…”

“Sorry, I can’t remember.”

Fortunately, it seemed that he hadn’t made any major mistakes.

But when he apologized just in case, Miho quietly brought out his words.

“Really? But Han Jun-ah… I made a promise back then… Will you keep it?”

“Promise?”

I blankly recalled the memories of yesterday.

However, no matter how hard he tried to think of it, it was impossible to find the promise in the memory where the film was cut off.

“What promise did you make?”

“Uh… Um…? Various things? From small things… Various…?!”

Miho’s voice rises.

I listened silently and nodded my head.

“Okay, I’ll protect you.”

“… Jeong… Really?”

“Yes.”

To begin with, Miho is cute and kind.

Whatever Miho asked me for, it was clear that he wouldn’t be asking too much.

And no matter how drunk you are, a promise is a promise.

“Heh..Hehe… Really, Jun-ah Han. Did I record it?”

Although Miho’s wide smile made me a little uneasy, I once again expressed my will to accept.

After that, as before, the trivial conversation continued.

I don’t know if it’s because I accepted the promise, but Miho responded to my words with a more charming voice than usual.

After talking on the phone for about 30 minutes, we ended the call.

“… Well, nothing special, right?”

Shrugging his shoulders, he lay down on the sofa.

Perhaps I was tired from overdoing sorcery all day today, and a sense of drowsiness came over me.

“Well…”

The moment I tried to close my eyes feeling a pleasant sensation as if I was about to fall asleep.

I realized that there was something I was forgetting.

“… What?”

Obviously forgot something

As I was groaning at this subtle sensation that seemed to capture the clues of my memories, the answer suddenly came to my mind.

“Ah…!”

For two days, something so big hit me that I forgot.

That I’m going to be enrolled in “Spells and Demons Academy” Next Friday.

Because of that, I can no longer go out to the morning part-time job at a cafe.

“It’s a big deal.”

I should have talked to the store manager at least yesterday.

To find a morning part-time job to replace me with less than a week left…

I had to tell the store manager about this as soon as possible.

I picked up my phone and looked for the manager’s number.

At first, I grunted and wrote a text message saying I was sorry.

Recalling the memories I had with the manager, I felt too sorry to convey something through text.

When I went to Seoul and it was difficult.

It was the store manager who did a favor for nothing in return.

When the monthly rent was insufficient, he willingly paid the next month’s part-time job in advance.

When I worked at a cafe all day during vacation, it was the store manager who always bought me food.

Not only that, the first time I just pushed others away.

The store manager smiled warmly and cared for me.

“……”

I stared at the clock blankly.

10 o’clock in the evening.

Deciding that it wasn’t time to sleep yet, I took a deep breath and called the manager.

Tururu- tururu-

The beep lasts for a long time.

I waited silently for a connection, but it seemed that he was doing something else.

I gave up and was about to hang up when I heard the manager’s voice over the phone.

“H… Hello?”

The gentle manager’s unique voice.

“Yes, manager. I am Han Jun.”

I gulped and tried to say sorry slowly.

The store manager over the receiver immediately spit out what I was about to say to me.

“Ah… Oh my God! Mr. Han… Ah, I’m sorry! What should I do with this…”

“Yes Yes?”

What do I mean?

The store manager spoke to me in a voice that didn’t know what to do.

“Ah… What should I do… What should I do…? Ah… Mr. Han Jun, that’s what I mean. I’m quitting the cafe from next Monday… Something urgent came up suddenly… What should I do….”

The store manager, who has always been relaxed, is perplexed.

“Hanjun, if you can’t work part-time in the morning, you’re tight. Ah… I’ll just give you a few months’ part-time job… So… So.”

“Manager, please calm down.”

I don’t know what it is, but I hurriedly calmed the manager down.

“Now… Take a slow, deep breath…”

“Yes…”

At my words, the store manager slowly inhaled and exhaled.

When I seemed to have calmed down to some extent, I spoke to the store manager.

“That… Actually, manager, I have an urgent matter next week. I was contacting you because I thought I would quit my job.”

“Yes… Yes…?”

The store manager asked me back in a puzzled tone.

So I slowly started explaining my situation to the boss.

Of course, it is adapted to say that it goes overseas, not ‘the world beyond’.

* *

“Ah… I see… My parents were abroad, and I’m glad I finally got in touch with them… Really.”

The store manager breathes a sigh of relief.

After returning to my usual soft voice, I asked the manager a question.

“Manager, but why are you suddenly closing the cafe next Monday?”

“Ah, that’s what… Han Jun, you said I lived abroad, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

During vacation, I once asked the store manager where he was from.

The natural ash gray hair and vermilion eyes made it possible to guess that the store manager was from overseas.

Not just the appearance… But looking at the two big breasts, it was clear that the manager was from overseas.

However, the manager did not give a definite answer to my question, and just smiled and said that he was from ‘overseas’.

As I recalled the memory of that time, the store manager gave me an additional explanation.

“That’s because I was in charge of a pretty important job… I had someone else to take my place, so I moved to this place. But suddenly, he was devastated, so I took the position again.”

“Oh, I see.”

It reminded me of the old store manager reading a certain book.

It was a book full of shapes and geometric patterns, but the store manager casually flipped through the seemingly difficult book.

Thinking that it might be their business, I spoke to the store manager.

“Manager, are you leaving right away next Monday?”

“Ah yes.”

“… I feel like I didn’t even say hello, it’s a pity.”

Café Yuu is only open on weekdays.

And he said that the manager said he would be leaving right next Monday, so it seemed like he wouldn’t have time to say hello.

The store manager listened to me quietly and then told me.

“Then, Mr. Hanjun, can you stop by at the time you usually work part-time on Monday mornings? It’s enough time to say goodbye to Mr. Hanjun one last time.”

“Ah, that’s good. Then I’ll stop by then.”

“Yes… I’m sorry, really. I owed a lot to Mr. Han Jun…”

“What, I owe a lot.”

“No, I really owe a lot… I owe Han Jun-ssi…”

The store manager over the phone suddenly fell silent.

“Manager…?”

After I called the store manager, the store manager slowly answered me.

“Then, Mr. Hanjun. See you then, because I’m so busy right now… Let’s talk about the back then…”

The manager puts the phone down.

Along with a popping sound, a sound came from far away.

“Hey…! Stop smoking…!”

I guess I was mistaken for hanging up the phone.

I hit the end call button and let out a sigh of relief.

“… It won’t be anymore.”

Now, it seems that the preparations for going to the world beyond ‘over there’ are over.

All remaining relationships in this world have been sorted out.

In the first place, even if you say tidying up, there is only a human relationship between Kim Cha-ryeok and the manager.

I slowly thought of the world beyond, and fell asleep on the couch.

* *

The next day, Sunday.

Called by Kim Ji-hye again today, I fired the wage rate without fail.

Like yesterday, I spat out magic until dusk, and sat down on the floor, gasping for breath.

“Take it.”

Jihye Kim snapped her fingers, and she passed her towel to me mid-air.

“Oh, thank you.”

As I was wiping my sweat, Kim Ji-hye came up to me with her broken necklace.

“Kang Han-jun.”

“Yes…?”

Jihye Kim whispered as she wrapped around my necklace.

“I told you, you have to steal the virgins of the female monsters to suppress your yang.”

I nodded quietly.

“That’s it, so just accept it.”

Kim Ji-hye wrapped my necklace around her neck, then she turned her back and walked away.

“…?”

At the incomprehensible sound, let’s stare at Kim Ji-hye’s back.

Kim Ji-hye flicked her hand as if to tell her to come.

“I’ll buy you some food, so come with me.”

“Hmm…! Protein!”

Kim Cha-ryeok chases after Kim Ji-hye.

Kim Cha-ryeok’s bald head, smiling brightly and reflecting the setting sun.

Seeing that, I burst into laughter without even realizing the meaning of the meaningful words Kim Ji-hye just gave me.

Neck necklace.

Not knowing that the other side was slightly torn, I walked towards Kim Cha-reeok and the black Ben.