Chapter 3

Drumming her fingers on the counter as she pondered, Yujin returned to the table where Eunwoo waited.  

“You said you really want to work here, right? May I ask why? There are plenty of other convenience stores.”  

Yujin glanced at Eunwoo’s resume on the table.  

It only listed his education, work history, and some basic personal info.  

“I didn’t write it on my resume, but I went to Banho Middle and Banho High.”  

Yujin, who’d been looking down, raised her eyes at the mention of Banho Middle and Banho High.  

“I used to come here often when a grandma ran the store alone. This place holds good memories for me. Is that not enough of a reason for wanting to work here?”  

Feeling the sincerity in his voice, Yujin was momentarily dazed, then smiled and shook her head.  

“No, it’s enough. I also have good memories here, so I took over and ran it myself.”  

“If you hire me, I’ll work hard.”  

There was a subtle but strong sense of pressure in his gentle words.  

Yujin scratched her brow as she looked at Eunwoo, who calmly met her gaze.  

In fact, hiring a part-timer was always a gamble.  

Sometimes someone who seemed reliable would disappear after just one day, while someone hired in desperation would end up working diligently for a long time.  

Since opening the convenience store, Yujin had hired countless part-timers over the past year.  

She probably couldn’t count them all on both hands and feet.  

And with each one came a different experience.  

Some would suddenly ghost her, some would skip shifts, some would ask for advances with obvious lies, some would steal, or report her to the labor office for ‘exploitation’ just because she scolded them…  

Sighing inwardly, Yujin made up her mind.  

‘Well, one more gamble. Who knows, maybe he’ll be a lottery winner.’

“All right, fine. Let’s do it. You got the part-time job.”  

As she candidly accepted, a faint smile appeared on Eunwoo’s lips.  

Seeing his face, Yujin quickly added,  

“But there’s one thing you need to be careful about.”  

“Please tell me.”  

“You know you’re good-looking, right?”  

“…Pardon?”  

For the first time, Eunwoo’s calm face showed a crack, stunned by her sudden words.  

“Do you have a girlfriend? Are you married?”  

“No.”  

Eunwoo answered, not understanding her intent.  

Yujin folded her arms and explained,  

“Your face could cause trouble. Four out of five of our part-timers are girls. Since everyone works different shifts, you’ll run into them a lot…”  

Yujin trailed off, looking at Eunwoo’s face again.  

“If you’re not interested, don’t give anyone hope. The same goes for the customers. Those high school girls who just left were gushing over how handsome you are.”  

Faced with her blunt words, Eunwoo’s mouth fell slightly open.  

He seemed unsure how to respond to such honesty.  

But Yujin didn’t care. It was better to address potential issues up front.  

“I don’t want my peaceful convenience store turning into a battleground for love. You understand?”  

After her unexpected, direct warning, Eunwoo couldn’t help but let out a wry laugh.  

“That’s the most straightforward and unjust compliment I’ve ever received about my looks.”  

“Unjust?”  

Yujin laughed awkwardly at his reply.  

“Yes. I’ve never given hope to anyone I wasn’t interested in. You’ll see.”  

“Oh. Then I’ll watch.”  

Playfully, Yujin made a ‘V’ with her fingers, pointed at her eyes, then at Eunwoo.  

Eunwoo shrugged as if to say, ‘Do as you please.’  

After watching him for a moment, Yujin clapped her hands together.  

“Great. So, when can you start?”  

“I could start today, honestly.”  

Eunwoo’s brisk answer made Yujin raise her eyebrows.  

“We have an opening for the evening shift. Every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 6 PM to midnight. Is that okay?”  

“Yes, that’s fine.”  

Yujin’s eyes sparkled.  

She really liked Eunwoo’s straightforward attitude.  

Maybe this time, hiring a part-timer would be like winning the lottery.  

“All right. Let’s do the employment contract. Ah! By the way, I’m Park Yujin, owner of ‘Alley 25 O’Clock’.”  

Yujin smiled.  

***

‘Alley 25 O’Clock’ opens every day at 6 AM and closes at midnight.  

After locking up, Yujin shook the door once more to check if it was properly locked, then let out a deep, heartfelt sigh.  

“Today was long.”  

She muttered to herself and put her keys in her pants pocket.  

Recently, two part-timers had quit without notice, so Yujin had been juggling running the store, managing supplies, handling paperwork, and organizing inventory—almost as hectic as when she first opened.  

Thanks to Eunwoo applying for the job, she would finally have a bit of breathing room.  

Being busy was good, but being so busy she wore herself out was far from ideal.  

Rubbing her tired eyes, Yujin yawned deeply.  

“Good job today, Yujin.”  

Turning away from the building, Yujin encouraged herself and walked off.  

She rounded the building and trudged up the stairs along the back exterior wall to the rooftop.  

On the roof, there was a rooftop room occupying about half the building’s area and a spacious wooden platform—this was Yujin’s home.  

Unlocking the digital door lock, Yujin stepped inside and turned on the lights.  

Past the shoe cabinet was a three-pyeong living room and kitchen, and through the half-open sliding door was the bedroom.  

Yujin went straight to the bedroom, sat down heavily beside the bed, and rested her head, groaning.  

“Ouch, my whole body aches.”  

Living and working in the same building was convenient, but since she never knew when a shift might fall through, she was on standby for up to sixteen hours a day, and the stress and fatigue were indescribable.  

Still, Yujin truly enjoyed her work and wanted to do it well.  

Of course, her dream hadn’t always been to own a convenience store.  

But last year, when the owner grandma of ‘Alley 25 O’Clock,’ famous for her swearing, passed away and the store was about to be sold, Yujin heard the news from her mother, Kim Bangsook.  

At the time, Yujin was once again unemployed and treated like an ugly duckling at home, mourning the death of the grandma she’d known for years as a neighbor.  

‘Should I try running it?’

Back then, everything seemed to fall into place.  

For Yujin, who had lived in Banho-dong all her life, ‘Alley 25 O’Clock’ was a place full of precious memories.  

She felt a real sense of loss at the thought it might disappear.  

As she grew older, she thought she should settle down rather than keep jumping from one contract job to another.

Of course, she had never underestimated that running her own business would be as carefree or free as it appeared from the outside, just because she became her own boss.  

Still, she wanted to try it at least once.  

Once the thought took root, it grew uncontrollably in her heart, and when she saw the ‘For Lease’ sign posted outside the store, that was the final push.  

Despite her parents’ doubts and opposition, Yujin poured all her savings into buying out the old, run-down store in this aging building, taking on every last bit of debt.  

Not only that, but she also signed a contract for the tailor shop next door, whose lease had just ended, and reopened the store as a café-style convenience store.  

She tore out the old interior, chose all the fixtures herself, and secured suppliers—she enjoyed every moment and even felt a sense of accomplishment.  

She had been struggling alone for a year now.  

Thanks to the familiar store name and Yujin’s steady efforts, sales were pretty decent.  

But no matter how much fun or fulfillment she felt, she wasn’t made of iron; there were bound to be times when she felt exhausted.  

Yujin, her face blank, stared at the pale fluorescent lights, then suddenly clasped her hands together and squeezed her eyes shut as if in prayer.  

Eunwoo’s tall figure flashed through her mind.  

If she kept covering for missing part-timers, she’d collapse from overwork before she could pay off the bank loan!  

‘Please, let this part-time hire be a success! Let me live a little!’

Yujin desperately prayed to every god in the world.