“Asha…”
Moved by emotion, Hyejin took a step closer to Asha.
Asha immediately pulled back and hopped up onto the counter.
Thanks to that, Hyejin’s swelling feelings shattered with a crash.
Feeling awkward for no reason, Hyejin scratched her head and carefully stood up from her seat.
“Am I not allowed to meet that boss of yours?”
When Hyejin asked with obvious curiosity, Asha replied.
“The boss is a very busy person. I’m just the boss’s proxy — no, the proxy cat.”
“Then how did you get to know the boss?”
Hyejin asked cautiously.
Asha opened her mouth as if about to say something, but in the end, she gave no answer.
She merely turned her head away and pretended not to hear.
In the end, Hyejin smiled faintly and gently stroked Asha’s head.
“Make sure you tell me someday. As the manager, I’m really curious. And originally, we’re the kind of relationship where I should know, right?”
But Asha could no longer tell Hyejin the truth.
That the boss was herself.
That she could actually take on a human form.
Asha did not want to reveal that now.
After all, Hyejin was someone she would part ways with once the one year of managing the convenience store came to an end.
There was neither reason nor need to spend time explaining the truth.
Looking at Hyejin, Asha finally spoke.
“Cha Hyejin. Your job is to grow the convenience store. You don’t need to worry about anything else.”
With that, she walked out of the convenience store.
“That’s so mean.”
It wasn’t wrong, but Asha’s tone felt strangely cold, and Hyejin bit her lip tightly.
At that moment — as if to say there was no time to mope — three workers in work clothes forcefully pushed open the convenience store door and walked in, speaking in rough voices.
“We’re here to install the sign.”
Hyejin flinched in surprise, then quickly broke into a bright smile and approached them.
“Hello. I’ve been waiting for you. I bought a blue fixed awning sign from the Manager-Exclusive Shop — could we go over the design together?”
She had already seen the design in the Manager-Exclusive Shop, but a sign was not something you could just hang carelessly, so it needed to be checked thoroughly again.
Moreover, since this place was inside a dungeon, the surroundings of the convenience store were dark.
If they installed a blue fixed awning sign on the white marble building, it would stand out, but the exterior would still be dark overall.
After a brief moment of thought, Hyejin spoke to the workers.
“I think it would be nice to add lighting inside the fixed awning sign. Rather than bright white light, a soft beige light would be better. Would that be possible?”
“Hmm, you can’t normally install lighting inside a fixed awning sign. But if we put a small letter sign on the outside of the awning — around the store name — there wouldn’t be any need to put lighting inside, right?”
As one worker answered, the older workers nodded and chimed in.
“That’s right. That’s an option. As long as it’s not too heavy, we can split the letters and install them one by one.”
“When we came in earlier, we noticed that without the interior lights on, you wouldn’t even know this place was a convenience store. Something simple but eye-catching would suit this place.”
As the workers briefly discussed among themselves, Hyejin nodded repeatedly.
“Yes, exactly. But I want it to feel a little different from a regular convenience store sign. It is a convenience store, but it’s a special one that exists inside a dungeon. I want to make it feel like a comfortable resting place.”
One of the workers listening to her nodded, then burst into laughter.
“Hahaha, the young manager is impressive. I like that you have ambition. Honestly, the hardest thing about this job is hearing requests like ‘simple but flashy,’ or ‘unique but modern.’ Since signs are a form of design, it can’t be helped. Anyway, if you tell us the store name, we’ll think a bit more about how best to install it.”
“Thank you for accommodating such a difficult request!”
After expressing her gratitude, Hyejin suddenly remembered the system’s message.
If a new sign is installed, on-site service fees, meal expenses, and various charges will be incurred. Please take note.
On-site service fees, meal expenses, and various charges…
“Um, how much should I prepare for the on-site service fee and meal expenses?”
“The service fee is 300,000 gold since there are three of us, and 100,000 gold for meals will be more than enough. You’ve already paid for the sign itself, and if there are any additional materials needed, you can cover that cost. Like we said, we’ll be adding a small letter sign outside the fixed awning, so that’ll be an additional 500,000 gold. All together, 900,000 gold should do it.”
900,000 gold.
It was almost a million gold.
She was a little startled by the price, but it couldn’t be helped.
She didn’t want to be the manager of a convenience store that looked like a haunted house.
“Okay. I understand. How long will it take?”
“At most, about 2 hours. We may not look it, but we’re A-rank hunters. Non-combat types, though. Hahaha.”
The work time was shorter than she expected.
She had thought it would take at least 4 hours, but hearing that it would be done in 2 was a relief.
As soon as they finished speaking, the workers began their work.
As Hyejin watched them and headed toward the drink refrigerator to offer them something to drink, Eunwoo and Seojun — who had been watching from inside the store — spoke to her.
“I’m already looking forward to how it’ll change.”
Eunwoo said with a smile.
“The exterior of the store will look much fresher.”
Suho also looked excited.
“Yeah. To be honest, I wasn’t satisfied with it.”
“That’s great. I was thinking of doing something for you to thank you for the sundae skewers, but looks like the sign takes care of that.”
As Eunwoo spoke, a yawn slipped out of his mouth.
Yawn.
“Wow, I’m really sleepy now.”
“Eunwoo, no matter how I think about it, staying for dinner too would be too much. You should head back and rest.”
“I wasn’t planning to leave, but even if I’m SS-rank, my body still gets tired.”
“It’d be strange if you weren’t tired. You’ve basically been working all day. Go rest, quickly.”
“You’re not going to kick me out when I come back, right?”
“Of course not. But if you don’t leave now, I really will kick you out.”
“Okay, okay. Then I’ll head out.”
After taking off his staff vest, Eunwoo greeted Suho and Seojun.
Then he turned to Hyejin.
“Even if you miss me, just hold back a little. I’ll be back to work hard again.”
“I-I don’t think there’s anything to miss…”
At Hyejin’s words, he laughed as if it were a joke and replied as he left the store.
“You never know.”
His joke left her feeling exasperated, but at the same time, she realized she was already very comfortable around him.
Almost like a cute younger brother.
“Alright, the draft seems complete now, so we’ll start the work, Manager.”
“Oh, yes! Please take good care of it!”
With the worker’s voice, the exterior sign construction finally began.
While the sign installation was underway, Hyejin decided to take care of her next task.
Clearing the weeds.
It would be a bit noisy, but once the grass was cut, it would stay tidy for at least a few days.
As Hyejin reached for the weed trimmer, Suho hurriedly spoke to her from behind the counter.
“You could get hurt. I’ll handle the weed trimming.”
But instead of handing it over, Hyejin smiled brightly and replied.
“You probably don’t know this, but I’m good at cutting grass. And this size is something I can handle. I used to take turns with my father cutting the grass at my grandparents’ graves.”
She recalled the past.
On scorching summer days, she would go to the graves and cut down the unevenly grown weeds.
Whenever there were part-time jobs maintaining graves, she would apply without hesitation.
Her friends had said it was dangerous work for a woman, but when it came to earning money, there was no such thing as men’s work and women’s work.
When things were urgent, you did whatever you had to.
“Still, it’s dangerous.”
“This is something I can do. I’ll handle it today, and starting tomorrow, you can take over, Suho.”
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