By Zephyria The Shop Owner’s face quickly flushed red and then turned blue. He irritably ripped off the work gloves he was wearing and immediately stormed toward Ryu Jeong. He was quite large for his age, so just approaching him felt quite threatening, even without doing anything.
Ryu Jeong flinched, hunching his shoulders at the shadow cast over him. As expected, the Shop Owner was very angry. It wasn’t just the Shop Owner, either. How many people in the world wouldn’t be angry if a part-timer left the store without a word?
“What do you think this place is? Huh? Seriously, you have no shame. Did you even think about coming to work?”
“…Sorry…”
“Is saying sorry all it takes? Ha, damn it. I’m beyond dumbfounded.”
He had nothing else to say but sorry. He bowed his head, trying to beg for forgiveness, but the Shop Owner wouldn’t even let him do that. Ryu Jeong didn’t know what to do and just kept his head down.
“Are you out of your mind? How could you even think of ditching the store? I got a call from the police while I was sleeping. They said the convenience store was wide open with no one inside. What’s going on? Do you think I should be getting calls like that in the middle of the night? What am I supposed to do when the result of trusting you is like this!”
He usually checked the CCTV whenever he had a chance, no matter the time, but it seemed he hadn’t seen it yesterday because he was asleep. Why of all days… He was worried about what might have happened if it had been left unattended until morning, but someone had reported it to the police.
Before he could even feel relieved, another worry followed. But why did they report it? Did someone steal something? Even if he got fired, he just hoped nothing was missing. If he got fired, he could just find a new part-time job, but if something was missing, he would have to pay out of his own pocket.
“There was a whole commotion about a twenty-three-year-old being kidnapped or missing in the middle of the night. Do you know that? Ugh, damn it, I went to your house, and no one was there. Where the hell did you go and now you’re crawling back? How can you shamelessly say hello?”
He was listening meekly because he had nothing to say, but one part of the story made Ryu Jeong feel like he’d been hit in the back of the head. He came to my house.
“C, CEO… You came to my house?”
“Yeah. My knee joints aren’t even good, and your house is so damn far…”
“When? When did you come?”
“…What’s wrong with you?”
Ryu Jeong, who was usually shy and couldn’t even look people in the eye, was now staring straight at him, and even interrupted him. The Shop Owner, flustered, hesitated for a moment. Could he possibly be seeing me as the same as a loan shark? The Shop Owner, suddenly afraid that he might say something ridiculous and report him, cleared his throat and looked away.
“I just went to check if you had collapsed, to check. You were, what was it. You weren’t in good shape back then.”
“W, what time…”
“I couldn’t leave because there was no one to watch the store, so I went a while after the police called. I don’t know, what time was it. Four, five? Why? Don’t tell me you were home and pretended not to be there?”
“Ah… no.”
“Then where the hell did you go?”
The house was practically not soundproof at all, so he was worried that the Shop Owner might have heard everything embarrassing, but he was relieved that he had left quickly. But no sooner had he felt relieved than the Shop Owner glared at him fiercely again and approached.
“Come to think of it, that bastard who carried you out, Hee-cheol said it was that redevelopment guy. Who is that guy to take you away?”
It seemed he had watched the CCTV after the incident. Since there were cameras everywhere, Lee Do-hyeon’s face must have been captured as well. The Shop Owner might not know, but Noh Hee-cheol had met him once and must have recognized him right away and told the Shop Owner. He was worried that if he said the wrong thing, Lee Do-hyeon would get caught in the crossfire.
“Haa, you’re not going to talk?”
The Shop Owner, frustrated by Ryu Jeong’s silence, sighed deeply. He pounded his chest with his fist, saying he was burning up inside. Ryu Jeong flinched at the dull sound and parted his lips. I, that, well… As he stammered without being able to speak properly, the Shop Owner yelled at him to speak clearly.
“Ryu Jeong. If you have a mouth, make an excuse, you idiot. Are you going to keep your mouth shut? Huh? Talk. Huh? Huh?”
Even so, as Ryu Jeong showed no sign of opening his mouth, the Shop Owner nudged Ryu Jeong’s shoulder with his fist. It was more like hitting him than nudging him. The area that was hit repeatedly hurt, and he wanted to cover it with his hand, but Ryu Jeong just suppressed the pain inside.
Then, he finally rummaged around and took out the diagnosis certificate. The paper, which had been stiff when Lee Do-hyeon handed it to him earlier, was crumpled within half a day. Perhaps that was why the Shop Owner’s gaze was not kind as he looked at it. The Shop Owner, frowning as if he had received trash, gestured for him to explain what it was.
“I had to go to the hospital… that person happened to be passing by and helped me…”
“…Hospital?”
The Shop Owner couldn’t hide his bewilderment, perhaps because he hadn’t expected a hospital visit. He probably knew that it wasn’t a lie. Just before the Heat cycle broke out, Ryu Jeong had run into the Shop Owner when even Ryu Jeong thought it was just a cold. Seeing Ryu Jeong in such poor condition, the Shop Owner had asked if he was sick.
Despite the fact that he had told the truth, the Shop Owner couldn’t easily calm his anger. He had gone to the hospital in such a hurry that he didn’t even have time to worry about the store, and it was awkward to get even more angry at someone who was sick. Looking at his pale face, it seemed that going to the hospital was not a lie. In the meantime, his anger continued to rise, and the Shop Owner, unable to find a place to vent, couldn’t control his temper and raised his voice.
“You said you were just a little tired. Ugh, damn it. If you were going to go to the hospital, you should have gone earlier. And that guy who helped you, too. No matter how urgent the situation is, he should have locked the store, or what? Or called. Do you carry your phone around for show?”
The Shop Owner, who had burst out in anger, snatched the diagnosis certificate from Ryu Jeong’s hand. He unfolded it as if he were going to tear it, and quickly scanned the words written on it. It seemed he couldn’t be satisfied until he saw it with his own eyes. But the Shop Owner, frowning even more at the words he couldn’t understand no matter how many times he read them, looked at Ryu Jeong.
“What is this?”
“…”
“Heat cycle?”
Ryu Jeong swallowed hard at the word that finally came out of the Shop Owner’s mouth. The Shop Owner’s face showed bewilderment as he looked at Ryu Jeong.
“Heat cycle… this. This is that thing.”
“…”
“You’re an Omega?”
“…Yes.”
“No, why?”
“That…”
Why? Ryu Jeong’s words were cut off by the question that left him speechless. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the Shop Owner’s reaction. Even if they weren’t in an employer-employee relationship, they had lived in the same neighborhood and seen each other for over 10 years. He naturally thought he was a Beta, so now that he was saying he was an Omega, he must have thought he was talking nonsense.
“I was… originally an Omega. But I have extreme heat… Originally, my Heat cycle wasn’t bad enough to go to the hospital. If I bought medicine from the pharmacy, it didn’t interfere with my part-time job, so… I didn’t think I needed to tell you.”
“Ha, what is this…”
“You might think it’s ridiculous… but I really went to the hospital because of my Heat cycle…”
“Yeah, it says so here.”
“…I’m sorry for not telling you in advance. If… if there’s anything missing, I’ll compensate you.”
Ryu Jeong bowed his head. He meant what he said about compensating him. After all, there had been a commotion because of his absence. If there was any problem caused by him during his working hours, it was right for him to take responsibility for it.
Now that he was faced with the situation, he thought it would be better to compensate him, no matter how much it was, than to be fired. Given the Shop Owner’s personality, it didn’t seem like he would give him a deadline until he found another part-timer to replace him. If he was fired right now, there would be a hole in his income. If he was fired without any countermeasures, it was obvious that he would have a big problem paying off his loan next month.
He thought he would list the items he had to compensate for, thinking he was right, but for some reason, the Shop Owner asked a different question with a serious face.
“Heat or whatever, I don’t know much about that stuff. I can’t understand anything you’re saying. So what are you going to do about it? Does that mean you’ll have to go to the hospital like this in the future, or what?”
“…I probably will. But if I go in advance and take medicine, it won’t interfere with my daily life…”
“Are you sure?”
“…Yes.”
Actually, he wasn’t sure. If it was difficult to endure Heat without suppressants or an Alpha, wouldn’t that mean that if he had one of the two, he could get through it safely? It was just a guess on his part.
He thought he should say that at least, so he paused for a moment and nodded. Then the Shop Owner twisted his chin and bit his lip. He hummed without saying what he was thinking. He wanted to see what kind of expression he was making, but he held his breath and waited for the next words, afraid of what might come out if he made eye contact.
Not long after, the Shop Owner, having finished organizing his thoughts, threw the diagnosis certificate he was holding onto Ryu Jeong’s chest. Ryu Jeong, who received it in a daze, sensed that he wouldn’t hear kind words.
“You better know you’re lucky. If those cop bastards hadn’t patrolled like usual, you would have lost more than a few months’ worth of salary. It’s amazing how they could come yesterday when they don’t even look around normally.”
“…Patrol?”
“Yeah, you idiot. Not a single customer came either. It seems like the electricity bill is higher than the sales. Ugh, damn it…”
Ryu Jeong couldn’t believe the Shop Owner’s words and opened his mouth blankly. There were so many empty houses that the police didn’t patrol well… It wasn’t particularly surprising that no one had come until the police arrived. It was something that always happened.
So what happens now? If there’s nothing to compensate for separately, can I keep working? Other than that, only one question remained: what would happen to me now?
The Shop Owner, who had been angry, clicked his tongue nervously and went back to his seat. He put his arms through the coat he had roughly taken off inside the counter and came back to where Ryu Jeong was standing, glaring at him with a frustrated look.
“I want to fire you right now, but I’m letting you keep working because I don’t have anyone to use right away. Either way, this shitty neighborhood will be redeveloped and the convenience store will be pushed out, so I can’t be bothered to find someone, train them… I can’t do that.”
He was saying it as if he was doing him a favor, but there was another meaning behind it. He was planning to suck all the sweetness out of it until the convenience store was demolished. He knew everything, but he couldn’t pretend to know. He knew that it was like picking a star out of the sky for someone with only a middle school education like him to find a part-time job like this.
“…Yes…”
“If you have any sense, you wouldn’t say anything even if I deducted yesterday’s salary from your paycheck.”
The Shop Owner, distorting his facial muscles maliciously, passed Ryu Jeong as he was and left. His body was pushed back as his shoulder collided strongly, but the Shop Owner didn’t even say sorry. It seemed to be his own way of venting his anger.
“And that guy who took you out. You didn’t give him my phone number, did you?”
The Shop Owner, who was very sensitive about the redevelopment compensation, didn’t forget to ask about Lee Do-hyeon. He had left his business card at home just in case, and he thought it was a good thing he did. When Ryu Jeong nodded slightly, he glared at him, saying he knew it.
“Anyway, do well. I’ll be watching.”
The Shop Owner, who had openly scolded him, turned around and left. Ryu Jeong, worried that he might come back and say he had changed his mind, stared at the other side of the glass door, and only after some time had passed was he able to take his eyes off it. All the strength drained from his body. He weakly bent his knees and squatted down on the floor, relieved that he hadn’t been fired right away, and stroked his chest.
It was a stroke of good luck. He had been scolded quite a bit, but he hadn’t been fired.
He better know he was lucky. The Shop Owner’s words were not wrong. From the moment Lee Do-hyeon appeared in front of him when he was out of his mind because of his Heat cycle, it was the beginning of his luck.