Chapter 24

I walked into the movie theater, grinning ear to ear as I checked my phone.

About 1 million won had been deposited into my account.

Just looking at it made me feel full.

“In-ho, tell me what you want to eat. Today’s on me.”

“Don’t you only work three days a week? You’re not making much, right?”

“You know how it is, In-ho. That game’s doing well.”

Word of mouth had spread about *Excel Busters*, and now it was on the rise. At nearly 20,000 won per game, it was bringing in a pretty decent chunk of change.

Starting next month, I could buy whatever I wanted without worrying.

“Well, if you insist… How about some samgyeopsal?”

“Meat sounds good.”

I wanted to treat Bunny Run too, but today wasn’t her workday.

How long is Bunny Run gonna keep doing part-time jobs anyway?

It’s wild that she’s making tens of millions from streaming but still picks up part-time work.

“Just the two of us eating?”

“We can invite others if you want.”

“Others? Uh, well…”

Just as Kim In-ho hesitated at my words, a guy walked into the staff room and spoke up.

“Mind if we join too?”

The guy talking to us was Lee Jin-seop, someone trusted by the other part-timers.

When I nodded without hesitation, Jin-seop added,

“Sorry if we’re crashing. How many mouths are we feeding now?”

“It’s fine.”

“How about this? I’ll cover the meal, and Yoorim can buy coffee.”

I thought, *Really?* but agreed anyway.

No need to turn down free stuff.

So after our shift ended that night, we all gathered at a barbecue place.

“You’re a game developer?”

“Yeah. In-ho’s a game developer too.”

“…I haven’t finished a game yet, though.”

People kept drinking soju. I hate soju, so I declined. If it were plum-flavored highball, that’d be a different story, but I didn’t feel like drinking diluted soju.

“Hey, you guys want to smoke?”

“Sure, hyung.”

When Jin-seop led the group outside, only me, Kim In-ho, and a girl named Son Ye-ji were left at the table.

An awkward silence hung in the air. Kim In-ho and Son Ye-ji were the reason.

Kim In-ho seemed uncomfortable around Son Ye-ji, like how he was when he first met me.

Maybe he hated the awkward vibe too, because he quickly spoke up.

“Noona, are you close with Jin-seop hyung?”

“No? We just talk about work stuff sometimes.”

“Yeah, that guy’s the type to be generous even if you’re not close.”

From what I knew, Jin-seop was loaded.

Not that his birth parents were rich. He was adopted to Spain as a kid, and his adoptive parents were insanely wealthy or something.

Rumor has it their assets are over 100 billion won, but I didn’t know the details. Just stuff I overheard in the staff room.

“He’s just doing part-time for fun while sorting out his military service.”

“I see.”

I wasn’t too interested, so I wrapped some meat and rice in lettuce and ate it.

Then Son Ye-ji, who’d been quiet until now, chimed in.

“I heard Jin-seop oppa even lent money to the manager.”

“To the manager?”

Most movie theaters are corporate-owned, but where I worked was different. It was one of the rare franchise theaters.

Kim In-ho looked shocked.

“To the manager? How much?”

“Probably a few thousand? Running a theater isn’t cheap.”

“Wait, the manager borrowed from a part-timer?”

“Exactly.”

This place’s marinated sauce is top-notch.

I’d buy it if they sold it separately.

“Jin-seop oppa’s had it rough, you know. His older sister died in an accident when he was young, and his mom’s maternal hormones got messed up, so he was adopted. He said he doesn’t feel like their child, more like a stranger.”

“I heard that too.”

The meat quality’s great too. This place should go franchise. Or not? Maybe it wouldn’t taste the same.

“You know what else?”

Son Ye-ji whispered. Kim In-ho also lowered his voice to reply.

“What?”

“Jin-seop oppa gave his biological brother 10 million won as a reunion gift, but his parents found out and are blackmailing him. They’re threatening to put him back on their family register if he doesn’t give them 100 million. It’s messing with his military service, and he’s stressed.”

“What kind of trash—”

“Hold on.”

I finished chewing my meat and spoke up.

With all eyes on me, I said,

“Lee Jin-seop seems like a scammer.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I didn’t like his face from the start.”

“That’s your reason?”

“One of them.”

I washed my mouth out with cola.

The real reason was something else, though.

“People who’ve been through that much hardship don’t go around talking about their misery. They only share the bright stuff. Just thinking about it makes it hard to breathe, so they don’t have the energy to talk about it.”

“But why would Jin-seop hyung lie? He buys us meals all the time, even paid for a whole Jeju trip. He’s definitely loaded.”

“Hmm.”

I twirled my bangs like a high schooler who loves saving energy.

The circumstances of the case were becoming clear!

“Did you lend money to Jin-seop?”

“Huh? No. Why would I lend money to Jin-seop hyung?”

“What about Ye-ji?”

At my words, Shin Ye-ji shut her mouth.

Seeing her face turn pale, my guess must have been right.

“All the money Jin-seop spent on food and travel so far was probably borrowed from part-timers, right? Ask around discreetly. I bet quite a few people lent him money. Even the story about borrowing money from the manager is a lie.”

“He was really good at Spanish, though…?”

“Probably majored in Spanish. Scammers need to be smart too, huh?”

I calmly spoke while placing samgyeopsal on the grill.

From the entrance of the store, I heard the voices of Jin-seop and other men.

I whispered softly.

“If he goes into hiding, we won’t get our money back. We need to be careful, right?”

*

I wanted to go home, but I couldn’t.

Because the part-timers, excluding Jin-seop, dragged me to a cocktail bar by force.

“No way. You didn’t notice? Everyone lent him a few hundred bucks each?”

“Perception is scary. Once you thought he was a ‘gold spoon,’ you didn’t suspect him at all.”

“Looking back, it was weird that he only paid in cash, claiming he didn’t have a card because of his Spanish nationality.”

The part-timers were shocked.

Jin-seop had borrowed money from everyone except me and In-ho.

I put down my cocktail glass and said.

“It’s a tactic of building trust and then making a big score at the end. He probably would’ve borrowed around 50 million won and then disappeared.”

“50 million won? We don’t have that kind of money.”

“If he said he was desperate and promised to pay back double next month, wouldn’t you take out a loan to lend it to him? Or…”

I stared straight at In-ho.

In-ho let out a hollow laugh.

“No wonder he’s been so nice to me lately.”

In-ho has a clear goal: game development.

Since he can’t do everything alone, he needs to outsource, which is why he’s been working part-time since school and saving up a lot of money.

About 50 million won.

That must’ve looked delicious to Jin-seop.

“I called the manager, and he said he’d never borrow money from part-timers. What do we do with this jerk?”

“We need to call the police and catch him on the spot. Like I said, if he goes into hiding, it’ll be a headache.”

The part-timers all groaned, clutching their heads. The food they’d been happily eating was actually bought with their own money. It was hard to believe.

I took a bite of food and widened my eyes.

“This sandwich is delicious. Is this what they call a katsu sandwich?”

“…If it weren’t for you, noona, I would’ve been in big trouble too. If that jerk had promised to pay back 100 million next month, I probably would’ve given it to him without thinking.”

“It’s because you all haven’t been working hard on game development. If you had, you wouldn’t have had any money to lend.”

At my words, In-ho hesitated.

Why is he like this?

I was curious, but I didn’t push him. I’m the type to sit far away when I see introverted people.

The part-timers started getting up one by one. Probably going out for a smoke.

With just the two of us left, In-ho finally spoke cautiously.

“Hey, noona.”

“Go ahead.”

“You remember how I said I’d tell you when I made a game?”

“I want to try it first.”

“Well… it’s not fully completed yet? I haven’t finished outsourcing?”

Wait, did he say ‘not fully’ instead of ‘not at all’?

“So it’s almost done?”

“Mostly. There are still some rough parts, but it’s playable. So I want to do a final test…”

In-ho’s voice trailed off. He must be embarrassed to ask someone to play an unfinished game.

It’s understandable, but getting feedback from a third party before completion is crucial. That’s how you fix mistakes. Once it’s released, you can’t fix it anymore.

“Got it.”

“Thank you!”

At my words, In-ho bowed his head.

I smiled and said.

“Then I’ll just come to your place tomorrow, right?”

“…Huh?”

Well then, let’s check out our aspiring developer’s work.