Chapter 49

The moment I stepped into the small office inside the café with the boss, my fingertips were already cold from nervousness. Why did he call me aside? Did I make a mistake? Or was I about to be told to quit right now? Still, I thought I had worked hard at the café…

Of course, I had made mistakes here and there, but they were understandable. Making drinks for hundreds of customers one by one wasn’t an easy task. It was a job that required my brain to almost go into overdrive to get through without mistakes. I was the only one assigned to make coffee drinks. The other sisters helped out occasionally, but when they did, customer complaints would inevitably come in, and we’d have no choice but to replace the coffee. Apparently, the coffee I made was better or something.

Unknown thoughts swirled in my head. But my worries soon came to an end. The boss, without even glancing at me, pulled something out of a drawer and smiled brightly as he spoke to me.

“Ha-yul, here.”

What was placed in front of me was an envelope. When the boss opened it, inside were two shiny amusement park tickets. I stared at him blankly, not understanding for a moment.

“Ha-yul, these are amusement park tickets. Go have fun with Ha-yeon.”

“Huh?”

“I got these from an acquaintance a while back, but I never had a chance to use them. The expiration date is coming up, and I thought they’d be perfect for you.”

As he said this, the boss firmly placed the two tickets in my hand.

I was so surprised that I awkwardly held the tickets, hesitating.

“Ah, no, Boss! These are too expensive for me to accept…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

The boss waved his hand dismissively.

“It’s for someone I appreciate. Don’t feel burdened and just go enjoy.”

I tried to refuse, but the look in the boss’s eyes was unusual. If I dared to refuse, it felt like he’d shove the tickets into my mouth.

“Thank you, Boss! I’ll make good use of them.”

I shot up from my seat and bowed 90 degrees. The boss chuckled at my reaction and waved his hand.

“Yeah, yeah. Go and have fun without any worries. Since it’s the weekend, it’s perfect, right?”

“Hehe…”

“Since Ha-yul joined, the number of customers visiting our café has increased. You deserve a break.”

“That’s true.”

It was a fact that more people had been coming to the café since I joined. The amount of coffee I made in a day alone probably reached hundreds of cups. Compared to other cafés, we were selling almost 2-3 times more coffee.

This created a positive cycle. The café’s ingredients were quickly used up, and then we’d order fresh ones. While other cafés used older ingredients, ours were always fresh.

This difference was huge. Of course, it was possible because the coffee I made had a special taste.

I bowed to the boss and left the café.

I looked at the tickets in the envelope. The expiration date was less than a month away. There were two tickets, so it was perfect for me and Ha-yeon. Yoo-in-a might feel left out, though.

Still, it was better to go with just Ha-yeon. Yoo-in-a already went out often, after all. The thought of going to the amusement park with just Ha-yeon made me feel happy.

I was so grateful to the boss for this gift. I really made the right choice working at this café. The work was a bit tough, but the boss rewarded us generously, which made it worth it. The boss always surprised me with how considerate he was toward the employees. Whether it was tickets or proper compensation for overtime, he always expressed his gratitude.

They say that to lead people, you need to give them lots of carrots, and that was true. As a worker, with so many carrots being handed out, there was no reason to go to another café. Other cafés would probably just pile on the work without much reward. Our boss was the type to give more carrots than whips.

I hummed happily as I headed home. I wondered what Ha-yeon would say when she saw these amusement park tickets at home. She’d probably make a surprised face and cling to me.

“Heehee…!”

—

When I got home, Ha-yeon was already waiting for me in the room. As I opened the door and walked in, Ha-yeon ran over and hugged me tightly.

“Mom! You’re back!”

Ha-yeon clung to my leg. I patted her head as I spoke.

“Yeah. Ha-yeon, look at this.”

I took the tickets out of the envelope and showed them to Ha-yeon. Her eyes widened and sparkled. She was reading the words on the tickets. It might have been a bit difficult for a kindergarten student, but Ha-yeon was smart, so she’d understand. She always answered more quiz questions correctly than me when we watched quiz shows on TV.

There were even advanced-level questions, and Ha-yeon got them right. I knew she studied hard, but I didn’t realize she was this diligent. As a mother, I shouldn’t show any shortcomings, but it was hard. Ha-yeon always exceeded my expectations.

“Wow! An amusement park? Mom, are we really going?”

Ha-yeon looked at me with a surprised expression. Come to think of it, this was the first time I’d be going to the amusement park with Ha-yeon. For Ha-yeon, this must be an exciting situation. She never explicitly said she wanted to go to the amusement park, but the vibe was there.

“Of course! Let’s go this weekend. Just you and me, Ha-yeon!”

Ha-yeon, with a delighted expression, grabbed me and started spinning around.

“Mom, you’re the best! You’re really the best!”

Seeing her like that made me laugh too. The two tickets brought a small happiness, but seeing Ha-yeon’s bright face made it feel like an even bigger gift. Ha-yeon always smiled brightly when she was with me, but this time, her smile was even bigger.

Of course, I’d heard somewhere that Ha-yeon didn’t smile much and was cold, but that was all a lie. I’d rarely seen Ha-yeon act like that when she was with me. Ha-yeon was such a lively and smiley child—who said she was some cold ice queen? I wanted to show those people Ha-yeon’s current expression.

If they saw Ha-yeon like this, they’d probably take back what they said about her being an ice queen.

I was already excited about the memories we’d make at the amusement park with Ha-yeon. Moments like these were the reason I could keep working hard. I’d create many more memories with Ha-yeon in the future.

“Ha-yeon, let’s have a blast this weekend!”

I didn’t have anything else planned for the weekend anyway. Ha-yeon also had the weekend off from kindergarten, so it was the perfect timing for us to go to the amusement park together. It was a good thing.

“Yeah! I’ll be counting down the days until we go to the amusement park with Mom!”

Seeing Ha-yeon’s bright smile, I felt deeply grateful for this moment. The carrot the boss gave us had brought so much happiness to us, and I’d never forget it.

From the boss’s perspective, it might have just been a gift, but for us, it was an irreplaceable treasure. If the boss hadn’t given us these amusement park tickets, I don’t know when Ha-yeon and I would have gone to the amusement park.

Though, judging by Ha-yeon’s usual behavior, we might have gone someday, but I decided to think of it this way. I picked Ha-yeon up and said,

“Ha-yeon, what do you want to ride at the amusement park?”

Ha-yeon looked at me and said,

“I want to ride the spinning roller coaster and the one that drops from the sky!”

I could only awkwardly smile at Ha-yeon’s words. Ha-yeon’s height was less than 120cm, so she wouldn’t be able to ride the roller coaster or the gyro drop. You needed to be a certain height to ride those, and Ha-yeon’s small stature wouldn’t allow it.

“Uh… really?”

“I’ll hold Mom’s hand tight when I ride!”

I was debating whether to tell Ha-yeon the harsh truth. It felt like I was about to blow out a candle, but I had to tell her.

“Ha… Ha-yeon!”

When I told her the truth, Ha-yeon’s expression turned devastated.

There was no helping it.