Chapter 6

Seong Mi-rae, who runs Happy Coffee Café, checked this month’s café sales.

“Hmm hmm~”

She was in such a good mood that she could hum. This month, sales seemed to be doing well for some reason. She knew that many people were using her café. That’s because she worked at the café alongside her part-time workers.

Rather than spending money to hire one part-time worker, it was better for her to step in and do the café work herself. Every bit of labor cost was precious. By not hiring part-timers and doing the work herself as the boss, she could save nearly 3 million won in labor costs per month.

Of course, since her café wasn’t a small one, she couldn’t do it all alone and had to hire part-timers. Including the new part-timer, she now had a total of three part-time workers.

Seong Mi-rae immediately noticed that the new part-timer was a rare gem.

[Um… hello.]

She seemed lacking in confidence and looked young, but that didn’t matter. Her looks were top-tier among ordinary people. To exaggerate a bit, she could probably even place in a Miss Korea pageant. There was no way Seong Mi-rae would let go of a part-timer with such looks. She breezed through the interview. In her mind, the approval stamp had already been slammed down.

In a café, a part-timer with pretty looks could play a huge role. Just like opening a shop in a good location, it had the effect of attracting many customers.

Everyone acknowledged the effect of a pretty girl in the service industry. It had the magical effect of making customers who wouldn’t normally come, come in, and turning regular customers into loyal ones.

That’s why she hired her even with the condition of working only 6 hours on weekdays and taking weekends off. Her name was pretty too—Kim Ha-yul. And surprisingly, she heard Ha-yul had a daughter in kindergarten. Did she play with fire when she was young?

Well, it didn’t matter. A part-timer’s past wasn’t important like a celebrity’s; all that mattered was the present. She didn’t seem like the type to cause trouble either. In fact, there was a good side to it. Since she had a child, there was hope she’d work part-time for a long time.

Why do parents with children endure tough jobs and keep going to work? It’s because they think of their cute and lovely kids, and that’s how they endure and persevere.

“Oh…”

As expected, sales had increased by almost 50% compared to last month. This level of effect was enough to justify hiring Ha-yul. She knew that from the morning when Ha-yul started work until 3 PM, customers poured in like water.

When Ha-yul left work, even if female customers stayed, the footsteps of male customers noticeably disappeared. And that was despite Seong Mi-rae herself and the other part-timers, Chae So-young and Yoo A-rin, not being lacking in looks either.

‘Should I try filming a YouTube video?’

It was time to diversify the business. Filming café vlogs centered around Ha-yul working at the café seemed like it could gain quite a bit of popularity. Of course, she’d need Ha-yul’s permission.

Seong Mi-rae smiled slyly under the light, lost in happy thoughts.

—

“Mom!”

“Yes?”

“Hug me!”

“Okay~”

I hugged Ha-yeon. Ha-yeon was so cute and lovable. Even though she wasn’t my biological child, I could understand why people say life changes when you raise a baby.

It felt like a main quest had been added. The kind of quest you could never complete if you lived alone.

Bzzz—

Then, my phone alarm went off. Since Ha-yeon was watching TV, I carefully moved my hand so as not to disturb her.

“Ah…”

My salary had come in. And the boss had sent a KakaoTalk message too.

[I added a bonus for you, Ha-yul ^^]

I worked 6 hours a day at 10,000 won per hour. After deducting pensions and taxes, I normally earned around 1 million won. But the boss added an extra 200,000 won. I sent a message of thanks to the boss.

[Thank you, boss!]

I still had some savings, but earning extra through part-time work wasn’t bad either. And staying home doing nothing wouldn’t get me anywhere. I was now an adult, so working was natural. Plus, it was possible because Ha-yeon was in kindergarten.

If Ha-yeon hadn’t been old enough for kindergarten, I wouldn’t have worked part-time and would’ve stayed home to take care of her. That was the natural thing to do. Leaving a young child alone at home wasn’t an option.

Anyway, now that the money had come in, I looked at Ha-yeon and said,

“Ha-yeon, mom’s salary came in. Should we get chicken?”

“Really? Yes!”

Seeing Ha-yeon so happy, earning money really was the best. There are many sad things when you don’t have money, but there aren’t many sad things when you have too much. I opened my phone app. The delivery app.

“Uh, uh…”

Seeing so many icons made me dizzy for a moment. Then Ha-yeon clung to my side. She skillfully navigated the app with her fingers.

“Wow, Ha-yeon! You’re so good at this!”

“Mom! This is basic for Ha-yeon!”

Ha-yeon seemed better than me. The only thing I had over her was age. I worried I might become a burden to her later. Even now, I felt like an obstacle in front of Ha-yeon. If she grew up more, my existence might become a shackle.

Of course, I planned to live my best to avoid that. Even now, I did everything Ha-yeon liked.

—

Ha-yeon busily fiddled with mom’s phone. The delivery app was already installed, so all she had to do was place the order. Ordering wasn’t too hard for Ha-yeon, a kindergarten student. Ha-yeon knew she was more mature than other kids.

She successfully ordered a delicious whole chicken.

“Ha-yeon, you’re the best!”

At Ha-yul’s praise, Ha-yeon’s mouth stretched into a wide grin. Mom’s praise always made Ha-yeon feel good. Seeing that mom had gone to the restroom for a bit, Ha-yeon picked up mom’s phone. She quickly scrolled through it before mom came out.

She was checking if there were any flies buzzing around mom. Mom was Ha-yeon’s alone. She couldn’t share her with anyone. After quickly scanning mom’s phone, Ha-yeon sighed in relief. Mom didn’t have anyone else she was contacting.

The contacts only had the numbers of the café staff. No other numbers existed. She felt relieved.

“Ha-yeon~”

Mom came out of the restroom and hugged Ha-yeon tightly, seemingly in a good mood. Ha-yeon didn’t mind being in mom’s arms. In fact, the softness of her chest made it feel even better.

Ha-yeon thought she had to take care of mom. Sometimes mom would leave her wallet on the table and search the floor for it, or when eating saucy food, she’d get it all around her mouth like a child. There were times mom acted like a kid.

Of course, that side of mom wasn’t bad either.

Ding-dong—

While thinking that, the chicken delivery arrived. Mom got up to get the chicken but tripped and fell.

“Mom, are you okay!?”

“Yeah, Ha-yeon, mom’s fine! I just tripped for a second.”

Ha-yeon sighed inwardly seeing mom like that. She wanted to stay by mom’s side forever, but sadly, due to life’s circumstances, that wasn’t possible.

Ha-yeon wished time would pass quickly. Once she became a middle schooler, she felt she could take care of mom. Her current age was too young. Maybe that’s why mom still treated her like a child.

Others might think it’s natural to treat her like a kid since she was one, but Ha-yeon thought differently.

“Hehe!”

Mom laughed happily and brought the chicken box to the table.

“Ha-yeon, let’s split one drumstick for you and one for me!”

It wasn’t about giving up.

“Okay!”

Ha-yeon liked mom’s pure heart. And living with mom was very happy. No other kid could be happier than her.