Chapter 3 – The Protagonist In Waiting
“Yeah! Just hurry up and get here… Huh? Food? What’s with you all of a sudden?”
“No, it’s just… I’m really sorry for being late.”
“Hmm. Is that so? Well, you didn’t have to go that far. But I guess you do feel sorry. Okay, just hurry up and come! I have a customer, so I’ll hang up now!”
“Okay.”
-Click-
The call ended.
“Haa…”
I sighed.
‘Where did you get the courage all of a sudden, Jinhyun?’
Come to think of it, other than when I was a student, this was the first time I’d ever suggested a meal to a girl. I just went for it, thinking I should complete the quest, but now that I’d hung up, I was a little worried.
Can I really complete this quest?
Actually, there was a chance that even the promise to buy her a meal might not work out.
And even if it did, and I somehow managed to go on a date… could I really realistically get to the point of kissing her?
My heart started to race.
“…And the criteria for a date are vague too.”
I looked at my phone.
What exactly does this app consider a date?
Does just eating a meal with a girl count as a date?
I had no idea.
“Let’s just go.”
If I kept worrying here and got even later, that would be truly inhuman.
I finished getting dressed and looked at the heart-shaped container next to me.
‘Love candy, huh.’
Come to think of it, I needed to check the effects of this candy too.
The heroine app was real, but I couldn’t be sure about the candy’s effects yet.
I took about five candies out of the container and put them in my pocket, then returned the container to my inventory through the ‘Heroine App’.
Then I left the house.
“Hoo.”
Even though it was summer, a pretty cool breeze was blowing as it was late at night.
I took the bus and walked a little, arriving at the convenience store where I worked part-time.
It was almost 11 PM when I got there.
“Shit…”
Feeling sorry, I looked inside the convenience store through the glass window and saw a woman helping a customer with their purchase.
‘She’s pretty as always.’
Her bobbed hair came down just past her shoulders, and she had a refreshing look. She was a little short, but she was a woman with a lovely face and figure.
It was Yujeong, the older sister I’d talked to earlier.
“Calm down.”
-Ding-
I took a deep breath and opened the convenience store door.
“Welcome…! Oh, it’s you~!”
Yujeong, who was about to greet me reflexively, squinted at me when she saw me.
I quickly bowed my head in greeting and went inside to change my clothes quickly.
‘Luckily, she doesn’t seem too angry…’
She seemed a little angry when I talked to her on the phone earlier, but it seemed like she’d calmed down a bit as time passed.
Is she a saint or something?
‘If it were me, I’d be furious.’
I was glad she was a nice person.
When I came out after changing, Yujeong was moving her lips as if she was about to say something to me.
But I cut her off and suddenly held out a candy in front of her.
“Here you go.”
It was a heart-shaped candy from the candy generator.
It was a chance to test the candy’s effects.
“Huh? What’s this?”
Yujeong asked, a question mark on her face. I said with a nonchalant expression.
“It’s candy. Have some.”
“You never do this normally. Hmm… Ah! Don’t tell me you’re trying to make up for being an hour late with this, are you?”
She narrowed her eyes at me.
“No way. I’m just giving it to you. It’s delicious.”
I waved my hands in denial. Then she chuckled and took the candy.
“Just kidding~ By the way, this is a candy I’ve never seen before.”
“Yeah. A relative from overseas sent it.”
“Is that so?”
I gave a vague answer.
Well, it was a candy I didn’t even know the brand of. If she asked where I got it, I’d have to lie.
Yujeong looked at the candy for a moment, then unwrapped it and put it in her mouth.
“Well, thanks, I’ll enjoy it.”
‘She ate it…’
I swallowed hard and watched her.
Today, her lips seemed particularly prominent as she put the candy in her mouth.
Her cherry-red, alluring lips.
‘A kiss…’
I imagined kissing her in my head.
Our lips touch, and I can feel her breath. Just imagining it made the blood rush down below.
‘…Let’s stop.’
I shook my head.
In the first place, to get those lips, I had to go on a date first, and for that, the candy’s effects had to be real.
The candy’s effect was that the person who was looked at the most while eating the candy would feel a slight liking and attraction.
If that person was of the opposite sex, the effect would be doubled.
The duration was only three hours, but if this effect was real, it might not be a dream to make a date during that time.
“…Why are you staring at me like that?”
As I was spacing out, thinking about this and that, she tilted her head and asked.
“Ah, no, it’s nothing. Just thinking for a bit.”
I laughed awkwardly, feeling a little guilty.
“Anyway. It’s good that you came… I’m letting it slide because this is your first time being late! Got it?”
“Yes. I’ll never be late again.”
“Okay, let’s just do our shift change well.”
After that, I received the handover.
Luckily, no customers came in.
Ever since she ate the candy, I was conscious of her gaze, and maybe because it was just the two of us in the convenience store, she looked at me a lot without me noticing.
‘Is this enough…?’
About five minutes had passed.
If you just let the candy melt in your mouth, you could eat it for 10 minutes, so I said it was tastier to chew, and she chewed the candy as I said.
‘She should have finished the candy by now… but when should I bring it up?’
I found it hard to bring up the topic.
I had said I would buy her a meal on the phone, but considering that she said she was just letting my being late slide in the conversation just now, it could be seen as a roundabout rejection of my offer to buy her a meal.
In that situation, was it okay to bring up the topic of food?
Did the candy even have an effect right now?
If it didn’t, I would definitely be rejected…
I couldn’t make a decision, and I was just wavering while time passed.
I had to bring it up at the right time, but I didn’t know when to say it.
Once she left after the handover, there wouldn’t be many chances left.
As I was fidgeting, a voice suddenly came from beside me.
“Hmm. But Jinhyun… didn’t you say you’d buy me food on the phone earlier?”
‘Huh?’
I was startled and looked to the side.
Next to me, Yujeong was talking to me with a nonchalant expression, as if she had just remembered.
‘Could the candy’s effect be showing?’
She was similar to her usual self, but I felt a slight sense of incongruity.
‘It doesn’t seem like anything has changed much.’
It wasn’t like her face was noticeably red or anything. But it felt like something about her atmosphere had subtly changed.
‘Come to think of it…’
It was a little strange. If she was her usual self, she would have let it slide and not brought it up first.
Just as I was thinking that, she opened her mouth again, as if she had taken my lack of response as a negative answer.
“What~? Was it just something you said?”
“No, of course not. I should definitely buy you a meal. When would be good for you?”
I couldn’t miss this good opportunity. I quickly replied. She put her index finger to her lips for a moment and pondered.
“Hmm. The day after tomorrow?”
“…The day after tomorrow?”
“Why? Is that not okay?”
It wasn’t that it wasn’t okay. It was just that I was surprised because it was sooner than I thought.
“Today is Friday, and we both have the day off the day after tomorrow. You’ll be tired since you work the night shift, so the day after tomorrow seems perfect.”
It was a very logical statement. I nodded.
“Okay. Then let’s do it the day after tomorrow.”
“Okay. Good. Let me know the place and time.”
“Okay.”
With those words, she finished the handover and came out after changing her clothes.
“There are drinks and sandwiches inside, so eat those. I’m going now.”
“Okay. Have a good night.”
-Ding-a-ling-
Yujeong left, and I was suddenly left alone in the convenience store.
I muttered in a disbelieving tone.
“I succeeded…”
All I did was give her a candy, and I made a promise to eat a meal together.
Even though we had only seen each other and talked during handover times.
‘It seems like there really is some kind of effect.’
I looked at the candy with a curious gaze.
It might be a more powerful candy than I thought.
‘I need to look into this more.’
I put the candy in my pocket and nodded. Maybe, I really could kiss her.
******
“Why did I suddenly say that?”
On her way back from the convenience store, Yujeong questioned her own actions.
He was just a younger colleague who worked at the same convenience store, but suddenly, Jinhyun’s face looked attractive, and she had opened her mouth without realizing it.
When he said he would buy her a meal on the phone, she didn’t really intend to get a free meal, but she had made a meal appointment using that as an excuse.
Even though she worked later, she would get paid properly, and she had received a proper apology, so there was no reason to get a free meal.
“Right. She was even late today…”
She was quite annoyed when he didn’t come even after 10 PM and when he said he was at home when she called. Even though her anger had subsided over time, there was no reason for her to suddenly see him as someone she liked.
But strangely, even now, when she thought of Jinhyun’s face, he seemed attractive for some reason.
Am I crazy?
He had a normal face, not a handsome one, but today, she felt a strange attraction.
“Hmm. Is it because I got a candy?”
Yujeong thought of the candy she had received earlier. Well, it was a nice thing to do, something he didn’t usually do. The candy was also delicious.
But that shouldn’t make him look attractive…
“Well, I’ll find out when I meet him on Sunday.”
Let’s just go home and sleep.
Yujeong headed home with light steps.
