Chapter 288 – Episode 288 – Just Kidding~(2)
“So…”
“Yeah.”
“You didn’t even need to come for the interview.”
“Yeah.”
“And you didn’t need to dress up in a suit…?”
“Well, yeah.”
Sting-
After all the interviews were over.
Yujeong and Jiyeon were in the guest room, picking who to hire.
I called Harin to my office to talk to her separately.
‘How was the interview…? Was it, uh, okay?’ I asked, a little embarrassed. When I told her it was all a joke, she glared at me, trembling.
“No…! You sent me a message, like this!”
Harin tapped on her phone, bringing up our chat screen and showing it to me.
What?
Is this a confirmation kill?
[Me: By the way, what time is the interview tomorrow?]
[Jinhyeon: Huh?]
[Jinhyeon: You’re coming for an interview???]
[Me: Yeah]
[Me: You told me to come]
[Me: I’m really going to work part-time ㅡㅡ]
Looking at it, it was our conversation from yesterday.
By the way, the chat background is pretty.
[Jinhyeon: lol]
[Jinhyeon: Between 2 and 3?]
[Me: Can I go anytime between those hours?]
[Jinhyeon: Yeah]
[Jinhyeon: Doesn’t matter when you come]
And I was saved as Jinhyeon, not Cheon Jinhyeon.
Cute.
[Me: Is there anything else I need to prepare??]
[Jinhyeon: Hmm…]
[Jinhyeon: Bring your resume]
[Jinhyeon: Since it’s an interview, dress neatly?]
[Jinhyeon: Like a suit? lol]
[Jinhyeon: lol]
[Me: Okay]
I read all the messages on my phone and looked at Harin. She looked at me as if asking what I thought.
What do I think?
“Hey, it’s obviously a joke.”
“A, a joke…?”
“Yeah. I mean, no one, not even an idiot, would wear a suit to an interview. Especially for a friend’s part-time job.”
“Eek!”
Whoosh-
“Osoi…!”
I train with Delia in the Thousand Mile Flame Qi Gong almost every day, so there was no way I’d get hit by Harin’s surprise attack.
She didn’t expect me to dodge it completely. Harin bit her lip, looking frustrated as her friend-punch missed.
“Hey, are you trying to hit me?”
“Ugh…!”
Tsk tsk.
Is she going back to her old habits?
She used to follow me around a lot, but when I teased her in elementary school, she would hit me.
Ugh… Thinking about it now, my back aches.
Shudder-
But it wasn’t me, it was Harin who was trembling.
“Hey?”
“Ugh, I thought it was real, so I prepared so hard…!”
Harin’s face turned red again as she pleaded with me.
I kind of figured.
She answered every question so fluently.
“Still, isn’t it better to get hired for real than through a friend’s favor?”
When I said that, Harin made a slightly dumb expression.
“Huh…?”
“What?”
“Am I hired?”
“Well, would you be rejected…?”
I said, with an absurd expression, that of course she was hired, and her face brightened up again.
What’s wrong with her?
She’s gotten cuter since I last saw her.
* * *
“But, do I really have to try it on today?”
“Of course. Since you’ve decided to do it, it’s better to start early, right?”
Ten minutes later.
After somehow finishing my conversation with Harin, I suggested she try a part-time job experience today.
“Or, are you busy today?”
“I’m not busy, but…”
“Then try it out. It’s better to do it before signing the contract, in case it doesn’t suit you.”
“Hmm… That’s true.”
Harin nodded.
Now’s the time.
I couldn’t resist throwing out the bait.
“Let’s start with three hours. I’ll pay you in cash right away. And if you try it out, you can make any drink you want.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah.”
“No limit on how many?”
“No limit. You can have as much as you want.”
It was true.
That’s why all the part-timers have at least one drink a day.
But in the case of Shin-ah, she blames me for gaining weight because of this perk.
Well, it’s probably a joke.
“You said you wanted to try a lot of drinks when you came last time.”
“Yeah.”
“Try making them while you’re here.”
“Should, should I…?”
Harin looked very tempted.
Honestly, Harin would have been a free pass for the part-time job even if she wasn’t my friend.
She has a great voice, an amazing body, and she’s super pretty.
Our cafe has quite a few male customers, and there are a lot of people who come just to see her face up close while paying.
If Harin was here, that power would be doubled.
Besides, she’s very diligent and smart, as far as I know. She’ll probably learn the cafe work quickly.
Even if she doesn’t, I can teach her.
‘And build up some favorability while teaching.’
Hmm, that’s a perfect plan.
Maybe I am a genius.
Come to think of it, she’s the daughter of a hotel CEO.
A hotel CEO’s daughter working part-time?
That’s like a complete commoner experience.
“Then I’ll take that as a yes, Jiyeon!”
“Huh?”
While Harin was still dazed, I immediately called Jiyeon.
“Yes, did you call?”
“Harin is going to try a part-time job today, for about three hours. Measure her size and get her a uniform that fits. Oh, and assign her a locker in the dressing room.”
“Ah, okay.”
“Uh, uhh?”
Harin looked confused as things progressed so quickly.
“Ah, this is Manager Han Jiyeon. You saw her when we greeted each other earlier, right?”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Han Jiyeon. You’re Ju Harin, right?”
“Ah, yes…”
Ju Harin ended up greeting Jiyeon and was led straight to the dressing room.
‘I kind of want to peek at her changing…’
That’s for later.
‘But I didn’t expect Harin to actually come.’
I was originally planning to stay at the cafe until about 5 today, but since Harin came, it would be nice to watch her experience and then have dinner before going home.
“I should leave a message in the group chat.”
Tap, tap tap-
I nodded to myself and wrote in the harem group chat that I’d be a little late getting off work today.
* * *
And at the same time, in the party room in the basement of Cheon Jinhyeon’s house.
In a quiet atmosphere, Kang Sujeong looked around and spoke.
“Ahem, everyone’s here, right?”
“Yes!”
Yoon Dajeong answered energetically to Kang Sujeong’s words. Jang Ye-hwa, who was sitting next to Yoon Dajeong, tilted her head.
“But, Yujeong isn’t here?”
“She’s working at the cafe right now.”
“So we’re excluding her?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s hard to match everyone’s schedules, so I’ll tell her!”
“Really? Hehe~, our Dajeong is so cute.”
Jang Ye-hwa smiled and stretched Yoon Dajeong’s cheeks at her lively answer.
“Ugh… Don’t do that. It hurts.”
“Why, just a little.”
“Hmph…”
“Jinhyeon isn’t coming right now, right?”
Kang Sujeong asked Delia, and Delia nodded.
“Yes, he has a new part-timer interview today, so he won’t be coming now. He just posted in the group chat that he’ll be a little late getting off work. And most of all…”
“Most of all?”
“I just asked him through Same (short for love messenger), and he said Ju Harin came for an interview… so he’s going to stay with her and have dinner before coming home…”
“Ah.”
“Tsk.”
“Hmph.”
Delia looked at Kang Sujeong, Jang Ye-hwa, and Yoon Dajeong as she spoke. As soon as she finished, the three women’s faces crumpled at the same time.
Ju Harin and Jeong Eunju had already been marked as people of interest in the group chat for women only, four weeks ago.
On the surface, only Delia knew that the two were the next targets, but deep down, all the heroines knew.
Kang Sujeong clicked her tongue and said.
“Anyway, he can’t resist pretty girls.”
“Right, isn’t he going to hit on all the girls at the cafe?”
Jang Ye-hwa also chimed in. Then Yoon Dajeong said.
“Shin-ah seems especially dangerous. I think she’s flirting!”
“That’s right. And Jiyeon too. I heard from Yujeong that she only does things that Jinhyeon likes. Something might happen someday.”
Kang Sujeong, Delia, Jang Ye-hwa, and Yoon Dajeong.
There were many opportunities for two or three of them to gather and talk, but it wasn’t often that they all gathered like this, except in the group chat.
So the women, thinking this was their chance, started to gleefully chew, tear apart, taste, and enjoy talking about Cheon Jinhyeon.
“They’re hiring a part-timer for the PC cafe tomorrow too.”
“Hehehe.”
“Hey, don’t laugh.”
“Ah, why. Crystal PC! How cool!”
“It’s cool, but imagine Jinhyeon doing weird things with another girl in your PC cafe. Would you still be laughing?”
“…No.”
“They’re hiring all girls for the PC cafe too, and they’ll definitely pick only pretty ones…!”
“Ugh…”
Jang Ye-hwa gritted her teeth, and Kang Sujeong also gritted her teeth.
Delia watched them with a calm expression and chimed in with a word or two, and Yoon Dajeong also agreed strongly with the parts she sympathized with.
After talking for a while, Yoon Dajeong looked around at the three of them and spoke.
“Ugh, can’t we talk while eating something? I’m a little hungry…”
Kang Sujeong nodded at Yoon Dajeong’s words.
“Ah, let’s do that! It’ll take time to prepare food now… Should we order something?”
“What should we order?”
“Pizza? Or chicken? Delia, what do you want to eat?”
Kang Sujeong asked Delia, and Delia calmly replied.
“Both. And pasta and buffalo wings too.”
“Hehe, I knew you’d say that.”
Kang Sujeong smiled, and Yoon Dajeong chimed in.
“What kind of pizza should we get?”
“Hmm… Jinhyeon likes potato and gorgonzola, so how about we order those two and put a few slices in the fridge?”
Jang Ye-hwa suggested, and at the same time, Kang Sujeong glared at her.
“Oh, you were just badmouthing him, and now you’re trying to get all the good appeal points with Jinhyeon?”
“N, no, it’s not like that.”
Somehow, the menu was decided, and Kang Sujeong paid with her phone.
“I’ll buy it for Delia and Dajeong, Ye-hwa, you send me the money for what you ate.”
“Wow, you’re so stingy, Sujeong.”
The two bickered for a while, but Yoon Dajeong and Delia watched the brief argument with comfortable expressions, knowing they were close friends since high school.
In that light atmosphere, the pizza and chicken were delivered, and after setting the table, Kang Sujeong suddenly started to clear her throat.
“Ahem! Well, the food is here and everyone’s gathered.”
And finally, the harem countermeasure meeting, which was the original purpose of the four gathering, began.
“From now on… we will begin the meeting!”
