Chapter 20
<Notice> Two customers are approaching the ‘I don’t know. Stuff like that bar’ cocktail bar.
The system seemed determined not to allow me even a moment’s rest, going so far as to provide real-time updates.
‘I just want to rest!’
Desperate, I dashed down the stairs and blocked the door with a table. Piling chairs on top of it created a formidable barricade.
Thud. Thud.
Someone tried opening the door from outside, but it wouldn’t open in the end. Success in the first defense.
“I said I want to rest…..”
I sat on the table, blocking the door, hugging my knees.
I recently learned that once I start business hours, I can’t close the bar as I please during operating hours.
‘Damn system forcing me to work, I’ll just refuse once I’ve had enough.’
Although I still needed 9,800 coins, that was a problem for tomorrow’s me to handle.
Knock knock.
Bang.
Even after that, someone kept coming, but the door never opened.
An hour before closing time,
Bang!
The door shook, and the stacked chairs wobbled. Half-asleep, I snapped awake.
“What’s going on? Is a bear trying to get in?”
Bang!
The stacked chairs finally tumbled down.
Bang!
The door burst open, flipping the table over and sending me sprawling to the floor.
Whoever this visitor was, they possessed immense strength.
“Oww…..”
But is that really important right now?
The problem is that I’m rolling on the floor with chairs right in front of the customer.
‘How embarrassing.’
I must look really strange now.
If I look up, I’ll be met straight-on with looks like they’re seeing a weirdo.
“Are you alright?”
That stern yet gentle voice—I squeezed my eyes shut tightly.
“I thought the door was stuck, so I pushed a bit hard, didn’t realize you were there.”
Yes. It was Johan, of course.
‘Of all people, why did I have to make a fool of myself in front of the wealthy Duke?’
I was not alright at all.
I was so embarrassed that I felt like pretending to be injured.
If he asked what I was doing, I was planning to keep my mouth shut and run away.
But I couldn’t just lie there forever, so I slowly lifted my body up.
“My apologies. I seem to have come at a bad time.”
The wealthy and kind Duke extended a hand to help me up. Unable to ignore his courtesy, I grasped his hand and stood up.
“Ah, thank you. That was……”
I rolled my eyes around, searching for an excuse.
“Um, well…there was a bug up there, so I was trying to catch it. But I couldn’t reach it, so I got up on the table and…well, you saw what happened. Haha.”
“I see.”
Even though my excuse made no sense, Johan didn’t question or probe further. He simply helped pick up the scattered chairs.
‘He really is an adult.’
Johan’s consideration warmed my heart. Only then did I realize how foolishly I had acted.
‘Even if I was drained, barricading the door was going overboard.’
I should have just hung up the “Closed” sign instead.
While I briefly reflected, Johan approached me after finishing cleaning up the table area. His large physique struck me anew—those broad shoulders, and his height must be around 2 meter tall, maybe?
‘If we stood side-by-side, the difference would be immense. I wish I could take just 5 cm of his height.’
It would make things so much easier when retrieving bottles from the top shelf.
Johan glanced at me once before unexpectedly starting to loosen his tie.
“Y-Your Grace?”
Before I could say anything to stop him, he had already undone a couple of buttons. The sight of his collarbone peeking through his shirt was both distracting and stimulating.
“Please, call me by my name instead of ‘Your Grace.’ Or have you forgotten?”
“N-No! I mean, Johan, sir, you really shouldn’t be doing this here…”
“It’s nothing. I thought I’d match today’s dress code.”
I was so flustered that I stumbled over my words, while Johan looked straight at me with an amused smile.
‘Wait. Dress code?’
I suddenly recalled Johan glancing at me before loosening his tie. Slowly, I lowered my head to check my own attire.
‘Ah.’
I had forgotten—in my desire to rest, I had carelessly removed my tie and thrown it aside. A few buttons were also undone, exposing my disheveled state.
It was already embarrassing enough, but re-buttoning now would only make it more awkward.
As I had that thought, Johan casually spoke up.
“It’s been a while.”
“Ah, yes it has. Have you been busy? Dealing with troublesome monsters?”
“Yes. That’s why I could only come now. In fact, I’m still in the midst of a battle.”
We naturally moved the conversation to the bar counter as we spoke.
“It seemed my visit would keep getting postponed, so I came on an impulse.”
“So you’re saying you acted on a whim?”
“So, you’re playing hooky?”
It was surprising to see that even someone like Johan played hooky. I felt a sense of camaraderie and relief at the same time.
“You could put it that way.”
“And even drinking on the job, no less.”
At my remark, Johan, who had been consistently calm until now, flinched slightly as if I had hit the mark.
“Well, that’s….”
“The best drinks are always the ones you sneak. Let’s make sure this is the best hooky ever.”
I grinned as I grabbed a bottle of soju.
‘I really wanted to take a break today, but given the situation, what can I do?’
Both Johan and I were stressed out from our respective duties. The perfect drink for such an occasion was undoubtedly,
‘Let’s have a somaek!’
It was time to bring out somaek, the ultimate comfort drink for Korean office workers.
I brought beer from the kitchen. It had been taken off the display shelves due to its bland, unassertive flavor.
Since I’d be adding flavor with soju, the beer could afford to be a bit plain.
‘No, that’s even better!’
I laid out the soju and beer on the bar counter.
The golden ratio for somaek is 3:7.
I floated a half-filled soju glass like a little boat in a glass filled with beer.
“Are you not using your usual tools today?”
“Nope. Today’s drink method is actually a traditional technique from where I used to live.”
I tapped the beer glass with chopsticks, causing the foam to rise up and engulf the soju glass. Johan’s blue eyes slowly widened as he watched.
“Here, I’ll serve you a somaek.”
“A glass within a glass. Quite a unique method.”
Saying that, Johan took a big gulp of the somaek.
‘He has really large hands.’
His fingers looked thick and sturdy. In contrast, the man I carelessly picked up had long, slender fingers.
If the two men sat side-by-side, the contrast would be quite striking.
“It’s delicious. The sweet yet tart and clean taste is addictive. Another glass, please.”
“Yes, I’ll prepare it right away.”
As I was preparing the somaek, the door opened.
“Welcome!”
Into the small bar that could barely fit ten people, customers started trickling in one by one.
Was there some special occasion today? For some reason, the bar was packed with customers.
“Please wait a moment. I have other orders to take.”
“Hold on a second.”
Just as I was about to make the somaek, Johan called out to me.
“Yes?”
“I’ll cover everyone’s drinks for today.”
Johan took out a fistful of silver coins as he spoke. Before I could react, he had already poured a clinking stream of coins into my apron pocket. The weight felt substantial.
<Notice> You have gained 1,000 coins.
‘Whoa.’
My jaw dropped. I had never received such a large amount at once.
As expected from a wealthy duke.
“Is this enough to have you exclusively to myself?”
“Pardon?”
Unlike my flustered reaction, Johan calmly opened his lips while stroking his chin.
“My offer for you to become the bartender at the duchy still stands.”
Ah, so that’s what he meant.
“Since you didn’t seem satisfied with the previous amount, I thought….. Considering you’re sparkling over just this much…..”
A thousand coins were “just” to him? I suddenly grew curious about the body price the system had censored from me when he made his initial offer.
“But does My Lord really need a personal bartender? I think it’s fine if you just visit like you normally do.”
Johan didn’t seem like the kind of person who needed to drink every day. He seemed to drink maybe once or twice a week at most.
“It’s a matter of personal desire. I don’t like sharing what I cherish.”
So this is about the Duke’s bartender offer, right? Feeling a bit dazed, I silently nodded.
Meanwhile, the excited customers who heard about an open bar started whistling.
“Anything is fine, just serve us already.”
“The best booze is the one someone else pays for.”
I shrugged and took out four beer glasses.
“One more.”
“Huh? Yes.”
At Johan’s words, I took out one more beer glass.
Lining up the five glasses, I poured beer into them.
“Ooh? What is that lady trying to do?”
“Don’t you know cocktails? You’re supposed to mix drinks.”
The customers murmured while watching me.
I placed a soju glass in each beer glass.
After pouring soju into the soju glasses, I picked one up and—Clink!—plopped it into the beer glass.
With a swift motion, the soju glass fits perfectly into the beer glass, and the customers’ eyes widened in amazement.
‘Nice. I haven’t lost my touch.’
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Thank you for reading! ♡
