Mastore 171 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 171

If You Don't Know, Just Learn It (1)

There is a sink inside the register of this store. A commendable little guy that silently held its ground even during moments when the store was smashed by a lightning-shooting squirrel and half-flooded with rainwater.

There's a mop sink in the office, but it doesn't have hot water. I let her come behind the register to wash her hands, but she didn't wash her hands as I told her to and just looked around the register.

“What are you doing?”

“Oppa.”

"What."

“This is my first time being inside the register.”

She says it's because she finds it fascinating. But it's less about the register's layout and more that it still hasn't sunk in that she's actually here to work.

Even while soaping her hands, she keeps looking around constantly, or staring holes through the displayed cigarettes. Then his eyes lock onto one pack, and he frowns slightly before asking.

“But Oppa, why are there all these pictures on the cigarette packs?"

“It’s a spoiler saying if you smoke, your lungs and throat end up like that.”

“Is it effective?”

"Not for me. Hey, look around later and wash your hands first. You're gonna splash water everywhere."

"Okay."

At that, she finally stops looking around things and starts rinsing the soap off her hands. What should I do with this kid from now on...

It doesn't seem like something I should worry about alone. I called Manager, and the phone rang four times before it was answered.

[Yeuh,Hang-ah.]

“Yes, Manager-nim... What?”

[Weight a bite. Gurgle, gurgle....]

Right after, the sound of gargling. She must have been brushing her teeth.

[... Puha. Un, Chan-ah. How's your shift now?]

"It was packed earlier with kids heading to school, but it's calmed down now. And Na Yuri’s here too."

[Huh? She’s there already?]

"Seems like she came early because she didn't want to be late. In her own way."

Since the first thing she said when she arrived was that she wasn't late, this must be it. After saying this, I immediately asked Manager. Whether it's okay if I teach this creature various things while she's working.

[Chan wants to train her?]

“If Manager-nim allow me. This kid came so early, and I can’t just let her sit and do nothing.”

[Well, wouldn't it be a bit ambiguous? We haven't even decided work hours ye.]

Whether it's the night shift or the day shift, the main job is serving customers, but there are subtle differences depending on the time slot. Like receiving supplies, printing receipts around midnight, or doing recycling.

Most are things that can be learned easily, but the timing was somewhat ambiguous. If I just explain verbally without showing, the listener would naturally get confused. Then...

“Then I’ll just have her watch over the customers until Manager-nim arrives.”

[Un. But has Yuri eaten? What about Chan?]

"I haven’t eaten yet, and Yuri... Did you eat breakfast before coming?"

“I'm hungry.”

She had come over after washing her hands at some point, so I asked. As she answered, her stomach started growling, and it was quite loud too. Loud enough to be heard over the phone.

[...You two eat first. Pick whatever you want to eat, just tear off the receipt.]

“Then we’ll do that. See you later, Manager-nim.”

[Un.]

The call ended like this, and I looked at the kid Yuri again. The kid whose stomach had just thundered was wearing a perfectly composed expression as if nothing had happened. I'll pretend I didn't hear it either.

"Yuri, you’re really going to work here, right? For real."

"Yes. For real."

“Then until Manager gets here, don’t do anything special. Just watch me work from here. If you’re curious about something, ask when there aren’t any customers, and also…”

"Yes."

“Let’s eat first.”

Compared to when the kids were swarming in earlier, it was eerily quiet now. If we didn’t take this chance, both she and I would have to work on empty stomachs.

So we stood side by side in front of the instant food section. I told her to pick whatever she wanted to eat, but her gaze sweeping down the shelves gradually lowered until it reached the basket on the shelf floor.

The basket where they put expired food items. She picked up a lunch box from inside it and asked me.

"These are on the floor."

"That’s where we put expired items separately. They’re no longer products, so we can’t sell them for money.”

"Then I'll eat this."

"No, I'm offering to buy you food, why do you insist on eating this?"

“I haven’t done my work yet.”

Her logic was that since she hadn't worked, she wouldn't accept a free meal. Hmm....

“You cleared the table earlier, didn’t you? Just eat it as a compensation for your trouble.”

"I didn't do that to get food."

"The person who's going to be your boss is telling you to eat, are you not going to eat then?"

I don’t really get how this kid’s mind works most of the time, but this part I could understand well since I'm exactly the same. I took the lunch box she was holding and placed it back down, then grabbed the same kind from the shelf and handed it to her.

Even while unwrapping it and heating it in the microwave, she kept looking unconvinced, so I took out an orange juice from the dairy corner and handed it to her while casually saying.

"It's not always good to refuse too much when someone offers you food. You know that, too.”

She's a college student after all, so wouldn't she naturally know at least this much? I added that thinking I shouldn’t treat her too much like a kid, but she still looked puzzled and asked me.

"Why?"

"Well, the person buying you food isn't doing it for no reason. Could be because they want to get close to you, could be because they want to repay a debt to you."

"Then what about now?"

"For Manager-nim, probably the former. For me, both."

"Hmm..."

While listening to my words, something else seemed to occur to her, and even though the microwave finished, she just stared at it without even a twitch. I have no idea how this kid spent her school life.

Since she showed no signs of moving, I took out the lunch box myself. The kid's eyes followed the lunch box. She stared blankly at the chopsticks section and then abruptly spoke.

"Oppa, how did you come to know such things?"

"Which thing. That refusing too much when someone treats you to food isn't good?"

"Yes."

"I learned it by working constantly and occasionally being treated to meals. You didn't know?"

“Not at all.”

The doubt I had been harboring until just now became clear after hearing this. This kid isn’t someone who has had few conversations, but someone who has barely had any conversations at all.

But then, another question came up: it’s not that she dislikes talking to others. Even now, she’s talking just fine with me. The topic’s a bit odd, but still.

Even now, this kid is the one initiating conversation. Perhaps because the lunch box lid was hot, she repeatedly picked it up and put it down with her fingers, then threw another question.

"If I work. Will I also come to know things like that, like you, Oppa?"

"No matter the reason, if you spend time around people, you’ll figure it out sooner or later. Because you lose out if you don't know."

"You lose out?"

“Hey. Let’s say Yuri, you kept insisting on not accepting the lunch box."

I would've kept saying the same thing. That you should just eat since I'm not getting anything back later. This kid refuses twice, three times and holds out. That she won't eat since she didn't help expecting to get fed.

If that keeps going, it stops being about whether to buy someone food or not. I would probably start thinking this kid just can’t communicate. I wouldn't bring up the same topic next time.

Even by simple calculation, that's one conversation topic, one thing to bond over disappearing. By the time I got to this point, the chopsticks this kid snapped her chopsticks cleanly in half.

“I think I understand now that you say it. Simple calculation.”

"That's a relief."

"Then. What about accepting something right away when someone offers to buy you something?"

"Accepting immediately is also a bit much. It makes me look materialistic.”

"Now I don't get it again."

didn’t expect him to grasp it immediately. Like everything in the world, human relationships also require repeated practice.

There still aren't customers. I let her think it through, and she brought her lunch box to the table, then poked something with her chopsticks. Meatballs.

She brought the hand holding the chopsticks close to mine and spoke in a flat tone.

"Since you told me what I was curious about, I'm giving this to you."

"No...."

"Refusing once is fine."

I feel like I'm already getting tired even though I haven't even started teaching. I took the chopsticks without protest and ate the meatball, then muttered as I handed them back.

"Materialist."

"Hey. There's one premise when building human relationships. It's that things absolutely never go just as you think."

"It seems that way.”

"I need to answer the phone now, so if a customer comes while you're eating your lunch box, look my way or something."

I thought I had been hearing a faint sound for a while, and when I listened carefully, I realized it was the sound of a phone ringing. She nodded again at my words and walked over to the table.

I went straight to the counter and checked the caller. It was Noona. When I answered, the sound of wind cutting through mixed with Noona's voice came through.

[Hey... Hey! Are there a lot of people outside the store?!]

“Uh... quite a lot.”

[Damn, looks like I'll have to walk a bit today. Hanging up for a sec.]

“Yes.”

Manager had said that the supplies would come in the morning. But unlike the four-lane commercial district we usually operate in, this street only has two lane. There is no shoulder.

I was watching to see where they would put the container, and after waiting for about 3 minutes, I saw Noona leisurely walking over from the left side of the store.

All the while dragging a bundle the size of an SUV. Once she reached the front door, she banged on the side gate with a thunk thunk, so I unlocked it. After stepping in and dropping the bundle, she shouted cheerfully.

"I'm done with work for today, man! My gosh, to think a day like this would come."

I gave the bundle a light push with my hand, and the bundle that must be 4 times my size shifted this way and that wherever my hand touched. Noona must have made it light.

"Noona, about work... oh right, you were on vacation until today."

"Yeah. Now I'll go tease the hell out of the guys who'll be rolling around at the office, watch some TV at home—"

After that, maybe because her shoulders were stiff, she stretched then pulled out her wallet and asked me.

"Before that, I'm gonna eat some ramyun and go. Can I eat that new ramyun that came out?"

"What. New ramyun came in too?"

"Unnie put in a whole bunch of flavors that kids like. There's one among them that I'm craving."

"Hold on, let me just check the inventory."

The situation’s a bit different, but it’s not like this sort of thing never happens. Cases where customers pick what they want to buy not from the display shelves, but from the supplies piled up in the store.

In those cases, as long as it’s been registered as merchandise beforehand, there’s no issue with ringing it up and handing it over. As long as I verify the supplies came in properly.

As I was untying the tightly bound bundle and rummaging through it item by item, I felt a presence behind me and glanced back. Yuri, who had been eating her lunch box, was now standing behind me.

"Are all of these for sale?"

"Of course we brought it in because we're selling it, what other reason would there be. You watch too since you never know when you'll have work to do."

“Yes, Oppa.”

“Oppa?”

Noona tilted her head, looking back and forth between me and Yuri, perhaps puzzled by the casual conversation with a face she had never seen before. It seemed like Manager hadn't told her about this kid yet.

“Lee Chan, who’s this kid?”

“She’s the new part-timer working here. Name’s Na Yuri.”

"Hello."

Noona, watching this kid bow her head deeply as she greeted her, showed the exact same reaction as when she first met me on my first day of work.

"Oh?"

---

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