Convenience Store Worker From Another World Chapter 196

Episode 196. I, Puppy, Have a Dream (1)

* * *

For the first time in my 29 years of life, I missed my stop because the store manager had fallen asleep leaning on my shoulder.

“New liquid… New liquid… .”

His shoulders were resting on my upper arms and his head was resting on my lower ears, completely still. At first, I thought he was just tired, and just looked at the bus route map.

But even when the bus stopped at a traffic light or a speed bump or made a jolt, the manager only slightly changed his leaning posture and showed no sign of getting up. What should I do in this situation?

“Sir, there are three stops left.”

“… Hmm.”

“yes.”

Well, I said that, but I didn’t want to push her away while she was sleeping soundly. Furthermore, I didn’t even think about pushing her away. More than that, I just thought that I had done something that I should apologize to the store manager for.

There were only two of us in the store, and on my annual leave day, the store manager would take care of the counter for me for 24 hours, sometimes as long as 36 hours.

But he never showed it. For this reason, I only cared about my posture, hoping that the store manager would sleep comfortably, and it was only when the announcement for the next stop in the academy district was heard that the store manager opened his eyes.

“… Chan-ah. Where are we now…?”

“This is the stop I need to get off at.”

“Right, huh? Since when have I been asleep?”

“You took a short nap. I’ll go.”

While the store manager was looking around after getting up, I quickly swiped my bus card, and when I got off and bowed to the store manager, he stopped looking around and asked.

“Aren’t we past this stop?”

“See you tomorrow, manager.”

After saying hello verbally, I quickly ran away when the store manager’s eyes narrowed. The surrounding scenery was familiar, and the distance wasn’t that far compared to where I had to get off.

After walking for about 10 minutes, I opened the door and received two text messages. Of course, they were from the store manager.

[ Wake me up ㅠ ]

[ good night ]

Yes. I replied, finished filling the cat’s water bowl, and then lay down on the bedroom floor and fell asleep. I had to buy a blanket or something for tomorrow morning…

I woke up like this and woke up in the morning to the sound of the doorbell ringing. I just woke up with my upper body up and blinked my eyes, and then I heard a shout following the doorbell ringing.

“Open the door!”

“I’m sorry, I don’t believe in that religion.”

“You, I don’t have enough hands so I can’t press the password, so open it quickly!”

I tried to answer jokingly because it sounded like Yoonha’s voice, but it seems like it’s her. As soon as I opened the front door, my sister threw something she was holding in her arms at me.

I took it in and checked, and it was a blanket. Inside the rolled-up thing was a pillow. He shook his hands and smiled, finishing his story.

“Now that you’ve let me go, you can get the blanket yourself later. Got it?”

“Oh, thanks. But how did you know I didn’t have a blanket at home?”

“My sister told me. There might not be any blankets at your house, so if you have any leftover, bring them to me.”

Then why are there any blankets left at my sister’s house? When I asked, my sister said that she stole one from the office’s dormitory. It’s not that they don’t use it because it’s bad quality, but since everyone stays up all night outside, they rarely sleep in the dormitory.

After hearing that, I touched the comforter and realized that the cotton was much thicker than the ones I had used before. It kept falling down my arms, so I threw it in the middle of the living room, and then I heard a cat screaming.

“Haaaak!”

“Didn’t you just get hit by a cat?”

“That guy also bullies me often, so I’ll just hit him. Anyway, thank you. Are you resting this weekend, Unnie?”

“I brought a blanket because I was resting. What time do you leave for work today?”

“I have to go to work at 10pm… No, wait a minute.”

Speaking of working hours, a question comes to mind. Yuri worked until 10 AM, but her work hours are now 2 PM. So what will happen to her work today?

I won’t come back after sleeping for 3 hours. After thinking about it, I decided that it would be better to ask in person. It would be better to go and ask in person rather than just ask over the phone.

“What are you going to do now, Sister?”

“Well? I was thinking about it while drinking cola at your house.”

“What kind of cola are you talking about when you don’t even have a fridge at home? The furry guy in my house won’t stay still.”

As I was talking, I glanced back and saw that furball was probably quite annoyed by getting hit by the blanket and was flailing around the living room.

If my sister came inside, I would definitely throw that tantrum at my sister’s face instead of the living room wall. Likewise, my sister, who was looking inside the living room, said something mixed with half admiration and half worry.

“I guess you’re going to keep that cat.”

“What can I do? If it weren’t for me, there’d be no one else to handle his tyranny…”

“It’s really serious after that. Isn’t that a feed distribution machine?”

“That’s more expensive than my clothes. Anyway, if you’re going to drink cola, let’s go to the store together. There’s a buy-one-get-one-free sale on some cola products.”

* * *

After washing up and changing clothes, I had a staring contest with an invisible guy over a blanket, and then went outside with my sister. Since I’m used to being in the store all the time, it feels really awkward to be walking around outside at this time.

I went into the store with that awkward feeling, but perhaps because it was a weekend morning, there weren’t many customers in the store. Two little kids were sitting at a table in front of the display window, arguing.

“Give me half of that card too! I paid for it too!”

“If I cut the card in half, what do I use it for? If you keep doing that, I’m going to tell your mom!”

“I’ll go first, you idiot!”

They were a pair of little boys and girls with half black and half white hair, probably from the penguin family. The girl was pulling on the golden part of the boy’s hair. I think they were emperor penguins.

Looking at the several cards on the table, it seemed like he was opening a pack of cards and got a good one. While I was looking at it, I heard a voice from the counter.

“Why do the kids fight like that, Oppa?”

This guy suddenly started asking questions. Still, I’m somewhat used to his way of speaking. I answered whatever came to mind.

“Kids usually become friends through fighting.”

When I was in elementary school, I used to chase after guys who teased me and called me a beggar and beat them with my indoor shoe bag. I became close with quite a few of them. Now that I’m older, I don’t even remember their contact information.

Let me answer, he looked up at the ceiling for a moment as if he was chewing on my words, and then suddenly made this suggestion.

“Brother. Do you want to fight?”

“The intention is good, but is it really necessary for us to go that far to become close?”

“You don’t like me, brother.”

“If that’s what you think, let’s talk again later when I sell cotton bat toys at the store. I’ll beat you up.”

“great.”

My sister looks back and forth between me and Yuri, as if she finds this conversation that doesn’t even seem like a conversation absurd. When I talk to this guy, I also don’t know what I’m talking about.

“… In the morning, the kids came rushing in and bought a ton of cards, Oppa.”

“Was that so?”

“Yes. The store manager contacted me to sell them little by little, so I put out a small amount, and those kids came and asked if I had any cards. I told them I had them, but I wasn’t selling them to them, and they started crying.”

Why did this guy answer like that? I looked at him in amazement, and Yuri was looking at the kids with her eyebrows furrowed slightly. Is this guy sleepy and out of his mind?

“Then he started crying, so I gave him something to tell him not to cry.”

“Yeah. Good job….”

“Did you do well? Didn’t you get scolded by the store manager?”

“Why are you getting scolded by the store manager?”

“I took out one more thing that you told me to sell little by little and sold it.”

After answering, he lowered his head slightly and furrowed his eyebrows. It seemed that it wasn’t because he was sleepy, but because he was worried about getting scolded by the store manager. He thought about it for a moment and then answered.

“So, I sold a little like you said. One pack of cards.”

“… Now that I hear it, that’s true.”

“Well, that’s not true. If they ask, just tell them I took out one more to appease the kids.”

The store manager would never scold him for something like that, but he told her because he seemed to care so much. After hearing that, he seemed to feel relieved and nodded.

“Hello, oppa. And you too, Yunha.”

“Yeah, hello. The weather is nice, aren’t you bored at the counter?

“Not really.”

“That’s good. I heard this is your first part-time job, but it seems surprisingly good.”

My older sister asked me what I was going to ask first. Yuri looked down at her uniform and opened her mouth to answer my older sister’s joking question.

“I know some people. I talk about work with them often.”

“Uh… really?”

“Yes. That’s what they said. No matter what you do, if you keep doing it, it’ll all become boring.”

“Well… isn’t that the case with everything? Me too.”

“I don’t think what they say is entirely true.”

He’s not a bad kid, but there’s something about the way he speaks that makes people feel a bit awkward. While my older sister was smiling awkwardly, as if she had nothing more to say, I asked him what came to mind.

“You know someone? You?”

“I think they know me, but I don’t know what they think of me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s true. Anyway, brother, the handover.”

After changing the subject so that it was obvious, he picked up the sales receipt and waved it at me. I was surprised that this guy knew people, and I was about to ask him if it was really necessary to take what he said so literally… .

I decided not to ask any more questions since he seemed reluctant to answer. I took the receipt and answered.

“Why are you doing the handover to me? You should do it to the store manager later.”

“Aren’t you here to work, oppa?”

“I came to ask when you’re coming back to work after work today. I’m just going to buy a Coke and then go back out.”

“The store manager told me to come to work at 2 p.m.”

The store manager called me at 1 a.m. last night and told me to get some rest after work today and come in at 2 p.m. I think I can just work like I always did today.

“Okay, thanks. How was your work last night? Was everything okay?”

“I told you, oppa, you didn’t come here to work.”

“It’s not about the handover, it’s just that nothing happened. Like, the truth came and went.”

“hmm….”

Yuri looked at the table while talking. So when I looked, I saw that the little penguins stopped fighting and started collecting coins one by one from their pockets. It seemed like they had agreed to buy one more card pack.

As he looked at that, an idea suddenly occurred to him, and he answered, “Ah.”

“A dog came and went in the front door. It was a Pomeranian.”

I was a little taken aback when I first heard it, but then I suddenly felt happy. Wow, it looks like this guy is doing well in a new neighborhood.

“Oh, my. What about Puppy? How is he?”

“Well, sis. I’m not good at talking to dogs… .”

“uh?”

My sister, who had been asking with the same delight, looked at Yuri’s reaction and immediately looked in my direction. Yuri has never seen a puppy before, nor has she ever heard anything about a puppy from me.

It was obvious that I wouldn’t believe it unless I showed it to her directly. My sister noticed my reaction and immediately started to pretend that the weather was nice, so I asked her the rest.

“That Pomeranian, he was on the porch and just left?”

“Yes. Do you know that dog?”

“He comes to the store often, and I often bring him food. Since you only stay at the counter, I don’t know what happened to him.”

“It’s not that I don’t know. There were a lot of customers here earlier―”

Yuri shut her mouth right after saying that. It was because the front door bell rang. The guests who arrived this time were surprisingly a dwarf family. They consisted of a couple and their only son.

On my father’s side, like all dwarves, their hair and beard were all bushy, but on my mother’s side, except for their short stature, I couldn’t find much difference from humans. Their hands and feet were a bit large, and their braided hair reached down to their feet?

My son, if you only look at his body, was more like a chubby human, but his blunt speech and expression were that of a dwarf. As soon as I entered the store, he strode over to me and looked up at me, asking,

“Dog treats.”

“Uh… I’m not on duty right now, kid.”

“I’m in a hurry.”

“Even if it’s urgent, I should tell the counter staff here. But why would I need to rush for dog treats?”

It wasn’t my concern whether he bought anything or not, but I could hear him saying that he needed dog treats. When I asked, he answered while pointing to the inside of the main gate of the academy district.

“excuse me.”

“Uh. Inside there.”

“The puppy is amazing. It understands everything I say.”

“Uh… and?”

“There are so many people. We have to go quickly.”