I Have Too Many Money-Making Talents - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Too Many Profitable Talents Episode 016
“Ugh, a hangover.”
The alcohol hadn’t worn off yet.
Yesterday—or rather, until dawn—I’d been drinking nonstop, so there was no helping it.
I’d lost count of how many bottles of soju I’d downed; my stomach still churned.
‘She’s not doing much better, either.’
When I turned my head, I spotted Yeon-hui over by the teller window in the distance.
Her face was barely hidden under makeup.
But her eyes were hollow with exhaustion.
She was smiling and working, yet she seemed trapped in the aftereffects of last night’s excess.
……
Just then, our eyes met by chance.
We said nothing to each other.
We simply spoke with our eyes.
‘I’m dying.’
‘I’m dying too.’
Our faces said it all.
Beyond the exhaustion, there was something absurdly funny about it.
Anyway.
The drinking session had been quite enjoyable.
We’d talked about what we’d been through since graduating university.
How hard the job hunt had been.
It was clumsy but honest, and we could empathize with each other.
‘Lunch hour’s coming up soon.’
Before customers crowded the cash-out counter, I cleared away the receipts, crumpled envelopes, and trash scattered around the ATM.
Then I came back inside and was about to sit down at my desk when—
“Kim In-ha.”
I turned at the familiar voice.
Ha stood there with his arms crossed.
“When you get a chance, could you help customers install the app beforehand?”
“Do I look like I’m not doing anything?”
I shot back incredulously.
There he was, asking this of me right after I’d come back from working outside—what kind of nonsense was that?
“I know, I know. I’m not saying only you’re busy. We’re all busy.”
Ha lashed out as if he’d made up his mind.
I sensed hostility—likely because of yesterday.
“These days, customers are sensitive about wait times, right? If you help them with things like app installations on your own initiative, it’d be good, yeah? Since we’re working together, we should help each other out. Don’t you think?”
The words sounded like a request, but his expression said otherwise.
It was a clear directive.
Spoken in a casual but heavy-handed tone that pressed down from above.
I pressed my lips together.
My mind spun with what I should say in rebuttal.
If he pushed one more time, it felt like everything would come pouring out like floodwater.
Then—
“App?”
A low, measured voice.
At that single word from behind me, Ha’s expression froze.
It was the Branch Manager.
“B-Branch Manager?”
Ha quickly straightened his tilted posture.
The Branch Manager stood there with a blank face, simply watching.
“Ah, yes… I was just asking In-ha to help customers with the app installation. It’s related to branch performance metrics and all that.”
“Asking?”
The Branch Manager’s eyebrows rose slightly.
“That didn’t sound like asking.”
“I’m sorry?”
Ha’s voice grew smaller.
“Did I mishear, or did it sound like you were lecturing him?”
“N-No, you’re mistaken, Branch Manager.”
“Then why are you assigning that to Chief Kim in the first place?”
A moment of silence fell.
Ha stumbled through his words, defending himself.
“I, I only meant to ask for a little help, as someone working together…….”
“Why are you the one making that judgment?”
The words cut like a blade.
Ha’s jaw tightened.
In the Branch Manager’s tone, he sensed something had gone very wrong.
The Branch Manager deliberately raised his voice, making sure the other staff could hear.
“From now on, don’t dump your work on Kim. If there are any improper task assignments outside of security duties, I won’t let it slide. Do you understand?”
“……Yes.”
Ha answered quietly, reading the room.
His face looked half-dazed, as if he’d been struck without warning.
“And what’s this about calling him In-ha? You should address him as Kim. He’s been working at our branch for how many years now? Do you follow?”
Ha could only nod blankly, unable to form a response.
I, too, felt thrown by this situation.
No one at the branch had ever called me by my proper title before.
In-ha. In-ha.
It sounded casual enough, but there was an undertone of condescension beneath it.
The gap between a permanent bank employee and a contract security chief, perhaps.
And now the Branch Manager had just restored that order of respect.
The Branch Manager turned his gaze to me, leaving Ha with his mouth still gaping.
“Kim, it’s still before lunch, isn’t it?”
“Pardon? Yes.”
“Let’s go. I’ve made a reservation at the eel restaurant up ahead.”
“……Understood.”
I nodded quietly.
The moment the word “reservation” left the Branch Manager’s lips, the air around us shifted with a sudden chill.
I glanced up carefully and found their stares converging on me.
Shock, bewilderment, suspicion, astonishment…….
A jumble of emotions painted itself clumsily across every face.
I looked away.
I avoided meeting their eyes.
‘I have nothing to say either.’
Honestly, this kind of treatment still feels foreign to me, even now.
I simply followed the Branch Manager in silence.
Zing.
My phone chimed.
A text message.
I didn’t need to check who it was from.
[Yeon-hui: Senior, what is going on!?]
Right. I want to know too.
What on earth is happening in all this…….
And yet.
Strangely, I didn’t feel bad about it.

* * *
Saturday morning.
Before the sun rose, the air was crisp and cool.
“Senior!”
A car on the main road flashed its headlights.
Through the passenger window of the mid-size sedan, Yeon-hui waved her hand, sunglasses perched on her face.
“Get in.”
A well-pressed shirt, a windbreaker draped over it.
It was neat but unremarkable—nothing that stood out.
In-ha, already in the passenger seat with his safety belt fastened, glanced over slightly.
“Looking pretty today, aren’t you?”
“Me? I dressed up a bit for it today.”
At In-ha’s offhand remark, Yeon-hui lifted her chin and broke into a radiant smile.
Her hair was tied back in a casual ponytail.
Over an ivory blouse, she wore a fitted jacket at the waist.
A beige skirt that rode just above her knee.
Not her usual work uniform, but rather a carefully chosen outfit that struck a balance between urban sophistication and genuine beauty.
“No, not you—the car. The car’s pretty.”
“You jerk.”
Yeon-hui thrust her lower lip out in a pout.
“It’s a used car, but it looks brand new.”
“So what if it’s used? Even a Mercedes becomes a used car once you drive it off the lot.”
“What are you talking about?”
Yeon-hui laughed and entered their destination into the navigation system.
The drive to the competition venue would take close to three hours if they were generous with their estimate.
“I’ll take good care of you today, senior.”
“Sounds good.”
The engine rumbled to life, and the car pulled smoothly away from the curb.
Once they left the city and passed through the toll booth, the highway opened before them.
Fortunately, it was still early enough that traffic hadn’t built up yet.
“So what you’re saying is, you and the branch manager got close because of Go?”
“That’s about the size of it.”
“……Does that even make sense? Just because you share a hobby, he treats you like a foster son?”
“Yeah, I know. It shouldn’t, but somehow it does.”
In-ha laughed awkwardly.
Even he had to admit that his relationship with the branch manager defied easy explanation.
“I still find him intimidating.”
“You think I don’t?”
“But even Ha’s been watching himself around you lately.”
“Probably because of the branch manager.”
Ever since that day, the way the staff treated In-ha at the branch had noticeably shifted.
Gone were the casual “In-ha” addresses; now everyone called him “Manager Kim” without fail.
And no more arbitrary or unreasonable task assignments came his way.
Of course, he still handled the customary work that had always fallen to him.
“What about you? Ha hasn’t changed, has he?”
“Don’t even ask. These past few days, the way he kept pressing and pressing……” Yeon-hui released a long, heavy sigh.
She seemed quite stressed.
The tension showed plainly in her expression.
“But that’s fine. Today’s the day we’ve been preparing for—to finally get that bastard off our backs!”
Yeon-hui turned the wheel toward the Rest Stop.
They needed a brief break and a quick breakfast.
As In-ha was climbing out of the car and heading toward the restaurant area, Yeon-hui grabbed his arm.
“Where are you going, senior? We need to take photos.”
“Now?”
“Yes. That viewpoint over there is perfect.”
Yeon-hui placed a hat she’d brought on In-ha’s head, draped a jacket around him, and then turned him around to face away from her.
“Here we go!”
Click.
It was a silhouette photo that captured the light from behind—quite striking, actually.
“You take pretty good pictures.”
“This much is nothing. Wait until you see my photo editing skills.”
Yeon-hui threw up a peace sign and crossed her arms.
“Why are you standing so awkwardly? Get closer.”
Under Yeon-hui’s enthusiastic direction, they stood pressed together.
During the drive to Namwon, they took several more “fake couple photos.”
After that long drive, they finally arrived in Namwon.
The clock read 9:30 in the morning.
As it happened, the competition venue for the Chunhyang Cup was located right next to Chunhyang Theme Park.
“Thanks for doing all that driving. Let’s grab lunch together later.”
“Yes, senior. Don’t worry about me—go out there and give it your all.”
In-ha got out of the car and headed into the competition venue.
After parking, Yeon-hui explored Chunhyang Theme Park on her own.
There was plenty to see.
She’d already scouted out a good spot where she and In-ha could take more fake couple photos later.
“I wonder how senior’s doing right now?”
Go.
It felt foreign, utterly unfamiliar.
Wasn’t it just sitting down and placing stones on a wooden board?
Yet arriving in Namwon, the Go tournament revealed itself as a grand festival.
“……nothing else to do anyway. Want to go watch?”
She turned her steps toward the gymnasium where the Go tournament was being held.
Passing through the crowd of people coming and going, the moment she stepped inside—
“Wow.”
The air was completely different.
The clack of Go stones colliding.
The sharp tick of the clock being pressed.
A silence so complete that even whispers seemed absent.
The weight of the Go tournament struck her as strange and unfamiliar.
Among it all, she caught sight of Kim In-ha bent at the waist, studying the Go board.
Not a word spoken.
Not a single gesture.
He simply gazed at the board with quiet focus, then gently placed a stone.
……
For some reason, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from him.
A seriousness she’d never witnessed before.
Kim In-ha playing Go seemed like an entirely different person.
The call came to him not long after he finished his morning match.
“Did you win?”
“Yeah. We’ll grab lunch, then the Round of 16 starts.”
The two of them headed to a nearby bibimbap restaurant.
Yeon-hui checked the restaurant’s sign and took a photo of her ordered bibimbap.
“Everything has its use, doesn’t it?”
“I suppose so.”
In-ha stirred the rice vigorously with the seasoned vegetables.
Yeon-hui watched quietly.
Under normal circumstances, she would have laughed and chattered without care.
But today, for some reason, she found herself holding back.
Noticing this, In-ha pulled her stone bowl closer to himself.
“What, letting it get cold? Come on, I’ll mix it for you.”
“What? No, really, it’s fine—”
In-ha stirred it quickly and set it back in front of her.
It was an action that came naturally, without any deliberate thought.
Yeon-hui picked up her spoon and took a bite, her eyes widening.
“It’s delicious.”
“Really?”
“Yes, the seasoning is just perfect.”
“Good. Let’s eat.”
In-ha smiled.
After finishing lunch,
the two of them stopped by the theme park to take a few photographs before returning to the gymnasium.
“Watching the tournament? It’ll probably be boring.”
“If it’s boring, I’ll just do something else, that’s all.”
“Do whatever you like.”
In-ha chuckled and turned toward the playing hall.
Yeon-hui sat at a distance, watching his opponent for the Round of 16.
The sharp, piercing gaze and commanding presence he exuded were far from ordinary.
‘Looks like he’ll play well.’
But then—
in barely fifteen minutes, the man’s expression grew grave, and he conceded the match.
“You won?”
“Yeah.”
In-ha answered with ease.
Quarterfinals.
Semifinals.
Yeon-hui was left dumbfounded.
I don’t know much about Go, but all of In-ha’s opponents looked like masters of the game.
Yet he overwhelmed them completely and advanced to the Finals.
“Just one match left, then.”
I never thought he’d actually make it this far.
One loss and he’d be out, yet there he was, calm as ever—that struck me as remarkable.
‘A side of him I’d never seen before.’
I’d known him since university days.
That he could focus with such steadiness and composure.
I was only just realizing it now.
Which somehow made me want to know him better.
“I’ll be back.”
In-ha turned toward the competition venue once more.
His Finals opponent was a man in his forties wearing glasses.
His expression barely shifted—the kind of weighty presence that commanded respect.
You could tell at a glance that he played Go exceptionally well.
‘Don’t lose on me, now.’
Anxiety gnawed at me, and before I knew it, Yeon-hui rose from her seat and made her way down to the venue floor.
She took her place carefully beside In-ha.
She peered at the Go Board, but none of it made sense to her.
Still.
The opponent’s expression came through loud and clear.
His torso kept leaning forward.
His legs trembled in quick, shallow bursts.
Even his hands, running through his hair as the game slipped away from him.
Unlike In-ha, whose expression never wavered, his opponent seemed hunted by something.
A moment later, the man spoke softly.
“I resign. I concede.”
“Thank you for the match.”
In-ha’s voice remained quiet and measured.
Even though the Championship was now assured.
There was no joy in his tone, no exhilaration—just the evenness of something inevitable.
‘Ah.’
As Yeon-hui watched him, she felt a tickle bloom across her chest.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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