Maya’s hand landed lightly on Frank’s shoulder as he organized the shelves.
Chills ran down Frank’s spine at the sudden touch.
“No, I’m just going to grab a burger nearby.
And don’t ever touch me like that again.”
At Frank’s cold tone, Maya’s hand fell limply.
“…I’m sorry. I just...
I wanted to eat together for once.”
“Together? For what? You came here to work.
Aren’t you getting paid properly?”
Frank still couldn’t bring himself to be kind to Maya.
Even though they had been running the shop together for quite some time,
the air he shared with her was still awkward and uncomfortable.
Especially when she narrowed the distance so abruptly like this,
the gut-level discomfort he felt was something he could never get used to.
‘It’s already hard enough being in the same room;
I can’t imagine having a meal.
I wouldn’t be able to stomach it.’
Despondent, Maya went and sat at the counter with a gloomy face.
Frank ignored her gaze and filled the empty shelves with snack bags one by one.
Still, he kept glancing toward the entrance.
‘Why is Max so late today?
Should I tell him to take Maya out and have lunch or something?
Ugh, what a pain.
Why do I have to deal with this kind of emotional crap on top of making money?’
Whether it was Max or a customer,
he hoped anyone would break this suffocating silence.
As if God had heard his prayer,
the shop door opened with a cheerful jingle.
“Welcome.”
Maya hurriedly stood up and greeted the customer with a friendly smile.
It was a woman with flashy pink hair,
wearing a thin leather jacket and jeans.
She scanned the store once, then silently took out her phone and held it out to Maya.
On the screen was an authentication QR code generated by Artistea.
“Frank.”
“What?”
“A customer is here.”
At Maya’s call, Frank put down the snack box he was holding.
“Ah, this way, please.”
His steps felt lighter just knowing he could escape the suffocating space with Maya.
“Aren't you handsome? How old are you?”
The woman followed closely behind Frank,
nudging his arm with her elbow.
“We have to go over there.”
Frank ignored her blatant gaze and pointed toward the construction site.
‘She looks quite a bit older;
what is she looking at?
Why does everyone keep trying to touch me? It’s annoying.’
“Hehe, playing hard to get, are we?
I could bring my friends and really boost your sales, you know?”
As if Frank’s cold reaction was actually entertaining,
the woman placed her hand on his arm once more and pressed her body against him.
The warmth of another person touching him in the sticky heat of June was draining the last of Frank’s patience.
“Just like Kimi said. You really are handsome.”
At her blatant praise, Frank barely suppressed his urge to explode.
It wouldn't do any good to ruin his relationship with Kimi right now.
Frank knew better than anyone that the massive profits
the Sweet Castle brought in were impossible without Kimi’s supply.
“You’re no fun. Do you really have to live just on your looks?
Well, it seems you’re valuable enough for that,” she giggled.
“It’s over there.”
Frank decided not to respond to her low-level provocation.
He didn't even feel it was worth replying to.
His head was filled with the thought of quickly handing the customer over to Max
and begging him to take over the hellish counter duty.
“Yo, Frank! You’re here? Did you bring a customer?”
Max poked his head out from a temporary warehouse converted from a corner of the ruined mosque.
“Yeah. Take good care of the customer.”
“Sure thing. This way, please.”
Max skillfully led the woman inside.
She scanned Frank one last time,
then suddenly reached out and lightly brushed her hand down his cheek.
Leaving behind a disgusting smile,
she disappeared into the darkness following Max.
‘This isn't easy either.’
Frank slowly walked around the construction site while waiting for the transaction to end.
Rough-looking men hauled materials,
kicking up dust as they moved about busily.
It was much more enjoyable to watch this rough,
gritty place than to deal with unpleasant customers.
The real Sweet Castle, rising floor by floor day by day above the ashes,
was on a completely different level from the current shabby container shop.
That overwhelming form was Frank’s very own “green grape candy”
that made him forget all sorts of unpleasantness.
“Thanks. I’m counting on you.”
The woman came out of the warehouse after the transaction and waved lightly at Max.
In her hand was a shopping bag heavily laden with boxes.
“Yes, thank you. Please come again.”
“See you, handsome boss.”
The woman didn’t even look at Max,
giving Frank a wink before walking away with a satisfied stride.
Frank made an effort to ignore her blatant gaze and approached Max.
“How much did she buy? The shopping bag looked quite heavy.”
“Whoa, that woman is a real big spender.
No wonder she gave you a wink.”
Max chuckled as he held out his phone.
On the screen was a clear record of the deposit along with the amount she bought.
“What? Two hundred? A hundred grand?”
Frank stared intensely at the screen, doubting his own eyes.
He thought $500 for a single candy was insane,
but he never expected someone to buy two hundred of them at once.
“Even if you just crushed one into powder and snorted it,
this stuff could keep you going for days.
Who the hell is that woman?”
“Kimi says there are quite a few customers like that.
Some save them one by one,
but there are big shots who stockpile them for parties
or even distribute them among themselves.
As for us, as long as the money keeps coming in,
that’s all that matters, right?”
Max whistled, enjoying the dazed expression on Frank’s face.
It was a scale on a completely different level from when they were making a few bucks for burgers in a shabby container shop.
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“Wow, business is booming.
At this rate, it won’t take long at all.”
“Tell me about it. By the way, have you eaten?
Want to go grab a burger together?”
Inwardly, Frank wanted to use the meal with Max as a way out to avoid the awkward time with Maya.
He looked at Max with expectant eyes while returning the phone.
But Max shook his head nonchalantly while checking the materials inside the warehouse.
“No. Johnny will be here soon.”
“Johnny? Is it already time for the goods to arrive?”
An unmistakable sense of disappointment was buried in Frank’s voice.
If he ate with Max, he could postpone that misery of a time being alone with Maya.
Whether Max knew Frank’s inner thoughts or not,
he strode toward the driveway where the massive trucks were entering.
Since it was obvious that returning to the shop meant enduring a suffocating silence with Maya,
Frank followed behind Max as if being pushed.
On one side of the construction site,
where the massive trucks were gathered,
well-organized materials were stacked in every corner.
The site supervisor and workers spotted Max and Frank,
gave them a slight nod,
and then went back to focusing on their work.
Then, a massive truck approached from the direction Max pointed,
kicking up dust.
Johnny, who climbed down from the driver's seat,
stayed silent and handed a stack of papers to Max.
Max glanced over the documents and handed them to Frank.
Frank, who trusted Johnny’s sincerity,
finished signing the papers without much doubt.
Normally, Max would have brought Johnny to the shop for the signature,
but today it was much easier to handle it right on-site.
Snap, snap—
While Frank was finishing the signing,
Max was already opening the truck’s rear doors and taking photos of the goods.
Frank, who had shown lapses in judgment by trusting Johnny’s honesty,
felt a strange mix of gratitude and guilt whenever he saw Max’s thorough habit.
“Arti, check if the paperwork and the shipment match.”
‘What? So he was using Artistea to handle the work after all?
There was a way to use it like that?’
At Artistea’s voice coming through the speaker,
Frank felt a strange sense of defeat and admiration at the same time.
Though he had prided himself on handling Artistea quite skillfully,
Max was definitely a step ahead of him.
Beyond just treating it as a conversation partner,
Frank was constantly learning from Max
how to put Artistea to work as a tool for real life.
There are a few more items than listed in the documents.
Shall I organize the list and quantities for you?
I can do it right away if you’d like.>
“If there’s no problem, that’s enough.
I’m sure Johnny took good care of it.
Right, Johnny?”
Frank wondered how Johnny stayed so calm
even though Max kept treating him like a lackey.
After confirming that everything was handled,
Johnny got back into his car and left.
“Hey, is it really okay to treat Johnny like that?
He’s not your subordinate, is he?”
“So what? What’s going to happen?
Anyway, have you eaten?”
“No, actually, I have something to say about that...”
Frank hesitated, and Max grew impatient.
He threw an arm over Frank’s shoulder and shook him playfully.
“What is it? Just spit it out.”
“I’m just so uncomfortable being alone with Maya.
Even earlier, I only took the customer out to avoid having lunch with her.”
Frank worried that his concern might seem pathetic,
but he shared his inner thoughts anyway.
“Hey, are you still on about that?
I can’t exactly stay stuck behind the counter all the time.
Do you think Kimi or Simon would let that slide?
This whole setup only works because of your face, after all.”
“I know, but... Argh, it’s so annoying.
I don’t know why it keeps bothering me.”
“It’s not like Maya is openly bullying you.
Take it easy.
Just focus on the fact that business is booming right now.
We have something else we really need to be careful about.”
Frank agreed with Max. Kids came in all the time.
As business prospered,
he grew more worried about people watching.
If the secret transactions were ever exposed,
the tower they’d worked so hard to build would crumble in an instant.
“True. But there haven’t been any major side effects yet, right? At this point, shouldn’t the government just legalize it?”
“Haha, as far as we know, yeah.
Although we’ll have to wait and see.
Kimi said reactions can vary from person to person,
so the effects must be different for everyone, right?”
Finishing his sentence,
Max took out a single green candy from his pocket
and dangled it in front of Frank’s eyes.
Frank snatched the candy from between Max’s fingers and examined it closely.
With its smooth surface and faint fruity scent,
it was no different from any candy you’d find in a store.
“Is it really that delicious?
Does it make sense that a single piece of this crap costs five hundred dollars?”
“Who knows.
As long as we’re making good money,
that’s all that matters.
Don’t worry about it.
And try to get along with Maya, too.”
“Sigh... fine, I get it.
You’re eating with those guys, right?
I’ll just go buy a burger combo.
Fine, I’ll buy one for Maya too.”
Unable to resist Max’s look, Frank reluctantly nodded and returned the candy.
As he headed toward the burger shop,
his reluctance was evident in the way he walked away.
When Frank returned after paying,
there were two burger combos in the bag he held.
One was for Maya.
Since he didn't know what she liked,
he had just picked them at his own whim.
The walk back to the Sweet Castle felt bitter.
‘It’s strange.
Is this really my castle?
The actual power is in someone else’s hands,
and I feel like I’ve only lent my name and a shell.’
He believed he was building his own castle,
but in reality, he was living a life bogged down by chores no different from a local grocery store clerk.
The shop had started with the compensation for Asha’s death,
but it was still Frank’s shop.
Yet, there was almost nothing he could decide on his own.
A strange sense of hollowness washed over him.
Opening the container door of the Sweet Castle and stepping inside,
he saw Maya sitting at the counter.
As if trying to soothe the boredom of having no customers,
she was just staring at her phone with blank eyes.
Frank shoved one of the burger combos in his hands toward her.
“Maya, if you haven’t eaten, do you want this?”
“Huh? You bought one for me too?”
Maya asked, her eyes widening as if she hadn’t expected this at all.
Frank avoided her gaze and roughly tore open his burger wrapper.
“I didn’t know what you like, so I just got what I wanted.
Not sure if it’ll suit your taste. Just eat.”
Maya took the bag carefully.
She seemed to be trying not to show it,
but she couldn’t hide the smile spreading across her slightly trembling lips.
‘Max is right.
Maya hasn’t done anything wrong to me personally.
She’s even doing her job quite well.
But why do I still feel so uneasy?’
Frank stared blankly at Maya as she unwrapped her burger.
She had certainly become much more mature
and beautiful compared to her young girl days.
The aggressive energy of her school days,
when she used to follow him around and act superior, was gone;
now, she gave off a quite modest and feminine vibe.
“Hey, Maya.”
Frank called her softly as if he had made up his mind about something.
But at that moment, the shop door opened with a cheerful jingle.
“Welcome.”
Maya put down her burger and reflexively greeted the customer.
Because of that, the words Frank was about to say had to be swallowed back down.
At a glance, this customer was a man dressed in a top-of-the-line suit.
The sheen of the fabric and the excellent tailoring seemed to testify to his wealth.
But something was off.
Unlike his neat attire, the man’s face was horribly ruined.
He looked like someone who had packaged a rotten core in a flashy shell.
There was no focus in his hollow eyes,
and food crumbs were messily tangled in his beard,
which had grown down to his chin as if he hadn't washed in days.
What truly drew Frank's gaze most intensely were his hands.
The man’s fingernails had grown out long and haphazardly,
giving off an eerie feeling.
‘He looks like he has some money... Is he out of his mind?’
The man slowly looked around the shop with unfocused eyes.
There wasn’t much to see in such a small shop,
yet he examined every item on the shelves with slow,
deliberate movements, as if conducting an inspection.
Frank chewed his burger,
keeping his gaze fixed on the man.
Beside him, Maya also took a bite of her burger,
careful not to get sauce on the corners of her mouth.
She was also curious about what Frank had been about to say,
but she couldn’t open her mouth
because of the bizarre atmosphere emanating from this strange customer.
The man’s behavior was becoming more and more disturbing.
He picked up items one by one,
making them rustle,
and finally bent down as if something had dropped on the floor,
starting to search every corner.
Frank watched quietly to avoid an unnecessary confrontation,
but the man eventually snatched a snack bag off the shelf
and tore it open on the spot before he could be stopped.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Maya stopped eating, stood up,
and approached the customer.
As she got closer,
an unpleasant stench that didn’t match the man’s fine suit at all hit her nose.
Ignoring Maya’s attempt to stop him,
the man stuffed the snacks from the torn bag into his mouth like a beast.
He couldn’t just watch any longer.
Frank stood up, approached the man,
and roughly grabbed his wrist.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing in someone else’s shop?”
The man flinched and turned his head.
In that split second,
Frank felt a strange feeling that was hard to explain.
Frank’s brow furrowed as he scrutinized the face of the man looking up at him with his mouth hanging open in panic.
He was definitely familiar—
a face embedded in an intense memory.
‘Who is he? I’ve definitely seen him somewhere before.’
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry...”
The man kept whimpering like a child,
mumbling apologies over and over.
Despite his massive frame,
he had no strength at all.
The contents spilled from the snack bag he had dropped,
messily cluttering the floor.
“What exactly is a grown man doing in someone else’s shop?
If you wanted to eat, you should have paid first.”
“Candy... I need candy.”
At those words, Frank’s expression turned ice-cold.
There were sometimes types like this.
As word of the candy spread through the grapevine,
drifters who couldn’t even afford the $500 price tag would hear rumors
and come looking blindly.
“What kind of candy are you looking for?”
At that moment, Maya,
who had been watching from the side,
cautiously approached and asked the man.
“That. That one...”
The man stared into space with hazy eyes,
seemingly unaware of what he was even saying.
Frank clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Forget it. Maya, call the police.
We’ll turn him in for obstruction of business.”
“Wait a minute... Frank,
don’t you think you’ve seen this person somewhere before?”
At Maya’s trembling voice,
Frank’s gaze returned to the man’s face.
The top-of-the-line suit, the messy beard,
and eyes stained with fear and longing.
Within that unease,
fragments of a forgotten memory slowly began to fall into place.
From Chapter 20 onward, updates will be posted every two days.
Thank you for reading.