Chapter 16
‘I wish I could get a tune-up too.’
One day, Dongchan visited a car repair shop because his car had a problem. After the repair, while checking his car, Dongchan suddenly thought.
The problematic parts were replaced, the engine oil was refilled, and the car was meticulously hand-washed.
It was a sedan that he had bought almost five years ago, but from that moment on, both inside and outside, it became as clean as a brand new car.
How nice would it be if people could be like this?
At that time, Dongchan sincerely wished for that.
His job is a programmer.
The company he works for is a game company.
The annual salary is not bad, but he works overtime every day, and if there is a problem with the server, he repeats the daily routine of not being able to go home.
It is said that every light that never goes out in the city is proof that someone’s life exists.
Every light that never goes out in the company is proof that someone is working overtime.
The company, where the lights never go out every night, is truly a lighthouse.
Now he has eaten more meals at the company than at home.
Naturally, his body is broken and heavy.
Even if he sleeps and wakes up, he doesn’t feel refreshed, and even if he eats healthy food, he only feels full, not energized.
Rather than this, I want to be serviced like a car.
I want to feel like I’ve become new.
But a wish is something you wish for because it cannot be fulfilled.
So that was just Dongchan’s delusion… until a few days ago.
‘Is this even possible?’
He was now receiving a massage with his face buried in the hole in the bed.
A suspicious name called ‘Master Special Course’.
It was a reservation his wife made, saying, ‘They say this place is amazing’.
Amazing? Is that a word that goes well with massage?
He started with such a question and a light heart, but.
“Ugh…”
“Does it hurt?”
“No… It feels so good…”
He was now moaning, consumed by pleasure.
By the pleasure called refreshment.
‘It feels like my body is being remodeled…’
He hasn’t had many massages before.
But he could tell at once that this skill was not at an ordinary level.
For example, the acupoint on his back that is being pressed now.
Even though the masseur is just pressing it with two thumbs, his whole body is immobilized.
He can feel the tense muscles all over his body relaxing.
And then, those loosely relaxed muscles.
“Ugh!”
This time, with strong grip strength, the masseur kneads them vigorously with both hands, like kneading flour dough.
Crack, crack, pop.
Sounds that make him wonder if such sounds can even be made here resonate from all over his body.
The pain of his body being twisted sweeps through him, following the masseur’s touch.
But the pain is brief.
After the pain passes.
As if the wind is blowing through an empty space, he can feel vitality seeping into the squeezed muscles.
Like a squeezed sponge absorbing clean water.
“You work sitting in a chair for a long time, don’t you?”
“Yes. I work with computers for a long time. Is my body condition very bad?”
“No. You’re in good shape. At least your body’s energy is clear.”
Here, you’re all done.
The masseur, Kang Taehan, said so and patted his back lightly.
Strangely, the moment he patted his back, he felt strength returning to his loosely relaxed body.
“Oh, has thirty minutes already passed?”
Dongchan checked his watch with a bewildered expression.
He felt like only about ten minutes had passed, but in reality, exactly thirty minutes had passed.
‘I feel a bit disappointed…’
As far as he knew, what was left was an hour of ‘fatigue recovery sleep’.
He probably sleeps while doing something like a hot pack.
To be honest, he didn’t have high expectations for this part, so he felt even more disappointed.
“Then, how well will you sleep?”
“…Yes?”
Dongchan asked back without realizing it.
It was because Kang Taehan’s tone sounded as if he could set how well he would sleep.
“You might have an appointment in the middle, or you might have an urgent call to answer, that kind of thing.”
“Well… I don’t have anything like that.”
“That’s good.”
At that moment, Kang Taehan’s hand disappeared with a whoosh.
At the same time, an intense sensation, like being poked, was felt on both shoulders.
The sensation of all his strength draining away in an instant.
“Then get some rest.”
That was the last thing Dongchan remembered.
⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢
“Mr. Taehan, good work.”
As Kang Taehan finished his work and went outside, Manager Hwang, who was at the counter, greeted him with a can of coffee.
“How is the customer?”
“He’s sleeping.”
Kang Taehan replied in a light voice and opened the can of coffee.
Click, a short, cheerful sound rang out.
It has been about three days since the Master Special Course began.
There were some concerns, but the introduction of the new service was a success, like a lie.
Well, it was only natural since the reservations were full even before it started.
“How do the customers seem to be reacting?”
Kang Taehan asked, bringing the can of coffee to his lips.
“Don’t you know better?”
“Well. It seems similar to usual, but I feel like the customers are a bit intimidated by me.”
Especially after the massage, the customers’ speech changes to honorifics.
It feels like they wouldn’t readily express any dissatisfaction.
“It’s hard to say exactly… It’s gotten better, if anything, not worse? Honestly, I was a bit worried, but it was unexpected.”
The Master Special Course is divided into thirty-minute and one-hour courses, but it was decided that Kang Taehan would only do the thirty-minute course.
This was due to Kang Taehan’s strong insistence that ‘anything more than that is excessive’.
And the suggestion that it would be better to have a maximum of one hour of sleep afterwards for recovery.
Frankly, he didn’t think it was a very good idea.
Most customers prefer the longer one-hour course to the shorter thirty-minute one, and in fact, most of the customers who seek out Kang Taehan have been receiving the one-hour course.
However, he readily accepted it because the entire special course plan was centered around Kang Taehan.
But now, all those concerns have proven to be unnecessary worries.
“That’s good.”
Kang Taehan smiled faintly.
He personally liked the new special course much better.
Actually, he had been thinking that the one-hour time was a bit of a waste.
It only takes ten minutes, or twenty minutes at most, to loosen up the problem areas, and after that, it’s just filling up the time with an ordinary massage.
The massage time for the one-hour course is twice as long as the thirty-minute course, but the actual effectiveness is similar.
Wouldn’t it be much more efficient to focus intensely and only do the thirty-minute course?
That was Kang Taehan’s thought, and fortunately, the customers seemed satisfied with it.
“Especially, everyone says they slept soundly.”
“Really?”
“They asked me to be sure to thank you.”
At Manager Hwang’s words, Kang Taehan nodded with a smile.
Massage is ultimately about applying physical force to the body.
No matter how skillful the massage is, some degree of shock is inevitable.
This is especially true in cases like Kang Taehan’s, where he touches the inside of the muscles and even the acupoints.
Therefore, to maximize the effectiveness of the massage, a certain amount of recovery time is necessary.
It’s about giving the body time to recover and adapt to the damage done to it.
The best way to do this is, of course, deep sleep.
And Kang Taehan could provide appropriate help with this.
The sleep point that puts the other person to sleep.
With a little modification, he can make them immediately enter a state of deep sleep without even dreaming.
Since he only touches them lightly, it doesn’t take long to fall asleep.
Just one hour of deep sleep.
That’s enough time for recovery to be completed and vitality to be replenished.
Thanks to this, Kang Taehan can also give a more active massage.
Because there is a recovery period, it doesn’t matter if he loosens up the muscles a bit more aggressively than usual.
And there was another advantage that couldn’t be left out here.
“Wow, sales have jumped thanks to you, Taehan!”
Naturally, the financial aspect also jumped.
Manager Hwang glanced at the monitor screen and smiled broadly.
Even though it changed to the special course, the number of customers didn’t decrease, so sales had already jumped, but since it’s based on the thirty-minute course, the actual sales have doubled.
The best choice that increased both the efficiency of the massage and the efficiency of sales.
Although he didn’t intend to increase sales, it’s not a bad thing for Kang Taehan.
Not to mention from Manager Hwang’s perspective.
“Haha, it’s really a blessing in disguise, really.”
“I told you I’d do a good job, didn’t I? What would you have done if you hadn’t listened to me and hired me?”
Choi Seonghyeon, who was passing by, chimed in.
The number of customers visiting has increased recently, so other masseurs have also become much busier than before.
To exaggerate, almost twice as busy.
“Yeah, you’re right. It’s thanks to you too, Seonghyeon.”
“Then how about sweet and sour pork for lunch later?”
“Sweet and sour pork? When have I ever not ordered it? Order anything you want!”
The two people’s voices were full of joy.
Kang Taehan watched them with a smile and then slipped into the waiting room.
⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢
“…Gasp!”
Dongchan opened his eyes while lying down.
It was a strange dream.
A dream with a scene that would only come out in a cartoon, where the masseur teacher pokes his shoulder and he loses consciousness.
“It wasn’t a dream… Hmm?”
Dongchan sat up.
But something feels different.
A feeling as if he had taken off sandbags he had been wearing, as if someone had applied engine oil between his bones.
He thought it was nonsense even though he was the one who thought of it, but this was the only analogy that came to mind.
‘My body feels so light.’
And that’s not all. His mind is clear too.
It feels like he defragmented his hard drive, which had been full of disk fragments.
He didn’t know what it meant to have a cloudy mind, but now he can definitely tell.
“It’s like I pressed the reset button… Huh?”
There was one more thing to be surprised about.
Dongchan, who took out his smartphone, stopped for a moment.
He thought he had only fallen asleep for a short time, but an hour had already passed.
A deep sleep, like death, without any dreams.
The time Dongchan felt subjectively was at most ten minutes.
He had never experienced such deep sleep, even in the military.
Dongchan felt like he had been possessed by a ghost.
“You’re awake?”
At that moment, someone came in with a tray.
It was a staff member of the massage shop.
“Yes, just now.”
“Please rest here and have a cup of tea.”
He put the tray on the table and went out again.
On the tray was a cup of hot tea and two pieces of cookies.
Dongchan sat blankly for a while, then lifted the teacup.
“…!”
The warm moisture in his mouth permeates his entire body.
It’s because he sweated more than he realized while he was sleeping.
A sip of warm moisture spreading throughout his body felt truly special.
‘This is… the best.’
The warm feeling that permeates.
The vitality that overflows his body.
The lightened muscles and the smoothly moving joints.
It’s truly satisfying.
How can it get any better than this?
He’s so satisfied that he doesn’t even feel any regret.
Whew.
Dongchan took a deep breath, filled with overflowing satisfaction.
So people can be serviced too.
At least it’s possible here.
Remembering how he had envied his recently serviced car, Dongchan smiled faintly.
