Chapter 1498 Connected (3)

“Wanna stop by at a cafe and grab something to drink?”

“Wha...? If you had nothing better to do, don’t say you wanted to hang out! Why a cafe, though?”

Han Mi-Jin furrowed her brow deeply.

To her, a cafe wasn’t a place to get drinks but where people with nothing to do hung out to waste time. In other words, she didn’t think it was worth her time to go to a cafe.

She asked her boyfriend suspiciously. “Why? Is today a special day?”

“Nah, not really. It’s just another day, I suppose?”

“Forget I even asked. Why did I even bother...?”

What was she even expecting here, anyway? After groaning loudly, Han Mi-Jin was about to say something, only for her head to tilt slightly.

“Eh? What’s going on over there?”

“Over where?”

“There! Can’t you see that crowd in front of that building?”

“Oh, that? Maybe it’s a sales promotion or something. Are they handing out coupons?”

The boyfriend didn’t find anything too strange about that scene. After all, they were on the battlefield filled with all kinds of businesses where events meant to attract customers were being held constantly.

Large crowds causing a commotion whenever there was a launch of a cool new product or a sale happened fairly regularly in this area.

Han Mi-Jin’s dubious gaze deepened. “Don’t you think it’s odd?”

“What is?”

“You know. If it really was what you say it was, people would have been shuffling in slowly or something like that. But over there, it’s like... I don’t know, it just feels off.”

She couldn’t quite explain it in words, but it felt like the time in that particular area had stopped. Cars were speeding along on the nearby road, while passersby kept passing by as if to say the time was flowing just fine, but that area alone felt like a scene from a silent movie.

Just what could they be staring at like that?

Unable to win against her curiosity, Han Mi-Jin stepped forward. “Come on, let’s go take a look.”

The boyfriend frowned. “Ah? Even though there are so many people?”

“Oww, come on! Let’s go already!”

“Tsk...”

Han Mi-Jin grabbed her boyfriend’s arm and dragged him to where the crowd was. While heading there, she saw the neon sign on the building visible just above the crowd and narrowed her eyes.

It said, Caffe Luogo.

Luogo? What does that even mean?

That didn’t sound like an English word, but did that really matter? All the new cafes resorted to some nice-sounding random foreign words as their names these days, anyway.

But a strange name wasn’t enough to explain the size of the crowd in front of this cafe. Wondering if the cafe’s management was handing out gifts to commemorate the grand opening, Han Mi-Jin tried to get closer. However, she soon frowned again.

“Huh? They aren’t handing out freebies?”

“Eh? Ehhh?”

Unlike her, though, her boyfriend responded markedly differently. Was it because he was taller than her? It seemed he had discovered the cause for this crowd by looking over their shoulders.

“What is it?” Han Mi-Jin curiously asked. “Is there some kinda event going on?”

“N-no, it’s not that, but... Inside the cafe, there’s...”

“Eh? What? What is it?”

Her boyfriend muttered in disbelief. “I think that’s Choi Yeon-Ha in there?”

“Huuuh?” Han Mi-Jin snickered. “Choi Yeon-Ha? Drinking coffee in a cafe at this hour? You think she’s got nothing to do, like us?”

“I’m serious! That’s why there’s a crowd in front of this cafe.”

Han Mi-Jin blinked her eyes. Huh? When explained that way, it kinda makes sense?

She urgently asked again. “Hang on? Are you seriously saying all these people showed up just to stare at Choi Yeon-Ha?”

“Looks that way.”

“Mm...?”

Han Mi-Jin deeply scowled at the crowd.

Even if they are my fellow citizens, this is why Koreans can be so... Urgh!

Seeing a celebrity in the flesh should be a novel experience for ordinary people. However, a person sitting inside a cafe drinking coffee implied that they wanted to relax a little, now didn’t it?

Even if you had the right to stare at a celeb for as long as you wanted, crowding near the cafe’s windows to gawk, as if said celeb was a monkey in a zoo? Now that sounded so wrong; something a human being shouldn’t even consider doing.

If any of these people had functioning brains, they should have just glanced at Choi Yeon-Ha and swiftly moved on to give her some space.

Han Mi-Jin loudly tutted. “Wooow. These people sure have a lot of free time on their hands, no? Since they are all standing around like this just to stare at someone.”

“No, I don’t think that’s it.”

“Huh?”

The boyfriend craned his neck to get a better look. “She’s with someone. A man, actually. Wait, I think he’s Choi Yeon-Ha’s boyfriend. They are looking at each other and talking intimately and stuff.”

“Say what?!”

That drastically changed the story, didn’t it?

Seriously?! Choi Yeon-Ha’s boyfriend?!?!

Not too long ago, the media was going crazy about a certain someone, a man who got falsely accused of being a North Korea spy before being exonerated.

Choi Yeon-Ha received all sorts of insults and abuse online for supporting that man, but then, didn’t she turn her public image around as a woman of principle and loyalty who believed in her boyfriend’s innocence until the end?

Now I wanna see what he looks like!

With a story as juicy as that, how could Han Mi-Jin miss this chance to find out what that boyfriend looked like in person?

“Oppa! Can you lift me up? I wanna look, too!”

Her boyfriend pointed at himself, then at her. “Huh? Me? Lift you?”

“Yeah! Lift me high enough so I can see better!”

“Okay, so... Me? Lift you?”

“...?! Wanna die?!”

The war had begun.

***

While smiling gently, Kang Jin-Ho whispered to Choi Yeon-Ha. “It feels like I’m in hell, Miss Yeon-Ha.”

Choi Yeon-Ha replied in a gentle, caring tone. “Me too, Mister Jin-Ho. Me, too. Endure it for a little while longer, okay?”

“Mm...!”

Choi Yeon-Ha fully sympathized with Kang Jin-Ho, of course. She was more or less used to people staring at her, yet it still felt like she was a monkey in a zoo right now. In that case, how much worse would it be for him, who always tried to avoid people’s attention?

“Mister Jin-Ho?”

“Yes?”

“Making money can never be easy, okay? If you really wish for the franchise’s success, just clench your teeth and power through it. Please.”

“...Understood. I will.”

Determination burned brightly in Kang Jin-Ho’s eyes. Even now, all the sneaky glances coming in his way proved extremely, indescribably uncomfortable. However, if enduring this situation could improve the revenue by at least one percent, he must endure it, no matter what!

He tilted his head slightly. “But will this really help the franchise?”

“The word of mouth can be really scary, Mister Jin-Ho,” said Choi Yeon-Ha quietly. “I can’t guarantee that doing this will definitely help, but it should be better than doing nothing, you know? I mean, we’re risking so much in this business venture, right?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“In that case, we must clutch at straws if we have to. At the very least... This cafe is now jam-packed, isn’t it?”

That was true. Kang Jin-Ho glanced at the throng of people near the counter, and the corners of his lips subtly curled up.

People wanting to get a glimpse of Choi Yeon-Ha and Kang Jin-Ho had completely filled up the cafe. Even now, an endless stream of people were entering to order coffee. The idea was that, while waiting for their drinks, they could stand here and stare at Choi Yeon-Ha and Kang Jin-Ho without feeling too guilty about taking up space.

A situation like this wouldn’t have happened if only one of them had shown up today. Why? Because...

I mean, isn’t that, like, are they openly on a date?

Do they want us to notice them or something?

Maybe they are trying to get into the gossip columns?

Two of them hanging out in a place with so many eyes watching at this time of the day was like them declaring publicly, “We are not going to mind your attention, so do your worst.” And the public faithfully responded to this provocation.

All thanks to this chaos, though, the franchisee felt like he was in hell right now.

“Hello, sir! Would you like to place an order?”

Please! Please let it be Americano! Americano! Americano! Americanoooo!

“Uhm, uh... Can you give us the, uh, Yogurt Frappé? And one Macchiato, iced?”

“T-thank you for... your patronage.”

Why! Why were all these people buying drinks that required a lot of prep work?!

Maybe the folks in this part of town don’t drink Americano?!

The customers didn’t want to feel guilty about taking up space and that was why they all bought the expensive drinks, but that meant the franchisee now had to deal with the unexpected problem of fulfilling a flood of time-consuming orders.

Kang Jin-Ho studied this spectacle for a while, then nodded. “I think this cafe will do just fine.”

Choi Yeon-Ha grinned. “Then that means it’s time for us to leave.”

“Can we go home now?”

“Nope,” Choi Yeon-Ha grinned brightly. “We’re heading to Hongdae next. In fact, we gotta stop by at four different cafes today.”

“...!”

Kang Jin-Ho suddenly had a thought that maybe this lady should have joined the world of commerce much sooner.

***

“I’m... home.”

The dead-tired Kang Jin-Ho finally returned home while dragging his feet.

Kang Eun-Yeong welcomed him home with a barrage of questions. “What have you been doing today, orabi? What did you do? All the socials were on fire, you know?!”

“What do you mean?”

“People have been saying that you and unnie were going around busy cafes to drink coffee! Did you really go all over the place to publicly announce your romantic status?”

“...?”

How did that news spread so fast in less than a day?

Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t help but appreciate the power of the internet fueling modern society. He figured this story would need at least three days to spread around, but in less than half a day, even a bum like Kang Eun-Yeong, who lounged around at home, had heard about it already.

Kang Jin-Ho groaned while taking his shoes off, then stepped away from the foyer. “So? What’s the response like?”

“Half of them are cheering you on, but the other half are calling you all sorts of names, orabi. Your tummy must be full now.”[1]

“Why would they insult me?”

“Simple. You’re dating Yeon-Ha unnie, that’s why. To her fans, you are the public enemy number one. I’m guessing quite a few of your photos got ripped up with razor blades today. Probably?”

“What? In this day and age? There’s no way.”

“Listen to yourself! Don’t underestimate the fandom, okay? Only a few things can rival maniacal fans in how scary they can be.”

Kang Jin-Ho was still unconvinced, but even he could tell that some fans truly dedicated to all things Choi Yeon-Ha might still view him as a sworn enemy. Not only because he had stolen her heart, but he nearly destroyed her career not too long ago, didn’t he? So their sentiment made some sense, in a way.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” said Kang Jin-Ho dismissively. “The ad will start airing tomorrow, so everyone will think it was a viral marketing stunt.”

“Sorry, but everyone already knows it’s a marketing stunt.”

“...? Really?”

“Of course they know! You two showed up in five different newly opened cafes today, after all! I told you, don’t underestimate the fandom, okay? They know this was just an ad for the cafes.”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. “Huh. If they know it’s a marketing stunt, why call me names?”

Kang Eun-Yeong sagely nodded. “That’s how life works, Mister Kang. Just give up and swallow all the insults coming your way, sir. Who told you that making money would be easy?”

“Well, I guess... you have a point there.”

Kang Jin-Ho promptly resigned himself.

Becoming a public figure meant some people would always have negative opinions of you. That was inevitable. Anyone who wasn’t prepared to accept that shouldn’t stand in front of cameras and present themselves to the public.

And that’s why I’m never doing this again.

Kang Jin-Ho believed he had done enough for the franchise today. He should return to his usual itinerary, and...

Vrrrrr~!

Kang Jin-Ho’s phone went off to interrupt his train of thoughts. He answered the call and pressed the device to his ear.

“Mm?”

—Chairman, it’s Lee Hyeon-Ju. I’m calling you to give you an update on today’s events.

“I see. Continue.”

—Sir, today’s revenue was three times higher than we had initially projected.

“Huh?”

Three times? Where did that suddenly come from?

—Our initial projection was not conservative at all. We believe we had settled on a higher-than-average estimate, but the revenue still proved much healthier than we could have imagined. What’s even more interesting about this development is that the revenue from the cafes in the capital area was five times higher than the estimates.

“Heol?”

It wasn’t as if they had discriminated against cafes in the countryside and provided them with poorer support or different business strategies. Even then, the cafes in and around the capital still made that much money. There could be only one explanation for this result.

—Sir, it seems the curious public was camping out in the cafes that you were likely to visit in the hopes of catching a glimpse of you. And that has led to such an excellent financial result for us.

“Oh...”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. He was relieved to hear that this dumb little stunt had made a sizable difference. And it also helped him gain a renewed appreciation of Choi Yeon-Ha’s business acumen.

“I’m glad to hear that our stunt had a positive effect,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

—But we now have a new problem, sir.

“Huh? What problem?”

—The franchisees in the countryside are getting angry at us, saying the cafes in the capital weren’t the only ones who paid the franchising fee. They want to know why we are not supporting them equally.

“...!”

—That is why you must make another trip to other provinces tomorrow, sir.

“Say what?”

—The franchisees have made an official request for you to visit their regions, sir. Unfortunately, we can’t just ignore their request. We can suppress them with force if you want, but this matter involves a great deal of money. Doing so will foster a lot of dissatisfaction, sir.

“Y-yeah, that’s right.”

Kang Jin-Ho desperately racked his brain to find an excuse to not do this.

“B-but, this isn’t something I can do alone, though? I’m guessing Director Choi has prior commitments to fulfill tomorrow.”

—Oh, that? You don’t have to worry, sir. I’ve already spoken to her, and she has agreed to help us. As a matter of fact, she told me she was willing to travel around the country for the next three days to promote the franchise.

“...? Doesn’t she have prior commitments?”

—Yes, but she said she’d postpone them. She also said the higher than expected revenue has encouraged her to push herself even more.

What? Shouldn’t she be concentrating on the talent agency’s operation? Why is she butting into the franchise business, too? Why?

—She said everyone in MK is one family. If a director like her shies away from work, who would be motivated to work harder? That’s what she told me over the phone, sir. Honestly, I almost got emotional listening to her.

Wow... That must’ve been one stirring speech, alright. But...!

—To confirm, you ARE doing this, aren’t you? Sir?

“...”

—Sir? I didn’t hear your answer just now. You are doing this, yes? Mister Chairman?

“...Yeah, I’m doing it.”

—Thank you, sir. Leave the matter of transport to us. Since you’ll need to move around quickly, maybe we should rent a helicopter?

No need to go that far, though?

—Then I’ll speak to you again tomorrow. Good night, sir.

The call ended there.

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly stared at his phone before wiping the corners of his eyes away.

I’ve dug my own grave, haven’t I?

Unfortunately for him, it was too late for regrets now.

1. In Korea, getting insulted is described as “eating” insults. ☜