Chapter 1510 Taking Place (5)

[Some people will try to pick fights with you in your stores.]

[Do not engage them. Be as polite as possible. If they still act unreasonably, report them to the police.]

[Also, those people might put something in their orders or do something similar to manufacture a problem. If that happens, do not apologize or accept the blame. Confirm your CCTV feed first, then call the police.]

[An unknown party is trying to ruin our company’s public image.]

[Any moron who can’t control himself and causes problems for the rest of us will spend three nights and four days of quality time with me, Lee Hyeon-Su!]

“What the... What’s going on here?”

Seong Ju-Chan stared at the latest set of messages appearing in the chatroom and shuddered in dread. The threat of the unknown party was one thing, but it was the prospect of spending the so-called quality time with Lee Hyeon-Su that scared him silly.

That must be hell, right?

He’d rather die than go through that nonsense!

Just as his thoughts reached that far, a new message popped up in the chatroom.

[Once the troublemakers leave your store, you shall chase after them. Let one of your employees look after the place. Also, the troublemaker should have companions. Wait for them to leave.]

“What? There’s more?”

Seong Ju-Chan roughly scratched his head. He couldn’t figure out what was going on here, so accessed the chatroom used by the cafe franchisees next.

[Oii, what’s going on here?]

[Did you hear about Yeong-Cheol in the Bucheon branch beating up a customer?]

[Yeah, I did.]

[The higher-ups now think that was staged. Someone was trying to mess with us, apparently. As in, they are deliberately pissing us off to create some kinda incidents.]

[What?! What kind of motherf*cker would do that?]

[Maybe they are after money?]

[Who knows? Anyways, the same thing can happen to us, too, so we better keep our eyes peeled, okay?]

[If they are trying to extort money from us, we should rip them apart in half, no!?]

[Sure, but you’ll be the one getting ripped apart in half, okay!]

The rate of new messages popping up was verging on explosive. Still, Seong Ju-Chan was able to get a rough idea of the situation from all the interactions. Without wasting time, he began working on his own countermeasures.

“Everyone! I want you to film everything in our store with your phones! Starting from all the ingredients to the state of our store’s hygiene! And whenever you’re handing over the drinks or treats to customers, film them, too!”

The employees all looked at Seong Ju-Chan in surprise.

“Eh? But that’s going to waste a lot of time, sir.”

“I know, but we don’t have a choice! We’ll have to give up on some of the sales today. Even if customers are dissatisfied, just let them be.”

“...? Understood, manager.”

Seong Ju-Chan uploaded his countermeasure to the chatroom.

Just who are these people, anyway?

All he and his peers were trying to do was put food on their tables, so who would want to ruin them this way?

Fine! Let them come! All I need is one bastard!

Seong Ju-Chan began gritting his teeth, only to stop and slap his own face.

The nearby employees jumped up in alarm.

“Heol?!”

“What are you doing, sir?”

“N-no, it’s nothing. Don’t mind me, everyone.”

Seong Ju-Chan sighed deeply, then told himself, Yes, I’m a Buddha today. I’m a saint and a Buddha...

The “All I need is one bastard!” mindset would’ve led to a massive trouble for everyone. Seong Ju-Chan and everyone else’s job wasn’t to catch the bastards responsible, but ensuring that no harm would fall to themselves and to safely negotiate through this dangerous period for the franchise.

One person’s mistake could ruin everything for everyone involved. And Seong Ju-Chan had precisely zero desire to become that one person.

I will! Never! Fall for it! I swear on my life!

***

Kang Jin-Ho calmly asked, “Has everyone been notified?”

Lee Hyeon-Su nodded. “Yes, sir. We’ve warned them multiple times already. And Miss Lee is calling the stores one by one to remind them personally.”

“Mm...!”

Currently, in the chairman’s office...

Due to the severity of the situation, even Hwang Min-Su and his group of subordinates had been summoned to the office.

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at Hwang Min-Su. “What do you think, Mister Hwang?”

“Hmm...! It is indeed plausible, sir,” Hwang Min-Su replied, a wry grin plastered on his face. “This applies to pretty much every business out there, but... On the surface, the competition between companies might seem by-the-book and law-abiding, but behind the scenes, they all resort to every kind of dirty play you can think of. Because it’s easier to drag others down rather than putting in the necessary effort to climb higher.”

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes. “Then, you also think that’s what we’re dealing with?”

“Yes, sir. It’s extremely likely.”

Hwang Min-Su scratched his head.

He couldn’t help but wonder why he hadn’t anticipated a situation like this beforehand. Now impressed, his attention shifted to Lee Hyeon-Su.

This guy, he’s no joke, is he?

Even with all his experience in the business world, Hwang Min-Su still failed to anticipate such a dirty move. Although not to this extent, it was common-enough practice to hire people to post malicious rumors online against one’s competition, after all. Some even would go as far as manipulating the media, too.

Since he was aware of this, Hwang Min-Su should have thought about the possibility of the competition trying to sabotage MK’s franchise. But he failed to do so after getting flustered by the potential threat to the successful launch.

Kang Jin-Ho asked again, “Any idea on who could be behind this attack?”

“It’s impossible to tell,” said Hwang Min-Su with a deep sigh. “We have far too many suspects, unfortunately. Especially in the world of cafes... Since most of the franchises are interchangeable, the competition between them is naturally as fierce as it can get, sir. They are all ripping at each other’s throats to survive. And they all have the motives to attack us.”

“Mm...!” Kang Jin-Ho weightily nodded. “We need to come up with a countermeasure. Even if we prevent any further attacks against us, our ruined public image won’t automatically recover, after all.”

“Yes, that’s true. Also...” Lee Hyeon-Su responded, his expression bitter. “Even though we’ve shored up our defenses, there is still no guarantee that everything will be fine from now on, sir. Because, in a situation like this, attacking is several times easier than defending, you see? And, no matter how watertight our defenses are, there will always be some gaps left open.”

“Then... We should expect at least two or more incidents in our stores in the future.”

“Yes, sir. Most likely.”

Kang Jin-Ho groaned loudly. He was not scared of picking up his swords and jumping into a life-or-death fight, but a battle like this? It felt like a lump of rock was sinking into his chest.

At least it’d been better to have a clear enemy, but asking for that in the current situation was being too unreasonable.

“So, how will we fight back?”

Lee Hyeon-Su grinned softly. “Our ruined image won’t recover anytime soon, sir. We can explain to the public until we are blue in the face, but no one will pay attention to us. Scandals and mishaps are usually more interesting and impactful than positive news, after all.”

“Hmm...”

Kang Jin-Ho’s expression grew heavier, because his frustration level went up every time he heard that assertion. Why would bad news have a greater impact than good news? He just couldn’t understand it.

Since Lee Hyeon-Su and Lee Hyeon-Ju both said the same thing, he had no choice but to accept it as the truth, but understanding it was a separate matter.

“Then there’s no way to fight this?”

“No, sir. There is a way.”

“Mm?”

Lee Hyeon-Su grinned brightly. “I told you, sir. That scandals and mishaps are more impactful than positive news.”

“Yeah...? So what?”

“So, all we have to do is create an even more impactful scandal.”

“What do you mean?”

The corners of Lee Hyeon-Su’s lips curled up weirdly. No, forget weirdly... That was the smirk of a villain!

“Imagine a headline that reads, A so-and-so corporation hires people to destroy a new company that merely wanted a symbiotic relationship with its franchisees! Or something in that vein, sir. I can’t think of a more interesting and scandalous headline than that. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“...”

“We only need one chance, sir. Once we grab their tail, it won’t be long before their public reputation is ruined, and their lives turn into a living hell. Meanwhile, all we have to do is sit back and enjoy the show. Oh, and their downfall will also serve as a great source of advertisement for us, so there’s that.”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly shook his head. Indeed, no one could match Lee Hyeon-Su in using their brain in things like this!

“But there’s a chance we might not catch them,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“Then, we’ll have to make sure they are caught,” Lee Hyeon-Su replied, his smirk deepening. “Besides, they are basically already caught, anyway. Do you remember that fake victim who went to the cops to make that complaint?”

“Mm... Yeah, I remember.”

“All we have to do is dig up his information.”

Kang Jin-Ho furrowed his brow. “Not everyone can dig up someone’s personal information.”

“True, sir. True. We might be pretty good at unearthing stuff like that, but if our enemy isn’t dumb, they must’ve ensured nothing could lead back to them. However~! How fortunate it is that we have connections to the number one organization in Korea when it comes to investigating people’s backgrounds.”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. “Huh?”

“They owe us a lot, so we might as well put them to work, no? Heh, I have a feeling that they will even uncover the names of our enemies’ great-great-great-great-grandparents!”

“Who are you even talking about?”

“The National Intelligence Service, of course.”

“...The who?”

Lee Hyeon-Su relaxedly repeated himself. “The National Intelligence Service, sir. The NIS.”

“...”

Without a doubt, Lee Hyeon-Su was not right in the head, no?

***

“What the hell is this?! I told you, I want the damn whipped cream!”

Seong Ju-Chan’s expression remained unchanging as he replied, “Dear customer, you asked us to exclude the whipped cream... Here, your bill. It says no whipped cream.”

“What the hell? Are you accusing me of lying?”

A bright grin formed on Seong Ju-Chan’s face next. “Of course not! I wouldn’t dare. I must’ve heard your order wrong. May I have the drink back? I’ll prepare the correct drink right away.”

The man, who was obviously trying to pick a fight, got flustered ever so slightly. “W-what?! Why should I give it back to you, when it was you who screwed up and gave me this?!”

“Aha, I see! In that case, please keep the drink, sir. On the house. Then, let me prepare the drink with the whipped cream right away.”

That was when the man gripped the cup slightly tighter. Seong Ju-Chan didn’t miss that change.

Hah. Looks like this is the bastard we’ve been warned about.

Seong Ju-Chan’s sharp eyes rapidly scanned the cafe’s interior. Sure enough, he spotted a couple of people not too far away filming this exchange with their phones. Those mobile devices were sneakily placed on their legs as if to hide them as much as possible, but that was not enough to fool Seong Ju-Chan’s discernment.

“What the hell, man! Are you messing with me?! What about the time I wasted because of your stupid mistake?!”

And now, this man was resorting to childish arguments. Seong Ju-Chan remained smiling, however.

“Then, how should we compensate you, sir?”

“What was that?”

“Dear customer, I’d like to compensate you for all the time you’ve wasted here. First of all, I’d like to offer my sincerest apology.”

“Uh...?”

The man was visibly getting more flustered now. Then again, he must be frustrated by Seong Ju-Chan replying with a bright grin despite all the attempts to piss him off.

Sorry, you piece of sh*t! I ain’t gonna respond to your provocations, cuz I’m not interested in spending quality time with that devil!

Lee Hyeon-Su would no doubt try to grind his victim to fine powder and use them in a soup or something! No, wait. Knowing what that devil was capable of, the victim might wish for the grind-into-soup treatment instead!

The man shouted even louder. “What the f*ck! Are you deaf or something?! You brat, how old are you?!”

“I’m thirty-two this year.”

“...Say what?”

“I’m thirty-two this year, dear customer,” said Seong Ju-Chan, his bright grin getting even brighter.

“Why, you... Dammit!”

The man flinched weirdly, then with an obviously unnatural movement, threw the cup of Frappuccino at Seong Ju-Chan’s face.

Grab!

However, Seong Ju-Chan had no issue with catching the incoming cup.

“Sir? Are you returning the drink? Then, should I put the whipped cream on it instead?”

“I-I don’t want your damn drink anymore!”

The man shouted before rushing outside the cafe. The other customers watching this scene in silence erupted into a chorus of loud applause.

“Whoa! Now that’s how you deal with a Karen!”

“If it were me, I’d have slapped the living sh*t out of that guy already. That manager’s patience is something else, alright.”

Seong Ju-Chan smiled brightly at all the outpouring of compliments.

My apologies, everyone. If it had been any other situation, I’d have killed that guy already, you see?

Despite the smile on his face, he knew now wasn’t the time to laugh.

This event made it crystal clear now. Some people were definitely going around different stores to cause trouble. In other words, there was an unknown enemy, and this enemy was trying to screw with them!

Sluuurp...

The men who had been silently filming the exchange finished their drinks, returned their cups at the counter, then left without saying anything or acting weirdly.

Seong Ju-Chan glanced at them before taking his apron off, then called out to one of the employees. “Hey, Hyeon-Geong?”

“Yes, sir?”

“I gotta pop outside for a minute or two. Can you look after the store for me in the meantime? Oh, and some other people might try to pick fights with us again later in the day. When that happens, do not ever get angry at them, okay?”

“Understood, sir. But, uh, where are you going?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be back soon.”

...After tailing those rat bastards, that was!

Seong Ju-Chan stepped outside the cafe, then quickly accessed the chatroom with his phone.

[Someone tried to start trouble in my store. Their group left just now. I’m in pursuit.]

[What?! Give us your coordinates! I’m coming, too!]

[Let’s show those sons of b*tches who they are messing with.]

[Damn! I also had some bastards looking for trouble earlier. But the store was too busy for me to go after them. Go get them, Ju-Chan! No matter what!]

Seong Ju-Chan left the chatroom, then dialed a familiar number next. Even as he did all this, his sharp glare never left the backs of the suspicious men in the distance.

“Miss Lee, this is Seong Ju-Chan. I’m currently chasing after the suspicious bastards. My location is...”

This was the start of MK’s counterattack.