Chapter 15

"Brother Minseok, how much is it?"

A small flame ignited.

"Eh, why? You're interested too?"

It wasn't out of competitiveness with Kang Taejun.

It was a flame that had been smoldering deep within my heart for a very long time.

"Yes, I'm interested."

Why are you here?

I was the branding director and supervisor of <Blue Place> cafe.

It was a hard-won job, and I wanted to become indispensable.

I think I did all the efforts a regular employee could do.

But the fruits of my labor were not mine.

[ Congratulations on the opening, sir. ]

[ Haha, all thanks to you, sir. Please come anytime. Your coffee and cake are on the house! ]

All I got in return was free coffee?

Of course, I received my salary, and there was a sense of fulfillment in helping others, but that was it.

A long-suppressed thirst, for practical reasons.

Mine.

It didn't have to be a cafe.

If my achievements were fully recognized,

If my name could be firmly attached to my ideas or strategies, it might have been fine.

But such things were impossible in Korean companies.

Every day, I saw, heard, and touched, yearning for it.

"Yes, I'm interested."

In this small and beautiful space.

"Huh? Where would you get the money?"

Kang Taejun sneered.

He seemed to regain his composure when the topic of money came up.

"Money comes and goes."

"But the important thing is that you don't have it now, right?"

"That's not certain."

"Is a cafe a child's play? Do you know how much work it involves?"

"I think I know more than you do."

The surroundings suddenly fell silent.

"Ah, Blue Place? If you run it with that cheap franchise sentiment, it'll do really well, really well."

"Exactly. The coffee made with that cheap franchise sentiment is much better than yours."

"Hey, you!"

Kang Taejun stood up abruptly, but the members sitting next to him held him back.

"Brother, stop it!"

"Why are you acting like a kid? Yoo-won, you too!"

Kang Taejun sat down quickly, as if he had wanted to be stopped from the beginning, and the table was filled with a cold silence.

It was Park Minseok who broke the silence.

"I think Brother Taejun would do well with a cafe."

"You think so too? Hahaha. I'm managing several buildings; I can't fail to run a small cafe, can I?"

It seemed like he was subtly supporting Kang Taejun.

It was a bit strange.

Brother Minseok wasn't the type to take sides in a fight.

We didn't have any bad blood either.

Actually, it would have been better if he did.

"Exactly. If you're really considering it, let me know anytime."

"Sure, sure. I'll think about it and get back to you. It would be a shame to hand over this cafe, which Yoo-won has done so well, to just anyone."

Kang Taejun glanced at me when he said 'just anyone,' and it felt unpleasant.

But reality is reality.

I still lacked funds, and Brother Minseok thought the other side was better.

'...Was it too early a dream?'

What about you?

──────────

The tutorial V of "Brilliant 30s" is starting.

◇ Quest: Convert invisible information from quality to quantity.

◇ Time limit: 10 minutes

──────────

Now? In 10 minutes?

Can't you respect TPO a bit?

I had no choice but to stand up and say,

"I'll be right back to the bathroom."

I could hear Kang Taejun chuckling from behind, but I didn't care.

First things first.

I grabbed a memo pad and pen from the counter and went to the bathroom.

Fortunately, no one was in the bathroom, and I locked myself in a stall.

'Convert information from quality to quantity?'

What should I write?

Coco isn't the type to eat just anything.

Should I bring an article like last time with HT Biologics? Something impressive.

I searched for articles on my phone and copied the headlines and contents onto the memo pad.

[ Fang Ho-joon leaves his mark in three Korean characters at the American Academy ]

Coco seemed unimpressed.

──【Advanced Workspace: High-Grade】presses the dislike button on the boring text.

As expected, this isn't enough.

After all, news articles are public information, so it's hard to consider them high-grade.

I thought about using the Phase 3 clinical trial results that Tam told me, but they were also published in articles.

「00:07:21」

「00:07:20」

「00:07:19」

「00:07:18」

I needed to think faster.

'What can I do?'

Maybe I'm overthinking it.

Information doesn't have to be grand.

Even a small, trivial secret of one person can be high-grade to someone else.

Then,

'Min Chae-won might have a crush on Yoo-won... Ah! Don't drink the kimchi broth.'

Just then,

Knock knock—

I was startled by the sudden knock and almost dropped my pen.

"Yes, I'm here."

I answered, but I wondered why someone would knock on this door when there were other empty stalls.

"Yoo-won."

It was Park Minseok.

"Are you pooping?"

Why did this brother come all of a sudden?

He made me feel embarrassed by taking Kang Taejun's side earlier.

"I've been a bit constipated lately."

"Really? Did you go?"

"......No."

"Okay. If it's not urgent, can you come out for a moment?"

"Sure?"

What is it? I don't have much time.

But I couldn't just leave him there.

I opened the door to quickly send him away, but Park Minseok locked the men's room door.

Click—

He turned around with a dark expression.

"Yoo-won."

"Yes, brother."

"When I opened this place, you helped a lot, didn't you?"

You did.

Well, it was my job.

"Recently, when I thought about closing the store, I kept thinking about that time. I clenched my teeth and opened the store, but every day was filled with anxiety, worry, and sleepless nights. Mentally, it was more exhausting than physically."

"Really? I didn't know. You seemed so professional."

"You were the professional. With a kid like you, who manages a specialized store, coming over every evening to check things out, I felt so relieved..."

Park Minseok's eyes wavered for a moment.

"I thought I would repay this favor someday... but looking back, I haven't done anything for you."

"Ah, what are you talking about? I didn't do it for anything, so don't worry about it."

"That's why... I wanted to say..."

Why go to such lengths to say something?

"Don't take over this place."

"Huh?"

"The building will likely go to auction."

What?

"Isn't it because of family circumstances? You said earlier..."

"Don't misunderstand. I'm not lying."

Park Minseok avoided eye contact and clenched the back of his head.

"My father's condition has worsened, and I'm thinking of moving to the countryside to be with him. I wanted to be with him at least in his last days. But then the talk of the building going to auction came up..."

"Oh."

It was a complicated situation.

Technically, just because the building is going to auction doesn't mean the business has to stop immediately.

But it could cause a lot of headaches, so he was cutting it off early.

Park Minseok's thick hand touched my shoulder.

"So don't get involved and suffer for nothing. Just pretend you didn't hear it."

"Ah, that's why you told Brother Taejun earlier?"

Park Minseok just nodded and said,

"I... the situation is urgent... I couldn't help it. But I'll explain it slowly."

He spoke as if confessing to a wrongdoing, pausing frequently.

But I didn't think it was wrong.

"Brother, it's okay."

Good!

Kang Taejun, you can have it!

Let it give you a headache and make your hair fall out!

"I understand. Thank you for being honest with me, brother."

"No... I'll repay the rest later."

"Ah, don't be silly!"

"Haha, yeah..."

"Then, let's go back."

I don't have much time.

"Sure, finish up. Eat more vegetables."

"Ah, yes."

After confirming that Park Minseok left the bathroom, I returned to an empty stall.

「00:03:41」

「00:03:40」

「00:03:39」

Time was running out.

I quickly wrote down the information I just obtained on the back of the memo pad. I had a feeling this would work.

[ The owner of the cafe <Muse> located at the end of Mangridan-gil in Mangwon-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Park Minseok, is putting the store up for sale. The reason is to take care of his sick father and the financial problems of the building owner. The entire building is at risk of going to auction. Unaware of these circumstances, Kang Taejun is trying to take over the store on a whim. ]

Is this enough, Coco?

──【Advanced Workspace: High-Grade】opens its eyes wide and waits