Chapter 31

Choi Jung-hyun stroked his chin and cautiously brought up the topic.

"In the food service industry, ultimately, the taste of the food and the brand concept must perfectly match. So, I'm curious, what kind of coffee do you plan to sell here...?"

Choi Jung-hyun stopped mid-sentence and slapped his forehead.

It was clear that the space hadn't even finished its closure and cleanup.

There was no coffee machine in sight, so there was no way there could be any coffee.

He had unknowingly asked for too much.

Choi Jung-hyun showed his palms to express his apology.

"Ah, no. I think I went a bit too deep, hahaha."

Then, an unexpected answer came back.

"Then, two cups of regular coffee! Please wait a moment!"

Shin Yu-won grinned and darted into the small storage room.

*

Soon, Shin Yu-won brought out two cups of coffee.

"Would you like to come this way?"

Shin Yu-won pointed to the large front window of the store.

In front of it were beverage boxes covered with white cloth.

"For now, these are just placeholders for the seating. Please take a seat."

"Haha, okay."

As they sat down, a small park came into view through the window.

'Beautiful. It matches the concept.'

In Choi Jung-hyun's memory, there were villas to the right of the park, but they were not visible from this spot.

'Good sense.'

At that moment, Shin Yu-won handed over the coffee.

"Here's the coffee you ordered."

Choi Jung-hyun and Lee Si-hyuk took the mugs and tasted the coffee.

"Ah......"

"Hmm......"

They couldn't help but be amazed.

The moment they sipped, a single keyword came to mind.

The coffee had a comfortable body that gently enveloped the tongue.

The soft nut and chocolate aromas seeped in.

Occasional bursts of acidity invigorated the mouth.

Just as he had heard.

Just as he had seen in the modeling.

The coffee evoked the calm yet lively atmosphere of the amusement park.

Choi Jung-hyun couldn't help but clap in his mind.

Shin Yu-won asked,

"Is the taste okay?"

"Though I'm not a coffee expert, I can't say much about it, but this is a perfect coffee that matches the concept of the amusement park. Excellent."

"Thank you, thank you very much!"

Shin Yu-won bowed, and Choi Jung-hyun casually asked,

"But are you still considering a job change?"

"Huh? A job change? I'm still... hahaha."

It was the response he had expected.

"Always like this."

"Huh?"

"The people I want to nurture always end up becoming store owners or representatives somewhere."

"Huh? What do you mean...?"

Shin Yu-won tilted his head.

Unaware of the envious and jealous glares being shot at him from right beside him.

"Haha, no. Forget what I just said."

"Ah, okay."

"By the way, is there anything I can help with as promised? It seems you've already prepared everything so well."

Shin Yu-won raised his hand abruptly.

His face was like that of a child who had just finished a test and was asking for a reward.

"Ah! There is one thing!"

Choi Jung-hyun smiled warmly and asked,

"What is it? Just say it."

"I want to find people who can run these stores for me."

"......What?"

"I could do it myself, but I think it would be better if the representative could help me find more capable people. After all, I'm not very good at baking... hahaha!"

Damn.

"......You're already thinking like a CEO."

"Yes, representative?"

"Ah, no. Cough."

No matter how he thought about it, this was not an ordinary person.

He had only asked him to look for a location, but he had brought back a prime spot.

Somehow, he had made a 1500 won coffee taste like a 6000 won one.

Moreover.

'Starting with two stores at once...'

Choi Jung-hyun himself didn't have that kind of guts.

He had been so anxious and worried about opening a small restaurant, fearing what would happen if it failed.

'His major was industrial design... right, designers are good at this.'

Indeed, he had a good sense of branding.

He had managed to create an atmosphere with just a few props in a space that was a mess from the closure, conveying the core image.

<Delivery Tribe>, <Air Baby>, <Pinterest>... CEOs who were former designers definitely had a different touch.

They knew how to pinpoint and extract the needs and emotions of consumers.

'I should have studied design. Always traveling to places like Papua New Guinea.'

Choi Jung-hyun's major was cultural anthropology.

For the past four years, he had studied primitive tribes, which seemed useless now.

Still, there was one thing he had learned that he had used well.

The easiest way to keep people close.

The best way to gain power over others.

'......I need to make him owe me.'

Finding people?

That was something he could do quickly.

It wasn't a big deal.

He needed something bigger.

Choi Jung-hyun hurriedly made a call.

"Hello, sir, how are you? I apologize for calling so late. Yes, yes, I've seen the Dongtan location well."

Specialized personnel contracted with Ilpum Korea.

"Actually, I was wondering if you could help with a café this time. Haha, no, it's not an Ilpum project."

He planned to dispatch them to Shin Yu-won.

*

The next morning.

"Ugh! What is this!"

When I opened my eyes, I was sprawled on the bed without changing out of yesterday's clothes.

'......Right, I collapsed as soon as I got home.'

I had been pushing myself a bit over the past few days.

Wracking my brain for ideas, drawing plans, doing 3D modeling, and making sauces.

My body was also busy.

Walking around the market to buy props, attaching plastic hoses one by one.

Helping the owner of Se-yeon PC clean up the store.

'Ugh......'

It felt like I had been working harder than when I was employed.

But the preparation process wasn't tiring. Instead, it was more thrilling and exciting.

'My café, my thing. Of course, I should work harder.'

I was worried that I might hear, "This won't do!" but fortunately, I passed!

"Pass! Pass! All pass!"

I kicked the blanket in joy.

"Ah, great, done!"

Then I buried my face in the blanket and pressed it.

'This is really the start. My real café, Amuse. Hmm......'

Of course, it was just the beginning.

There was a lot to do.

I jumped out of bed and searched the storage cabinet where I had put the supplements.

I needed to recover from fatigue to have a productive day.

'Ruruza! Ruruza!'

The supplement I had received as a gift and never eaten.

'Found it!'

And I immediately gave it to Tam.

──「Quantity→Quality Conversion」has been completed.

──Please 「consume」the item that has completed the process.

I had never seen the name of the supplement before, but since it was from Tam, it must be good.

Swallow.

"Let's go!"

I felt energized.

I kicked open the front door and ran around the neighborhood.

"Huff... huff..."

While waiting at a traffic light, I received a text message.

[Choi Jung-hyun: You drank good coffee without paying. I'll pay for the coffee, even though it's late.]

I was momentarily stunned by what he meant.

'Coffee? 1500 won? Four cups, so 6000 won? Really?'

I was about to reply that it wasn't necessary when a call came from an unknown number.

"Yes, this is Shin Yu-won."

[Hello, I'm from Tomboy Factory, a franchise interior specialist. Is this Mr. Shin from Café Amuse?]

Franchise specialist? Construction? Tomboy? Mr. Shin?

"Ah, yes, that's me. But I haven't commissioned any construction."

[This is a request from Mr. Choi, the CEO of Ilpum Korea. Did you not hear about it?]

Mr. Choi, the CEO?

Ah...... the coffee?

How could it be so expensive!

"Ah, I heard a bit, but I didn't get the full details."

[Ha-ha, well...]

It turned out that they were the construction company responsible for Ilpum Korea's stores and had agreed to take on <Amuse> as well.

Moreover.

[The cost will be covered by Mr. Choi from his personal funds.]

I almost cursed out loud.

'Insane!'

Out of kindness.

And out of fear of being beaten by Park So-jung.

'This is a top-secret! We can't tell anyone until one of us dies!'

Still, it was good timing since he wasn't married yet.

But that wasn't the end of it.

[Hello! I'm tax consultant Jo Sung-jin.]

[Is this Mr. Shin Yu-won? I'm from the sign studio, C'est Si Bon.]

......Calls came from various companies I hadn't even contacted.

Throughout the calls, I couldn't help but cheer inwardly.

'Nice!'

I was already planning to contact companies one by one, set up meetings, and had a mountain of work, but it was so much better that they were reaching out on their own.

Moreover, some of them were Ilpum Korea-verified and even offered their services for free.

I couldn't ask for more.

'Mr. Choi! You're a lifesaver!'

I immediately scheduled meetings with each call.

"Yes, let's meet today. 7 PM. Sounds good."

"No, hahaha. How about 10 AM tomorrow?"

"4 PM tomorrow? Hold on. Sounds good!"

By the time I finished the back-and-forth with the companies and returned home,

'What is this? Why do I feel like it's all done?'

The initial contacts for the store opening were almost complete.

Moreover, from here on out, it was almost the same work I had done at <Blue Place>.

Literally, a smooth sail.

'Mr. Choi! You're a smooth sail! May you have many smooth-sailing children!'

Ah, but the computer store contract was still pending, waiting for Choi Jung-hyun's confirmation.

After a quick breakfast, I went out and completed both the acquisition and lease agreements.

After signing the contract and stepping out, the computer store looked fresh and new.

'This is mine too!'

But to communicate with the companies, I needed to clearly name the stores.

'That one will be Amuse Hapjeong Station. This one will be Shinchon.'