Chapter 74

As time passed, not only did it not rust, but her smile became even more elegant. Lim Hee-ju said,

“I know that you don’t give your favors lightly.”

*

Anyway, the entertainment industry was a scary place.

*

3:30 PM.

I closed the coffee truck.

Although there was still cold brew left, it was time to escape the rush hour traffic.

“Today’s business is over! Everyone, great job!”

I cleaned up the scattered trash around me.

I handed the remaining cold brew to the staff.

While listening to the snoring ensemble of the drowsy duo, I arrived in Seoul around 7:30 PM.

My mind was also getting hazy.

The physical fatigue and mental tension were finally easing up.

“Boss, I’m sorry. I tried to hold it in, but I couldn’t help it.”

“Me too. I kept pinching my thigh, but I ended up falling asleep...”

The drowsy duo, who were just starting to wake up, felt apologetic, but there was no reason for them to feel that way. They were doing it all for me.

“No, both of you have worked hard since the early morning. Here’s your overtime pay.”

I handed them a thick envelope.

“Today, go home and rest well without stopping by the cafe. Prepare the ingredients tomorrow morning.”

“Hehe, thank you.”

“Wow, Boss! Always so touching!”

I dropped them off at a good spot to go home.

“Phew...”

I returned to the Sinchon branch alone, with the lights off.

I moved the furniture that needed to be returned to the cafe from the coffee truck.

Really, the workday was over.

“So tired... so tired...”

I walked weakly and sat at one of the cafe tables.

The dim orange lighting.

Under it, I took out five cans of beer I bought on the way.

And then, “Quality Conversion.”

──“Quality Conversion” has been completed.

──Please “consume” the converted item.

According to the “Preview,” it was a fresh one straight from the brewery.

With high expectations, I popped the cap.

White foam rose.

‘This is going to be delicious.’

I took a sip and then gulped it down my throat.

“Ah!”

This is it!

This is why I work!

The refreshing carbonation.

The fragrant alcohol aroma.

The intoxication seeping through my veins.

“Ah, this is good!”

It felt like the fatigue of a long day was washing away.

Now it was time for some snacks.

Today’s snack was already decided.

I took out my phone.

‘...How many followers have I gained, huh? Ugh.’

During the drive back to Seoul, I received so many notifications.

Eventually, I turned my phone to silent mode and didn’t check Instagram.

Good things should be savored, after all.

‘It’s almost sous-vide level. This can’t be anything but delicious.’

I swallowed hard and opened the app.

First, I planned to check the accounts of the actors from “Return to Weihado.”

But.

‘What is this?’

The number in the top right corner of the screen, in the thousands.

My eyes were immediately drawn to it.

Moreover, I had over 80 DMs.

‘Why so many DMs?’

There were people who occasionally liked posts on the Amuse cafe account, but I had never received so many 1-on-1 messages.

Curious, I opened the most recent message.

[Hello, I’m Kim Su-young, an MD at the food and beverage social commerce platform <VeryVeryOmelette>. I would like to sell your cold brew on our platform. Regarding the listing and exclusive sales contract...]

‘What is this... a love call?’

I poured another glass of beer and opened the next message.

[Hello! Nice to meet you, <ToroRoroMarket> here :) AMUSE cold brew was as hot as today’s weather, right? We’re really curious about how it tastes...]

The one below was also a love call.

[Hello, I’m Choi Su-hyun, the sales manager at the online shopping platform <SaleDotDot>. I just wanted to...]

And the one below that was also a love call.

[Hello, I’m the food and beverage MD at...]

It seemed that Amuse had become a beloved partner to all kinds of platforms.

‘Is this... SNS power?’

But that wasn’t all.

[As soon as you open tomorrow, I’ll come to buy cold brew. Please prepare it in advance.]

[Good night! I searched for AMUSE, and there’s a Sinchon branch and a Hapjeong station branch... Which one should I go to?]

[Can I take out the cold brew concentrate from your offline store? How many bottles can I buy per person? Will you be open tomorrow?]

What’s going on, guys? It’s scary...

[Thank you for taking care of our Seong. AMUSE’s coffee truck is so pretty, and the boss and staff are so cool ♥]

[Hello, I run a cafe in Siheung. The coffee truck was so pretty! How did you supply or deliver to the drama set?]

All sorts of attention were being showered on us. It was overwhelming to read over 80 messages.

I took a few sincere DMs and sent them to the group chat of the hardworking duo.

And then, another shot of beer!

“Ah!”

...I’m going to go crazy. In a good way.

“...Yeah.”

I raised my heavy arm and made a fist.

Today’s sales at the Sinchon branch were 0 won.

Moreover, it had drained the souls and labor of me and my staff.

But it seemed that the compensation was well worth it.

‘What on earth happened?’

Clearly, something must have happened while we were on our way back to Seoul.

Just as I was about to quickly check the actors’ and Amuse’s accounts.

A new DM appeared on the screen.

[It’s Jin Ye-na from MarketKilly. Boss, it seems like your coffee truck was a huge hit today? (Wink)(Shy)]

I chuckled.

A smile appeared.

Signs of a big hit

[It’s Jin Ye-na from MarketKilly. Boss, it seems like your coffee truck was a huge hit today? (Wink)(Shy)]

Why is this person suddenly being so friendly?

I ignored it and closed the message window.

There was no need to respond at this stage.

If she’s the CEO of MarketKilly, she wouldn’t use the term “big hit” for trivial matters. I was very curious about what had happened.

I poured the remaining beer into my mouth.

I checked the Amuse cafe account first.

[amuse.only]

[Followers 8,893]

“What? Already 8,000? 9,000?”

No, is this even possible?

Did I see it wrong because I was drunk?

I refreshed the screen.

[amuse.only]

[Followers 8,907]

“What?”

Not only did I not see it wrong, but the number of followers had increased even more in just a few seconds.

...It was true that the number of followers had jumped by ten thousand in a day.

‘This is really amazing.’

I found it so interesting that I refreshed the screen again.

[amuse.only]

[Followers 8,932]

Gah... it increased in real-time again.

I had set a goal of 10,000 followers, but that was just a goal. I never thought it would increase so quickly.

We hadn’t even posted a lot of content on our feed.

The actors had taken their own photos.

A few on-set photos taken with the staff’s consent and the coffee truck photos were all we had.

‘Or...’

Could it be the Kilbangwon effect?

I immediately went to Yoo Si-sung’s feed.

[poetstar.u]

[Followers 172K]

172,000 followers.

It was a lower number than I expected.

Maybe it’s because he’s still new?

Min Chae-yeon already has 130,000 followers.

‘...Or is Min Chae-yeon the one with a lot of followers?’

I scrolled down the feed.

Sure enough, the photos taken on set earlier were up.

The top one was a photo of him holding a cold brew to his bloodied cheek, smiling brightly, which was uncharacteristic of Kilbangwon.

The Amuse logo sticker on the disposable cup was clearly visible.

[poetstar.u✓ What will this coffee be like?]

[ #Kilbangwon #Weihado #Hot_Weather_But_Good #ColdBrewDelicious #TheKingsAffection_Love]

[Likes 20,827 Comments 182]

The reaction was explosive.

Over 20,000 likes.

“Crazy...”

Even with a similar number of followers, Min Chae-yeon’s feed rarely got over 10,000 likes.

Is this the power of a fanbase?

“Nice!”

And the next post.

There were several photos of our cafe.

[poetstar.u✓ This is the first time I’ve seen a coffee truck like this.]

[ #JapaneseFilmAesthetic #CafeAmuse #HopeItDoesWell]

[Likes 6,827 Comments 58]

A selfie with Kilbangwon and me.

A full-body photo of me and Pil-sujeong standing side by side.

A photo of the ‘AMUSE’ sign on