Chapter 1495 Opening for Business (5)

“Uhm, excuse me...?”

Ju Yeong-Gi grimaced. “Y-yes?”

“Please forgive us for that silly mistake just now...”

“N-no, it’s fine. I’m, uh, just as guilty, after all...”

Ju Yeong-Gi and Seong Ju-Chan’s group were cautiously staring at each other, awkwardness the only emotion visible on their faces.[1]

One group thought, What the hell! Why are the Assembly Master’s friends in this place?!

While the other group thought, What the hell?! Why do people working in Jin-Ho’s company resemble a bunch of criminals?!

A bizarre situation of both parties staring at each other while sweating profusely unfolded in this cafe.

The Assembly members were in a half-panicked state, knowing they had threatened and even hurled insults at Kang Jin-Ho’s friends. Even if he was not known for throwing his weight around, especially in personal matters, wasn’t this still a bit too tricky of a situation?

This is totally unprecedented, isn’t it!

No one could tell if Kang Jin-Ho would react calmly and peacefully to an event like this. There had never been a case of a Korean martial artist swearing like a thug at the Assembly Master’s close friends, after all.

Kang Jin-Ho caring greatly about his family and acquaintances was a famous story in the Assembly, so it was impossible to predict what might happen once he got wind of this fiasco.

You bastard! You should’ve stopped us!

I did stop you, you dumbass!

Stop us?! My ass! You should’ve said something sooner! What’s the point of stepping up when it’s too late to fix anything?!

Seong Ju-Chan was going crazy from how unfair this was. But that didn’t alleviate the pain from all the murderous glares stabbing him non-stop.

However, Ju Yeong-Gi was also in as much pain as the Assembly’s people right now.

Aaargh! The awkwardness is driving me up the wall! Seriously!

Who could have imagined that a group of thugs arrogantly waltzing into a newly opened cafe just so happened to be “employees” of Kang Jin-Ho’s company?!

Why?! Why do they have to look like that?!

Of course, the problem wasn’t as simple as their questionable appearances.

As a man who had plied his trade in that neck of the woods for a while, Ju Yeong-Gi could tell. Folks who lived half outside the society governed by the rule of law always, always, emitted a certain smell, and this group emitted that very smell.

That was what triggered Ju Yeong-Gi earlier. Showing up unannounced at a store on the opening day and causing a scene before ripping money off from the store owner was the preferred modus operandi of thugs and lowlives, after all.

But now, these people were...

“...You, uh, came to buy coffee? Is that why you’re here?”

“Y-yes, sir. That’s... supposed to be the case.”

Yes, their real purpose for coming here was to buy the bloody coffee! That revelation drove Ju Yeong-Gi up the proverbial wall. And what made this situation even more awkward and unbearable was that... These people, who looked like they could devour an entire cow alive on the spot, were fidgeting anxiously in front of his eyes!

Ju Yeong-Gi groaned and muttered, “What the hell, Jin-Ho...? You bastard, what is the meaning of...”

“Hiiiieeeek!”

“Ooooh! Dear Father in Heaven! Please save my soul!”

“No, sir! I haven’t heard a thing! Yes, I can’t hear anything! And I definitely didn’t hear a thing!”

“...”

Ju Yeong-Gi hurriedly clamped his mouth shut because if he continued to speak, these people might suddenly start confessing their sins to him.

Damn. I better not say anything.

When Ju Yeong-Gi visibly faltered, Park Yu-Min sighed deeply and addressed his friend. “Hey, Yeong-Gi?”

“Yeah?”

“I think you should stop talking now.”

“...Right.”

Usually, Ju Yeong-Gi would have gotten triggered by that request, but not this time. It felt like every time he opened his mouth, this situation got worse. Which meant that the best recourse right now was to stay back and let his friend handle it.

Park Yu-Min turned his attention to the Assembly members. “First of all, I apologize for this misunderstanding.”

“N-no, sir! Don’t say that.”

All the Assembly members bowed deeply to apologize, but that excessively polite attitude only flustered Park Yu-Min even more.

“You don’t have to be so polite to us. You look much older than me, after all.”

“T-to us, one’s age is irrelevant, sir! No, what is important is that you are the Assembly Master’s friends!”

“...”

In any other situation, Park Yu-Min would’ve pleaded with the other party to drop the polite speech, but...

But, if I do that now, we might waste another thirty minutes arguing back and forth.

There were times when an adult simply had to be more flexible than usual.

“Okay. Then let’s move on,” said Park Yu-Min while scratching his head. Because of how he was brought up, being spoken to so politely by older people didn’t feel great to him. However, he didn’t have a choice but to endure it this time. “So, uh... Did you come here to improve the store’s revenue?”

“Yes, sir.”

“But isn’t this store far from Jin-Ho’s company? Is it okay for you to come this far in the morning? During the week, no less?”

“Oh, that. Please don’t misunderstand us, sir,” said Jeon Seok-Jin while urgently waving his hand. “We’re not skipping work or shirking our duties or anything of the sort, sir! The truth is... The higher-ups commanded us to do this.”[2]

“Sorry?”

“Well, putting it that way makes it sound like we’re spies from North Korea or something. It’s better to say they told us to come here, and... The original idea was for a few of our people to show up now and then to boost sales.”

“Really?” Park Yu-Min tilted his head in confusion and stared at the Assembly members. “Just a few people won’t improve the revenue by much, though?”

“Oh, that. Well...”

Jeon Seok-Jin slightly turned his head toward the exit. With the perfect timing, the door opened, and yet another batch of strapping men waltzed inside the cafe.

One of those men noticed the group of the Assembly members and blinked his eyes. “Eh? What are you guys doing?”

Jeon Seok-Jin shrugged casually. “As you can see.”

“Aaaah.” Park Yu-Min nodded in understanding. It seemed the higher-ups were supervising the “release” times to prevent overcrowding. “Why during the office hours, though?”

“Chief Lee said... Oh, uh, you know who Chief Lee Hyeon-Su is, yes?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Chief Lee said people packing the cafes will help with the revenue, so... He ordered us to grab a seat and make the cafes look busy to passersby.”

“Help with the revenue?”

Park Yu-Min’s cheeks twitched subtly. Meanwhile, Ju Yeong-Gi held his head and groaned loudly.

With a voice that contained his wish of, “No, it can’t be, right?” Park Yu-Min cautiously asked, “Is... Is the same thing happening to other cafes as well?”

“Yes, sir. All one hundred stores around the country are supposed to experience this simultaneously.”

Park Yu-Min slowly turned his head and stared at Seong Ju-Chan. Rather unsurprisingly, Seong Ju-Chan’s expression could only be described as cramped.

“Will this be okay?”

“Sir, in your honest opinion, do you think it will be okay?”

“...Uh-whew.” Park Yu-Min spat out a lengthy groan, then turned to his friend. “Hey, Yeong-Gi?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you call Jin-Ho and talk to him about this?”

“Me? What about you?”

“I have a hunch that you will be more effective than me this time.”

“Got it. This bro will take care of this nonsense,” Ju Yeong-Gi replied as steam gushed out from his nostrils.

Park Yu-Min watched his friend get up and leave the cafe before covering his face.

***

Lee Hyeon-Su grunted. “U-urgh... Urgh...!”

Kang Jin-Ho tutted. “Stop faking it.”

“S-sir, I’m not... faking...”

“I told you to stop faking it.”

“U-urghhh...”

Only two people were present in the Assembly Master’s office. One was obviously Kang Jin-Ho. He sat behind his desk to deal with his administrative duties, but, rather uncharacteristically for him, he was wearing a pair of thick horn-rimmed glasses.

Even though he repeatedly said such objects were meaningless to him, Choi Yeon-Ha steadfastly pushed this pair of blue light-blocking glasses while saying no mortal could fight back against the effects of presbyopia.

He sensed unmistakable “malice” when she said presbyopia. However, the fact was that she still bought this pair in consideration of his health. In that case, he might as well use it as much as possible while performing administrative tasks. And those lenses were currently reflecting the report Lee Hyeon-Su had submitted earlier.

After reading the report for a while, Kang Jin-Ho groaned and reclined away from the computer screen.

Yes, this is all my fault.

Recent events led to him trusting Lee Hyeon-Su a lot more, which resulted in Kang Jin-Ho approving all the reports the latter had submitted without perusing them once. No wonder he now had to deal with a catastrophe on his hands!

Kang Jin-Ho turned his head slightly to look at the other occupant of his office. Next to his desk was the grunting and whimpering Lee Hyeon-Su, his head planted to the floor and his hands behind his back.

“Stand up.”

“Kkeuh-huph!”

Lee Hyeon-Su hurriedly stood up at attention. His reddened face indicated how much toll that little punishment had taken on him.

He inwardly groaned, Why! Why did the Assembly Master have to serve in the army!

A man who could have opted out of the mandatory military service if he wanted to still went there like an upstanding citizen, then rejoined the civilian society after mastering some weird punishment methods!

The thing was, though? Lee Hyeon-Su wouldn’t have suffered from performing a bit of the infamous Wonsan bombing raid technique. Even if he was nominally a martial artist, he was still one at the end of the day. The sturdiness of his physical body was incomparable to non-martial artists.

But that story would take on an extra dimension when the one forcing Lee Hyeon-Su to assume the posture was Kang Jin-Ho. Using his qi to press down on Lee Hyeon-Su would be a cakewalk for him, after all.

W-wait! I’m not gonna develop male pattern baldness, right?

Lee Hyeon-Su swallowed his saliva nervously while sensing the extreme pain coming from the crown of his head.

“Okay, so...” Kang Jin-Ho asked, his voice barely hiding his displeasure. “You actually flooded our stores with these rough-looking people?”

“...”

Lee Hyeon-Su also had not imagined encountering a problem like this. The plan to fill the stores on the opening day with people was undoubtedly a good one. But the issue arose from the fact that the people being mobilized for this plan were all from the Martial Assembly!

Just what kind of organization was the Assembly? Men who halfway severed their ties with the mundane world from a young age made up the absolute majority of this place. As a matter of fact, there shouldn’t be other organizations in South Korea with a higher percentage of males compared to females than the Assembly!

Heck, even the places famed for being extremely male-oriented, like construction sites and colleges of physical education, should boast a higher percentage of females than this place. The only comparable organization to the Assembly would be the army, and that would be pretty much it!

In other words, all these men were rough-looking, possessed hulking bodies, and to make matters even worse, their fashion sense was non-existent, too! No, that wasn’t quite right; to the Assembly’s people, one’s fashion was merely an accessory to advertise how strong they were to the others!

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the trending style was the tightest of tight men’s shirts that went out of fashion some time ago, wide pants long enough to almost sweep the floor, gold chains, large black sunglasses, and the crew cut hairstyle that would frighten even the most seasoned barbers.

Imagine what would happen if several well-built men sporting this destructive combination waltzed into a store!

Even the local hoodlums passing by would freak out and run for the hills!

“What were you even thinking?”

Kang Jin-Ho knew he had no right to criticize other people’s fashion sense. Even so, at least he made sure his choice of attire didn’t look threatening or disgust every person around him!

The worst evaluation he ever got was, “Wow, why waste such a handsome face with shabby clothes like that?!” But the evaluations the Assembly members received went even beyond that.

Lee Hyeon-Su stammered. “T-there has been a slight miscalculation, sir!”

“Only a slight?”

When a vein subtly bulged on Kang Jin-Ho’s forehead, Lee Hyeon-Su hurriedly corrected himself. “O-of course, even a slight miscalculation is still a miscalculation! I’m bitterly regretting this oversight, sir!”

“I see. Continue.”

Lee Hyeon-Su nervously swallowed his saliva again. What a mistake this was. A complete and utter screw-up!

He should have considered something like this happening, yet there was a valid reason why he failed to notice it earlier.

I mean, aren’t our boys... kinda adorable?

In a way, those roundish and puffy faces looked adorable to him. And watching them fidgeting around with their hulking physiques made him chuckle, too.

But Lee Hyeon-Su was quick to admit that this unique point of view was only possible because of who he was. What if he wasn’t a martial artist... No, even as a martial artist, what if he was not an executive of the Assembly? Would he still feel the same way while looking at these burly men?

Nope. I’d probably piss my pants.

A large, angry attack dog without a muzzle would’ve been less threatening in comparison!

“S-sir! I acknowledge that there has been an unfortunate oversight on this matter on my part! Please give me a chance to rectify this situation right away. I’ll make sure there won’t be any further problems with the franchise’s operation!”

Kang Jin-Ho cocked his brow. “There could have been further problems?”

“...!” Lee Hyeon-Su hurriedly wiped the sweat away from his forehead. “It’s still early in the morning, sir! Which means the stores should be relatively empty. We can still salvage this situation by acting quickly. The lunch hours are where most of the business takes place, so...”

Kang Jin-Ho still stared at Lee Hyeon-Su in obvious displeasure. But Lee Hyeon-Su desperately maintained a fake expressionless face.

“Lee Hyeon-Su.”

“Yes, sir! Assembly Master, sir!”

“I am thoroughly disappointed in you, Chief Lee.”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho scowled unhappily. “And you even lack the drive to do something without being told to!”

“...”

Why was Kang Jin-Ho suddenly acting like a military commander? Maybe he missed his days in the army?

Kang Jin-Ho kept his brows furrowed, his voice containing a hint of killing intent. “It’s time to pull our socks up, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes, sir! I’ll fix this situation right away, sir!”

“Get to it.”

“Sir!”

Lee Hyeon-Su rushed outside the office at his top speed. Now left alone, Kang Jin-Ho groaned deeply, then picked up his phone to call his friend.

“Yeong-Gi, it’s me.”

—Did you talk to your man?

“Yeah. I told him to fix this situation. Thanks for letting me know.”

—Forget thanking me and stuff. Dude! Where’s your brain, man! I almost sh*t my pants when your guys walked into the cafe!

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t find an adequate-enough excuse to offer this time.

1. Yes, the raw really said “Seong Ju-Chan.” I think the author has mixed names up with Jo Seong-Ho, but I couldn’t be 100% sure about it, so TLed as-is. ☜

2. This name just randomly showed up in this chapter as well. TLed as-is. ☜