Chapter 1499 Connected (4)

“Heol? What is going on here?”

Munch, munch, munch, munch!

Kang Eun-Yeong stared at the TV as if she had been bewitched, while a steady stream of snacks entered her mouth. A face that was familiar yet also very foreign was staring back at her from the TV screen.

“Heol? Is that really orabi?”

Kang Eun-Yeong shuddered grandly.

There wasn’t anything too special about Kang Jin-Ho’s face, which was something she had seen all her life. But that face on the TV? That differed quite a lot from the face she used to know!

Thanks to an utter lack of care or management, Kang Jin-Ho always looked sloppy, yet a slim-fit business suit and a clean-cut hairstyle had completely transformed him. And with the make-up specific for filming added to his face, she couldn’t help but wonder if that really was Kang Jin-Ho, the one who looked like a neighborhood bum most of the time!

At least I can recognize him since I’m his little sister!

However, those who only knew him in passing wouldn’t be able to connect that face to Kang Jin-Ho.

“Wow. This is so crazy!”

Watching Kang Jin-Ho sitting cross-legged on TV helped Kang Eun-Yeong finally figure out the meaning of “ideal” body proportions. Despite not being the tallest person in the world, Kang Jin-Ho on screen looked tall, sleek, and super sophisticated.

That’s not that surprising, though. Even a dude barely 160 centimeters tall can look imposing on screen, depending on how they are filmed, after all.

Kang Eun-Yeong had already run into quite a few male idols who were smaller than her, so this spectacle didn’t really surprise her. But what did surprise her was the fact that this ad had hooked her completely. Even though it wasn’t shot with some slick filming techniques, and its concept was basically two people sitting inside a cafe!

“And Yeon-Ha unnie is something else too, alright.”

Kang Jin-Ho was undoubtedly amazing, but Choi Yeon-Ha was just as amazing in Kang Eun-Yeong’s book, too.

Dressed in pleasantly plain clothes that kept things simple, the sight of Choi Yeon-Ha smiling gently and chatting with Kang Jin-Ho affectionately was enough to flutter the hearts of everyone watching.

Since Kang Eun-Yeong was a woman and Kang Jin-Ho’s little sister, she could view this ad objectively. But any man watching it would be utterly entranced by Choi Yeon-Ha, while women wouldn’t be able to take their eyes off Kang Jin-Ho.

Sometimes, keeping it simple was for the best; the lack of various filming and editing techniques actually made the ad even more pleasant to watch. Simply showing those two on screen landed enough of an impact as was, anyway. Not only that, but...!

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Yeon-Ha unnie make that face before.

It felt so new and refreshing, seeing Choi Yeon-Ha like that.

Over the years, she had shown so many facets of herself through various shows and movies. Also, with how frequently she appeared in ads, most people had already become more or less used to her image by now. But the face she was making in the new ad? It felt fresh and instantly memorable.

Maybe that’s because it’s unnie’s first time making a face like that.

Kang Eun-Yeong wasn’t implying that Choi Yeon-Ha’s acting chops were questionable. After all, Choi Yeon-Ha looked sufficiently lovely and beautiful enough while acting opposite her male leads, didn’t she?

Even so... How should I put this?

Did this difference come from how natural she looked?

The “Choi Yeon-Ha” in this ad didn’t look like an actor performing a role, but an ordinary person. Someone who wasn’t pretending but was genuinely comfortable being there; someone who was simply being herself while smiling and chatting away...

Was that why she looked so much more beautiful than before?

The ad itself wasn’t anything special in concept. In it, two people were staring at each other while chatting, smiling, and sipping the coffee in front of them. That was all. But this simple interaction with nothing special going on made the viewers feel oddly more comfortable. It was as if the viewers were also in the same cafe and stealing quick glances at those two.

Then, the camera gradually zoomed out until revealing the rest of the cafe with other patrons inside. That was when the cafe’s logo appeared to signal the end of the ad.

“Heol...”

Kang Eun-Yeong shuddered again.

“Holy cow! That was incredible.”

In all honesty, she wasn’t sure what made this ad feel so special. She was an idol, not an ad director, after all. Even then, she could tell this ad had a certain magical quality that made her want to see it again. So, she quickly pulled out her phone, accessed the famous video streaming site, and searched for the ad.

However, when she saw the number of views the ad already had, her brows shot up high in shock.

“Wow! Already over three hundred thousand views?”

Even though that ad started airing earlier today, it had that many views already? Talk about some momentum! Even the comments section was bursting at the seams with a flood of comments.

She scrolled through them and soon realized that comments were mostly split into two camps. One camp was praising how beautiful that ad was and that they were watching it on repeat or had left it on throughout the day. And some also praised how beautiful Choi Yeon-Ha was, too. Such reactions were more or less what Kang Eun-Yeong had expected, but for the rest?

[Who was the guy, though? How can anyone be that devastatingly handsome?]

[Is he a new face joining the industry? Doesn’t that mean we’re witnessing a huge star in the making?]

[Apparently, he’s Choi Yeon-Ha’s boyfriend. You know, the guy from that huge incident earlier?]

[Sounds like you guys don’t remember it, but that guy isn’t exactly a new face. He starred in Choi Yeon-Ha’s TV show some time ago. Even back then, he caused a lot of chatter online, but this time? Things are gonna get even crazier now.]

The other comments were wondering about who Kang Jin-Ho was.

“Heh. Getting curious about someone else’s orabi, now are you?”

Kang Eun-Yeong snickered softly. She got curious about how all these people would react after finding out that Kang Jin-Ho was the cafe franchise’s owner.

[Folks! I’ve actually seen him in real life. He’s busy touring the cafes right now.]

[Yeah, that’s right! It’s a massive story in the socials. If I remember correctly, he should be touring the countryside right about now.]

[Isn’t that a marketing stunt?]

[Yeah, it is. But so what? When will we ever get the chance to see Choi Yeon-Ha in the flesh without something like this? I’ll welcome a marketing stunt like this a hundred times over.]

[So? How was the real Choi Yeon-Ha?]

[I was there, and my god, she was incredible. But the guy she was with was even more incredible. He was actually radiating this halo about him, okay? The cameras don’t do him any justice at all!]

[Whaaat? There’s no way.]

Kang Eun-Yeong slowly shook her head. There were countless more comments posted below the ad.

“Yup. It’s pandemonium, alright.”

She put the phone down, a deep grin etched on her face. Whoever came up with this marketing strategy deserved a raise, because the reaction was explosive, to say the least. This ad campaign should improve the revenue pretty substantially.

Raising the public’s awareness while settling on an image it wanted to push was incredibly important for a newly launched cafe franchise. Even Kang Eun-Yeong knew that relying on the taste of coffee and other refreshments alone wasn’t enough for a new cafe franchise to secure a loyal customer base in this day and age.

It might be possible, of course, but it’d still take a very long time before the revenues stabilized sufficiently enough.

Until then, their ledgers are gonna be full of red ink.

Overcoming this first hurdle was crucial. There were other things to do afterward, but that was a problem for later.

Beep, beep, beep~!

Kang Eun-Yeong woke up from her thoughts when she heard the beeping of the electronic door lock. She got up from the couch and trotted toward the foyer.

The door opened, and Kang Jin-Ho stepped inside.

“Orabi! Welcome... home... Heol~? Were you in a war zone until now?”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho staggered into the foyer, his face resembling a zombie’s. Comparing the devastatingly handsome face in the ad to this face with a deathly pale complexion roused the feeling of indescribable disharmony in Kang Eun-Yeong.

“Did someone hit you, orabi?”

“...”

Despite looking like a zombie, Kang Jin-Ho’s facial muscles still twitched enough to produce a flabbergasted expression.

He was certain that no one had asked him that question in the last few decades. Just how many people in this world were capable of beating him up, anyway?

“Son? You’re home?”

Ah. Well, there’s one who can.

Baek Hyeon-Jeong emerged from the living room only to flinch after noticing her son’s complexion.

“Son?! Did someone hit you?”

“...”

“...”

***

Kang Jin-Ho plopped down on the couch, then gulped down a cup of cold water. Kang Eun-Yeong offered to serve him with a cup of iced coffee instead, which was uncharacteristic of her, but even the mere mention of coffee made him throw up a little in his mouth.

“B-because I’ve drunk twenty cups of coffee today...”

Kang Eun-Yeong’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “Heol?! Did you actually drink them all like an idiot?!”

“Yeah. She said that if I leave any behind, people would think that the coffee in our cafes was rubbish. So I should just... shut up and slurp everything in...”

“She? You mean Yeon-Ha unnie?”

“Yeah, her.”

“Holy cow. That unnie, I didn’t know she was this strict! I guess successful people aren’t successful for no reason,” said Kang Eun-Yeong, while shuddering grandly again.

Twenty cups of coffee? No matter how one loved coffee, drinking that much in a day must’ve felt like a torture instead.

“...? H-hang on a minute? Are you telling me Yeon-Ha unnie also drank twenty cups today?”

Kang Jin-Ho frowned deeply. “Probably. It’s not far off, I think.”

“Will she even sleep properly tonight? What about, I don’t know, caffeine addiction and stuff?”

Kang Eun-Yeong couldn’t think of any other description than “amazing” to describe Choi Yeon-Ha. Even if it was work, drinking two, three cups of coffee per cafe? And in multiple cafes in a day, no less? Kang Eun-Yeong knew she wouldn’t be able to do that even if she got paid handsomely.

But Choi Yeon-Ha wasn’t doing this for money. No one forced her to do it, either. All this was completely voluntary on her part, and not only that, she even pushed Kang Jin-Ho into accompanying her, too!

Well, if you want to spin this positively, she’s going out on a date under the guise of work, but...

Would anyone be able to enjoy their date while trying to draw attention at the same time? That didn’t seem likely.

Baek Hyeon-Jeong muttered, “Miss Choi sure is amazing, isn’t she?”

Kang Eun-Yeong nodded sagely. “You think so too, mom? Yeah, she is amazing. Incredibly smart and all.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Ng?”

Baek Hyeon-Jeong used her sharp gaze to point at her son. “She somehow managed to drag this kid around for three days, didn’t she? Even though he hates going to department stores with his mother even more than death itself.”

“...!”

Kang Jin-Ho sneakily turned his head away even as Baek Hyeon-Jeong continued to chide him.

“Yes, I get that it’s for work. But this son of mine doesn’t want to spare a single day to hang out with his mother, but doesn’t mind spending three days straight with his girlfriend! This is why people say having sons is a waste of time, now isn’t it?”

Kang Jin-Ho could only whine in his mind, Mother, I thought that saying also encompassed daughters, too? Is it now exclusively for sons?

“Mom~, don’t worry. I’m here, aren’t I?” Kang Eun-Yeong cutely grinned and hugged Baek Hyeon-Jeong.

“Thank you, Eun-Yeong. When you get married, don’t be like your brother and abandon your parents, okay? Because he’s the type who’ll let his wife completely control him and even forget about the existence of his own family.”

Kang Jin-Ho cautiously spoke up. “Mother, I would never...”

“No, it’s fine!”

Baek Hyeon-Jeong’s icy voice reminiscent of a blizzard stopped Kang Jin-Ho dead in his tracks, and he flinched nastily.

Even he had to admit that his mother was right. He couldn’t remember doing something together with his mother recently. He might be turning into a successful businessman lately, but that had reduced the time he spent with his family in return. At least, that was the impression he got.

Kang Jin-Ho urgently spoke up again. “H-how about I take you shopping? To a department store?”

“I said it’s fine! I’m still your mother, aren’t I? I wouldn’t drag my zombified son around for a shopping trip.”

“...”

“Son, pay more attention to your well-being, okay? Making money and becoming a successful businessman is all good and well, but what’s the point if you’re too sick to enjoy them?”

Kang Jin-Ho nodded. “Don’t worry, mother. I will.”

Of course, he wouldn’t get sick from working like this. After all, what tormented him right now was not the physical fatigue, but the mental stress of withstanding the curious stares of hundreds, nay, thousands of people.

Kang Eun-Yeong asked, “So...? Is the marketing thing finally over?”

“At least the ones that were scheduled, yeah.”

“How many cafes did you go to today?”

“Eight. All of them in Gyeongsang Province.”

Kang Jin-Ho groaned loudly again.

Once the “rumor” of the visit from Kang Jin-Ho and Choi Yeon-Ha having an appreciable effect on boosting the bottom line had spread, the franchisees enthusiastically stepped up one after the other to invite the duo to their cafes.

In situations like this, the franchisees’ network of comrades felt more like a network of evil doers instead!

All the complaints of, “Why do you only visit popular cafes in Seoul and the surrounding areas?!” forbade Kang Jin-Ho from making any excuses, and he was forced into visiting every cafe within reach.

“But how did you cover all that distance?” Kang Eun-Yeong asked in confusion.

“We rode in a helicopter.”

“Heol? Your company also owns a helicopter?”

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “No, it was a rental. From an airline or something...”

This experience taught him that Lee Hyeon-Ju’s drive easily rivaled Lee Hyeon-Su’s, and then some!

To think she’d actually charter a helicopter just to save time and make her boss work even harder! Even if the cost of doing so was a fraction of the improved revenue, and that was why one could argue that this was a logical investment to make...!

“I don’t think I can do this ever again in my life,” said Kang Jin-Ho while shaking his head.

Kang Eun-Yeong chuckled softly. “Yeah. With your ad now playing, I’m sure the revenue will go up even without you directly running around everywhere, orabi. Get some well-deserved rest. Before you really get sick.”

“Urgh...”

Kang Jin-Ho groaned again.

As it turned out, running a business was no joke.

He thought nothing would be harder than polishing one’s martial arts, but it seemed he was bitterly mistaken. At least this experience served as a timely reminder that everyone in this world was fighting their own battles.

“Yeah... I’ll keep working hard,” Kang Jin-Ho muttered.

So that he would never fall behind or lose to anyone.

Unfortunately for him, though, he still had no idea.

No idea that his trials and tribulations were not over yet!