Chapter 102
Chapter 102
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Tears of Loyalty
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Good morning, everyone~."
As I opened the office door and arrived for work in the morning, I saw the employees huddled together in front of No Se-hee's desk.
What was this? Something going on?
I tilted my head curiously, and then I caught a glimpse of a familiar logo on her monitor. It was that exact site where Oga-eul's school bullying victim had posted.
Ah, so they'd been watching that. The post had gone up last night, burned through the night, and now even morning risers were joining in, making Oga-eul's bullying controversy spiral completely out of control.
I'd been monitoring the comment reactions myself, so I'd seen how public opinion had flipped favorably toward me in an instant.
"What are you all doing first thing in the morning? Not working?"
I knew it was still ten minutes before work officially started. Even so, I tossed it out lightly with a smile.
It was just a brief hiccup. I figured we'd let it pass like this.
But then...
"Owner...!"
"？!"
Deputy Manager Yang Ji-a suddenly burst into tears. I was so startled my eyes went wide.
"Sniff, hic! It's such a relief... hic, that the injustice is finally cleared up... sob!"
"D-don't cry."
All I could say was something dumb like that. I hurriedly grabbed some tissues from the desk next to us and handed them over. She took them, sniffling.
*Achoo!*
She blew her nose cleanly, then poured out her heart with her face still wet with tears.
"I've been telling everyone around me... sniff... that you're not that kind of person! But people just kept cursing you anyway! I got into fights in the comments... hic... and they mocked me, saying I must be your alt account!"
Oh dear.
I hadn't realized she'd been through all that. She'd apparently gotten into scraps online with people badmouthing me and taken some pretty harsh hits in the process.
Seeing her young face all red and puffy from crying made me feel both sorry for her and grateful.
My stomach churned a bit.
Wasn't it just so admirable, the way she was genuinely standing up for me?
"Sniffle!"
Then, from right beside me, I heard a sound of sniffling. What?
I whipped my head around, and there was Deputy Manager Park Sang-won, trembling and tears streaming down his face.
'Why's Park crying too?'
He must have sensed my gaze because he roughly wiped his tear- and snot-streaked face with his sleeve. As if that would clean it all up.
Then, in a voice quivering with emotion, he said...
"I wasn't crying!"
Like I'd buy that.
"It was just... dust in my eyes... achoo!"
Even as he snuffled, his credibility was zero. Desperate to hide that he'd been crying, Park was stiffening his body with all his might.
"Deputy Manager Park! Don't hide it—just cry!"
"N-no. Yang, if you say it like that... sniff...!"
Park's face slowly crumpled, soon turning into a full-on sob face.
"I really have tears in my eyes... waaah!"
"Cry with me! Waaah!"
As Yang Ji-a and Park Sang-won hugged each other and bawled, I squeezed my eyes shut.
Pretending not to know them, I turned away—and caught Jo Yi-ruk and No Se-hee in my view. At least these two seemed relatively calm.
"I'll head in with the report later. Yang, Park—you two come with me."
Jo Yi-ruk bowed politely and took the pair away to calm them down. No Se-hee shook her head and walked over to me, starting to talk.
"Should I compile a summary of the public reaction for you?"
"Ah, no need. I've skimmed through it myself. If there are any interview requests, cancel them all."
This wasn't the time for us to speak up. Public opinion was already raging fiercely on its own—no need for us to fan the flames.
"Got it."
No Se-hee pulled out her notepad and scratched out a line. As expected—there must have been three or four interview requests.
But doing clarification interviews too often wouldn't do us any good.
"We'll just stay quiet and let it ride out. It'll fade naturally and lose interest on its own, so until then."
"Yes."
"Good. When Yang and Park get back, comfort them well. They must have been really stressed."
I said it with a grin, and No Se-hee nodded, her lips twitching like she was debating whether to say something.
Wondering what was up, I waited a moment, and she slowly spoke.
"Did you predict this?"
"..."
"You said you were waiting... Was it for this bullying controversy?"
If I said yes, she'd think it was weird.
At first, I hadn't remembered right away. But gradually, it clicked that it was a name I'd heard often before my regression.
'He appeared on all sorts of variety shows. That was when he was riding high as a TV personality, not just a chef.'
With his frequent TV appearances, he'd hit peak career height—right when the bullying exposé dropped.
Given his friendly, down-to-earth image, the fallout was massive. Oga-eul plummeted overnight and vanished from TV afterward.
'I figured if the rumors swelled, the bullying issue would naturally surface too.'
If the controversy blew up but no further exposures came, I could've just released the unaired footage.
Either way worked, but overlapping the two would've had the best effect.
To avoid trailing "Didn't he have that personality controversy back then?" labels later, I needed to wrap this up neatly now.
...But for here, I'd play it off. I smiled brightly and replied.
"Nah, no way."
No one but a fortune-teller could pull that off. No Se-hee didn't look entirely convinced either.
More like she knew it couldn't be, but my subtle attitude made her suspicious.
Easy to deny if it was just suspicion. I continued calmly.
"I didn't know the bullying thing would blow up. I just thought, with his personality, there might've been something similar before~."
"...I see."
"And of course, I wasn't waiting for that. I figured Oga-eul's side might apologize before we released the unedited footage."
"Ah."
This much was true. The production team would've suggested to Oga-eul that he admit it first before the full convo aired. I'd asked them to pass my contact along then.
"Going public like this would trash him socially for good. I didn't want to go that far."
And not just that.
"Truth is, I mentioned Chef Anderic too, so I wanted to end it without releasing if possible."
Of course, when I checked with him separately, he'd cheerfully said to do whatever, so we could release.
"So that's why."
No Se-hee's dubious expression cleared up, brightening.
Yeah. Better than suspecting her direct boss had precognition powers.
"Oh, and there's more good news."
"Really?"
Curious what it could be, I widened my eyes, and No Se-hee smiled faintly.
"The copycat snowflake bingsu place is pulling out by next month."
"Ah~. That one."
Didn't seem like it'd do well anyway. Called it.
"With winter here, fewer customers craving bingsu—they must've decided they couldn't hold on."
When the pie shrinks, copycats get a smaller slice too.
Plus, with multiple franchises popping up, the original location's edge was gone.
Still, symbolic value drew crowds...
'Winter slump, fewer trekking to the main store—no trickle-down effect to hope for. They were stuck.'
I could guess the owner's dilemma. Deciding to close shop quick without dragging it out showed real business savvy.
Wherever he went next, he'd make a living no problem.
"So that spot'll be empty now?"
"Yes. ...Wait. Owner, don't tell me."
"Haha. That 'don't tell me' is exactly it."
I grinned and continued.
"Isn't it about time for the next brand launch?"
Leaving No Se-hee's stunned face behind, I buzzed with excitement like a kid with a new toy.
Alright, what brand should we make this time?
"No way, Chef Song! I'm super hurt!"
"What's up, Chef Bong?"
I tried to laugh it off, but Bong Kang-min gritted his teeth like he wouldn't let it slide.
"Do you know how worried I was about you, Chef Song? Man. Must be some curse this year. How else could this happen~."
Tell me about it. First year this chaotic.
'Normally, I'd have stumbled through starting the business for ages to get these done. Guess I condensed ten years' worth into one.'
Felt like I'd been in business a decade.
"I survived thanks to Chef An. Releasing the unaired footage cleared things up a bit."
I bowed toward Anderic. I'd thanked him over the phone, but better to do it face-to-face too.
Anderic nodded silently in return. Bong couldn't hold back and jumped in.
"Yeah, yeah. I saw that too? But the camera caught your face while you looked away for a sec—managing your expression perfectly! Everyone found it! Gave me chills, for real."
There was a scene like that?
Bong was making a huge fuss, but I hadn't watched the unaired stuff that closely, so no clue.
Our cyber investigation team's thorough—must've dissected frame by frame for evidence.
"Anyway. Even when I worried, you stayed so chill: 'It's fine~', 'It'll sort itself out over time~', 'It'll be okay soon~'. Thought you were some enlightened monk or something."
"Haha."
"But hiding a move like that..."
Bong pretended to tremble with betrayal.
First group meetup since the controversy, so he was probably hamming it up to lighten the mood.
Bong's way of being considerate.
"You probably took some flak on SNS just for being close to me. Sorry for the trouble."
"Psh~! What're you talking about!"
Bong bounced up, insisting it was nothing and stopping me.
"Sigh. Seen it all now. Right? Our Chef Song must be traumatized by TV now!"
Bong muttered sympathetically.
"Our Chef Song's got the talent and great ad-libs too. TV world's losing a gem!"
"Nah, not really."
I smiled brightly.
"Got an offer for another show this time—snapped it up right away."
"Huh? For real?"
Bong's eyes went wide.
"What show?"
"It's starting next year. Still in pilot stage..."
I said the program name I'd heard.
"They called it 'My Small Television'."