Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Onboarding No Se-hee
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Joy Look wore an expression that said he wasn't surprised anymore. No Se-hee, standing behind me, gave an awkward bow.
"Nice to meet you. I'm No Se-hee."
"I'm Joy Look."
"Ahem. It's not officially decided yet—we're just going to try it out for a week or so first, then make a decision."
"Ah~."
Joy Look glanced my way. I just flashed him a bright smile.
"Yes, of course."
That came out more like, *Yeah, sure you will.*
No Se-hee looked puzzled, so I quickly jumped in to change the subject.
"No Se-hee has experience working at a big corporation, so I don't think she'll need any special training. Joy Look, hand over some of your tasks to her—like brand marketing, for example."
"That makes sense. She's the expert compared to me."
Joy Look pushed his glasses up with a swipe. After all, he'd been hired as a "location expert."
Now that franchises were starting to multiply, it made more sense for him to focus on that side of things.
It'd get tough for him to vet every single one down the line, but in these early days, the success of each individual spot was crucial.
"I'll fill you in on the project right in front of us. The Binggwa main store is opening soon. We've got a full schedule lined up for shooting photos for the snowflake bingsu menu boards, and..."
"Snowflake bingsu?"
No Se-hee's eyes went wide.
"Yeah. You've heard of it?"
"Of course. It blew up out of nowhere. And the fact that it's not for sale anywhere? That sparked so much curiosity—attention poured in overnight."
No Se-hee took the stack of documents Joy Look handed her and flipped through them.
"Wow. I was trying to figure out which company came up with this snowflake bingsu. And it's you guys."
"That's right. We're the originators of snowflake bingsu."
I snapped my fingers.
"And I'm convinced this snowflake bingsu isn't some one-season fad. It's going to have steady demand long-term."
At least, that's how it played out in the future I remembered.
"So I'd like you to handle all the related logistics, No Se-hee. Oh, and if you have any ideas you want to pitch, feel free to speak up anytime."
"Yes! Got it."
Passion seemed to blaze in No Se-hee's eyes. Yeah—for someone who'd been desperate to do work she actually cared about, this was a mouthwatering project.
She probably felt like she'd recaptured that beginner's fire.
*With No Se-hee on board, her old team members might as well be hooked too.*
Their bond was that tight. Even after they'd all been shuffled off to different departments, they'd scrape together time to meet up at least once a year.
Sure, as ex-Hyunmu folks, people didn't look too kindly on them later.
"Oh, and President."
"Yeah?"
"The [Economy Newspaper] called. They want to do an interview with you. What should I say?"
*[Economy Newspaper]*.
Not a household name, but anyone into stocks or business news would recognize it.
From what I recalled, they'd shifted mostly online by now...
*At this timing?*
The Song was still just a small-to-mid-sized company that hadn't really spread its wings yet.
Snowflake bingsu had gone viral online, sure—but that was it. We hadn't even opened the cafe properly to turn that buzz into revenue.
Plus, The Song wasn't publicly traded or anything.
Even pre-regression, I'd gotten requests from papers like that—but back when The Song was rocketing up as a foodservice giant.
"Did you get the reporter's name?"
"Yeah. Kang Yoo-ha, I think."
"Kang Yoo-ha..."
The name rang a bell.
*Who was that again?*
But no specific memory surfaced. Probably just someone I'd crossed paths with once or twice.
*Which means it wasn't a big deal.*
I'd never been tight with the press pre-regression either. And back then, I was a pretty young president too.
I'd always hung back a step, worried that putting myself front and center would tarnish the company's "expert" image.
*Foolish move. Keeping up that mystique left me with no one to turn to when crisis hit. I didn't even realize how isolated it made me.*
Regrets always come too late. But this time around, things were different.
I had a chance to fix my mistakes.
I let out a chuckle and waved it off.
"Turn it down. It's not the right time yet."
Showing my face now could catch Hyunmu's eye—and that'd be trouble. I needed to build up quietly from the shadows a bit longer.
Until Hyunmu couldn't lay a finger on me without thinking twice.
*Of course, once the foundation's solid, I'll lean into the media hard. People naturally warm up to familiar faces, after all.*
Same principle as advertising.
Just repeated exposure to a brand logo alone builds goodwill.
*Pre-regression, I tried handling everything solo. Turns out that's not always the play.*
Time to switch up the strategy.
"When the timing's right, I'll reach out first—so tell them not to take it personally. Oh, and get their contact info."
"Got it."
Having eyes on us meant plenty of witnesses.
That alone would make Hyunmu think twice about touching me—Song Woo-yeon—or The Song.
I stopped No Se-hee as she started to shrug off her coat.
"By the way, No Se-hee. There's somewhere we need to head first—just you and me."
"Now?"
"Yeah. Now."
Seeing is believing, after all.
"Let's check out the spot that's going to become Binggwa."
The cafe across from Kim Jong-chun's place—which had turned into a customer waiting area—had good reasons for tanking.
A big chain cafe had opened nearby.
It was a standalone but huge, with tons of parking and sleek interiors to boot.
Sure, some folks love those cozy little independents. But for grabbing a casual post-meal coffee? This was prime.
*Plus, their coffee was awful.*
Overroasted beans gave it a heavy bitter edge. Must've been pretty polarizing.
But even that big cafe had to hit pause.
The sudden arrival of "snowflake bingsu" had snatched away most of their post-meal crowd.
They'd poached customers from other spots nearby too, so no huge crisis—but sales must've taken a hit.
That made the acquisition talks a breeze. We even settled the key money without a hitch.
Step, step.
I scanned the empty cafe interior as I walked. The renovations were in the final stages everywhere.
Dodging the workers, I pointed out details here and there.
"This is going to be Binggwa."
"...Clean setup, good table spacing. Solid. We can pull in the old cafe's regulars too."
"Right?"
"What about the operator?"
Classic first question. That's the crux of any food business.
"The original cafe owner is staying on."
"Pardon?"
"We took over the place, but we're not getting deep into operations. We've already briefed her on the Binggwa brand, and after talking it over, we inked a franchise deal where we split a cut of the revenue."
Joy Look must've picked up a ton about franchising through this. Freed me up to focus elsewhere.
"I see."
No Se-hee looked a little taken aback. I could guess why, but played dumb.
"Pretty surprising, huh?"
"Hm?"
"With Joy Look handling most of the work, it probably looks like I'm just the figurehead. On the surface."
"Haha..."
She still couldn't lie to save her life. She could've at least deflected with a polite "No, not at all."
That straight-arrow personality was both her charm and her curse—she'd struggled plenty at her old job because of it.
"That's part of why I brought you on."
"..."
"Not fully sold yet, right? So watch how things run firsthand, then decide."
No Se-hee nodded slowly.
"Good work, everyone. Oh, that window frame could warp—give it some breathing room. Yeah. And here, water might splash, so seal it up tight. Thanks~."
You gotta hover and nitpick during construction to get top quality.
As I swept the place and flagged issues, the workers started sneaking peeks at me.
Hm. Solid crew after all—no major screw-ups.
*All thanks to Madam Choi Yeo-hae.*
No subcontractor wants to cross the kingpin lording over Hando Construction. One "please take care of it" from her, and devotion springs from nowhere.
"The finishing work is top-notch."
No Se-hee blurted it out as the walkthrough wrapped. After watching me chew out the crew, she'd clocked that I had real experience in this.
Yeah. It was a pretty cafe.
Not a single thing lacking.
Except for one.
The issue that'd caught my eye.
"Big trouble."
"Hm?"
This was gonna need a full tear-out.