The Franchise Offer
The day after Giant Killer.
“Isn’t it a hassle having to come down here so irregularly?” Yoo Jae-won asked Kim Dae-seok, who had driven the Grandeur to pick him up. Normally based in Seoul, Kim Dae-seok always rushed down whenever Jae-won’s schedule required it.
“Aigoo! Not at all, sir.” Kim Dae-seok, who had stepped out to open the rear door, waved both arms in vigorous denial. His expression showed no trace of inconvenience.
“The Chief of Staff’s movements are almost entirely predictable, so I have plenty of free time. Coming down to Deokjin-ri once in a while feels like visiting my hometown. It’s a special occasion.”
Being Choi Kang-wook’s driver had become so routine it was almost boring, but the occasional long-distance drive was a welcome change. His tone and expression suggested he meant every word.
“Hehe, have you spoken with the chairman’s secretary yet?”
At Jae-won’s second question, Kim Dae-seok froze in surprise.
“Huh? Uh! W-well, that is—”
Yoo Jae-won was a man of his word. True to his promise, he had obtained the secretary’s contact information for Kim Dae-seok, who had been diligently focused on work. While his own romantic prospects remained nonexistent, he was remarkably proactive about connecting others. Since obtaining the number had been no trouble for him, he had done so without hesitation.
Calling the former chairman’s number meant the secretary would answer first. People who didn’t know Jae-won’s sly nature beneath his youthful appearance tended to lower their guard quickly. The secretary was no exception.
It had happened during a recent call. When she said the former chairman was out and offered to take a message, Jae-won had immediately asked a personal question: whether she was seeing anyone. It was an extremely forward question, and even over the phone her flustered reaction had been obvious.
Knowing that showing his own embarrassment would only make the atmosphere awkward, Jae-won had quickly clarified that he wanted to introduce her to someone good. Fortunately, she had answered that she wasn’t seeing anyone and had responded positively to the idea of a match. Thanks to that, he had received her home number instead of the company line and had given her a brief description of Kim Dae-seok.
Judging by Kim Dae-seok’s current reaction, it seemed they had never properly met. In fact, had they even spoken on the phone?
“We did speak on the phone!”
At least that was something. If there had been no contact at all, Jae-won would have ended up looking like a liar who had only taken the number without actually introducing anyone.
“I’m available anytime, but Hyun-ji is busy and doesn’t have much free time.”
Being busy was probably true. The former chairman’s habit of arriving at the office at dawn and leaving late in the evening was well known. Still, if there was genuine interest, one could always carve out time for a date. Jae-won suspected Kim Dae-seok had been too nervous on the call and had either stumbled over his words or made some mistake. Several pieces of advice came to mind, but he kept them to himself. After all, he himself—both in his previous life and this one—remained a lifelong bachelor. He had fulfilled his promise by making the introduction; that was enough.
When Kim Dae-seok noticed Jae-won start to speak and then stop, his face filled with curiosity. Seeing that expression, Jae-won moved straight to the main topic.
“The reason I’m asking about the secretary is because I’m planning to hire more executive drivers and expand the secretarial office. We’ve been running things too loosely until now. It’s time to properly establish the organization. I also intend to assign dedicated drivers to each executive.”
ID Technology was growing rapidly, and so was ID Investment. With that growth came more work for the executives and, naturally, more frequent use of company cars. Buying cars was simple enough, but assigning drivers was a matter of courtesy and required careful consideration.
From now on, Kim Dae-seok wouldn’t be running around everywhere like before. He would become someone’s dedicated driver, assigned on a one-to-one basis. His working conditions would improve significantly. Jae-won hadn’t yet decided whose driver he would become. That was why he had asked about the matchmaking. If it had gone well, he had planned to make Kim Dae-seok Choi Kang-wook’s dedicated driver. If it had failed, he had intended to keep him for himself. They got along well and communicated easily. Of course, since Jae-won rarely traveled, Kim Dae-seok would likely end up driving his parents for the time being.
But if the matchmaking was neither a success nor a failure, things became ambiguous.
“I’m fine either way, sir. Even if things don’t work out with Hyun-ji, that’s just my fate.”
Kim Dae-seok gave a clear, decisive answer, as if he had read Jae-won’s mind.
“Is that so? If that’s how you feel, then that’s how it is.”
“I really am fine with it.”
“Understood. In that case, Dae-seok, you’ll be my dedicated driver. Once the new driver recruitment is complete, hand over your current duties and come down to Deokjin-ri. I’ll arrange proper housing for you. In return, I’ll also change your position from driver to my personal secretary.”
Yoo Jae-won had decided to make Kim Dae-seok his own dedicated driver.
“Pardon? Yes! Understood!”
Kim Dae-seok’s face lit up with joy at the unexpected promotion. It wasn’t just any promotion—his role itself was changing from driver to secretary. Moreover, he would now be serving at the side of the company president, a significant responsibility.
“Shall we head straight to Seoul, then?”
After seating Jae-won in the back, Kim Dae-seok climbed excitedly into the driver’s seat and asked for the destination.
What’s with the sudden excitement? Still, seeing Kim Dae-seok happy put Jae-won in a good mood as well.
“No. Let’s stop by Soo-kyung’s house first.”
“Yes! Right away, sir!”
Kim Dae-seok gripped the steering wheel and released the brake. Just as he was about to press the accelerator, he hesitated.
“Ah, but where exactly is Soo-kyung’s house?”
Of course, Kim Dae-seok had no connection to Soo-kyung’s family. Even though they lived in the same village, only the village head and a few other well-connected people could pinpoint a house just from hearing the name. Since there was no navigation system, Jae-won drew a simple map on a notepad and marked the location. Fortunately, Kim Dae-seok knew every small road in Deokjin-ri, so he understood the directions immediately.
The car pulled away smoothly.
Ding-dong!
When Yoo Jae-won arrived at Soo-kyung’s house and rang the doorbell, Kim Dae-seok, standing beside him, stared in astonishment. He hadn’t known such a fine house existed in Deokjin-ri.
—Is that Jae-won? Just a moment.
The moment the bell rang, Soo-kyung’s father’s voice came through without the slightest delay. The sound of the living room door opening echoed from inside. Moments later, Soo-kyung’s father himself came out to the gate and opened the door. It was an unexpected sight. Jae-won had visited Soo-kyung’s house many times before, but until now it had always been Soo-kyung’s mother or Soo-kyung who answered. This was the first time her father had opened the door.
“Come in.”
Upon seeing Jae-won’s face, Soo-kyung’s father looked visibly awkward.
“Soo-kyung’s mother and Soo-kyung went to church.”
He even offered an explanation that wasn’t strictly necessary. Jae-won bowed politely, easing the awkwardness.
“Let’s go inside.”
Jae-won followed Soo-kyung’s father. Noticing that Kim Dae-seok intended to stay in the car, he gave him a look to come along. Since Kim Dae-seok would soon be his personal secretary, it seemed like a good time to start practicing staying close.
The three of them sat around the table in the living room. Refreshments had already been prepared before Jae-won’s arrival. Given the warming weather, there was chilled green tea and elegant butter cookies. Soo-kyung’s father brought out an extra teacup for Kim Dae-seok, completing the preparations.
Jae-won took a sip of tea first, then ate a cookie. Watching him, Soo-kyung’s father fell into deep thought.
Until last spring, the boy named Yoo Jae-won had not existed in his mind. He had only begun to notice him that summer. Yet Jae-won’s presence had grown steadily until it now exceeded anything he could have imagined. Unlike Soo-kyung, who only played games on the computer, Jae-won had achieved results that even the president had to acknowledge. And the chicken he had recently created was something no ordinary person could have conceived.
Soo-kyung’s father had been raising chickens and pigs for nearly twenty years, but he had only ever sold them wholesale. He had never imagined turning them into something else. After tasting the chicken, however, he had felt the urge to do something with it. In the past, his cautious nature would have made him dismiss the idea after a brief fantasy. But things were different now. The chicken was clearly a winning product, and it had been created by Yoo Jae-won, the boy who had already achieved massive success with a computer. Even after that success, Jae-won was still running hard, preparing his next venture.
What about himself? He had been content with small successes and had come this far. Yet seeing Jae-won had rekindled a passion he thought had faded. Taking a deep breath to steady his resolve, Soo-kyung’s father finally spoke.
“The reason I called you here, Jae-won, is because of the chicken.”
Jae-won nodded. It was exactly what he had expected. Now it was time to see how large a business Soo-kyung’s father had in mind.
“It was the first time anyone had bought so many chickens at once, so I was quite surprised. What surprised me even more was that they could all be eaten in a single day—they disappeared in the blink of an eye.”
Jae-won nodded again at Soo-kyung’s father’s words. That had only been possible because it was chicken. If it had been samgyetang or something similar, the children would have left half of it behind. The cola and cabbage salad had also played a major role in helping the chicken go down easily. Even the dry breast meat slid down smoothly when paired with cola.
“The whole of Deokjin-ri is talking about chicken right now. Even Yeoju is the same.”
Because the chickens were large, few children had managed to finish an entire one by themselves. The leftovers had been distributed evenly. It had been like holding a massive tasting event for both Deokjin-ri and Yeoju. Even though the chicken had cooled somewhat by the time it reached people, the taste hadn’t suffered.
“Countless people have asked me where I got that chicken from.”
Listening to Soo-kyung’s father, Jae-won could already guess the scope of the business he had prepared.
“I thought a store that specializes in making and selling just chicken would do extremely well.”
So it was just at the level of a single store, after all.
“That’s why I was wondering if you’d be willing to sell me the chicken recipe you created. There are already many people who want to open chicken restaurants. So I came up with the idea of creating a kind of franchise using the chicken recipe and supplying our chickens to those stores. We could start with two locations in Yeoju and then expand to nearby cities.”
Oh! Jae-won, who had been disappointed at first, felt his mood brighten at the rest of Soo-kyung’s father’s words. Rather than simply running a chicken restaurant, the plan to create a franchise and supply chickens to it was a remarkably modern business model.
“Really? Then how much are you willing to value my chicken recipe at?”
“Well, I’ve been thinking about that a lot.”
Soo-kyung’s father’s words were not empty. After calling Jae-won the previous day, he had spent the entire evening and into the early morning pondering the business—especially the value of the chicken recipe. Depending on one’s perspective, the recipe’s value could be either great or small.
If viewed narrowly, the recipe was already known in detail to the cafeteria cooks at Deokjin Elementary School. It wasn’t a secret passed down only to the eldest daughter-in-law by grandmothers with thirty years of experience making gukbap. Instead, all the kitchen ladies had been gathered together and taught how to make it as a group. From preparing the sauce to the entire cooking process, everything had been shared. So if one were to persuade one of the ladies well, obtaining the recipe without going through Jae-won wouldn’t be difficult. From that angle, the recipe’s value seemed trivial.
But when considered alongside Yoo Jae-won himself, the recipe’s value became immeasurably high. Jae-won’s existence had too many uses. He was already a famous figure; simply advertising that he was the creator of the original chicken recipe would be highly effective. Moreover, his connections in political and business circles meant he could provide significant help if the business ever faced difficulties.
“I don’t know if you’ll be satisfied, but I’m willing to give you a thirty percent stake in the chicken franchise business.”
At last, Yoo Jae-won smiled.