Juju Daily (1)
A car glided smoothly into the grounds of Songhadang.
The vehicle came to a gentle stop in the lot originally paved for logistics and cargo transport, and a man stepped out into the open air.
"Is this the place?"
Looking around, rolling mountains and an expansive blue sky greeted his eyes. It was a coveted location blessed with crystalline mountain water that any self-respecting brewer would drool over. Taking in the scenic vista of Songhadang, he murmured softly, "Still the same as ever."
His reaction showed that he was already well-acquainted with these grounds. And why wouldn't he be? He was none other than Yoon Juho, founder and CEO of Juju Daily—South Korea's first and largest mobile smart-order liquor platform.
"Hardly anything's changed since I last came out here. Well, except for the old master's empty seat, that is."
Recalling the days when he had pounded the pavement himself during the early stages of his venture, Juho offered a nostalgic smile. Song Taeho, who had always humbly referred to himself as a mere 'distiller' or 'brewery hand,' was a craftsman truly worthy of the title master artisan.
Of course, a corporate CEO of his standing hadn't personally driven all the way out here merely out of fond memories.
"Meari."
Juho murmured the name, rubbing his rough, stubbled chin. While he wouldn't dare compare himself to celebrated sommeliers, he took immense pride in his extraordinarily keen sense of smell and discerning palate. As someone who refused to let subpar liquor pass his lips, this traditional spirit—Meari—had completely captivated his heart.
What made it all the more remarkable was that it wasn't some prestigious, time-tested heritage brew whose quality had long been verified.
"I've tasted the Nokpaju brewed here back in Songhadang's heyday, but this is on another level entirely."
True to his reputation as an incurable spirit connoisseur, Juho had previously sampled the Nokpaju crafted by Songhadang's late master. He had found it exceptionally delicious back then, but...
"Compared to what I drank this time... that was almost nothing."
As he retraced the memory, the sensory explosion came rushing back.
The moment he closed his eyes and breathed in the aroma, lush emerald trees seemed to sprout before his vision. Cool, tender grass pushed up beneath his feet, tickling his ankles. To the soft chorus of chirping crickets, the crisp scent of fresh morning dew and pure mountain air caressed his nostrils.
He had intended to merely sniff the bouquet and set the glass back down, but it had taken only seconds for the rim to tilt against his lips.
And just like that, an entire mountain had unfolded across his senses.
"And not just any mountain, either."
Even now, a handful of liquors evoked the crisp essence of greenery. Most notable among them was Hakushu, the Japanese whisky distilled at the renowned Hakushu Distillery. Many adored that whisky for its evocative notes of rain-soaked grass, sprawling green tea terraces, and soothing phytoncides.
Yet Meari didn't stop there.
What unfolded across Juho's mind wasn't some exotic, foreign peak like Mount Everest; it was the familiar, verdant rolling mountains of Korea, steeped in lush, nostalgic emerald vitality.
"Haah..."
For a brew to achieve such flavor and aroma, it could only mean one of two things. Either it was the result of exhaustive analysis and relentless experimentation that finally struck absolute harmony... or it was sheer, unadulterated genius.
"Still, raw talent alone could never have achieved this level of perfection."
That was why Juho, CEO though he was, had personally gotten behind the wheel and driven all the way out here. Securing a distribution contract mattered, of course, but as a devoted lover of fine spirits, an insatiable curiosity about the person behind this miracle had seized him.
As he slowed his pace and took in his surroundings, an energetic shout broke the quiet.
"Oh! You're here already?"
A burly young man came sprinting toward him from the distance, breathing heavily. Judging by the familiar voice, this was the brewery employee he had spoken with over the phone.
Following closely behind him was another young man, seemingly in his early twenties. That had to be Song Taeho's grandson, Song Yeonwoo.
He's this young? The one who brewed that spirit?
Juho had heard that the one who inherited Songhadang was a youth in his twenties. But to coax out the sheer elegance displayed by Meari, decades of hard-won experience ought to have been essential.
He must have recruited another seasoned master to the brewery. A shrewd move.
It was only natural to deduce as much. There was simply no way someone so young could have designed a spirit of Meari's caliber on his own.
Yet, Juho couldn't help feeling a tinge of quiet disappointment. Behind all the cold logic, a tiny part of him had secretly hoped that the creator who had moved his heart purely through flavor—without a single shred of marketing narrative or established prestige—might actually turn out to be this extraordinary young prodigy.
"Haha! Good day. Please forgive me for arriving so early; my excitement got the better of me."
Juho was far too seasoned to let his inner disappointment show. He shook hands with both of them in turn before cutting straight to the chase.
"So, did the two of you craft Meari together?"
"Yes, that's correct. Sejun here worked tirelessly through—"
"What on earth are you talking about?"
Cutting Yeonwoo off entirely against his expectations, Sejun tilted his head in bewilderment. He gave Yeonwoo a hearty thwack on the back and spoke up loudly:
"Meari is Yeonwoo's masterpiece! From start to finish! I just swung my arms around and hauled things without knowing a damn thing. Hahaha!"
Words that Yoon Juho had never dared to imagine.
"Masterpiece? What are you saying? We went through all that grueling work together."
"Well, sure, that's true. But you're the one who figured out every single ratio, calculated the fermentation curve, and oversaw the entire process from top to bottom."
I tried to defuse the situation, but Sejun stubbornly handed all the credit over to me.
Strictly speaking in the context of this life, he wasn't wrong. Yet without the painstaking research from my previous life and the crucial hints Songha had given me this time around, bringing such a spirit into existence would have been impossible.
Meanwhile, Yoon Juho, CEO of Juju Daily, gazed at me with shining eyes.
"Haha... Remarkable."
"Ah... well... thank you."
"It seems my stubborn insistence on driving all the way here was the right choice after all. Hahaha!"
Juho laughed heartily, radiating pure excitement with every fiber of his being.
Watching him, memories from our countless conversations in the past—in my previous life—flooded my mind.
Yoon Juho had been a devoted connoisseur and a personal friend of my grandfather. Not an 'alcoholic' in the sense of someone who simply drank heavily, but a true lover of fine spirits.
For that very reason, he had been overjoyed when I jumped into the brewing trade at a young age, declaring my ambition to craft a signature liquor unique to Songhadang. He celebrated it as fresh new blood being infused into the veins of Korean heritage spirits.
Even when my brews failed to hit the mark back then, he never withheld his encouragement, reassuring me that trial and error was an inevitable part of growth.
With that same booming voice, he used to say:
'One day, Songhadang will undoubtedly be remembered as the spark that ignited the renaissance of Korean traditional brewing! I'm merely investing in that distant future. Hahaha!'
His encouragement hadn't been empty words. Whenever I released a new batch, he would immediately sign a distribution contract and actively promote it. Even when Songhadang stood on the brink of collapse, he ran around tirelessly, trying to find a lifeline for our brewery.
Yet Juju Daily hadn't been able to stay by Songhadang's side until the very end.
'You're shutting down Juju Daily?'
Juju Daily had been struck by a relentless string of misfortunes. Breweries on the verge of signing contracts would suddenly surge in popularity through unforeseen twists and turn their backs on Juju Daily. The services Juho meticulously planned were shamelessly copied by rival platforms, steadily eroding Juju Daily's competitive edge.
In the end, despite taking on crippling debt to keep the business afloat, he couldn't withstand the pressure and collapsed.
In his final moments as CEO, he had told me:
'I'm so sorry. And I truly regret this... I wanted to introduce your spirits to so many more people.'
Even though Songhadang's unsold inventory had always piled up in Juju Daily's warehouses, those were the parting words he left me with.
But this life would be different.
From the very beginning, I had set this plan in motion with that exact outcome in mind.
"To think you are this young. The future is truly dazzling. If you've already created such an extraordinary spirit at your age, Korean traditional liquor might just conquer the entire globe one day. Hahaha!"
Even now, he looked at me with the exact same warmth and goodwill.
I possessed the knowledge to prevent him from collapsing helplessly like before. Moreover, Juho was an indispensable pillar in the grand blueprint I had drafted for the days ahead.
And above all, I had a debt of gratitude to repay.
"Do you truly think so highly of it?"
"Meari is already more than magnificent as it stands. That is precisely why I drove out here in person. Hahaha."
What's more, this time around, Meari had genuinely touched his soul. Things were already different from my past life.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of my lips. Yes. Let's move forward. One step at a time.
"Forgive my late introduction. I am Song Yeonwoo, Master Brewer and CEO of Songhadang."
"I'm Yoon Juho of Juju Daily."
And so, I took the hand of my past benefactor once again.
In any case, we couldn't neglect giving Juho a proper tour. He inspected every corner of the brewing facilities, and the two of us gave clear, thorough answers to all his questions.
"Hooh. The brewery's scenery is truly magnificent."
"Since my grandfather's time, our philosophy has always been to build a brewery in absolute harmony with nature."
"Ahem-hem. Well, I am quite the dashing dokkaebi, after all."
Songha puffed out his chest at Juho's praise and smoothed down the lapels of his three-piece suit.
Of course, Juho couldn't see him, but he let out continuous murmurs of admiration as he took in the brewery grounds.
After spending a good while touring Songhadang and tasting both the sulmit and deotsul of our Nokpaju, Juho joined us in the office. Though called a tour, its ultimate objective was to successfully finalize our contract.
The moment he took his seat, he spoke:
"Let's sign the contract."
"Certainly."
"Haha. You don't seem surprised at all?"
"Because I was confident in the spirit we brewed. Isn't that why you personally made the trip down here as well, Mr. Yoon?"
I had already known it from the start. From the moment he first arrived, his expression had been thoroughly favorable. And as he toured the facilities, his face had grown brighter and brighter until he entered the office with a broad, beaming grin. There was no room for any other thought.
Sure enough, Juho burst into a hearty laugh at my response.
"Hahaha! Exactly! You hit the nail right on the head! I fell completely head over heels the moment I drank Meari."
"Naturally. Because the spirit we craft is delicious."
"Hahaha! Indeed it is! Hahaha! Well then, shall we get down to brass tacks?"
Pulling out the documents he had prepared in advance, Juho began laying out the details.
In truth, direct contracts between platforms and individual craft breweries were rare. While he had traded with traditional breweries before, those were established houses led by renowned masters.
"What unit price do you have in mind?"
"We are currently selling it at 20,000 won per bottle."
"For a 500-milliliter bottle? Hmmm. That's a bit tricky."
Because Nokpaju required a secondary mash—deotsul—and demanded at least a full month of aging, maintaining that price point was inevitable.
Juho understood this reality, which was why his reaction stopped at mild regret. What our Nokpaju lacked was not flavor, but brand recognition. And without that prestige, our ability to lower the price to gain a competitive edge was severely restricted.
"Still, it's fortunate that it qualifies as a certified traditional liquor."
"Yes. Every single ingredient we use is domestic, sourced directly from our local region."
"And it satisfies all statutory requirements."
Fortunately, Meari qualified as an official traditional regional liquor. To receive liquor tax reductions in South Korea, a spirit had to qualify under traditional liquor regulations: either by being crafted by a recognized Food Grand Master or Intangible Cultural Heritage holder, or by being brewed strictly from 100% locally sourced agricultural produce.
Meari met every single one of those criteria.
"Do you have plans to craft other spirits in the future? I noticed oak barrels outside."
"Yes, we do. However, that will still take some time."
"I anticipated as much. Looking around, you'll need facility expansions first. Hrmmm... oak barrels, you say."
Juho twirled his pen between his fingers, his expression turning somewhat graver than before.
Why the hesitation?
The reason lay in oak barrel aging.
Under current liquor tax law, if a spirit is aged in oak casks for more than a year, it is classified as whisky or brandy, instantly forfeiting its traditional liquor status.
Because of this, most traditional breweries that utilized oak aging capped it strictly under a single year.
But we had no intention of doing that.
Every spirit from Songhadang would be crafted with wholehearted dedication. There was zero chance I would cut aging short just to circumvent tax regulations when a longer maturation could create a vastly superior liquor.
"Starting with Meari, it seems we'll need to brand the brewery itself. Word of mouth will also be essential."
"Since the flavor is exceptional, won't word of mouth spread naturally?"
"Hm? Hahaha! Sejun, I admire that youthful spirit. Mmm... but unfortunately, flavor alone isn't quite enough in this market."
Juho's response to Sejun was accurate. Crafting exceptional alcohol was our duty and responsibility as brewers, but that alone did not guarantee it would reach the hands of consumers.
It was right then, as Juho sat deep in thought, that I decided to play my winning card.
"If you don't mind, Mr. Yoon, may I make a proposal?"
"Hm? What kind of proposal?"
"I happened to hear about a new project Juju Daily is preparing to launch."
"Excuse me?"
The moment those words left my mouth, the atmosphere in the room shifted instantly.
The warm, genial smile on Juho's face vanished without a trace, freezing rock-solid.
The sudden chill was so intense that even the hulking Sejun swallowed hard in silence.
In the suffocating stillness, Juho rubbed his fingers together, his voice low and sharp.
"Where... did you hear that?"
Now, everything would proceed according to plan.