Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Let’s Live and Eat (2)
“What? Ha… Hanwoo?”
“Yes. I’ll treat you today.”
“I’m fine with that!”
Deputy Manager Jin agreed immediately.
“Wait, how does Assistant Manager Kang have money?”
Team Leader Kim looked at me with a troubled expression.
“I received the deposit from my newlywed home, so now I’m debt-free. Since the divorce, there’s no one to spend money recklessly, so my allowance is plenty too.”
“Even so…”
“Let’s just say it’s me paying back the drinks I owe you, Team Leader.”
“What? You… knew about that?”
Although I never said it because of my financial struggles, I had always been grateful to Team Leader Kim.
Seeing me survive on cafeteria meals and coffee from the break room, he often bought drinks and snacks for me when going out for lunch. I thought he used company expenses, but one day Deputy Manager Jin subtly told me otherwise.
He was buying them out of his own pocket.
I felt so grateful when I found out. But back when I was sighing over my overdrawn account, I couldn’t even buy his favorite ice cream.
Now that I have a bank account that never runs dry, why put off expressing gratitude? I wanted to show it every day.
I winked at Deputy Manager Jin and answered:
“Do you think I wouldn’t notice something like that? Let’s go!”
Strike while the iron is hot. I couldn’t miss a chance to grow my followers.
Tonight’s dinner was Hanwoo Omakase!
Jung Ji-hyun couldn’t take her eyes off the message from Kang Min-hyuk for a long time.
“...Sir? Attorney Jung?”
The secretary called her name several times before she finally looked up in surprise.
“Excuse me? What did you say?”
“There’s a note regarding the kit patent application… Oh my, Attorney, are you feeling unwell?”
“Huh?”
“Your face is red… maybe you have a fever. Should I bring some medicine?”
“Huh? Me? No, I’m fine.”
Jung Ji-hyun quickly composed herself and explained about the relationship between the kit patent owner and Iljin Group.
“Please check the employment contracts thoroughly to make sure there are no issues regarding the patent.”
“Understood.”
As soon as the secretary left, Jung Ji-hyun’s gaze returned to her phone. Kang Min-hyuk’s message was still on the screen:
[Thanks for promoting my channel. Because of you, my follower count increased a lot. Is there anything you need? I’d like to send you a gift. (Heart)]
“H-H-Heart?”
Thump.
The red heart emoji after the sentence about wanting to send a gift made her heart skip a beat. A weird current seemed to flow through her.
“Don’t men usually not add emojis to texts?”
What could it mean? Jung Ji-hyun rested her chin on her hand, staring at the message for a long time with a serious expression.
Although the place wasn’t too expensive, Team Leader Kim and the team slowly realized something was off as they stepped inside the restaurant with its flashy interior.
After the waiter led them to a room-style seating area and left, Deputy Manager Jin whispered while looking around nervously:
“Assistant Manager Kang, are you sure this is okay? This place seems really expensive.”
“Yeah. It’s not too late, maybe we should go somewhere else…”
Section Chief Seo awkwardly stood up, but when the waiter returned with the menu, he quickly sat back down in surprise.
“What would you like to order?”
“The most expensive course for four, please.”
“Understood. We’ll prepare four special courses. Any drinks?”
“No alcohol, just four bottles of cider. Oh! Team Leader likes cola, right?”
“Uh? Uh-huh.”
“Just four bottles of cider, four bottles of cola.”
“Understood.”
After the waiter left, Team Leader Kim looked at me in shock.
“Assistant Manager Kang, a special course? Even if you paid off all your debts, isn’t this too much? Think about the future.”
“It’s just one day. Compared to the money my ex spent, this isn’t much. Don’t worry.”
“Well, still…”
The dinner was a way to apologize for the project being disrupted over the past month—‘technically because of Bulyeosi, though.’
“This is the first time I’ve treated anyone in three years. Don’t worry and enjoy. Since the divorce, I have no one to spend on, so I’m financially free. I’ll treat you to dinner and drinks from now on.”
The team members who initially looked hesitant started enjoying the meal as soon as the food arrived.
And it was impossible not to—it was truly delicious Hanwoo Omakase.
Deputy Manager Jin, noticing me taking photos of each dish, asked:
“Are you posting this on SNS?”
“Yes. Everyone’s doing it these days.”
“I’ll follow you too.”
“Thanks.”
When I told him my ID, Deputy Manager Jin searched for my account and asked in surprise:
“Did you buy your account?”
“No. Who buys a personal account?”
“But why… so many followers?”
It made sense to be curious—there was only one post, yet the followers exceeded 30,000.
“A friend recommended it on their channel, LatteTime.”
“LatteTime? Wow, I watch that often too. They introduce nice cafes, right?”
“Yep.”
“Wow~ Amazing! Assistant Manager, your connections are incredible.”
“Haha. Maybe.”
I just laughed it off. But this was only the beginning.
The network I’d build under the name ‘Zeros Group’ would be on a whole different level compared to office worker Kang Min-hyuk’s influence.
If Yang Mi-jung built a lonely, fortress-like position by severing past ties, I would create a world as vast and inclusive as the ocean.
Sharing good food with people I like in a pleasant atmosphere made me naturally happy.
Before, staying late at work was a burden. Now, meal times were enjoyable, and even overtime felt energizing—not just for me, but for everyone else. It was as if the bad memories from the previous meeting had been completely erased.
Money really is the best!
After finishing work neatly and returning home, it was already 10 PM. I quickly washed up and collapsed onto the bed.
“Shall I post an update?”
When I opened the WhatStar account, my followers had already increased to 38,000.
I attached photos in the order the dishes arrived and added simple reviews with hashtags, not forgetting to include the receipt photo at the end.
Deputy Manager Jin said that on WhatStar, expensive meals are more popular. Maybe that’s why the likes increased quickly. Social media grows on showing off and status—it seems true.
While smiling at the growing likes, I remembered a conversation with Deputy Manager Jin:
“Ah, right. They often post about small business product promotions on WhatStar too.”
I needed to check if there was a product similar to the nutritional supplement dispenser my team was developing.
I didn’t want to get caught searching at work, so I planned to research at home.
Searching under various terms like supplement, supplement dispenser, supplement storage, nothing similar appeared.
“Should I check the patent site?”
Thinking it was the last option, I searched under ‘pill dispensing device’ and found a product similar to what Team Leader Lee Jung-wan presented last week.
Clicking the link under the photo led to a description page. It explained the device kept pills in optimal condition with a temperature-controlled system and used fingerprint recognition to dispense personalized doses.
“Oh~ it even allows pharmacy-prescribed medications to be loaded into cartridges.”
I remembered the conversations with my father whenever he returned from the hospital:
“Don’t take supplements, are you taking them again?”
“Oh right! I need to take my prescription meds.”
“You always forget. Don’t take supplements tonight.”
“Got it.”
My supplement-obsessed father took up to 10 different pills a day. Mixing them with prescriptions often led to him being scolded by my mother.
Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck me.
“I could add a system that automatically links hospital prescriptions to separate supplements that are safe to take and those that aren’t.”
It would also help schedule supplement intake to avoid overlap with medications. Overdosing could be dangerous. Perfect to market as a filial gift for the elderly.
Other ideas kept flooding in, and I quickly jotted them down in a notebook.
After summarizing the market enhancement strategies I had shared with Team Leader Lee Jung-wan, it was already 1 AM.
“Phew, has it really been this long? I need to sleep now.”
Tomorrow is Friday—the day to get the manufacturing cost for eco-friendly plastic containers. Early sleep ensures a clear mind.
As soon as I turned off the light, a crackling sound came from the TV.
“Oh! A new mission?”
I sat up instantly, and white text appeared on the black screen.
[Are you adapting well to your new life?]
“Of course!”
[Suddenly having money, are you wondering where to invest it?]
“How did you know? I just left it in the bank.”
[So we prepared a surprise mission.]
“Surprise mission?”
Moments later, an aerial view of New York, as if taken by drone, appeared, gradually zooming in on a specific building.
“Wait, that’s—!”
[Do you remember the unapproved building in the middle of Wall Street? This building will soon be auctioned.]
“Oh~ really? If it’s an auction, maybe I can buy it cheaper than Alex’s suggested price?”
[If you dream of being a global investor, you should own at least one building in Times Square.]
[Complete this surprise mission, and you can see the building’s minimum auction price.]
A 60-story new building in Times Square, New York.
Price: $13 million.
According to Alex, this was the unapproved sale price; a fully approved building would have been worth $22 million.
But if I could buy this building at auction, I might get close to $10 million—saving $3 million (40 billion KRW).
Plus, with Alex’s help to get approval and tenants, the value could more than double.
“Sounds good.”
Since I started earning money, I had only repaid debts and spent, never invested. I didn’t know where to start.
Putting it in an investment fund felt risky; there were too many news stories about failed funds. Real estate was uncertain; rumors suggested I might not even break even with employees. Stocks felt like gambling.
I had considered energy company bonds yielding slightly more than bank interest. But if this info on TV is accurate, success is nearly guaranteed—no hesitation needed.
[Your surprise mission begins. Complete it and secure the chance to own a prime property!]
Honestly, I had expected a mission to reach 100,000 followers on WhatStar.
But the mission on TV was completely unexpected.
Surprise Mission: Flex Time! One day only, Saturday! Meet 3 potential partners and spend over 500 million KRW
Reward: Minimum auction price of New York building
“Meet three potential partners in one day?!”