Verifying the Elixir's Effects

In the middle of the lively festivities, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Joo-yeon's parents approached the table to introduce themselves.

"Hello, I'm Yoon Sang-man, Joo-yeon's father."

"And I'm Song Mi-gyeong, Joo-yeon's mother."

"Ah, hello. I'm Kim Young-hoon. I apologize—I should have come to pay my respects in advance..."

"Oh, please, don't mention it. Joo-yeon talks about you every chance she gets. She says you're the man who worked a miracle and brought Five Girls back from the dead."

"You're too kind. Well, since you're here, why don't you try a glass of this wine?"

"Oh dear, look at me! I should have brought out a proper bottle for you, and instead you're stuck drinking this cheap plonk. Truly, I'm embarrassed."

"Not at all. Please, have a sip first and tell me what you think."

Young-hoon poured each of Joo-yeon's parents a glass.

The moment they took their first sip, both of them went wide-eyed with astonishment.

"Goodness! Such a superb flavor coming out of cheap bottle like this... This is simply the finest wine I've ever tasted. The bottle may be bottom-shelf, but what's inside beats anything I've drunk in my entire life."

Pleased by the father's praise, Young-hoon continued.

"And one of this wine's other virtues is that it leaves absolutely no hangover. But the truth is... it has an effect that's very good for men. What effect it has on women, well—that hasn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been confirmed yet."

"Hmm, is that so? And what effect would that be, specifically?"

Young-hoon glanced around the table, then leaned toward Joo-yeon's father and murmured.

"Well, first of all, after you drink this wine, your vitality comes flooding back. And then at night... you turn into a beast. I trust you get the general idea?"

"Really? Then it's a truly wonderful wine."

Emboldened, Young-hoon asked one more thing.

"If you were to sell this wine at your restaurant, boss, how much do you think you could charge for it?"

"This is a medicinal tonic. I'd say it's worth whatever the seller asks—you'd need to charge at least ten to twenty thousand dollars a bottle."

"My thoughts exactly. And how many bottles a month do you think you could sell?"

"Hmm, it would be a struggle at first, but if word spread properly, you wouldn't be able to keep it in stock."

"Thank you for the advice, boss. Care for another glass?"

"Mr. Kim, is this wine really so good for men as all that?"

Joo-yeon's mother asked cautiously, clearly burning with curiosity.

"Mom, have some shame. What are you saying in front of your daughter?"

Joo-yeon snapped, but her mother couldn't have cared less.

"Quiet, you. Don't go getting any strange ideas. I'm just asking because your father seems to have been running low on energy lately, so I was thinking of brewing him a tonic or two."

"As a matter of fact, I did test this wine on my brother-in-law. My older sister says she's dying every single night, because my brother-in-law just won't leave her alone. I trust you get the general idea?"

"Good grief, the beast!"

"Oraboni, you're being far too crude!"

Jeers and catcalls erupted from around the table.

But Young-hoon seemed to have no shame whatsoever, standing proud as a peacock.

"So how much do you have to drink?"

"Hard to say. From what I hear, even two glasses does the trick, though the exact dosage isn't known yet. And the effects supposedly last twelve hours or more—but that's not certain either."

"Well then, you've had about two glasses, so you can run the experiment tonight. Hohoho."

At those words, President Lee Jae-man hastily drained his glass and held out the empty cup.

"Mr. Kim, one more for me as well. I'll report the results of my experiment separately."

After that, the middle-aged uncles and aunts traded rounds back and forth, laughing their way through the rest of the meal.

Joo-yeon's parents refused to accept payment for the food, declaring the wine they'd drunk more than settled the bill. Young-hoon had no choice but to promise to come by and sell them more next time, and the group left the restaurant.

Since he was the designated driver, Young-hoon had only savored a sip or two of the wine—so driving was no problem at all.

Kyeong-hwan, Five Girls' manager, wore a transparent look of grievance at having been unable to drink his fill for the same reason.

I'll have to make it up to him later.

By the time Young-hoon got home, midnight had come and gone. He showered, lay down, and his eyes slid shut almost instantly.

President Lee Jae-man, meanwhile, swaggered into his own home in high spirits.

The first thing he did was check that the kids were asleep, then he hurried through a shower and slipped into the bedroom.

When his wife, exhausted, made to fall straight asleep, he grabbed her shoulder and shot her a lecherous look.

"My goodness, what's gotten into you tonight, sending the signal first? Did you eat eel and snake wine out on the town or something?"

"Heh heh, don't ask useless questions. Go wash up and come right back. Tonight, I'm sending you to Hong Kong, guaranteed."

"Fine, fine. But if that flight to Hong Kong takes off and crash-lands like last time, don't expect so much as a broth for breakfast."

A short while later, his shower finished and changed into something scandalously sheer, Jae-man's wife struck a model-like pose, flaunting the beauty of her glory days. Unable to hold back a second longer, President Lee Jae-man pounced on her.

A whistle blew, and the first half kicked off in earnest.

Jae-man pressed forward against his wife with relentless force.

"Good heavens! What's gotten into you? Ah—darling, I'm dying. I think I'm going to Hong Kong. I'm dying..."

Having fully transformed into a beast, Jae-man drove so fiercely that his wife was limp and boneless by the end of the first half alone. She had certainly seen all of Hong Kong there was to see, and then some.

The problem was that President Lee Jae-man still had strength to spare.

Joo-yeon's parents, too, bolted home ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the moment they locked up the restaurant, moving like the wind. They were barely out of the shower before the first half began, and unlike usual, Madam Song Mi-gyeong was harpooned without mercy, one-sidedly. They say the pair spent the whole night ascending to heaven and descending from it, over and over.

It was quite possible, in fact, that Joo-yeon would soon have a little sibling.

Either way, Jae-man and Sang-man were without question the victors of tonight's matches. Meat would surely be on the breakfast tables the next morning.

That night, many things happened in many households—yet Young-hoon, the provider of it all, slept the sleep of the innocent, blissfully unaware.

And so another day passed.

Thursday.

Once again, Young-hoon was first through the office doors. Once again, he pulled out his work notebook and organized the day's tasks.

Internally, he needed to write the intel report he'd skipped while playing around yesterday. Externally, he had to call his cousin Hee-joo, hear President Lee Jae-man's report on the wine's effects, and around mid-November, meet Ha-yeon's father to commission a chemical analysis of the wine. And at some point, he needed to gather all the Five Girls' parents together for a shared meal.

Nothing else on the schedule—it looked like a peaceful day ahead.

As long as that bastard Deputy Hong doesn't cause trouble.

Since Deputy Hong had never managed to slack off for more than two days running, he was certain to show up at work today.

At nine a.m. sharp, everyone had clocked in, no exceptions.

Deputy Hong included.

Deputy General Manager Cho called a meeting. As far as Young-hoon could tell, there was nothing on today's agenda—but he headed for the conference room all the same.

"Everyone submits at least one intel report by end of day. Deputy Hong's share will be covered by Staff Kim Jin-man writing an extra one. We need to schedule the November training sessions—only two people can go at a time, so work out the rotation yourselves."

"......"

Dead silence, as expected. Apparently nobody had any opinions. And that seemed to suit Deputy General Manager Cho just fine, because he went right on spouting whatever he pleased.

"There are three of us up for promotion, including me. So next week's training goes to Staff Kim Jin-man, the week after to Deputy Hong, and the week after that, me. The last week of November is busy, so the remaining four of you can split it up in December. Anything to add? No? Then everyone leave except Deputy Hong."

Honestly, Cho only ever listened to the sound of his own voice. The man must suffer from some disease that made him allergic to hearing anyone else speak.

Once the team members filed out of the conference room, Deputy General Manager Cho and Deputy Hong began talking in low, conspiratorial tones.

"Deputy Hong, I hate to say this, but... I have to start managing your attendance. I've been covering for you on my own all this time, but yesterday I got a call from your uncle, the HR director at the Group. He says if your attendance keeps looking like this, the responsibility lands on me. Apparently they ran a surprise audit on you and found out your attendance is a mess. Your attendance reports say you clock in 100% on time, but the reality doesn't match, and he chewed me out over it. So look—lay low for a while."

"Ugh, dammit! That bastard should mind his own damn job—why the hell is he sticking his nose into my life at a different company?! What a pain in the ass. I'll handle my own attendance, so don't you worry about it, Team Leader. I'll just have a word with Mom tonight. Seriously, what good is an uncle who never helps you with anything in life? Ugh, whatever! I'm heading out—just mark it down as a field assignment."

"Fine, got it. But it seems someone's watching you, Deputy Hong, so watch your step."

"I said I got it! Why are you getting on my case too, Team Leader? God, so annoying!"

While Deputy General Manager Cho and Deputy Hong held their grim conference, Young-hoon dialed his cousin.

After hanging up, Young-hoon seized the moment to start a group chat with Five Girls.

The moment Young-hoon closed the group chat, that bastard Deputy Hong stormed out of the conference room, grabbed his coat, and marched straight out of the office.

Did Cho chew him out? Typical of that slimeball, though—always knows which way the wind blows.

But when Deputy General Manager Cho emerged from the conference room, his face looked like he'd just bitten into something foul. Utterly flustered, he asked Manager Kim for a cigarette and headed outside the office.

The thing was, Cho drank but never smoked... Something was definitely off.