You'll Earn as Much as You Work
Kim Seong-ho, Jeong Byeong-ju, and Jo Byeong-jin stood in the hotel lobby, quietly taking in the full measure of Ilhyeon Hotel.
After a long moment of silence, Jo Byeong-jin was the first to speak.
"So what are you planning to do now?"
"Section Chief Jeong. How many people did we let go over this incident?"
Instead of answering Jo Byeong-jin directly, Kim Seong-ho redirected the question to Jeong Byeong-ju.
"On charges of leaking information to DS Furniture, President Jeong Jae-su and four other executives were handed over to the police. Three union officers and eight room-service staff were also turned over for colluding with them. Fifty employees walked out on their own, and we've got about a hundred more lined up for termination."
"Sounds like there are holes everywhere."
"Plenty. Front desk is already being covered by people from Reservations."
At Jeong Byeong-ju's words, Kim Seong-ho and Jo Byeong-jin both turned their eyes toward the front desk.
A woman in a hotel uniform was greeting arriving guests, yet something about her manner felt stiff and out of place.
"Those Reservations people only ever dealt with customers over the phone or through corporate and travel-agency bookings. When have they ever had to face guests in person? Of course it feels awkward and uncomfortable, and of course complaints are starting to come in… But what choice do we have? We need to plug the holes right now, so we're just grabbing whatever's roughly the right shape from our pockets and stuffing it in."
Jeong Byeong-ju spoke with a bitter expression.
Kim Seong-ho nodded and started walking toward the main entrance.
The spots where a doorman and valet-parking attendants should have stood were empty.
He turned and headed next for the elevators.
They pressed the button, waited, and stepped inside when the doors opened.
Jo Byeong-jin looked around the empty car and spoke with a touch of regret.
"I never saw anyone here from the first day we arrived… Still empty. Director Kim, where are we going?"
"Let's head to the twenty-third floor first."
"The twenty-third?"
Jo Byeong-jin looked startled as he pressed the button.
Inside the rising elevator, Jeong Byeong-ju turned to Kim Seong-ho.
"The twenty-third floor is… empty right now, isn't it?"
"That's right. It is empty. That's why I want to go take a look."
"That's why you want to take a look?"
Section Chief Jeong Byeong-ju glanced at Jo Byeong-jin as if asking whether he knew something, but Jo Byeong-jin was just as much in the dark.
The twenty-third floor was the highest in the hotel, offering a sweeping view of the Seoul skyline. After the restaurants that had once operated here had their contracts terminated, the entire floor had been left vacant.
Kim Seong-ho walked the empty space, then spoke to Jeong Byeong-ju and Jo Byeong-jin.
"I plan to put a French restaurant over there, and a coffee shop on this side of the lobby."
"You're going to select new tenants to run them?"
"No."
Kim Seong-ho shook his head at Jo Byeong-jin's question.
"We're going to open them ourselves, under our own brand, and manage them ourselves."
"Our own brand of restaurant?"
Jeong Byeong-ju and Jo Byeong-jin both looked stunned.
Kim Seong-ho turned to face them and laid out the plan.
"To keep everything under our direct operation and control, I intend to convert every business operating in this hotel to company-owned."
"Even the chefs?"
Kim Seong-ho looked at Jo Byeong-jin and answered.
"Not just the chefs—the waiters serving the tables will all become Ilhyeon Hotel employees."
"We… came here to restructure… Is that really okay?"
The fundamental job of restructuring was to find and stop the money the company was wasting. In that sense, cutting staff could certainly be part of the work. When Kim Seong-ho had dismissed Ilhyeon Hotel employees, there had been pushback, but no one had questioned the decision itself.
This decision was different.
"We're going to run them ourselves? Is that really necessary?"
Jeong Byeong-ju also sensed something odd and asked.
"Until now, hotels have existed solely for people who come to stay the night."
"Right. That's the whole point of a hotel."
Jeong Byeong-ju turned to Jo Byeong-jin, who nodded in agreement.
Seeing their blank expressions, Kim Seong-ho continued.
"How many people in this country actually use hotels? If ten people come up from Busan to Seoul on business, how many of them will stay at our hotel? One out of ten? I think even that one is generous."
"Well… yeah, I suppose."
Jo Byeong-jin nodded, accepting the point.
In this era, far from the future, almost no one stayed in a hotel in Seoul that wasn't a tourist destination.
"So the first thing we have to do is make people understand that our hotel is more than a place to sleep."
"What else can you do at a hotel besides stay the night?"
"Not just sleep—eat, drink, and enjoy yourself. A place you can come in the evening, have a fine meal, and share a drink against this kind of view. Ilhyeon Hotel is going to become a place that offers that kind of pleasure."
Jeong Byeong-ju's eyes went round at the plan.
"That's why you said we'd manage it ourselves?"
"Yes. I'm going to create a Food and Beverage Division and run the restaurants under our own control."
Kim Seong-ho turned his gaze toward the windows that looked out over all of Seoul.
He remembered perfectly what had once stood here in the years to come. All he had to do was lift those things out of memory and set them down in this place.
That was why he believed raising Ilhyeon Hotel's revenue—something everyone else thought was nearly impossible—would not be all that difficult.
"Gather the general manager and all the floor managers. I'm going to lay out the full plan for everyone."
Jeong Byeong-ju and Jo Byeong-jin nodded, then quietly watched Kim Seong-ho's back as he looked out the window.
Something tells me the restaurants aren't the end of it.
Both men had the same thought: the restaurant plan could not be the whole story. Otherwise there would have been no reason to summon every manager.
And when the staff had gathered, their suspicion proved correct. Kim Seong-ho announced far more than just direct restaurant operations.
The general manager shook his head with a troubled look.
"Director… that simply won't work."
"Won't work, or you don't think it will work?"
Kim Seong-ho pressed him to clarify the negative response.
The general manager glanced at the floor managers seated beside him before answering.
"Job-hopping isn't rare in the hotel industry, but… I don't believe anyone will transfer to us right now."
"Why not?"
"Well…"
When the general manager hesitated, Kim Seong-ho gestured for him to speak freely.
The man opened his mouth with difficulty.
"Because our hotel's current situation is not good."
"Why? Because rumors are flying that we're about to shut the doors?"
Kim Seong-ho asked with a smile, and the general manager looked mildly startled.
"…You already knew?"
"Rumors, by their nature, eventually reach everyone. They've probably reached the Chairman's ears as well."
"The Chairman…"
At the mention that Chairman Lee Tak-hyeon might know, the general manager's face went white. The other managers looked just as pale.
The only people in the room who remained composed were Kim Seong-ho and the other two members of the restructuring team.
The general manager had gone white not because his own failings might be exposed, but because he feared Lee Tak-hyeon's anger might actually close Ilhyeon Hotel for good.
Knowing exactly what the man was thinking, Kim Seong-ho spoke first.
"It's true that the Chairman is angry and has doubts about whether Ilhyeon Hotel can continue."
The general manager's expression tightened further at the confirmation of his fears.
Kim Seong-ho continued, addressing the entire room.
"But not right this moment."
He made the situation crystal clear to the general manager and the floor managers.
"He said he will decide after seeing our results over the next year. So stop worrying that the company is about to collapse and focus on producing good numbers for the next twelve months. Follow my instructions well, and in a year I'll make sure you can take pride in working at the finest hotel in the Republic of Korea."
The claim that he would not only keep Ilhyeon Hotel from failing but turn it into the nation's top hotel within a year left everyone staring at him in blank astonishment.
Kim Seong-ho repeated what he had said earlier.
"So while we hire new employees, we will also recruit experienced staff. We'll offer the best compensation in the industry, and I promise that within the hotel sector we will continue to provide the best treatment going forward."
This time the general manager did not insist that no one would come. Now that he knew Chairman Lee Tak-hyeon would judge them after a year, they had no choice but to make it work one way or another.
"And General Manager—be sure to emphasize that there will be additional incentives beyond base pay."
"Additional incentives?"
The general manager looked at him with curiosity.
Kim Seong-ho shared one of the methods that had once propelled Ilhyeon Hotel to industry leadership.
"For doormen, we'll have them memorize guest vehicle numbers. Every hundred plates they learn by heart will earn them a bonus."
"You're saying you'll pay them extra simply for memorizing license plates?"
"That's right. But they can't just memorize random numbers. I'll test them myself. Anyone who passes will receive a bonus of five hundred thousand won for every hundred plates. Memorize a thousand and you'll take home five million won."
The general manager looked stunned.
Memorizing a thousand plates was difficult, but not impossible. Even the famously lackadaisical doormen at Ilhyeon Hotel already knew three or four hundred plates by heart.
And the incentives Kim Seong-ho described did not stop there.
"When a guest returns their key, if they are asked about the room condition and say they were satisfied, the housekeeper responsible will receive a fifty-thousand-won incentive."
"Housekeepers too?"
"Not only housekeepers. Every employee will have an incentive policy tailored to their position, and performance bonuses will be paid accordingly."
The general manager and floor managers swallowed hard. Incentives of this kind were a form of compensation they had never even imagined.
Then Kim Seong-ho lit the fire of expectation even higher.
"From this day forward, Ilhyeon Hotel will be a company where you earn as much as you work. Treat guests kindly and you will be paid for that kindness. Keep a guest's room as clean as if it were your own, and you will be rewarded for the effort. A hotel that no guest who has ever stayed here can ever forget—that will be our motto."
"A hotel no guest can ever forget…"
The general manager repeated the words and felt heat rise in his chest.
A long-dormant ambition, forgotten after years in the industry, stirred back to life. The days of simply leaning on the Ilhyeon name and wearing a five-star badge without effort fell away; in their place came a genuine desire to turn this place into the true flagship hotel of the Republic of Korea.
Watching the general manager and floor managers burn with renewed purpose, Kim Seong-ho was certain the gaping holes in Ilhyeon Hotel would soon be filled. Those same managers would take the lead in training the new hires with real energy.
And with the holes patched, Kim Seong-ho began laying the next plans—the ones that would paint a new coat over the repairs and remake Ilhyeon Hotel entirely.