He's Different From Us
After the meeting ended, Kim Seong-ho called out to the general manager just as the man was about to leave with the managers.
"General Manager. Would you stay behind a moment?"
At Seong-ho's words the general manager stopped, then took a seat in the empty chair across from him.
"Is there something else you wished to discuss?"
Seong-ho gestured for Jeong Byeong-ju and Jo Byeong-jin to sit as well before answering.
"It's about the new staff we'll be hiring this time."
"Yes."
"We also intend to hire kitchen personnel. So please recruit with that in mind as well—starting with the servers, and—"
"H-hold on a moment, Director."
The general manager cut him off, certain he must have misheard. He shook his head and asked again.
"You mean you want me to hire a head chef, correct?"
"No. Section Chief Jeong and Assistant Manager Jo here will handle the head chefs separately. What I'm asking of you, General Manager, is to bring in the supporting staff who will work under them."
The general manager looked back and forth between Jeong Byeong-ju and Jo Byeong-jin, both of whom already seemed to know what was coming, then spoke carefully.
"So the two of them will scout and bring in the head chefs on their own, and you want me to fill out the rest of the roster?"
"Exactly. And one more thing."
Seong-ho allowed a faint smile to touch his lips and continued.
"Tell the new chefs that Ilhyeon Hotel will offer them study-abroad opportunities. For Japanese cuisine chefs, a chance to train at culinary schools in Japan. For French cuisine chefs, the same in France."
"You're... sending them abroad to study?"
"And if they wish, arrange for them to train at restaurants over there as well. Tell them Ilhyeon Hotel will cover all expenses—including living costs. That should draw quite a response."
The general manager stared at Seong-ho in open astonishment.
"We're a hotel. A hotel, and yet... why chefs...?"
Seong-ho laughed softly at the reaction—identical to the one Jeong Byeong-ju and Jo Byeong-jin had shown up on the twenty-third floor only a short while ago.
"General Manager. I've heard that when Ilhyeon Hotel first opened, the Chairman used to come here quite often just to enjoy a meal. Is that true?"
"Ah... yes. That's right."
The sudden mention of Lee Tak-hyeon caught the general manager off guard, but he remembered those days clearly enough to nod.
Seong-ho glanced at Jeong Byeong-ju and Jo Byeong-jin in turn, making sure they were listening, then pressed on.
"Yet at some point the Chairman stopped coming. Do you know why?"
The general manager's face darkened as he answered.
"If my memory serves, it was because of the dumplings."
"Correct."
Seong-ho nodded.
"The Chairman loved dumplings. He tried the ones served at our hotel restaurant, was deeply disappointed, and never set foot here again."
Jeong Byeong-ju and Jo Byeong-jin exchanged startled looks; this was the first they had heard of it. Seeing the general manager unable to lift his head only confirmed that Seong-ho's account was true.
Seong-ho repeated to the general manager what he had already told the other two.
"Until now the restaurants in this hotel were all outside contractors. Even if the food was terrible, there was nothing we could do. That has changed. We threw out every one of those mediocre establishments. From now on we will run the restaurants ourselves."
"Ourselves?"
"Yes. We plan to create a dedicated food-and-beverage department as well."
"Ah!"
Hiring chefs and service staff was one thing; establishing an entire department solely for the restaurants told the general manager everything. Seong-ho intended to stake the hotel's success on those restaurants.
"So please proceed with that understanding."
"Yes. I'll set up the new department at once and include its personnel in the recruitment."
"Good."
Seong-ho looked at all three men.
"You have one year. Within one year the finest restaurants in the Republic of Korea must be operating inside this hotel. Understood?"
In each of their hearts the same quiet hope took root: if they simply followed Kim Seong-ho, good results would come of their own accord.
Ilhyeon Hotel's massive new-hire drive set the entire hospitality industry buzzing.
"Is it true? Really? Just memorize license plates and they give you incentives?"
The doorman who had just opened a car door for an arriving guest turned to his colleague, double-checking what he had heard.
"They really pay five hundred thousand won if you memorize a hundred plates?"
"The important part is that they pay every single time you hit another hundred."
"So a thousand plates means five million won?"
The doorman held up five fingers. His colleague snorted a laugh and nodded.
"That's right. A thousand plates, five million won."
The doorman looked incredulous and was about to say more when another car pulled up; he straightened at once. He opened the door, bowed, and received a casual nod of acknowledgment from the man who stepped out and headed inside. Once the door was closed again, the doorman turned back to his colleague.
"5884. That's the president of Dongseong Construction's car."
"Right. 3785 is the vice president's, and 1035 is the managing director's..."
License-plate numbers of Dongseong Construction executives spilled from both men's mouths in a steady stream. They traded numbers they each knew until they stopped and stared at each other.
"That was just something we did to kill time while waiting for guests... and now they're paying for it?"
The doorman fixed his colleague with a look.
"You're thinking the same thing I am, right?"
"Of course."
They needed no further discussion. Both men spoke with the firmness of a decision already made.
"Let's go."
"Yeah. If we're going to bow to people for a living, we might as well get paid more for it. Let's go."
Having confirmed they were of one mind, the two doormen chose to transfer to Ilhyeon Hotel.
And it was not only the doormen.
"Fifty thousand won every time a guest says the room condition is spotless?"
"That's what I heard. Ilhyeon Hotel is handing out money for things that are just basic."
"Unni, I can't stay here. I'm going over there."
"Me too. Changing pillowcases and sheets is the bare minimum, and they're paying extra for it. Of course we should go."
The incentives Seong-ho had offered proved irresistibly attractive. As a result, the majority of people who had worked at Seoul's top luxury hotels flocked to Ilhyeon Hotel. Doormen, bellboys, housekeepers—everyone who performed the hotel's most fundamental work—along with managers, office staff, and seasoned professionals from every other department, all streamed through the doors.
Standing in the lobby watching applicants outnumber actual guests, Seong-ho and Jo Byeong-jin talked quietly.
"I never knew filling positions could be this easy."
"It's not as hard as people think. Offer fair pay and treat them well, and they'll come of their own accord."
"I was fretting over how long it would take to train new hires..."
Recruiting, training, and molding raw staff into competent employees normally took a great deal of time. That was precisely why the old Ilhyeon Hotel employees had felt free to coast. But Seong-ho had never intended to fill every vacancy with rookies.
"Employers always hope their staff will feel a sense of ownership and stay loyal to the company. They also delude themselves into thinking that once someone joins, they'll never leave. Employees don't think that way."
"Then what are they loyal to?"
"Money, of course. Even you would feel a sudden surge of loyalty if someone started paying you a lot more, wouldn't you?"
"Well... yeah, I would."
Jo Byeong-jin looked as though he had been struck over the head. The fact that someone from the owner's family could say such a thing so casually left him stunned.
"Are you sure you should be talking like that?"
"Why not?"
"Still..."
Jo Byeong-jin glanced quickly around and lowered his voice.
"If I said it, people would point fingers. If you say it, what are they going to think?"
"It's fine. I don't care about that."
Unbothered by Jo Byeong-jin's concern, Seong-ho watched the stream of applicants filing inside.
"Because it's the truth. It's reality."
He knew perfectly well that only a few years from now the words he had just spoken would sound completely natural. Right now the open pursuit of money still felt too vulgar, something to be ashamed of. But before long money would be regarded as the highest value of all—and Seong-ho remembered that shift with perfect clarity.
Ignorant of that future, Jo Byeong-jin could only conclude that Seong-ho saw straight through human nature and therefore dared things no one else would attempt.
...He really was a different person from the rest of us.
Jo Byeong-jin watched Seong-ho's back and found himself remembering the day Seong-ho married Lee Gyeong-eun. When he first heard that Seong-ho was marrying the youngest daughter of the Ilhyeon Group, Jo Byeong-jin had begged him not to do it. Ordinary people like them had no business becoming sons-in-law of a chaebol family—especially not the Ilhyeon Group. Nothing good would come of it. He had even asked Lee Gyeong-eun why she had chosen Seong-ho of all people.
"He was different from everyone else."
I thought she was just saying that at the time... but he really is different.
Watching Seong-ho calmly voice things no ordinary person would dare say and then turn those ideas into action, Jo Byeong-jin could only click his tongue in wonder.
Seong-ho, still observing the applicants, turned and asked,
"When did Section Chief Jeong say he would arrive?"
Jo Byeong-jin checked his wristwatch.
"He said by four, so roughly thirty minutes from now."
"Then let's head upstairs."
Jo Byeong-jin stared after Seong-ho for a moment as the man started toward the elevators, then followed.
Even after they left, the line of applicants continued without end. It was beginning to look as though every hotel in the country, not merely those in Seoul, was sending its people to Ilhyeon Hotel.
A short while later Seong-ho found himself face-to-face with the man Jeong Byeong-ju had tracked down and presented as the finest chef in the Republic of Korea.
The chef, wearing an arrogant expression, immediately laid out his demands.
"What I want is a fifty-percent stake and a signing bonus of two hundred million won."
Seong-ho simply smiled and said nothing. When the silence stretched, the chef added another condition.
"And you'll need to guarantee the operating rights of my existing restaurant as well."
Jeong Byeong-ju, hearing the demands, could not contain his shock.
"President Kim! Didn't I make our terms perfectly clear? You close your current establishment and come into Ilhyeon Hotel. That was the condition."
"If you don't like it, then don't do it. Simple as that."
The chef raised his voice, full of bluster.
"I never asked to come here. You people came begging me. And now I can't even state my conditions?"
Jeong Byeong-ju opened his mouth to fire back.
"That's—"
Seong-ho raised a hand and cut him off. The chef, recognizing at once who held the real authority, shifted his body toward Seong-ho and spoke as though he were making a great sacrifice.
"I'm already giving ground out of respect for the Ilhyeon name. Anywhere else I would have demanded far more."
He wore an expression of regret that he had not asked for more, then began to recount how remarkable he was.
"I may not look like much, but I worked under a Michelin one-star chef in France. Do you even know what Michelin is? Michelin is—"
Seong-ho, still smiling, interrupted the man who was about to gild his own reputation.
"I know. So there's no need to explain."
"Then... shall we draw up the contract?"
Convinced he had made his position sufficiently clear, the chef floated the suggestion.
Seong-ho kept the same pleasant smile as he answered.
"No. We won't be signing anything."
"What?"
"You said it yourself a moment ago: if you don't like it, then don't do it. I don't like it. So you're free to leave. Section Chief Jeong, please see him out."
Without a single round of negotiation, Seong-ho ordered the chef dismissed and turned his chair away as though he had no further interest in looking at the man.