The Gift - 6
"Your order has been placed successfully."
I'd gone a bit overboard with the teasing. Honestly, I could have just brewed her a simple cup, but this young lady's reactions were so entertaining that I couldn't help myself.
I never expected her to freeze up mid-order, though. Thank goodness I'd swiftly slid the coffee in front of her before things got any more awkward.
"Heheh. Ye-e-e-e-es. I did i-i-i-it!"
Jegal Hyang, apparently proud of the coffee she'd ordered, lifted the cup as though it were a trophy and beamed at me.
"Ahem. Might I trouble you for a cup as well?"
You want coffee too? Not that it's difficult. The equipment's all top-notch, so I'll treat you.
"Of course."
"I look forward to sampling your skill, Young Master Kang! I'm rather particular about my coffee, you see. First, preheat the cup to the proper temperature, then brew a city-roasted Yunnan coffee using the pour-over method."
"Your iced Americano is ready."
I just dumped water into the leftover coffee and handed it over.
"……"
"Shall we talk business?"
Where did this brat learn that trick?
"The initial investment costs will be covered entirely by Mangeum Jeonjang, I take it?"
With a cup of coffee each, we sat down and got down to business.
"Naturally. It's a gift from the Mangeum Lord to Lady Jegal Hyang, after all."
"Then the purchasing party will be the Daseogak branch, and when Lady Jegal formally receives Daseogak, she'll be handed a clean set of books."
A ledger free of a single debt. It was a gift, so surely that was only right?
Smiling, I probed Un Yeop to find out just how far Mangeum Jeonjang's "gift" extended.
"Of course. But why do you ask…?"
Really? Then I could pull one more prepared plan out of my sleeve.
"Books that are selling well should be kept in generous stock, shouldn't they?"
I'd order every book we needed in advance — with Mangeum Jeonjang's money.
"Hmm…"
"We'll, of course, be reasonable. Do you happen to have a separate list of planned book purchases?"
"Yes, here it is."
Un Yeop handed me a neatly organized list from inside his coat.
As expected of Mangeum Jeonjang — perhaps because they owned Mangeum Bookstore as an affiliate, it was a list without any glaring faults. For an ordinary bookstore, that is.
"It seems the proportion of books by ancient sages is rather high."
"A bookstore, as tradition holds, is a treasury of knowledge, is it not? Naturally, one grounds a bookstore's dignity in the wisdom of the old sages. That is the foundation."
It was a perfectly correct statement. A significant portion of any bookstore's customers were students, after all.
"Yes, of course."
"Then what's wrong with a high proportion?"
Certainly, we need books for such people. But he was aiming slightly off the mark.
"In that case, we ought to stock the volume with books most frequently cited in the civil service examinations."
"……"
Isn't studying done in order to pass exams in the first place? Obviously you stock the exam-prep books students actually seek out — the ones quoted endlessly in model passages and the ones that sell well.
And there was more to point out.
"The list you've given me is an excellent one for the format of an ordinary bookstore. But Daseogak is different from a typical shop — many customers come to drink tea or browse for pleasure."
"Are there more books we should buy?"
"Medical texts, cookbooks, and entertaining miscellany like novels are sorely lacking. We need to hold at least this much in stock, and no less."
I crossed out the listed quantities and multiplied them tenfold.
"Isn't that far too much?"
"The Yichang Daseogak absorbed this much volume with ease — we had to run the printing press every week. In Wuhan, sales will only be greater, so it isn't excessive."
It would be a mistake to assume a secondhand shop or used bookstore and a book café like Daseogak shared the same customer base.
Better to prepare now than watch my own money drain away after the opening.
"I anticipated the Dangga Pungun demand, but this much? Procuring all of it will take considerable time before the opening."
A reasonable concern. But you see, someone already worried about that ahead of you.
"I've already ordered the printing done."
I'd told them to prepare the books in advance.
"Ohh…"
For a moment, Un Yeop was left speechless.
"We'll consider it a purchase by the branch. I'll send a letter to Yichang instructing them to ship the stock here to Wuhan."
"It seems Young Master Kang is far better prepared than those of us who've been readying the branch all this time."
Un Yeop looked at me with an expression of genuine admiration, apparently having run out of things to say.
"It's my livelihood. I always give it my best. I'll need to stop by frequently to check on things before the branch opens — could I receive a key?"
"We'll leave the key with Lady Jegal Hyang. Feel free to look around whenever you like, and if there's anything you wish to discuss, simply speak with Lady Jegal."
The Daseogak branch was the Mangeum Lord's bait to keep pushing me toward Jegal Hyang. So the more benefit I took, the more I was expected to keep meeting her?
"You're saying I need only speak to her directly, without consulting Mangeum Jeonjang?"
All the better for me. I could just savor the Mangeum Lord's bait skillfully and leave it at that.
"Ah, well, about that—"
"Lady Jegal."
Better to lock it in quickly.
Before Un Yeop could change the subject, I turned to Jegal Hyang, who was sipping her coffee.
"Yes?"
"As the owner of the main branch, I'll do everything in my power to ensure the opening goes smoothly."
"Yes? Yes, of course!"
"Mm…"
"We ran later than I expected, discussing branch matters."
Lunchtime had already slipped past. I bade farewell to Jegal Hyang and the Mangeum Jeonjang people and left the branch with Soso.
In the end, most of the details would be discussed with Lady Jegal Hyang directly, with anything truly pressing deferred until later.
"…What do I do?"
"Soso?"
Why was she making the face of a student who'd studied carelessly, assuming the exam would be easy, only to freeze the moment the test paper landed in front of her?
"Ah! Yes?"
"I've been visiting the businesses Wuhan runs with our trade partners, and I have a few other stops to make, so it'll take me a while to get back to the inn. What do you say? Shall we look around Wuhan together?"
I'd known Ha Soso would be visiting Wuhan, but I hadn't expected her to come all the way to the branch.
There were places I wanted to stop without Lim Hayeon knowing. And having her trail along to my next destination would be inconvenient.
"Ah! I'll head back to the inn first!"
Thankfully, Soso was quick on the uptake.
"Sorry for making you wait for nothing. Buy yourself something tasty on the way."
I pressed some pocket change into Soso's hand for snacks, since she'd skipped lunch waiting for me.
"Heheh! I came out to look around on my own anyway. Thank you! See you later!"
"Take care."
After seeing Soso off toward the inn, I headed to my next destination.
"I didn't really need to spy…"
In Kang Yunho's office, Lim Hayeon was so wound up with anticipation that she could hardly stand still.
She didn't truly need to snoop. Right. Still, as Soso said — know your enemy and know yourself, and you need never fear a hundred battles.
One could never be too sure, after all. What if there were no visible affection between them? What if the woman had some glaring disqualifying flaw?
Just as Lim Hayeon was pacing restlessly, unable to leave the office—
"Uuuu-unnieeeee!"
Ha Soso kicked the office door open and burst in.
"What is it? Did you go to the branch?"
"Unnie, this is no time to be standing around!"
Ha Soso grabbed Lim Hayeon and shook her, shouting with a choked, tearful voice.
"Wh-what's wrong? Tell me calmly."
What on earth had happened? What could she possibly have seen to get like this?
"Calm is exactly what this is NOT! This is a CRISIS!!!!"
Ha Soso summarized the situation with remarkable efficiency.
"Why on earth would the youngest daughter of the Jegal Clan— no! Young Master Kang is capable and handsome, and tall, and upright, and— ack! No! Still, he's a foreigner, the family would surely object! Ah! Right, it was through her maternal grandfather! But still, how on earth—"
"Um, Soso?"
As Ha Soso kept pacing the office, unable to contain her agitation, Lim Hayeon called out to her with a bewildered face.
"Unnie, you need to pull yourself together right now."
Only then did Ha Soso come to her senses and seize Lim Hayeon by both arms.
"What did you see?"
"What did I see, you ask?"
A beauty as stunning as you. A demure, docile personality that men adore. A woman whose dowry alone would make her husband rich beyond measure — that's what I saw.
Ha Soso couldn't bring herself to say it. If she spoke the truth, Unnie would only be made miserable.
So she resolved to mix as much resentment into her account as she could.
"She was a total sly fox, a two-faced schemer! The kind of woman who could melt even the iron walls around someone like Young Master Kang without her even noticing!"
Ha Soso recalled the way Kang Yunho had looked at Jegal Hyang. Something about it resembled an older brother gazing fondly at a precious little sister.
Her sharp instincts told her that while the two weren't in a relationship yet, one wrong move could send them straight there.
"……"
Ha Soso watched Lim Hayeon's expression darken in an instant at her words.
No, that came out wrong too. If it was Hayeon-unnie, she might hear even this much and get needlessly discouraged, drifting away from him entirely.
Ha Soso hurriedly shook the hands she'd grabbed and looked up at her.
"Unnie! This is no time to push and pull! If you let Young Master Kang go now, he won't come back — he'll just hop aboard a better boat!"
"H-he wouldn't do that."
Lim Hayeon's voice carried both her trust in one man and a certain nameless anxiety.
"I know you trust him, but that's not enough! You need to start increasing your time alone with him, right now!"
It wasn't too late yet. Before the branch opened, the bond between the two had to be made rock-solid. With a heart racing with urgency, Ha Soso pressed her advice.
"We're often alone together as it is."
"And what do you do when you're alone?"
How could a man and woman who spent so much time alone not have held hands even once?
Barely swallowing the killing remark that rose up her throat, Ha Soso asked.
"…We work."
"WAAAAAAAAGH!"
She was going to burst a blood vessel. Ha Soso wailed in despair.
"You're busy with work — where would you find time to lounge around?"
Had Lim Hayeon realized how pathetic she was in matters of love? She offered up a half-hearted defense.
"Then make the time! Babies get made even in the middle of a war!"
"Soso, you're being awfully crude today."
"You're making me crude, Unnie! Unnie, listen to me! This is a massive crisis! Pull him toward you, no matter what! Make sure his heart doesn't wander!"
They say crisis brings lovers closer together. How on earth had these two never even held hands? Ha Soso couldn't hold back her sighs.
"Soso?"
The opponent was simply on another level, Ha Soso thought, gazing at Lim Hayeon with worry.
The Jegal Clan, so powerful that even the humblest woodcutter in Hubei Province had heard its name. The youngest daughter of that very house.
Aside from her own beloved Unnie, the girl seemed to have unrivaled looks and exactly the personality men fell for.
'Honestly, if it were anyone else, I'd tell her to give up…'
But there was still a chance. The tale of a hero seizing victory through the slimmest of odds — that was a story Ha Soso loved. And if that hero was Lim Hayeon, whom she thought of as her own flesh-and-blood sister?
Ha Soso furrowed her brow with all her might and declared to Lim Hayeon:
"Romance Master Soso! A trial like this is exactly what I've been praying for! Every move, every countermove! I'll stand by your side and make absolutely sure you end up right beside Young Master Kang!"
"I'm back."
I said it while opening the door to the empty office. Was Lim Hayeon asleep, perhaps?
The day's work done, the sun had somehow already set and night had fallen. My body was exhausted, but I'd secured both the eagerly awaited branch and what I'd come here to obtain.
Tomorrow morning I'd have to write the letter to Yichang, ordering the books shipped here.
"You're back?"
Just as I was about to flop onto the bed, a voice came from the desk in the corner.
"Good grief! What are you doing at the desk?"
I looked toward Lim Hayeon, the item in my coat hidden behind me.
Had she been working? She could have made some noise to announce herself. She startled me.
"Working, obviously. And what are you hiding?"
Lim Hayeon asked, eyeing the small box I'd awkwardly tucked behind my back.
"Nothing at all."
"Could it be…"
Her eyes trembled, and then she quickly looked away from me.
Oh no. She couldn't possibly think it was a gift from Jegal Hyang. It wasn't anything like that.
Misunderstandings were unacceptable. I had to deny it. She might get suspicious for no reason, so the thing to do was to deny it naturally—
"…Get out."
Lim Hayeon had beaten me to it.
She gave a firm nod as though she'd made some decision, rose from the desk, and closed the distance to me in an instant.
"Huh?"
"Le-let's go practice lightness technique. Outside."
At this hour of night?