Chapter 139
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: Sold-Out Success
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‘Heh, this is tough.’
Kim Hyun-su, the franchise manager, wiped the beads of sweat dotting his forehead with a handkerchief.
The morning had been nonstop chaos, with business booming like crazy.
His body ached, but a pleased smile formed at the stellar sales figures.
‘At this rate, I could pull in ten million won this month—no, maybe even twenty.’
‘Orders doubled at lunchtime. The waitlist cleared up, but delivery requests just won’t stop coming.’
‘I stocked up plenty on ingredients, but if business stays this hot, I might have to close early from running out.’
In the afternoon, a horde of high school girls swarmed Halmae Tteok. Come evening, delivery orders exploded even more.
We are closing early today due to ingredient depletion. We are truly sorry.
5:48 PM.
Closed up shop due to the stockout issue.
‘Heh heh, uh heh heh heh, two million won. After operating costs, labor, taxes—that’s nearly two million in pure profit.’
‘Nice. Factoring in the opening hype and trends, I’m still looking at over ten million a month easy.’
Did the closing cleanup.
Kim Hyun-su scrubbed every nook and cranny with the fervor of someone banishing even fine dust.
‘Phew, all done.’
Reached for the shop door to lock it.
“President? Team leader?”
Some unexpected visitors showed up at the shop.
It was Jin-seong and Team Leader Lee Myung-ho.
“We got held up with work. Manager, belated congrats on the opening.”
“Haha, thanks so much for making the time to come, even if late.”
“How’d the opening go? A hit?”
“Yes, incredibly successful. So much so that we had to close early.”
They moved to a nearby pub and enjoyed draft beers with combo skewers. The vibe was warm and lively.
“President, thank you. Thanks to you, I’m on track to get rich. Might even send my daughter abroad to study.”
“No, thank you. Appreciate you choosing our Halmae Tteok over all those big franchises.”
“I’ll give it my all.”
They talked for over an hour.
At the pub, Kim Hyun-su got a real sense of just how outstanding—and genuinely good—Jin-seong and Lee Myung-ho were.
‘Heard that punk Dong-wook got pushed into advisory resignation not long ago. Gotta recommend he start up a Halmae Tteok.’
‘Hye-young’s been whining about her chicken joint tanking. Should hook her up with a recommendation too.’
Left the pub.
“Dad? You’re back already? Thought it’d wrap around 11.”
“Don’t even ask. Business was so insane we shut down early.”
“No way? For real? It did great?”
“Yeah. Customers everywhere—total madhouse, wiped me out.”
“Whoa! That’s awesome. Glad to hear it. But Dad, you had drinks?”
“Just a bit. Grabbed a draft with the president and team leader on the way home.”
Handed his daughter some pocket money. Took a shower and flopped into bed. Reflected on the day with a contented smile.
‘Work hard... make bank... snag a prime commercial spot.... Send our Ye-eun abroad too....’
Soon enough, he was fast asleep.
Wrapped up the tutoring session.
“President, some people want to meet you.”
“...Been a lot lately. Four yesterday—how many today?”
“Three in total. From a securities firm, a civic group, and a religious organization.”
“......”
Jin-seong furrowed his brow.
As YSP grew famous, folks seeking him out had surged. Civic groups, religious outfits, sponsors, investment firms—you name it.
The problem? Every last one was a villain. They all came with shady schemes to fleece him dry.
“Send ’em packing?”
“Yes, chase them off.”
“Got it.”
“From now on, don’t check with me—just boot them right away.”
“Understood.”
Secretary Han Ji-yu returned five minutes later.
“Well... two left, but one’s refusing to go until he sees you. He’s lying on the floor.”
“In the lobby?”
“Yes.”
Let out a sigh and headed to the lobby.
Villain, Agitator, Financial Fraud, Embezzlement
As expected. The guy waiting was trash incarnate.
He planned to butter Jin-seong up, run a scam, and live high on the hog.
Marched straight back to the executive office.
“Send him away. If he won’t budge, get security and drag him out by force.”
“Got it.”
Lately, he’d been hit hard with the realization that the world was overflowing with awful people.
Dealt with the uninvited guest, then got a briefing from Secretary Han Ji-yu.
“YSP Health Branch 1 is on the verge of full capacity. We literally can’t take any more.”
“YSP Health Branch 2 has turned profitable.”
YSP Health was cruising smoothly.
“YSP Pharma’s comprehensive vitamin sales are up 660% from last month.”
“The YouTuber 1+1 discount event, Oh Mi-yeon’s CF ad, and home shopping sales drove the surge.”
“YSP Pharma’s new product, the ‘YSP Black’ vitality tonic, launches on the 5th next month.”
“We’ve selected Kim Jung-tae as the male model and Oh Mi-yeon as the female model for YSP Black.”
YSP Pharma was also cruising—and gearing up for fresh challenges.
“YSP Channel, YSP Blog, and YSP SNS are set to launch.”
“You have 452 interviews scheduled for today.”
“Here’s the org chart improvement proposal. Referenced major corps, mid-sized firms, competitors, and over a hundred papers to craft the optimal structure.”
The report was packed with Secretary Han Ji-yu’s blood, sweat, and tears.
It laid out YSP’s org chart issues, fixes, and goals in detail.
Honestly, the quality was double that of the IT and platform reports.
“Great work. This is an outstanding report.”
“You’re too kind.”
“Must’ve poured your soul into it, huh?”
“Not at all.”
“Thank you. Seriously, you worked so hard.”
“Thank you, sir.”
At Jin-seong’s praise, Secretary Han Ji-yu bowed deeply.
Her face stayed composed, but the corners of her mouth twitched upward ever so slightly.
❤️ Favorability:77
The president said I did well. He acknowledged me. Feels amazing. All that effort was worth it.
She was weak to praise.
“You’ve been working so hard—how about a 10% raise?”
“...Really?! Thank you!”
“I’ll provide company dorms too.”
“Thank you! I’ll work even harder!”
Secretary Han Ji-yu was renting a one-room place. She’d gone independent to dodge her parents’ nagging.
Nearly 500,000 won a month went to housing: rent plus management fees plus utilities.
❤️ Favorability:78
Salary up 10%... and dorms too...?!
The president’s gotta be an angel in human disguise.
Recruiting Oh Jung-seok had taught Jin-seong one big lesson.
To snag talent, you needed preferential treatment.
To keep it from jumping ship, you needed absolute treatment.
‘Secretary Han Ji-yu is top talent. I absolutely can’t let her go.’
To hold on tight?
Treat her better than anyone else. No choice.
Paid a visit to YSP Health.
‘Whoa, packed today.’
The gym was swarming with customers, even first thing in the morning.
‘Ha-yeon’s slammed.’
Ha-yeon was in the middle of a PT session.
‘Park Sajangnim’s busy too.’
Park Man-bok was cleaning the gym.
‘And the skinny guy...’
Im Jun-ho was pounding the treadmill.
❤️ Favorability:71
Damn...! That boss can’t run a company worth a damn...! His parachuted sis trolls nonstop...! Old-timers got zero innovation...!
They bury my ideas...! Why slam the door every time...?! Why not even try...?! Why cling to the dead-end path...?!
He was fuming inside.
Hopped on the treadmill next to Im Jun-ho.
“Hey there?”
Jin-seong greeted him with a smile.
“Hey.”
Im Jun-ho gave a slight nod.
Way better than our potbellied boss by a million times.
Seems a million times sharper at running a company and taking care of himself.
Ate Halmae Tteok with Seo-young the other day—not huge into tteokbokki, but damn, it was good.
Not long ago, Im Jun-ho had mustered the courage to confess to Park Ha-yeon—and gotten shot down hard.
Seo-young had appeared in his mopey life.
They weren’t officially dating yet. Just casually hanging out, in the talking stage.
Running hard.
“You live around here?”
“Huh? Yeah.”
Answered before he could think.
“Weren’t you in Cheongju?”
“Moved for work.”
“Oh yeah? Which company?”
“Game dev firm.”
“Whoa! Game company? That’s impressive.”
“Nah, not really. Anyone can pick it up quick with some training.”
“I’m big into IT. Planning to break into the IT biz soon.”
IT business launch?
“Got plans for an internet broadcast platform, online shopping mall platform, and a bitcoin exchange.”
Frankly, it sounded reckless.
One was tough enough—three at once?!
“Ever thought about working for us?”
Offered him a job switch.
Oh Jung-seok was monster-tier, but Im Jun-ho was genius-tier.
His prickly attitude was a downside, but he wasn’t a bad person at heart.
“I’ll think it over.”
Im Jun-ho planned to turn it down.
Startup + sprawling conglomerate wannabe = recipe for hellish grind.
No shot at real breakthroughs, no stable future guaranteed.
And above all—
Manly Im Jun-ho had zero interest in working under some nerdy loser like Yoo Jin-seong.
“Nine million.”
“...Come again?”
“Post-tax annual salary, nine million.”
“...?”
“Prove your chops, and I’ll bump it to 110 million.”
“...”
“Incentives, company car, full room and board too.”
Im Jun-ho’s pupils quivered.
Beep.
Im Jun-ho stopped the treadmill.
“Boss!”
Grabbed Jin-seong’s hand tight.
“Boss, looking forward to working with you!”
“Call me President.”
“Right, President! Please take care of me.”
“Same here.”
Confident he could grind through hell?
Damn right. Absolutely. No question.
Confident he could work like a dog?
One hundred percent. Without a doubt.
Chatted high-level details mid-workout.
‘Merging YSP Enter with platforms? Not a bad play.’
Post-workout, grabbed a bite at the company cafeteria.
‘This cafeteria is nuts. Ten times—no, a hundred times—better than ours.’
‘Oh! Free YSP Health for employees?! That’s killer!’
In the executive office, reviewed the business plan.
High-quality platform blueprint that Secretary Han Ji-yu had burned the midnight oil on.
‘Up to 30 billion in budget support...?’
‘Roll out bitcoin exchange first, then broadcast platform, shopping mall...?’
Signed the contract.
After monster Oh Jung-seok, now genius Im Jun-ho in the fold.
The YSP Channel lead showed up.
“Pardon?”
Jin-seong couldn’t hide his bafflement.
“You want to film my daily life?”