God-Given Business Genius

“Good morning, everyone~”

As I opened the office door and arrived at work in the morning, I saw employees huddled together in front of Roh Se-hee’s desk.

What’s this? Did something happen?

As I tilted my head curiously, I caught a glimpse of a familiar logo on the monitor. It was the very site where Oh Ga-eul’s school violence victim had posted.

Ah. So that’s what they were looking at. The school violence controversy surrounding Oh Ga-eul, which had erupted last night and burned throughout the night, was growing uncontrollably as those who woke up this morning joined in.

I had been monitoring the comment reactions to some extent, so I was fully aware of how public opinion had rapidly turned in my favor.

“What are you all doing first thing in the morning? Not working?”

I knew it was still 10 minutes before work hours officially began. Still, I casually remarked with a smile.

It was just a momentary incident. I thought we could just move past it like this, but…

“CEOOO…”

“?!”

Assistant Manager Yang Ji-a, suddenly burst into tears. I widened my eyes in shock.

“Hic, sniff! I’m so glad, hiccup, that your innocence has finally been proven, sob!”

“D-don’t cry.”

That was all I could manage to say, like an idiot. I hurriedly pulled out some tissues from a nearby table and handed them over. Yang Ji-a accepted them while sniffling.

Ahem!

After blowing her nose loudly, she continued with a face still wet with tears.

“I, I told so many people that our CEO wasn’t that kind of person, sniff! But people just kept, kept cursing! When I fought back in the comments, hiccup, they mocked me saying I must be the person herself!”

Oh dear.

I had no idea she had gone through such hardship. It seems she had quite a scuffle with people cursing me on the internet, and in the process, must have heard many harsh words that can’t be repeated.

Seeing her young face crying until her eyes were red, I felt both sorry and grateful.

My heart seemed to flutter.

Isn’t that sincere heart truly admirable, caring for me so earnestly?

“Sniff!”

But then I heard someone else sniffling beside me. What?

I quickly turned my head to see Assistant Manager Park Sang-won, trembling and shedding tears.

‘Why is Assistant Manager Park crying too?’

Sensing my gaze, Park Sang-won roughly wiped his face covered in tears and snot with his sleeve. As if that would be enough to clean it all.

Then, in a trembling voice, he said:

“I’m not crying!”

As if anyone would believe that.

“It’s just, some dust got in my eye… Ahem!”

Saying that while sniffling has zero credibility. Park Sang-won, seemingly desperate to hide the fact that he had cried, was stiffening his body with all his might.

“Assistant Manager Park! Don’t hide it, just cry!”

“N-no, Assistant Manager Yang. Sniff, if you say that, I…”

Park Sang-won’s face gradually contorted, then transformed into a perfect crying face.

“I really am crying…! Hic!”

“Cry with me! Waaah!”

Watching Yang Ji-a and Park Sang-won hugging each other and sobbing loudly, I squeezed my eyes shut.

I turned my head, pretending not to see them, and caught sight of Jo I-ruk and Roh Se-hee. At least these two seemed relatively composed.

“I’ll come in later to submit the report. Assistant Manager Yang, Assistant Manager Park. You two come with me.”

Jo I-ruk bowed slightly and led Yang Ji-a and Park Sang-won away to console them. Roh Se-hee shook her head and approached me to start talking.

“Shall I prepare a report on the public reaction?”

“Ah, that’s alright. I’ve been skimming through it myself. If there are any interview requests, please cancel them all.”

Now is not the time for us to raise our voice. The public opinion was burning hot enough without any action from our side.

“Yes. Understood.”

Roh Se-hee took out her notepad and crossed out some lines. As expected. It seems there had been three or four interview requests.

But it’s not good to do explanatory interviews too often.

“I’ll stay quiet without responding as much as possible. It will naturally be forgotten and interest will fade, so until then.”

“Yes.”

“Good. Then when Assistant Manager Yang and Assistant Manager Park return, please comfort them well. It seems they’ve been through a lot of emotional distress.”

As I said this with a slight smile, Roh Se-hee nodded and then hesitated, as if debating whether to say something.

Wondering what was causing this, I waited for a moment. Roh Se-hee slowly opened her mouth.

“Did you predict this?”

“……”

“Was this school violence controversy what you said you were waiting for?”

I wonder if she’d think it strange if I said yes.

At first, I couldn’t remember well. But gradually, I recalled that it was a name I had often heard before my regression.

‘She had appeared on various entertainment shows too. It was a time when she was rising in popularity not just as a chef, but as a TV personality.’

As she frequently appeared on broadcasts, this school violence revelation exploded just as she was reaching the peak of her career.

Since she had been quite popular for her friendly and easygoing image, the impact was considerable. Oh Ga-eul fell into disgrace instantly, and after that, she couldn’t be seen on broadcasts anymore, or so the story goes.

‘I thought that as the rumors grew, the school violence controversy would naturally surface too.’

If the controversy grew but no revelations followed, I could always release the unedited footage.

Either way, it didn’t matter much. But wouldn’t the effect be best when these two overlapped?

To avoid carrying a label like ‘Didn’t she have that personality controversy back then?’ later on, I needed to wrap this up neatly now.

…However.

I should probably deflect here for now. I smiled gently and responded.

“Come on. How could that be?”

Unless I’m a fortune teller, how could such a thing be possible? Roh Se-hee’s face wasn’t filled with conviction either.

Rather, she seemed suspicious because my attitude was subtle, even though she knew it couldn’t be true.

If it’s just a hunch, it’s not difficult to deny. I continued in a nonchalant tone.

“I didn’t know the school violence controversy would break out either. I just thought that with her personality, there might have been similar incidents before~”

“…I see.”

“Of course, that’s not what I was waiting for. I thought Oh Ga-eul’s side might apologize before the unedited version was released.”

“Ah.”

This is somewhat true as well. The production team would likely suggest to Oh Ga-eul that she admit to it first before they air the entire conversation. I had asked them to pass along my contact information at that time.

“Releasing it like this would completely bury her socially. I didn’t want to go that far.”

Not only that.

“Actually, since I had mentioned Chef An Derek too, I wanted to end this without making it public if possible.”

Of course, when I contacted him separately to ask, he gladly gave permission to do as I pleased, so it could be released.

“So that was the reason.”

Roh Se-hee’s expression brightened, as if the part she had been suspicious about was resolved.

Right. It’s probably more comfortable to think this way than to suspect that your direct superior has precognitive abilities.

“Ah, and there’s more good news.”

“Oh?”

I wonder what news could be considered good news. As I asked with wide eyes, Roh Se-hee smiled faintly.

“The company that copied our Snow Flower Bingsu says they’ll withdraw by next month.”

“Ah~ That place.”

I didn’t think their business would do well. As expected.

“It seems they’ve decided it’s too difficult to continue as customers looking for bingsu decrease with winter approaching.”

When the overall pie shrinks, the share that copycat businesses can take also decreases.

Moreover, with several franchises opening, the original store itself no longer holds much merit.

Still, perhaps because it has a symbolic meaning, many people still visit.

‘It’s winter, and with fewer customers coming to the original store, it’s difficult to expect a trickle-down effect. They must have been in a dilemma.’

I could roughly guess the difficulties of that store’s owner. But the fact that they decided to withdraw from the business quickly without dragging it out shows they have business acumen.

Wherever they go and whatever they do, they probably won’t have to worry about making a living.

“Then that store will be vacant now, right?”

“Yes. That’s right. …Wait a moment. CEO, surely you’re not…”

“Haha. Your guess is probably right.”

I continued with a grin.

“It’s about time for the next brand to launch, isn’t it?”

Leaving Roh Se-hee with a pale face, I felt excited like a child who had found a new toy.

Now, what kind of brand should we create this time?

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

“Hey, Chef Song! I’m really hurt?!”

“Why, Chef Bong?”

I tried to laugh it off, but Bong Kang-min gritted his teeth as if he absolutely wouldn’t let it go.

“Do you know how worried I was about you, Chef Song? My goodness. You must be jinxed this year. Otherwise, this couldn’t happen~”

You’re right about that. It’s my first time experiencing such an eventful year.

‘Should I say I’ve accomplished in a condensed form what I should have done while fumbling through the early stages of starting a business?’

It feels like I’ve been in business for almost 10 years.

“I survived thanks to Chef An. Thanks to his permission, the unaired footage was released, and my grievances were somewhat resolved.”

I bowed slightly towards An Derek as I spoke. I had already thanked him over the phone, but I thought it was right to do so once more face to face.

An Derek silently responded with a slight bow. Unable to wait even that brief moment, Bong Kang-min cut in again.

“Oh yeah, yeah. I saw that too! But you know, the moment Chef Song turned her gaze away, the camera caught her managing her expression! People all found that! I got goosebumps when I saw that, really.”

There was such a scene?

As Bong Kang-min was making a fuss with exaggerated gestures, I honestly didn’t know because I hadn’t watched the unreleased footage that closely.

As expected of our country’s cyber investigation unit. They must have analyzed it frame by frame looking for suspicious points.

“Anyway. I was worried, but you kept calmly saying ‘I’m fine~’, ‘It’ll be resolved with time~’, ‘It’ll be okay soon~’, so I thought you must be some kind of Buddha.”

“Haha.”

“But to think you had such a move hidden…”

Bong Kang-min pretended to shiver with a sense of betrayal.

Since this was the first time we were all gathering after the controversy, he was probably exaggerating to lighten the mood.

Should I call it Bong Kang-min’s way of being considerate?

“You probably suffered some damage on social media too, just for being close to me. I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”

“Hey~! What are you talking about!”

Bong Kang-min jumped up and tried to stop me, saying there was no need for such talk.

“Aish. We’ve really seen it all. Right? Our Chef Song, you must be sick of broadcasts now!”

Bong Kang-min muttered as if feeling sorry.

“Our Chef Song has good sense and is good at comments too. The broadcasting world has lost a talent!”

“Ah, it’s not like that.”

I smiled gently.

“I just agreed to do another program that came in this time too.”

“Huh? Really?”

Bong Kang-min asked with wide eyes.

“What kind of program is it?”

“They say it’s a program starting next year. It’s still in the pilot stage, but…”

I mentioned the program name I had heard.

“They said it’s called ‘My Small Television’.”