Episode 30. Warm Hot Chocolate (3)
Around a week after the movie Taepyeong was released.
Amare also decided to hold an event in conjunction with Taepyeong.
A promotion was in full swing, offering a photo card when ordering a Taepyeong-limited set consisting of Americano and dessert.
Thanks to the movie’s success, the promotion’s effectiveness also increased.
Executive Director Yoo In-seok, who visited Kang Dae-oh’s office, had a cheerful expression from the morning and continued to report on the promotion’s sales to him.
“Among all the promotions we’ve conducted so far, the Taepyeong promotion recorded the highest sales.”
“That’s good.”
“Because of this, there’s something else I’d like to propose to the CEO…”
Kang Dae-oh nodded broadly.
“Please tell me.”
Executive Director Yoo In-seok’s ideas had always been very helpful to Kang Dae-oh.
It was also Executive Director Yoo In-seok who first planned the promotion targeting Taepyeong.
His idea had a significant impact on sales growth.
Because of this, Kang Dae-oh had no choice but to listen to Executive Director Yoo In-seok’s opinion again this time.
He said,
“I’d like to plan an additional promotion in connection with the Taepyeong side.”
“A second one?”
“Yes. As the CEO was present at the scene at the time, you’d know better, but didn’t the actors say they would fulfill a pledge if they reached a certain number of audience members? I was thinking of tying that pledge together with our Amare side. Instead, this time, I think a promotion with a social contribution aspect would be good.”
At the mention of “social contribution,” Kang Dae-oh tilted his head slightly.
Executive Director Yoo In-seok began to explain why he said this.
“Large corporations sponsor volunteer organizations, or establish related foundations and make regular donations, don’t they? Each of those things helps a lot in refreshing a company’s image. I thought it would be good if Amare also utilized this aspect, so I brought it up.”
Amare hadn’t explicitly caused any social problems, but it was difficult to conclude that there were no issues at all.
This was because no matter how thoroughly Kang Dae-oh managed and oversaw the stores, he couldn’t prevent problems from spreading from minor issues.
In fact, as the number of stores increased and Amare’s scale grew,
along with rising sales, the number of customer complaints also increased.
If these issues continued to be neglected, negative perceptions of Amare would accumulate over time, eventually leading to an outburst of dissatisfaction.
It was best to prevent an active volcano from erupting before it did.
Kang Dae-oh asked Executive Director Yoo In-seok for more specific details about the promotion plan.
“Have you thought about how we should go about it?”
“We’ll need to discuss this with the actors. We can’t just decide on the pledge content arbitrarily.”
That made sense.
Since the actors were the ones who first brought up the idea of a pledge,
it was right to prioritize their opinions.
“I’ll also go home and subtly ask Yebin if anything has been decided.”
“Thank you, CEO. It’s convenient in this regard since one of the main actors is your daughter.”
As Executive Director Yoo In-seok chuckled, Kang Dae-oh also let out a small laugh.
After work, Kang Dae-oh recounted the conversation he had with Executive Director Yoo In-seok to Kang Yebin and brought up the question he wanted to ask.
To get straight to the point,
“Among the actors, has anything roughly been decided about what kind of pledge to make?”
At her father’s question, Kang Yebin shook her head.
“It seems there aren’t any specific ideas yet.”
Because of his daughter’s answer, which was different from his expectations, Kang Dae-oh clicked his tongue and swallowed his disappointment.
However, he couldn’t rush the actors.
This was because Kang Dae-oh didn’t have the authority to do so.
Perhaps considering her father’s position, Kang Yebin said,
“Should I ask again? I have a group chat with my seniors.”
“No, it’s fine. More importantly, you said the audience count has exceeded 4 million, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“The director must be very pleased.”
Director Choi Kiyong had mentioned that he just hoped to surpass the break-even point, putting everything else aside.
As he wished, the break-even point had already been surpassed a long time ago.
Now, there was enough leeway to aim for the 7 million or 8 million mark that critics had mentioned.
Since public reviews were also good, it was expected that a positive trend would continue for a while.
It seemed good to announce the pledge quickly before reaching the ideal target set by critics.
“When the topic comes up, subtly mention that Amare would like to participate as a supporter too.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Kang Yebin nodded vigorously with an expression that said, “Don’t worry.”
Saturday morning came again.
After a simple breakfast, Kang Dae-oh walked alone towards the gym he had recently started attending on his daughters’ recommendation.
Kang Dae-oh, who spent time at the gym alternating between aerobic and anaerobic exercises, felt a slight regret as he checked the current time.
‘There’s still plenty of time until lunch.’
Of course, it didn’t matter if he went home early.
However, there was something that bothered Kang Dae-oh every Saturday morning.
The image of the little boy he had seen before was still vivid in Kang Dae-oh’s mind.
Coincidentally, Store #2 was also near the gym.
‘Should I stop by for a moment before I go?’
Originally, Kang Dae-oh preferred not to show his face at the stores during staff working hours if possible.
They would already be busy dealing with customers.
Wouldn’t they be more nervous if the CEO of their company showed up?
However, even more than that, the boy he had seen on Saturday lingered in Kang Dae-oh’s mind.
After quickly showering and changing into comfortable clothes, Kang Dae-oh left his car in the gym building’s parking lot and walked to Store #2.
‘Was it around this time?’
He entered, roughly timing his arrival with when the boy usually visited the store.
“Welcome… C-CEO?”
“What brings you here on a weekend?”
Choi Sein and the staff looked at Kang Dae-oh with surprised expressions as soon as they saw him.
Kang Dae-oh said it was for a reason and quickly scanned his surroundings.
“Where’s the boy?”
“If you mean ‘the boy,’ are you referring to Minsung?”
“Yes, Minsung.”
Only then did Choi Sein understand why Kang Dae-oh had suddenly visited Store #2.
The last time he saw Minsung, Kang Dae-oh had asked about the child several times.
From then on, Choi Sein realized that Kang Dae-oh was very concerned about Minsung.
“He’s over there. He just ordered a drink and is waiting for it to come out.”
“Did he order hot chocolate again today?”
“Yes. One cup. A warm one.”
The order hadn’t changed.
Kang Dae-oh approached Minsung, making his presence known as much as possible so as not to startle him.
As soon as he saw Kang Dae-oh, the boy made a sound like ‘Huh?’ and looked up at him.
“Hello? You remember ajusshi, right?”
The boy slowly nodded.
Perhaps it was because they had only met face-to-face twice.
Even though Kang Dae-oh approached him as friendly as possible, there was a slight wariness on the boy’s face.
Kang Dae-oh, however, thought this attitude from the boy was correct.
This was because he believed it was always right for young children to be wary of strangers when walking alone.
In a way, it meant he was well brought up.
That’s why Kang Dae-oh was even more concerned.
About why this child’s parents continued to let him wander around alone.
Of course, he was at an age where wandering alone might not cause a big problem.
The time was also broad daylight, even morning, so the worry of something bad happening would be relatively less.
Nevertheless, Kang Dae-oh was curious about Minsung’s hidden circumstances.
“You seem to like hot chocolate. I heard you come to buy it alone every Saturday?”
“Ah…”
The boy seemed hesitant to answer.
For a moment, Kang Dae-oh replayed the words he had just spoken in his mind.
He wondered if he had said anything that bothered the boy.
However, no matter how much he rethought it, he hadn’t said anything that the child would dislike.
Kang Dae-oh himself had once been a child, but even so, he couldn’t quite understand the thoughts of children nowadays.
Even though he was a father of three daughters.
That was because,
‘My kids were already adults since they were born.’
That’s why it was even harder to understand children’s psychology.
As he pondered deeply,
the boy finally spoke with difficulty.
“Rather than me… my mom likes it.”
“Your mom?”
“Yes. I buy it to match the time when Mom comes home from work. My mom really loves the hot chocolate sold here.”
Kang Dae-oh had thought the boy liked hot chocolate.
But learning that the boy was diligently visiting the Amare store every weekend, thinking of his mother, made Kang Dae-oh see him in a different light.
“You’re a filial son, Minsung.”
“How did you know my name…?”
“That noona over there told me.”
As Kang Dae-oh pointed at Choi Sein, Choi Sein seized the opportunity and waved her hand gently at the boy with a bright smile.
Thanks to Choi Sein, the boy’s wariness towards Kang Dae-oh was significantly eased.
When the conversation had progressed somewhat,
“Customer number 31! Your hot chocolate is ready!”
At the staff’s voice, the boy sprang up from his seat.
“That’s mine.”
The boy stood on his tiptoes and received the drink from the staff member.
At the boy’s comment about needing to go home before the drink got cold, Kang Dae-oh made a suggestion.
“Shall ajusshi walk you home?”
“Huh? But…”
“It’s okay. Ajusshi isn’t a bad person. You know ajusshi is on TV, right?”
Kang Dae-oh pointed to a photo hanging on the wall.
It showed Kang Dae-oh appearing on Yo-latte, framed and decorated with his autograph.
The boy seemed to know it well, as he nodded.
Kang Dae-oh realized that being a somewhat famous person was helpful in situations like this.
Of course, not all celebrities are careful with their words and actions, considering their name and image.
However, in Kang Dae-oh’s case, he had to be particularly careful because his actions could damage not only his own image but also those of his wife and daughters.
Had Kang Dae-oh’s sincerity reached him?
The boy didn’t hesitate long before giving his answer.
“Yes, okay.”
“Just tell me your address. Ajusshi will drive you home quickly.”
“Yes. The address is…”
Kang Dae-oh’s expression suddenly hardened as he entered the address the boy told him into his smartphone’s navigation.
‘It takes 40 minutes on foot?’
That’s an hour and a half for a round trip.
He hadn’t imagined the boy was traveling such a long distance back and forth.
He could feel that the boy’s love for his mother was extraordinary.
