Episode 36. The Best Wedding Ever (3)
As Kang Dae-oh had told his family before leaving home, the drinking gathering ended earlier than expected.
Oh Myung-woon, who returned after settling the bill with the alumni association fee, pointed at Kang Dae-oh and asked,
“Hey, Dae-oh. Are you on a diet these days?”
“No. Why?”
“Because you hardly ate any snacks when we were drinking earlier. It’s a dinner and drinking gathering. Won’t you be hungry if you only eat that?”
A bitter smile naturally formed on Kang Dae-oh’s lips.
“It’s okay. I’m full even if I eat like this.”
“Did you eat something before coming here?”
“Well… something similar.”
“You scoundrel. What delicious thing did you eat to be like this?”
Kang Dae-oh replied to Oh Myung-woon’s question.
“My daughters’ love. With a bit of pancake syrup instead.”
“……???”
Oh Myung-woon couldn’t understand what kind of nonsensical thing Kang Dae-oh was talking about.
Seeing his friend’s reaction, Kang Dae-oh patted him on the shoulder.
“You don’t need to know. Anyway, thanks for all your hard work in setting up today’s gathering.”
“Hard work? Not really. I was happy to see everyone’s faces after a long time. Weren’t you?”
“Oh. Of course.”
He was especially happy to meet Park Yeon-sung after a long time and hear about his recent situation.
But at the same time, he also felt disheartened.
Because he seemed to still be struggling with poverty.
However, it wasn’t a good idea for Kang Dae-oh to directly give Park Yeon-sung money.
This was because Park Yeon-sung didn’t particularly like receiving sympathy from friends, no matter how difficult his family situation was.
He simply wanted to be treated normally, just like his other friends.
This was what he wished for.
Kang Dae-oh knew very well that unilateral support, expecting nothing in return, would rather lower Park Yeon-sung’s self-esteem.
So, he wanted to think of ways to help him indirectly as much as possible, rather than openly showing it.
It was then.
“Hey guys.”
Park Yeon-sung came out of the store and spoke to Kang Dae-oh and Oh Myung-woon.
“Thanks for today. Honestly, I debated a lot whether I should come here. But you welcomed me so well, I’m glad I came.”
“Hey. Is there any reason you shouldn’t come here? You’re a friend. So it’s okay to come.”
“……That’s right. Sorry. I guess it’s because I’ve been living in a way where I’m constantly conscious of what people think these days.”
Park Yeon-sung gave an awkward smile and scratched his head.
His background, the difficulties of his family environment, etc., were subtly making Park Yeon-sung’s shoulders slump.
Park Yeon-sung knew that well too.
That’s why he had been working hard and striving to avoid receiving sympathy from people as much as possible.
However, reality is endlessly cold and harsh to the socially vulnerable.
Although various systems are in place, they are not enough.
“Sometimes I wonder. Will there ever be a day when my efforts bear fruit, even if I keep trying?”
“……”
“Sorry. The alcohol is making me say all sorts of things. I’ll get going first. If there’s another gathering like this later, call me again.”
“Okay, got it. Go carefully.”
Thump-thump.
Watching Park Yeon-sung’s retreating figure, Oh Myung-woon whispered softly.
“Yeon-sung, he’s changed a lot.”
When he was a student, he was a friend who always held onto the hope that if he worked hard, he would someday escape the swamp of poverty.
As he got older, he himself realized that this thread of hope was becoming thinner and thinner.
No, perhaps.
There might not have been any hope from the beginning.
Kang Dae-oh wanted to somehow instill courage in his friend.
Even if it meant being called a hypocrite.
“Isn’t there a good way to help Yeon-sung?”
“A way…”
“Yeon-sung, he didn’t mention it in front of the others earlier. But apparently, he was laid off from the company he worked for two years ago without even getting his wages.”
“What about now?”
“From what I vaguely heard, he’s working at some cafe, like a part-timer.”
Cafe. And part-time job.
The moment he heard these two words, an idea suddenly flashed in Kang Dae-oh’s mind.
“I’m just going to make a quick phone call. You go on ahead.”
“Huh? What? Weren’t we going to take a taxi together?”
“Something urgent just came to mind.”
After telling Oh Myung-woon to go back first.
Kang Dae-oh searched for someone’s contact information on his smartphone.
“Hello? Yes, Executive Director Yoo. It’s me. I apologize for calling so late. Something came up that I need to discuss.”
One day.
Park Yeon-sung received a phone call from Kang Dae-oh.
Let’s meet.
There’s something to talk about when we meet.
To put it simply, that was it.
Park Yeon-sung, unaware of anything, headed to the place Kang Dae-oh had arranged to meet.
Arriving at the meeting place, Park Yeon-sung tilted his head once.
“Is this… the right place?”
He checked the location again and again.
And for good reason.
The place where Park Yeon-sung was supposed to meet Kang Dae-oh was an unopened cafe store.
Faced with such a store, which didn’t even have a signboard, Park Yeon-sung couldn’t help but hesitate about whether he should go in.
Just then, the door inside the store opened, and a man greeted Park Yeon-sung.
“Welcome, Yeon-sung. Come on in, why are you just standing there?”
“No… well, it’s not even open for business, so it feels a bit… presumptuous for me to just go in.”
That was understandable enough.
That’s why Kang Dae-oh had come all the way here to meet him personally.
Only after receiving Kang Dae-oh’s permission could Park Yeon-sung take his first step into the empty store.
The interior construction was mostly completed.
It was in such a clean state that if only tables and chairs were brought in, it could start operating immediately.
However, there was a major problem.
That was.
“The branch manager here hasn’t been decided yet. So, the opening will probably be indefinitely delayed until one is chosen.”
“Oh, really?”
Park Yeon-sung nodded slightly.
“I hope they find one soon. On my way here, I thought if a store opened here, it would generate quite a bit of sales.”
“For what reason?”
Kang Dae-oh’s gaze sharpened for a moment.
“Well… I didn’t really see any cafes nearby that could be called your company’s competitors. At most, there are about two very small cafes you can see in the neighborhood? They’re not even on the main road but tucked away inside a street, so they’re not very visible. That’s why I thought it would be good to open a store here. That’s why I said it.”
Kang Dae-oh expressed deep admiration for Park Yeon-sung’s keen eye.
“As expected. Yeon-sung, you’re just like your old self.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You’ve always had a broad perspective. And you’re meticulous. Didn’t you become class president for two consecutive years thanks to that?”
“Well, that’s… but after coming out into society and being a class president. Interviewers don’t really recognize things like that. You can’t even write it on your resume.”
“It’s okay. Because.”
Kang Dae-oh’s gaze fixed on Park Yeon-sung.
“I recognize it.”
The moment he heard about Park Yeon-sung, Kang Dae-oh remembered the conversation he had with Executive Director Yoo In-seok a few days ago.
About a sudden problem that had arisen at one of the branches scheduled to open.
In a situation where they desperately needed to find a new branch manager, Kang Dae-oh happened to learn that Park Yeon-sung had extensive experience working in cafes.
So, what he thought of was to entrust the new branch, which was scheduled to open, to him.
Kang Dae-oh had known for a long time what kind of personality Park Yeon-sung had and what kind of person he was.
However, he couldn’t just blindly entrust an entire store to him.
This was because the executives didn’t know about him yet.
So, Kang Dae-oh had long discussions with Executive Director Yoo In-seok and other executives and staff.
As a result.
They reached one conclusion.
“Would you like to have an interview?”
“An interview?”
“Yeah. I want to entrust this store to you. It’s an interview about that.”
“Why such a sudden offer…”
“Because we need someone. Someone trustworthy to entrust a store to, who can be responsible for Amare’s sales in the future.”
“……”
That person was.
Park Yeon-sung.
So Kang Dae-oh wanted to show and prove to Amare’s executives and employees.
Just how capable his precious friend was.
After a long period of contemplation, Park Yeon-sung slowly nodded with a firm expression, as if he had made a decision.
“Alright. I’ll do it.”
He absolutely didn’t want to miss the precious opportunity his friend had created for him.
A few days later.
Park Yeon-sung, dressed in a suit, arrived at Amare’s headquarters.
Standing in front of the full-length mirror in the lobby, he meticulously adjusted his suit, which his wife had diligently ironed for him, telling him to do his best.
A moment later.
He took the elevator and moved to where Kang Dae-oh and the company executives were waiting.
Guided by the Chief Secretary, Park Yeon-sung entered the main conference room.
Kang Dae-oh, exuding a distinctly different atmosphere than when they met at the alumni gathering, greeted him.
“Welcome, Mr. Park Yeon-sung.”
“Ex-Excuse me!”
Public and private matters must be strictly separated.
That was for Kang Dae-oh and the company.
And Kang Dae-oh knew very well that it was for Park Yeon-sung’s self-esteem.
That’s why he decided to proceed with the interview with as much formality as possible.
To this, Park Yeon-sung readily accepted the challenge.
The interview began with Executive Director Yoo In-seok.
“Basic training for a branch manager will be conducted separately according to our curriculum. Originally, theoretical and practical lessons are divided. However, in this urgent case, they will be conducted simultaneously. Do you think you can handle that?”
“Yes! If you just give me the chance, I’ll do everything!”
Following that, questions about how well he knew the industry poured in.
In response, Park Yeon-sung answered their barrage of questions without hesitation.
This was thanks to his many years of experience working in various cafes.
“Although it was temporary, I also worked as an assistant manager then.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“So you didn’t just work as a part-timer.”
Kang Dae-oh could almost hear Park Yeon-sung’s score going up.
But it wasn’t enough yet.
A powerful blow was needed to drive a wedge into their hearts.
Just then, Executive Director Yoo In-seok posed this question to Park Yeon-sung.
“What do you think is the most important thing in operating a store?”
Sales? Service?
There were many possible answers.
The answer Park Yeon-sung chose took a slightly different form than what the executives and staff had expected.
“I believe it’s about creating a store that customers will remember for a long time.”
“What’s the reason?”
“Because stores that have left a good impression will continue to be visited by customers. The power to turn a customer who just happened to visit once into a regular. I believe a cafe with such power is a good cafe.”
It was a perfect answer, summarizing all the things a branch manager should consider – sales, service, and so on – into one.
Executive Director Yoo In-seok subtly looked at Kang Dae-oh.
Kang Dae-oh asked him.
“Do we need to do more?”
Executive Director Yoo In-seok shook his head and replied.
“No. I think this is enough.”
Only then did a smile spread across Park Yeon-sung’s face.
