Chapter 207: Open for Business (2)

Kang Jin-Ho quietly groaned while staring at the trio of men before his eyes. The trio being: Jo Gyu-Min, Park Yu-Min, and Ju Yeong-Gi.

Three of the closest people in Kang Jin-Ho's life had gathered in one place to stare right back at him with solemn expressions. And this occasion was an emergency response meeting.

Kang Jin-Ho just couldn't think of a business suitable to him, prompting these three men to butt their heads together. Kang Jin-Ho felt kind of guilty despite having done no crime and could only stare at the trio with a slightly cramped expression.

“...Just open a fried chicken shop, dude.” Ju Yeong-Gi let out a sigh of lamentation as if this was all a grand waste of time. “I mean, it's gonna go under, anyway!”

“Stop jinxing Jin-Ho, will ya?!” Park Yu-Min threw out a sharp rebuke, but that didn't faze Ju Yeong-Gi at all as he simply chuckled away.

Those who hadn't witnessed Kang Jin-Ho during his military days had no bloody clue. With Kang Jin-Ho's personality, no employees would be able to survive working for him. What worried Ju Yeong-Gi wasn't picking the right type of business and making an X amount of money. No, the real problem was whether Kang Jin-Ho could even run a shop or not.

Unfortunately, no one else here knew the truth, so for now, Ju Yeong-Gi chose to go along. Convincing them would be futile without evidence, after all.

“Let's just pick something simpler, not the kind that needs a lot of prep time or requires special expertise to cook. If you don't want to see your evaluation see-saw every time there's a change in your kitchen staff, you need to think about manning the kitchen yourself. However, running a business that way is meaningless even if you're ultimately successful in the end,” said Jo Gyu-Min. His words displayed that he wanted to approach this problem from a pragmatic point of view.

However, such a here-nor-there analysis had the disadvantage of not really being helpful with the overall problem. So, Park Yu-Min decided to approach it from a different angle altogether. “Hey, Jin-Ho?”

“Yeah?” Kang Jin-Ho looked back at his friend.

“Isn't there something you wanna do?”

“Something I... want to do?”

Park Yu-Min nodded. “I mean... I'm not asking if you have a type of business in your mind already. If you have, then we wouldn't be here, after all. No, what I wanted to know was if you had any particular type of food you like. Or... How about trying out food that has a special meaning to you?”

“...Food that has a special meaning to Jin-Ho?” Ju Yeong-Gi suddenly butted in and groaned loudly. “Come on now. This guy doesn't have a single drop of sensibility in his veins, so how could he have a special dish or anything like that?”

“Eiii, still. Who knows, Jin-Ho might have one.”

Kang Jin-Ho closed his eyes and fell deep into his thoughts. Jo Gyu-Min glanced at the younger man, then thought he should offer another opinion. Before he could, though, Kang Jin-Ho suddenly opened his eyes. “I do have one.”

“Mm?”

The trio's attention quickly shifted to Kang Jin-Ho. Park Yu-Min was the first one to ask, “Is this dish your favorite, or does it hold a special place in your heart?”

“Technically speaking, there's a story behind it, so yeah, you can say it's special.” Kang Jin-Ho nodded away.

Ju Yeong-Gi looked impressed. “Ohhh? What is it, then?”

Kang Jin-Ho replied nonchalantly, “Pizza.”

“...Eh?” The trio's expressions became blank. Did he say... pizza?

“Maaan, all my life, I have never heard about pizza being someone's special food. It feels like I'm finally learning that the food my mother has been missing all these years was cola all along. I'm telling you, this guy is so weird..” Ju Yeong-Gi muttered in dismay.

Park Yu-Min also stared at Kang Jin-Ho in confusion as if he couldn't understand it, either. Unfortunately for his friends, Kang Jin-Ho chose not to resolve their confusion. Trying to explain the circumstances behind the pizza story would involve too many revelations and detours, after all.

“You want to put what on top of the rolled wheat pancake? Cheese? What is that? Solidified milk? And it's sour? Are you talking about the hardened goat milk those Mongols eat? No? It's made out of cow milk? And what else needs to go on top? Ham? Just where did you come from, kid?”

A smile crept up on Kang Jin-Ho's face even without realizing it. So many years ago, back in Zhongyuan... While rummaging through trash dumps in the middle of a frigid winter, he almost froze to death, only for his master to rescue him. He woke up after three days of high fever, and when his master asked him what he wanted to eat, Kang Jin-Ho inadvertently blurted out pizza.

His master asked what a 'pizza' was, and if it had been any other time, Kang Jin-Ho would have tried to brush his slip of tongue aside, but... Being ill for so long left his mind in disarray, and he tried to explain the existence of pizza to his master.

Even though it wouldn't have been strange for his master to dismiss the story of pizza as a rambling of a sick child, he didn't do such a thing. He tried his absolute best to bake the best approximation of 'pizza' according to his disciple's description. And the pizza baked by Kang Jin-Ho's master was...

“...It tasted like crap, didn't it?” Kang Jin-Ho shuddered grandly. That 'pizza' was not fit for human consumption. It was so gross that he almost vomited after taking one bite. However, Kang Jin-Ho still went ahead and ate the whole thing.

Was it because he was starving? No. That 'pizza' was the first dish someone had made for him in nearly twenty years. Back then, there were no convenience stores or supermarkets to get your ingredients. And it was in the middle of a bitterly cold winter, too. Considering that, it had to have been an incredibly difficult journey to roughly recreate a dish based on a child's ramblings. It would be ungrateful to complain about its awful taste in that case.

Even now, Kang Jin-Ho remembered that 'pizza' as the worst food he had ever eaten in his life... But at the same time, it was the warmest, most fulfilling pizza he ever had.

“...Looks like I found it.” Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded.

However, Jo Gyu-Min hurriedly waved his hands. “H-hold on, Mister Jin-Ho! Didn't we agree that you won't open any stores that require delivery? A pizzeria that doesn't deliver?! Isn't that a fast track to complete failure?”

Jo Gyu-Min's desperate opposition was shot down by Park Yu-Min almost right away. “But Mister Gyu-Min, Jin-Ho said he wants to open a pizzeria. When I think about it, you don't need to be a master chef to bake a pizza, right? No matter how good the dish on sale is, I think it'll be a problem if Jin-Ho can't even cook it himself.” N0v3l--B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.

“Well, you have a point there...” Jo Gyu-Min muttered weakly.

One only had to know how to knead the dough, place the toppings properly, and then bake the whole thing inside an oven to make a decent pizza. Of course, there was the matter of getting the topping combination right to consider. Even so, a pizza was indeed one of the easiest dishes for a total noob to 'cook' compared to other types of food.

“E-even so, a pizzeria that doesn't deliver sounds a bit...” Jo Gyu-Min muttered, still unconvinced.

However, Park Yu-Min had a counter for that as well. “There are plenty of pizzerias in the main street that don't deliver, you know.”

.

“Hmm...” Jo Gyu-Min rubbed his chin while mulling his reply.

Unfortunately for him, Kang Jin-Ho's response was firm. “I'm going with the pizzeria.”

“Are you sure about this, Mister Jin-Ho?”

“Yes, I am. I have made up my mind,” Kang Jin-Ho replied with a simple grin. He had to admit that he felt a little lost when he was told to limit his choices to 'food'. Now that the store type had been decided, though? He suddenly felt motivated to do well.

After all, making someone else experience what he had tasted back then could be rewarding and enjoyable.

Jo Gyu-Min was still mumbling to himself while making a stupefied expression. “A pizzeria that doesn't deliver... Finding a shop space alone will be a challenge...”

As Jo Gyu-Min sighed helplessly, Kang Jin-Ho got up to leave with a relieved look. “They say we should make hay while the sun still shines. So, let's get a move on right away.”

“...Please don't be so motivated when it comes to such weird things, Mister Jin-Ho...” Jo Gyu-Min made a tearful face and muttered.

***

“Thank you for all your hard work~!” Kang Eun-Yeong thanked all the crew members.

It had already been two years since she made her debut. In any other profession, she would still be considered a rookie, but in the entertainment industry, where hundreds of hopefuls make their debut in a year before quickly disappearing into obscurity, two years of steady activity basically meant she was a seasoned pro.

However, she had never lost her humble attitude. Was it because she was naturally a kind person? Of course not.

If the rumors of how rude she was got around until they reached her oppa's ears... Kang Jin-Ho would undoubtedly throw her into the Hell of Infinite Nagging under the pretext of fixing her head space. And she would have to consider herself lucky if the punishment ended there.

Kang Eun-Yeong could see her oppa blaming her career in the entertainment industry for 'ruining' her character, then forcing her to 'retire' early before enrolling her in some university to study!

'I'm not insane enough to quit and start studying, I'll have you know!'

Thanks to Kang Eun-Yeong's concerted effort to escape her orabeoni's insidious scheming and continue working as an idol, she became famous for not catching the so-called celebrity virus despite her popularity. All her hard work had paid off, and now, people had grown to love her for being humble and so diligent!

“Thank you for your hard work!”

Her recent schedule was quite jam-packed; she had to help out in her father's cafe and shoot this TV drama. Thankfully, she was taking a short break from performing on stage until the series was ready to air. The agency recommended this course of action, saying that the break would do wonders in making the public forget about that unfounded dating rumor.

Besides, her debut album promotion tour cycle was coming to an end, anyway. That helped her make this brave choice.

While Kang Eun-Yeong was greeting and thanking various people, someone walked up and lightly tugged at her clothes.

“Ah?” She turned around to see who it was and hurriedly covered her mouth from the shock.

Choi Yeon-Ha grinned and spoke to Kang Eun-Yeong, “Are you going home now, Miss Se-Ah?”

“A-ah, yes, senior! I've finished my scenes for the day, you see!”

“I see. In that case, how about leaving with me?”

“M-me, with you, senior?”

“What's wrong? You don't wanna?” Choi Yeon-Ha asked while giggling away.

Kang Eun-Yeong jumped up in surprise and hurriedly waved her hands. “O-of course not! It'll be my honor! Really!”

Choi Yeon-Ha continued to smile as she reached out to lightly hold Kang Eun-Yeong's hand. “Actually, I wanted to chat with you, just the two of us.”

“R-really?”

“Yes. I have lots to talk about with you. We're colleagues working in the same production, but... It feels like we never had the chance to talk to each other, just by ourselves.”

“I'm always available if you want to talk, senior!”

“Mm, calling me senior all the time is a bit too formal, so can you call me unnie from now on?”

“But, I wouldn't dare...” Kang Eun-Yeong looked mortified by that suggestion.

“It's kind of weird to talk like this here. I know a nice little cafe, so how about we head there?”

“Yes! Let's!”

Kang Eun-Yeong quickly explained her situation to her road manager and entered Choi Yeon-Ha's car. The road manager only approved of this change in schedule after she agreed to let him wait outside this cafe.

'Eiii, he's so inflexible...'

Going to a cafe with Choi Yeon-Ha with a third wheel was not ideal, but Kang Eun-Yeong was more worried about the consequences of throwing a tantrum at the road manager. After all, that would have caused a red Lamborghini to charge straight at the cafe like an enraged bull!

'And that car's color has become so eye-catching recently, too...!'

Her oppa stuck to the white color in the past since he was worried about the car standing out too much. But after his time in the army, his brazenness seemed to have received an upgrade, as evidenced by how he had decided to wrap his already-flashy car! Of course, it was Jo Gyu-Min, not Kang Jin-Ho, who had the car wrapped, but still—Kang Jin-Ho still allowed his Lamborghini to be wrapped in red, something he wouldn't have permitted in the not-too-distant past. That alone was powerful evidence of how much he had changed.

“Senior, I didn't know that you ride your own car, not your manager's,” Kang Eun-Yeong asked while scanning the interior of Choi Yeon-Ha's vehicle.

“Ng? Oh, no. That's not it. I usually ride in his minivan. But today's shooting location was close to my home, so I told my manager oppa to take a day off.”

“Wow, is that okay?”

“Normally, no.” Choi Yeon-Ha grinned slyly. Her smile seemed to say, “Yes, it's normally not allowed, but someone on my level can easily do it”?to Kang Eun-Yeong's eyes, making her idolize Choi Yeon-Ha even more.

Even from the perspective of a fellow woman, Choi Yeon-Ha was just too stunningly beautiful. So much so that it seemed obvious for her to be called the People's Goddess not too long ago. She probably would have held onto that title if only she hadn't recently decreased her output and only chose to appear in a select handful of projects.

'She's so cool...'

Kang Eun-Yeong found Choi Yeon-Ha so cool, as she was dealing with her filming schedule by herself. She wanted to learn how her senior was navigating the choppy waters of the entertainment industry without any unsavory scandals rocking her boat.

“We're here,” said Choi Yeon-Ha. She parked her car in front of the cafe and climbed outside.

Kang Eun-Yeong quickly followed suit and entered the cafe. She looked around the interior décor and let out an impressed exclamation. “Wow, it's so pretty in here.”

Choi Yeon-Ha smiled in satisfaction. “And the cafe's vibe is pretty good, too, right? I haven't told anyone about this place. When I need some time alone, away from everyone, I come here to lift my mood, you see?”

“But, uhm...?Is it okay for me to be here?” Kang Eun-Yeong cautiously asked.

Choi Yeon-Ha covered her mouth and silently chuckled before lightly patting Kang Eun-Yeong on the back. “Come on, let's go in.”

“Okay..”

The two women stepped deeper into the cafe.