Chapter 207: Open for Business (2)

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?” Ne/w novel chapters are published at novelhall.comething 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.

“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.