Chapter 285: The Demonstration (5)

Chapter 285: The Demonstration (5)

“...The responses were better than expected, actually,” said Ju Yeong-Gi.

“Really?” Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow.

“Yeah. Miss Choi was right on the money. Our revenue has gone up a lot.”

“By how much?”

“Mm, about double? Around there?”

Kang Jin-Ho started pouting a little. Earning a higher revenue was certainly good news, but hearing about his pizza's popularity falling wasn't so great for his pride.

Park Yu-Min provided a further explanation, “We're still selling at least one pizza per table. That hasn't changed, but now that pasta and drinks are added on top, we're making a lot more than when selling just one pizza.”

Kang Jin-Ho frowned even more. “I... That sounds about right.”

Now that he thought about it, no matter how one loved pizzas, they wouldn't likely order more than one pizza per head. Adding side dishes would obviously increase the store's revenue. Even he could see that.

He did worry that the table turnaround time would get longer if each customer ordered more food, but thankfully, such a thing hadn't happened yet.

Kang Jin-Ho rubbed his chin. “How are the new pasta dishes received?”

“Well, they are popular, alright. And the feedback we got is positive, too.”

“Hmm...” Kang Jin-Ho slowly turned his head to look at Jeong Su-Yeon.

She was staring into the distance without saying anything. Despite her unruffled attitude, even a blind could tell what her real feelings were from her slightly quivering shoulders and that triumphant expression visible even from the side of her face!

“Good work, Miss Jeong,” said Kang Jin-Ho after getting a premonition that he would meet with a big misfortune if he didn't compliment her now.

“Thank you,” Jeong Su-Yeon replied with a cool smirk.

“Listen, Jin-Ho. The way things were, I think we don't need to sell pizzas anymore and just stick to pasta dishes from now. Customers were telling me about how much better our pasta is compared to our pizzas,” said Ju Yeong-Gi.

However, Park Yu-Min countered with a deep scowl. “That's because you were the one baking the pizzas, Yeong-Gi!”

“...Hey, you. Are you done?”

Park Yu-Min turned to address Kang Jin-Ho in a grave voice. “Jin-Ho, stop leaving the store unattended, will you? The pizzas Yeong-Gi makes are waaay too different from the ones you make, you know? People were asking me if we used expired ingredients!”

“...!”

Jeong Su-Yeon enthusiastically agreed. “Yes! It got so bad that even I had to bake pizzas at one point! It was getting really unacceptable, you know!”

A wounded-looking Ju Yeong-Gi trudged to the corner of the store and hurdled on the floor while hugging his knees. He was supposed to be a man, but his tear ducts still wanted to act up after he got abused for something so insignificant as baking rubbish pizzas!

Jeong Su-Yeon got closer to Kang Jin-Ho. “But no matter how hard I try to follow the recipe, I can't replicate your taste, Mister Owner! When you have free time later, please teach me how to bake pizzas.”

“I'll try,” Kang Jin-Ho replied with a cramped smile because he knew that Jeong Su-Yeon would never be able to learn.

No normal person could bake pizzas like Kang Jin-Ho. The crucial point in his baking process wasn't utilizing the oven properly but baking the pizza's inner layer instantly through the application of the Intense Yang Energy technique. Even a martial artist below a certain realm would find it hard to replicate this act.

'...Should I mobilize a couple of martial artists, then?'

Since he was already involved with the Martial Assembly, it might not be such a bad idea to bring a suitable 'Martial' or two here and ask them to bake pizzas. Sure, martial artists were known for their sky-high pride, but someone among them had to be willing to bake pizzas for fun.

Kang Jin-Ho looked back at Park Yu-Min. “In that case, what was yesterday's revenue?”

“It's about the same as when you're around, Jin-Ho. Considering that we'd normally get a quarter of that whenever you're absent from the store, it's one heck of a jump.”

“Hmm...” Kang Jin-Ho contemplatively nodded. 'Not bad.'

The difference in revenue between when he was in the store or absent from it was night and day. Coming here more often would have solved that problem, but what would happen after Kang Jin-Ho started attending university again?

If the pizzeria were to keep surviving, it was crucial to have a stable average income stream going whether Kang Jin-Ho was here or not. If they were to rely solely on pizzas, they wouldn’t achieve that goal.

“By resolving the pizza issue, I guess it'll be fine to gradually take my hands off the pizzeria.”

“But Jin-Ho, that is literally the biggest problem, isn't it?”

“That's true...”

They couldn't offer the hands of salvation to their friend. Fortunately for them, though, there was no need to grieve over Kang Jin-Ho.

“Orabi~!” Kang Eun-Yeong shoved the door open and stepped inside the pizzeria.

Kang Jin-Ho's face brightened instantly, and he hurriedly welcomed her. He didn't care who, as long as they could put an end to this situation! When was the last time he felt so glad to see his little sister again? Probably when he had just gotten discharged from the army?

Kang Jin-Ho shot up to his feet and quickly walked up to his little sister. “Nice timing.”

Kang Eun-Yeong stared weirdly at her brother. “Eh??That's a weird reaction from you.”

“How so?”

"Normally, when I show up here, the first thing you'd say is, ‘why are you here?’ or ‘what about your filming schedule, Eun-Yeong?’ So, it's weird to see you so happy about me being here."

“Mm, well...” Kang Jin-Ho couldn't immediately respond and tried in vain to find an excuse.

Kang Eun-Yeong craned her neck and looked past him to check out the situation inside the store. Then, she nodded sagely as if she got the picture now. “Oho.?Looks like my presence was the lifeline you've been looking for. So, I'll be expecting a Melona or two later tonight, my dear brother.”

“...And you shall have some.” Kang Jin-Ho sighed. His little sis was truly quick-witted, wasn’t she? “In any case, what brings you here today?”

“What do you mean, what? Did you forget what we promised last time?”

“Mm?”

“You agreed to speak to my manager, didn't you?”

“...Did I? When?”

“Stop faking it, will you? I know how scary-sharp your memories are. You could even remember the five hundred won I borrowed from you a year ago, so no freaking way you can't remember that!”

Kang Jin-Ho frowned. This damned sharp kid...!

When he tried to shuffle away sneakily, Kang Eun-Yeong stuck to him like glue and held onto his arm. “A man never goes back on his word, right?”

“I always go back on my word, though?”

“Ah, really? Then, your thingy will fall off!”

"Don't say something ominous like that..." Kang Jin-Ho tutted. He couldn't remember hearing that insult ever since returning to the modern era, but any hot-blooded man would still shudder in dread after getting cursed like that! "Besides all that, what's the rush? Why did you decide the time without asking me first?"

"What rush are you even talking about? From the get-go, my manager oppa is a heck of a lot busier than you are, orabi. It makes sense from our perspective that we should set up the date."

"She's right, you know," Choi Yeon-Ha quickly butted in as if a chance had presented itself, and she came to Kang Eun-Yeong's aid. "No manager in the entertainment industry has time to make appointments like that. If they do, they don't deserve to be called managers. I mean, managers of top stars are so busy they can't even see the faces of their own mothers regularly, you know?”

"...?" Kang Jin-Ho was seriously tempted to say that both Choi Yeon-Ha and Kang Eun-Yeong seemed?too?free if that assertion was true, but he wisely refrained from doing so. After all, even he could tell that saying those words would be the same as pouring jet fuel into the roaring fire.

Kang Eun-Yeong energetically cried out, “Let's go!”

“Yes! And I'll accompany you, too!” Choi Yeon-Ha quickly walked up to Kang Jin-Ho.

With two women grabbing his arms from both sides, Kang Jin-Ho sorrowfully looked behind him for help. Unfortunately, his friends were smiling brightly and waving their hands at him as Kang Jin-Ho was dragged away.

“Have a nice trip, Jin-Ho.”

“...I'll speak to both of you when I return.”

“Get us Melonas, too.” Park Yu-Min relaxedly waved his hand, and this sight forced Kang Jin-Ho to wipe the corners of his stinging eyes. Who cared about friends? A man was supposed to live his life alone!

With Kang Jin-Ho and Co. gone, the store suddenly felt empty. Ju Yeong-Gi scanned the interior and muttered in dissatisfaction, “Is it okay to let them go like this? What about the pizzeria?”

“You're so right!” Jeong Su-Yeon also grumbled unhappily.

However, Park Yu-Min remained unperturbed as he replied with a grin, "Well, the pizzeria is gradually finding its feet, so we shouldn't try to hold onto him, right? He's got lots of other things to take care of, after all."

"Heol...?!" Ju Yeong-Gi shot a scary glare at his friend. "Are you implying that I've got nothing better to do?!"

“Oh? Do you have something to do, then?”

“...”

No reply was made to Park Yu-Min's retort that day.

1. ”Melona” is a popular ice pop sold in South Korea. Its name is derived from its melon taste, but it does come in other flavors, such as strawberry.

2. 500 won is around less than $0.40.