God-Given Business Genius - Chapter 156

What's all this about?

As I was about to peek out at the shouting voice looking for me outside, Hyun Ye-won abruptly blocked my path.

"?"

When I tried to sidestep her, Hyun Ye-won took a step to the side as well. The same happened when I attempted to go the other way.

"Um... Ye-won-ssi?"

I was more puzzled than irritated. This wasn't like her to act without reason.

As I scratched my cheek and looked at her, Hyun Ye-won mumbled hesitantly.

"I don't think... you should go out."

"Pardon?"

"That person out there... their way of speaking is strange. I came in here to call for you, CEO, but I don't think you should go out."

Hyun Ye-won's face was pale with fear. There didn't seem to be any threatening behavior besides the shouting. Why was she so terrified?

Of course, it's not exactly pleasant to have an adult man barging in and yelling in broad daylight, but still...

I decided to ask a few more questions to assess the situation.

"What do you mean? Is that person outside one of our franchisees?"

"Yes, that's right. I confirmed their identity. It's Chu Jong-wook-ssi, the owner of our Masang branch."

"It seems they have something to say to me directly. We can't just send them away after coming all this way."

I patted Hyun Ye-won's shoulder. She seemed quite shaken. But there was no need to be overly afraid.

"This happens sometimes. People who need to say things themselves to feel satisfied. That's why I have the CEO title, to take responsibility in situations like this. Just let them in."

"N-no, you can't!"

"?"

I tilted my head in confusion.

This level of opposition was a bit strange, especially after I had assured her it was fine.

Moreover, my hand on her thin blouse was becoming damp with cold sweat.

'Why is she sweating so much...'

Just as I was thinking this, Hyun Ye-won slowly raised her head. When our eyes met, I couldn't help but take a sharp breath.

Hyun Ye-won's pupils were trembling uncontrollably. Gripping the hem of my clothes tightly, she whispered.

"W-what if you get hurt? Like last time..."

"Ah."

Come to think of it.

She was one of the people who witnessed me getting injured last time.

Now I understood why Hyun Ye-won was shaking so much. It was a kind of PTSD. It's understandable after witnessing such a bloody incident up close.

"Ye-won-ssi. First, try to calm down. Take deep breaths, that's it. In- out- in- out-. Yes, like that."

"Huu... Haa..."

"There's nothing to worry about. The situation now is different from then, right? How many people are out there?"

"But... but... Last time, Team Leader Jo was there too, but, sniff, he couldn't even... even with his size..."

Hyun Ye-won started crying, tears falling like chicken droppings. Oh dear, her eyes will get all puffy. Jo I-ruk, who was suddenly dissed for not living up to his size, also looked a bit dumbfounded.

"Stop. You need to stop."

While comforting Hyun Ye-won, I signaled to Jo I-ruk with my eyes.

The intention was for him to take care of Hyun Ye-won in my stead, as I needed to go out and assess the situation first.

'You understand what I'm saying, right?'

When I gave him that look, Jo I-ruk hesitated for a moment but then nodded.

Good. Finally, I'll be able to go outside.

Jo I-ruk walked over steadily and stood behind Hyun Ye-won.

That is... on the door side of the CEO's office.

"?"

What are you doing?

When I gave him a puzzled look, Jo I-ruk had a confused expression.

"Wasn't your intention for me to block them from coming in?"

Is that what you thought?

When I frowned deeply, Jo I-ruk seemed to finally understand my original intention.

"......"

Jo I-ruk stared into space as if calculating something. Just as he was about to carefully take a step sideways...

Crash!

"I'm going to sue all of you! I'm going to sue!"

There was a loud crash followed by shouting from outside. It seemed like something had been thrown on the floor.

The sound was loud but not too heavy. If there's anything fortunate, I suppose that's it. It seems they picked up a relatively light object.

It's more likely meant as a threat rather than an intent to harm someone.

"Both of you, step aside."

I couldn't stand by any longer.

The employees outside would have to endure this humiliation until I stepped in.

I'm not sure if they've called the police or not. The reason I get paid more is because I bear more responsibility.

Even these unexpected situations fall under my responsibility. At the very least, I can't hide in here pretending I didn't hear anything.

"Hic... But..."

"CEO. You can't. You must stay here until the police arrive."

Hyun Ye-won and Jo I-ruk blocked my way, protesting.

However, my resolve was firm.

"Now!"

At my command, they both flinched.

As they hesitated, I lost patience and pushed past them to grab the doorknob myself.

"Ah!"

"Wait,"

By the time they realized, it was already too late.

Bang!

I flung the door open and faced the situation outside.

A middle-aged man snorting and puffing, Manager Roh Se-hee facing off against him with a broom raised high, other employees huddled together behind her, and Park Sang-won and Yang Ji-a clinging tightly to each other.

Roh Se-hee's broom was raised high, looking as if it might strike the man's head at any moment.

It was truly a powder keg situation.

All eyes turned to me as I opened the door and came out.

"......"

"......"

A brief silence fell.

"C-CEO..."

Park Sang-won called out to me first in a tearful voice, and then one by one, the tension seemed to ease as people started to back away slowly.

"Team Leader Roh. You've done well."

I approached Roh Se-hee first. She slowly lowered her hand and dropped the broom to the floor with a thud.

"Assistant Manager Park."

"Yes!"

"Please escort Team Leader Roh inside."

"Understood!"

Roh Se-hee was passed off to Park. Then I took the place where Roh Se-hee had been standing.

"I'm the CEO. What seems to be the problem?"

As I asked politely, the middle-aged man... presumably Chu Jong-wook, the owner of the Masang branch of Sanghae Restaurant, slammed his hand on a nearby table and shouted.

"Well! How long have I been looking for you, and you come out now?! Huh?"

His hand was so forceful that the table shook. I glanced at it briefly, then looked straight back at Chu Jong-wook.

"Sir. You came all this way because you had something to say, didn't you?"

"Of course!"

"But if you keep acting so threateningly, we'll have no choice but to call the police. If you want to talk, please control yourself."

"Hah! Really!"

Chu Jong-wook let out a mocking laugh.

He seemed to find my response preposterous. But I didn't so much as raise an eyebrow. The moment I show any emotional reaction here, this guy will think he's succeeded in manipulating my emotions and mistakenly believe he's gained the upper hand.

'He's doing this on purpose. He thinks if he provokes me and I get angry, he'll have won.'

This is a type of person you see quite often. In the not-too-distant future, you'll easily find them in YouTube comment sections.

"Please, have a seat over here."

I calmly offered.

"Since you've come a long way, I'll deal with you personally today, but if you come unannounced like this again, I won't be in the office. I'm often away on business trips."

I'm not generous enough to drive you back myself.

I put an unopened bottle of water from the table in front of him and said,

"What was so urgent that you had to seek me out like this?"

"Well! How can you be so nonchalant? Huh? I'm the victim here, but why are you acting like you're the victims?!"

Chu Jong-wook snapped back at me instead. I still had no idea what this was all about.

"Please explain in detail. Only then can we listen and help you."

"Huff. I've already told those people earlier, but this is the last time I'm saying this. Listen carefully, okay?"

Chu Jong-wook habitually added "okay?" at the end of his sentence. But before I could even answer, he continued.

"Isn't this a fraudulent contract? Do you have any conscience?"

"?"

Fraudulent contract?

Hearing those words, my expression immediately turned serious. Don't tell me the parasites have already attached themselves?

"Were there any brokers claiming to be intermediaries for <The Song>?"

It happens sometimes. People who pretend to have some close relationship with the company and skim money off the top as middlemen.

They're mostly con artists and should never be trusted.

These people deceive the company by pretending to be franchisees themselves, and they deceive the victims by pretending to be representatives of the company.

They exploit the victims by altering the contract to be more favorable to themselves and getting the victims to sign it.

'But our company isn't big enough yet for us not to know about such incidents?'

As the number of franchises grows endlessly and the work becomes more segmented, such incidents can be overlooked. But we're not at that stage yet.

'But is there anything that could be called a fraudulent contract? Has one of the low-level employees already become corrupt?'

As I was turning over various possibilities in my head, Chu Jong-wook slammed the table once more and shouted.

"Look here, look at this!"

Looking again, I saw some kind of pamphlet stuck to his hand. I read aloud the title of what he thrust towards me.

"Sanghai Restaurant Estimated Sales and Net Profit...?"

"Yes! Look closely at what's written here! Estimated monthly net profit between 4.5 million to 5 million won! That's what it says!"

"Yes. That's right."

But what's the problem with that?

Seeing my puzzled expression, unable to grasp the issue, Chu Jong-wook beat his chest in frustration and said.

"No! But why isn't this month's profit even 4.5 million won?! Isn't this fraud?!"

...What?