God-Given Business Genius - Chapter 160

"CEO Song?"

I turned quickly at the voice calling me. Kang Yu-ha gestured towards the back while tapping her wristwatch, seemingly indicating that the break time was over.

I nodded and hastily wrapped up the phone call.

"Chef Bong, I'll call you back later."

-W-wait, Chef Song! Fair Trade Commission? Did you just say Fair Tra-!

Click.

Oh dear. I hung up before hearing the rest of what he was going to say. I thought about calling back right away to ask what he was going to say, but then shook my head.

I can call after work, no big deal.

"I hope I didn't interrupt an important call?"

I smiled gently at Kang Yu-ha's question and replied.

"No. Thanks to you, I just lost a 300 million won deal."

"That's not true, right? Somehow, I feel like it might be true if it's you, CEO Song."

"Haha. Of course not."

While exchanging jokes with Kang Yu-ha, we moved back to the filming location.

"Thank you for contacting me specifically among all the journalists. I'll treat you to a meal sometime."

"Haha, I'll just accept your sentiment. I'm the one who should be grateful. I did bring it up, but I didn't expect the preparations to be finished so quickly."

It hadn't even been three days since she said she wanted to conduct an in-depth interview. In that short time, Kang Yu-ha had taken care of everything from securing the location to arranging the camera director.

"It's nothing. Of course I should do this."

Kang Yu-ha smirked and winked at me.

"Thanks to you, I've got an exclusive, haven't I?"

We each took our places where we had just been conducting the interview. I sat on a plush sofa, and Kang Yu-ha brought a chair across from me.

The script sheets in Kang Yu-ha's hands were filled with carefully selected questions. With her scribbling my answers on top of that, it almost looked like a cheat sheet.

The questions were so well-prepared that it was hard to believe they were made in such a short time. I could tell how intensely she had prepared.

She's quite the hard worker, pretending not to be, this person.

Moreover, her skill in writing articles had been proven early on. It's hard to dislike someone who is both capable and hard-working.

It's a win-win for both of us, too.

"Is it really an exclusive? We're just conducting an interview to clarify the controversy."

Anyone would have done this much if it wasn't me.

"Come on~ CEO Song, you don't know yourself well enough. Of course it's an exclusive!"

Kang Yu-ha then went on about how I was the hottest topic on the internet right now, and how even publishing my scribbles would make the view count explode.

"Oh. That probably didn't sound good to you, did it? I'm sorry. It's my occupational habit."

It's not exactly pleasant to hear that I'd make for good clickbait, but it's true, so I wasn't particularly affected.

"I understand. I have a talent for ruining others' appetites by analyzing everything when I eat too."

"Ahahahaha!"

Kang Yu-ha laughed, saying 'You're good at jokes too.' It wasn't a joke though. Since that wasn't important, I just shrugged.

"More than that, I was really impressed when I heard. When the controversy first broke out, I didn't fully believe it, but I thought it would be really difficult to explain~"

Indeed. Usually, it takes a truckload of documents to explain one line of rumor. Of course, the public doesn't have the patience to read all that.

"But I never thought there would be such a clever move."

"Clever move? You're overpraising me."

I smiled and said.

"To accurately reveal whether there was real tyranny or unfair trade, isn't voluntarily reporting the best way?"

"Exactly."

Kang Yu-ha said, still wearing a bright smile.

"Of course, it will take quite a while for the Fair Trade Commission to analyze the issue, but with this title alone, you've essentially put the brakes on the controversy. 'Voluntarily reported to the Fair Trade Commission'... Is there a simpler yet more powerful explanation than this?"

The Fair Trade Commission.

What kind of institution is it?

A quasi-judicial body that deals in-depth with matters of monopoly or unfair trade. In other words, the economic prosecutor.

It means it's a place that regulates unfair transactions to help the market operate healthily.

For example, if it's discovered that several large companies are manipulating market prices through collusion, the Fair Trade Commission steps in to punish them.

'So it's an object of fear for companies.'

If you get on the wrong side of the Fair Trade Commission, you won't even be able to pick up your bones from the fines. Especially if you're caught for monopoly? You'd be utterly destroyed.

Involving the Fair Trade Commission was mentally burdensome for me too. Of course, I have nothing to feel guilty about.

Even law-abiding citizens tend to feel uneasy in front of the police, don't they? That's the kind of discomfort I mean.

'But this time, I needed to borrow the name of the Fair Trade Commission, even if it meant enduring that discomfort.'

People like things that are fast and certain. The same goes for controversies, and even explanations.

Why isn't this tyranny and why is the other party making absurd claims? How was the contract made? What are the detailed contents of the contract? Why isn't it an unreasonable demand?

People aren't interested in and find it boring if you lay out all these details.

On the other hand, the single sentence "Voluntarily reported to the Fair Trade Commission" is easy to understand and clear in its meaning, isn't it?

"Well, let's end the small talk here and get back to filming, shall we?"

"Yes. Let's start."

Whir-.

I could see the red lights coming on on the cameras. This will probably be edited and uploaded as an interview.

Kang Yu-ha flipped through a few pages of documents and began speaking.

"Before the break, we asked a lot about your voluntary report to the Fair Trade Commission. From now on, I'd like to talk about something a little different."

"?"

I wondered what she was going to talk about. I thought she would just ask about <The Song>'s growth or the newly launched franchise brand.

Kang Yu-ha looked at me and curled up the corners of her mouth. Somehow, I had an ominous feeling.

"<The Song>'s brands generally boast a low closure rate. Considering that the closure rate of franchise brands in the same industry is between 10% and 20%, <The Song>'s closure rate of less than 10% is surprisingly low."

What? It was a more ordinary question than I thought.

I had prepared answers about secrets and management tips for maintaining a low closure rate.

Until Kang Yu-ha suddenly made a sharp turn.

"But I heard there was a place where <The Song> unilaterally terminated the contract recently?"

"...!"

I immediately realized which place Kang Yu-ha was talking about.

That <Shanghai Restaurant>.

The one where they attacked me with a soju bottle when I pointed out problems.

Remembering that incident, the scar on my forearm throbbed. I found myself unconsciously touching my forearm.

'What to do.'

Looking at just the keyword of unilateral termination, this could easily be twisted into tyranny by the headquarters. If this breaks out during the current issue, it would be adding insult to injury.

'I didn't hear anything related to this during the pre-interview.'

When I glared at Kang Yu-ha, she pretended to flip a page, hiding her face, and whispered to me. It seemed like she was saying 'I'm sorry.'

Sigh.

The recording had already started and the question had been asked. I couldn't pretend not to know and avoid it.

If I just answered appropriately, it could pass without any problem. I slowly chose my words and opened my mouth.

"It's hard to call it a unilateral termination. We decided to go our separate ways after amicable discussions with the franchisee. We thought it would be better to remain in a position to cheer for each other from our respective places."

It sounds like a celebrity who broke up after a public relationship. But I don't know how to express it more euphemistically than this.

"Ah. So you're saying you terminated the contract under mutual agreement?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Well, this is interesting. The information we've obtained is a bit different."

"...Pardon?"

What on earth is she trying to say? As I glared at her, Kang Yu-ha subtly avoided my gaze and said.

"We have a reliable source of information on our side too. You know how journalists usually dig up story material by eating and sleeping at the police station when they're rookies, right?"

Kang Yu-ha twirled her pen and asked back.

"Where do you think the police station was where I stayed as a rookie?"

"...Don't tell me."

"Yes. Correct~!"

Kang Yu-ha replied with a friendly smile.

"I even obtained information that there was a bloody incident at that <Shanghai Restaurant>."

"......"

"Could I ask you to comment on this?"

This person. Knowing everything, yet pretending to know nothing with that bright smile.

I wanted to flick her forehead if I could, she was so annoying. My fists are crying, crying.

But I couldn't do such a thing in front of the camera. And also...

'Come to think of it, there's nothing bad about making this public.'

If you think about it, isn't that incident closer to tyranny by the subordinate rather than the superior? I'm clearly a victim who even got injured.

Although the criminal complaint is still ongoing, I was planning to proceed with a civil case after the criminal case is finished. There was nothing to be hesitant about.

'I wanted to hide it if possible to avoid unnecessary commotion...'

But there's no choice now that things have come to this. If I'm going to reveal it anyway, I might as well make the most use of it.

I immediately changed my attitude and tried to put on the most fragile expression I could.

"That incident... I still don't want to think about it again."

The sudden change in my attitude caught her off guard for a moment. But Kang Yu-ha seemed to have read my intentions as well.

Her eyes widened for a moment, then she smirked as if in disbelief.

Then she held out the microphone to me with a bright smile.

"Oh my. May I ask what kind of shocking incident it was?"

Despite her cautious tone, her face told a different story.

Kang Yu-ha seemed to be saying to me:

'The stage is set, let's play.'

As I grabbed the microphone, I answered inwardly.

'That's my specialty.'