Chapter 38. Halbaekase (3)
After the move was finished, Father busily moved around the kitchen on the second floor.
“Hmm. The equipment isn’t very good. Still, let’s eat. You’re supposed to have jajangmyeon on moving day.”
I could clearly smell grilled meat.
Had he really made jajangmyeon?
Half right.
Half wrong.
The food arranged beautifully on the round plate was steak jjapaguri, which had become wildly popular several years ago.
I put a thick slice of flat iron steak into my mouth together with the noodles.
A sound of admiration escaped before I could stop it.
The meat was grilled perfectly.
The salty jjapaguri paired with it ridiculously well.
He could easily sell this for ten thousand won.
“Wow! Father, this is insane. Are you developing another menu?”
“Haha, another menu? Your mother said it was tasty a few days ago, so I made it again. I’m glad you like it. Eat plenty.”
Had the past month of experimenting with new dishes changed him?
Father, who had once devoted himself entirely to ribs, now carried the aura of a chef eager to challenge new things.
“Huh? Why are you bringing that out?”
Father asked when Mom walked out of the master bedroom.
She was holding something I knew very well.
Father’s number-one treasure.
“Come on. If we don’t open it on a day like this, when are we going to drink it?”
“No! Even so, that’s the only bottle of thirty-one-year Royal Salute in the world!”
No, Father.
Whisky stops aging the moment it leaves the oak barrel.
The number written on the bottle Mom carried was seventeen.
Father had added one to that number every year.
But who cared?
On a day like today, even Captain Q would taste delicious.
And so, we quickly emptied Father’s most precious bottle.
This was the perfect timing to bring up the real issue.
Father’s greatest weakness.
When he drank, he tended to accept almost any request or proposal.
Remembering that, I finally brought up the topic.
“I heard from the Meat Gangster owner yesterday. A 70,000-won omakase makes no sense. You should charge at least 150,000 won—”
Father smiled as though my firm objection was nothing important.
“Hahaha. I wondered when you’d bring that up. But Jinhyeok, I’d like there to be at least one omakase that as many people as possible can enjoy. If the restaurant does well, I’ll still earn more than an ordinary office worker.”
“That comparison makes no sense. This is your own business. It uses your personal techniques, and the working hours are much longer.”
My argument was perfectly logical.
Father emptied the rest of his drink and struck me with a blow I had no way to counter.
“Jinhyeok. I’m doing this for myself. I spent my whole life trying to give to others. I don’t want to stain that life near the end by becoming greedy. How much longer am I going to live anyway? Why would I suddenly think about making a fortune by grilling meat?”
Mistake.
Apparently Father’s drinking habits had changed with age.
I had no idea my father could fight this dirty.
What son could oppose a father saying he wanted to maintain the beliefs he had followed his entire life?
Especially after casually throwing in something as unpleasant as I don’t have that many years left anyway.
Maybe he noticed I had become speechless.
Father jokingly continued in a relaxed voice.
“What’s wrong with selling it a little cheaper? My son owns the building, so I don’t even have to pay rent.”
That was true.
Under normal circumstances.
But Father had been playing with my emotions too much.
I wanted at least a small rebellion.
“You’ll pay rent. For the restaurant, and for the second and third floors too.”
“W-What?”
“So if you insist on charging 70,000 won, you need to follow my wishes for everything else. I’ll design the business strategy. You said your stamina is fine, right?”
“Huh? What are you suddenly talking about...?”
I left Father’s confused voice behind and went up to the rooftop.
I had acted childish.
Still, I felt strangely refreshed.
You want an omakase that as many people as possible can enjoy?
I agreed.
A price that let ordinary people celebrate special occasions without feeling too burdened.
It wasn’t impossible.
So if we were going to do it...
I would make sure far more people enjoyed the omakase than Father had imagined.
Monday morning.
Jinhyeok was summoned by Division Director Choi Taesik the moment he arrived at work.
He tilted his head as he walked toward the office.
He hasn’t given up on forcing that new business team onto me, has he?
Before entering, Jinhyeok checked the diary app.
There was nothing new.
“Team Leader Kang. Come in. Did you rest well over the weekend?”
“Yes, Director.”
“I realized there was something I overlooked, so I called you in early. Sit down.”
Jinhyeok had no idea what Taesik had missed.
He sat down with the smartphone, diary app open, placed between his thighs.
“This is about the Creative Village new business project. President Baek and I both thought the businesses your team planned were excellent.”
Jinhyeok answered the same praise he had heard countless times last Friday with an indifferent face.
“...Ah. Yes.”
Why?
At this point, continued praise probably couldn’t even make a whale wag its tail.
Jinhyeok only lowered his head lightly.
Reading his mood, Taesik moved directly to the main subject.
President Baek Kangjin had called Taesik in early that morning.
Fortunately, he had discovered what Jinhyeok truly wanted and told Taesik.
It was unusual.
But there were always methods available.
Jinhyeok had shown extraordinary results over the past several months.
There was no reason to hold back rewards from someone who always returned more than whatever he was given.
And so Taesik’s gift offensive began.
“President Baek and I decided we should not hold back rewards for employees who produce outstanding results.”
Jinhyeok’s eyebrow twitched.
Is he going to reward me and then force the new business team on me?
It doesn’t matter what he gives me. My answer isn’t changing.
Jinhyeok absolutely did not want to see the red diary entry he had worked so hard to erase appear again.
“What kind of reward do you mean?”
“First, we decided to accelerate the hiring expansion for the Commercial District Analysis Team that we discussed last Friday. It’s a loss for the company when key people like you have to handle every small task personally.”
Jinhyeok’s expression didn’t change.
To be honest, he wondered whether this even counted as a reward.
It basically meant:
We’ll hire more people, so do more work.
Taesik seemed to read his thoughts perfectly.
He immediately produced a much more extraordinary offer.
“And we’ve decided to actively reflect your opinion in this hiring. The HR Team Leader will come to you soon. Tell him what kind of people you want. New hires or experienced employees, it doesn’t matter.”
“...Yes. Understood.”
It was certainly an exceptional offer.
Still, it didn’t really feel like a gift.
Jinhyeok had the diary app.
His workload had never truly been a problem in the first place.
Then a thought suddenly struck him.
Can I use the diary app when hiring people too?
That’s definitely worth testing.
Now slightly interested, Jinhyeok asked,
“Can I personally attend the interviews? If they’re joining my team, I’d like to see them myself.”
“Of course. I can give you final decision authority too.”
The corner of Jinhyeok’s mouth rose slightly.
Taesik interpreted it as a positive sign and opened the second gift.
“We also prepared something small for your team members. Special leave in the form of a workshop. ‘Workshop’ is only the official title to prevent complaints from other departments. Think of it as a vacation and submit whatever plan you like.”
“Are you saying we can go whenever we want? And the number of days doesn’t matter?”
“That’s right. You could leave tomorrow morning if you wanted. President Baek already approved it, so all expenses will be covered.”
Jinhyeok’s eyes trembled slightly.
Has our company ever had a workshop like this?
For only one team? With no real objective?
Normally, workshops needed some grand justification.
Building cooperation.
Sharing corporate vision.
Strengthening departmental unity.
Yet Taesik was openly telling them to simply borrow the name and go have fun.
“Thank you for your consideration, Director. It should be a huge boost to the team’s morale.”
Even this time, Jinhyeok deliberately avoided looking too happy.
He couldn’t afford to get swept away by emotion and accidentally accept new business planning work.
He checked the smartphone between his legs.
No change.
Jinhyeok tightened his expression.
Taesik completely misunderstood the reaction.
So even this isn’t enough?
Becoming nervous, Taesik finally opened the last package President Baek Kangjin had given him.
“Ahem. I heard you made a few investments around Mullae-dong.”
Jinhyeok’s mouth fell open.
Only the Audit Team and President Baek knew about that.
He had assumed the division director would eventually hear.
But he had no idea why Taesik was bringing it up now.
“Don’t look so surprised. I’m absolutely not trying to investigate or criticize you. There are no regulatory problems.”
“What? Ah... yes.”
If an unnecessary misunderstanding appeared, Jinhyeok had been prepared to simply resign.
Even so, a small sense of disappointment had started growing inside him.
Work had become surprisingly enjoyable after Kim Seokhun left.
“I didn’t know you were this interested in real estate. I also heard the Audit Team Leader recently rejected an additional purchase request?”
Jinhyeok calmed himself and answered.
“Yes. The Creative Village project has officially been confirmed, and I’m the person in charge. I thought the decision was perfectly reasonable.”
“Correct. The Audit Team Leader did nothing wrong.”
Taesik watched Jinhyeok’s slightly surprised face with interest.
Then he held out a thick document envelope.
Baek Kangjin had told him exactly what Jinhyeok wanted most right now.
After discussing the matter with the Audit Team Leader, Taesik had discovered a way to solve it.
“But there is another method. We thought quite seriously about solving your situation. Strictly speaking, the company moved into an area you had already invested in.”
Jinhyeok carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the documents.
As he read through the thick stack carefully, his eyes grew wider.
The first was a conflict-of-interest prevention agreement.
It stated that while performing commercial district analysis, he would never evaluate areas in a way that unfairly favored his private assets or make biased decisions that harmed the company.
The second was an agreement prohibiting the use of undisclosed material information.
It would serve as a strong legal defense showing that he had not used the company’s confidential plans or internal information to purchase real estate.
The last one was approval for an exception to the company’s ban on outside businesses.
For Jinhyeok, who planned to resign and start his own business, it was the best gift possible.
Despite Seongun’s strict prohibition on side businesses, the document gave him explicit approval to earn rental income from privately owned buildings.
Jinhyeok inwardly clicked his tongue in amazement.
President Baek Kangjin’s official seal was already stamped on every document.
“All that’s missing is your signature. Take them with you, read them again, and submit them to the Audit Team.”
Jinhyeok immediately lowered his head because he could no longer hide his emotions.
The corners of his mouth were twitching from the effort to suppress his smile.
A perfect free pass.
At this rate...
He was starting to wonder whether the company would eventually remove every reason he had to resign.
