Chapter 51

vChapter 51

Saturday afternoon.

The only sounds inside the WG Food office were the rapid tapping of a keyboard and the occasional click of a mouse.

Other than that, the entire office was completely silent.

Naturally, no one came to work on a weekend afternoon.

I was scheduled to meet the Bongau-tang franchise owners that evening.

Before heading there, I stopped by the office first.

What should I say to win them over?

How could I convince them not to send any more money to DD Franchise Consulting?

It was a difficult problem.

Everything CEO Han Danghyun is doing to you right now is a scam.

So do not send them another won.

I wanted nothing more than to stand in front of the franchise owners and shout exactly that.

In only a few days, the truth about DD would be exposed anyway.

Part of me desperately wanted to warn them just a little earlier.

But I could not.

And I absolutely should not.

Someone among the franchise owners might pass what I said to Han Danghyun.

If that happened, the scammers might change their method.

Or they might change the date of their planned escape because of me.

Then my entire plan could be thrown off.

I needed to win the franchise owners' trust without revealing the full truth.

Which meant...

“Haah... How should I explain this so they'll actually listen?”

I pressed my temples and sank into thought.

Then my eyes naturally moved toward the monitor in front of me.

“Right. Let's gather some material first.”

“Maybe I can find a weakness.”

“Or something in their franchise agreements.”

I quickly moved the mouse.

“If not that... maybe something I can legally support my argument with.”

On the monitor was a shared folder used in real time by DD Franchise Consulting and WG Food.

[Bongau-tang - DD & WG]

The folder was jointly used by employees from both companies.

Starting early Monday morning, additional shipments of Bongau-tang's special sauce would be going out.

The shared folder contained nationwide store addresses and delivery information for coordinating those shipments.

“I should at least check which stores have already paid.”

I clicked the folder.

“Please don't tell me too many owners already sent the money...”

Because the folder updated in real time...

Whenever a branch made its payment, headquarters added the branch name, delivery address, and sauce quantity so WG Food could ship their products.

Which meant I could also identify the stores that had not yet paid.

“Haah...”

“More people paid than I expected.”

The number made me sigh.

“I should've moved sooner.”

“A little sooner...”

When I imagined Han Danghyun grinning as the number of deposits rose...

My fist clenched automatically.

“Huh?”

“What's this?”

Something suddenly caught my eye.

[Planning Team_Receipt Confirmation]

In one corner of the confirmation folder...

A PDF with an English file name suddenly appeared.

Someone at DD Franchise Consulting seemed to have accidentally uploaded it to the shared folder.

The file name immediately drew my attention.

[e-Ticket_Itinerary_LAX.pdf]

If anyone else had seen that file?

They probably would have assumed some DD employee had accidentally uploaded a business-trip ticket or personal travel itinerary.

Nothing more than an ordinary mistake.

They would have ignored it.

But...

I was the one who saw it.

The moment I read the filename, my eyes turned cold.

“An airline ticket to LA?”

The gears in my mind began spinning wildly.

All weekend, DD had been pressuring franchise owners to pay fifty million won each, claiming they needed to cover franchise fees and interior-related costs.

And since yesterday...

There had also been suspicious activity on DD's internal systems.

It looked as though they were clearing storage and cleaning out their servers.

The instant those circumstances connected with this one English PDF...

I moved the mouse without hesitation.

I dragged the file onto my computer.

[e-Ticket_Itinerary_LAX.pdf]

The file appeared clearly on my desktop.

Only then did I open it.

Click.

I did not need long to check the contents.

[Incheon International Airport (ICN) → Los Angeles, United States (LAX)]

[Departure: Tuesday, 10:20 PM]

That was all I needed.

“These bastards are even kind enough to tell me exactly when they're fleeing the country.”

A grin spread across my face.

“Fine. Keep laughing while you still can.”

“I'll make sure you spend the rest of your lives regretting this.”

At that moment...

The shared-folder screen flickered.

The airline-ticket file that had appeared moments earlier vanished without a trace.

Someone at DD headquarters must have realized they had uploaded it to the logistics folder by mistake.

They had deleted it at lightning speed.

“You probably think you erased it quickly.”

“But I copied it even faster, you scammers.”

If I had reacted even a little slower...

Or failed to notice how suspicious the file was...

The opportunity would have disappeared forever.

The final timeline for wiping their servers and fleeing overseas.

Through one decisive mistake by the scammers...

It had fallen directly into my hands.

Now there was only one task I needed to accomplish at tonight's meeting with the franchise owners.

Stop them from directly transferring even a single additional won into DD's corporate account.

“Han Danghyun...”

“That plane ticket you dropped by mistake is going to be the blade that cuts your throat.”

I packed my briefing materials on the Franchise Business Act into my document bag.

Even at this very moment...

The franchise owners were probably trembling under another round of insane pressure calls from headquarters.

They were waiting for someone to offer them a way out.

It was time to go to them.

A quiet private banquet hall near Daejeon Station.

Around forty representatives from Bongau-tang branches across the country had gathered there after rushing over once their businesses closed for the day.

Assistant Manager Choi Inwoo of WG Food stood at the front.

The franchise owners were already engaged in a heated argument.

“Everyone, listen to me.”

“They already squeezed tens of millions out of us the moment we opened through interior margins and all kinds of other charges.”

“Wasn't that enough?”

“Exactly.”

“And now it hasn't even been a week, but they're threatening to cut off our sauce unless we pay another fifty million won as a logistics deposit by tomorrow night.”

“What kind of business does that?”

The owner of the Gwangju Sangmu Branch raised his voice.

The other thirty-nine owners immediately began murmuring.

“Exactly!”

“This is headquarters openly squeezing us dry and trying to take even more money!”

“Shouldn't we at least push back together and tell them this is unreasonable?”

The Incheon branch owner slammed his hand onto the table.

His face had turned red with anger.

Regardless of how good business was...

He had spent the entire weekend being suffocated by headquarters' aggressive payment demands.

Across from him, however...

The owner of a Daejeon branch waved both hands anxiously.

“I understand what you're saying.”

“I really do.”

“But what happens if we resist and they actually stop sending us sauce?”

“That's what I'm worried about too.”

“I'm already looking into taking out another loan.”

“Our store is making millions of won every day right now.”

“Headquarters gave us this incredible opportunity.”

“Wouldn't fighting them only hurt us?”

“If we just pay what headquarters asks without complaining, we can keep the business running safely.”

“It's terrifying otherwise...”

Another franchise owner raised his voice.

“But if we start obeying them like this from the beginning, aren't we basically handing them the leash around our own necks?”

The forty franchise owners had clearly split into two camps.

The hardliners believed they needed to stand up to headquarters.

The moderates believed they needed to keep headquarters happy so they would not disrupt the explosive momentum of their stores.

The two sides were evenly matched.

“We have to pay the fifty million eventually anyway.”

“Whether we pay now or later, it's still fifty million.”

“Why anger headquarters?”

“Does the Daegu owner have no pride?”

“What did you say?”

“This isn't pocket change.”

“What kind of sane headquarters tells people to borrow from private lenders over a weekend just to make a payment?”

The banquet hall quickly descended into chaos.

Raised voices.

Heavy sighs.

Angry arguments.

None of the franchise owners suspected that headquarters itself might be fraudulent.

From their perspective...

This was simply a practical conflict over protecting their businesses and money.

At that moment...

Choi Inwoo, who had quietly watched the argument, lightly tapped the lectern in front of him.

Tap. Tap.

“Everyone.”

“Please calm down.”

Despite the quiet sound...

All forty owners lifted their heads toward him.

“Both sides have valid concerns.”

“And I understand exactly what each of you is worried about.”

His firm, rational voice instantly quieted the shouting.

“As the Incheon owner said, blindly submitting to unreasonable payment pressure from headquarters is not proper business practice.”

The Incheon owner immediately nodded.

“Exactly.”

“That's what I've been saying.”

“But as the Daegu owner said...”

“If you recklessly turn headquarters against you and even the slightest disruption occurs in the logistics network, the losses will fall entirely on you.”

The Daegu owner nodded as well.

Everyone's attention returned to Choi Inwoo.

“That's why I asked everyone here tonight.”

“I want to propose the clearest compromise possible.”

Choi Inwoo turned on the projector.

A document containing provisions of the Franchise Business Act appeared on the screen.

“First.”

“The sauce shipments scheduled to leave for branches nationwide are already waiting for dispatch under my approval authority.”

“I'm controlling the manufacturer-side logistics.”

“So your supplies will not suddenly stop simply because you haven't paid the fifty million won.”

At those words...

The franchise owners simultaneously let out sighs of relief.

“So for exactly two days...”

“Until Monday and Tuesday afternoon, ignore headquarters' pressure.”

“Keep the money in your accounts and hold out.”

“Until Tuesday?”

The owners tilted their heads.

The deadline was longer than they expected.

And Tuesday seemed oddly specific.

“You don't need to worry about getting on headquarters' bad side.”

“WG Food is the manufacturer.”

“We'll stand between you and headquarters using operational excuses and act as your shield.”

The franchise owners nodded and listened closely.

Choi Inwoo's gaze sharpened.

Tuesday afternoon.

The exact time DD Franchise Consulting was destined to flee the country.

This was the core of the trap.

“And if Tuesday afternoon passes...”

“If headquarters still hasn't provided the proper official logistics guidelines and continues demanding that you immediately hand over fifty million won...”

“Then we stand together and play a much stronger card.”

“A stronger card?”

“Assistant Manager Choi, what do you mean?”

The Sangmu Branch owner swallowed and asked.

Choi Inwoo answered with certainty.

“We collectively refuse to transfer the fifty million won directly into headquarters' corporate account.”

“Then where do we put it?”

“Instead, we place the money in a franchise-owner safety escrow account under the joint name of the Franchise Owners' Association.”

“What exactly is that?”

“What does putting it under the association's joint name accomplish?”

The franchise owners began asking questions.

Choi Inwoo displayed the documents he had prepared.

“What that means is...”

At that moment...

One franchise owner sitting in the corner suddenly stood up.

“Um... Assistant Manager Choi?”

“Yes?”

“Everything you're suggesting sounds good.”

“But I have one question.”

Choi Inwoo turned toward him.

“Of course.”

“Go ahead.”

“You aren't an employee of headquarters.”

“You're just someone from the manufacturer supplying the sauce, right?”

The man narrowed his eyes.

“Then why are you taking the risk of angering headquarters...”

“Coming all the way to Daejeon...”

“And teaching us about legal rights and taking responsibility for all of this?”

The room began murmuring.

“That's true.”

“I was wondering the same thing.”

“Why are you going this far for us?”