Chapter 52
“Why are you going this far for us?”
The moment one franchise owner asked the question...
Tension filled the banquet hall.
The others stopped talking and looked at Choi Inwoo as well.
Too much kindness naturally invited suspicion.
They were genuinely curious about the intentions of an assistant manager from a manufacturer who was willing to risk clashing with a seemingly successful corporate headquarters just to help them.
From their perspective...
There was no reason for him to go this far.
Choi Inwoo looked directly at the man who had asked the question.
Then he lightly cleared his throat.
He began giving the most realistic and sincere explanation possible.
“I think that's a completely reasonable question.”
“Then why are you doing this for us?”
“I'll answer honestly.”
Everyone focused on him.
“The reason I'm trying to protect your money is because both my livelihood and WG Food's survival are tied directly to your kitchens.”
Choi Inwoo lowered his voice slightly.
“WG Food has been running its factory lines at full capacity for this Bongau-tang launch.”
“We've purchased hundreds of millions of won worth of ingredients on credit from livestock vendors.”
The forty franchise owners began murmuring.
“If headquarters pressures you too aggressively and you start taking on unreasonable debt...”
“And your cash flow dries up before your stores have even stabilized...”
“If one owner after another begins collapsing...”
“That damage comes straight back to us, the manufacturer.”
“That makes sense.”
“WG Food started this by buying ingredients on credit too.”
“Of course they'd be affected.”
The franchise owners nodded among themselves.
Choi Inwoo raised his eyebrows slightly.
“If you collapse, then WG Food collapses too.”
He stepped closer to the front of the stage.
“In distribution, I believe manufacturers and franchise stores share the same fate.”
“Like two sides that survive only by helping each other.”
Choi Inwoo was trying to reach them emotionally without relying on empty sentiment.
“Headquarters handles marketing and builds the brand.”
“But every morning, the people turning on the kitchen fires and boiling the meat are you.”
“And the people supporting those kitchens with products are us.”
The Sangmu Branch owner looked at him.
“So that means we really should delay sending the money as long as possible.”
“Like you said.”
“I want money to remain in your accounts.”
“If only to protect our own factory.”
“That makes sense to us.”
“That's what we want too!”
“Assistant Manager Choi is thinking exactly like we are.”
At last...
The owners seemed to be moving toward a single conclusion.
Choi Inwoo did not miss the opportunity.
“If you first earn money from your stores and then pay the deposit from a position of stability...”
“That allows you to establish yourselves properly.”
“And that means WG Food can receive stable sauce payments every month too.”
“That's how we all win.”
“Exactly.”
“If we keep borrowing more money just to operate...”
“We're pouring water into a bottomless jar.”
“Every day would be hell.”
“Headquarters keeps telling us to borrow more.”
“But Assistant Manager Choi is telling us not to borrow and to survive somehow.”
“That actually feels reassuring.”
“Haah...”
“So you're trying to make sure we all survive.”
“That's right.”
The franchise owners let out long breaths.
Choi Inwoo looked around at them.
“Everyone.”
“That's the real, practical reason I asked you here tonight.”
It was not some melodramatic appeal to emotion.
It was a calm and honest confession from a working-level employee explaining that their interests were directly connected.
That realistic answer pierced the franchise owners more effectively than anything sentimental could have.
Even the man who had asked the question uncrossed his arms and nodded in complete understanding.
Now...
Instead of suspicion...
Their eyes were filled with trust in Choi Inwoo.
“Assistant Manager Choi is absolutely right!”
“The manufacturer's own assistant manager is calculating all this for our sake.”
“We'd be idiots not to listen!”
“I support Assistant Manager Choi's plan too.”
“So what exactly should we do?”
“You mean we shouldn't pay at all?”
Choi Inwoo answered immediately.
“No.”
“I'm not telling you never to pay headquarters.”
He raised one finger.
“Trust me and hold onto the money only until Tuesday evening.”
“Until then, focus entirely on running your stores.”
“What changes after that?”
“If headquarters sees this many franchise owners struggling financially...”
“I'm confident they'll take another measure.”
Choi Inwoo knew exactly what would change.
Tuesday evening.
Once the scammers left Korea...
Everything would be different.
“Understood.”
“Then let's pay with money we've actually earned from our businesses!”
At least forty franchise owners...
And the dozens of other owners who had not attended tonight...
Would remain aligned with Choi Inwoo until Tuesday.
No.
They would eventually walk the same road for much longer than that.
Monday morning.
Exactly as Choi Inwoo had confidently promised...
Sauce delivery trucks arrived on time at every Bongau-tang branch nationwide.
Not a single store was excluded.
That was because Choi Inwoo had taken control of manufacturer-side dispatch authorization and acted as the perfect shield between headquarters and the stores.
There was no downside for him.
DD Franchise Consulting never intended to pay WG Food for the orders placed by stores that had already transferred their fifty-million-won deposits anyway.
So today, the day before WG Food would officially discover the scam...
There was no reason WG Food could not deliver sauce to every store.
Throughout the weekend...
DD's planning team had bombarded the franchise owners with vicious phone calls.
Even under that suffocating pressure...
Many owners trusted Choi Inwoo's practical advice and held onto their money.
And on Monday morning...
They were still able to open for business without any disruption.
Their group chat filled with messages praising and thanking Choi Inwoo.
However...
Unlike the relieved atmosphere among franchise owners...
The WG Food office had become suffocatingly heavy.
The second Bongau-tang payment...
Several hundred million won...
Still had not appeared in WG Food's account.
Monday morning passed.
Lunch approached.
Still nothing.
Tap, tap, tap.
The office was filled with the sound of anxious typing and deep sighs.
Assistant Manager Im Jiyeon from Accounting refreshed the corporate bank account every few minutes.
