Chapter 1230 of 1419
Chapter 1230. Rapid Changes (5)
Chapter 1230. Rapid Changes (5)
“How is Yu-Min?” Kang Jin-Ho asked.
“He’s still busy, sir,” Han Jin-Seong replied politely.
“Why? The season has ended, right?”
“And that’s why he’s so much busier now, sir.”
Kang Jin-Ho furrowed his brow. “...Why are you addressing me that way, Jin-Seong?”
Han Jin-Seong’s grip on his report card tightened slightly. “I wouldn’t dare speak impolitely, knowing what my sins are, sir! No, I mean, hyung-nim!”
“I see. Then, as you were.”
“...Yes, sir,” said Han Jin-Seong with a pout.
Kang Jin-Ho chuckled and asked again. “So, why is Yu-Min busier now that the season is over?”
Han Jin-Seong casually shrugged. “He won the finals, right? You were there, too. I saw you on TV.”
“
Mm
...?”
Jo Mi-Hye smirked and gave Kang Jin-Ho a playful side-eye. “You went with Yeon-Ha unnie, too, didn’t you? I didn’t think you’d be so public about this, oppa. Will it be okay, though?”
“
Mm
...”
Kang Jin-Ho scratched his cheek.
He didn’t have any thoughts of hiding his relationship with Choi Yeon-Ha from the get-go. Although he did act prudently since he heard from various sources that scandals could prove fatal to a celeb’s career.
Such scandals wouldn’t affect Kang Jin-Ho, but that didn’t mean he wanted to hurt Choi Yeon-Ha’s job prospects. However, the whole stadium thing wasn’t his idea, but hers.
In that case, he shouldn’t worry about it.
“I’m sure she knows what she’s doing,” said Kang Jin-Ho.
“Hnng...?”
Jo Mi-Hye let out a knowing smirk. Kang Jin-Ho figured she already had an idea of what was going on.
Han Jin-Seong resumed his explanation. “Okay, so... Yu-Min hyung and his team won, right? And now, he’s gotta go to all sorts of events and do interviews and stuff.”
“
Oh
, really?”
“Yeah. The thing is, the esports scene has been in a bit of doldrums lately. I think the league and whatever want to turn this event into some kinda promotion. I mean, Yu-Min hyung’s comeback is a cool story, right?”
Kang Jin-Ho nodded in agreement.
He didn’t know much about the esports scene, but even then, he could still tell that a former pro-gamer ranked as the top player in one game winning the finals in a completely different title was a massive event. Especially more so if that title happened to be the most popular one currently!
“I guess the kids here must be overjoyed.”
Han Jin-Seong helplessly shook his head. “Don’t even mention it, hyung! Everyone now wants to play computer games instead of going to bed or studying. Becoming a pro gamer is their new dream, or so they say.”
Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. “Do you want to stop them? Even though Yu-Min is doing well as a pro gamer?”
“Me getting a medical license will happen first before they get good enough to make a living as pro gamers.”
“...
Oh
. Make sure to stop them.”
Han Jin-Seong firmly nodded. “That’s the plan.”
That brief “explanation” helped Kang Jin-Ho understand. Indeed, one shouldn’t enter professions they didn’t have the talent for.
“In any case... Yeah, that’s why Yu-Min hyung is so busy these days.”
Kang Jin-Ho frowned slightly. “I see. Since the season has ended, it would be better for him to get some rest...”
“Well, there’s no helping it, I guess. People at the top rarely get a chance to rest, right? You take a break for a bit and let your guard down, and your rivals will jump on the chance to drag you down. So you gotta be at the top of your game all the time.”
Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. Han Jin-Seong was spot-on. This was what it meant to live a life full of competition.
“Also, he should make hay while the sun still shines! Everything he does now will add up to a fat paycheck later, hyung. A pro gamer’s career doesn’t last long, anyway. Yu-Min hyung should charge forward like a madman and make as much money as possible now, then rest later.”
Kang Jin-Ho flinched a little and stared weirdly at Han Jin-Seong. When did this naïve little kid turn into a capitalism-loving monster?
“...Does that mean Yu-Min rarely comes around the orphanage?” Kang Jin-Ho asked.
“Yeah,” said Han Jin-Seong.
“I see...”
Kang Jin-Ho fell into a slight dilemma.
He and Han Jin-Seong were pretty close, making him the only one Kang Jin-Ho felt most comfortable to be around among the orphans.
That feeling was mutual, so Han Jin-Seong had no problem sharing what was on his mind. However, that story shouldn’t apply to other kids here. They must feel uncomfortable talking about their worries and concerns to Kang Jin-Ho.
‘Looks like I need to figure something out.’
Whether it was the Martial Assembly or the Seongsim Orphanage, the story was the same; places people called home constantly changed.
Things like a ‘perfect system’ or a ‘perfect operation’ did not exist in reality. Even structures thought to be perfect once upon a time would become outdated and no longer useful one day.
Discovering issues before they ballooned in scale would’ve been possible back when Kang Jin-Ho frequently stopped by at the orphanage, but he couldn’t do that now. In that case, maybe he should find someone who could hang around the orphanage and notice potential problems, then alert him about it.
“I see. Then, for now...”
Before Kang Jin-Ho could speak what was on his mind...
Clack!
The front entrance was pushed open with some force, and a familiar figure strode brazenly inside.
This figure stopped after noticing Kang Jin-Ho. “
Ng
?”
“
Uh
?”
“You were here, Mister Jin-Ho?”
“Well,
uh
...”
The sight of the familiar person, Choi Yeon-Ha, had taken Kang Jin-Ho by surprise, and he couldn’t immediately think of something to say.
He did hear about Choi Yeon-Ha frequently visiting the orphanage. Even then, why was she acting as if this place was her own home?
Kang Jin-Ho curiously asked, “What brings you here, Miss Yeon-Ha?”
“I stopped by because my schedule was free for the rest of today,” said Choi Yeon-Ha with little concern.
“Unnie! You’re back!”
“Noona, I’m so happy to see you!”
The orphanage kids rushed up to Choi Yeon-Ha to welcome her, but what she did next was well outside of their expectations.
“Hey, you!” Choi Yeon-Ha yelled, her expression crumpling a little.
Even though that was a subtle frown, it was still enough to stop the children and make them stand at attention like well-disciplined soldiers!
‘That’s amazing!’
Kang Jin-Ho was awed by this spectacle. He thought he could finally understand how others felt while watching his old self keeping the children in line.
Choi Yeon-Ha grilled the children. “What smell is this?!”
“...Smell? Unnie, what smell are you talking about?”
“Did you all get numb to this stench? Is that it?! Can’t you all smell how nasty it is in here?! Open the windows, now!”
“But, noona! We’ll all freeze to death if we do that!”
Choi Yeon-Ha tutted. “I want you all to think carefully about this, okay? Which is better, freezing to death or me killing you?”
“...Yes, ma’am, we’ll open the windows right away. You heard the lady! Hurry up and open the windows!”
The orphanage instantly entered DEFCON 1. The orphans busily ran around opening various windows.
Choi Yeon-Ha continued to grill the children. “Why is the air in here so bad, though? Even if the weather’s been cold lately, why haven’t you ventilated the building?”
“...Noona, the heating cost will shoot up through the roof if we do that.”
“Why are you worrying about money! When I’m here to... Oops, I mean, when that guy takes care of that?”
When Choi Yeon-Ha pointed at Kang Jin-Ho, all the kids in the room nodded in perfect sync.
What kind of response was that now?
“Still, even if you didn’t want to ventilate the place, this smell is... Wait, Jo Mi-Hye!”
“Y-yes, unnie!”
Even the one-and-only Jo Mi-Hye stiffened nervously and replied immediately.
How amazing was that? Kang Jin-Ho was impressed by Choi Yeon-Ha once more. It was as if he was watching an expert trainer handling a ferocious lion like a little puppy.
Choi Yeon-Ha suspiciously asked, “Jo Mi-Hye, why are you wearing the same clothes as yesterday?”
“...!”
Kang Jin-Ho’s eyes opened slightly wider. Yesterday? Didn’t that mean Choi Yeon-Ha was here yesterday, too?
Jo Mi-Hye scanned her surroundings in a fluster before replying in a somewhat weak voice. “I’ll get changed now, unnie.”
“No, this is wrong. I’ve never seen you put on the same clothes for two days in a row. Since you’re wearing the same clothes, it means other kids are...!”
Choi Yeon-Ha’s narrowed eyes quickly shifted to Han Jin-Seong.
He flinched nastily. “W-why are you looking at me that way, noona?”
“My bad. I shouldn’t have looked at you in the first place,” Choi Yeon-Ha shook her head, then glanced at Jo Mi-Hye again. “Now, explain.”
“I-it’s not what you think, noona! It’s only for today, you know? Because our clothes haven’t dried yet...”
“Not dry yet?”
“Yes. What happened was,
uhm
...”
Choi Yeon-Ha stopped Jo Mi-Hye, then used her chin to point at the younger girl. “Take me there.”
“S-sorry? Where?”
“To the laundry.”
“...”
Choi Yeon-Ha then beckoned at Kang Jin-Ho next. “Come with us.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Kang Jin-Ho obediently followed her after Choi Yeon-Ha’s awesome aura had subjugated him completely.
***
“What is this?!”
Choi Yeon-Ha scowled deeply at the sight of all the clothes hanging on the washing lines criss-crossing the laundry.
This spot in the building was a good place to do laundry during the Summer months thanks to excellent ventilation that helped with drying the clothes. However, that same ventilation proved problematic during the Winter months, as icy winds blew in and froze the clothes on the lines... Quite literally!
“How will you dry your clothes like this?” Choi Yeon-Ha asked in disbelief. “What did you guys do until now?”
“W-well,” Jo Mi-Hye sheepishly replied, “Once the clothes are dried, we take them to our rooms. They’ll get defrosted that way.”
“What? But what about the humidity, though?”
“That much is fine for...”
“Wet clothes will smell, you know!”
“...! S-sorry. We’ll be more careful.”
Choi Yeon-Ha’s eyes burned like a lunatic’s. However, judging from how pretty she still looked when glaring like that, the genetic lottery had been way too kind to her!
“Why didn’t you say something? You should’ve told me about stuff like this right away, you know!”
“I, I’m sorry...”
Although it was unclear what her crime was, Jo Mi-Hye continued to apologize, anyway. At least one thing seemed certain to Kang Jin-Ho now—as long as Choi Yeon-Ha was by your side, no one would ever dare act rudely toward you!
“Mister Jin-Ho, you came here with your car, yes?” Choi Yeon-Ha sharply asked.
“Sorry?
Ah
, yes. I did.”
“Then, let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“To a department store. If not, to a store that sells household appliances.”
“...Why there, though?”
Choi Yeon-Ha scanned the laundry before frowning even more. “It’s time to redo this laundry. Mister Jin-Ho, take pictures of this place. Please.”
Kang Jin-Ho obediently took out his phone and snapped several photos of the laundry’s interior layout. Although he had no clue why he was doing this, he should just do as told for now.
“You come with us too, Mi-Hye.”
“Yes, unnie.”
As Choi Yeon-Ha took the lead and power-walked toward the exit, a powerless-looking man and a dispirited young girl followed her in silence.
That was when Kang Jin-Ho abruptly remembered something and blurted out, “
Ah
! My car is a two-seater, though?”
Kang Jin-Ho’s fluster was ably dealt with by Han Jin-Seong. “Hyung, the orphanage’s van should be outside. Why don’t you drive that?”
“
Oh
, I can?”
“Yeah. Let me go grab the keys for you.”
Han Jin-Seong rushed toward the orphanage’s office. Kang Jin-Ho sighed weakly at this sight, then trudged behind Choi Yeon-Ha to exit the building.
***
‘Gee whiz, where are all the customers at?’
Lee Gyu-Ha yawned lazily while staring at the store’s entrance. Maybe because it was the middle of the week, not a single prospective customer had walked through the doorway today. But something told him that the problem was a little more serious than that. After all, he had noticed that the number of customers had been falling lately.
‘Makes sense, seeing how everyone’s going through a tough time these days.’
Even though he understood why it happened, falling sales made Lee Gyu-Ha’s life difficult as well. As a salesperson, he had to sell as many appliances as possible to raise the overall sales figure. Which would naturally increase his year-end bonus, and that would go a long way in adding more cheer to his holiday plans.
Just as his thoughts reached that far...
Vroom...
He saw a vehicle entering the store’s parking lot.
‘Ng?’
It was an aging passenger van.
‘Looks like they are here to buy something, but I better temper my expectations.’
Even though judging a person based on the cars they drove was wrong, unfortunately it would become a second nature to folks working in this industry. Because the vibe emitted by the people here to buy stuff differed from those who only wanted to window-shop, after all!
Three people disembarked from the van and looked around the parking lot before heading toward the store’s entrance.
‘Eh?’
Lee Gyu-Ha tilted his head. Something was not right here. The vehicle did not match its occupants at all. Those people seemed way too well-dressed for owners of such a shabby commercial passenger van!
Lee Gyu-Ha bowed deeply the moment the store’s automated doors slid open. “Welcome to our store! May I assist you with finding the items you need?”
The woman leading the group fired the opening salvo. “Dryer.”
“Yes, miss! Our dryers are on the second flo...”
“Air purifiers.”
“I see! We also have them on the second...”
“Front-loading washing machines.”
“...”
“Large-capacity dishwashers, plus robot vacuums.”
Lee Gyu-Ha’s eyes powerfully quaked just then. Even before he could respond, the woman snatched the phone off the man behind her, accessed the photo folder, and shoved the device in Lee Gyu-Ha’s face.
‘Huh? This woman...?’
Why did she look so familiar to Lee Gyu-Ha? Not even a hat and a pair of sunglasses could disguise her outstanding facial features, which only increased Lee Gyu-Ha’s suspicion of...
“We’ll be anchoring the washing machines and dryers in every corner of this laundry until there’s no space left. Do you stock models that will fit in here?”
...Forget suspicion, she’s a VIP customer!
Who cared about what her true identity was! Indeed, Lee Gyu-Ha couldn’t care any less even if he tried!
“Yes, miss! We definitely do! Even if we don’t, I’ll scour the entire city to find them for you! Allow me to guide you to the second floor! Miss Seon-Il! Three cups of coffee, please! Hurry!”
“Yes, Mister Gyu-Ha! Coming!”
After making that order for coffee to his junior colleague, Lee Gyu-Ha turned around to speak to the woman subserviently. “Please, this way, dear customer. Allow me to guide you.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh, and when you said you want washing machines... Will you have them installed next to the ones you already own?”
“No,” said the woman, the one and only Choi Yeon-Ha, nonchalantly. “We’ll discard used machines and fill this laundry with new ones.”
“You mean, this entire room will be...?”
“Yes. It will be.”
The gears in Lee Gyu-Ha’s head kicked into motion. A space that large should easily accommodate eight... No, ten washing machines and dryers. But, that many?!
Lee Gyu-Ha’s gaze sneakily shifted back to the woman.
‘Seriously?’
His eyes of discernment quickly scanned the customer behind him. After estimating the depths of her wallet through her handbag and attire, flames of determination began burning fiercely within Lee Gyu-Ha’s eyes.
“I-if you are looking for models to use in your business, we have a range of cost-effective machines for your perusal, dear customer. For large-scale use, the machine I recommend is...”
Choi Yeon-Ha interrupted the salesman. “Excuse me?”
“Yes, customer?”
“Prioritize the performance. Please.”
“...!”
Choi Yeon-Ha spoke while jutting her chin out a little. “I don’t care about cost effectiveness or whatever. Just show us the best machines you have. However, if I don’t like what you show me, we’ll shop elsewhere.”
“...!”
Lee Gyu-Ha, aged thirty-four this year.
He was also a salesman about to begin a once-in-a-lifetime sales pitch.