Chapter 1254. Uniting (4)

“Sir, will it be okay? Leaving them behind like that?”

“What do you mean?”

Kang Jin-Ho asked nonchalantly when the subtly frowning Lee Hyeon-Su glanced at the dog and its owner.

“That dog has already tried to attack humans. If it hadn’t been for you, we’d be looking at a big incident here.”

“Sure.”

“Since that’s the case, shouldn’t that dog be put down?”

Lee Hyeon-Su sounded a little callous just then, but his opinion wasn’t wrong. A dog that attacked humans would inevitably attack again. Putting it down only after it caused a tragedy would be too late.

It could be a better idea to deal with the dog now since it had displayed aggressive behavior.

“No, it’ll be fine.”

However, Kang Jin-Ho briefly shook his head.

A dog lacking in fear of humans would create problems. But a dog that knew how scary humans could get? Most likely, it’d never bare its fangs at another person.

“Besides, that wasn’t the dog’s fault.”

“That is true,” said Lee Hyeon-Su. He still didn’t seem wholly satisfied, however, and turned his head to look at Bae Seok-Myeong still mopping the floor. “A f*cking loser with nothing better to do and his dog...”

Lee Hyeon-Su hated people like that most. And that would be... Idiots who didn’t have any power personally but still wished to feel superior to others, so they borrowed the strength of someone stronger.

As a man who had no strength and could only rely on his smarts and guts to survive the cutthroat world of martial arts, such a group of people instinctively roused a flood of disgust from deep within his heart.

“A dog merely does what its master tells it to,” said Kang Jin-Ho. “So, a dog causing a problem is considered the owner’s negligence. But the funny thing is, once the tragedy strikes, only the dog will get put down. The owner will walk away after paying some fine.”

Shouldn’t that be the other way around? Whenever he witnessed situations like that, Kang Jin-Ho was freshly reminded of the strangeness of the modern era’s legal system. “But, sir. That doesn’t just apply to dogs and their owners, though. Countless people gotta shoulder all the blame even though they only did as told, after all.”

“...You’re right.”

Lee Hyeon-Su noticed how wry Kang Jin-Ho’s slow head nod felt and grinned softly.

This world belonged to those with power. And Kang Jin-Ho just so happened to be one of those people. Actually, it’d be safe to say he was easily one of the most powerful among them all. So, seeing someone like him talk about the unfairness of the world felt so... out of place?

After all, Kang Jin-Ho could easily benefit from the world’s crooked legal system and society’s unfair rules if he wanted to.

“The person in power is supposed to take responsibility. Unfortunately, such people are known to loathe the idea of being responsible for their actions.”

Kang Jin-Ho silently nodded.

Although today’s incident couldn’t be described as anything serious, it still made him ponder.

The Martial Assembly was like Kang Jin-Ho’s own attack dog. The Assembly’s members possessed strength no ordinary people could deal with. And they followed his command with absolute loyalty.

If such martial artists caused problems, who would have to take responsibility for them?

Of course, the Assembly’s members weren’t mindless beasts like dogs, so most of the blame would rest on them. However, as the person responsible for keeping them in line, Kang Jin-Ho would also have to face the music.

“Chief Lee.”

“Yes, Assembly Master.”

“Once we get back to the Assembly, we should think about disciplining everyone. To keep them sharp and focused.”

“Rather than discipline, we were planning on performing an inspection soon, sir.”

“An inspection?”

“Yes, sir.” Lee Hyeon-Su firmly nodded. “After a fulfilling meal, humans tend to get lazier and want to lie down for a bit. Since we’ve won the war, many of our members have become even more motivated to do better. However, there must be quite a few idiots among them who are thinking of doing some other nonsense instead.”

“

Mm

!”

Kang Jin-Ho nodded again in agreement. He shouldn’t forget that humans never behaved as one intended.

Even though Kang Jin-Ho and Lee Hyeon-Su based their actions on goodwill, there was still no guarantee that their kindness would be reciprocated in full. Some would undoubtedly try to deceive Kang Jin-Ho and Lee Hyeon-Su to profit off of their generosity.

Although they had turned a blind eye to it until now, the time had come to clean the house.

“Will it be done after the vacations?”

“No, sir. We must do it before,” said Lee Hyeon-Su in a determined voice. “If we haven’t decided to do this, I might just not have a problem with the idea, but now that we are going to do it... I don’t want to gift a paid vacation at our expense to bastards like them, sir. Besides, the vacation will give us time to deal with anyone who doesn’t pass the inspection with good-enough results.”

“I see. I’ll leave it up to you, then,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“Thank you, sir.”

Kang Jin-Ho sighed under his breath.

‘Nothing in this world is easy.’

It didn’t matter whether something was started with good intentions or not. A troublesome roadblock would always present itself without fail sooner or later. Kang Jin-Ho’s job, whenever such a thing reared its ugly head, was to seek advice from others and think about the best way forward.

“Wow. It feels like we haven’t been here in forever, sir,” said Lee Hyeon-Su while looking up at the skyscraper before their eyes.

“

Mm

...”

Kang Jin-Ho also looked at the building. The prominent sign declaring ‘Jaegyeong’ to the rest of the world powerfully dug into his vision.

***

“Franchising business?”

Flabbergast filled Chairman Hwang Jeong-Hu’s face.

“You want to start a franchising business now?”

Kang Jin-Ho coolly replied, “Yes.”

“Huh, that’s...”

Hwang Jeong-Hu stared at Kang Jin-Ho in total confusion.

‘I just can’t get a bead on this guy.’

Humans fundamentally followed a pattern of behavior based on their tendencies. Since businesses were run by humans, they also followed human behavior. That was logic.

For instance, a person who operated an auto repair shop would most likely expand his business into auto-related industries. A carpenter who built homes with his woodworking skills would start a construction business once they had amassed enough wealth.

But Kang Jin-Ho’s company, MK or whatever it was called, didn’t seem to have a set identity. When nicely put, it seemed to think outside the box. A company not restricted by conventions and common sense! But when analyzed pragmatically, it looked like a bloody mess, instead!

“Well,

huh

...”

After feeling a lump of frustration tightening in his chest, Hwang Jeong-Hu mouthed a fresh cigarette. Jo Gyu-Min urgently lit that cigarette up for his boss.

“

Mm

...”

Hwang Jeong-Hu deeply inhaled the unhealthy smoke before shaking his head. He then offered Kang Jin-Ho a new cigarette.

“You smoke, too.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Smoke. We’re both old geezers, anyway.”

“...”

Something about that statement weirded Kang Jin-Ho out, but he accepted the cigarette, nonetheless. Once he mouthed it, Lee Hyeon-Su smartly lit it up for him.

These two somehow ended up mirroring each other.

Hwang Jeong-Hu tapped his cigarette on the ashtray to drop the ashes before chuckling hollowly. “What’s gotten into you? Why the sudden desire to start a franchise? Wasn’t it, uh... enter? Enterta...”

“It’s entertainment, chairman.”

“Yes, that. Didn’t you say your business will be some cabaret act or something? And raised all that hullabaloo for it? But now, you’re going even further, I see. When you said you wanted to run your own business, is this the one you had in mind all along?”

Kang Jin-Ho grinned wryly. “No, chairman. It wasn’t.”

“Then, what?”

“It’s just that...” Kang Jin-Ho sat more relaxedly on the couch. “Rather than something I wanted to do, this is more like something that must be done.”

“

Mm

...?”

Hwang Jeong-Hu peered deeply into Kang Jin-Ho’s eyes before nodding away, the look of flabbergast already gone from his face.

“I see. Some idiots on your side must be doing nothing but sucking on their thumbs.”

Despite the lack of information, Hwang Jeong-Hu didn’t need long to see through Kang Jin-Ho’s intentions. Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly nodded.

“Fella, you... Huh.” Hwang Jeong-Hu chuckled helplessly. “Yes. If it’s something that must be done, do it.”

Hwang Jeong-Hu’s smile grew much gentler than before.

Many people who started their business not too long ago were bound to act all high and mighty. Since they could only see a rosy future for their business venture, they mistakenly conflate their current self with their future successful self. When that happened, they would become totally blind to their surroundings.

Their focus would only lock on their business and its future success.

But Kang Jin-Ho was different from those people.

‘He’s way too focused on something else.’

A man who started his business not too long ago was already thinking of tying it up with his surroundings? Not even Hwang Jeong-Hu was confident of doing that.

‘This is why I sometimes get this weird feeling about Jin-Ho.’

Being reminded of the fact that hidden behind Kang Jin-Ho’s youthful face was an old monster often left Hwang Jeong-Hu with this bizarre, indescribable feeling. Even though he was a man who experienced so many things in his life, Kang Jin-Ho remained one of those

things

that still defied his comprehension.

“So, you want my help?”

“Yes, chairman,” said Kang Jin-Ho with a brief nod. “Although we’re making preparations of our own, as this is our first time doing something like this, we can’t be sure if we’re on the right track.”

“Nothing in business is a certainty, Jin-Ho,” Hwang Jin-Ho replied with a grunt. “The moment you get too certain about your business? That’s when your business goes down the drain, okay?

“There’s no such thing as a business idea that’s guaranteed to be successful. You can prepare as much as you want until your hair falls off, and variables will still butt into your operation somehow. You think you’re gonna win big in this one sector, but the entire sector goes to hell in a handbasket literally overnight. Or the sector you think is whatever unexpectedly blows up like crazy. That’s what business is like.”

Kang Jin-Ho grinned. “Even so, we can always make more thorough preparations.”

“Right. But you came to the wrong guy,” Hwang Jeong-Hu dismissively waved his hand. “You are obviously right, but this is not my specialty. I never tried my hands on stuff like a franchising business, so I don’t think I can help you on this one.”

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at Lee Hyeon-Su, prompting the latter to nod and speak up. “Chairman, we weren’t thinking of asking you for your help with starting a franchising business. But we do appreciate any advice you can give us when trying to start a new business venture.”

“Advice, you say?”

“Yes, sir.”

Hwang Jeong-Hu smirked. “What the hell? You fools.”

“...I beg your pardon?”

“Stop spewing dumbass nonsense. You already know why you’re starting this business, yet you don’t know what you should do?”

Hwang Jeong-Hu puffed away at the cigarette for a bit, then roughly stubbed it out on an ashtray. Then, he interlocked his fingers while resting his hands on his thighs.

“Oii, Chairman Kang.”

Kang Jin-Ho frowned slightly. “...Just call me as you’d usually do.”

“Did you start MK to make money?”

“No, I did not.”

“Then, why did you start it?”

“Well, that’s because...”

Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t immediately answer. But that was not an issue, since Hwang Jeong-Hu replied for him.

“Isn’t it because of the people under you?”

Kang Jin-Ho nodded. This whole franchising business idea wasn’t about making money, but about creating a place for the people. As a matter of fact, earning profit was the last thing on his mind right now.

“Yes, you’re right, Chairman.”

“That means you should know what’s the most important thing for you. And that’s people, right?”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head, not fully understanding the point here.

“Tsk, tsk...!” Hwang Jeong-Hu tutted in disapproval at Kang Jin-Ho. “Instead of asking an old fart like me for advice, you should hire folks who know all about that side of business. That’s the correct way to get your business successfully off the ground.”

“...

Oh

.”

“Were you seriously thinking of doing this franchising and enterprising...”

“It’s entertainment, Chairman.”

“Right, that. You were thinking of doing all that by yourselves? With a bunch of idiots who didn’t even know how to use Excel only a few months ago?”

“...!”

Kang Jin-Ho clamped his mouth shut.

“

Hah

... Listen, fella. Running a business is not child’s play. In the beginning, everyone will feel this way. You wanna get those people you like, people you feel comfortable working with. And you want to give them preference in positions of importance to grow your business. Unfortunately for you, that’s easier said than done. Unless you’re thinking of doing the exact same thing for the rest of your life, the smart thing to do here is hiring suitable people for the job.”

Kang Jin-Ho and Lee Hyeon-Su exchanged glances and nodded slightly.

Hwang Jeong-Hu was right. They had no clue about franchising business. Since that was the case, finding specialists in this sector sounded like the most optimal solution.

“In that case...” Kang Jin-Ho smiled awkwardly while addressing Hwang Jeong-Hu. “Do you mind recommending someone you know...?”

“Gimme a break, you stinking bastards! You dare try your luck with me! You’re supposed to be businessmen yourselves, yet you dare try to steal my people?! You bloody thieves!”

Kang Jin-Ho and Lee Hyeon-Su had to sweat buckets while trying their hardest to calm the irate Hwang Jeong-Hu down.