Calling poverty romantic is nothing more than the reminiscence of those who have escaped hell.
Even at this very moment, the giants of the city are swelling in size by sucking the blood of the weak.
“Oh, dear-. Manager Kang. Why did you only get here now? I really thought I was going to die.”
An alley in Sillim-dong.
The owner, who had opened a premium bakery dreaming of spring days, put on a tearful face the moment he saw me.
Visible behind his back was a sign that had no business being here.
[Etoile Bakery Sillim Branch]
It was the name of the premium bakery brand operated by Seongun Development.
Chandelier lights hanging from the ceiling reflected off the expensive marble floor, showing off a luxurious atmosphere.
Inside the display case, it was packed with expensive baked goods, including slices of cake for 15,000 won and crème brûlées costing over 20,000 won.
They were expensive trash that would be shoved into the garbage can in a few hours.
Does this even make sense?
A store that would struggle to survive even in Gangnam was standing right in the middle of Sillim-dong's exam-prep district.
This was the shit Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun had dumped.
And today, once again, I had come to clean up that shit in place of my goddamn team leader.
Looking as though he might burst into tears at any moment, the owner poured out his belated regrets.
“I should have listened to you, Manager. I should have opened a Seongun Confectionery instead of Etoile, but I was so blinded by money that I…….”
It was always like this.
Most self-employed business owners who jumped in rashly said similar things.
A ten-year Manager on the Commercial District Analysis Team.
I hadn't earned that business card for nothing.
“It must be very hard on you, isn't it?”
“Phew-. I cannot even put it into words. Daily sales do not even reach 100,000 won. Opening the store doors only increases my debt instead. I am at a complete loss as to how I am supposed to endure this.”
A natural result.
This commercial district was the perfect place for a premium brand to starve to death.
“If it is not rude of me, may I have a taste?”
“Pardon? Ah, no. It is fine, of course…. You are not doubting my skills by any chance, are you?”
“Not at all. I am not trying to nitpick; I am trying to identify your strengths so we can break through this situation.”
After clearing up the store owner's misunderstanding, I tasted a little bit of various kinds of bread.
“The taste is good.”
It was excellent.
It seemed he had added his own touch of flavor to the recipe set by headquarters.
Normally, it would have been grounds for disciplinary action, but I didn't have the slightest intention of snitching on his efforts to survive.
That made it all the more heartbreaking.
How much bread had the man before my eyes baked and thrown away over and over again to create this taste?
As I pictured the hours he must have spent struggling all alone, I was reminded of my father, who had lost his entire fortune running a galbi restaurant.
My stomach ached bitterly.
I had joined the Commercial District Analysis Team wanting to prevent things like this, yet the power of a mere Manager was truly feeble.
Goddamn bastards existed everywhere.
Just like Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun, who had pushed the Sillim branch through to pad his performance numbers.
His orders were to keep the store from closing down just until the performance report.
Swallowing back the curses threatening to burst out, I turned on my tablet PC.
It was the proposal for the Etoile Bakery Sillim 1st Branch, written personally by my direct superior and Team Leader of the Commercial District Analysis Team, Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun.
[Target Analysis : High-foot-traffic area of people in their 20s and 30s. Targeting the dessert consumption trends of Generation MZ.]
He really had dumped a massive pile of shit.
Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun had only checked the numbers in front of his monitor; he probably hadn't even come out to the field once.
Exam-prep students dragging 5,000-won three-stripe slippers as they came out to eat 4,000-won cup rice.
Those students with obviously tight pockets were supposed to burn over 10,000 won on a single piece of bread?
Even a passing dog would laugh at that.
“Did you not do any market research at all? I told you to look into it a bit more carefully before making a decision….”
“That is true, but your Senior Manager told me I did not need to worry about a thing…….”
I didn't know why people who had plenty of experience in society became so naive the moment they started a business.
No matter what kind of work they had done before, they must have been burned by people plenty of times.
It was frustrating that he had ignored my advice and jumped into hellfire, but knowing a way for him to survive, I couldn't just leave him to die.
“Can you do as I tell you?”
Did he feel as though it were salvation?
The owner grabbed my hands tightly, the corners of his eyes already moist with tears.
“Of course! I will do whatever you tell me to do. Please, just make things better than they are right now! I will never forget this kindness!”
I too had been burned by many people in my life, but I decided to trust once more.
The very first thing to do was to fully grasp reality.
A dream that cannot be realized is completely useless.
“That Le Cordon Bleu certificate hanging on the wall, take that down first and put it in the storage room.”
Le Cordon Bleu.
It was one of the most famous culinary schools in the world, with over thirty campuses distributed across the globe.
It was a mandatory course one had to complete in order to open an Etoile Bakery.
It wasn't a bad concept for the brand's upscale strategy, but there were countless cases where it became poison, just like for the man in front of me.
“Take down the certificate? What do you mean by….”
“I am telling you to set aside your pride. What the young people here need is not a 20,000-won crème brûlée, but cheap and delicious food that will take care of a meal.”
He must have known it too.
That in a dead store where only flies were buzzing around, what the owner had to do was catch the people passing in front of the shop by any means necessary.
I picked up a permanent marker and wrote bold letters down the back of a cardboard box.
[‘Praying for Your Passing Grade’ Freshly baked toast and freshly brewed Americano for only 4,000 won! Baked right on the spot within 5 minutes.]
The store owner's face turned deathly pale.
“…I-Is this not a violation of the headquarters manual?”
“Is that really the issue in your current situation?”
“No. If I get caught, I will have to pay a penalty fee. Are you telling me to die? How can someone sent from headquarters make a suggestion like this?”
I let out a dry chuckle and shook my head.
It seemed this man still hadn't grasped the situation.
“Do you know what happens if I go strictly by the book? I will only pretend to help you just enough, and you will have to repeat baking and throwing away bread every single day for the remainder of the contract period. Do you think you can hold out until the contract ends? I guarantee you will walk away with nothing, let alone your key money.”
I made sure he clearly understood that the fire that had fallen on his instep was spreading across his entire body.
That even if he couldn't swim, jumping into the water was the only way to survive.
There were people like this.
Those who feared that the words written in a contract would come back as a massive catastrophe.
“I am desperate too, of course…. But is it really okay to sell something like this? I am worried you might end up in a difficult position as well, Manager…….”
Of course it would put me in a difficult position.
If Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun found out, he would hit the roof.
Because he had sent me to cover up a problem, and instead it would mean I had caused one.
Even so, I couldn't just turn a blind eye.
It was the biggest reason I worked at Seongun Group.
Part of me wanted to prevent things similar to what my father had suffered, but solving someone else's problems was also fun.
Call it the thrill of borrowing the company's power to succeed at something I could never pull off alone?
That electrifying sensation allowed me to put up with a villain like Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun.
The Commercial District Analysis Team under the Integrated Development Division of Seongun Development.
I had gritted my teeth and endured for ten years, climbing my way up to Manager.
I still had a long way to go, but I could easily help out this much.
“Do you know what headquarters fears the most? A manual violation? No. It is a store closing down right after opening. They will issue a warning, of course, but they will not strip away your sign within at least a year.”
“…….”
The Commercial District Analysis Team was managed by the Management Diagnosis Team.
Unlike the Audit Team, which looked at regulations, the Management Diagnosis Team was thoroughly sales-oriented.
Persuading a store owner who had even considered closing down and turning a profit aligned with the Chairman's directive to prioritize mutual growth above all else.
“First, gather customers. People have to flock in before you can do anything, right? If headquarters gives you trouble, you can just brush it off as a promotional event run for marketing purposes.”
“An event…?”
“Yes. Use the event to secure the store's operating expenses first. Headquarters will be so dazzled by the sales figures that they will not even think of picking a fight. Or are you going to go bankrupt like this and end up out on the streets? With your skills, even if you only sell toast, the kids around here will go crazy for it.”
Once I spoon-fed him down to the very last bite, the owner's face finally brightened a little.
“Will toast and coffee be enough?”
“More than enough. However, use the sliced bread and coffee beans we supply. As you know, those two ingredients taste better and have a lower unit cost than buying them yourself. Do not think about making money by cutting down on ingredient costs any further. Think about turning a profit only after you have gathered customers first.”
Had my explanation gotten through well?
With an expression completely different from the beginning, he nodded repeatedly.
“…I do not even know how to thank you for this….”
“It is fine. When I drop by again later, just grill me some delicious toast.”
I had been able to tell from tasting the bread inside the display case.
That he would put his utmost effort into making even a single piece of toast.
I gave him one more tip as a bonus and stepped out of the store.
“Direct the ventilation vent toward the street. There is no smell quite as good as the smell of baking bread.”
I hoped this store would do well.
So that I could prove once again that the path I was walking wasn't wrong.
***
Did he attach a GPS tracker to me or something?
The moment I got into my car, a call came in from Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun.
“Yes, Senior Manager. This is Kang Jin-hyeok.”
-How'd it go? Did you succeed?
His order to prevent the store closure at all costs.
He would freak out if he heard the details, but either way, the mission was a success.
“He decided to keep going a bit longer.”
-Yeah? How'd you talk him into it? He was throwing a fit saying there was no way he could keep doing this. He was just whining after all, wasn't he?
I had no idea where he had thrown away his conscience.
How could the very person who had recommended a location guaranteed to fail be this shameless?
“No, sir. I just suggested that he try running something like an event.”
“Puhaha. An event? I don't know what it is, but as long as it bought us time, that's all that matters. Kekeke. Good job, and drive safe on your way back! Don't forget to buy a lottery ticket on the way! I texted you the location.”
Goddamn bastard.
Every time I went out on field duty, he tracked down a lucky lottery spot nearby and sent me the address.
The most infuriating part was that he had never once paid me back for it.
“Yes, underst….”
The call disconnected before I could even finish speaking.
After checking my message window, I headed to the address the bastard had sent me.
First prize had come out of here thirteen times?
Quite a lot of people were lined up in front of the shop with a sign reading Lucky Lottery Spot.
“Five thousand won, automatic, please.”
I paid five thousand won of my own blood-earned money and received that bastard Senior Manager Kim's lottery ticket.
My work for today was done.
On my way back to the office, I launched my diary app out of habit.
My very own emotional trash can.
It was an application that converted voice into text and saved it along with the audio.
I pressed the red record button and vented today's anger.
[Tuesday, March 3rd. Today, once again, I went and cleaned up the shit Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun dumped.
The crazy bastard who opened a premium bakery in a Sillim-dong gosiwon alley.
The one silver lining is that I was able to help before the damage grew any bigger.
Kim Seok-hun's crazy antics are getting harder and harder to handle.
It's been a year since he took over the team. The Commercial District Analysis Team has been rotting away fast.
I should be the one taking the Team Leader seat, not that bastard….
In reality, I'm stuck cleaning up the shit he dumps.
I've become a ten-year Manager, but with no connections and no backing, I still lack power. Damn it, damn it, damn it.]
It went like this.
Once I got things off my chest like this, it made me feel a bit relieved, so to speak.
Of course, I rarely ever read or listened to the entries again.
Because unlike when I spat it all out, listening to it actually made me feel depressed instead.
It also helped me keep my original resolve.
I wanted to become Team Leader.
So that I could carry out my vision more freely.
For that to happen, Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun had to disappear….
I was in a situation where I had to wish for my enemy's promotion for the sake of my own freedom.
I had once considered changing jobs to a consulting firm, but I quickly folded on the idea.
Because villains were everywhere.
And yet, to start my own business, my bank account was always in the red.
Nor did I have the confidence to start a small consulting firm and make money.
In the end, it seemed I had made the right choice staying at the company.
The power carried by a Seongun Group business card.
Even if I was only a Manager, having the Seongun logo on it earned the trust of quite a lot of people.
Most decisively, Seongun tended to pay a slightly higher annual salary compared to other companies.
For someone like me, paying off debts alongside my father, that was a very important factor.
Just as I was letting out another frustrated sigh.
Records I had never recorded popped up on the diary app's list.
Is it a bug?
Today was Tuesday, March 3rd.
The registered diary entries were for Friday, March 6th, and Monday, March 9th.
March 6th was three days from now….
After pulling the car over to the shoulder, I read the first record.
[Friday, March 6th. A disciplinary committee was held, and for the first time in my life, I got hit with a pay cut. It was because the Sillim branch owner made an unnecessary phone call. A three-month pay cut over something like this? This is the decision of a company that considers mutual growth its top corporate value? I feel like quitting on the spot.]
It was a very strange record.
A diary entry featuring the Sillim branch owner.
To call it an app error, it sounded unmistakably like my own story.
Tilting my head, I tapped on the other line of red text.
[Monday, March 9th. Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun won the lottery. Goddamn it! To think the lottery ticket I bought for him won first prize. There were only two winners in this draw. Senior Manager Kim Seok-hun said he's getting 8 billion won even after taxes and offered to buy me pork belly. I honestly wanted to die.
The diary app…… had gone crazy.
Unable to believe what I was seeing, I closed the app and opened it again, but the future records remained right where they were.
I pressed the speaker button.
It didn't seem to be an error.
It was unmistakably my own voice, even trembling with rage.
A pay cut? And 8 billion won?
That lottery ticket was inside my wallet right now.