CH 180

Kang Yu-Hwan quickly changed the topic. “Jin-Ho! You shouldn't just stand around there like that! Go and get changed into your new uniform.”

Kang Jin-Ho pointed at himself. “...Me too?”

“Of course. What, don't tell me you were thinking of playing around?”

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. Even he thought that waiting on tables would be easier on his conscience than just standing around and spectating the chaos. “By the way, Father. The thing about social media—”

“Hurry, son! Go on and get changed already! Can't you see all these customers waiting to be served?”

“...Of course.” Kang Jin-Ho maintained his suspicion-filled gaze, but Kang Yu-Hwan resolutely avoided looking into his son's eyes. Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow. “But, Father. When did you buy a uniform in my size?”

“I bought it just in case, son.” Kang Yu-Hwan chuckled meaningfully.

That satisfied chuckle made Kang Jin-Ho think that this event had to be planned in advance. And why did he get the feeling that he had found the culprit responsible for posting where Kang Eun-Yeong would be today on social media?

Kang Jin-Ho slowly shook his head while heading to the staff locker room at the back. And he groaned deeply at the sight of a vintage-style tuxedo waiting for him.

'How uncomfortable...'

Kang Jin-Ho was already used to wearing loose-fitting clothes by now. Which meant tight clothes like tuxedos were really uncomfortable to wear for him. But what choice did he have? His father even went the extra mile to get the tuxedo's size just right for Kang Jin-Ho. Refusing to wear it because of how uncomfortable it was would only make Kang Yu-Hwan pout like there was no tomorrow.

Kang Jin-Ho changed into the tuxedo and stepped into the cafe's business area.

'Mm? Seems like something has been reduced while I was not here?'

However, the cafe was still packed to the brim with no empty seats. It was so jam-packed that total strangers had to share tables.

“Jin-Ho! Go and get the customers' orders! Can't you see Eun-Yeong doing her best all by herself over there?!”

“...Yes, Father.” Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes while replying. He couldn't understand what was going on here.

'Wasn't our cafe self-service before...?'

This wasn't the 90s, so why would 'waiters' go to each table to get the customers’ orders? Customers were supposed to head to the counter to place their orders, or at least, that was what Kang Jin-Ho remembered seeing the last time he was here. So, what could have changed in the meantime...?

It seemed like his father's nefarious plan was in action, but it was too late to raise the voice of concern at this stage.

A customer at one of the tables raised her hand. “Excuse me... Can we order now?”

Kang Yu-Hwan shot a sharp glare in his son's direction. “Jin-Ho!”

“Yes?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head.

“You shouldn't be over there. You're needed over there, son.”

“I'm sorry?” Kang Jin-Ho's eyes followed his father's pointing finger and spotted a group of female customers gleefully giggling and chatting away while staring back at him.

Kang Jin-Ho took a moment to stare at the ceiling, then slowly walked up to the group. He cleared his throat, then politely asked, “Ladies, may I take your order?”

***

“...What the heck is going on this time?” Jo Gyu-Min stared at his phone's screen with his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. Currently, his phone was being overrun with comments from a certain social media site.

– Kang Se-Ah, currently part-timing in a cafe! The address is here!

– 30 minutes per drink! It's basically a free fan meeting!

– Where? Link, pls! Kang Se-Ah is working part-time, but I just can't find where!

– It's her dad's cafe. The location is on the included map. It was mentioned in the press a few times, tho? As in, her dad runs a cafe...

– One drink per 30 minutes? Isn't that exploitation?! Buying a drink just for a chance to look at an idol, then getting kicked out after 30 minutes? No thank you. I ain't going.

– Noice. The waiting time is already three hours, so if you don't wanna come, TY~ xoxo. Only those who want to come should hurry!

– Kang Se-Ah's oppa is also part-timing. His face is literally sparkling. The DNA of this family sure is weird.

– Their dad looks plain, though... Their mom must be a looker, then?

“...Working part-time in the cafe?” Jo Gyu-Min tilted his head.

Didn't Kang Jin-Ho say he was planning to get a job in a delivery service warehouse? So, what was this story about working in Kang Yu-Hwan's cafe, then? Even though Kang Jin-Ho was constructed out of the toughest alloy known to man, would he still have enough energy left to work as a waiter in a cafe after spending the night loading and unloading stuff?

“...Urgh.” Jo Gyu-Min groaned, knowing that reading some social media posts wouldn't help him. He depressed the accelerator on his car, thinking that he should personally go and check it out.

He drove for a while before eventually reaching Kang Yu-Hwan's cafe. And the sight of a massive ocean of people crowding in front of the establishment brought out more groans from Jo Gyu-Min's mouth.

'Yup, this is totally expected...'

Anyone could have guessed what may happen when one of the top currently-active idols was serving customers in a cafe. Thankfully, the cafe was located some distance away from the main road. If it was right next to a busy street, police officers would have long been dispatched here to control the flow of traffic!

'Mm? What is written on those banners?'

It seemed that the official fan club members had been mobilized or something. Because Jo Gyu-Min could clearly see various banners and signboards with cringe-inducing messages like 'Our Shining Light Kang Se-Ah!' or 'No to Retirement, signed by millions!'

Jo Gyu-Min tried to push his way through the crowd. “Excuse me, coming through.”

“Hey! Go to the back of the line, dude!”

“Are you blind or what? Can't you see the queue? I've been standing here for the past two hours!”

Jo Gyu-Min flaunted a grin of satisfaction at them. “I'm Miss Se-Ah's manager.”

Unfortunately for him, the replies thrown in his face weren’t what he had expected.

“So what?”

“...?”

“Will you go back to the queue nicely? Or after a beating?”

“I'm going back to the queue...” Jo Gyu-Min muttered and headed to the rear of the long, long queue. His shoulders visibly slumped forward as he trudged his way there.

'How should I say this, I... Why does it feel like my life has become just a bit pitiful lately...?'

Jo Gyu-Min unknowingly stared at the heavens above.

***

“Good to see you, Mister Gyu-Min,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“Hello to you, too,” Jo Gyu-Min replied as he slumped down on an empty chair, clearly exhausted.

Kang Jin-Ho was surprised and had to ask. “Were you waiting in the queue outside?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, the people in front of me didn't want to let me through, you see. So... I thought I should just wait my turn.”

“But, why? If you'd called me on the phone, I would've gone outside to bring you in.”

“...Ah.” Jo Gyu-Min gasped in stupefaction.

Kang Jin-Ho saw that dazed expression on Chief Secretary Jo's face and quickly decided to not say anything else. He figured that one more word from him could potentially crush this poor guy's mind.

Jo Gyu-Min muttered weakly. “T-there was actually such a way...”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly shook his head. How should he go about explaining this? Jo Gyu-Min of the past, he... He gave off the vibe of an efficient, super-sharp blade, but with age, he seemed to be getting duller and duller.

Jo Gyu-Min licked his lips ruefully. “Anyway... Why are you even here, Mister Jin-Ho?”

“...Well, my father ordered me to.”

Jo Gyu-Min scanned the cafe's interior.

'Wow. It's bursting at the seams.'

Not a single table had an empty chair. Then again, this seemed like an obvious outcome when he thought about it.

A single cup of coffee didn't even cost ten thousand won. Paying that little to look at and even getting a chance to chat with a popular idol from up close for thirty minutes should be more than enough to entice plenty of people. Not to forget, Kang Se-Ah wasn't some middle-of-the-road idol nor was she a member of a group!

'Wait, I can even see some salarymen here, too...?'

Did they leave work early, or did they lie through their teeth to their supervisors about working outside the office to get here? Either way... Jo Gyu-Min could clearly spot salarymen inside the busy cafe.

Kang Eun-Yeong welcomed a group of customers occupying one of the tables. “Hi~! Thank you for stopping by our cafe! Would you like something to drink?”

“Yes! Please get me an americano! With lots of sugar, too!”

“Would you like to add some syrup? How much should we add, dear customer?”

“As much as your love toward me, Miss Se-Ah!”

“Manager~! Black coffee for this table, please~!”

And just like that, the customer was left pouting in dejection.

Judging from how she responded to the customers, Kang Eun-Yeong seemed to have a good sense of how to get the job done. Although there had been a few mischievous customers, she never forgot about her business smile. But that somehow didn't come as much of a surprise. However, something else turned out to be just that—a bit of a surprise. 

“You’re still a university student?” a female customer asked in a surprised voice.

“...Yes, I am,” Kang Jin-Ho cautiously replied.

“Are you in the middle of a break in your studies?”

“Yes. I was discharged not too long ago and haven't gone back to school yet.”

“Oh, my! So, you were serving in the military. Even though you look so young?”

“...”

Jo Gyu-Min watched such exchanges between Kang Jin-Ho and female customers with narrowed eyes and an unreadable expression.

'What's up with those women?'

When Jo Gyu-Min was standing in the queue, there weren't that many female customers. Before long, though, he noticed their number steadily increasing, and now, almost half the tables in the cafe were occupied by women.

While Kang Eun-Yeong was expertly dealing with customers, Kang Jin-Ho was visibly faltering and floundering. For instance...

“Customer, your order of mocha frappuccino is here,” said Kang Jin-Ho as he brought a cup of coffee to a female customer. However...

“Ng? But I asked for whipped cream topping, though?”

“...Oh. But you didn't mention it when ordering it, miss.”

“That can't be, though? I definitely said it, you know? Eii~, it's fine to admit that you forgot about it, you know~?”

“...My apologies, miss.”

Jo Gyu-Min slowly shook his head. Considering Kang Jin-Ho's scary memorization ability, there was no way he would forget about a customer's order. That was probably deliberate, as the number of female patrons wanting to extend their chat with Kang Jin-Ho by using any means necessary was quite high.

'To think the edited footage we released would have this much impact...!'

Jo Gyu-Min ruefully smacked his lips. It was just one impromptu interview, but who knew that a Kang Jin-Ho fan club would be established this quickly?! Jo Gyu-Min was freshly reminded of the cruel fact that a person had to be good-looking to get ahead in life.

Kang Yu-Hwan walked up to Jo Gyu-Min. “Mister Gyu-Min. Have you gotten your coffee?”

“Ah, no. I've ordered one, though.”

“Here. Americano, if I'm not mistaken?”

“No, you're on the money. Thank you, Mister Kang.” Jo Gyu-Min accepted the coffee with a grin and bowed slightly at Kang Yu-Hwan. “You look... quite pleased, sir.”

“Well, yes. This has been a dream of mine, you see.”

“A dream, you say?”

Kang Yu-Hwan smiled in satisfaction. “Yes. I'm running a cafe, and my children are serving the customers. That has always been my dream, Mister Gyu-Min. Now that it has become a reality, how should I describe it... I'm getting quite emotional? Or something like that?”

Kang Yu-Hwan stopped talking there and nodded affectionately. He watched his two kids working away and asked Jo Gyu-Min, “I might sound like I'm gloating here since they are my kids and all, but... Mister Gyu-Min, don't you think those two look just fantastic?”

“Yes, I agree with you on that one.”

‘Although, it's still a mystery how such two devastatingly good-looking children came from your seeds, sir…’

Jo Gyu-Min deeply buried his inner thoughts that threatened to disintegrate the cozy mood and put on a business smile.

“Fufufu~! And also…!” Kang Yu-Hwan suddenly cackled away.

“Sorry?”

“The cafe's sales! Yes, our sales are going through the roof! We've earned as much as the last three days combined in just half a day! If we keep this up, we won't be in the red anymore! Yes, we'll be in the black! And now, my wife will stop scolding me for wasting our son's money...”

‘Aha, so that's what's going on here.’

Jo Gyu-Min slowly nodded in understanding, then stared probingly at Kang Yu-Hwan.

The head of the Kang family hurriedly coughed to clear his throat, then pushed the still-steaming cup of coffee toward Jo Gyu-Min. “Here, drink before it gets cold.”

“...Of course.” Jo Gyu-Min took a small sip and felt that this Americano was unusually bitter for some reason.

No, wait. Americano had always been bitter, right?

***

Cai Kechang furrowed his brows while listening to the voice on the other end of the line.

- Can you repeat what you want me to do to that brat?

“This is Lord Crimson King's command.”

The mention of the Crimson King brought on a bout of silence in the conversation before the person on the other side finally replied.

- A big fish has stepped forward, I see.

Cai Kechang stubbed out the cigarette he had been smoking before continuing with the mission briefing. “Your task is to find out the target's skill level as well as his personality and nature. The method will be left up to you. However, his family is off-limits, unless you wish to earn Lord Crimson King's rage.”

- You can't be seriously saying that, since you know as well as I do the simplest method is to go after the people the target cares about.

“This is also a part of Lord Crimson King's command.”

- Dammit...

A voice filled with dissatisfaction came from the other side.

A quick look at tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w will leave you more fulfilled.

- You're ordering me to do this, but you're also slapping me with so many restrictions on top? Fine, fine. It's fine either way. Anyway, all I care about is my payday. How much are you going to pay me, then?

“Five times the normal rate.”

- ...Seriously?

Cai Kechang lowered his voice to a whisper. “Yes. That's how important this task is. It also means you need to make a move as soon as possible.”

- Well, now I'm properly motivated.

“However, do not ever forget this,” Cai Kechang warned in his gravest voice. “Lord Crimson King is keeping a close eye on this individual. Failing at this task means his anger will be redirected at you.”

- I see. I guess I should also remind you, then. As long as we agree to do a job for you, we do our absolute best to finish it. That's our motto. Tell me, have you ever seen us do a sloppy job before? Well, have you?

“What an insolent bastard you are! However, that's also what I like about you. All the information we have on the target will be sent to you. I expect to see a speedy result.”

- Don't worry. We'll get right on it as soon as the fee is deposited into our account.

Cai Kechang unhappily tutted. “Huh. What a sly bastard you are.”

- Ah, wait. One more thing...

“What is it?”

- Can we kill this brat?

Cai Kechang furrowed his brow. “If he's weak enough to die by your hands, Lord Crimson King wouldn't have shown his interest in him. Since that's the case, do what you want.”

- Well, that makes things easier. We'll call you pretty soon, then.

The call ended there. Cai Kechang put his phone away and lit up a new cigarette.

'Hmph. Even though I didn't want to borrow the strength of this money-hungry bastard...'

A cultivator would have to deal with extreme restrictions when traveling to a foreign country. One of the reasons was as simple as the local martial artists raising a stink. And the present situation in China's martial world had to be considered as well. It greatly restricted the Crimson King's freedom, making it harder for him to act.

As such, this method couldn't be helped. Still, this freelancer was known to be quite meticulous with his tasks despite being a money-hungry bastard. He could get far too meticulous, though, and would sometimes go overboard as a result, which was a big demerit, but...

“Kang Jin-Ho, was it...?” Cai Kechang smirked softly.

Maybe, they wouldn't have to worry about hearing that name anymore.