“Yahoo!”
I was steering the bumper car with all my might, mainly targeting Jiyu and Yumi. I ended up bumping into Yumi a bit more with my car. It definitely wasn’t because I called her childish earlier. It just happened that way. While I was in the zone, bumping into everyone…
“Eat this!”
Jiyu slammed into my bumper car from behind. The impact shook my entire body, and I momentarily let go of the steering wheel. If this were a real road, I would’ve grabbed the back of my neck and gotten out of the car, but this was a cruel world where such weak actions weren’t tolerated. I grabbed the wheel again and turned it 180 degrees, aiming for Jiyu, who dared to hit me from behind.
“Ugh!”
But as soon as I turned the wheel toward Jiyu, Yumi rammed into me from behind. I was sandwiched between them, like a filling in a sandwich.
“Let’s target Hana!”
“Okay!”
Jiyu and Yumi, who were close friends even before they met me, ganged up on me perfectly. I tried to escape their attacks but ultimately failed.
[End of bumper cars~]
As soon as the announcement played, the once lively bumper cars turned into useless hunks of metal. The power had been cut.
“Ugh…”
I grabbed the back of my neck and got out of the car. I needed to call my car insurance ASAP. I had been attacked by Jiyu and Yumi way too much. But of course, there was no insurance company for bumper cars.
—
“That was so fun~!”
“Right!”
After riding the bumper cars and various other rides, we checked the time. It was 2 PM. It was about time to get hungry. I started looking around for a restaurant. There had to be one in an amusement park like this!
“What are you gonna eat, Hana?”
Jiyu and Yumi seemed curious about what I’d choose. I unfolded the handy amusement park map. It was packed with the locations of food spots. I just needed something decent. Eating too much before riding extreme rides would be a bad idea.
Back when I was a guy, I ate jajangmyeon and immediately rode a 360-degree spinning ride, only to throw up right after. I had been too overconfident then. I should’ve stuck to smoother rides until my food settled. That memory of feeling sick all day was still vivid.
So even now, when I’m slightly hungry, I took Jiyu and Yumi on extreme rides that didn’t have height restrictions. After eating, we planned to take it easy with slower rides or visit the zoo. That’s the wisdom of adulthood. If I were a clueless kid, I’d have just jumped on the first ride I saw without planning.
“Let’s eat hot dogs!”
A hot dog stand stood there, looking delicious. Filling your stomach too much on rides was amateurish. Eating too much would only lead to trouble. We had a lot more to do, and there was no need to overeat and risk feeling sick.
“Okay! Let’s go to the hot dog stand!”
“I love hot dogs too!”
Jiyu and Yumi agreed without any complaints. They must’ve been won over by my leadership. Otherwise, they would’ve objected.
We charged toward the hot dog stand in the distance. Luckily, the line wasn’t long, so we could order right away.
Seeing the huge sausage nestled in the bun, I couldn’t help but marvel. And the delicious-looking sauce drizzled on top! I took a big bite. The spicy and sweet sauce danced in my mouth, and the juicy sausage was the cherry on top.
“Hana, you’re eating so greedily!”
Yumi commented as she watched me eat. Now that I thought about it, I was eating like a savage, not like a girl at all. I straightened up and started eating the hot dog more gracefully.
—
When people come together, nothing is impossible. Just look at the pyramids of ancient Egypt. Built without any fancy machinery, just human strength, those massive structures were erected—not just one, but many.
Similarly, the number of employees at Starlight Food was skyrocketing…
The production of various plants exploded. The number of regular employees alone exceeded ten thousand, and who knows how much more it would increase if you included the partner companies. Just last year, Starlight Food had fewer than a hundred employees.
Similarly, Starlight Coffee also secured enough volume to distribute to Idaya branches nationwide. The most important thing in coffee was the coffee beans. No matter how good the interior or the location, in the end, it was the coffee beans that determined the customers’ footsteps.
Just like a tasty restaurant can survive anywhere, a café could survive in a quiet spot if the coffee tasted good, regardless of the atmosphere or interior. Word of mouth would spread. Of course, Idaya analyzed commercial areas before opening franchises, so there was no such thing as a bad location.
“Is this the Starlight Coffee Beans that just came from headquarters?”
Kim Won-joo, the owner of an Idaya Coffee franchise in the provinces, looked at the coffee beans sent from headquarters and spoke.
Now, even provincial branches could receive Starlight Coffee Beans. Customers had been coming in every day, complaining about why they weren’t using Starlight Coffee Beans. Sadly, due to headquarters’ guidelines, they hadn’t introduced them yet, and Kim had to sweat profusely while apologizing to customers. But that era was now over.
A cool sensation from the coffee beans lingered around Kim Won-joo. It was as if he had gained a powerful weapon. The surrounding cafés would have to worry about closing. Of course, that was Kim’s wish. Whenever one café did well, others would sprout up like mushrooms around it.
“Ooh…”
As he opened the packaging of the coffee beans, an intense and addictive aroma filled the café, tickling his nose. It was beyond Kim’s expectations. With such a strong aroma, he couldn’t even imagine how delicious the coffee would taste when brewed.
“Wow, boss, is that the smell of coffee beans? It’s amazing!”
An part-time employee who had just walked in said. The aroma of Starlight Coffee Beans was so good that even the part-timer noticed the difference immediately upon entering.
“Yejeong, these are the Starlight Coffee Beans sent from headquarters. We can start using them today.”
“Really? Finally, I won’t have to repeat like a parrot that we’re not using Starlight Coffee Beans anymore.”
Yejeong had been repeating like a parrot to customers every day that they hadn’t introduced Starlight Coffee Beans yet. Most customers who came to Idaya complained about why they weren’t selling the coffee available in Seoul.
But as a part-timer, there was nothing she could do. If headquarters didn’t send the coffee beans, what could she do? Being in the service industry, she had to smile and tell difficult customers that they didn’t have it. If she had met them on the street instead, she couldn’t imagine the harsh words that would have been exchanged.
“Wow, it smells great!”
All the employees who came in after her also smelled the coffee beans and praised them. Kim Won-joo had a feeling that business would be great today. With such high-quality ingredients, if the coffee business didn’t do well, it was his fault. And it wasn’t just some local café without a brand; it was a franchise of a major corporation.
With such excitement, Kim opened the store. Of course, he put up a big advertisement in front of the door. Finally, they had introduced Starlight Coffee Beans. And even though it was hot and the air conditioner was on, he left the door open.
So the aroma of the coffee beans could spread to the street. That way, the smell would attract customers to the store. As he roasted the coffee beans with the door open, customers started pouring in. Even though they had opened earlier than usual, customers came early in the morning to drink coffee.
The part-timers were shocked by the number of customers, and Kim Won-joo, the owner, couldn’t help but smile brightly.
