Chapter 34: The Unique Menu

Lim Ho-jin looked around the store and asked,

“This is your shop, Mr. Lee Kang-jin?”

“Yes?”

“It’s not run by your parents?”

“I manage it myself.”

“You also work as an intern while running this place?”

“I don’t have two bodies to do both simultaneously. I had to close the shop during my internship.”

Kang Jin then glanced at his employees.

“Since you’re here today, let’s open for business. What would you like to order?”

The employees started looking around curiously after Kang Jin’s statement.

Lim Ho-jin noticed a unique feature while scanning the store, “Your menu board is quite unusual.”

“There isn’t a fixed menu; I make dishes based on what customers want.”

“So, can we order anything we desire?”

“Certainly.”

“What should we order?” Lim Ho-jin muttered to himself.

At his question, Choi Mina, who had visited the restaurant before, chimed in, “We’ll have the five-color chapsal steak and sweet pumpkin chapsal steak, please. How about you, Hye-in?”

“It sounds delicious,” agreed Kim Hye-in with a nod.

Kang Jin asked, “Did you see those online as well?”

“Yes, that’s why I wanted to come here.” Choi Mina’s response puzzled Kang Jin.

Not many people have tried the chapsal steak, right?

Indeed, very few had. Only Manager Jang, his wife, their friends, and female employees from Overseas Business Teams 1 and 2 had sampled it.

Could they have posted something online?

With this thought, Kang Jin retrieved beef and ingredients from the refrigerator and began preparing them. As he worked, he glanced at the managers’ table; they were still deliberating what to order.

It seemed they were unsure what to choose due to the lack of set menu items.

Kang Jin noticed their hesitation and suggested, “Would you like me to prepare something suitable for us?”

“Is that possible?”

“Of course.”

“Then please do so.”

With Lim Ho-jin’s agreement, Kang Jin finished preparing the ingredients and opened the refrigerator.

Bae Yongsoo approached him from the side. “We got some good clams today.”

Kang Jin glanced at Bae Yongsoo while looking inside the fridge. “Clams?”

“How about your favorite stir-fried pork with squid, plus clam soybean paste stew?” Yongsoo suggested.

Kang Jin nodded, quickly checking the dining area before starting to cook. He prepared side dishes, stir-fried pork, squid, and clam soybean paste stew alongside his colleagues for lunch.

“My apologies for serving instant rice.”

He hadn’t planned to sell lunch today, so he didn’t have any rice prepared. Instead, Kang Jin warmed up some instant rice packets for everyone.

Lim Ho-jin quickly shook his head at Kang Jin’s self-deprecating remark.

“No, it’s really delicious.”

“Lee Gang-jin’s cooking is truly amazing.”

“This stir-fried squid pairs perfectly with soju.”

“It’s too bad we can’t enjoy this during our lunch break.”

Kang Jin nodded as he listened to their comments and ate his meal. After everyone finished eating, they left their dishes in the sink, and Kang Jin cleaned up alone.

The employees were already sipping coffee by then.

“Thanks to you, Kang Jin, that was a delightful meal.”

Kang Jin smiled at Lim Ho-jin’s compliment.

“When my internship ends, I’ll be starting work here again. Please continue visiting us often.”

Lim Ho-jin looked at Kang Jin after hearing his response.

“I guess you’re not interested in becoming a full-time employee then.”

“If given the opportunity, I would definitely give it my best shot… But getting promoted isn’t easy, is it?”

As Lim Ho-jin nodded at Kang Jin’s answer, he suddenly noticed what Kang Jin was drinking from his cup.

“What’s that?”

Kang Jin glanced down at the liquid in his cup following Lim Ho-jin’s question.

“It’s yakgwanmun tea. Would you like some?”

“Yakgwanmun tea?”

Curious, Lim Ho-jin and the other male employees watched as Kang Jin returned with a bottle of yakgwanmun tea from the kitchen.

“My stomach tends to act up, so I’ve been drinking this herbal tea.” As Kang Jin explained, he poured each man a glass.

“It’s a blend of yakgwanmun, Reishi mushroom, and licorice root. It may taste unusual, but it’s good for you.”

Hearing Kang Jin’s explanation, the male employees took sips of their tea.

“It has a pleasant flavor.”

“Isn’t it slightly bitter?”

“As Director Lim said, things that are healthy often have a bitter taste.”

As they nodded in agreement with Lim Ho-jin, the entrance door opened.

Click!

Kang Jin looked up to see Department Head Oh Seong-sil and Manager Jang entering the restaurant.

“Hello.” Kang Jin greeted them politely.

Lim Ho-jin glanced over his shoulder at Director Oh before standing up from his seat.

“Director Oh.”

With Lim Ho-jin’s respectful bow, Oh Seong-sil smiled and raised her hand in greeting.

“Manager Lim, here for lunch?”

“Yes.” Lim Ho-jin then nodded at Manager Jang, as they were close colleagues having joined the company together.

“This place is truly delicious,” said Director Oh Seong-sil.

Lim Ho-jin glanced at Kang Jin and asked, “Do you frequent this establishment?”

“Oh yes! We’re their most regular customers here.” Director Oh Seong-sil looked towards Kang Jin.

“President Kang, isn’t that right?”

“That’s correct. You are our top customer.”

It was true; aside from Oh Seong-sil and her Taekwang Trading Company colleagues, there had been very few other patrons. Even those occasional guests came due to Manager Jang’s wife, so one could argue they didn’t count either.

Smiling, Kang Jin picked up cups and offered them yakgwanmun tea.

Kang Jin served yakgwanmun tea to them.

“By any chance, you’re not here for dinner?”

With Kang Jin’s question, Oh Seong-sil smiled and shook her head.

“We were on our way home after having dinner elsewhere. We just stopped by because it looked like there were people inside.”

Then Oh Seong-sil asked, “But I thought during your internship period, the restaurant wouldn’t be open… Are you operating now?”

In response to Lim Ho-jin’s inquiry, Kang Jin shook his head.

“I went out with my team members for dinner, but they chose this place. So since we were already here, I decided to open up.”

“I see.” Nodding, Oh Seong-sil turned to Lim Ho-jin. “Shall we go then?”

Lim Ho-jin nodded and started leaving with his employees when he suddenly remembered something and glanced back at Kang Jin.

“Oh right, we haven’t paid yet.”

Kang Jin addressed them directly, “Gentlemen, it’s five thousand won each. Ladies pay ten thousand won.”

This wasn’t gender discrimination; rather, due to the high cost of ingredients for the steaks, charging only ten thousand won was already considered cheap.

Upon Kang Jin’s announcement, employees started taking out their money or credit cards.

“Five thousand won for such delicious food is better than eating at Kimcheon.”

“You’re right about that.”

Assistant Manager Choi Mina chimed in amidst their conversation.

“But everyone,” she said, drawing their attention. “Those who pulled out their cards… surely you don’t intend to split the bill individually, do you? Especially considering this is our intern’s establishment.”

Following her words, two employees awkwardly put away their cards and produced ten-thousand-won bills instead. Kang Jin accepted the payments, completed the transactions, and then escorted the group out of the store together.

Outside the store, Lim Ho-jin and Manager Jang were having a smoke break in front of their company building. They waited until all other employees had gone inside before lighting up.

“By the way, Manager Jang, I heard you haven’t been feeling well…” Lee Sangsub remarked.

Manager Jang chuckled at his comment. “News travels fast.”

Lim Ho-jin also looked at him curiously. “I heard it’s related to your thyroid. Is it serious?”

“It could have been worse, but thankfully, it was caught early, and I’m currently undergoing treatment. Oh! President Lee diagnosed my condition, so he’s practically saved my life. Please don’t give him too much trouble; treat him well for my sake.”

Lim Ho-jin raised an eyebrow at Manager Jang’s words. “What do you mean, President Lee Kang-jin diagnosed your illness?”

“He’s quite knowledgeable about traditional medicine.”

“Traditional medicine?”

“As soon as he saw me, he sensed something was off and performed a pulse diagnosis.”

“Pulse diagnosis?”

“At first, I thought it was just for fun since he’s not even a doctor but the owner of a restaurant. However, he accurately pinpointed my condition as hypothyroidism.”

“A pulse diagnosis? Are you serious?”

As Lim Ho-jin grabbed Manager Jang’s wrist, the older man nodded affirmatively.

“I’m telling you, it’s true. Anyway, initially, I brushed it off…but our manager is relentless when he sets his mind on something, as you well know.”

“He’d rip the horns off a bull if he had to.”

“After overhearing us, he immediately sent me to the hospital after work. Luckily, he has a doctor friend who examined me right away, confirming it was indeed hypothyroidism.”

“That’s incredible!”

“That’s right. It was quite impressive! Even his doctor friend was amazed that Lee Kang-jin diagnosed hypothyroidism through pulse diagnosis alone. And he did this not as a licensed traditional doctor but as a restaurant owner!”

Lim Ho-jin nodded in agreement with Manager Jang’s account. While Lim wasn’t familiar with hypothyroidism, he found it astonishing that someone could diagnose a disease using only pulse diagnosis.

Lee Sangsub, who could be considered Kang-jin’s immediate supervisor, also chimed in out of curiosity:

“Mr. Lee Kang-jin is truly unique. He studied psychology yet runs a food business and practices traditional medicine.”

“I think he even does acupuncture.”

“Acupuncture?”

“He seems to perform it on himself rather than others… Anyway, I bet he must be good at it if he can do pulse diagnosis too.”

“How peculiar.”

Lim Ho-jin agreed with Lee Sangsub’s assessment.

He certainly is one-of-a-kind.

The Export Agency’s second team had gathered for a meeting in their conference room.

“We’ll go with Oceanic China, then. Assistant Manager Choi, please wrap this up.”

“Yes, sir.”

After receiving Choi Mina’s report, Lim Ho-jin turned to Lee Sangsub.

“The matter regarding Woomin Industries.”

At his words, everyone looked at the so-called “cucumber knife set” placed on the table before them.

“Have you checked these items?”

“Yes, we have.”

Lim Ho-jin continued based on their response. “According to my wife, she finds the knives sturdy and well-balanced… What do you think?”

Choi Mina examined the kitchen knife as Lim Ho-jin spoke. “This one definitely feels substantial and seems of good quality.”

“So you like this knife, right?” Choi Mina nodded at Lim Ho-jin’s question.

“I think it would sell well even without branding.”

“But the problem is that it’s not branded.” With that, Lim Ho-jin turned to Lee Sangsub.

“Did you check on the company?”

“As long as we review their documents, there shouldn’t be any issues.”

At Lee Sangsub’s words, the employees started perusing various papers. Kang Jin also opened her folder.

As she read through Woomin Industries’ proposal, someone spoke from behind her.

“Let me see.”

Kang Jin looked over her shoulder and flinched, startled by Park Chung-man standing there.

Fortunately, Park Chung-man’s ghostly appearance looked merely exhausted rather than frightening. Had it been Choi Ho-chul or Bae Yongsoo instead, they would’ve screamed immediately. Despite getting somewhat used to seeing ghosts, Kang Jin was still startled by their sudden appearances.

“Please pass them over.” At Park Chung-man’s request, Kang Jin whispered while flipping through the documents.

“What brings you here?”

“I heard President Lee went out for lunch with his colleagues, so I came to observe how work is done around here.”

As Park Chung-man spoke, he glanced at the papers, prompting Kang Jin to continue shuffling them. Meanwhile, the employees were discussing Woomin Industries and the steak knives.

“So what do you all think?”

“Firstly, these knives seem to be of high quality, so selling them shouldn’t be an issue. I think it would be wise to explore potential markets in the US or France.”

Following Choi Mina’s suggestion, other employees began sharing their thoughts as well.

“Since we already have connections with Belgian kitchenware companies, Belgium could also be a viable option.”

As Kang Jin listened to his colleagues’ ideas, he glanced at Park Chung-man, who was still reviewing documents.

“Is there any problem?” asked Kang Jin.

Park Chung-man shook his head without looking up from the papers. Based on his cues, Kang Jin either passed him additional documents or returned previously reviewed ones.

“Lee Kang-jin, is there something you’d like to add?” Lim Ho-jin queried.

Kang Jin turned towards him. “Pardon me?”

“He keeps flipping through documents.”

Kang Jin continued to peruse paperwork, either because he wasn’t familiar with the process or as a deliberate act. Of course, Kang Jin was merely pretending to read them for Park Chung-man’s benefit, but Lim Ho-jin noticed his constant mumbling.

“That’s…” Before Kang Jin could respond, Park Chung-man interjected.

“Ask if this company has any prior export experience.”

Taking a quick glance at Park Chung-man, Kang Jin followed his cue. “Has Woomin Industries had any previous export experience?”

“Export?” Lim Ho-jin looked at Lee Sangsub, who then turned to Kang Jin for clarification.

“No, we don’t have any experience,” replied Lee Sangsub.

Park Chung-man and Kang Jin exchanged glances before speaking together.

“But your proposal looks very professional despite having no prior export history.”

“A clean presentation makes our job easier, right?”

Lim Ho-jin shook his head at Lee Sangsub’s response.

“Lee Gang-jin is correct. For a company with no export experience, this proposal is exceptionally well-crafted.”

His comment prompted everyone to revisit the documents once more.