NOVEL NEXT 65
«Hello. I never imagined I’d be writing this. I’m a small business owner running a modest café in my neighborhood.
You’ve probably all heard about the ‘Snow Flower Bingsu’ that’s been trending on social media recently. A certain bingsu shop claims to have invented it and touts it as their trademark.
When I first discovered this bingsu, I was utterly shocked. Why? Because it was remarkably similar to the bingsu we sell at our shop.
(Photo)
The bingsu above is what we sell at our café,
(Photo)
And this is the bingsu from that trending shop, as seen on social media.
From the soybean powder heaped on top to the condensed milk and finely shaved ice, there were many similarities to our menu item.
Of course, some might argue that this isn’t anything special, that people’s ideas can overlap.
But as someone who has always taken pride in carefully crafting our menu, seeing this bingsu on social media breaks my heart and leaves me feeling utterly helpless.
We’ve even had customers order our café’s menu and ask, ‘This is copying that famous Snow Flower Bingsu, right?’
(Photo)
We launched this menu item two weeks before that company started selling their bingsu.
Two weeks is plenty of time to copy a menu item and recreate it.
More than anything, I can’t bear the thought of my menu item, which I consider like my own child, being seen as a copy of the Snow Flower Bingsu.
I’m just a small business owner running an individual café, while that company is a large corporation with multiple franchise brands. I’m not sure how to raise this issue, so I’m writing this to seek others’ opinions.
This post was written for the public interest.
Thank you for reading.»
Top Comment 1 ㅇㅇ
: Wow, I once traveled far to try this bingsu because I heard it was delicious, but I’m totally disappointed now. The shape of the bingsu is completely similar…
Top Comment 2 JaehyunILoveYou
: I thought Snow Flower Bingsu was a totally genius idea, but to think it’s plagiarism of an individual café’s dessert lol. These days, companies don’t develop products, they just copy desserts from small cafés. It’s too much. They’re so shameless, seriously.
Top Comment 3 IlllIIlll
: Hang in there, owner 🙁 I’ve been through something similar and thought I was going crazy.. I can’t say where because I’m afraid of getting sued, but the tyranny of big corporations is insane.
Scroll.
Only the sound of the mouse cursor rolling echoed loudly. Hmm. So that’s what happened.
“We also belatedly grasped the situation, but the inquiry calls keep coming in non-stop. We’re also receiving many interview requests from media outlets.”
Roh Se-hee calmly reported the situation.
“The phones aren’t ringing now, though?”
“We unplugged them.”
Nice.
“Since we haven’t decided how to respond at the company level yet, we’ve consistently given no comment. But if we keep silent like this, public opinion is likely to worsen.”
That’s probably true. While sometimes no response is the answer, now is not one of those times.
“Moreover, because the post cleverly framed it as ‘big corporation vs. small business owner’… the criticism is even more fierce.”
Big corporation, huh.
We’re still far from being called that.
I looked in turn at Jo I-ruk, who had turned pale; Roh Se-hee, who was maintaining her composure but whose fingertips were trembling; and Park Sang-won, who was fidgeting nervously.
What big corporation? We’re just four people. I barely suppressed a laugh that was about to escape.
“To clarify the company’s position, there’s one thing I need to ask.”
Roh Se-hee cautiously asked, watching my reaction.
“Please be honest. That’s the only way we can properly formulate a plan.”
“You don’t need to beat around the bush, Manager Roh.”
I immediately caught on to what Roh Se-hee was trying to say. I continued with a gentle smile.
“You want to know if we plagiarized or not, right? Isn’t that it?”
“…Yes. That’s correct.”
Roh Se-hee tightly gripped the notebook in her hand. The bones of her knuckles stood out white.
“If you did get the idea from that café, we might face backlash if we hastily claim ‘it’s not plagiarism’.”
“True. It would be a problem if CCTV footage of me visiting there showed up.”
“CEO. Have you… ever been to this café?”
Roh Se-hee looked at me with trembling eyes.
I could sense a desperate hope. A wish that I would say no.
She probably hoped that the CEO she had chosen to believe in and follow wasn’t such a petty person. After all, she had been impressed time and again, calling me a genius. If it turned out that these weren’t my ideas but stolen from others, she’d feel deeply betrayed.
Fortunately, if that’s the right word, I could give an answer that wouldn’t betray those expectations.
“I haven’t been there. I swear.”
“Phew.”
“Should we release a statement right away? I have a draft prepared!”
Park Sang-won quickly put down a folder of documents.
“The left one is a somewhat passive statement prepared just in case, and the right one is a statement for a more aggressive response.”
He works fast. When did he prepare all this?
Skimming through it, the content looks clean too.
“I guess the left one was meant to be released if I admitted to plagiarism?”
“Ack! Ahem! R-rather than that! It was prepared with a mindset of always being ready for any possibility…”
“I’m not blaming you. You did well.”
It’s right to always have a Plan B ready.
“My, my. This situation suddenly blew up, so I’m sure everyone was surprised. But it seems you’ve all responded calmly and well, which puts my mind at ease.”
“Not at all. It’s just what we should do.”
“Although we were taken aback by this unexpected situation, there’s no need to worry too much.”
This didn’t happen before my regression.
Is the future changing as the past changes? Well. Before my regression, this ‘Snow Flower Bingsu’ had quite a complicated history.
‘I created it, but it ended up shining in someone else’s hands.’
Back then, I lacked business acumen and was ignorant about things like patents and trademarks.
Somehow, I came up with the idea for Snow Flower Bingsu. But I didn’t know what value it held.
When Snow Flower Bingsu was released to the public without any precautions, copycat businesses started springing up like mushrooms after rain.
Among them, there was a café that named this style of bingsu ‘Snow Flower Bingsu’ and gained huge popularity. Countless people thought it was the original and followed suit.
‘To think that this time, I’d be accused of being the perpetrator.’
They say no one knows what life will bring. Isn’t this interesting?
The fortunate thing is that, thanks to past mistakes, I didn’t repeat the same error this time.
Buzz-.
A notification sounded on my phone. After peeking at the content on the screen, I grinned.
The timing is just right.
As soon as I grasped the situation through Kang Yu-ha, I had reached out to this side.
“You say we don’t need to worry… CEO, with the media involved, this has blown up significantly. We need to release a statement as soon as possible…”
Click.
“Oh, here it is.”
Just then.
As the door opened, a familiar man walked in. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?
“CEO Song. Long time no see.”
“Welcome.”
Moon Yu-han.
The very man who made the Snow Flower Bingsu ice machine for me.
“I’ve been waiting for you. Please, have a seat.”
“Is this your office? Wow. It’s quite impressive.”
Moon Yu-han looked around, letting out a hearty exclamation. Then, as his eyes met the other employees, he gave a slight bow.
“Oh my. It’s nice to meet you all~.”
“Ah, y-yes. Um, CEO. This person is…”
“This is Moon Yu-han-ssi. He’s also the one who made our Snow Flower Bingsu ice machine.”
At my introduction, everyone’s eyes widened. They must have all been curious about where this unfamiliar Snow Flower Bingsu ice machine came from.
As all eyes turned to him, Moon Yu-han exclaimed loudly.
“That’s my masterpiece~! CEO Song was so picky. I was about to lose it at first!”
“Haha. You say that, but you made it with much better performance than I expected.”
“It was fun after a long time.”
Moon Yu-han grinned as if reminiscing about that time. His expression was like that of a mischievous child. People who live with their childhood dreams truly don’t age.
“Well… I understand he’s someone to be grateful to, but why is he here now…?”
Jo I-ruk stammered.
Why? Well…
“Everyone, say hello.”
I smiled broadly and pointed to Moon Yu-han.
“He’s about to become our savior.”
“…Pardon?”
“Boss Moon Yu-han. You brought the documents I mentioned, right?”
“Of course!”
Thud!
What Moon Yu-han placed on the table was a rather thick stack of documents.
“Take a look.”
At my words, Jo I-ruk hesitantly approached and opened the folder.
He pulled out a few documents and flipped through the pages with a rustling sound, then his eyes suddenly widened.
“This, this is…!”
“That’s right. We were preparing a patent for the ice machine.”
“A patent?”
Roh Se-hee also picked up a few documents. As she flipped through them, she muttered, ‘This is real…’ As if it would be fake.
“We were preparing to apply for a patent right after the ice machine was completed.”
“I offered to put Song’s name on it since she gave me the idea, but she stubbornly refused!”
“Boss Moon is the one who actually made it. I just suggested ideas, like ‘How about this?'”
This was possible because I knew about the ice machines from before my regression. Moreover, since I only vaguely knew the image, Moon Yu-han had to work really hard to actually implement it.
“That’s something to congratulate you on, but…”
“You’re wondering what it has to do with this situation? Of course it’s related.”
I turned the computer monitor around to show everyone.
«We launched this menu item two weeks before that company started selling their bingsu.»
“Ah!”
Jo I-ruk let out a loud exclamation.
“I see! All the documents are still there because we were preparing for the patent application! If we include the menu development time…”
Yes. That’s the answer.
I smiled gently and said,
“I was faster.”
After all, it’s impossible to copy a menu item that hasn’t even been released yet.