God-Given Business Genius

“That’s it!”

Park Sang-won was the first to shout.

“This is perfect! I-I’ll draft a statement based on this right away! If we mention that we’re actively considering legal action, they surely won’t dare to…”

“No.”

I cut Park Sang-won off mid-sentence.

“That won’t do. As long as public opinion frames this as ‘big corporation versus small business owner’, threatening to sue could backfire and intensify the backlash.”

We know that is just a small business with four employees, but most others probably don’t.

“Then what if we clarify that we’re also a business with fewer than five employees? That could at least shift the perception to a dispute between small businesses.”

I shook my head at Roh Se-hee’s suggestion too.

“Even so, we’re still the larger party. Our franchise brands are growing rapidly, and we don’t need to unnecessarily emphasize our small size.”

After all, isn’t the appeal of a franchise the guaranteed taste researched by big corporation experts?

At this point, when our brands are mushrooming, there’s no need to diminish that merit by revealing we’re a small business.

That would only undermine the brand’s credibility itself.

“Then what should we…”

“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

I picked up my phone.

“Hold off on the statement for now. And, well… let’s wait.”

“Pardon?”

“Until this controversy grows even bigger and public attention reaches its peak.”

That’s when,

I’ll deliver the most dramatic reversal and catharsis.

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

“Hey, did you see this?”

Sim Chae-yoon glanced at the phone screen her friend was shoving in her face. Familiar screen, familiar text.

“Yeah. I saw it.”

“It’s causing quite a stir these days, isn’t it? It even made the 9 o’clock news this morning. My parents saw it and were furious. Said it’s unethical.”

“Really?”

Sim Chae-yoon replied in a somewhat indifferent tone.

“Didn’t you go there often?”

“…A lot.”

“Wow, it’s delicious and all, but doesn’t it feel a bit awkward to go there now?”

Sim Chae-yoon nodded silently. Ever since that exposé or whatever it was, she felt uncomfortable gazes whenever she entered .

‘Maybe I’m just being overly sensitive.’

While the number of visitors had certainly decreased, it wasn’t exactly empty either.

It’s just not as packed as before. For any other store, it would still be considered “booming.”

“I thought it was a good idea, but plagiarism is going too far.”

“Is it really true, though?”

“What?”

Her quiet mutter apparently didn’t reach her friend’s ears. Sim Chae-yoon raised her head abruptly and repeated more clearly.

“I mean, it’s hard to judge based on just one side of the story. Bingwa hasn’t even released a statement yet, right?”

“…Hey, are you close with the owner there?”

“N-no, not close to the owner! You know, remember that part-timer who served us when we first went there together?”

“Ah~ I remember.”

“Well, they sometimes give me service when I visit.”

“Hey. What does a nice part-timer have to do with this?”

Her friend muttered, seemingly bewildered. Of course, that made sense, but still. Somehow, Sim Chae-yoon felt hurt seeing embroiled in this controversy.

She also wondered if the two stores’ bingsu were really that similar.

‘To me, the ice particle size seems completely different. The bingsu from the complaining side just looks roughly chopped. And their ice isn’t milk ice, just regular ice.’

Some might call these trivial differences. But Sim Chae-yoon thought these small details accumulated to create a difference in taste.

In that sense, ’s Snow Flower Bingsu and the complaining café’s bingsu were entirely different dishes.

‘But if I say that, people might accuse me of defending the plagiarizing store…’

In fact, she had already timidly left a comment on a news article and received a barrage of dislikes, leaving her feeling discouraged.

‘It’s so frustrating, really!’

Just as she was clenching her fist, trying to calm her inner turmoil.

“Oh? Hey. This is huge.”

Her friend tapped Sim Chae-yoon’s shoulder.

“Look at this!”

“Hm?”

“It’s an interview that just came out.”

“An interview…?”

With whom?

Sim Chae-yoon peered at her friend’s phone screen with a puzzled expression. As soon as they entered the article, the photo at the top showed a strangely familiar face.

“Wh-what?!”

Sim Chae-yoon jumped to her feet, still clutching the phone.

Her outburst drew attention from those around, causing Sim Chae-yoon to sit back down with a flushed face.

Ahem.

After barely regaining her composure, she turned to her friend and continued.

“Th-th-that’s the part-timer! Right?!”

“You’re right, you’re right. That face is unmistakable.”

“But why is this person being interviewed?”

Even though this plagiarism controversy is a hot topic these days. Wasn’t this person just a part-timer at ? Is it some kind of interview from a part-timer’s perspective?

Sim Chae-yoon’s question was answered as soon as she scrolled down.

[Exclusive Interview] Rising Young Entrepreneur Song Woo-yeon: “Misunderstandings, doubts… difficult but must be endured”

“CEOOOOOO?!”

Sim Chae-yoon forgot her earlier embarrassment and made the same mistake again.

This time, the gazes from around were quite piercing.

“Oops.”

Sim Chae-yoon bowed her head in apology to those around and sat back down with a bright red face.

“Hey, it’s my phone. Give it back. I can’t read the content because you keep moving it around!”

“Sorry, sorry. Let’s look together for a bit.”

Even the split second it would take to pull out her own phone and search for this article felt too long to wait.

“Wow, but that person is the CEO? That’s insane. I had no idea…”

“You went there so often. And you didn’t know?”

“I thought they were just a part-timer. No wonder their hours seemed a bit irregular.”

She had assumed they were a part-timer filling in when other part-timers weren’t available. But now, the puzzle pieces seemed to fit together.

Of course, being the owner, they just worked whenever they had time!

“What a plot twist. Weren’t they super young?”

“I’m not sure of the exact age, but… they really looked about our age.”

“Right, right. I thought they were a college student.”

“It’s unbelievable. Here we are still in school, and someone’s already got a CEO title and is a boss…”

It still felt surreal thinking about it. It lacked any sense of reality.

That person who always greeted customers with a bright smile was the owner of ?

“I-I hope I didn’t make any mistakes?”

“What mistakes? You ate at least three bingsu every time you went. That CEO must have been grinning from ear to ear whenever you came.”

“They did seem happy.”

Sim Chae-yoon nodded in agreement. Whether it was because of that or not, it was true that Song Woo-yeon always warmly welcomed Sim Chae-yoon whenever she visited.

Come to think of it, it would have been difficult for a part-timer to give out so much service.

“Never mind that, let’s keep reading.”

Sim Chae-yoon put her head together with her friend and continued scrolling through the interview.

A little further down, the main content of the interview began.

On July 9th, the reporter requested an interview with Song Woo-yeon, CEO of , who has been on a rapid rise recently.

But the very first sentence caught their attention.

“Wait, what’s this ? Not , but The Song?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

They couldn’t think of anything. , …?

“Ah!”

Sim Chae-yoon let out a short exclamation.

“Th-th-that’s it!”

“What’s ‘that’?”

“Oh, stop teasing! You know, your regular soup rice place.”

“? What about it?”

“Don’t you remember was written on their sign too?”

“Huh? Was it? I never looked closely.”

“It was there!”

Sim Chae-yoon shouted with certainty.

“I’m sure of it. , the café across the street, and all have similar signs, right?”

“Ah. You’re right.”

“I thought it was interesting, and they all had company logo on the signs.”

Her friend exclaimed “Oh~” in admiration. Her tone suggested she was wondering when Sim Chae-yoon had noticed such details.

“Hm? Wait a second. You’re saying all of those belong to ? Even ?”

Thinking about it again, this wasn’t something to just brush off with an “Oh~”.

“Then all of that…”

“Must belong to this person.”

Sim Chae-yoon said with a serious face, displaying Song Woo-yeon’s interview photo on the screen.

“Wow. That’s insane. They must be super rich.”

Her friend gaped in amazement.

Sim Chae-yoon agreed. How could people of similar age lead such different lives?

“Hey, you said you’re close with the owner there. Introduce me too.”

“I told you, we’re not that close. I just recognized their face, that’s all.”

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Sim Chae-yoon hurriedly scrolled down again. The interview article was continuing with an introduction to Song Woo-yeon’s achievements.

The story of how they started with a humble soup rice shop and went through all sorts of hardships.

How they were on the verge of bankruptcy, but then dove into management in exchange for shares, creating and leading to the brand’s franchising.

The story of how the owner’s friend wanted to work together, leading to the first branch, and how they connected with nearby …

Every detail showed how arduously this person had climbed to their current position.

“This is really amazing…”

Such words of admiration naturally slipped from her friend’s mouth.

“How do they come up with these ideas? If the soup rice place where I was working part-time was going under, I’d probably just bail.”

“I know, right?”

“I guess people destined for success really do think differently.”

Sim Chae-yoon nodded in agreement.

As they scrolled further, the interview skimmed through Song Woo-yeon’s poor and difficult childhood and the days spent living in a semi-basement room.

Finally, it reached the incident everyone was curious about.

Are you aware of the recent plagiarism controversy that’s been making headlines?

“Yes, I’m aware. When I returned from a business trip, the office was in chaos. At first, I wondered what had happened, but after reading the post in question, I grasped the situation.”

Gulp.

Sim Chae-yoon swallowed unnecessarily. Somehow, a tension had settled in. It was as if she could hear Song Woo-yeon’s voice in her ear.

She even had the illusion that Song Woo-yeon was sitting right in front of her.

If you have anything to say about this controversy?

“First, I’d like to say this.”

In Sim Chae-yoon’s imagination, Song Woo-yeon looked straight at her. After a gentle smile, they spoke in a confident tone.

“I have never plagiarized.”