Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1497

Opening Up (3)

–
Don’t go to the cafe where Choi Yeon-ha filmed her commercial this time. The owner here apparently assaulted a customer. There’s a post with proof.

–
Wow, the owner beat up a customer? This kind of thing is happening these days. Seems like they’ve lost their minds.

–
I checked the proof post. They got beat up pretty badly.

–
Wasn’t the customer being a jerk?

–
Does that mean you can beat someone up if they’re being a jerk? If they were being a jerk, you should have kicked them out of the store or reported them to the police, why beat them up? Violence can’t be justified in any situation.

–
I’m not going. I’m boycotting.

Choi Yeon-ha’s eyes widened in shock.

“What is this nonsense? Assault?”

“Huh? Where? Let me see too!”

Han Eun-sol rushed towards Choi Yeon-ha. Then, she read the content on the screen and her eyes grew wide.

“Huh?”

Han Eun-sol quickly clicked the link and started checking the proof post.

“Oh, this is crazy!”

The post had several photos along with an explanation of the situation at the time.

The face with a split lip and blood flowing, and the bandage wrapped around the head were extremely graphic, and it seemed enough to make people angry even without seeing the explanation of the situation.

“What the hell is this guy trying to do?”

“…Calm down for now, sis.”

“No!”

Choi Yeon-ha, who was about to say something, shut her mouth. She knew that getting angry wouldn’t solve anything.

“Let’s see what the post actually says first.”

“Okay.”

Han Eun-sol quickly started reading the post.

There wasn’t much in the post. It just stated that the poster hadn’t done anything wrong, but the owner picked a fight, and when it turned into an argument, the owner came out from behind the counter and unilaterally assaulted him.

“Geez.”

Han Eun-sol scratched her head.

If this was true, it would be a big problem. Even if it wasn’t true, the damage was already done. It wasn’t a well-established franchise, and it was definitely not good news for a relatively new franchise to be involved in such an incident.

Han Eun-sol, who had glanced at the comments below the post, closed her eyes tightly and said.

‘Without even checking…

Even though the other side’s position hadn’t been posted yet, most of them were already cursing.

“And this guy is under police investigation, but there’s no conclusion yet…”

Han Eun-sol, who was about to add something, scratched her head.

“Ha… Why now of all times!”

They were doing so well, like a ship sailing with the wind, but suddenly it felt like they had crashed into a huge reef.

“Is this going to be a big problem?”

“Even a well-established franchise can be destroyed if they get boycotted.”

“Then what should we do?”

“We need to shut down that store first.”

Han Eun-sol sighed.

“It’s not about who’s right or wrong. People are quick to side with the customer.”

“This is a headache.”

Choi Yeon-ha said with a sigh.

“First, send this link to Jin-ho.”

“Yes.”

“Jin-ho will take care of it. We just need to do our jobs.”

“Okay.”

Choi Yeon-ha let out a low sigh as she watched Han Eun-sol, who was holding her phone and sending the link.

‘I hope this doesn’t get bigger…

The situation had already escalated, but Choi Yeon-ha hoped that it wouldn’t spread any further.

“I’m sorry.”

Kang Jin-ho narrowed his brows slightly as he saw the person bowing his head.

“Raise your head.”

“Yes.”

The person who raised his head bit his lip tightly.

Jang Young-chul.

He was the owner of the Luo Go store where the incident had occurred. He was also a member of the general meeting [a regular meeting of the franchise owners].

Kang Jin-ho stared at Jang Young-chul for a while before opening his mouth.

“Why did you hit him?”

“I’m sorry. I should have held back, but I stupidly couldn’t. I will accept all the punishments that the Chairman gives. If you tell me to close the cafe, I will close it, and if you tell me to apologize, I will apologize by any means possible.”

Kang Jin-ho sighed.

“That’s not it, I’m asking why you hit him.”

“…I was too angry.”

Jang Young-chul said in a slightly suppressed voice.

“I tried to hold back as much as I could. But… the person was being so unreasonable… I tried to hold back, but I just snapped.”

“What did he do?”

It was Lee Hyun-joo who received that question.

“Shall we start by checking the CCTV footage?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded. No matter how objectively the owner explained, there was bound to be some bias. In this case, it was better to check the footage directly.

Lee Hyun-joo connected the external hard drive to the PC and turned the monitor to the other side. Kang Jin-ho frowned as he watched the screen.

Inside the store, which was packed with people.

A man was arguing with someone at the counter. It seemed that this man was the one who had caused the incident.

The man, who was pointing his finger wildly, suddenly shouted and threw the coffee he was holding onto the counter.

“Huh?”

“Isn’t that guy crazy?”

“Wow… that looks like hot coffee?”

What he was holding was not a plastic cup for iced coffee, but a paper cup for hot coffee. Throwing hot coffee that had just been brewed at someone was not something a sane person would do.

Jang Young-chul, who saw the scene, said as if he was angry again.

“It’s a good thing that I was looking at the counter at that time, if an employee had been hit by that coffee, they would have been severely burned.”

That’s right.

It was like pouring boiling water on someone.

Considering that people often get burned by spilling coffee, this was not something to be taken lightly.

Jang Young-chul, who had been splashed with coffee, rushed out from behind the counter and grabbed the customer by the collar. Then, the customer raised his arm and slapped Jang Young-chul’s face.

“…Isn’t that a first strike?”

“I’ve seen all kinds of crazy people.”

Those who saw the screen started grinding their teeth as if they were angrier. Those who had initially looked displeased at Jang Young-chul for hitting someone at this important time were now looking at him with sympathy.

In the video, Jang Young-chul punched the customer a couple of times. Then, he dragged the person, who seemed to have lost consciousness, out of the store.

That was the end of the footage on the CCTV.

“…I’m sorry.”

Click.

Kang Jin-ho silently took out a cigarette. Then, he exhaled the smoke as if sighing.

“I understand why you hit him.”

“But you should have held back one more time.”

“I’m sorry.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Jang Young-chul with slightly cold eyes.

“I’m not saying you should have held back as the owner of the store. Didn’t you guys promise to refrain from violence as much as possible when you left the meeting?”

“…Yes.”

“If that was the most you could hold back, it’s disappointing.”

“I’m really sorry.”

Jang Young-chul was extremely submissive.

If this was just his own issue, Jang Young-chul would never have apologized like this. If it had happened at his store, he was sure that the words ‘I’m sorry’ would never have come out of his mouth.

But this wasn’t just his issue.

In any case, if it was said that a customer was assaulted by the owner at the cafe, the overall image of the cafe would inevitably decline. But the owner of that cafe was Kang Jin-ho, and the owners of the cafe were his colleagues and peers.

Because he couldn’t hold back once, all of them were about to suffer damage.

“What should we do? Should we release it right away?”

Koo Jung-beom said, slightly shrugging his shoulders. Although Jang Young-chul was apologizing, he didn’t think Jang Young-chul was at fault. If someone threw hot coffee in your face, it was stranger to hold back.

“It won’t mean much.”

However, Lee Hyun-joo was skeptical.

“Positive things or excuses don’t have as much impact as negative things. Even if we post an explanation, people won’t pay much attention to it.”

“No, but the situation is so clear…”

“The reason is very simple. The news spreads through internet communities, but in reality, it’s more about the people who saw the posts in those communities telling their acquaintances. But those people don’t pass on the explanations. Because they don’t want to admit that they were hasty in hearing and spreading the news.”

“Ah…”

Koo Jung-beom understood what Lee Hyun-joo was saying.

“It means they don’t want to say ‘I was wrong about what I said before’.”

That was definitely understandable.

It was a matter of saving face.

Even Koo Jung-beom wouldn’t want to tell his acquaintances that he had falsely accused someone.

“Then does that mean that no matter how much we explain, the explanation won’t spread?”

“It’s an image problem. People are swayed by vague images rather than logic. Once a negative perception is formed, it can’t be resolved no matter how logically you refute it. It’s literally an image problem.”

“…This is difficult.”

Lee Hyun-joo turned the screen back to the beginning.

“But no matter how much I think about it, I don’t understand.”

“Huh? What?”

“Looking at the person who threw the coffee, his actions seem unnatural. It’s like they’re exaggerated, or something. It doesn’t seem like he’s genuinely angry.”

At that, everyone looked at the screen again.

“Yeah…”

“It does seem a bit…”

“It feels like they’re acting.”

Lee Hyun-joo turned her head and looked at Jang Young-chul.

“How was it? Was there anything strange?”

“…I don’t know. I was too angry even before I got hit by the coffee, so I didn’t think about it. I just thought he was a crazy person.”

It was then.

“Rewind it.”

At Kang Jin-ho’s words, Lee Hyun-joo tilted her head.

Again?

Lee Hyun-joo rewound the video. Then, Kang Jin-ho stared intently at the screen and pointed to one side.

“These people here.”

“…Yes?”

“A person caused a commotion and threw hot coffee at the counter. What are the reactions of the other people?”

“They were very surprised.”

The reactions of the people in the video were all similar. Some jumped up from their seats, some covered their mouths with both hands, and some immediately cursed, but there was a common emotion of ‘surprise’ flowing through them.

But only one table had a different reaction.

“…They’re not surprised?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

The two men sitting at the table near the counter were watching the whole scene without showing any reaction. But it wasn’t that they weren’t interested.

Even though they didn’t take their eyes off the whole scene from beginning to end, they were just watching the situation without any sign of surprise.

Even after Jang Young-chul dragged the customer out.

“They’re just filming.”

“Rewind it again.”

As the video went back again, a new fact emerged.

“These guys were getting ready to film with their phones even before the fight started?”

At Koo Jung-beom’s words, everyone’s faces hardened.

Could it be?

“…It smells fishy.”

Kang Jin-ho also nodded.

Looking back, everything was unnatural. No matter how angry you are, does it make sense to throw that hot coffee onto the counter?

“Then someone deliberately caused this… but why?”

“I told you before.”

Kang Jin-ho answered calmly.

“Image is important. As long as they can spread the word that a negative incident happened, that’s all they need, right?”

“So they’re trying to…”

Lee Hyun-joo shut her mouth.

It was because she thought that this might not be a simple matter.

“Lee Hyun-joo.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Dig into it. There’s definitely something there.”

“Yes!”

Kang Jin-ho stared at the screen for a moment before turning his head to look at Jang Young-chul.

“But…”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“There was an argument before the coffee was thrown. What was the reason for the raised voices?”

“Well, that crazy guy… no, that customer…”

“Customer?”

“He asked for a hot iced Americano!”

“So I just gave him an Americano, and then he started yelling that it wasn’t a hot iced Americano and that I couldn’t understand what he was saying…”

Kang Jin-ho quietly stood up from his seat and approached Jang Young-chul.

Then, he placed his hand on Jang Young-chul’s shoulder, who was slightly intimidated.

“…You’ve worked hard.”

Kang Jin-ho was someone who could praise Jang Young-chul just for not hitting him in the head right there.