After finishing the call, Kim Hyosan sat in a daze, staring blankly at his smartphone.
Jeon Seongryeol skillfully led the conversation, showing neither disappointment nor triumph.
He simply emphasized that the situation had become unavoidable.
– “An excellent opportunity came from Baekdu Hotel, so we naturally had to accept it.”
– “In fact, we never had a formal supply contract with West Sea Hotel, so we were quite confused. We repeatedly pleaded, but your purchasing department didn’t want to switch to another supplier. Of course, I understand.”
– “Matsutake supply? We’re already short on supplies for Baekdu Hotel, haha.”
It wasn’t that he had betrayed anyone.
The situation had just turned out this way.
Jeon Seongryeol made that point clear, and Kim Hyosan couldn’t refute it.
All he could do was appeal to sentiment.
“We have a very important reservation guest. Could you supply even just 20kg? It’s crucial for our restaurant’s long-time regular.”
– “I can’t promise, but I’ll try my best.”
Kim Hyosan muttered weakly,
“Damn… the head of the purchasing department ruined everything.”
He wasn’t entirely without self-blame.
Should he have actively persuaded the head of the purchasing department?
Or even discussed it with the general manager and requested mediation?
The complacency of thinking that as long as they could get the matsutake, anything outside the hall wasn’t his concern, had come back to bite him.
Two days passed.
Those two days without any contact from Jeon Seongryeol felt like hell for Kim Hyosan.
He wanted to call and urge Jeon Seongryeol, but he knew it would backfire, so he waited patiently.
In the meantime, he had a huge fight with the head of the purchasing department, and they even grabbed each other’s collars.
As a result, even the deputy manager became aware of the situation.
“Because of you, the entire matsutake supply line is gone! Do you know how much our VIP customers love matsutake dishes?”
“You think I can’t get those special matsutake in a few months?”
“That’s nonsense! Getting fresh matsutake in the off-season is a huge advantage!”
“Come on, both of you, stop it. What are you doing?”
The deputy manager struggled to separate the two, who were fighting like children.
Kim Hyosan managed to hold onto his last bit of patience.
It’s because of the money you took from the supplier that the matsutake company is gone!
He didn’t say that in front of the deputy manager.
If he did, it would cross the line, and everything would be destroyed.
They might even have to convene an ethics disciplinary committee.
Later, the deputy manager called Kim Hyosan aside and asked,
“I know President Makimiya enjoys matsutake dishes, but is it really that serious?”
“He’s not just a fan; he’s a matsutake lover. He was thrilled to enjoy top-quality matsutake dishes even out of season. If he finds out Baekdu Hotel is getting matsutake, he might switch hotels.”
“Hmm, that would be problematic.”
The deputy manager was quite troubled.
President Makimiya wasn’t just a wealthy VIP.
The revenue he brought to the Korean restaurant wasn’t insignificant.
He generated sales of several tens of millions of won a month and tipped generously, but the most important thing was the various events he held by renting the hotel’s grand ballroom.
He frequently rented it for major events related to his business and used the hotel’s catering service more than once a month.
Many wealthy individuals became hotel customers through President Makimiya’s connections.
They, in turn, also spent freely at the hotel, held events, or used the catering service.
If President Makimiya switched to Baekdu Hotel, all those connections would be lost.
When he made a reservation at a local branch instead of the West Sea Hotel’s Seoul headquarters, Kim Hyosan even traveled there personally.
While the deputy manager sighed, Kim Hyosan checked a text message on his smartphone and jumped for joy.
“Oh yes! Thank goodness! Seongryeol Distribution is delivering 10kg of matsutake today!”
“Really? That’s a relief for now.”
“But we can’t relax, Deputy Manager. We need to quickly sign a formal supply contract with Seongryeol Distribution.”
“But what about Hanshin Distribution? We’ve been dealing with them for over ten years. How can we just cut ties for a few matsutake?”
“For a few matsutake? If President Makimiya goes to Baekdu Hotel…”
“Alright, alright. I’ll talk to the general manager, so stop fighting with the head.”
Kim Hyosan waited anxiously for the Seongryeol Distribution truck to arrive, and when he heard it had arrived, he went down to greet it personally.
“I’m sorry. This is all we can spare. We tried to meet your need for 20kg, but it’s hard to get them since it’s not the season.”
“No, thank you so much for this.”
Although it wasn’t a satisfactory amount, the fact that they delivered the quantity in three days gave Kim Hyosan hope.
But that hope was shattered the moment he returned to the hall.
“Sunbae, my friend said Baekdu Hotel received an additional 100kg of matsutake today. It arrived an hour ago.”
“What the…!”
Kim Hyosan barely stopped himself from collapsing, clutching the back of his neck.
“Just 10kg? Won’t West Sea Hotel think we’re neglecting them?”
“We delivered only 10kg on purpose. The original promise was 20kg.”
Jeon Seongryeol spoke leisurely.
“You have to set the tone from the start. If you bow too much from the beginning, it’ll be exhausting later.”
“I thought you already bowed enough before breaking into Baekdu Hotel…”
“That was before we got into Baekdu Hotel. It’s not as good as the West Sea Hotel, but Baekdu Hotel is quite decent. They were more proactive with me because they already knew about West Sea Hotel.”
“Even if it’s not the season, it’s amusing to see two luxury hotels fighting over a single matsutake.”
“What’s his name? There’s a Japanese real estate tycoon who’s a regular at West Sea Hotel and goes crazy for matsutake. Japanese businessmen can’t resist matsutake.”
“So what will you do about the West Sea Hotel?”
“I’ll see how it goes. I need to break into it, but I won’t approach it as submissively as before. We have Baekdu Hotel behind us now.”
“President, I actually have an idea.”
“What is it?”
Jeon Seongryeol asked with an expectant look, and Ha Suyoung continued nonchalantly,
“How about selling some of the matsutake to Japan? In an auction format. It seems like we could make some money.”
“…To Japan?”
Jeon Seongryeol paused for a moment.
Having only dealt with domestic distribution, the concept of export was as foreign to him as Andromeda.
The word itself was unfamiliar.
“It’s too precious to release only in the domestic market. It doesn’t matter when the quantity is small, but now we can produce 500kg a month. If we export to Japan in an auction format during this season, we’ll definitely make a tidy profit.”
The profit would be incomparable to domestic distribution.
However, Jeon Seongryeol couldn’t shake off a feeling of unease.
Export to Japan? Is there a place for me in that? Is this guy planning to go solo…?
“President, I know you don’t have export experience but think of it as gaining valuable experience and give it a try. It’s too wasteful to consume it only domestically.”
