Chapter 10

Chapter 9.

Is this the first banquet you're hosting? (2)

Hutaishi looked puzzled at the general manager's attire.

"What's this?"

"It's the general manager's attire. I'm sure you know that the L Group banquet is taking place in the ballroom."

"I know that, but…"

"VIPs might attend the dinner, and at that time, the general manager must be present."

"So you want me to wear the general manager's attire and act as the general manager…?"

Hutaishi, who was about to show his anger at Seong Hyun-woo's words, stopped speaking.

The word 'VIP' had flashed through his mind.

"So, you're saying you want me to handle the VIP protocol? Is this VIP the person I'm thinking of?"

"Yes, it is."

Seong Hyun-woo hung the general manager's attire on the hanger next to Hutaishi's desk and left the office.

Afterward, Hutaishi kept touching the general manager's attire.

But his mind was elsewhere.

"They want me to handle the protocol for the L Group chairman… So, this means the chairman's grandson is treating me like a president? If I can make a good impression on the L Group chairman in the process…"

Hutaishi smiled slyly as he said this.

After that, he moved briskly, unlike before.

First, he turned on his computer and processed the online approvals.

Then, while drinking coffee, he searched for information about the L Group and its chairman, and even studied by connecting with L Group officials.

After a simple lunch, he moved to the hotel sauna.

To him, the chairman of Mirae Group, Sung Kwan-gyu, was a god-like figure.

But the person he was meeting today was someone even Sung Kwan-gyu couldn't easily meet.

It was only natural to groom himself for such a meeting.

An hour later, the dullness that had enveloped him until yesterday was gone from his appearance.

* * *

10:00 AM.

The L Group conference began.

The employees waiting in the main hall and conference room all sighed in relief, and the facility team members in charge of the projector, sound, and lighting headed to the grand ballroom where the dinner would be held.

Choi Gyu-hyun also breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that the L Group training had started smoothly.

They say a good start is half the battle.

If things continued this way until the dinner, there was a high chance it would end successfully.

But then something happened.

"Team Leader Seong, you said to prepare lunch…"

At that moment, an L Group executive urgently sought out Seong Hyun-woo.

He spoke with an anxious expression.

"Team Leader Seong, can you prepare lunch?"

Seong Hyun-woo suppressed a smile and replied.

"You said you would prepare it yourself. Was there a mistake?"

"The catering company had an incident and can't deliver. Team Leader Seong, if the hotel can't prepare it, even sandwiches would be fine…"

"I've already prepared lunch."

"…!"

"I thought the L Group employees would prefer hotel lunch over the catering company, so I prepared it."

At that moment, his ears buzzed.

Seong Hyun-woo frowned slightly as he heard a word.

'Ballroom'

Seong Hyun-woo immediately spoke to the executive.

"I thought it would be inconvenient to move locations during the training, so I prepared boxed lunches."

"Boxed lunches? I was thinking of the ballroom, but boxed lunches sound better. Thank you, Team Leader Seong."

The L Group executive left hurriedly, leaving those words behind.

At that moment, a sigh of relief was heard from behind.

It was Choi Gyu-hyun.

"Choi, did you hear that?"

"Team Leader, I was really scared when I thought about preparing lunch in the grand ballroom."

"If we did that, we'd have to undo everything we've done so far, right?"

"That's not all. We'd be short on tablecloths, and the facility team would complain about having to redo their work, and we'd need more food and beverage staff. Team Leader, thank you so much."

Choi Gyu-hyun turned around after saying that.

Then he looked back at Seong Hyun-woo.

"Team Leader, how much should we charge for the boxed lunches?"

His eyes sparkled with the prospect of additional revenue.

Seong Hyun-woo made his eyes sparkle even more.

"Calculate it at 70,000 won per person."

"Really? Understood."

After that, Choi Gyu-hyun's steps were almost flying.

After all, a steak course meal was priced at 100,000 won per person.

Instead, house wine and champagne were provided as a complimentary service.

This was decided by Jung Hyun-jung, who had taken the reservations.

In the meantime, setting the boxed lunches at 70,000 won would be a very profitable deal.

* * *

12:00 PM.

The doors of the main hall and conference room opened wide.

The L Group employees, who had been sitting in their seats after the training, turned around.

But within 10 seconds, their expressions changed.

They opened their eyes wide at the boxed lunches brought out by the hotel staff.

"Wow!"

"What's so fancy about this?"

"Is this for us?"

"Excuse me! Do we get to choose one of the three?"

"You can have all three."

Upon hearing the hotel staff's words, the L Group employees were plunged into a pleasant dilemma.

The boxed lunches were divided into Korean, Japanese, and Chinese styles.

The Korean style featured main dishes like mushroom bulgogi, avocado abalone grill, chicken katsu, and various pancakes.

The Japanese style featured fresh sashimi of flounder, salmon, and bluefin tuna, and a dish of steamed fish, ginkgo, spinach, and matsutake in a crab shell.

The Chinese style featured imperial dishes like danwangye, dangweibi, abalone stew, meiro simmered, and lobster chili.

The Korean style used pottery as containers, the Chinese style used soup bowls and serving dishes, and the Japanese style used bento boxes made by a Japanese artist.

Just before, the atmosphere in the main hall and conference room was bleak.

This training was for the entire group's HR team.

It usually wouldn't be too serious, but this training content was about comparing with S Group and overcoming the slack in employee discipline.

In the end, it was about strictly enforcing work guidelines to increase the intensity of employees' work.

It was the year 2000.

The IMF crisis was ongoing.

The L Group employees who attended the training were both pleased and puzzled to be trained in such a hotel during such times.

But after hearing the training content, their thoughts changed.

They thought the group had chosen an expensive place to emphasize the need to tighten up the employees.

At that moment, the fancy boxed lunches arrived.

The employees, forgetting the self-loathing they felt just before, chose their lunches.

Then, an explanation of the boxed lunches followed, and the L Group employees' mouths opened even wider.

Just as they were about to start eating, luxurious carts lined up and entered.

Carts with coffee, various beverages, slice cakes, and cookies.

But that wasn't all.

A male staff member began making drinks as if putting on a cocktail show.

Exciting music also played.

"This is great!"

"Can the atmosphere change so much?"

"I thought I'd get a stomachache from eating, but I won't."

"When have we ever eaten something like this in such an atmosphere? Don't stop me. I'm going to eat two boxed lunches."

"I'm going to eat all three!"

Thus, the L Group employees forgot the heaviness of the training content and enjoyed their meals.

Seong Hyun-woo smiled as he confirmed this, but then his phone buzzed.

It was the L Group executive who had made the reservation at Mirae Hotel.

'Good!'

Seong Hyun-woo smiled even more deeply and said,

"This isn't the end."

After that, the L Group employees gasped again.

As they were patting their bellies, the hotel staff even offered carbonated drinks and digestive aids.

After lunch, the afternoon training naturally went well.

* * *

5:00 PM.

After all the training ended, the L Group employees who had been trained began to move to the grand ballroom.

Their expressions contained two things.

Relief at finishing the training and anticipation of how wonderful the dinner would be.

As they started to move, they added one more expression.

The main hall and conference room where they had been trained were on the 5th floor, and the grand ballroom was on the 4th floor.

As they tried to look at the signs, they saw hotel staff courteously guiding them.

They provided very polite and concise service to ensure the L Group employees moved smoothly.

As everyone's faces showed satisfaction, the L Group executive who had made the reservation hurried to the lobby.

At that moment, a low but clear voice was heard.

"Executive, is the chairman coming?"

It was Seong Hyun-woo.

"How did you know?"

The L Group executive stopped and asked.

"Is there any other reason for you to move so urgently?"

"Is…is that so? Anyway, I hope the hotel can prepare a bit."

"Understood."

After that, Seong Hyun-woo called Hutaishi.

Ten minutes later, Hutaishi and the L Group executive welcomed the L Group chairman.

The lobby was already set up to separate the general customers from the L Group chairman's route.

Hutaishi, looking as if he had known the chairman was coming, greeted him very elegantly.

The L Group chairman's visit to the hotel today was so sudden that even the secretary's office didn't know.

So the secretary's office chief had called while on the way.

The L Group executive saw the secretary's office chief right behind the chairman.

He seemed relieved that everything was perfectly prepared but was still on high alert.

In contrast, Seong Hyun-woo followed Hutaishi with a gentle smile, looking the most relaxed in the room.

The L Group executive checked Seong Hyun-woo's name tag again.

A short while later, the grand ballroom also went into emergency mode with the chairman's arrival.

The 500+ employees had also been informed by the executive's secretary that the chairman was coming.

But they had only learned this 5 minutes ago.

So most of the employees had a "really?" expression.

In that state, the chairman appeared.

Everyone stood up, but they couldn't help looking flustered.

At that moment, the lighting changed, and the BGM volume increased.

It was the chairman's favorite music.

The chairman's smile deepened.

But then Hutaishi started to stutter.

Having never handled protocol before, he couldn't do anything in this situation.

Seong Hyun-woo immediately took over.

He guided the chairman to the VIP seat with a very sophisticated and relaxed posture.

"Is this my seat?"

As the chairman sat down, the executives, managers, and employees began to take their seats in order.

The chairman's smile deepened even more.

The centerpiece on the VIP table, the champagne and wine poured by Seong Hyun-woo, the dishes served in courses, and the executives seated with him all pleased him.

The L Group executive and the secretary's office chief naturally felt relieved.

But one person, Hutaishi, had a different expression.

He was fidgeting with anxiety and unease, but no one paid attention to him.

* * *

At that time, news of Mirae Hotel also reached the Mirae Group secretary's office.

Secretary's Office Chief Kim Sung-wook urgently reported to Chairman Sung Kwan-gyu.

"Chairman U of the L Group is at our hotel?"

"It was a sudden visit, so even the L Group secretary's office didn't know."

"Who is greeting the chairman now?"

"It seems to be President Hutaishi, but I'm about to head there."

"Shouldn't I go?"

Sung Kwan-gyu, while saying this, tried to put on his jacket.

Kim Sung-wook took the jacket back and said,

"It's not an official visit today. If you go, Chairman U might feel uncomfortable."

"That's true. You should go quickly."

Kim Sung-wook left the chairman's office as soon as he heard this.

He got into the car waiting in the lobby, but his hands were sweating.

The L Group is a large corporation ranked within the top 5 in the business world.

It was on a completely different level compared to the 30th-ranked Mirae Group.

If this protocol went wrong and rumors spread, the entire group's image could be damaged.

It was well-known in the business world that the L Group chairman was very particular.

Moreover, unlike other large corporations, the L Group did not have its own hotel.

So, non-affiliated hotels were putting in extra effort for the L Group.

Thinking about this, Kim Sung-wook shook his head and said,

"Now is not the time to think about the future. As long as we don't offend Chairman U… Is President Hutaishi doing well? Should I call him? No, he probably won't be able to answer even if I call."

Thus, Kim Sung-wook arrived at the hotel without letting go of his phone.

But when he reached the grand ballroom, his expression changed drastically.

The L Group chairman was patting Seong Hyun-woo's back and laughing.