Chapter 138 – Preparing for the Contest.

In June, the weather got quite hot.
However, I devoted myself to exercising while preparing for the Seoul National Sports Festival selection in early July.
Of course, during the day, I was busy with the food franchise and Heekyung Distribution business.

Occasionally, Sungyeol hyung of Mirae Health would call and discuss the current sales status and minor problems.
Sales of chitosan products showed no signs of decreasing even after a month had passed, but rather increased.
It was fortunate that we had prepared the stock several months in advance.

I thought that if the sales boom continued like this, there would be no need to recruit members in multiple stages.
And there was also a way to launch a new product around the time sales were declining.
I was already thinking of aloe products for new products.

This is good and that is good, so I left the future health entirely to Sungyeol-hyung and focused on my work.

It’s been more than 15 months since I had my first kiss with Suyeong noona, but I couldn’t see her face.
We only talked on the phone a few times, and every time I called, Suyeong-noona did aegyo saying that she misses me.

It was said that Sooyoung noona is also working hard in practice because she is participating in the Seoul National Sports Festival selection.
They encouraged each other to work hard and go to the National Sports Festival.

Rather than wanting to see Sooyoung noona like that, it was better for her to ask how she was doing and talk while laughing.
Sooyoung noona kissed me because she liked me and asked me to date her, but she felt more like Sooyoung noona’s female friend.

Perhaps it was because she hadn’t experienced it physically like other women.
However, if I could, I wanted to keep taking this feeling with me.
Isn’t there a law saying that if I see a woman, I’m going to fall for it and have sex with it?

Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone like that who asks each other how they are and cheers each other on?
Of course, if Soo-yeong noona was next to her, she might have already wiped it off, but…
Okay. I am Seongjin Lee!!

It was the second week of June.

Finally, the interior of the chicken franchise main store is finished.
After the last preparation work, we decided to open it on Friday.

In the evening, I looked around the store alone and checked to see if anything was missing, but I felt uncomfortable that something was missing to open it as it is.

I went out of the store and looked at the signboard, and checked the interior and kitchen, but there was nothing that could clearly tell the uniqueness of our store.
It just seemed like it would give the feeling of just opening another clean whole chicken restaurant in the neighborhood.

We are trying to introduce a different type of chicken called Crispy Chicken, which has never been shown outside of Kentucky.

However, there was no way to properly publicize it other than posting advertisements or articles on broadcasts.
Other than the well-decorated interior of the store, there was nothing to let people know at a glance, ‘Wow, this is what they sell here’.

I kept looking around the store and pondering what to do.
I tried to remember what successful chicken restaurants in the future did.
Then, when I looked inside the store, I saw that the menu was written only in letters.

‘Ah! Photo menus and chicken posters.’

I will definitely do TV commercials later, but I needed something that could clearly show what Crispy Chicken is.
So I thought that I should take a picture of Crispy Chicken’s beautiful appearance and paste it outside the store.

I immediately called Mrs. Hyo-seon and asked her to come to the store.
After a while, Hyo-seon, who came running in, instructed her to take pictures of each type of Crispy Chicken she had just thought of, make a poster, and make a menu board to stick on the wall.
Aunt Hyo-seon also said it was a good idea, and she clapped her hands in delight.

The next day, as soon as Mrs. Hyo-seon went to work, she called all over the place and brought in a useful commercial company.
When she explained the concept of the menu board and poster, she suggested using the poster and menu board of a fast food restaurant like Lotteria.

That’s exactly what I had in mind, so I immediately gave an ok sign and asked to get to work.

There were three types of Crispy Chicken: regular Crispy Chicken, Spicy Crispy Chicken, and Seasoned Crispy Chicken.
In the future, I plan to increase items such as soy sauce chicken, garlic chicken, and green onion chicken, but now was the time to let people know what Crispy Chicken is.

While I was making posters, I asked them to make them in large quantities so that they could be put up in neighborhood rooms.
I needed time to make posters and menus, so I had no choice but to postpone the opening of the chicken restaurant to next week.

In the meantime, I went to the paperwork to apply for the high school graduation exam.
I applied at a certain high school in Yongsan, but when I went there, I was rejected.

Damn it! Those who had been expelled from high school could only take the test after at least six months had passed since they had been expelled.
However, those who took a leave of absence or are currently attending high school could take the test right away.
If I had known this would happen, I would have had no choice but to take a leave of absence from school and take the GED, regretting it.

When I went home, I was spurned by my mother and said that I had just come without being able to submit documents.
I decided to take the GED in April next year, and I thought it was good because I could focus on work and exercise.

A few days later, there was a Crispy Chicken photo shoot at the store.
Freshly fried chicken was placed in a bowl in an appetizing way, placed on a table with multiple reflectors installed, and a photographer took pictures from various angles.
I was surprised to see that it took more hands than I thought to take a picture of chicken.

Then I thought about how it would be to hire a model to make a poster for this shoot.
I thought it would be okay to use Sooyoung noona as a model.
After all, if he became famous later, he would not be able to use it because it would be expensive, so he thought of making a chicken model for us.

I was thinking about that myself, and while the photo shoot was going on, the door opened and Kyung-mi came in.
After coming to the office yesterday and hearing that they were filming a poster today, it was Kyung-mi who was curious and asked what time the filming was taking place.
It seemed that he ran straight to the store as soon as school was over.

As high school uniforms became compulsory this year, Kyung-mi wore a purple school uniform skirt with a bow tie around her neck on her white blouse.
It was as pretty as an angel.

Kyungmi looked at me and when she smiled brightly, she ran up to me and crossed my arms to greet me.
She then began to watch as if she were curious about the photo shoot.

I thought it would be nice to use Suyeong noona as a commercial model a while ago, but now I see that she has the perfect beauty to be a commercial model.
I nodded her head while looking at her with a smile, and she looked at me strangely.

When the shooting was finished, I asked the photographer to take more pictures of chicken with Kyungmi as her model.
When they said it wouldn’t be difficult if they gave me more money, I said I would pay extra and asked for Kyungmi’s photo shoot.
At my request, Kyung-mi was flustered and restless, and Aunt Hyo-seon actively agreed, saying that she likes Gyeong-mi because she is pretty.

“My dear. Just take a shot. Our Kyungmi is pretty, so I think it would suit her very well.”

When I spoke softly and smiled, Kyungmi also prepared for the shoot with strange anticipation.
Aunt Hyo-seon took foundation and red rouge from her bag and applied them to Gyeong-mi. Kyung-mi, who was like her student, quickly transformed into a mature and beautiful lady.

“Wow. Our Kyungmi makeup is so pretty.”

Not only me, but everyone in her store admired her appearance, and she made her face proud while blushing as if she was embarrassed.

Finally, the shooting of her Gyeongmi started, and when her photographer asked for various poses, she followed Gyeongmi easily, and it suited her very well.
She was very amused, saying that a person who is also a beginner photographer has a good expression and quickly follows the request.

She definitely inherited her mother’s blood from Miss Korea, so she laughed easily for a while and saw Kyung-mi working on her shoot, thinking that if she raised her well, maybe she could succeed as a celebrity. Heard this

After she finished filming, the photographer said she would make a poster draft the day after tomorrow and bring it back.

Kyung-mi must have been excited about her first commercial shoot, so her cheeks turned red and she had a hazy gaze.
I wondered if she had cheated on a kid who was doing well in school, but I was determined to actively support her if she said that she would do her modeling job.

Aunt Hyo-seon said she had urgent business to do, so she went back first, leaving only Kyung-mi and Gyung-mi to clean up the empty store.
She had a lot of chicken left over from the shoot, so she decided to pack her up and take it home.
I asked as we walked slowly towards the house with Kyungmi and her arms crossed.

“Kyung-mi, how do you feel about filming today?”
“Huh. Nice I must be a little bit like my mother. It wasn’t that difficult to shoot. It was rather fun.”

“Okay? Then, Kyung-mi, would you like to try modeling? If she says Gyeong-mi says, her brother will push her hard.”
“And. Really? It’s exciting that her brother is pushing her hard.”

Kyung-mi seemed to be happy with my words. She smiled brightly and clung to my arm, shaking her arm.

“But brother, I’m fine.”
“Why? Looking at it today, Kyungmi is so pretty and she looks so good on her.”
“I… Oppa…”

She looked at me and hesitated to see if she wanted to say something.

“Huh? Why?”
“I am. Should I take the GED like my brother?”

“Eh? What does that mean all of a sudden?”
“Younghee unnie, mom, Junghee aunties, and Hyosun aunties all work together next to my brother. I want to work next to you too.”

I looked at Kyeong-mi with an absurd face.
When Kyung-mi came to my office every day and saw Aunt Jeong-hee and Hyo-seon, who had recently joined, she must have been very envious of the smiling faces of them working next to me.
I stroked the lovely Kyeong-mi’s hair.

“My dear. It’s okay even if I don’t help you. And now you have to study, make friends, and enjoy school life. My older brother doesn’t like it when you’re young already work.”
“Why? My brother hasn’t graduated from school yet, and Younghee unnie has been working since last year.”

“That’s because Younghee noona had to make a living. But you don’t have to worry about making a living. Isn’t Aunt Hyejeong also like this?”
“No. I haven’t told my mom yet. But if my mom says I’ll take my GED and learn to work next to her brother, she’ll say yes.”

“Well, Auntie Hyejeong, because she believes in me.. But Kyungmi oppa loves our Kyungmi so much. I would be happy if you came by my side, but I also want Kyeong-mi to find something fun that suits her aptitude and do it. And if you do, he will do his best to help you succeed.”
“Huh. Know. That oppa would push me to the end. So, like everyone else, I want to be by your side and help you. Oppa, allow me to work next to you.”

“Okay. Then, tell Hyejeong today. If the auntie allows it, she will work from then on when she turns 19 like Yeonghee noona. How is it?”
“Huh. I can do it from now on…”

“Uh huh. Won’t you listen to our pretty Kyungmi oppa? First of all, study hard. You can’t use a child who can’t even study. You know that Younghee noona did well in her studies, right?”

Gyung-mi grumbled for a moment, then when she told her that she had to study well like older sister Yeong-hee, she said that she would understand, and a fighting spirit burned in her eyes.
It was a very simple slight.

She appeased Kyungmi and went to her house and talked for a while while eating chicken with her mother and Seonghun.

Two days later, a photographer came to her office with a draft.
The photos of each type of Crispy Chicken came out very satisfactory.

However, the photo that actually caught our attention was a photo of Kyungmi smiling while holding a Crispy Chicken leg.
She said that her mother also works.

Not only my mother, but Auntie Jung-hee and Aunt Hyo-seon were slightly envious, saying that the pictures came out very pretty.
The photographer was also satisfied, saying that he had taken the best model picture in his photography life.

I asked to make two types of posters.
I asked them to make both a poster with different types of chicken and a poster with Kyungmi holding the chicken.

To be honest, Kyungmi came out so pretty that the chicken was hard to see.
However, I could never give up the poster with Kyungmi in it.
Kyungmi came out so pretty that she thought that even if she didn’t put it on, she would keep it as a family heirloom.

After talking about work, the photographer who was about to leave quietly called me and asked me if I would ever consider modeling Kyungmi.
She said that if she took a picture of her makeup roughly like this, if she took it properly, it would probably turn out to be a great picture.

The photographer, who seemed to be in his mid-thirties, was talking with a serious face.
I looked into his eyes for a while, then smiled and gave him a business card and told him to go.
Then the photographer took out a business card from her wallet, handed it to me with both hands, and asked me to take a picture of her again, and left.

I came into the office and called Sungyeol-hyung and asked him to do a background check on a person, and Sungyeol-hyung said he would find out and contact me right away.
When I called Sungryeol-hyung to ask him to investigate the background of the person, Auntie Jung-hee and Aunt Hyo-seon were looking at me, wondering what was going on.

I laughed and told him that the photographer had said he wanted to raise Kyungmi as a model a while ago, and I also said that I wished Kyungmi to be a model.
Aunts Jung-hee and Aunt Hyo-seon said in unison that they hoped things would go well as if it were their daughter’s job.
They are really my women, but they are very lovely women.