Chapter 9

Chapter 9

9. Hiring a Barista Just for the Boss

I'd said I was putting up a big prize, but it wasn't anything like some grand competition.

The only qualification was

‘At least one year of experience in a related field.’

The total prize money was $4,000.

Exactly twice the prize from the cocktail competition held on the beach last year.

As for advertising, all I'd done was post it on social media and ask the owner of Big Ross Farm to put it on the Hawaii Coffee Association bulletin board.

Maybe ten contestants at most?

How many people would really enter a competition held by some tiny café?

But my prediction missed the mark spectacularly.

New mail: 159.

We had a staggering 159 applications.

The scale of the competition had already grown far beyond anything we could reasonably handle.

“Frank, at this point, didn't every barista in Hawaii apply?”

“Haha······.”

It wasn't much of an exaggeration.

The Hawaiian job sites I'd searched while looking for a barista had fewer than two hundred barista openings listed.

“Fortunately, quite a few applicants don't actually meet the qualifications. If we exclude those whose experience was serving rather than making coffee, we should be able to accommodate the rest somehow. ”

“No. Just tell everyone to come.”

“Pardon? But our hotel isn't equipped to handle a competition this large! With that many people, even the amount of beans we'd have to provide······.”

“It's already blown up this big, so let's stop worrying about the money. ”

“Pardon?”

“We'll have more than a hundred contestants gathering here. At that point, it's basically a festival, isn't it? Let's treat it as festival promotion!”

When things get this big, you go all the way!

Like those old neighborhood feasts where they'd slaughter a whole pig!

***

That afternoon, at Big Ross Farm.

“Puhahaha! I bet it's chaos over there by now.”

“Boss bad.”

“What did I do? He asked me to help, so I helped! ”

“Woo-jin comes all the time and buys drinks. But Boss bullies him. Boss get punished later.”

“Oh my? Listen to you. Anyone hearing that would think I really bullied him. Woo-jin asked me first, you know?”

“Woo-jin never asked Boss to turn advertisement into main notice.”

“Isn't this better? I even promoted it for him on my own. If I'd just posted it normally, they wouldn't even have gotten ten people.”

Yanya, the owner of Big Ross Farm, kept bursting into laughter as she imagined Woo-jin tearing his hair out.

It had all started with one phone call.

He'd asked whether there was any site where he could advertise the barista competition his hotel was holding.

Of course there was.

The announcement board of the HCA, an organization she belonged to.

HCA(Hawaii Coffee Association).

An organization encompassing the entire industry, from coffee farms to roasting, distribution, and cafés.

And Yanya, owner of Big Ross Farm, which supplied some of the HCA's finest beans, wielded nearly absolute influence there.

Enough to turn an insignificant advertisement into the main announcement.

Of course, it hadn't been done entirely out of malice.

‘He said he wanted to serve the best coffee, so naturally he'll need the best barista, right? He'll suffer a little, but he should thank me.’

“Boss, time to work.”

“Yeah, I suppose we've rested enough. Let's get up. We need to pick hard today if we're going to meet our quota.”

Just as Yanya and the workers were heading back toward the coffee trees,

- Ring-ring-ring.

“Look at that. Woo-jin's calling! He must be having a really hard time.”

“Boss, stop laughing and answer.”

“Okay, okay. Hello? Woo-jin! That announcement's getting a ton of views. How many applicants did you get? One hundred fifty-nine? Puhahaha! Ah, my stomach hurts.”

She was laughing so hard tears were starting to form.

But her laughter didn't last long.

“What? Four hundred kilograms of 100% Kona beans? Don't tell me you're using our beans for the competition. You are? Woo-jin, are you insane? Do you even know how much that would cost? No, no, forget the money. That's an impossible amount to prepare in the first place!”

As the call dragged on, shadows began spreading across the workers' faces as well.

“Whew, fine. ”

After ending the call, Yanya awkwardly scratched the back of her head and reluctantly spoke.

“Haha. So... we're pulling an all-nighter starting today. Everyone okay with that?”

“Boss do alone! Boss did bad thing. Why we get punished too!”

“Woo-jin says he'll pay double. You still don't want to?”

At the word double, the workers' complaints quickly died down.

It was hard to refuse.

There were plenty of buyers who begged for lower prices, but Woo-jin was the only one who offered to pay extra.

“We work until morning. Woo-jin really best. Pays lots of money and gives drinks. Boss should learn even half from Woo-jin.”

“Right. Boss has awful personality.”

“Hey! What does my personality have to do with this!”

“Boss angry again!”

“See? Bad personality!”

And at that same moment, there was one other person every bit as furious as Yanya.

***

The president's office at Waikiki Sun Beach.

- Bang.

“What the hell do those HCA bastards see in that pathetic hotel that makes them advertise for it!”

It had been exactly one month since he'd ordered that anything concerning Hale Makani be reported directly to him.

“Does this make any sense? They already held their own competition! We even let them use our expensive banquet hall for free three months ago! ”

The chairman's anger was entirely justified.

He himself had worked tirelessly to build influence within the HCA.

Not only were they a supply channel for premium beans used by the hotel,

but the reporters who followed their annual coffee competition always mentioned his hotel, the venue, in their online articles.

But that was all.

They had never shown him the kind of brazen favor that put his hotel's name right on the site's main announcement.

And the more he reread the announcement, the more absurd it seemed.

“Ha! Four thousand dollars for first place? They're really overreaching for a little hole-in-the-wall! Wait. Elina, didn't you say they didn't even have a café?”

“Yes. They're holding the competition to celebrate its opening. It appears their goal is to recruit a barista.”

“Really? Hah, so they're rookies after all. They're making one hell of a blunder.”

At the words recruit a barista, the chairman's lips curled back into a grin.

“Elina, what percentage of our hotel's revenue last year came from food and beverages?”

“23.7%.”

“Exactly. Pathetic, isn't it? Walk a little down the street and you're surrounded by famous restaurants and bars. No idiot is going to pay for overpriced food inside a hotel.”

It was the fate of hotels along Waikiki Beach.

They could charge premium room rates for the ocean view, but when it came to food and beverage sales, they had practically given up on turning a profit.

Under those circumstances, pouring that much money into a lounge café was proof they hadn't even bothered with proper market research.

“Maybe I've been wasting my time worrying about them. ”

A thirty-room hotel holding a competition with a $4,000 prize?

Add all the incidental expenses, and even surrendering their entire net revenue for the month probably wouldn't cover it.

“Would you like me to monitor the progress of the competition as well?”

“No, leave it. They'll only lose money anyway. More importantly, what happened with those celebrities we hired for our promotion?”

“With next year's contingency budget added in, we were able to secure an Asian travel NewTuber with over two million followers and the popular Japanese idol group 4X. ”

Two photographs were placed on the desk.

One showed a plainly dressed NewTuber wearing a travel backpack,

while the other showed idol singers dancing brilliantly onstage.

“What? Don't tell me these two cost the same. ”

“No. The idol group is significantly more expensive. ”

“We haven't paid the deposit yet, right?”

“No. It's scheduled to be transferred tomorrow.”

“Then drop this one. Makes the hotel look cheap.”

The chairman shoved the NewTuber's photo off toward the corner.

“Let's focus on these singers. Who knows? Maybe they'll become as famous as BTX someday! They're Asian too, right? Wahaha! ”

***

- Ding.

“What the?”

Travel NewTuber Lee Han-sol frowned and picked up his phone at the sudden email arriving before dawn.

Subject: [Waikiki Sun Beach Hotel] Notice of Withdrawal of Promotional Collaboration Offer

──────────────

Message:

Hello,

This is Claire Bennett from the Marketing Department at Waikiki Sun Beach Hotel.

First, we sincerely thank you for your interest in the promotional collaboration proposal we previously sent.

However, during our internal review, our budget allocation plan was adjusted, and we regret to inform you that we must withdraw the offer.

We apologize once again for any inconvenience this may cause.

Thank you.

Claire Bennett

Waikiki Sun Beach Hotel Marketing Department

──────────────

“Haah. This is bad. I've already planned out the whole schedule······. ”

A completely one-sided notification.

But he'd already booked every location in Hawaii where he planned to film.

‘I already told my subscribers I was going to Hawaii, so I can't just cancel the trip. I only need to find another hotel, right?’

Rubbing the sleep from his face, Lee Han-sol hurriedly opened a hotel booking site.

【TrapBible Monthly Satisfaction Rankings】

1. Hale Makani(★★★★★): 4.73

──────────────

⚠50% SALE IN PROGRESS

All rooms half off regular price.

──────────────

2. Waikiki Sun Beach(★★★★☆): 4.35

···

“Huh? A 4.7 rating at this price?”

There was no need to scroll any farther.

The number-one-rated hotel was unbelievably cheap.

But he couldn't simply book it without thinking.

His years of travel experience had taught him that cheap places were cheap for a reason.

‘I'll just check first.’

Lee Han-sol tapped the call button.

(Hale Makani Hotel. How may I help you?)

“Hello. I had a question about reservations. Is it really fifty percent off for three nights starting January 12?”

(Yes, that's correct. A coffee-related event will be held at our hotel during that period, so promotional rates are currently in effect.)

“A coffee event?”

(Yes, a barista competition. Audio equipment and announcements will be used from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the 13th. The lobby may also be more crowded than usual.)

In other words, the hotel might be noisy and chaotic for the entire day.

“Perfect!”

(Pardon?)

“Ah, nothing. I'll book it right now!”

Half-price rooms, plus content to film.

For NewTuber Lee Han-sol, it was the perfect hotel.

© Kim Mangcho#1ond5