I’m Trying to Monopolize the Second Round, Episode 4
“Ah. It’s Uhyeok.”
The waiter, who had been scowling, sighed as he saw him.
“A rich pain-in-the-ass is here causing a scene again. Says he won’t come again if he doesn’t get his nomination—but do you think that’s up to me?”
“Even the doubles are all full?”
“Box 1 has been packed with reservations from the start. Anyway… I heard you’re handling Box 4? You weren’t forced into it, right?”
Perhaps because he hadn’t seen the fight, he still treated him like the youngest waiter.
“As expected, you’re the only one who worries about me, Myeonggi-hyung. We’ll take this room—Box 4 will go in.”
“Box 4?”
“Yes. Anyway, looking at the situation, it seems there aren’t any spare hosts left, so we should take the bomb too. In exchange, please comp us a bottle of liquor.”
“The liquor is no problem, but are you sure? If you end up fanning the flames for no reason…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll somehow hold onto her for today.”
Perhaps thinking he would naturally get turned down, Myeonggi’s face was skeptical.
But it was better than not letting anyone in at all.
“Alright. Got it.”
Uhyeok immediately called for Jeong Utae and Son Seokhwan.
“This is a real battle faster than expected. Keep in mind what I told you.”
Unlike Son Seokhwan, who nodded, Jeong Utae remained expressionless.
Knock, knock—
Tapping the door lightly, Uhyeok was the first to enter the room.
The woman, who had been looking in the mirror, sighed as soon as she saw Uhyeok and Jeong Utae following in.
But that lasted only a moment; when she saw Son Seokhwan, she said nothing.
Myeonggi-hyung, who had been carefully watching, set a bottle of liquor on the table with a bright smile.
“These are Zeus’s hidden aces. You definitely won’t be disappointed!”
With those words, he escaped the room as if fleeing.
Three men with a woman sitting with her arms crossed and a frown.
It was an awkward situation, but Uhyeok instead smiled brightly.
“Shall we sit down first?”
“Without introductions? All three of you?”
“Just pay for the drinks today.”
“Fine. Whatever. But if it’s not fun, you’re all out immediately.”
“Yes. Of course.”
Knowing her gaze was subtly directed toward Son Seokhwan, Uhyeok seated him next to the woman.
“By the way, these are faces I’m seeing for the first time?”
“They were all hiding like jewels.”
“Jewels? Funny. You’re from Box 4, right? A place full of rejects. That’s why I haven’t seen them.”
At the word “rejects,” Jeong Utae’s cheek twitched.
In contrast, Son Seokhwan formed a smile on his cold face and looked down at the woman.
“Did something bad happen?”
“There’s always something bad. I mean, I just saw rejects like you here.”
“Is that so? I’ll comfort you.”
“How?”
“If you ask me to sing, I’ll sing. If you ask me to dance, I’ll dance.”
The woman’s smile deepened.
“Enthusiastic, aren’t you?”
“If I’m going to comfort you, that much is obvious.”
When her eyes met Son Seokhwan’s, she subconsciously turned her head.
Uhyeok saw through that and inwardly cheered.
*It worked. As expected of Son Seokhwan?*
He was acting exactly as instructed—to feel as if she were the woman he loved while inside the room.
Uhyeok tapped Jeong Utae’s thigh and pointed at the microphone.
“A calm song. A ballad.”
Jeong Utae, unable to properly attract attention, stood up and sang.
Like his appearance, his singing skill was ruggedly straightforward.
“Guest. I’ll go get some more side dishes.”
When she waved her hand as if annoyed, Uhyeok winked at Son Seokhwan and slipped out of the room.
As soon as he got out, Uhyeok found Myeonggi.
“You didn’t go overboard again, did you?”
“No. As you said, our shop’s aces are working hard.”
“Phew. That’s a relief.”
Even among the customers who came to Zeus, she was one whose spending ranked in the top ten.
However, she couldn’t keep a designated host for long due to her terrible personality, so everyone avoided taking her.
“Hyung. You’re grateful to me, right? So, do me a favor.”
“I’m busy today. Ask someone else.”
“The other waiters don’t like me. Even if I ask, they’ll do it late on purpose—are you trying to make me go overboard again?”
As Myeonggi let out a light sigh, Uhyeok took out his card and a ten-thousand-won bill, handing them over.
“La Prairie White Caviar Eye Extraordinaire powder, shade No. 1. And ask the clerk there to recommend a non-irritating cleansing tissue too.”
“What? La Prairie? They only sell that at department stores. You’re planning to invest that much in that woman?”
“Because I can’t fail the tutorial from the start.”
Myeonggi’s face brightened at the three additional ten-thousand-won bills that came out.
“I’ll send it express for you.”
“Yes. Thank you. As expected, hyung is the best.”
After that, Uhyeok went in and out of the room like a waiter until closing time.
Jeong Utae literally kept singing like background music.
In other words, it meant she liked Son Seokhwan enough for that.
“Did you enjoy yourself today?”
“Moderately.”
She waved her hand without even looking.
When Uhyeok glanced at Son Seokhwan, he handed over the package he was holding.
The woman’s pupils widened ever so slightly as she took it without much thought.
“What? It’s the powder I use. This is pretty expensive?”
It wasn’t just pretty expensive—it was very expensive.
A powder not even the size of a palm cost a whopping 300,000 won.
Son Seokhwan delivered the lines as Uhyeok had told him beforehand.
“When I first entered the room, I saw it was broken. You seemed depressed because of it. Didn’t I say I’d comfort you today?”
The woman’s face turned red.
This was a positive signal.
When Uhyeok sent another glance to Son Seokhwan, he spoke once more.
“I also have cleansing tissues, so make sure to remove your makeup before bed. Your pretty… face shouldn’t get ruined.”
“…”
Jeong Utae’s cheek, who had been listening from the side, twitched.
It was cringeworthy to hear, but not to the woman who was tipsy from a fair amount of alcohol.
Averting her gaze again, she nodded.
“Yeah. Okay. Ah, right. You’re the new main host of Box 4, aren’t you?”
The woman handed her business card to Uhyeok and said,
“Seokhwan. I’ll make a reservation, so always keep your schedule open.”
“Of course. We’ll see you again.”
Only after the car had moved far away did the three raise their heads.
“How was the tutorial?”
“Like you said, I treated her thinking she was really the person I love. We got along better than I thought. In conversation and values too.”
“Of course. That woman is the president of an entertainment company.”
Uhyeok said, raising the business card pinched between his fingers.
[DIO Entertainment]
[General CEO I Gyeonga]
Although he had been kicked out, his eye for talent in the entertainment industry couldn’t have changed much.
*Of course, I had also predicted her gaze would fall on Son Seokhwan.*
Son Seokhwan’s expression grew complicated at Uhyeok’s attitude, as if he knew about his past.
He had never told anyone at this shop that he was a former trainee.
“It’s our first time teaming up today, so shall we have gukbap together to commemorate?”
“…Sure.”
Son Seokhwan was startled by the hoarse, metallic voice coming from beside him.
Jeong Utae’s voice, having sung all night, was half-shot.
* * *
Steaming hot sundae gukbap was placed before the three, who were still awkward with each other.
“Did you predict all that with the cosmetics?”
“That woman, Gyeonga, has strong pride, but she’s moved by attentiveness.”
Actually, most women were like that.
“What about next time? You can’t take care of customers like this every time.”
“Of course. Today was a tutorial, so I spent money specially. From next time, make her a regular with your own ability.”
“You want me to dance or something?”
“You were a trainee. Can’t you even do that?”
Seeing his face look wounded in pride for a moment, Uhyeok set down the spoon he was holding with a clack.
“That woman kicks up a fuss every day. She’s within the top ten in store sales. If you hold onto just her, it’s more than enough to be called an ace. Did you think it would be easy to make such a woman a regular?”
If they saw the settlement amount coming in tomorrow, both Son Seokhwan and Jeong Utae’s eyes would flip.
Because it would be an amount they hadn’t been able to earn all this time.
Thinking he had to get a firm grip on them this time, Uhyeok glared at the two.
“If you look at what I did today, you’ll know I have no intention of living while worrying about collections after barely managing Box 4. I’m going to expand the scale somehow and move up. If you guys are thinking of acting foolishly and roughly like drifters, tell me anytime. I’ll transfer you to Box 3.”
Son Seokhwan hung his head low at Uhyeok’s pointed words.
He had momentarily forgotten his own situation.
“No. I spoke out of turn.”
“Yeah. It’s a thorny path now, but glory will come soon. Just trust me.”
Unlike Son Seokhwan, who was nodding, Jeong Utae had already emptied a bowl with clattering sounds and looked at him.
“Can I have another bowl?”
“Eat as many as you want.”
“Thanks.”
Uhyeok also smiled as he looked at Jeong Utae smiling brightly.
Unlike Son Seokhwan, he wasn’t attentive or charming, but there was a good reason to keep Jeong Utae by his side.
*Because even if not now, he’s a guy as useful as Son Seokhwan.*
* * *
Finishing a light meal and returning home, Uhyeok looked at the receipt in his hand and let out a bitter smile.
The amount spent was 400,000 won—hardly something you could call just a meal and some cosmetics.
It was three months’ rent for the semi-basement he lived in.
*If Seonghwan-hyung saw this, he’d say I’m crazy.*
Yet the reason Uhyeok could be unfazed was that he had earned far more than he had spent.
“Mister, your newspaper.”
The sports daily reported the World Cup match results held yesterday.
Even the goal counts turned out exactly as he remembered.
[Ireland : Cameroon, 1:1 Draw]
[Germany : Saudi Arabia, 8:0 Win]
[Uruguay : Denmark, 1:2 Loss]
Calculating with the odds of the three matches—2.95, 1.29, 3.03—
*11.53 times.*
If he had bet just 100,000 won, it would be 1,153,066 won.
Since Uhyeok had split it into 50 bets of 100,000 won each, the total winnings were—
*57,653,300 won.*
He had earned over 50 million won even after excluding the principal, so he couldn’t feel sick over a mere 300,000 won.
“Looks like no sleep again today. Tsk.”
It was time to harvest the money he had sown.
No, more precisely, was it time to sow even bigger than what he had sown?