Earnings Surprise.
It occurred when a company’s reported profit was better than what was initially expected.
Choi Taemin’s mobile company had an earnings surprise this quarter. This should’ve been a happy day. Choi Gunwon gathered his children around and informed them of the importance of being innovative. When the family meeting was over and Choi Gunwon left, the oldest son Choi Taemin stopped Choi Gichul.
“Don’t be such a baby. Be a man.” Choi Gichul couldn’t answer right away.
When they were young, Choi Taemin was often violent with Choi Gichul. It was not a normal childhood and he still tensed when Choi Taemin was around.
Choi Taemin frowned when Choi Gichul didn’t answer. He said his brother’s name menacingly.
“Choi Gichul.”
Choi Gichul recovered and replied. “Yes, sir.”
Choi Taemin tapped his brother’s shoulder and left. Choi Gichul bowed to the future CEO of the family business.
A bottle of Royal Salute was half empty, but Woosung still felt wide awake, unlike Park Jonghyun who was asleep on the sofa. Woosung kept rubbing his glass and murmured.
“He’ll come. He won’t come. He’ll come. He won’t come.”
Woosung organized his plan for the night in his mind and continued to murmur. There was no CCTV in the hallway or any of the private rooms in this bar. Unless he makes a mistake, Woosung knew he could come and go without leaving any evidence of him being there.
“Drink…I love it…More…Hmmm.”
Park Jonghyun talked in his sleep but Woosung didn’t pay attention. He was waiting. He was focused on any noises outside the room. He knew this was the day it happened, but Woosung wasn’t sure if this was the right bar.
The bar’s name was The Royal, and Woosung knew this was the place Choi Gichul frequented. However, this didn’t mean he would be here today. He just had to trust the information he gathered.
He prayed his guess was right.
‘Please come. I will make your life a living hell.’
Woosung heard a commotion.
“Nooo!”
“W…what’s going on?”
Crash.
Woosung changed into the waiter’s uniform and ran out of the room towards the noise.
It was easy to find him. Choi Gichul was so drunk his eyes looked dead. He was holding a broken bottle like a knife.
“Pigs! Do you know who I am?” Choi Gichul swung the sharp bottle. The people surrounding him stepped back.
“Please sir, you need to stop.”
“You’re going to hurt someone.”
“Call someone for help.”
The bartenders and the waiters were all big men, but they couldn’t touch Choi Gichul. He was the son of Daeyang Group’s CEO. They were not allowed to touch him.
Choi Gichul threw a bottle at a waiter. The young man dodged but the bottle hit the wall and shattered all over the pavement.
A woman screamed from behind Choi Gichul. In the room were his friends who were assaulting a waitress.
“Hahaha, Gichul has gone crazy today.”
“This is fun!”
His friends were just like him. They sneered and didn’t make any effort to stop him. They seemed to be enjoying the situation.
One of the concerned waiters finally protested to the manager. “We need to do something. This is going to end badly.”
“Dammit! There is nothing I can do. Don’t you know as soon as we try to stop him, we are all dead?”
“Umm…should I try to grab the bottle from him?”
“Look at him. He’s crazy. He’ll kill you if you get close.”
“Then all we can do is wait for the director…”
They were frightened, but nothing could be done. Then a man in a waiter’s uniform came up to Choi Gichul and punched him in the face.
It was a solid punch. Choi Gichul collapsed as he dropped the bottle.
The man didn’t stop there. He body-slammed Choi Gichul and continued to punch him.
Choi Gichul started to vomit everywhere. While he laid on the floor in pain, the man whispered to him.
“This is only the beginning, you bastard.”
The others stared in shock. Woosung looked around to see if someone was going to stop him, but no one did. He tried to explain.
“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t just watch him hurt my coworkers.”
“…but this was unnecessary.”
“Sorry. I felt like it’s better to stop him as quickly as possible.”
“Dammit! Well, it’s too late now. Go back to your spot and I’ll call for you later.”
Woosung bowed.
“Yes, sir.”
“By the way, nice punches. Let me know if you are interested in the bouncer position.”
Woosung nodded and went back to his room without another word. He sighed and changed back to his clothes. He called for a waiter and paid the bill.
The bar was still noisy with excitement. No one paid attention to Woosung and Park Jonghyun leaving the bar.
Woosung returned home and exhaled. He still felt jittery. After a few minutes of silence, he finally laughed.
“Hahahahaha! It felt so great!” He beat up Choi Gichul pretty badly. He thought he even saw a few teeth fall out. He used all his strength for every punch. He didn’t care if he killed Choi Gichul. “I wonder if it will be in the news tomorrow.”
Woosung knew what would happen next. Choi Gunwon would bring his muscles to the bar and scream for vengeance. He would ask for the one responsible for assaulting his son but he would never find out.
Woosung couldn’t stop grinning.
At the same time.
7 black sedans arrived at The Royal. Several big muscled men came out and lined up. A middle-aged man came out after them and walked up to the bar.
“This is the place?”
“Yes, President.”
“Get ready.”
The men bowed and entered the bar. The middle-aged man walked in with crooked confidence as if he owned the place.
It was Choi Gunwon, Choi Gichul’s father.
Things happened in passing. The men gathered the waiters, bartenders, and the manager. The muscled bodyguards then brought them down on their knees in front of Choi Gunwon.
The CEO asked. “Who was the one that hit my son?”
The place became dead silent. No one answered, no one knew who the man in the waiter’s uniform was.
After a few minutes, Choi Gunwon exhaled. “Do it.”
Suddenly, the men who came in with Choi Gunwon grabbed the workers. They handed him a baseball bat, and he started to beat the waiters with it.
Daeyang Group’s CEO Choi Gunwon. Here, he looked like the head of a mob.
On the way to his work the next day, Woosung still couldn’t stop smiling. He watched the news that morning, but there was nothing on what happened last night.
“I knew it.”
Last night, Woosung recorded everything with a hidden camera. He sent the footage to multiple news channels, but no one reported it.
This was the power of Daeyang.
“The footage showed his face, yet no one had the guts to report it.”
Woosung was disappointed, but this was expected. He still felt great about his accomplishment last night. He kept clenching his fists. He could still feel the punches. It was great.
Woosung knew some people would think he should be a bigger man and forgive Choi Gichul, but he could never let it go. He would get his revenge.
“I can upload it on SNS.”
Woosung could count on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.
