Hope and Holiday 

It has been months since the cold holidays passed by, right?  But what did happen during those times? Let us take a backtrack of what happened during the holidays....

[12. 20. 20XX, Hope Café, 9:00 am, Manager's Office]

Who would have thought that days will run like an ebb of river? At that moment, it was the third week of December. As winter approached the busy city of Seoul, everyone was excited buying gifts for their loved ones and preparing for the forthcoming Christmas.

Still busy as ever, the staff members of Hope Café were preparing for their special Holiday event on the 23rd. All of them were gathered around the manager's office to discuss the details of the said upcoming event.

Being the oldest and most experienced one, Mr. Bong was assigned to lead the discussion. He stated, "Since it's already the 20th of December, I want us to finalize what we will do for the upcoming Holiday event of this café. All of us are aware that this event is held annually. Since this will be the first time that four of our colleagues, Taeyeon, Dongjun, Kwon and even Manager Nam to do such event, I hope that all of us will cooperate."

"Yes, Mr. Bong." The staff members affirmed in unison.

"Now, do you have any suggestion of what theme or concept should we have for this year? We have been doing this since 2010 the time when this café was established. Different concepts are made. One example is last year's concept. Under Manager Kim Sunggyu, we had a mini winter concert, and it was a very successful event. I hope that for this year that we'll have a different one, and it will be nice if we do something fresher and better."

'Really? Concert? How old-fashioned of hyung. That's too common.' Woohyun slightly puckered his lips as he tapped the pen he was holding on the table. 'Nah, of course, I can think of something better.' 

"Now, you may freely say your suggestions for the event." Mr. Bong said. "So who is going to start?"

Right after the old man finished his statement, Junho, Kikwang and Baro raised their hands.

"Okay. Now, tell us your suggestion, Baro-ssi." The old man said as he pointed the youngest staff member.

Obviously eager to say a suggestion, he spoke up, "Why don't we have an eat-all-you-can event? Many customers would surely love that. I've seen one at a pastry restaurant a holiday offer I happened to pass by. There are a lot of patrons flocking around that restaurant just to avail the said promo."

Junho spat out in surprise, "MWO? Did you just say eat-all-you-can?"

"Nae. What's wrong with that?" Baro innocently answered."Isn't that the usual trend these days?"

"Won't that cost too much?" Kwon asked.

Yoseob added in affirmation with Kwon, "I agree with Kwon-ssi. That kind of promo will cost too much."

"We can just make it something like the first seventy customers will be given a coupon which they can use to avail the eat-all-you-can promo." The younger one explained to answer Kwon's query. "Since this café can only accomodate 40-50 people, we can rent on a certain place at Myeongdong for the venue. I think I saw one where the Annex hall is very big and can accommodate at least 100 people. As far as I can remember, the cost for the venue is 200,000 won for three hours."

The second youngest staff member, Dongjun said, "That does not sound bad, in my opinion. However, it's just that the venue costs too much."

"Eat-all-you-can?" Mr. Bong mumbled, tapping his chin as he carefully pondered on Baro's suggestion. "What do you think, guys?"

Out of the blue, the only female staff member stated, "Let us say that only first seventy customers will be given the chance to avail the said promo. With that, we're able to control the number of customers who will participate, but the thing is we might not able to control the amount of foods or drinks they will order. They might order too much that we might have not enough resources to provide them. As an nine-men team, it will be difficult for us to accommodate such number of people, and we might either have insufficient or excessive resources which I think is not very economical."

"Taeyeon-ssi, can you estimate the total amount that we'll have to spend if we happen to do Baro-ssi's suggestion?" Woohyun questioned.

"Well, if we rent for that venue, it may double or even triple the expenses we'll have to pay just to accomplish the event. Let's set the payment for renting a venue is 200,000 won for three hours including the rent of tables and chairs. If we'll conduct the event for six hours two times 200,000 is 400,000. Furthermore, if we'll serve the customers with 10 kinds of drinks and 10 kinds of foods, the ingredients of each of them will cost a lot. Well, we have to double the amount of these foods and drinks because it's an eat-all-you-can promo. It only means doubling the amount of foods and drinks is also doubling the alloted money which is probably 158,500 won for all the ingredients. Also, there are other miscellanous expenses such as gas fee for truck which costs 3,856 won for 2 liters and there's our food expense which costs 25,000. Since only two people can ride the truck, there will be seven of us who will take have to commute. That will cost more or less 3,500 won. If all of the expenses will be summed up, we might spend more or less 587,356 won which is almost 40% percent bigger than the expense of this café for every month."

All of them were left in awe after Taeyeon's explanation. Who would have thought that behind a stoic and calm facade is a woman with practical thoughts? It was so amazing that Taeyeon was able to calculate everything quickly inside her mind. Very amazing.

'Woah! Kim Taeyeon is amazing! How can she think of such things within jus a few minutes?' Woohyun's jaw dropped as he stared at her in amazement. 'Ayaya! This is one reason why she's my ideal type of woman!'

'Very well said, Taeyeon-ssi. You are just like him, smart and practical. No wonder he likes a smart and lovely lady like you.' A smile was formed on the old man's face before he said, "You've got a point, Taeyeon-ssi. Well, Baro's suggestion is not bad, but we have to consider certain factors, as what she said, especially the financial resources. Last year, we were only able to spend more or less 80,000 won for our holiday event. The materials used for the concert like instruments, microphones, and even the piano were all borrowed from different people. In this year's event, we should somehow come up with fresh concept which the customers will surely love. It can be simple, but as long as it is within the concept of holidays, it considers certain factors and can be enjoyed by the customers, it'll be surely a success."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. I forgot to consider such things." Baro shyly said, scratching the back of his head.

Kwon assured, patting the younger one's shoulder, "Nah, that's alright. It's better to suggest something than to say nothing at all. It only means that you're willing to contribute to the success of our event."

"Really? Thanks, hyung." The younger one mumbled.

"Well, we are a team, so everyone's suggestion is welcome." Yoseob genuinely stated. "Every suggestion is important no matter how big or small it is."

Woohyun affirmed as he nodded his head, "That's right. We are a team. Let us work hard for our event's success!"

After a while, Junho suggested, "Well, I'm thinking if we could just rent a karaoke machine and let the customers sing as much as they want. Let us make a sing-all-you-want event."

"Umm.. Sing-all-you-want? Isn't that too boring? It's nothing new because we'll only have to put a karaoke machine in front and it'll just be an ordinary and not-so-interesting event for holidays." Kikwang disproved, shaking his head repetitively.

Junho sensibly explained, "Don't people usually enjoy singing during holidays? We will only have to pay for the karaoke machine which does not cost that much. Also, we do not have to double our efforts because we'll only have to work the usual way."

"I can say that's true. We only have to spend less money with that. However, not all of the customers might enjoy that kind of event. There might be some instances some customers might not be able to benefit from the promo. Since it's a sing-all-you-can, there are customers who might not give chance for others to sing." Yoseob disproved, shaking his head repetitively.

Manager Nam who was gently tapping a pen against the wooden table stated, "Your suggestion Junho is not bad, but Yoseob-ssi is definitely right. If I were in the shoes of the customers, I'd definitely use the chance to sing as much as I want, however, it goes by the saying that one's benefit ends other's benefit. Besides, we do not want to turn our café into a chaotic noraebang, right?"

"Absolutely. Are there any other suggestions?" Mr. Bong asked.

"If we'll turn our café into a Paris-style café for the holidays, I think it will cost us too much. Honestly, it is really hard to come up with something that is budget-friendly yet extraordinary theme for Holidays." Kwon expressed after he let out a sigh.

"What if..." Manager Nam mumbled, putting the pen behind his ear.

"What is it, Woohyun-ssi?" Mr. Bong asked.

"What if..." The young man mumbled once again.

Kwon lowly asked, "If what?"

"What if...we..."

"What?"

"What if we...have a Traditional café?"

"TRADITIONAL CAFÉ?"

"I like it! I like the vibe of having a traditional café. That is pretty interesting. In school festivals, there are those maid or butler café. We will have the same kind of concept as that but with a touch of oriental style." Junho happily expressed. "Yay! You are so amazing, Sir Woohyun. You are so amazing to think of such a brilliant idea!"

Woohyun plainly said, "Since it is holidays and New Year is forthcoming, so I think bringing up the Korean traditional way sounds really fun."

"All of you have hanboks, right? For us not to spend much money, let us just use our own hanboks." Mr. Bong stated.

"Yeah. I have mine, Mr. Bong. I can't wait to wear the hanbok that my mother bought for me last week!" Baro said with excitement filling up his voice.

Kikwang added, "Really? My mother bought new hanbok for me as well because she wants me to look good for this holidays."

"Yassss!! Hanbok! I have my colorful one!" Junho happily said. "Can't wait to wear mine too."

"Oh that is nice to hear then. Well, I have just bought new hanbok last month and I'll have to use it for the second time for the upcoming event." Dongjun plainly stated.

"As for me, I will borrow one from someone because mine looks old now." Yoseob worriedly said.

"No need to be problematic with that Yoseob-ssi. I will let you borrow one hanbok from my closet collections." Kwon assured.

"Really? Gomaseupmnida, Kwon-ssi." Yoseob gratefully answered back.

"You are welcome." Kwon quickly said. "I'm sure you will  like the one I will let you borrow."

"Umm. I have mine too, and I will just wear the nicest one among my hanbok collections." The café's manager stated.

"I am not problematic with mine too because I will have to use my favorite hanbok for the event." Mr. Bong added as he smiled before he turned his attention the one and only female employee of the café. "What about you, Taeyeon-ssi?"

Snapped out from her silence, she pointed herself and  asked, "Me?"

"Nae, Taeyeon-ssi. You seem to be quiet since we started talking about Manager Nam's suggestion. Do you have something to wear for the event?" The old man asked.

"Do you mean hanbok?" She plainly asked.

"Nae, Taeyeon-ssi."

"Uh that. I actually... do... don't have." The female employee mumbled with her non-changing sullen reaction.

"Really?? Don't you wear hanboks during traditional occasions?" Junho questioned in disbelief.

"I do. It is just that a neighbor of mine borrowed the only hanbok I have last Monday for an occasion at Yeouido Island, however, her return to Seoul will be two weeks from now, and it will be impossible for me to have it for the event." Taeyeon briefly explained to his co-workers.

"Is that so? I guess I have to buy you one as soon as possible for the event!" Woohyun instantly reacted. "What color do you want? Pink, blue, red or what? Tell me!"

Upon hearing his words, he earned surprised stares from his co-workers for a reason he did not know. But actually, he sounded like a concerned boyfriend who will buy anything for his woman.

"Waeyo? Did I say something wrong?" The café's manager instantly said in defense, "Wae? We are a team, and as the manager, I do not think I will let one of you to be left behind. Remember this is an event, right? Let us put the best of our efforts to make the event a successful one, eo?"

"Okay. If that is what you've said, Manager Nam." Mr. Bong teasefully responded. 'What a lame excuse, young man. You sounded like you're her boyfriend, and now you're saying that? I'm laughing my out now.'

The woman shook her head and assured the manager, "No, thank you. Please do not worry about it. I can have one for myself."

"Anio, anio, anio. I will be the one to settle it." Kwon volunteered as he raised his hand.

"Really?" His male co-workers questioned in unison. "Are you sure you will help her?"

Taeyeon insisted, "Ah, Kwon-ssi. You do not have to bother yourself. I can look for a—"

"Don't worry about it. We are a team, right? I will be the one to settle such little thing. Leave it to me, arasseo?" Kwon guaranteed confidently. "And with the props and food menu, I think I can also help."

"Jinjja? Aww! That is why you are my idol, Kwon-ssi!" Junho exuberantly said. "Amazing! You are amazing!"

Taeyeon bowed her head as she shyly responded, "Thank you, Kwon-ssi."

"I will have to contribute with the props too! Our house has a storage room and there we keep our oriental lanterns which we can use for our event!" Baro joyfully volunteered. "But I can also help in decorating the café."

"Me too! I will help with the materials to be used for the event. My father is good in traditional calligraphy. He can make a banner for our event." Yoseob added. "I will also help in decorating the café."

Another staff member, Dongjun added, "Then, I will provide the calligraphy materials and I will also help in decorating our café."

"Well, I will also help in decorating the café." Kikwang volunteered. "Also, my mom has spare red curtains which will definitely suit our oriental theme."

"I can provide other traditional decorations which I will borrow from my grandma and of course, I will also help in decorating the café." Woohyun willingly volunteered.

"As for me, I will look for some of the old traditional tablecloths my wife and I used when we had our restaurant before. It