Chapter 33: Is it sweet?

The soft, warm glow of the desk lamp illuminated the neatly stacked files on the desk. The sticky notes attached to them, categorized by urgency and importance, reflected the meticulous and conscientious nature of the workstation's owner.

The girl’s attention shifted from the files to the keyboard nearby. The hand that should have been tapping away at letters and numbers was now holding an apple, taking small, casual bites.

"Is this some kind of special variety?"

"Just a regular apple from the Lotte Mart downstairs, 3,999 won a pound. Why?"

"I just think it's very sweet."

Her cheeks flushed suddenly. Yuna knew, of course, that it wasn’t the apple that was sweet.

Pulling over Shin Ha-ri’s chair, Yuna sat in a comfortable position, neither too far nor too close to Xia Xing.

"Do you still have a lot of work to do?"

The girl pursed her lips slightly and looked with a touch of resentment at the 24-inch screen on the desk. Inside a massive Excel spreadsheet, various data points were marked in flashy, colorful highlights.

Detailed sales reports covering every region, channel, system, and even individual retail outlets contained an unimaginably vast amount of data.

Although she wasn't an office worker proficient in Office software, Yuna had taken basic computer courses in middle school and knew exactly what the twenty thousand plus rows of data displayed in the bottom right corner represented.

It was clear they wouldn't be leaving this office for quite some time.

Knowing that Xia Xing needed to finish the reports as soon as possible, Yuna resigned herself to staying as quiet as possible.

Although she had been prepared to work overtime with Xia Xing before she arrived, Yuna couldn't suppress her excess energy, so she began to observe the office carefully.

No.

It wasn't so much about using a detective’s keenness to gather information.

It was more like sniffing around in a strange environment, thinking about how to stake out her own...

Territory.

Perhaps because their feelings for each other had been confirmed, Yuna couldn't help but want to leave her mark on him.

Was this a way of claiming ownership?

Only now did Yuna realize that the games played between young couples could be so mundane yet so interesting.

Unlike the workstations of other ordinary employees, Xia Xing’s was arranged closest to the department head's office, and his space was significantly more spacious than the others.

But if the workstations of his colleagues—adorned with figurines, models, or family photos—could be considered furnished apartments, then Xia Xing’s workspace was more like a luxury shell with all the appliances installed.

Files, books, folders, a telephone, a clock, sticky notes, a keyboard, a monitor... It looked clean and efficient, but it lacked a human touch.

A flash of inspiration suddenly struck her, and an interesting idea completely occupied Yuna’s mind.

As a woman of action, she immediately took out her phone and sent a message to Shin Ha-ri.

"Unnie, what is your computer password? I have something very important to do."

***

When working, having a bright and lovely little supervisor by your side—that feeling...

It really made it impossible to feel tired from work.

From time to time, under the guise of looking for materials, Xia Xing would turn his head to observe Yuna, who was waiting for him to finish.

Because she wasn't in this industry, even if she wanted to help Xia Xing with something, it would likely be more trouble than it was worth.

So, she stayed quietly by his side, trying to kill time, looking as cute as a cat curled up on a desk in a study while you work.

As his thoughts returned to his work, the brow that had relaxed because of Yuna furrowed once more.

This version of the sales plan from the Sales Management Department felt like it had some underlying issues.

The company positioned this NFC coconut water as a substitute for electrolyte drinks. Relying on its low calories, rich electrolyte content, and slightly sweet taste, it was expected to perform well in an increasingly health-conscious beverage market.

Therefore, the key focus for introducing this product should have been on channels like convenience stores and supermarkets, where the average transaction value is higher and white-collar workers and fitness enthusiasts shop more frequently.

In fact, the Sales Management Department had set quite high sales targets for the business colleagues responsible for these channels, but strangely... the budget allocated to these channels did not match the sales targets.

For channels like supermarkets and convenience stores, when a new product enters, one must pay certain slotting fees to the supermarket’s head office. To stimulate individual stores to stock and display the new product, one also needs to invest in corresponding display fees, stocking rebates, and personnel costs...

Even for a product that wasn't previously a primary focus, it would require 500 million won per month in the first six months after launch.

But the budget allocated by the Sales Management Department for NFC coconut water in supermarkets and convenience stores was less than 200 million won per month...

To put it simply, it was like making a donkey pull a millstone without letting it eat grass.

If the manufacturer is unwilling to invest the money, why would retailers cooperate to promote a new product?

Even the manufacturer’s own sales staff would find it difficult to carry out their work.

Although companies in the fast-moving consumer goods industry were cutting budgets in this area—even a giant like Peninsula Foods had reduced spending on many low-profit products—this was, after all, a product they were supposed to be pushing as a priority. If done well, Peninsula Foods would reap all the benefits of the coconut water market, which no one had yet paid much attention to. How could they possibly allocate so little in promotional funds?

Vaguely, he sensed the scent of a conspiracy. The excessively low offline promotional budget and the Marketing Department’s far-higher-than-usual advertising budget... it was as if that unseen hand of an unknown force wanted to strangle this key product, which was vital to Peninsula Foods’ future profitability.

Who exactly was colluding with that unknown force? Department Head Bang Sung-ho of the Sales Management Department was already at the age of retirement, and Department Head Kim Soon of the Marketing Department was also an old-timer from the food division who had worked his way up from being a quality supervisor at the Daejeon factory.

If it wasn't them... then who could it be?

"Whir, whir, whir..."

In the quiet office, the sound of a printer starting up suddenly filled the air.

Following the sound, Xia Xing noticed Yuna standing in front of the printer, fiddling with something.

Realizing that Xia Xing had put down his work and was looking at her, the girl pouted. "Am I disturbing your work?"

But there was no genuine intention to apologize on her face.

"Of course not, I’m just curious about what you're doing."

"Then close your eyes first! After I count to three, you can open them."

Although he didn't know what Yuna was up to, Xia Xing knew he would go along with it.

So, he closed his eyes cooperatively. Anticipating that the girl was preparing a surprise for him, the corners of his mouth curled up uncontrollably.

"Three, two, one!"

"You can open your eyes!"

When the world returned to light from the darkness, what caught Xia Xing’s eyes was a piece of A6-sized glossy paper.

"This is a photo of me. Please keep it."