To take part in the historic occasion of a Round of 16 place at the World Cup, the streets were packed with people — even on a weekday evening.

Fathers with their children, couples, groups of friends — every citizen of the Republic of Korea, it seemed, had spilled out onto the streets.

"The forecast as of five o'clock is one million."

"The match doesn't start until after eight, does it?"

"It doesn't."

"So by the time eight rolls around, we'll be past a million."

"They're projecting between 1.2 and 1.3 million. Because of that, the Seoul city government has closed off the entire City Hall and Gwanghwamun area, and vehicle traffic has been banned all the way out to Jonggak and Euljiro."

"The scale keeps getting bigger."

"The mood inside government was that even they hadn't anticipated the street-cheering culture spreading this fast."

"Anyone could see the public would enjoy the World Cup — but who could have known it would go to this extent?"

Having finished speaking, Tak-hyeon Lee looked at the television.

A special program previewing the coming Round of 16 match was running.

"Even reruns of the last match are pulling in ratings above 20%. This is one they've aired all weekend long, and still. Past a certain point this stops being enjoying it and becomes something closer to mania."

Watching Tak-hyeon Lee marvel at the screen, Do-beom Hwang bowed slightly at the waist and reported.

"According to the report that came in from Ilhyeon Electronics, last month's television sales were up more than 700% year-on-year."

"Good news."

"That's not all. I hear from Ms. Gyeong-eun that the coffee franchise's revenue has grown more than tenfold."

"Tenfold?"

Astonished by the number, Tak-hyeon Lee shifted his eyes from the television to Do-beom Hwang.

"I was so surprised I double-checked several times, but tenfold is right. They've already hit this year's revenue target of 500 billion won."

"Selling coffee — they hit 500 billion in revenue this fast?"

Tak-hyeon Lee let out an exclamation and crossed his legs.

"When she first said she wanted to run a coffee…