Ulsan cafe owner's care for injured stray cat inspires online users to pay for drinks they never intend to receive

Image not related to article. [Image generated by AI]
Image not related to article. [Image generated by AI]

A customer at a cafe in Ulsan has gone viral after placing an order for five drinks through a delivery app — with a special request not to make any of them.

The story spread on social media platform Threads, where a receipt for five sweet potato lattes was shared alongside the caption "a five-drink order just came in."

The post was written by a person identified only as A, who runs a restaurant near the cafe and shared the story on the cafe owner's behalf.

According to A, a stray cat with a broken jaw had been wandering the neighborhood near the cafe, too injured to eat properly and in serious enough condition that it likely would have died without help. The cafe owner took the cat in, hand-fed it and paid for surgery at a veterinary clinic. Nearly a year later, the cat has largely recovered and now lives at the cafe like a member of the family.

A shared the story online, writing that a cafe owner like this deserved to be "money-punished" — a Korean internet slang term for flooding a business with purchases as a show of support.

"Two hours after I posted the story about the cat with the broken jaw, someone from outside Ulsan ordered lattes they couldn't possibly drink," A wrote. "The menu was five sweet potato lattes. The cat's name is Latte."

The receipt shows the order was placed around noon on Oct. 13. The customer paid for five sweet potato lattes and left a note in the special requests field: "Please, please, please do not make the drinks. I live in a different area. Thank you for treating the cat. Work less, earn more. May your business flourish."

An online user who had read about the cafe owner's kindness chose to express their support by paying for drinks they had no intention of receiving.

A said the cafe owner told her, "I was so moved to tears knowing that someone, somewhere I don't even know, understood my heart." A added that the owner had kept the receipt and still had not thrown it away.

Commenters responded warmly. "An angel found another angel," one wrote. Others said, "I think the customer and the owner will be a great source of strength for each other," and "Places like this are the ones that truly deserve to thrive."


jshan@heraldcorp.com