Chapter 27

“The fever just won’t go down…”

Bora said as she looked at Hana, who was lying on the bed asleep. Just as Bora said, Hana’s fever didn’t seem to want to drop easily.

Even now, seeing how red her face was, it seemed like the fever was still lingering. After nursing her all day, the fever had dropped compared to the beginning, but it was still a situation where they had to keep a close eye on her.

“Bora… Haru… Bald Man…”

Even in her sleep, Hana muttered their names in her dreams. Seeing her like that made Bora’s heart ache even more. By the way, she thought the temperature control system in this building was perfect, so there was no way to catch a cold, but it seemed her judgment was wrong.

Or maybe, since it had been a month since they came through the Gate, she thought they were safe, but perhaps the aftereffects were just now showing up. Since Hana was different from humans, giving her medicine was a bit of a burden. So, they decided to focus on natural healing as much as possible.

As Bora sighed and continued to nurse Hana, Hana’s eyes slightly opened.

“Hana, are you awake?”

Bora gently stroked Hana’s head as she spoke softly. Hana’s eyes were still hazy, probably because she was still half-asleep.

“Bora… am I dying…?”

Hana spoke in a weak voice. Seeing her like that made Bora’s heart ache even more. Maybe it was because they had been together for over a month, and unlike the beginning, she had grown attached to Hana. Looking at Hana’s lifeless expression, Bora said,

“No. Hana, you’re not going to die.”

“Really?”

Hearing that, Hana seemed to perk up a bit and tried to lift her arms with strength. But since she didn’t have much energy, her arms only stayed up for a few seconds before flopping back down onto the bed.

“You don’t have to push yourself too hard.”

Bora thought that maybe Hana’s body was too young, and her immune system was weak, which caused this. A child’s body is different from an adult’s, so young children need even more careful attention. Bora diligently massaged Hana’s body as she lay on the bed.

Her hands, which had been massaging Hana’s arms, gradually moved upward until they reached her face.

*Squish squish*

Bora gently pinched Hana’s plump, soft cheeks. Hana’s cheeks were oddly addictive. For a moment, Bora’s mind was completely captivated by Hana’s cheeks, but she quickly snapped out of it and moved her hands back down.

While Hana lay there with her eyes closed, feeling Bora’s touch, Haru came in from outside. Haru’s expression didn’t look too good. It seemed like there was some kind of problem.

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I closed my eyes and eavesdropped on Bora and Haru talking beside me. It seemed like an important conversation.

“Hana is this sick, and they still want us to do it today?”

“Yeah, I tried to protest, but it seems like there’s no choice. Will they only realize something’s wrong if Hana gets seriously hurt?”

“I guess there’s no other way. The perspective of us researchers and the entrepreneurs is bound to be different.”

What were they planning to do that they were talking so seriously? Since I was feeling a bit better than before, I opened my eyes and asked Bora and Haru, who were standing beside me.

“Bora, Haru, what’s got you so serious?”

“Well… Hana, it’s probably better if you don’t know.”

“Hmph. Is it something important that I shouldn’t hear?”

I looked at Bora and Haru with the saddest eyes I could muster, focusing especially on Haru, who was more soft-hearted. Bora had some resistance to my sad-eye skill, but Haru didn’t, so she was the quicker target.

Haru, unable to resist my teary-eyed look, spoke with a gloomy expression.

“They want to cut Hana’s hair again today, so I tried to protest, but it didn’t work. I’m sorry, Hana.”

Ah, so that’s why she was so gloomy. Every night before bed, they cut my hair. I didn’t think it was a big deal—after all, even when I was human, I cut my hair once a month. It’s just that now it’s every day instead. Other than that, there wasn’t anything particularly troublesome.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to be sorry.”

Even as I said that, I couldn’t help but think that I hoped the people who were making something out of my hair would get a taste of their own medicine.

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“For every Starlight Green Tea teabag sold, we can expect a profit of about 4,900 won per unit.”

Early in the morning, as soon as she arrived at work, Kim Sehee crossed her legs and listened to the executive who was passionately explaining. Before the launch of Starlight Green Tea, Kim Sehee didn’t particularly enjoy these briefing sessions. Since none of their products had been successful, these meetings just made her angry.

The food industry already had a firmly established cartel, so there wasn’t much room for a relatively small company like Starlight Food to break in. And did the Starlight Guild headquarters offer any support? Not really. No, they just looked at her with…

Since there were relatives watching, maybe they didn’t even hold a ritual to wish for failure.

No, the relationship between siblings wasn’t that bad, so it was easier to think they just didn’t care at all.

The executive organized various charts and presented them to Kim Sehee in a presentation format. Kim Sehee didn’t have to nervously listen like before. Her product was thriving in the market, after all.

“So, how many Starlight Green Teas have been sold so far?”

“About 11 million units were sold in the past month. Of course, at 300 won each, the profit margin isn’t huge, but considering we sold every single one except for the 50,000 units reserved daily, it’s still meaningful.”

“Then, roughly estimating 10 million units, how much profit did we make?”

Kim Sehee tapped away at the calculator in her head.

“About 3 billion won.”

Vice President Park Jeontae chimed in.

“Vice President, excluding factory operating costs, labor costs, and other miscellaneous expenses, that’s about right, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Boss. Our factory is small, so other costs aren’t that high. Also, since the green tea is produced on a different line, the expenses are relatively low.”

“How much profit did our factory make before the green tea?”

“Well… it’s hard to pinpoint the exact profit…”

Park Jeontae vaguely trailed off, unable to say outright that they were in the red before the green tea. Kim Sehee seemed to catch on and didn’t press further.

“So, how’s the profit for the first week of this month?”

Kim Sehee asked the executive, her heart pounding. She expected some backlash in the market after raising the price to 5,000 won. Even selling half would’ve been a huge success.

“We’re on a roll, Boss. In the first week, we sold 300,000 units daily, totaling about 2.1 million units for the week.”

The executive spoke confidently. It had been a while since they had such a positive briefing, and it felt good after so many lackluster reports.

Kim Sehee, slightly excited, asked, “So, the total profit?”

“Roughly estimated, we’ve made about 10 billion won in operating profit.”

Hearing that, Kim Sehee beamed and said, “This is all thanks to everyone who’s worked so hard. You’ve all done an amazing job.”

Starlight Food had transformed into a cash cow, making 10 billion won a week, 40 billion a month, and nearly 500 billion a year. The brand had become so synonymous with green tea that it wouldn’t be strange to rename the company. And this was pure operating profit, not just revenue.

“No, it’s all thanks to you, Boss,” Vice President Park Jeontae chimed in. Flattery was always welcome when the boss was in a good mood.

But during the meeting, an employee burst in, panicked.

“B-Boss!”

“What’s wrong?”

Kim Sehee responded calmly, without frowning, as she always respected her employees.

“Something’s gone wrong! You need to come out right now!”

Kim Sehee sensed something unusual. It wasn’t like an employee to barge in and claim a crisis unless it was serious.

Escorted by executives, Kim Sehee stepped out and quickly understood why the employee was so alarmed.

“The hair that arrived today is weird!”

Every time a batch of hair arrived, researchers would randomly select 10 strands, brew them into green tea bags, and taste-test them. They were worried the efficacy might have changed.

Normally, the tea brewed from the hair had a unique taste. But today, it tasted just like the Starlight Green Tea that had flopped in the market before. In fact, it tasted even worse, possibly because the green tea ingredients had been reduced.

Early that morning, Starlight Food was thrown into chaos.

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