“Uwaaah!”
After Haru left, I wandered around the room, wailing. The collection of the Little Magician Lumi had all disappeared. I kept punching my poor head in frustration.
“Yesterday’s me! What were you thinking, throwing it away?!”
But there was no answer. I couldn’t hide my gloomy mood as I stared at the bubble gun Haru had left behind.
*Click*
Just like last time, I pressed it against my temple, but I couldn’t pull the trigger. After all, it would just shoot bubbles. I grabbed the bubble gun and headed to the office, ready to go on a bubble-shooting rampage.
“Hana…?”
As I entered the office, the employees spoke in puzzled voices. I usually didn’t visit the office in the morning, and after seeing me yesterday, they must have thought I’d gone home. Now, seeing me in the form of a child, they were even more surprised.
“Uwaaah!”
I pulled the trigger of the bubble gun, running around the office, stirring up chaos. I wished someone would comfort me in my sadness, but all I saw were employees scrambling to get out of my way. So, I headed straight for the big boss, Manager Kim Jaeman.
“Woo… woo!!!”
The tears wouldn’t stop. I almost laughed when I saw the thinning hair on Manager Kim’s head, but with sheer willpower, I held it in and shot bubbles at him. Manager Kim just turned his head away.
How could this be? I’m so sad, why won’t anyone pay attention to me?
I shot even more bubbles, enough to cover Manager Kim’s entire body.
*Whoooosh*
An incredible amount of bubbles sparkled before my eyes. Some even seemed to shine brighter under the office lights. The sight was so beautiful that I almost forgot why I was here.
If I had done this just yesterday, I would have sighed at my childish behavior, but today, I was so, so sad that it felt justified.
Finally, Manager Kim sighed and turned his chair toward me. He looked at me and spoke.
“Hana. Why are you crying?”
His tone was a bit cold, as if he was dealing with something annoying. But there was also a hint of curiosity about why I was crying.
“Lumi… my Lumi…”
“Lumi? What about her?”
“She’s gone…”
“Ah! The one Bora took yesterday?”
Manager Kim spoke to the employee next to him without looking at me. The employee nodded in agreement. Earlier, Haru had also said Bora took it. Did Bora throw away my toy?
I stopped crying and was engulfed in despair. I thought Bora understood me perfectly. Could she really have thrown it away? I hoped in my heart that Bora, who knew my state well, wouldn’t have thrown it away.
“Bora hasn’t come in yet. We’ll have to ask her when she arrives.”
“Bora wouldn’t have thrown Lumi away, right?”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Uwaaah!”
I aimed the bubble gun at Manager Kim again and shot more bubbles. Without Lumi, I was extremely sad, and I needed to share that sadness. I shot so many bubbles that the floor became slippery with soap.
I ran around the office, causing chaos and preventing anyone from working. Someone seemed to be filming my antics, so I shot bubbles at them too. My justified protest ended when Manager Kim gave Haru a look.
“Hana! Let’s wait until Bora comes. She might not have thrown it away, right?”
“Sniff…”
Honestly, running around the office shooting bubbles was kind of fun… but sadly, my protest ended as I dangled in Haru’s arms. I was exhausted from all the running around since morning.
Back in the room, I waited for Bora. She held all the keys. I sat on the bed, playing with the bubble gun. It was surprisingly fun.
When would Bora come to the office? I thought she usually came early, but it seemed like she was running late today. I only found out later that Manager Kim had given her a special task yesterday.
As I spent time with Haru, the door opened, and Bora walked in.
When our eyes met, Bora smiled and approached me.
“Hana? You’re back~”
She stroked my head as she spoke. Feeling her touch, I couldn’t help but smile. Having my head stroked always made me feel good.
Oops!
I stood up and…
After sticking to Bora’s leg, I said,
“Bora! Bora!”
“Huh? What’s up, Hana?”
“Uh… did you throw away the box I gave you yesterday?”
Hearing that, the corner of Bora’s mouth twitched slightly. She looked like she was pondering something. Surely she didn’t actually throw it away, right? I was sure she didn’t—Bora knows my heart better than anyone.
But the words that came out of Bora’s mouth were different from what I expected.
“I threw it away.”
“Seriously…?”
“Yep.”
*Thud*
I had no choice but to slump to the floor. It felt like all the energy drained from my body. Just this morning, I was full of energy, but now I was on the brink of death.
Seeing me like that, Bora quickly hugged me and said,
“Just kidding, just kidding. I kept it separately.”
Hearing that, my eyes sparkled as I looked at her.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
“Hooray!”
Thankfully, my collection was safe. Bora said she got it from Haru yesterday, but seeing that I wasn’t in my right state, she decided not to throw it away and kept it separately. Holding Bora’s hand, we went into the office storage, and there it was—the box from yesterday, exactly as I left it.
“Wow!”
I took out Lumi’s magic wand and felt relieved. What a struggle it was to get this! I shed blood and sweat to finally get it, and it would’ve been such a waste to throw it away.
—
Kim Sehee had been spending more time outside the office than inside lately. She had been diligently observing a cherry tomato every single day.
“Recently, the growth rate has returned to normal.”
Last time, the cherry tomato grew fully in less than a week, but now it was growing at a normal pace. Though, even that pace was incredibly fast.
“Isn’t it about time to enter the market?”
“Yes. We’ve secured enough volume, so it seems like the right time to release the cherry tomatoes along with some advertising.”
Thanks to consistent harvesting, they had successfully secured a decent amount of cherry tomatoes. Although the farmland wasn’t as large as in the U.S., it was still a size hard to find in South Korea. It might even rank among the top in the country.
Kim Sehee popped a cherry tomato into her mouth. Lately, she had been skipping breakfast and just having a cherry tomato instead. She still ate proper meals for lunch and dinner, though.
This alone was a huge change. Just eating one cherry tomato in the morning kept her full until lunch, and it wasn’t bad for her health either. Realizing this convenience, Kim Sehee began to see cherry tomatoes as something that could revolutionize South Korea’s breakfast culture.
If she could eat so comfortably, what about others?
Of course, for married men, this might be devastating news. A single cherry tomato was more filling and convenient than preparing a full six-dish breakfast. In other words, their breakfast could very likely be replaced by a single cherry tomato.
Well, it wasn’t her place to meddle in other people’s family affairs, so Kim Sehee decided not to think too much about it. After all, wives who prepare breakfast for their husbands aren’t that common. In fact, for husbands who resort to cereal because their wives don’t make breakfast, this might be the best gift ever.
After all, this cherry tomato was definitely more filling and healthier than cereal.
“This… could also work well as combat rations, don’t you think?”
One of the employees, while eating a cherry tomato, said. Kim Sehee nodded in agreement.
“Yes, definitely. You could fit dozens of cherry tomatoes in a single pack of combat rations. If you replace a day’s worth of combat rations with cherry tomatoes, you could last at least a week, right?”
Plus, there was no cooking process required. You just had to pop them in your mouth. Though, if left outside for too long, they’d rot, so vacuum sealing would be necessary.
