“Jinsu! Can you peel some more onions here?”
“Sure!”
Seong Jinsu had been working at the Starlight Research Institute’s company cafeteria for a year now. A year of experience might count for something, but in the culinary world, a year still made him a total newbie.
Jinsu started peeling onions one by one, placing them in a large basin.
Honestly, when he first joined, the cafeteria was such a mess that he wanted to just gain some experience and bail. The employees’ complaints were huge, and honestly, it was somewhat expected. The research institute didn’t have much money, so they couldn’t afford to care much about the cafeteria.
But recently, the work environment had changed drastically. Chefs who had worked in hotel kitchens were being hired left and right, and salaries had been raised across the board. Of course, the raises were so tiny that it didn’t feel like much had changed.
Still, the fact that salaries were increasing at all was surprising. And compared to last year, the number of staff had skyrocketed. The days of working until your nose bled were over. Now, work was pretty relaxed.
Plus, the expansion construction was finished, so even during peak hours, no one went hungry anymore. Jinsu was convinced that their cafeteria was now on par with those of big corporations. No, actually, he thought it was even better.
“But does our research institute have that much money?”
After finishing peeling the onions, Jinsu asked his superior. His initial feelings about the institute weren’t great, but lately, he felt like he’d landed a good job because the work environment had improved so much.
“Didn’t you know? Recently, we’ve been swimming in so much money that we don’t even know where to spend it.”
“Really?”
Jinsu was surprised to hear that his joking remark was actually true. His superior nodded and continued.
“From what I’ve heard, our institute’s annual revenue is in the hundreds of billions, but after Hana joined, we started making trillions every month.”
“That’s amazing.”
It was almost a 100-fold increase in revenue. No wonder the institute’s facilities were getting better. With that kind of money, it was only right to upgrade everything. And even after all that, they’d probably only spend 10% of the revenue.
“By the way, I’ve never seen Hana. Have you, sir?”
“You haven’t seen our institute’s mascot, Hana?”
“Well… I’m always stuck in the kitchen during meal times, so I haven’t had the chance.”
“Unbelievable…”
His superior placed a hand on his forehead and sighed as if he’d heard something tragic. Then he said to Jinsu,
“Make sure to see her today. You’ll be amazed that such a cute kid exists in this world.”
“Is she really that cute?”
“Yeah. If everyone had kids like Hana, our country’s birth rate wouldn’t be so low.”
“That sounds like an exaggeration…”
“It’s because you haven’t seen her yet.”
Seeing his superior talk like this made Jinsu curious. If he was making such a fuss, maybe the kid really was that adorable.
As he worked hard, lunchtime approached. A line had already formed outside with employees coming to eat.
Today, Jinsu wasn’t working inside the kitchen but was outside instead. It was a first for him. This was his chance to see what this Hana kid looked like.
Just like how you might live in an apartment and never see your neighbor’s face, Jinsu had been working here for a long time but had never seen Hana. He’d heard she had green hair, but he hadn’t spotted her yet.
While busily serving food to the employees, he saw a kid with green hair in the distance. Was he finally going to see Hana’s face?
As the kid, holding a tray, came running over with a bright smile, Jinsu almost dropped the ladle he was holding. Just as his superior had said, she was incredibly cute and pretty. She had the kind of looks that could make her a beloved child star nationwide.
The adorable girl held out her tray and said to Jinsu,
“Uncle, give me a lot!”
‘Uncle…?’
Jinsu tried to deny that he was an uncle, but the kid’s eyes were sharp. Defeated, he had no choice but to serve her a generous portion of side dishes.
Hana, with her tray now full, happily ran off. She probably went to eat with some female employees.
Jinsu wasn’t particularly fond of kids. He thought they were noisy and only caused trouble. But seeing Hana changed his mind. She was just that cute. Jinsu felt like he’d found a reason to stick around the institute for a long time.
Hana’s cuteness was unmatched by anything else.
—
“Huh?!”
I stepped on the scale and frowned. I’d gained 2kg. Just in case, I went to the measuring device next to it. Time to check my height…
To straighten my back, I pressed my back firmly against the wall.
A plastic rod tapped the top of my head and went back up. Unable to hide my excitement, I quickly checked the result.
[135cm]
“Ugh!”
My height hadn’t grown at all. I actually debated whether to stand on my tiptoes or not, but I didn’t, and I never thought it would lead to such a devastating result… If I had known this would happen, I would have gone to bed early like Bora and Haru always say… I had no idea that staying up late watching movies or anime would lead to this.
My height didn’t grow at all, and the fact that I was only gaining weight was a red flag. Of course, I was still within the normal weight range, but fat tends to sneak up on you, so I needed to manage it early. I decided to cut back on snacks starting today.
“Hana, you’ve gained a little weight…?”
Bora said this to me after looking at my health check-up results. I flinched. Hearing those words from someone else hit me hard. How could she say that so directly! It seemed Bora still lacked sensitivity when it came to weight.
“Ugh…”
But I couldn’t come up with a response to Bora’s comment. It was true that I had gained weight. And when I thought about the snacks I usually ate, it would have been strange if I hadn’t gained weight.
However, what surprised me was that my height hadn’t grown at all. Was I destined to remain a short kid forever? I couldn’t help but feel anxious.
Seeing my gloomy expression, Bora quickly rambled on with something else.
“Hana, you’re still in your growth period, so it’s fine! The weight will all go to your height.”
“Really?”
“Of course, of course.”
Bora patted my head as she said this. But I already knew. Weight doesn’t turn into height. If it did, all overweight people would be tall. But there were plenty of short, overweight people.
I steeled myself and decided to cut back on food starting today. I wanted to exercise hard too, but since I didn’t have proper exercise facilities yet, I thought I’d start with the most important thing: managing my diet. I vaguely remembered hearing that diet management was more important than exercise.
No matter how much you exercise, if you eat a lot, it’s all for nothing. I finished the rest of the check-up and returned to my room. I pulled out a box from under my bed. The box was filled with snacks. It reminded me of the time in the military when I kept a box under my bed filled with snacks.
I picked up the box and headed to the office. With a determined expression, I walked to the office, and people seemed hesitant to talk to me. Or maybe they were holding back. Apparently, if you make a scary face, people get intimidated… I relaxed my expression.
Then I approached Haru. Haru looked at me with a puzzled expression when she saw me carrying the box.
“Hana, why did you bring this?”
Haru responded in a very sensible way. With a resolute expression, I said to Haru:
“Haru, I’m going on a diet starting today!”
“Really…?”
“Yeah, so can you keep this for me? I won’t eat it for a week!”
I handed the box full of snacks to Haru as I said this. Haru nodded as if she understood.
“Hmm… You won’t ask for it back later, right?”
“Absolutely not!”
I shook my head side to side as I said this. I swore that I would never ask for the snacks back or sneak a bite. I was a person with strong willpower, and if I decided to do something, I would do it. I wasn’t the type to be swayed by something as trivial as snacks.
“But do you really need to diet, Hana? You look the same to me.”
“I had a check-up today, and I’ve gained a lot of weight.”
“Hmm… But Hana, you’re still in your growth period, so shouldn’t you be eating a lot?”
“No!”
I couldn’t listen to Haru anymore and quickly ran outside. The box Haru was holding kept flashing in my mind. I had worked so hard to collect those snacks… I was already starting to regret it.
