So, Hana and Bora spent the whole day walking around looking at houses. Of course, they weren’t walking all over the vast Seoul area—they took a car to go from house to house.
Hana successfully bought the house she wanted. It cost a whopping 4 billion won, but she paid in cash, cool as a cucumber. The real estate agent was staring at Bora and Hana with wide eyes. It was rare to see someone buy a house with cold, hard cash. Most people usually take out loans to buy a place.
But Hana was the richest of the rich, so 4 billion won was like scooping a bucket of water out of a swimming pool for her. She arrived at the building in high spirits.
“Is this really my house, Bora?”
“Yeah. This is really the house Hana bought.”
Hana held the purchase certificate and stared at it in amazement. It was her first time buying a house. Well, technically, it wasn’t her first time since she had lived as a man in her past life, but it was her first time buying a luxury apartment worth 4 billion won. She had only ever rented before, so this was a big deal for her.
And now that it was her own house, she felt a sense of attachment. Sure, she had a room in the building, but that was more like the Starlight Research Institute’s space, so she couldn’t get too attached. If the Starlight Research Institute told her to leave, she’d have to leave. But honestly, anyone who tried to kick Hana out would have to be a complete lunatic. Without Hana, the Starlight Research Institute would literally collapse. 99% of their revenue depended on her.
Right now, the company was rolling in money thanks to Hana, but if she disappeared, the consequences would be painfully obvious. In fact, during the one month Hana was gone, the company experienced massive regret, exhaustion, and obsession.
“Hmm…”
Hana was inspecting the house documents to see if they were real or not. Of course, she wouldn’t be able to tell just by looking. She was still a kid when it came to adulting. And even adults don’t know much about real estate. Society is just too vast.
Just like how people don’t know how Hana grows her plants, Hana doesn’t know much about real estate or other broad fields. But Bora didn’t care. Hana didn’t need to know about those things.
Over time, she’d naturally learn, and the Starlight Research Institute would actively help her. If Hana didn’t know something, they’d stick to her like lawyers and teach her everything.
—————————————–
A few days later, I arrived at the apartment I bought with my own money. The entrance was heavily guarded. I pulled out my resident card. The security was so tight that even delivery drivers or other visitors had to go through a security process to enter.
But since I was a resident, I could get in with a simpler process compared to outsiders. Bora was with me too. Seeing the spacious apartment grounds calmed my mind. I looked for the address written on the paper. The apartment complex was so big that even with the address, it was hard to find my place.
After walking around for a while, I finally arrived at my house. It wasn’t ready for moving in yet. The interior renovation had started, but the inside was empty. I had to bring in the electronics and furniture myself. I left all of that to the Starlight Research Institute. I could’ve done it myself, but it would’ve given me a headache.
There were too many things to buy, so I just told them roughly what I needed and left the rest to them. Otherwise, this process would never end. Right now, they were tearing down the wallpaper and redoing the interior. It seemed like it would take another month before I could move in. But it looked like the work would be done before the school vacation ended. Every time I visited, the scenery inside the house kept changing.
———————————————–
Layla couldn’t help but be shocked when she saw her boss James’s head. Just yesterday, it was a barren wasteland, but today it was full of short, sporty hair. If anyone saw him, they’d think he was about to join the military.
The length of his hair was just enough to be noticeable.
But the length wasn’t important. What mattered was that his hair had grown. Layla couldn’t help but cover her mouth with her hand in shock. She had truly witnessed a miracle right before her eyes. James smiled contentedly and said,
“This is a miracle. Starlight Food is really a company that creates miracles.”
James felt his favorability toward Starlight Food skyrocket. It would have been strange if he didn’t feel good about a company that cured his incurable baldness. When James first came to Korea, he was frowning and not in a good mood, but today he felt like he could fly. He took a sip of the Americano in front of him and said,
“Since we’ve seen the results, we’re definitely bringing Tangle to the U.S. Layla, you agree, right?”
Layla nodded at James’s words. Westerners had a much higher probability of baldness than Asians. According to research, Western men were 10-20% more likely to go bald than Asian men. And to add to the shock, it was common for Westerners to experience baldness at a young age.
In foreign countries, there were even adult men who shaved their heads completely despite being young. For Asians, the probability of baldness was lower than for Westerners, but if they shaved their heads, their skull shape wasn’t very appealing. You could say baldness just didn’t suit them.
The U.S. population was 330 million. Half of that would be 160 million men, and with a baldness rate of about 40%, roughly 60 million bald men lived in the U.S. If Tangle could cure 50% of them, they could secure 30 million daily customers. It was a massive market. And once people tried Tangle, they would have to keep eating it for life.
If they stopped eating Tangle, their hair would fall out again, so just like hair loss medication, bald people would have to eat Tangle every day, ensuring steady demand. At the very least, those who grew hair from Tangle would never stop eating it.
“I agree. We just witnessed a miracle.”
Layla couldn’t take her eyes off James’s now full head of hair. Having seen him bald for so long, it felt unfamiliar. But seeing James smile so brightly, she knew the road ahead would be tough. In negotiations, cool-headed and rational thinking was essential, but looking at James now, it seemed like he’d give away everything, even his liver and gallbladder.
The only saving grace was that James couldn’t speak Korean, so Layla could control the general flow of the negotiations. Bringing Tangle, which was selling well in Korea, to the U.S. was important, but getting it at a reasonable price was equally crucial. After all, the core purpose of a business was to generate profit.
“Hahaha. How did such a miraculous ingredient come from Korea?”
James laughed as he looked at the Tangle in front of him. As he said, it was truly rare for such a miraculous ingredient to emerge. When news broke that a dementia treatment had come from Gate ingredients, the whole world was shaken. Dementia was notoriously difficult to conquer, and unlike other diseases, it erased memories, forcing caregivers to suffer alongside the patients.
But now, that was no longer necessary. A simple pill could cure dementia instantly. There was no longer any need to fear dementia.
“Shall we go then?”
“Let’s.”
James and Layla left the hotel. Their destination was Starlight Food. Knowing they had high-quality products suitable for Walmart, all they needed was to negotiate with Starlight Food to get their products into Walmart. If they could secure distribution in the U.S. market, they would go all out. The U.S. market was enormous, after all.
