“Whoa!”
I ran around the living room. Everything here was just fancy clothes. I don’t know how they set it up, but it felt like I had walked into a department store.
Seeing me like this, the boss smiled and said, “Hana, wanna come here?”
“Yep!”
Since I promised to listen to the boss today, I scurried over to them. To get the limited-edition goods of the Little Magician Lumi, I’d give up my liver and gallbladder if I had to. Lumi’s limited-edition goods weren’t something you could get just by having money. It was an item you had to fight through fierce competition to win.
Of course, you could always buy it secondhand from someone who won it, but that was too lame. The moment limited-edition goods passed through someone else’s hands, the excitement just fizzled out. All I wanted was for it to arrive in a fancy delivery box. And my goal was to carefully and lovingly unwrap that box.
As everyone knows, unwrapping a delivery box is fun and exciting. It’s the thrill of finally having the product you ordered in your hands. Anyway, as I was thinking that, the boss was holding a few outfits. I politely took the clothes from them. They felt thick—probably winter clothes. Compared to the summer clothes I was wearing, the difference in thickness was probably several times over.
Well, even if it’s a high-end brand, it doesn’t mean the functionality of the clothes is lost. Winter clothes need thick leather to keep the wearer’s body temperature stable. No matter how stylish, flashy, or divinely designed, if winter clothes are so thin they can’t even block the wind, no one would wear them.
“Now, Hana, which one do you like?”
The boss held me and slowly showed me the clothes. Honestly, I couldn’t tell even after looking. My taste wasn’t that great—maybe even below average. Sure, I’m rich now, but just last year, I was living like a beggar. So, I said to the boss, “I’ll wear whatever you pick for me!”
It was the simplest solution. If I couldn’t decide, I’d just pass the decision to someone else. Hearing this, the boss lit up and said, “Really?”
I felt a little uneasy, but I nodded. It’s just picking clothes—nothing special could happen, right? The boss gently put me down and said, “Then I’d love it if Hana wore this!”
Following the boss’s gesture, the department store employees quickly sprang into action. They brought over the outfit the boss had chosen. It had some kind of vintage design, and the material seemed good. My mediocre taste couldn’t discern anything beyond that. Someone with better taste might’ve noticed something special.
Anyway, holding the outfit the boss picked, I looked around to change. I couldn’t just change in the living room with so many employees around. I’m not an exhibitionist, and I wouldn’t change clothes in such a crowded place.
“There’s a fitting room here.”
A female employee pointed out a booth set up in the corner of the living room. I bowed my head in thanks and went inside. The fitting room smelled nice. Even though it was only going to be used for a few hours today, they had placed a fancy scented candle inside.
This was a big corporation, after all. Meticulous to the core. If they paid this much attention to the fitting room, I couldn’t even imagine how much care they put into other places. So, I quickly changed into the outfit the boss had chosen. I hung my original clothes on the hanger inside the fitting room, then opened the door and stepped out.
“Kyaa! Hana, you’re so cute!”
The reaction was explosive. The boss clapped their hands, delighted to see me in the outfit. It seemed like they were more excited about it than I was. To make the boss even happier, I spun around in place. My long hair fluttered, creating a scene straight out of a romance movie. The protagonist was probably me.
But then, I noticed something dangerous in the boss’s eyes. There was a hint of madness. I couldn’t help but shrink back under the boss’s unfamiliar gaze.
—
Director Marzo toured the wine factory with the vice president of Starlight Food. Nothing particularly special.
It was a wine factory that you could commonly see anywhere. Of course, compared to his own Moët Chandon factory, it was no different from a child.
However, if there was one difference from other wine factories, it was the strong aroma of grapes. Director Marzo had never tasted Starlight Wine, but he was certain of one thing: the grape aroma of this wine could overwhelm wines from all over the world.
Just by walking around the factory, he could already sense this level of aroma. He couldn’t even imagine how strong the scent would be once it was turned into wine.
He took a tour around the factory with the vice president. It wasn’t common to show the entire production process, but it was a gesture of goodwill from Starlight Food toward Director Marzo.
“We’ve prepared some wine here.”
An employee from Starlight Food came and prepared the wines for tasting. They wanted to test everything, from the production process to the final product. Of course, Director Marzo knew this too. That’s why his company had sent him here.
“Is this Starlight Wine?”
Looking at the elegantly designed wine bottle, he felt the urge to collect it. From the perspective of a director with 20 years of experience in the wine industry, the design was a pass. While taste is important, the outward appearance of the wine is equally crucial. There’s a saying that good-looking rice cakes taste better.
An employee carefully uncorked the bottle and poured the wine into a glass. Director Marzo watched the scene slowly. From uncorking to pouring, there was nothing to criticize. Sure, he could nitpick if he wanted to, but Director Marzo knew better than anyone that Starlight Food’s wine business had only been around for less than half a year. It was practically a newborn company still learning to walk.
The company Director Marzo worked for, Moët Chandon, had been in business since the 1700s—a true veteran among veterans. Comparing Starlight Food’s experience to Moët Chandon’s was like comparing apples to oranges.
Director Marzo had no intention of harshly criticizing Starlight Food. He already had a lot of goodwill toward them since they had saved him from baldness. If Moët Chandon had known about his feelings, they probably wouldn’t have sent him to Korea. It was obvious he’d lean toward making a favorable deal with Starlight Food.
Bald people were practically held hostage by Starlight Food. The moment Starlight Food announced they wouldn’t sell Tangle anymore, bald people would have to return from their lush paradise to the hellish world of baldness. It was no different from going to hell. That absolutely couldn’t happen. They’d rather pay more money to avoid it. Honestly, even 300,000 won a month was a steal.
Getting hair transplants or using half-baked hair loss products like Propecia wasn’t cheap either. Of course, ever since Starlight Food launched Tangle, the hair loss industry had long been dead. Everyone had stopped researching other ways to treat baldness.
There was no reason to research other methods when Tangle could cure baldness. As a result, Starlight Food became the only lifeline for bald people.
“Hmm…”
Director Marzo picked up the wine glass. The aroma of the wine was a pass. With this level of scent, it could hold its own against wines that cost millions of won per bottle. Director Marzo began tasting the wine.
The employees of Starlight Food were watching Director Marzo intently. He placed the glass back on the table.
“It’s good.”
However, despite saying it was good, Director Marzo didn’t smile. He continued, “The ingredients are excellent. In fact, there’s probably no grape on Earth better than this.”
“But it feels like eating caviar with rice.”
Director Marzo pointed out the wine’s flaw. The ingredients were beyond excellent. Honestly, grapes of this quality were hard to find on Earth. But the production process of this wine wasn’t great.
To put it in Korean terms, it was like making spicy fish soup with expensive rockfish—a waste of good ingredients.
