“Uwaaah…”
The lift reached the top, and Jiyu, Yumi, and Maru got off easily, but I couldn’t. I thought I might end up riding the lift all the way back down. I wanted to get off, but my body just wouldn’t listen.
“Ehhh.”
Luckily, Maru saw me struggling to get off the lift and picked me up to help me down. Phew. The lift was moving super slowly, but since it was my first time, getting off was still tough.
“Hana! The lift isn’t that fast. Just step off.”
“But still…”
“Hana, you’re such a scaredy-cat!”
“What…!”
Jiyu was hitting a nerve, but I couldn’t argue back. She was right, after all. Anyone who couldn’t get off the lift was just a scaredy-cat. I decided that next time, I wouldn’t hesitate and would step off right away. I didn’t want to hear Jiyu call me a scaredy-cat again.
And so, we arrived at the top of the ski resort. Maybe because it was snowing, the atmosphere felt even better. It wasn’t snowing hard enough to block our vision, but it didn’t matter anyway. Goggles would solve that problem.
Whoooosh—
A harsh winter wind blew. It was much colder up here than it was down below. But it didn’t matter. We had rented winter gear earlier, and it was thick enough to handle anything above -20 to -30 degrees Celsius.
“Should we take a photo?”
Maru offered to take a picture with the snowfield as the background. We all nodded. As Maru said, this spot was perfect for phone photos—the background would look amazing.
“Hana, come here!”
“Okay!”
We managed to take a commemorative photo with the snowfield as our backdrop. When Maru showed us the photo, it looked fantastic. It was so good that it could’ve been taken by a professional photographer. The angle was perfect.
“Alright, let’s ski~”
“Yay!”
We started getting ready to ski. We placed our skis on the snow. Jiyu and Yumi expertly stepped onto their ski bindings and clicked them into place. But I was different.
“Ugh…”
Even though I had learned how to ski earlier, it was a crash course, so I was still confused. As I fumbled around on my skis, a savior appeared.
“Wait, Hana…”
Our eternal protector, Maru, came over to me. She crouched down and fixed my bindings so I could ski properly. I realized I was now one with my skis.
“Ooooh!!! Maru, you’re the best!”
“There, all set?”
Thanks to Maru perfectly securing my bindings, I became one with my skis. I was so satisfied that I couldn’t help but smile. I picked up my ski poles and gave it a try. The equipment was so good that even without much effort, the skis glided forward smoothly.
“Hana! Let’s ski down! For your first time, go slow and safe, okay?”
“Okay.”
Skiing is all about going fast and looking cool. I nodded in agreement with Yumi’s words, but deep down, I felt differently. I gripped my ski poles tightly and pushed forward without hesitation.
Whoooosh!
The sound of the rough wind rushed past my ears. It felt like I was facing a typhoon as the headwind hit me hard. But it didn’t matter. I was one with my skis!
I started racing across the snowfield. Since I had learned a bit about skiing earlier, my skis glided down the slope effortlessly. Jiyu and Yumi were skiing down behind me.
“Hana, you’re going too fast!”
“Right!”
Jiyu and Yumi spoke in worried tones as they watched me ski. I was fine. But soon, I hit my limit.
“Ugh!”
Maybe because I was going too fast, I lost control of my direction. I ended up falling face-first into the snow, just like a cartoon character. If the ground hadn’t been soft snow, I might’ve gotten seriously hurt.
Seeing me tumble, Jiyu and Yumi came over and stood by my side.
“We told you not to go so fast!”
“Are you okay, Hana?”
“Ugh…”
My face was buried in the snow, so it felt freezing cold. I made a pained expression as I tried to get up. Did I go too fast…? But since my skis were still attached, getting up wasn’t easy. With Jiyu and Yumi’s help, I managed to stand up.
“Thanks!”
“Hana, you don’t have to go so fast! It’s your first time skiing.”
“But still…”
Cutting through the wind at high speed while skiing was romantic. And I had just been enjoying that romance.
“Let’s go again!”
Jiyu and Yumi zoomed off ahead. Seeing that, I couldn’t let them win, so I grabbed my ski poles and pushed forward again. Maybe because I had fallen properly once before, I didn’t fall this time. It was like riding a bike for the first time—shaky and nervous at first, but now I was used to it and didn’t fall.
And just like that, we managed to ski all the way down.
“Hehe!”
Successfully completing the run made me feel really good. The snow falling from the sky felt like it was blessing me. Of course, it was probably just my imagination. Still, it was fascinating to see the snow falling like this. It wasn’t heavy enough to interfere with skiing, but just enough to make it visually clear that it was snowing. It was walking that fine line.
If it had snowed more, visibility would have been poor, and if it had snowed less, I might have wondered if it was even snowing at all.
“Alright! Shall we go ride the lift again? Did anyone get hurt on the way down?”
Maru was skiing around us. Her role seemed to be looking out for us in case anyone got hurt.
“Yep!”
We answered energetically. It was time to ride the lift back up. We took off our skis and switched back to shoes. Sure, we could have ridden the lift with skis on, but it was uncomfortable.
—
Even though he had received a scouting offer, Kim Ramin was planning to decline.
The generous conditions, salary, and job security seemed like efforts to keep him. These kinds of offers usually came from companies desperate for talent. A thriving conglomerate wouldn’t make such offers. In short, it was a failing company trying to hire him.
But when he saw the company making the offer, he couldn’t help but widen his eyes.
“Starlight Food?”
Wasn’t that the hottest food company right now? Anyone in the food industry would know this company. Just this year, they had achieved remarkable growth. They were selling crops that looked ordinary but had mysterious effects.
Kim Ramin was almost hypnotized into accepting the offer. If it was Starlight Food, it was worth trusting. The conditions they offered earlier made sense now. Sure, failing companies made such offers, but so did wealthy, thriving companies looking to save time by hiring experienced talent.
Of course, there was no information about Starlight Food entering the ramen industry… but seeing them hire him, it seemed like they were planning to. Otherwise, there was no reason to hire him.
“Is this noodle made from Starlight wheat and the soup from Starlight beef?”
When Kim Ramin received the scouting offer, he thought he would be the most experienced one there. After all, he was in his 50s, nearing retirement.
But when he entered the R&D department Starlight Food had set up, he found many people around his age. Seeing how many they had hired, it seemed Starlight Food wasn’t wasting any time.
“Yes. Of course, the method for making the noodles and soup is based on expired patent recipes,” another researcher said.
The researchers had ramen recipes from their previous industry experience, but they couldn’t use them due to patents. So, they had no choice but to use expired patent recipes. But with this level of talent, they could probably develop their own ramen recipe within a year.
This wasn’t a random group of people—they were the kind of talent you’d expect in a top research department. Not a single newbie was in sight. The youngest person in the department was in their 40s. But it didn’t matter. Everyone was confident in their skills.
