“Hana~ I missed you so much!”
“Uwaaaah…”
I was being subjected to Boss Kim Sehee’s clingy attack. The boss wanted to come as soon as I returned, but due to some circumstances, couldn’t make it right away. However, among the people I know, she was the fastest to arrive. As soon as she saw me, she hugged me tightly. I tried to escape, but there was nowhere to run in this small room. So, for a while, I had to be the boss’s plaything. Maybe it was because I felt guilty for leaving without a word, but I decided to be her toy for the day.
The boss looked haggard, probably from all the stress. It seemed like she had become a completely different person in just a month. Seeing her so thin made me feel sorry for her. To help her regain her former self, I suggested we go eat something delicious. When you’re this thin, eating meat is the way to go. The boss nodded in agreement to my proposal.
“Can I take Hana with me?”
“Of course, Boss Kim Sehee, you can take her anytime.”
I was able to ride the boss’s car to the city. At a very fancy meat restaurant, I ate way more meat than the boss. She kept glancing at me while grilling the meat, as if she enjoyed watching me eat. I thought I had something on my face, but that wasn’t the case.
Spending the day chatting with the boss made me realize how much she needed me. After not seeing her for a month, seeing her like this made me think that if it had been two months, she would have looked completely different.
—
Originally, we planned to manage fruits good for baldness at Starlight Food, but considering the scale of Starlight Food and the efficacy of the new fruits, it seemed more convenient to create a new company for it. Starlight Food was already overloaded with the plants it was cultivating. And given the effects of these fruits, they were sure to sell worldwide.
So, we chose one of Starlight Food’s subsidiaries to proceed. It was essentially moving something from the left pocket to the right pocket. Plus, we could consider going public. Starlight Food wasn’t planning to go public, but for other companies, it was a good option. We intended to retain management control anyway.
There was no pressure in creating a new company since success was almost guaranteed. It would have been strange to hesitate when success was certain.
Production wasn’t a worry either, as we planned to use the production lines from Starlight Food’s factory. Since the discovery of one cherry tomato, we never stopped building factories. The number of factories Starlight Food had was enormous, and it was Kim Sehee’s role to run them flawlessly.
The seeds Hana brought were set up in a separate farm. The rapid mass production was due to the unusually fast growth rate of the plants. While other plants take 4-5 months to bear fruit, these plants bloomed in just a week. So, it wasn’t strange that things were progressing at lightning speed.
There was no shortage of people to carry out this project. We had already hired many new and experienced employees, so manpower wasn’t an issue. That’s why, what usually takes months to start up was completed in less than a month.
With the factory, company building, sufficient capital, and people already in place, it was only natural that the company was established so quickly.
“Hana, what should we name it?”
Kim Sehee asked Hana for suggestions for the new company’s name. Of course, she provided a few examples so Hana wouldn’t have to think too hard. Hana quickly picked one, and Kim Sehee liked it too.
[Starlight Wellbeing]
The name, which implied creating wellbeing, was very appealing. It carried the hope of overcoming not just baldness but other diseases and challenges as well.
—
“Excuse me… I came to apply for the test…”
Just looking at her, she seemed like a model.
This rising young man came to the hospital. But when you looked up from his face, you couldn’t miss his noticeably bare scalp. He was handsome, but with the middle of his head bald, he looked like a character straight out of a comic. If he hadn’t suffered from hair loss, he would’ve been the kind of guy to make women cry, but baldness, that massive obstacle, made him look shabby.
“Ah, yes. You’re here as an applicant for Starlight Food’s recruitment, right? May I have your name?”
“It’s Kim Ji-ho…”
“Ah, yes. Confirmed. Please fill out these documents and wait.”
Since Starlight Wellbeing hadn’t launched yet, the tests were being conducted by Starlight Food for now. And the fruit Hana brought wasn’t some kind of medicine or treatment. It was planned to be produced as a health supplement, not even a functional health food. This way, they could cut down on a lot of preliminary procedures.
After all, if word got out that this fruit was good for hair loss, consumers would come flocking on their own. There was no need to go through the FDA’s clinical trials or other complicated processes. It wasn’t even a medicine, after all. As proof, countless people had applied for the test.
Without any advertising, it was just posted on Starlight Food’s website, but somehow, tens of thousands of people had applied for this test. Whether there was a separate community for bald people or not, the recruitment speed was insane. They had only posted the notice a week ago.
Since they had already successfully completed tests with animals and a small number of people, Starlight Food decided to collaborate with hospitals to test it on more people. The hospitals participating in Starlight Food’s hair loss experiment received hefty fees.
“Ugh…”
Kim Ji-ho was startled by the gloomy atmosphere as soon as he entered the ward. The age range was diverse—from people in their 20s like him to elderly folks in their 60s—but the men all had one thing in common: they were all bald.
The ward was a 6-person room, so it was a bit crowded. The test was supposed to last three days, and Kim Ji-ho was determined to participate wholeheartedly. He even took time off work to come. He wasn’t expecting his hair loss to be completely cured, but if it improved even a little, he’d bow down to the company.
—
The test, disguised as a clinical trial, could only accommodate about 500 people. The supply was limited, and there were only a few hospitals in Seoul participating in the test proposed by Starlight Food. That’s why an insane number of people applied. Somehow, there were even people protesting in front of the headquarters, demanding to be selected. Of course, the protests were about not being chosen.
The not-so-secret test went on for about three days. Since there were no dangerous side effects, it went smoothly.
– “This is insane. Starlight Food? No, Starlight Wellbeing’s hair loss product is the real deal. It’s different from all the other hair loss products that made a big fuss before.”
└ “Trolling ㄴ Every single hair loss product that made a big fuss before was a scam. Is this another viral lie?”
– “I also took the test. All I did was eat a fruit that looked like a pomegranate. But my hair actually grew back. This isn’t a lie, it’s real. They’re releasing it soon, so we’ll see if it’s legit or not.”
A few people posted reviews online. Of course, Starlight Food requested deletions based on confidentiality agreements, so those posts didn’t last long.
Naturally, most people didn’t believe the reviews. After all, articles claiming to have conquered hair loss had been popping up for decades, sounding like April Fool’s jokes. No one believed them.
