Vroom vroom!
The sound of a high-performance engine echoed. The car was so expensive that it zoomed forward like it was nothing special. You could really feel the difference between driving a budget car and a luxury one.
After a few more minutes of driving, they finally arrived at the real estate office. The owner came out barefoot. After all, someone driving a fancy car was highly likely to buy a house right away.
“Hello, ma’am!”
The agent greeted Bora warmly. Maybe because Hana was by her side, he seemed to mistake them for mother and daughter. But Bora didn’t correct him. Instead, she hugged Hana even tighter. Seeing their close bond, the agent smiled warmly. It was like a cheat code for happiness—seeing a family get along so well always brought a smile to his face.
“By any chance, what kind of house are you looking for today…?”
The agent casually asked Bora. She inquired about an apartment that met the company’s criteria. Her main concerns were the surrounding environment and security. A bad neighborhood could mean more shady people, and poor security could lead to risks when Hana was sleeping alone. Of course, apartment thefts were rare these days, but she wanted to eliminate even the smallest variables.
And there was a good reason for wanting to live in a nice neighborhood. It was common sense that better neighborhoods had better people. Slums didn’t exist for no reason. Even the famous story of Mencius’ mother moving three times for her son’s education was based on this idea.
Young children are highly influenced by their surroundings. That’s why Bora wanted to send Hana to Starlight Elementary School, a school most kids couldn’t even dream of attending. She hoped that being around kids from good neighborhoods would keep Hana from being negatively influenced.
Bora shuddered at the thought of Hana turning into a delinquent, crouching and smoking cigarettes. What parent could predict their child becoming a troublemaker? Most kids who went astray probably seemed perfectly normal when they were young.
She decided she’d guide Hana well so she wouldn’t turn out like that. But judging by Hana’s personality, the chances of that happening seemed slim. Hana didn’t seem to lack anything, and none of the common reasons kids go off the rails applied to her.
Hana didn’t have parents, but she had plenty of people who loved her. So, it wasn’t like she’d turn out twisted from a lack of parental affection. Hana was growing up surrounded by love.
And then there was the money. It was almost embarrassing to talk about. Among kids her age, Hana was probably the richest. In Korea, she was definitely number one, and even globally, she was a dark horse to be reckoned with. Sure, she might not have as much as the oil-rich Middle Eastern royal kids, but a 10-year-old with as much money as Hana? Unlikely.
Anyway, with all that in mind, they focused on touring luxury apartments. They planned to visit several places and compare before making a decision. It was just one day of hard work. Compared to the days of legwork people usually put into buying a house, this was a piece of cake. Bora had gone through her fair share of struggles buying a house before.
If she had enough money, she’d have paid upfront, but she didn’t have enough to buy a house outright. She’d have to take out a loan. Of course, most people her age bought houses with loans. Only the golden-spoon folks could afford to pay in cash.
“Bora, my legs hurt…”
Bora had brought Hana along to get her opinion, but Hana was whining from exhaustion. It was understandable—running around all day was tiring for a little kid. Bora picked her up and held her. Hana stayed quietly in her arms.
“Just hang in there for today, Hana. We need to find a house you like.”
Hearing that, Hana perked up again. It wasn’t like they had to suffer for days—just one day of effort was enough to give her a boost.
“Okay! I’ll do my best!”
Once Bora put her down, Hana started running around the house again. Bora wondered what Hana’s criteria for choosing a house were. Of course, only Hana knew that.
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Korea is a strong country, ranking in the top 10 globally in terms of GDP. People living in Korea often forget that just 70 years ago, it was a developing country where people struggled to even eat properly. The rapid growth was so fast that even the citizens didn’t fully realize how quickly they’d progressed.
But from the perspective of the U.S., Korea is just a small country.
Basically, Americans didn’t show much interest in overseas matters outside of the U.S. The U.S. alone was already a massive country. Whether it was tourism or sports, everything happened within one nation, making it a cheat-code map of a country. For citizens of smaller nations, no matter how far apart they were within their own borders, it was just a day’s journey. But the U.S. was different. It took days of driving just to circle from one end of the country to the other. Thinking back to the days of walking, it was a wonder how such a country was even maintained.
And some American citizens didn’t even know where Korea was located. Some even confused it with North Korea. There were even people who had no idea Korea existed at all.
So, the idea that some small, insignificant country had come up with a Gate material to cure baldness seemed like an outrageous lie. They thought it was just some verbal scam. They imagined it was some exaggerated advertisement for a minor baldness treatment, followed by a money grab and then a disappearing act. After all, baldness was a disease that hadn’t been conquered yet.
That’s why James, who was on a business trip to Korea, was also skeptical. Was he about to fall for another tall tale? In all the countries he’d visited that claimed to have the cure for baldness, he’d never found anything legit. Of course, despite this endless cycle, his desire to cure his baldness was genuine, so it was his job to keep an eye out for any good news about baldness treatments worldwide. After all, he was a shiny, bald man.
But when he woke up in his hotel room and saw his reflection in the mirror, he couldn’t help but gasp.
“Oh my God!”
The reflection staring back at him looked no different from yesterday. Sleeping for a night didn’t cause any sudden bodily changes. But a dramatic transformation had occurred on his head. In the mirror, James’ scalp was now covered with hair, sharp as pencil lead. He had been so desperate about his baldness that he’d tried every supposed remedy, but his hair never grew back. He had given up on his hair over a decade ago. But now, seeing his reflection, he couldn’t help but let out a cry of amazement.
He had regained the hair he had longed for so much. With trembling hands, he touched his scalp. The rough texture of his hair felt vividly real. Thinking it might be a dream, he slapped his cheek. It hurt. It wasn’t a dream. Looking at his reflection, James smirked. The day had come to put an end to his decades-long wandering journey.
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“Something good happen, James? Why are you grinning so creepily?”
Layla was one of those employees who didn’t take kindly to her boss’s smiles. When he grinned like that, it usually meant something bad was about to happen.
“Today, I experienced a miracle.”
“A miracle?”
What was he talking about? Did he join some cult overnight? Layla couldn’t help but conclude that her boss, James, had lost his mind over his baldness. They had come to Korea to import unique and effective products from Starlight Food, which had a reputation for producing some very special items. However, Starlight Food wasn’t yet capable of exporting, so they had to come to Korea directly to negotiate distribution. Starlight Food held the upper hand in this situation.
So, Layla had come to Korea with her boss, armed with full negotiation authority, but it seemed like their business trip was about to end here. Her boss had clearly lost it. But then, Layla couldn’t help but gasp when James took off his hat.
“Oh my God.”
She couldn’t help but repeat James’ words. She had witnessed a miracle on James’ head.
