Ding-dong—
The cheerful bell rang, and the kids cheered excitedly. It always feels good when school ends. For most kids who go to school, this is probably their favorite time of day. I smiled as I watched their antics.
Being in the third grade of elementary school is such a fun age, isn’t it? I rested my chin on my hand and watched the kids running around. I was glad I was a bit different, but I wasn’t the type to express myself so physically. Soon, the homeroom teacher came in to prepare to send the kids home.
“Alright, everyone, good work today! Be careful on your way home, okay?”
Even though they were just kids, the teacher used polite speech, which felt a bit awkward to me. Back in my day, if you didn’t like being spoken to informally, you’d get hit with a ruler—it was just part of life. But now, if a teacher did that, they’d probably get bombarded with complaints from parents. In worse cases, parents might even come to school and slap the teacher who hit their kid. Times have definitely changed.
Anyway, as soon as the teacher finished speaking, the kids rushed out of the classroom. I leisurely packed my things. I had nowhere to go until Maru came to pick me up. The struggle of commuting by car. Of course, I could take the bus, but that would take over an hour, so I didn’t bother. The difference in commuting time between a car and a bus was huge.
The distance wasn’t that far, but since the research institute was on the outskirts of the city, the bus took a roundabout route. If it took 30 minutes by car, it took almost an hour and a half by bus. I was about to take out my phone and text Maru that I was done, but this plan was quickly changed by Jiyu and Yumi.
“Hana, let’s go buy pajamas!”
“There’s a new store that just opened!”
Jiyu and Yumi suggested we go buy pajamas. Hearing that, I quickly edited the text I was about to send to Maru, telling her I was going out to have fun. The mention of pajamas reminded me that it was time for me to get new ones too. My dinosaur pajamas were worn out because the tail dragged on the floor.
“Let’s go!”
I grabbed Jiyu and Yumi’s hands and headed to the new pajama store. If I found something I liked, I planned to buy it and take it home.
—
Since the store was near the elementary school, there were a lot of pajamas for elementary school kids. As I walked in, I couldn’t help but marvel at the variety of pajamas on display.
“My mom told me to get something I can actually wear to sleep!”
Jiyu held up a card, probably her parents’. Jiyu and Yumi said they were buying new pajamas for fall. They mentioned that last year’s fall pajamas were too small now. Well, a year is plenty of time for elementary school kids to grow.
Enough time for last year’s pajamas to not fit anymore.
“What kind of pajamas are you going to get, Hana?”
I thought about Yumi’s question. Since I’m a bit older now, I figured it was time to move on from dinosaur pajamas. I planned to go for something simple and comfortable.
“I’ll just get something simple. Thin and soft!”
“Really? Then let’s go to the second-floor corner! That’s where the girls’ pajamas are.”
The first floor was the men’s section, so there wasn’t much to see. Of course, pajamas are pajamas—unless they’re skirts, they’re pretty much unisex. And pajamas aren’t something you show off to others anyway. But I was different. Since the employees were watching, I couldn’t buy anything too revealing.
Following Jiyu and Yumi, I arrived on the second floor, where a sparkling scene greeted me. The women’s pajamas were so vibrant in color. The men’s section had a dull vibe, but here, even the smell was different. The first floor smelled like a bachelor’s pad, but the second floor was filled with a sweet, perfumed fragrance.
An employee smiled and greeted us.
“Welcome, little customers! If you have any questions, feel free to ask me, okay?”
“Okay!”
With that, the employee went to help other customers. That was a relief. Having an employee hovering while I picked out pajamas would’ve been a bit stressful. As I browsed, I spotted some dinosaur pajamas. These were for girls, so instead of the green dinosaur pajamas I was wearing, these were pink.
—
Kim Sehee spoke with a regretful expression.
“Starlight Food’s crops are always in short supply. It’s still impossible to provide the amount Walmart wants. It’ll take at least six months before we can stabilize the supply.”
As Kim Sehee said, the amount we could sell in the U.S. right now wasn’t enough. Of course, we could take some from the supply in Korea…
It was possible to sell, but there was no need to take that risk. Hearing that, James suggested an alternative to Kim Sehee.
“How about entrusting the farming to our Walmart? Walmart is a company that knows farming as well as distribution. At least we won’t disappoint you. There’s a lot of idle land in the U.S., and that land is very fertile.”
Even after James’s words, Kim Sehee stroked her chin as if pondering and said, “Our crops are unique plants that only grow under special conditions. Even if we farm in the U.S., they won’t bear fruit. They’ll just be ungrateful.”
At Kim Sehee’s words, James had no choice but to bite his lip. But there was nothing he could do. What could he do when there was no stock to sell? Then, seeing James’s expression, Kim Sehee felt it was time to bring it up.
“Other crops are still in short supply, but we can supply Tangle to the U.S. for now. The harvest is huge. However…”
At Kim Sehee’s words, James’s face lit up. Other crops were precious, but not as much as Tangle. Tangle was a divine crop that could save millions of bald people living in the U.S.
“Is that so? Then we can start distributing Tangle right away.”
Cutting off James’s words, Layla, who was sitting next to him, spoke up.
“Is there a problem with Tangle?”
She sensed something was off from Kim Sehee’s expression and wondered if there was some unfavorable condition.
“The raw materials are there, but the problem is packaging them for consumers. Of course, we could just throw them in a bag and hand them over, but…”
Hearing that, James reassured Kim Sehee, “That’s a problem we can solve!”
They could just pick an idle factory and outsource the production. After all, the U.S. was vast, and there were plenty of idle factories.
Kim Sehee was satisfied with the distribution terms and didn’t waste any more time.
“Then we’ll entrust Starlight Food’s products to Walmart.”
“That’s a good choice. We’ll split the distribution profits at a ratio that Starlight Food will be satisfied with. However, your company must consistently supply Tangle. Of course, unforeseen circumstances or unavoidable situations may arise, so we can specify that in a separate contract.”
They quickly moved forward with the negotiation. Since they were only selling Tangle for now, things fell into place rapidly.
First, they would distribute in the U.S., and once the supply stabilized over time, they would expand to Canada.
Walmart would handle everything—export, management, distribution, and sales.
All Starlight Food had to do was supply Tangle steadily. Some might think they were getting a free ride, but considering the effects of Tangle, it was like a golden apple they couldn’t obtain otherwise.
“It was a good negotiation. I hope Starlight Food and Walmart can maintain a good relationship.”
“I also hope to maintain a good relationship with Walmart.”
The negotiation ended successfully. Walmart had made the first request, but they had successfully penetrated the U.S., the largest market in the world. Of course, there were India and China, but both had low national incomes.
Frankly, selling in the U.S. would make much more money than selling in China or India. People in those countries might not like spending money on baldness. With an average monthly salary of less than 1 million won, they couldn’t consistently spend 150,000 won a month at Korean prices.
But the U.S. was different. With an average monthly salary of 5 million won, Americans would take Tangle like medicine, even if it cost 150,000 won a month.
“We might even be able to charge more. Americans have the highest income in the world.”
James said they could easily charge 10,000 won per unit.
