“Hana, slow down!”
I was running at full speed with my arms wide open inside the vast amusement park. Jiyu and Yumi couldn’t keep up with my fast pace. When you come to an amusement park, moving quickly is the rule.
Indeed, age couldn’t be fooled. Jiyu and Yumi were struggling to keep up with my decades of experience. We still had a long way to go to reach the bumper cars. The amusement park was incredibly spacious. It was probably impossible to see all the rides in one day.
So, after planning the optimal route, I had to make the most out of today. I could always come back to the amusement park, but since I bought a day pass today, it was only normal to ride as many rides as possible.
“Hana, you’re really like a kid!”
“Wha-what!”
Hearing Yumi call me childish, I felt something break inside me. Being called childish by a 10-year-old! There was nothing more humiliating than this. I had lived at least twice as long as Yumi! Just think about all the experience I’ve accumulated! At least I wasn’t inferior to Yumi.
I looked at Yumi and spoke in a solemn, serious voice, with both hands clenched.
“Take that back…!”
Yumi smirked and said,
“Hana, you’re like a kid.”
“Eek…!”
I thought I should show some adult dignity. But then I wondered, how do you show adult dignity in an amusement park? Isn’t an amusement park a theme park for kids?
Then, something caught my eye.
“Cotton candy! Let’s eat cotton candy, Jiyu, Yumi!”
I pointed to the cotton candy stand with my finger. Seeing this, Yumi and Jiyu looked at each other and nodded. Wait, does eating cotton candy make me childish? Adults enjoy cotton candy too; this was discrimination!
—————————————
“Yummy!”
I smiled brightly, holding a cotton candy bigger than my face. Cotton candy was indeed very sweet. I wondered how the person who first made cotton candy came up with it. It was as impressive as someone thinking of eating pufferfish.
“Hana, you have to finish it before we ride the bumper cars. You can’t ride with cotton candy in hand.”
“Okay!”
I started eating the cotton candy faster. Jiyu and Yumi also wanted to buy one each. What I lacked was time, not money. I could practically buy the entire amusement park. If I ran out of money, I could borrow from Boss Sehee. Boss Sehee even said she would vouch for me if needed. That’s how close we were.
However, Jiyu and Yumi decided to share one cotton candy. They probably found it hard to eat a whole sweet cotton candy by themselves.
But we arrived at the bumper cars before I could finish the cotton candy. I made a sad face. There was no line, so we could ride immediately. Jiyu and Yumi glanced at me. Their eyes were telling me to hurry up and decide.
With tears in my eyes, I had no choice but to throw the cotton candy in the trash. It was impossible to finish this huge cotton candy in one minute. Seeing me throw it away, Jiyu and Yumi grabbed my hands and ran towards the bumper cars.
“Hey… slow down, kids!”
They barely listened to me. They were indeed kids. Jiyu and Yumi couldn’t hide their inner child either.
“Three here!”
We showed our day pass bracelets to the staff. The staff smiled brightly and welcomed us. Then, they opened the tightly closed gate and said,
“Have a great time!”
“Yes!”
We held hands and rushed inside. Inside, bumper cars were waiting for their drivers.
“I want the red one!”
“I want the black one!”
Jiyu and Yumi each picked their cars. I rolled my eyes quickly, putting all my effort into finding the right bumper car. Then, I spotted one with a color that caught my eye.
“I want the green bumper car!”
Strangely, after transforming into this body, I started liking green the most. I used to prefer blue, but my taste changed. I smirked and started controlling the bumper car. I planned to bump into Jiyu’s car first.
————————————————————–
There was no reason to send people from the US anyway. There was no need to send troops from afar since the US military was already stationed in South Korea.
It was because. Colonel Oliver of the US Forces Korea, following the instructions from the US Department of Defense, headed to Starlight Food.
He had also gathered enough information about Starlight Cherry Tomatoes after receiving directives from his home country, even going as far as buying and tasting them separately. He was genuinely surprised after trying them. Who knew such an innovative and convenient food existed in Korea?
The base where the US Forces Korea was stationed was like a piece of America itself. It was so vast that you didn’t even need to leave Korea, and it had almost every convenience facility you could think of. Since he couldn’t speak Korean, he rarely had a reason to leave the base.
Moreover, the laws within the base also followed US regulations. This level of autonomy and independence was granted to the US military base. So, he got into a car led by his aide and headed to the Starlight Food Headquarters. Today, he was going to meet the CEO to discuss matters related to Starlight Cherry Tomatoes.
“Colonel Oliver here. Looking forward to working with you today.”
“Likewise, I’m looking forward to it as well.”
Colonel Oliver was impressed by Kim Sehee’s fluent English. Her pronunciation was as good as a native speaker’s. And she was also a beauty. If he had seen such a woman on the street, his head would’ve naturally turned. Of course, that was that, and work was work, so Colonel Oliver got straight to business.
“Let me cut to the chase. Our US military would like to sign a long-term supply contract for Starlight Cherry Tomatoes handled by Starlight Food.”
Kim Sehee wasn’t surprised since she had already been contacted by the US Department of Defense about wanting to purchase Starlight Cherry Tomatoes. However, she hadn’t yet grasped how much quantity they wanted. After all, the US military alone boasts about 1.5 million active personnel.
At the very least, they were a much better customer than the South Korean military, which has around 500,000 active personnel. That said, she had no intention of giving up on supplying the Korean military. Selling to both would be ideal.
“How much quantity are you looking for?”
Colonel Oliver responded, as the US military had already determined the amount they wanted to purchase.
“For the first phase, 30 million units, and in the long term, we’d like a steady supply of 5 million units of Starlight Cherry Tomatoes annually.”
Currently, the US wasn’t engaged in any major wars. They had officially withdrawn from Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern regions. While there were small-scale conflicts, there were no large-scale battles involving the US military.
So, they had set the quantity relatively low. If the US military were engaged in a modern war, they might have needed to purchase hundreds of millions of units. Hearing this, Kim Sehee looked relieved and said,
“We can handle that quantity without a problem. However, we’ll need a bit of time.”
The number of employees cultivating Starlight Cherry Tomatoes had recently increased significantly, so they could manage the quantity the US military wanted. Moreover, Starlight Cherry Tomatoes bore fruit almost every month, unlike other cherry tomatoes, which made their production volume astonishingly high.
“What price range are you expecting?”
Colonel Oliver cautiously brought up the topic with Kim Sehee. He hoped they could sell at a reasonable price. While he knew the convenience and usefulness of Starlight Cherry Tomatoes, price was still important. His psychological resistance line was up to $10. He had heard they were sold for $5 in Korea, but with distribution costs and taxes, a price increase wouldn’t be surprising.
“How about $8 per tomato?”
“Sounds good. Let’s proceed with the contract.”
Considering that US military combat rations were much more expensive, there was no reason to refuse. Plus, this wasn’t a weapon contract or any other agreement that required congressional approval. Colonel Oliver had full authority over the negotiation, and no approval process from the Department of Defense was needed.
The contract was signed on the spot. Starlight Food became the first Korean company to successfully supply the US military.
