“Now I’m really full!”
“Me too… It’s hard to move.”
“From ice cream to snacks…! I ate so much today! I won’t be able to eat dinner when I get home!”
Me, Yumi, and Jiyu had shiny lips. It was because we ate too much fried food at the snack shop. Of course, I ordered a lot, so we had some leftovers, but if we had a bit more time, I think we could’ve finished it all. But we had to leave because of our appointment time.
“Hana, see you later!”
“Bye-bye!”
I sent Jiyu and Yumi off first. Watching them, I felt a little envious. I live far away, so it takes me a long time to get home. Driving for 40 minutes to an hour? That’s just ridiculous. It’s such a long commute. Of course, I could sleep at my second home, but it was too bleak there.
Maybe because I was alone, it felt like ghosts would come out at night. It’s not like I ever woke up at dawn, scared to go to the bathroom and cried. Even when I was in the building, I slept alone!
“Maru, hurry up…!”
I sent a message on my phone. I sent it earlier when we were finishing up at the snack shop, but it would still take some time for Maru to arrive. During that time, I had no choice but to play at the nearby apartment playground. If I knew this would happen, I wouldn’t have sent Jiyu and Yumi off first…
I sometimes wished that all our company people would move to the building in Seoul. Wouldn’t they actually like it since most of them live in Seoul? Most employees live in Seoul, so wouldn’t it be a bit annoying to drive all the way to the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province?
“Hana!!!”
I saw Maru running towards me from afar. As soon as I saw Maru, I jumped off the swing and ran towards her.
“Maru!!!”
Like a family reunion, Maru hugged me tightly. Then she picked me up and headed towards the car.
“Did you have fun playing with your friends today?”
“Yeah, I had a lot of fun.”
“Then let’s go home!”
Being in Maru’s arms was comforting. Of course, it would still take some time to get home. Even though I haven’t been going to school for long, the thought of commuting like this for six years made me feel dizzy. I thought I should talk to the boss about it. I’ve held back until now, but I can’t take it anymore.
Of course, I have a second home, but sleeping alone has become scary now. When I wake up at dawn to go to the bathroom, it feels like ghosts might jump out from the dark. Maybe because I’ve turned into a child, I’ve become more scared. I used to be fine with dark places.
—
“Are we moving our company building?”
“Yes. The boss made the decision, so I thought I should let you know.”
After sending Hana back to her room, Maru heard shocking news in the office. All the employees working at the Starlight Research Institute are moving to a building in Seoul.
“What about the original research institute employees?”
I was curious about what would happen to the researchers working in this building. Of course, Maru, being a new employee, wasn’t close to the research institute staff. They worked on different floors and didn’t have many reasons to meet. The employees working on the 10th floor of the Starlight Research Institute didn’t do any research-related work. They only handled tasks related to Hana.
“The original research institute employees will probably continue working here. They’ve been here since before Hana arrived.”
Maru couldn’t hide her joy. Driving from Seoul to here was a hassle, and while she didn’t dislike Hana, the long commute was exhausting. Driving 3-4 hours a day was part of Maru’s daily routine. But if Hana moved to the building in Seoul, that time would dramatically decrease.
And I heard they were buying a building close to Starlight Elementary School, so the commute time could be reduced to just 10 minutes by car. That distance would even be walkable. Of course, they wouldn’t let Hana walk.
“But Hana has to want to move to Seoul. If Hana doesn’t want to go, we’ll have to stay here.”
The manager said with a slightly regretful expression. The manager also lived in Seoul, so moving the workplace to Seoul would actually be better. Paju City is far from Seoul, so commuting was a bit of a hassle.
“Oh, really?”
Maru’s heart was pounding. Even though they said they’d move if Hana wanted to, Maru felt a bit anxious because she didn’t know Hana’s thoughts. Of course, Hana also had to endure the long car rides every day.
Complaining about the long commute to school every day made it highly likely that they would move to Seoul. Maru was the employee who had been with Hana the longest.
There was a time when Hana reported that she complained daily about the long time it took to commute to Starlight Elementary School. Perhaps the headquarters understood Hana’s feelings and decided to move her house this time. Maru, who lives in Seoul, hoped that Hana would make a good choice.
“These are the buildings suitable for the boss to purchase.”
Kim Sehee carefully examined the list of buildings brought by the employees. Being office buildings near Seoul Station, the prices were incredibly high. The cheapest building on the list was in the 600 billion range. Of course, with the real estate Kim Sehee owned and the dividends from Starlight Food’s earnings, it was a manageable price range.
Even though she was the sixth in line for the Starlight Guild’s corporate succession, she was a direct descendant of the Starlight Guild. She had enough power. Of course, if Starlight Food hadn’t been doing well, she wouldn’t have been able to afford it. There was no need to overextend. What would she do with such a large office building anyway?
Last year, Starlight Food, which Kim Sehee operated, was a small to medium-sized enterprise that had no need for such a large office building. It was like the tail wagging the dog. If a small to medium-sized enterprise tried to operate such a large office building, it would be ridiculed. But now, things were different. The number of employees had grown enough to warrant a large office building.
“Hmm…”
Kim Sehee picked out the buildings she liked from the list of dozens of large office buildings. Of course, the final decision would be made by Hana. The office buildings brought by the employees were all similar. Therefore, Hana’s choice was the most important. Starlight Food was a company that would collapse in a day without the plants Hana created.
Exaggerating a bit, given the mess she had made so far, without the plants, the company would go bankrupt, and Kim Sehee would be left penniless. There were already many contracts in place, and the penalty fees were no joke. Even though Kim Sehee was a descendant of a wealthy family, the penalty fees were beyond her means. Of course, such a thing would never happen.
Currently, Starlight Food’s headquarters was located in Paju City. It was Kim Sehee’s decision, driven by her desire to visit Hana frequently. But now, she was considering moving from Paju City to one of the districts in Seoul.
Looking at the locations of the buildings, Gangnam or Seocho-gu seemed likely. The buildings there were close to Starlight Elementary School, where Hana attended. After all, Kim Sehee was the major shareholder of both Starlight Food and the research institute, so she could handle things as she pleased. Therefore, moving the headquarters was entirely up to her.
The employees would hardly have any complaints. Most of the employees working at Starlight Food lived in Seoul. Of course, given the nature of Starlight Food, which operated farms, they would still need to go on frequent business trips even if the headquarters was in Seoul. But having the headquarters in Seoul was a huge privilege. It would be much better to go to the headquarters in Seoul after a hard day’s work than to go to the headquarters in Paju City.
“Good job. You can go now.”
Kim Sehee sent the employee who brought the building list away. Today, she would focus all her energy on choosing a building for Hana. Of course, she wouldn’t know which building Hana would like. Kim Sehee, unable to read Hana’s mind, felt a bit disappointed.
Should she just take all the buildings and show them to Hana? But she dismissed that thought. First, she needed to narrow down the options herself. Hana was still a child and wouldn’t know much about buildings. Hana was only in the third grade of elementary school.
And as long as the main plants were thriving, there was no need to worry much about Hana moving. Even when Hana had disappeared before, the main plants had survived. Unless there was a terrorist attack or something truly unavoidable that caused the main plants to wither or die, they would have to move Hana again.
