“Yawn…”
I woke up after a good sleep, probably because it’s the weekend. Of course, it was a secret that it wasn’t even 9 yet. If it passed 9, Maru would wake me up to go eat. The company food was delicious, but sleep was sweeter to me. Maybe because I still have a child’s body, I was always addicted to sleep.
I opened the curtains and basked in the warm sunlight. It’s slowly getting chilly as autumn approaches. I didn’t even turn on the AC while sleeping. It was the same AC that was running full blast in the summer.
“Hana!”
“Boss!”
Today, the boss came instead. The boss was always dressed neatly. I dove into the boss’s arms. The boss, as if expecting this dive, gently caught me. I spoke from the boss’s embrace.
“What brings you here today?”
The boss didn’t visit often on holidays, probably to give me some space. But coming to see me directly on a holiday like this surely meant something was up. There were times when the boss visited without any reason, but that was rare on holidays.
“Well, you see…”
The boss started to speak.
—————————————————————
“You want me to choose one of these buildings?”
I was stunned by the boss’s words. I might have mentioned wanting to move buildings, but I never imagined it would be executed so boldly. My hands were trembling just thinking about the billions these buildings cost. They were buildings I couldn’t afford with my own wealth. Actually, it’s rare for individuals to buy such large buildings. It’s almost unheard of.
Large corporations or offices might buy such buildings, but individuals have no need for office buildings. They’d rather invest that money elsewhere. I don’t know much about real estate, so I’m not sure how it works.
“Yes. Hana, just pick the building you like. No need to feel any pressure!”
The boss kindly explained while looking at me. I looked through the list of buildings the boss brought. There were six buildings in total. I had to choose the one I liked the most. I was in a dilemma. Paper couldn’t capture the feel of the buildings. It would be much better to go see them in person.
Looking at photos or reading about them didn’t give me a sense of what the buildings were really like. I looked at the boss and said.
“Can we go see them in person, boss?”
“Huh?”
The boss was puzzled by my words. I explained in detail.
“It’s better to see them in person than just on paper… Is that not possible?”
The boss seemed to understand my point, eyes wide open.
“Of course it’s possible! It’s much better for Hana to choose the building she wants by seeing them in person!”
Saying that, the boss started packing up. These buildings were in Gangnam and Seocho-gu in Seoul, so we could easily see them all in one day. They weren’t scattered across the country.
“Wow!”
I got up as I saw the boss getting ready. Me, who used to live in a studio apartment, now choosing a large office building… I really couldn’t imagine it. Just last year, I was just another ordinary person with no money, and now I’m making so much…
You never know what will happen in life, but I never expected this. Who would have thought an adult man would turn into a young girl? Not even a fortune teller could predict this.
“Let’s go, boss!”
I grabbed the boss’s sleeve and was about to dash out. The boss looked at me and gave an awkward smile.
“Hana… are you going out like that?”
“Yes. What’s wrong with my outfit?”
I was wearing a big dinosaur pajama. Dinosaur pajamas are like everyday clothes that you can wear anywhere. Of course, you can wear them outside! But the boss soon gave a look to the other employees, and Maru came over.
“Ugh!”
I was brutally changed by Maru. There was no choice. I was fine, but the boss didn’t seem to be.
——————————————————————
Hana and Kim Sehee diligently went around Gangnam and Seocho-gu. It was hard to believe that among all these office buildings, one would become my new home. For someone who used to live in a studio apartment, it was unimaginable.
It was a day.
Hana didn’t know, but Kim Sehee briefly considered tearing down the old building and replacing it with a brand-new, state-of-the-art one. But she quickly dropped the idea. Building a new one would take at least a year, and she couldn’t wait that long.
Even seasoned real estate agents were impressively following Kim Sehee around. It wasn’t just one agency; agents specializing in large buildings came to her directly, offering detailed and friendly explanations. Connecting her to a large building like this would mean a payday beyond imagination. Just the commission for an apartment could reach millions of won, so the commission for a building worth billions was unimaginable.
Hana seemed satisfied with any building, but she ended up choosing one—a large office building in a prime location, recently constructed. What her criteria were, no one knew, and it was better to keep it a secret.
What was surprising was that Hana didn’t whine at all. Despite running around from morning till late evening, she only dozed off in the back seat on the way home. She must’ve been exhausted, and honestly, she was.
Now that the building was chosen, all that was left was negotiating the price. The price of such a large building was influenced by surrounding properties and negotiations. There was only a rough estimate; the exact price hadn’t been calculated yet.
—
The news of Starlight Food relocating its headquarters spread among real estate agents. Of course, since the factories and other farm facilities would remain unchanged, it wasn’t particularly significant news to the stock market or other industries.
Starlight Food had no intention of stopping the rumors anyway. It wasn’t bad news for the company; it was just a headquarters move.
Like many companies with headquarters in Seoul and factories in other regions, Starlight Food’s move wasn’t welcomed by everyone.
Of course, the speed at which the rumors spread was faster than expected, likely because Starlight Food employees were frequently seen in Seoul real estate.
“Boss, Councilman Choi Jeongcheol contacted us this morning. He really wants to meet you. Should we schedule it?”
Kim Sehee’s relocation plan had leaked, and this was the expected outcome. Gyeonggi Province absolutely didn’t want to lose Starlight Food. If Starlight Food were still a small or medium-sized enterprise, they wouldn’t have batted an eye. But now, Starlight Food was a rising star.
The taxes Starlight Food paid were increasing every year. The headquarters was in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, not Seoul. That fact was important because it wasn’t just national taxes but also local taxes.
Local governments relied on taxes from the central government, but losing Starlight Food’s taxes would be a blow. If Starlight Food paid 10 billion won in corporate tax, Gyeonggi Province would receive 1 billion won in local taxes. And that wasn’t the only tax they paid.
Starlight Food was a company with promising growth potential. Who knows, it might even become the next Apple. They even invented a hair loss product, Tangle, and made a fortune from it.
“Tell them to wait a moment.”
Kim Sehee was looking at a photo of Hana and felt annoyed by Gyeonggi Province’s advances. But moving to Seoul was inevitable, and she wasn’t going to change her mind no matter what anyone said.
