“Do you need a swimsuit?”
“Yeah… I have swimming practice at the school pool tomorrow.”
I had no choice but to tell Maru. It wasn’t common for schools to have swimming pools, but with Starlight Elementary School, it was totally possible. The school had a solid backing, being supported by the top company in Korea. A school pool was nothing for a foundation with that kind of financial power.
“Didn’t we buy a swimsuit last time?”
Bora chimed in. We did buy a swimsuit together last time.
“Yeah. Should I bring the swimsuit we bought last time, senior?”
Maru started rummaging through the closet. Seeing that, Bora also started digging through the closet. Soon enough, a swimsuit appeared. It was one of the swimsuits we bought for our trip to the beach. I couldn’t help but close my eyes tightly. I thought I’d never have to wear a kid’s swimsuit again, but life hit me hard and fast.
“This one’s cute! There’s no swimsuit restriction anyway, right?”
“Can’t I just… swim in my clothes?”
I suggested a compromise, but Bora brushed it off. She held the swimsuit against my body, probably checking the size since it had been a while since we bought it.
“Hana, you might have grown a bit. The swimsuit seems a little small.”
“Really?”
Maru, who was nearby, also brought another swimsuit and started holding it against me. I was still in third grade, so growing was normal. But if I grew too much to fit into the swimsuit, that would be a problem.
“I can’t really tell just by holding it… Should we try it on, Hana?”
“Ah…”
“Let’s put it on~”
Bora started taking off my clothes. Since it was just Bora, Haru, and Maru in the room, I wasn’t embarrassed. I quickly tried to escape Bora’s hands, but I couldn’t avoid her grip.
“Ugh!”
I was caught by Bora and forced to change into the swimsuit. Bora looked at me in the swimsuit and smiled with satisfaction.
“Seems like it was just a misunderstanding! Hana hasn’t grown much.”
“Guess so.”
I also tried on the swimsuit Maru handed me. Unfortunately, my body hadn’t grown at all. I started to worry if I was destined to be a forever 135cm shorty. Girls usually grow a lot when they’re young and then stop growing after middle school, right?
It’s different for boys. They say boys keep growing until they graduate high school, but most girls stop growing after middle school. Some might grow a bit more, but that’s rare. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. The swimsuit actually looked pretty good on me.
The reflection in the mirror was exactly what you’d expect from a kid my age.
“It suits you!”
I ended up being forced to do a swimsuit show by Bora and Maru for a while. I should’ve just taken the swimsuit without saying anything. If it didn’t fit, I could’ve just skipped swimming, right?
—————————————————————-
“Hana, want a ride?”
“No! I’ll walk today!”
“Alright…”
I left the building. In the past, walking to elementary school from a building like this wouldn’t have made sense, but now it did. Starlight Elementary School was just a short walk away. I happily walked to school with a big smile.
Of course, since Maru was the one driving, I wasn’t tired at all. My job was just to sit in the passenger seat and watch the scenery until we got to Starlight Elementary. But now it was different. Since it was close, walking was enough. Well, if I was running late or didn’t feel like walking, I could always take the car, but that rarely happened.
I slowly walked to school with the swimsuit in my bag. Then I wondered where I would change into it. Did the school even have a changing room? And I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to go in there. Normally, I’d have no excuse to go to the police station, but now I was in a kid’s body.
—————————————————————-
Kim Min-soo, a new employee at Starlight Food, had been working for three months.
Everyone said that working at a big company meant good pay but also a lot of pressure. So Kim Min-soo was always on edge, but it wasn’t as tough as he thought. The seniors were all…
It was nice and the work was simple and easy. Since it was a role assisting with farming tasks, there wasn’t anything particularly hard.
And there wasn’t much anxiety about the future that all office workers fear. Everyone says you get fired before you turn 50, but Starlight Food was different. They were still hiring, and there was so much work to be done.
Plus, the plants produced by Starlight Food were explosively popular. They were selling out like crazy. It didn’t seem like the company would go bankrupt before Kim Min-soo turned 60. People could live without oil or electricity, but food was different. The moment food ran out, humanity would collapse.
A world without food didn’t exist. Starlight Food’s goal was to become the Cargill of Korea. They aimed to be the world’s largest agricultural company. Of course, they weren’t originally an agricultural company, but the plants they recently discovered turned them into one.
“Hmm…”
Kim Min-soo’s department had been relocated. He was now in charge of managing Tangle. Starlight Food’s plants were unique. Normally, plants take a year to prepare for fruiting and bear fruit only once. But Starlight Food’s plants were different. They bore fruit every two weeks. Their growth rate was insane.
And they didn’t care about temperature or climate. As long as there wasn’t a storm, the fruits kept coming. That’s why Starlight Food’s plants boasted explosive productivity even on small plots of land.
Today was the day Tangle bore fruit. Kim Min-soo, as usual, started managing the temporary workers who came to harvest the fruits. The plants were designed in a way that made it impossible to use farming machinery, so each fruit had to be picked by hand. That’s why Starlight Food hired so many people.
“Attention, everyone! Let me go over today’s precautions!”
Kim Min-soo addressed the temporary workers gathered in what looked like an auditorium. He explained the precautions and other details for the day’s work. Since it was impossible to harvest all the fruits in one day, it usually took 2-3 days.
After skillfully delivering the instructions, Kim Min-soo moved on to other tasks. He had a lot to do today. Tangle was doing incredibly well in the U.S., which was a good thing. There probably wasn’t a plant in Korea that sold this well overseas.
—
It was time to clock out. Starlight Food’s work hours were from 9 AM to 6 PM. Naturally, since most of the work was farming-related, tasks couldn’t continue after sunset. There were streetlights, but they weren’t everywhere.
To avoid accidents like workers tripping while harvesting, the main tasks ended at 5 PM. The last hour was for cleanup. After running around all day, Kim Min-soo returned to the auditorium to settle payments with the temporary workers.
Starlight Food paid daily wages on the same day. Payments were made either through bank transfers or in cash, though most chose bank transfers.
Then, something caught Kim Min-soo’s eye. A temporary worker who had just received his payment looked suspicious. His walk was awkward, and his pockets were bulging. It was the kind of bulge you wouldn’t notice unless you looked closely.
“Hey! Uncle!”
Kim Min-soo hurriedly approached the worker. The moment the man heard Kim Min-soo calling him, he started running. It was as if he knew what would happen if he got caught.
“Someone stop him!”
Fortunately, Starlight Food had an excessive number of security guards. One of them caught the suspicious man. When someone puts their whole body into signaling for help, it’s strange not to catch them.
From the man’s pockets, Tangle fruits spilled out. Each Tangle plant produced 500 to 1,000 fruits, which translated to 5 to 10 million won in cash. And several of them had fallen out of the man’s pockets.
