“Oh no… Do I look that scary?”
A huge man in a sleek black suit didn’t seem fazed by my security alarm at all. He looked way too calm. Bora said he’d run away if I pulled this, but…
*Beep boop beep!*
As soon as the security alarm went off, all eyes turned this way. Even the patrolling guards came over, wondering what was going on.
“What’s going on, kid?”
A buff-looking guard walked up to me and asked. I pointed at the huge man and said,
“That weird uncle talked to me!”
The guard looked up at the man, startled, and immediately bowed his head. What? Instead of catching the suspicious guy, he’s greeting him?
No way! Do these guards have a habit of greeting gangsters or something?
I got ready to run. If the guard and that gangster-looking guy were in cahoots, there was nothing I could do.
But then Bora and the boss showed up, and the whole thing ended up being just a funny incident.
——————————-
“I told you to meet up together, but you wouldn’t listen.”
Kim Sehee crossed her arms and said sharply, with me trembling beside her. It wasn’t like I was hiding because this place felt unsafe.
“Of course Hana would be scared of someone as big as a bear like you.”
Kim Seyoung nodded in agreement with Sehee’s words.
“Come on, what’s wrong with how I look?”
Kim Semin, the director of Starlight Elementary, wiped his glasses awkwardly while responding to his sisters.
He was the youngest descendant of the Starlight Guild and grew up being doted on by his older sisters and brothers. But as he grew up, he ended up with a huge, intimidating build.
He looked like some kind of corporate enforcer or a bodyguard you’d see in movies. His physique was so sturdy, you’d think he was a hitman or something.
But up close, he didn’t seem as intimidating as he did when I saw him earlier by the security alarm. Maybe it was because Sehee and Seyoung were scolding him. Still, without his glasses, he had this wild, charismatic vibe.
“I heard there’s a kid who’s hogging all my sisters’ love, and I can see why.”
Semin tried to pat my head, but I dodged his giant hand. It’s fine when Bora, Haru, or the boss pats my head, but I’ll pass on guys doing it.
“Anyway, are we all here to see Hana’s entrance ceremony?”
We used to see each other every day when we were younger, but after moving out and living separately, we only got together during holidays like Chuseok.
“Of course we’re here for Hana’s entrance ceremony.”
Sehee picked me up and held me. I stayed quietly in the boss’s arms. Honestly, being carried around is way better than walking.
“Well, I’ve seen Hana’s face now, so I’ll head out. Be careful going home, sisters.”
Semin said that and walked off somewhere with big strides. Did he really come all this way just to see my face? And as the director, wouldn’t he have shown up at the entrance ceremony? I must’ve missed him because I fell asleep.
I messed up by pulling that security alarm for no reason. If I hadn’t dozed off during the ceremony, I would’ve known what the director looked like and wouldn’t have pulled it…
I fiddled with the security alarm. Luckily, Bora, Haru, and the boss didn’t seem to care much about me using it.
“Since we’re all here, why don’t we grab a meal?”
“Sure, sounds good!”
My eyes sparkled at the boss’s suggestion.
“I want a burger!”
I needed to collect the dinosaur toys that come with the burgers. With five of us, that’s five sets! My brilliant brain calculated that I could get five dinosaur toys in one go.
—————————————–
The entrance ceremony ended successfully. After eating burgers, I was grinning from ear to ear, checking out my loot. I had a rainbow of dinosaurs in my hands—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
I already had two colors at home, so with these five new ones, I could complete the rainbow collection. It was perfect. I held the potted plant in the car and sang a victory song.
“Hana, couldn’t you have just left that tomato plant behind?”
Bora sighed.
It seemed like they didn’t understand the importance of the cherry tomato plant. It was one with my body and soul. Whenever I felt tense or anxious, smelling the scent of these cherry tomatoes made the tension melt away.
Of course, being a cherry tomato born from my teeth, it seemed to have a lot in common with me. I plucked one and popped it into my mouth. I was already full from eating a burger earlier, but the cherry tomatoes looked so tempting that I couldn’t resist the urge to eat one.
“On a special day like today, I should take the cherry tomatoes with me! They probably wanted to see me at the entrance ceremony too.”
I could feel the heart of this cherry tomato. Of course, staying quietly in the room wasn’t a bad idea, but wouldn’t it get boring just staying inside? As an owner raising a companion plant like a pet, regular walks were essential.
Of course, it didn’t beg to go for walks like animals do. It just loved being placed by the sunny window.
However, I later realized that taking this pot with me had dealt a huge blow to Starlight Food.
—
After a joyful entrance ceremony, the next day, Kim Sehee sat down at work and pulled out her phone.
She had taken new photos of Hana yesterday, so it was time to admire them. Most of the photos were of Hana sleeping. Still, each photo captured a different sleeping pose, making it quite fun to scroll through.
Did Hana emit some kind of pheromone? The longer I stayed by her side, the more I felt the urge to adore her.
But Kim Sehee’s face turned pale as she read the report that came in this morning. She immediately grabbed her secretary and got into the car. The report was simple.
[Half of the cherry tomatoes have withered for unknown reasons…]
When Kim Sehee arrived at the farm, she barely managed to keep her legs from giving out. The scene before her eyes was unbelievable.
The cherry tomatoes, which had been full of life and vitality just yesterday, were long gone. Half of them had withered, losing their market value, and the remaining half were so weak that they could wither at any moment.
“What… what on earth happened?”
Kim Sehee, bewildered, asked the farm manager. She couldn’t understand how the plants could wither so drastically in just one day.
“Well… they were fine until yesterday, but when I checked the crops this morning, they were all wilted as if they had caught some disease.”
She occasionally forgot that these cherry tomatoes came from Hana’s body. These weren’t normal plants. They required something special to grow.
There had never been anything like this before… Could it be that the crops wither if they’re separated from Hana? But even when Hana had been taken outside multiple times, the crops had never withered. There was even a day when she stayed out overnight.
Then, Kim Sehee’s mind flashed back to Hana’s unusual appearance yesterday, holding a pot. That pot might have been the mother of these cherry tomatoes.
Could it be that the pot Hana was holding played some role? Kim Sehee did her best to save the remaining cherry tomatoes and began conducting various experiments. Fortunately, the cherry tomatoes on the branches weren’t affected when plucked.
First, calling Hana outside didn’t affect the cherry tomatoes. Then, leaving Hana at the research institute and only taking the pot outside also didn’t cause any issues.
She realized that both had to disappear for the cherry tomatoes to be affected.
In fact, when Hana took the pot into the city, the cherry tomatoes around the research institute rapidly began to wither.
With these experimental results, Kim Sehee could finally breathe a sigh of relief. She had almost given up on cultivating the cherry tomatoes, but now it felt like a hole had opened in the sky.
