A Deal Sealed with Lettuce
What is an HR team, exactly? A department like a set of gears, placing people where they belong and keeping the corporate machine turning smoothly. By its very nature, it was a role that rarely produced eye-catching results—and, naturally, one where a hefty raise was a rare occurrence during a working life.
"Whatever you're making right now, you'll be earning more than double that."
That was why anyone would waver when handed an offer like that.
"And I'll include a guaranteed full-time employment clause in your contract. If you want to work past retirement age until you're seventy, that'll be your choice to make."
Lee Jin-ho's hands trembled. There was no denying it—this was tempting.
And yet, something still gnawed at him. A self-mocking laugh escaped his lips. Eight years already since he'd joined Taeram. He'd walked straight into the company as soon as he entered the working world and poured his youth into it. The single reason he'd endured, gritting his teeth and steering clear of office politics, was one thing only.
What the hell is this thing they call bloodline, anyway?
He had to prove that he was someone different from his father. That he was not a man destined to be cast aside by society. No—he would prove that he was the kind of man who could win victories on the battlefield known as a major corporation.
"I'll think it over and get back to you."
"Hmm."
Seo Ji-on saw through him at once. That was a negative signal.
"What keeps you at Taeram, Team Leader Lee?"
At the sudden question, Lee Jin-ho's gaze swung back to the boy.
"You're not swayed by money, so I figured you must be carrying some other dream."
"..."
People came in endless varieties, but their desires could be boiled down to roughly three things. The first was wealth—that clearly hadn't worked, so scratch it. The next was power. And if not that, then the hunger for achievement. In other words, the desire to be recognized.
Seo Ji-on tossed out the bait.
"Becoming the personnel authority of a global corporation—the man nobody can do without?"
Flinch.
Lee Jin-ho's shoulders jumped. A company ran on people. Which meant that holding the power to move that human capital around was, in effect, holding the company in the palm of your hand.
If a company the size of Taeram moved at my single word...
Lee Jin-ho had already been promoted faster than his own peers. Though it had only been Team 3, he had succeeded in usurping the team leader's seat, and nothing lay ahead of him but further growth. Of course, it wasn't as if there were no obstacles. Not being a Taeram Foundation graduate had always hobbled him. Even if he climbed higher from here, how much further he could actually go was an open question.
Just as fast as I rose, if I started being filtered out, I'd be buried in an instant.
Just like his father...
A sudden surge of anxiety made Lee Jin-ho's eyes waver. Catching that exact moment, Seo Ji-on smiled faintly and spoke.
"I have one goal. To build a world-class food company."
"World-class...?"
Taeram was a food company that ranked within Korea's top ten business groups. But measured on a global scale? Still lacking.
"The crops I grow are only going to sell more and more."
Crops with special properties. Food that produced unmistakable changes in the body just by eating it, with no side effects whatsoever. Sales could only climb.
"Which means the growth itself is already a foregone conclusion. The question is speed."
How fast could that growth be?
Seo Ji-on said it with a face full of confidence.
"Within five years at the latest, I can make our company the number one food company in the world."
Would he remain in Taeram, staying within Korea's borders? Or would he take on a measure of risk and reach out toward the world? The doors of a global corporation did not open easily. Even with Lee Jin-ho's credentials as they stood, it was impossible all the same.
"I'll hand you most of the personnel authority in the company we build that way. You'd be the founding hero of a corporation bigger than Taeram."
Only then did Lee Jin-ho's expression turn completely serious.
"...May I take some time to think it over?"
On the surface it was the same "I'll consider it" as before, but the reaction was worlds apart from earlier. Seo Ji-on answered with a grin.
"Of course. Just let me know before next week. This is one of our upcoming products—it works on hangovers. Try it while you deliberate."
A pouch of lettuce pills changed hands across the desk. A new product slated for release by the company he was about to establish. Lee Jin-ho studied the pouch closely. Right—if he was going to consider a job change, he needed to know what kind of company he'd be joining. What if he switched over and they couldn't even pay his salary? A promise of employment until retirement meant nothing if the company went under.
He said he runs a farm, didn't he.
What crops were they selling, how, and for how much profit? It looked like he'd be digging into all of that starting now.
"So—was the trade to your satisfaction, or not?"
The moment we stepped out of the meeting room, Grandpa Choi fired off his question. I answered with a smile.
"I'd say it went positively."
How could it not? This was a method that had never once failed me, even in my past life. Double their current pay as the baseline, and then, on top of that, sweeten the pot with extras and good food—anyone on the receiving end of that package would throw themselves at it with wild eyes. My past life was an extreme case of scarcity, granted... but even now, the crops I grew were special enough that people would bite.
There was a reason I'd offered crop provisions as part of the welfare package when we absorbed Jakgol-ri, too. It worked, plain and simple. If Mr. Lee Jin-ho tried a lettuce pill this time, I figured he'd feel the difference for himself. Guess I'd have to toss in some crops as a "benefit" again.
Humming a little tune, I trailed after the old man. Grandpa Choi appeared to be hailing a taxi.
"If I'd known we'd be traveling like this, I'd have told Secretary Jang not to go far."
"Where are the two of them?"
"Seo-dan dragged him off shopping, apparently. Seems they're at New World Department Store."
A department store!
A space I knew only vaguely through Seo Ji-on's memories—unexplored territory I had never once set foot in. In my previous life, there had been no such thing as a shopping town where you could acquire goods like that.
Sensing my eyes light up, Grandpa Choi chuckled warmly.
"Care to look around the department store a while?"
A short while later, I stepped out of the taxi and looked up.
"Whoa."
The building was enormous. A pinnacle of grandeur and splendor the likes of which I'd never seen. Not even any castle on the continent had strung up this many glittering lights. Every second I spent riding the escalator upward, another sigh of admiration slipped out. The first floor held perfumes and cosmetics; floors two through four were wall-to-wall women's clothing and accessories.
"There's a mountain of women's stuff here."
"Men's shops are up top. Though we're headed to the sixth floor anyway."
"The sixth floor?"
A space reserved for VIPs alone. Old-fashioned tile and ceilings, white lighting, walls adorned with assorted paintings. With quiet music drifting through the air, I could feel my mood settling into calm.
"It's got a completely different atmosphere from before."
Nothing like the lower floors with their upbeat pop songs.
"The idea is to linger and relax."
"Mm, that's a problem for me, actually."
Having come all the way up to Seoul for recruiting, I wanted to wrap up everything on today's list and head back down. But seeing as we were already at the department store, I supposed I should buy what I needed while I was here.
"I want to grab my things quick and go."
"Speaking of which—what exactly are you planning to buy?"
Choi Tae-seok couldn't contain his curiosity. For his own granddaughter, Choi Seo-dan, shopping was a cherished pleasure. She had a hobby of collecting pretty things of every description and a habit of keeping a keen ear to the latest trends. But this one—Seo Ji-on—remained utterly unpredictable even when dragged to a department store.
He must have made a fortune recently.
Word from Seo-dan had it that the potatoes were selling spectacularly. Her own settlement as a club member had come to nearly three hundred million won. Which meant Ji-on had earned just as much—and yet no one had ever once seen him spend a cent of it.
"What am I buying? Well, obviously..."
"Obviously?"
"Things for my family, of course?"
My plan was to pick out the expensive goods on display that looked durable and practical, and carry them home.
Stepping into the lounge, I found Choi Seo-dan seated, browsing the merchandise.
"Huh. So you're shopping too?"
I nodded. I drifted casually closer to her and looked over whatever she was eyeing. Tiny handbags, impractical heels, frilly, overwrought dresses...
Nothing here of any use to me.
Deciding I was better off looking at other things, I turned my head away—and then it caught my eye.
"Oh, that one's not bad."
A brooch shaped like a rose, its frame wrought in silver. The petals held settings of finely worked ruby fragments, an emerald ran along the stem, and tiny shards of obsidian studded the thorns here and there. The size looked just right to pin at the chest, too. If you were going to buy luxury, this was the way to do it.
I picked it up and turned it over, examining it from every angle. The craftsmanship, the delicacy of the work—it existed on a different plane from anything in my past life. Of course, the worlds themselves were different. The durability looked solid as well; even if I made it into a temporary magic stone, I judged it could withstand a few uses.
...Maybe I should buy some raw gemstones while I'm at it.
I was admiring the brooch in wonder when—
"What? That's—that's your taste?"
Choi Seo-dan stared at me, utterly flabbergasted.
Buy your own things and enjoy them. Why follow me around?
Just as I waved a dismissive hand, she spoke up.
"If there's someone you'd give something like this to... no need to guess. It's your mother, isn't it?"
Flinch.
At my reaction, Choi Seo-dan flashed a sly grin and picked up a plain-looking bag sitting beside the one I'd been examining.
"Come to think of it, your mother would like something like this."
A tan leather handbag sized to barely fit a phone and a wallet.
"Something like that?"
"What is wrong with your eyes? Something like that? This is hand-finished by Dior's rising-star designer from the new F/W season, mind you!"
Having flared up in indignation, Choi Seo-dan suddenly let out a snickering laugh.
"You're her son, and you don't even know her taste? Then again, what would a boy know about the world of 'women,' anyway?"
That stung.
Those were words I'd heard once before, sometime in the past. That I knew far too little about women. If I'd heard the same thing from two different people, did I really just... not know?
Choi Seo-dan, for what it was worth, was quite fond of my mother. Her own mother had passed early, if I recalled. That seemed to be why she gravitated toward women of that age group. Which meant that when it came to picking a gift for Mother, Seo-dan's choice might genuinely be the better one...
I studied the bag she'd thrust at me.
"How much is it?"
"With the money we made off our potatoes, you could've bought twenty of these."
"...Fifteen million won for one bag?"
Choi Seo-dan nodded.
"I'm not the type to go hoarding things like this normally, but I made some pocket money off the potatoes, so I'm splurging. I have to get a matching pair with your mother, obviously!"
She giggled and asked the staff to bring out two of the bags. Behind us, Grandpa Choi, who had been watching the whole exchange, smiled warmly.
"It's been a while since I've seen Seo-dan light up like that."
No, she hasn't.
She gets that worked up every single time she sets foot in the fields.
I decided not to correct Grandpa Choi's error. In his eyes, she was probably precious and adorable no matter what she did.
"Whew—"
After a full hour of browsing, the frenzied shopping spree finally came to an end. I'd burned through nearly thirty million won in a single day. Was this right? I checked the gift bags in my hands.
Three neckties in total, for Father, Maternal Grandfather, and Grandpa Choi. One handbag for Mother. And last, a single ring, purchased for experimental purposes.
What I'd chosen was a plain silver band bearing no engraving of any kind, set with an imperial topaz of a suitable size. Slightly softer in hardness than a diamond. It needed to take an engraving, but not shatter easily—that was the sweet spot.
"Why would you buy such a boring ring? It's not even a couple's ring, just a plain band."
Choi Seo-dan's gaze rained down on me as if to say, don't tell me that's actually your type.
"There are such things."
"...Who's it for?"
"It's for me. Who else would I give a ring to?"
It was a five-million-won ring. Sure, it was set with a flawlessly clean gem, but still—that was steep. Who on earth would I be giving something like this to?
I changed the subject.
"Anyway, we really have to go now."
"Where do you keep needing to run off to?"
I headed for the elevator as I answered.
"Where else? Your dad's company."