A Grand Beginning

"Noona. Go take a look at that place for me."

"This? A house, and some land?"

Noona asked, studying the phone screen I held out to her.

What I'd asked was simple: go look over a plot of land and a building in my place. The property sat out on the Gijang coast, a wide lot with a two-story detached house. I meant to buy the land as a site for the café, and the house to live in.

I haven't gotten the loan yet, so I can't buy it right away.

There were still a few things I had to prepare before the loan would come through, so in the meantime I was leaving the viewing to Noona. She knew that well enough, and agreed without a moment's hesitation.

"I was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠getting bored anyway, with the café closed. This works out."

Humming that she ought to get out and catch some air for once, she looked ready to leave at once.

"Look the house over carefully! It's going to be our newlywed home!"

At my shout she flushed, embarrassed, and climbed into a taxi bound for the spot I'd pinned. There wasn't a shred of exaggeration in what I'd said. I had no intention of ever parting from Noona, which meant we were going to get married, and a newlywed home would be necessary sooner or later. This was as good a chance as any to find a place close to work. Another reason, of course, was that I couldn't freely keep pets where I was living now.

So I watched her taxi pull away, hoping the house she was going to see would turn out all right. Once it had passed down the alley and turned the corner, I went back to my laptop and picked up the paperwork again.

It wasn't impossible to borrow money just by announcing that I was a Supreme Rank ability user, but that alone wouldn't get me the sum I actually wanted. To borrow at that level, I needed documents. A business plan, and the rest of it.

I hammered at the keyboard for a while, the keys clicking along at a cheerful clip, then nodded at the business plan that had more or less come together. It wasn't written to a professional standard, but everything that needed to be there was there.

Thanks, Gugol!

Well, it was basically an adaptation of the sample plans that came up when I searched Gugol, so there was no way it could go wrong. One procedure remained, though, that mattered just as much as the business plan itself.

Thanks to the Comprehensive Zoo Management Plan and everything that came with it, running an animal café meant filing a report and obtaining a permit. If I were only bringing in cats and dogs I might have gotten away without it, but I intended to take in all kinds of animals, so the procedure was necessary.

"……Sorry? Really?"

The procedure I'd expected to be difficult was over after a single fax and a single phone call.

"Ah……. Yes, thank you."

What I had taken for a great stumbling block was, in truth, a sturdy stone bridge built for me alone. With the process lighter than I'd imagined, I printed the business plan at once and charged off to the bank.

This wasn't something a neighborhood branch could handle, so I had no choice but to head for the largest one in Busan. The fare on the meter ran to five figures, which stung—and yet, somehow, it already felt like pocket change.

Is my sense of money already falling apart?

I tensed a little at the thought that ten or twenty thousand won already felt like nothing, and I hadn't even received the massive loan yet. At this rate, I half worried I'd spend money like water and go bankrupt. Of course, a Supreme Rank Awakened Individual going bankrupt was about as likely as dying and coming back to life, so I shook the worry off and walked into the bank.

"Welcome. This is Gorani Finance, Busan Branch. How may I help you?"

It was called a bank, but the interior was fitted out like the financial district you see on the news. The sheer scale of the place locked me up with nerves, until a security officer came over and guided me kindly. Thanks to him I found the loan counter for Awakened Individuals and, with surprising ease, came face to face with the branch manager.

Wait—why the branch manager?

I'd barely sat down at a staffed window and held out my gold-bordered certificate when the manager himself appeared. He even brought me into the special consultation room inside, the one reserved for VIPs.

"Do you care for coffee? We have other drinks as well, so please just say what you'd like."

"Ah, just a juice, please."

I couldn't tell whether she was the manager's secretary or one of the staff, but a beautiful woman brought me a glass. VIP treatment, it seemed. Not some ordinary bottled juice, but lemonade made on the spot, fresh lemon squeezed into sparkling water right in front of me. The treatment only made me feel more and more as if I were sitting on a cushion of thorns.

No. I'm one of only a handful of Supreme Rank Animal Communicating ability users in the whole world. This much is only natural.

Once I reminded myself of my own worth, it started to feel as though I deserved it after all.

Tastes good.

The lemonade, made fresh, was pretty delicious. And while I was sipping away at it, the manager came over carrying something like a fairly thick approval binder.

"I understand you've applied for an Awakened Individual loan."

"Yes. I want to start work that makes use of my ability, and I need money to lay the foundation."

"You've come to the right place. You'll receive a level of treatment that most financial groups simply can't offer."

He answered me with a gentle smile and began walking me through everything I was after, one step at a time. Once he'd taken my business plan and the rest of the papers, he gave a light nod.

"So the core of the plan is a pet café close to a zoo in form, and a MeTube channel built mainly around animal content. With the animal industry growing as it is, I'd say the revenue looks fairly certain."

He skimmed what I'd written and wore the look of a man who didn't think it was bad.

"At this level, there shouldn't be a problem. The amount you've requested is quite high, though, so the interest rate will be steep. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Will that be all right?"

"Can't be helped."

I could only shrug. You needed money to do anything at all, and I couldn't refuse to even try just because the rate was high. Even adding up a fairly large plot, a house, and the cost of building the café, I was confident my ability would let me pay it all back before long. There was no problem.

As if confirming that resolve, the manager said he would handle it himself and handed over the documents. Signatures were required all over the place, which was a nuisance, but I finished quickly. Along with those papers I gave him a certified copy of my resident registration, a certificate of my seal, and the rest, and the loan business was done.

"Once the review is complete, the funds will be deposited into your account. There is a review, but it won't be rejected, so please don't worry."

The manager saw me all the way out, and I left the bank. The loan went through without a hitch, just as he had guaranteed. About three days later, a huge sum of cash landed in my account.

"What kind of country is this……."

They'd taken taxes out of a loan…….

Sighing heavily at the fact that even borrowing money meant paying tax, I immediately bought the land and the building Noona had gone to inspect. The land was perfectly suitable for putting up a café and doing business, and the house right beside it was a fairly pretty modern building, with a small yard, a wall wrapping around it, and even a private garage. I liked it well enough myself. Noona liked it especially.

"Honestly, a house with a yard was my dream……."

Standing in the house that was now entirely mine—or, to be exact, a house in which the bank owned the larger share—she gazed blankly out at the yard from the living room.

"Then your dream came true?"

I said it while quietly wrapping my arms around her from behind. She squirmed, embarrassed, but she didn't pull away.

"You should move in here too, Noona. There's no reason for us to live apart anymore."

"H-huh?"

"We've already been together ten years. It's about time we got married. I couldn't say it before, because I thought I wasn't enough, but now I think I can. Let's live together."

Noona went rigid, as if my words had startled her. She must have expected it to some degree, though, because she loosened almost at once and stroked my arm gently.

"What is this, with no mood at all……."

"So? Your answer?"

"……All right."

After scolding me lightly, she offered a soft smile. In the window glass, her face was full of relief and happiness. It made sense. The moment I'd become a Supreme Rank ability user, Noona had rejoiced and congratulated me, and she'd been worried at the same time. It was a worry I couldn't understand, but thinking it meant she cared for me that much ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only lifted my own mood.

I pulled her in tight and started wandering all through the house. This room for one thing, that room for another. We'd decorate here like so. Noona and I went through every corner, sketching out a happy future.

Right up until her father dragged me off, calling me the thief come to steal his daughter.

We'd finished the various procedures, filled the place with basic furniture, and started living together, and then her father came and hauled me away.

"You rascal! It's a building you're the one using, so why should I be helping! Draw the bird's-eye view yourself, at the very least! You've got some shape in mind, don't you!"

Whether Noona had told him or not, once he heard we were going to live together he wouldn't let me set foot in the house. My own house……. I tried putting up a little resistance, but he kept me pinned with the very work I'd asked him to help with, and there was nothing I could do. Under the sharp glare he leveled at me, I had no choice but to draw the building I wanted with my own hand.

Still, maybe because I'd learned CAD back in my student days, I managed to rough out the shape to some degree. My drawing was hopeless, but I produced something passable enough.

"Not a single story—you're putting up a three-story building?"

"Ah, yes. I'm thinking the first floor for the café, and the third for my studio. As for the second floor, I'm planning about half of it as a rooftop."

"I simply cannot understand you young folks. What do you want with a rooftop and all that nonsense……. Stack it straight up and you've got more space. How much better would that be?"

He shook his head over the rough bird's-eye view I'd drawn. He didn't seem inclined to oppose it, though, and tucked the drawing into a file well enough.

"May I go now? I was supposed to look at furniture with Noona……."

"No, you rascal! Let Ha-eun handle that sort of thing on her own!"

Whether he simply couldn't stand the sight of me with Noona, he wouldn't let me go. So I trailed after him, poking around here and there, and had to deal with the construction-related civil complaints myself. He helped from beside me, but I could feel how determined he was to keep hold of me no matter what.

Noona…….

I wasn't released until long after the sun had sunk, the moon had climbed high, and her father himself was drunk.

"You little—! Make Ha-eun cry and you're dead……. I'll be watchin' you……."

Thoroughly drunk, he left me with the promise that he'd kill me if I made Noona cry, then climbed into a taxi and was gone. It was the sort of thing fathers with daughters tended to do, so I understood well enough and headed home myself.

I hadn't expected it then. That his fussing wouldn't be a one-time affair. That it would keep going until the construction actually began.

"Hey now! You're a grown man and you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠can't even manage this? And you think you can protect Ha-eun like that!"

If I have a daughter, I'll do the exact same thing. This is love, passed down.

Swept along by her father's fussing, I made a vow. If I ever had a daughter of my own, I would treat the son-in-law of some far-off future exactly the same way.

Future son-in-law. You're dead. Brace yourself.