The Answer Was Already Clear
While I wandered the empty space with the kids, talking over where we should put a playroom, Greg and Rachel arrived.
It had been a while since I’d last seen Rachel, and her belly had grown quite round.
“It’s been a long time, Rachel. How have you been?”
“As you can see, I’ve been doing just fine—very healthy.”
Rachel smiled as she looked at Luca and Reni. The two boys sat in the stroller, staring up at her with bright, curious eyes.
“This is your first time meeting Reni, right?”
“Yes. It’s lovely seeing the brothers together. Once our daughter is born, we’ll have to make them friends.”
“Oh—so you know the gender now?”
Greg answered that one with unmistakable pride.
“Yep. We’re at six months. Our girl looks gorgeous even on the ultrasound. Wanna see?”
Rachel shot a sidelong glance at Greg as he pulled out his phone to show the photo.
“Honey, we came here to talk business.”
Even as she said it, though, she clearly wanted to show off a little herself.
I gave the ultrasound photo the full, enthusiastic reaction the expectant parents deserved.
“Come to think of it, when’s the due date?”
“Mid-November.”
“Oh… Hearing that it’s only three months away makes it feel like it’s right around the corner.”
“Exactly. That’s why I want to get everything work-related sorted out before then.”
“Makes sense. Shall we take a look around first, then?”
“Please.”
Touring a still-empty space shouldn’t have taken long, but Rachel inspected every corner with meticulous care—opening the built-in closet in the master bedroom and noting it would be perfect for storing files, deciding which room would work best as a meeting space for outside visitors…
It was far more thorough than Greg’s usual once-over and cheerful “Looks good.”
“The place is so clean already that we probably won’t need much extra interior work.”
“It looks that way, but we still need to soundproof. I’m thinking of adding a bit more lighting in the living room, and as for the kitchen…”
After we’d thoroughly covered the second floor, we moved over to the house.
I set a cup of tea safe for pregnant women in front of Rachel, along with some light snacks.
“This is your first time at our place too, isn’t it?”
“Yes… The atmosphere is so warm. It feels like a home full of love for the kids.”
The sincere compliment made me laugh a little sheepishly.
“I’m trying, honestly. Thanks for noticing. You’ll stay for dinner, right?”
“Oh—wouldn’t that be imposing?”
Rachel looked a touch apologetic, but Greg answered for me.
“Babe, Jun’s cooking is seriously good. Don’t regret it later—eat with us.”
I watched Rachel’s eyes light up at Greg’s “seriously good.”
“He’s right. It’s dinner time anyway. And since I wasn’t sure what you’d like, I stocked up on pretty much everything. Just tell me what you’re craving.”
“Well, then… maybe…”
Rachel hemmed and hawed before naming her hopeful menu.
“Do you know how to make bouillabaisse?”
Bouilla-what now?
I’d never heard the name before, but I nodded anyway.
Then I confidently opened YouTube. I typed in whatever spelling the pronunciation suggested, tapped the top autocomplete suggestion, and pulled up a cooking video.
Bouillabaisse—hard even to say—turned out to be a fish stew originating from Marseille, France.
I watched the five-minute video at double speed, then tied on an apron.
Fortunately, none of the ingredients were rare, and the cooking time was reasonable.
Rachel, however, stared at me in disbelief.
“Jun, you’re not seriously making this for the first time after watching one YouTube video, are you?”
“I am, but I guarantee the taste. Don’t worry.”
She looked like she wanted to stop me, but once I started prepping ingredients on the island counter, she closed her mouth.
“See, babe? Even Jun’s knife work is on another level.”
“You’re right. You must be a really good cook.”
“A little.”
It was mostly the gear doing the heavy lifting, but praise always sounded nice.
I cooked while chatting with Rachel; Greg kept the kids occupied.
“Aaaah!”
Smack!
“Ow, that hurts, you little guy!”
“……Hee.”
“Whoa? This tiny baby hits people and then laughs?”
Greg was taking hits from Luca again today, but it seemed he’d finally earned a few points with the toddler.
“Mister, mister! Let’s play ball on the terrace!”
Reni hadn’t forgotten kicking a ball around with Greg at the cathedral; he immediately fetched the biggest ball in the house.
“Sure, why not.”
Greg scooped Luca up and headed out to the terrace with Reni.
“Greg’s going to make a great dad.”
“…Yeah. I think so too.”
Rachel watched her future husband with soft eyes, then flushed a little as she spoke.
“You really never know how life turns out, do you?”
She added that she’d never imagined becoming a parent with the subordinate she used to summon and scold on the regular.
I laughed happily.
“Tell me about it. I never thought I’d end up a dad raising two kids either. Oh—and by the way, I really think you two suit each other perfectly.”
“Thank you. But Jun—you suit fatherhood really well too. You look happy.”
“Thanks. You’re right. I never knew life could feel this full.”
I gazed at the kids with warm eyes.
Just a year ago, a life like this had been unimaginable. After work I’d crack a beer, leave the veranda door open, and fall asleep on the couch. That had been the whole of it.
“Looking back, I don’t think I was really living back then.”
While the base ingredients simmered and we waited for the stew to come together, we got down to business talk in earnest.
“As you know, Rachel—if you join us, we won’t be able to pay much at first. We’re just getting started.”
Rachel listened quietly.
“There’s also the risk the business could fail. We can’t compare our stability to the other companies you’re probably looking into.”
If the venture truly went under, the experience here wouldn’t even be worth putting on a résumé.
“But like every small company, I hope the point is growing it together. I can’t guarantee stability right away, but in exchange you’d have autonomy in how you work…”
I could be this honest because I trusted Rachel to take the work seriously no matter the circumstances.
In truth she already knew what we did and where we were headed through Greg. She’d probably scoured the YouTube channel top to bottom as well.
She’d almost certainly come with her mind mostly made up. Unless she was about to say “Actually, this looks too hard,” it was probably time for her to lay out a few conditions.
Rachel listened in silence, thought for a moment, then spoke.
“When it comes to the office layout and furnishing the company, could my opinions be reflected? And for the department I’ll be in charge of, I’d like to set the basic framework myself first and discuss it with everyone after that. Finally, if we hire staff for that department later, I’d like my input to carry at least fifty percent weight.”
Done! I beamed and offered her my hand.
“Yes. Please just handle it however you see fit. I trust you.”
We’d known each other for years, and Rachel was the kind of person who got her own work done with absolute competence. No empty formalities needed.
“All right then. Looking forward to working with you too, Boss.”
I gave a slightly awkward smile. I was the boss, but hearing “Boss” from my former workplace superior still felt strange.
Still, as the boss, I mentioned one benefit I could promise her.
“I forgot to say earlier—after the baby’s born, you’re welcome to bring the child to the office. I’ve got two kids myself. If needed, I’m also planning to hire a sitter who can work a few hours a day.”
Rachel’s face brightened.
“That’s a temptation that’s really hard to refuse. Jun, you should have led with that. It’s a benefit I couldn’t expect anywhere else.”
“Is that so? Oh—and if you’d like, I can provide lunch too. Snacks as well, if needed.”
Rachel laughed.
“Hmm, maybe I’ll decide after I’ve tried dinner first?”
“…Honey, slow down a little.”
Greg said it carefully, but Rachel didn’t even answer—she just kept her spoon moving at high speed.
Watching her, I simply shoved the entire pot of bouillabaisse toward her side of the table and pulled out the leftover sandwiches from lunch for Greg.
“Hey, you eat this.”
Greg took the sandwich without a second word.
“Thanks.”
“Just hang on with that for now. I’ll grill some sausages real quick.”
“Oh—if it’s not too much trouble, grill some for me too.”
Rachel spoke without even lifting her head.
“Of course. Plenty for everyone.”
Greg gave an awkward laugh. Reni, sitting with us at the table, quietly whispered to him.
“Rachel-ajumma must be really hungry.”
“Yeah. Probably because the baby in her tummy is hungry.”
“Oh! That makes sense!”
While I cooked, Greg took care of the kids’ meals.
He was starting to look like a real parent—proof that the lessons from his mother and older sisters were paying off.
When she’d single-handedly emptied about half the pot, Rachel finally looked up.
“I want to make this place my lifelong workplace.”
“Thank you. Shall I clear your bowl?”
“No—I’m going to finish it. Just let me rest a moment.”
“Of course. Take your time.”
After that, the meal continued in warm, cheerful spirits.
I called Cassandra to let her know Rachel would be joining us, finished the short conversation, and happily brought out the cake I’d baked the day before.
Over dessert we talked about future plans, until Greg suddenly asked as if something had just occurred to him.
“So what’s the company name gonna be?”
I tilted my head. I hadn’t really thought about it.
“Hmm. Couldn’t we just use the channel name as is?”
“Huh? But we might expand the channels later, right?”
“Well… true.”
I was about to sink into thought when Rachel swallowed her mouthful of cake and spoke.
“If the company name is too broad, it can end up meaning nothing at all. It’s better to keep the identity of how this all started.”
“Oh man, my girl’s so professional.”
While Greg showed off his devoted-husband side, I nodded and thought it over.
Identity-wise, sticking close to the channel name really did feel right. After a moment of consideration, something occurred to me and I said it aloud.
“Then what if we just take the initials of the channel name and go with ‘JL’? Easy to make a logo out of, and something people can accept without any baggage.”
Overthinking these things usually just produced weird names anyway. Keeping it simple might be best.
Rachel took another big bite of cake, swallowed, and replied.
“I think that’s fine.”
JL. Jay-el. I rolled the word around in my mouth a few times. Not bad at all.
I immediately texted Cassandra for her opinion and got a thumbs-up back.
In that case…
“Reni, what do you think of ‘JL’ for Daddy’s company name?”
“I like it!”
Reni answered with a smile and spooned a star-shaped piece of jelly into his mouth. He didn’t seem to have put much thought into it, but as long as it didn’t sound weird to a kid, that was good enough.
I turned to Luca, who was currently smashing jelly with his bare hands.
“Luca, how about it? Is ‘JL’ okay for Daddy’s company name?”
“Unh.”
When Luca answered stoutly, Greg laughed.
“Dude, ‘unh’ is basically the only answer Luca’s got right now.”
“I know. That’s why I asked.”
I wiped Luca’s jelly-covered hands clean and grinned.