Donation (2)
There was no hard rule that a donation or sponsorship had to happen on any particular schedule—but given how things were moving, the smarter play was to get it done as fast as possible.
Armed with research pulled from the internet, Nam Tae-woo, Jang Min-a, and the spare staff at YW headed out to gather firsthand accounts. Their destinations were universities scattered across Seoul. Specifically, the volunteer clubs on those campuses.
Once they finished surveying the students who had actually been out in the field, Nam Tae-woo collated the data and went looking for Jeong Yeo-un.
"All right. Report."
"Yes, sir. First, the materials."
Nam Tae-woo handed Jeong Yeo-un a neatly organized printout and threw a presentation up on the screen.
"Going out and inspecting every site ourselves would eat too much time under the circumstances, so we ran a survey targeting volunteer clubs instead."
"Right. Best option we've got right now. And?"
Nam Tae-woo continued.
"Long story short, these three places are currently in the worst shape."
Photos the university students had shared lit up the screen.
Hope Orphanage
Sunshine Orphanage
Starlight Orphanage
"From here, it's your call, sir."
"What are you talking about?"
"Sorry?"
Nam Tae-woo blinked at Jeong Yeo-un's question.
"We still have to do a final site visit."
"Ah. Right. Should I take Ara with me? She's the one sponsoring, after all."
"Absolutely not. Ara's a public figure now. Her face is everywhere. What happens if she just shows up out of nowhere and nothing comes of it?"
"Ah—yeah. That was shortsighted of me."
"Good. You get it. So go."
"…Sorry?"
"?"
"?"
They stared at each other in mutual confusion.
I have to go again? Gangwon, Chungbuk, and Gyeongsang are all on that list…
I'm the boss. You're the employee.
An invisible conversation concluded somewhere neither of them could see.
"Understood. I'll go…"
"Take Min-a with you. Two people are better than one."
"Yes, sir."
"Here. Take this."
Jeong Yeo-un held out a card to the resigned Nam Tae-woo.
"What's this?"
"Company card, what else? Put the expenses on it. Buy yourselves something good to eat while you're at it."
"Yes, sir! Thank you!"
Nam Tae-woo brightened a little.
"Oh—and before you swing through all three places, call ahead and buy the kids some chicken and pizza."
"Got it."
"Last thing: after you look around each one, donate ten million won under YW's name. Separate from whatever Ara does."
"That's impressive, sir."
Business finished, Nam Tae-woo bowed to Jeong Yeo-un and slipped out of the CEO's office.
"Min-a. Let's go."
"Where?"
"Where do you think? Chungbuk, then Gangwon, then Gyeongsang."
"……?"
Jang Min-a short-circuited at Nam Tae-woo's words.
"Refusal is not an option. Stop complaining and come on. We switch off driving."
"I—I don't wanna!!!"
Jang Min-a dug in hard.
"CEO's orders."
"!!!"
So Nam Tae-woo pulled out the finishing move.
"But look. Company card. Company card."
He waggled it invitingly.
"He said buy whatever delicious stuff we want."
"Oh?"
"King crab. Go?"
"Ok. Go."
The two of them set their faces in grim determination and left the building.
Ara arrived at YW with Nam Tae-woo.
"You're here."
"Ara. Welcome."
"Hello."
Jeong Yeo-un and Jang Min-a greeted her in the conference room YW had set aside.
"You already know I called you in about the sponsorship, right?"
"Yes. You contacted me two days ago. Has it been decided?"
It had already been two days since Ara first brought up the idea of sponsoring something with Jeong Yeo-un. She had tried looking into it on her own, but after Jeong Yeo-un laid out the realities of her public status, she had handed full authority over to the company. Today's call had brought her into the office.
"Yeah. We looked into it from every angle, and Tae-woo and Min-a went out themselves to pick one."
"Where is it?"
"Min-a."
"Yes."
At Jeong Yeo-un's cue, Jang Min-a passed Ara a stack of pre-printed pages.
Chungju, Chungbuk
An orphanage in Chungju, in North Chungcheong Province.
"We've settled on that one. Take a look."
At Jeong Yeo-un's words, Ara flipped through the pages one by one.
Group photos of the children—clothes a little frayed. Blankets that looked thoroughly worn. Beyond that, the TV, the computer, the refrigerator, the fans—every appliance faded and tired. And still, the children's faces were blooming with smiles.
"Let's go."
"It's a bit of a trip. You okay with that?"
"Yes. I want to see it myself."
"All right. Go with Tae-woo and Min-a."
At Jeong Yeo-un's glance, Nam Tae-woo stood.
"I'll get the car started."
Nam Tae-woo left the conference room.
"Ara. Come with me."
"Huh? Where are we going?"
Jang Min-a called her over.
"You're going like that? You're pretty either way, but you're way too sloppy. No."
What Jang Min-a was pointing at was Ara's outfit.
Does the clothes thing really matter?
The most important thing was supposed to be the heart, after all.
"Mm… okay."
Even so, Ara quietly followed Jang Min-a. It was absolutely not because she remembered the woman was a fourth-dan taekwondo black belt. She simply had to live as a celebrity now… so she was thinking about image management. That was all.
Maybe I should learn taekwondo too.
The thought drifted through her head as she changed into the clothes Jang Min-a handed her.
"Mm! Perfect! We'll do makeup in the car on the way!"
"Okay."
And so the three of them climbed into the car and set out for Chungju in North Chungcheong.
Wait. Is this my first time going to Chungju?
Given that Ara had been a total homebody to begin with, wasn't everywhere she went a first time?
But what's Chungju famous for?
Suddenly she was curious about the local specialty.
"Coordinator."
Ara called to Jang Min-a instead of Nam Tae-woo, who was driving.
"Yeah, Ara? What's up?"
"What's Chungju famous for?"
"Hmm. Chungju…"
Jang Min-a thought for a moment.
"Ah!"
Something came to her.
"Chungju is famous for…!"
"Yes?"
Why the dramatic pause? Is it not fruit or vegetables?
It had to be something unusual.
Medicinal herbs? Or sheep, or silky chickens, something like that?
While Ara was privately theorizing, Jang Min-a delivered the answer.
"Chungju is famous for civil servants."
"?"
What kind of nonsense is that?
For a second she wondered if she was being messed with.
"Puhahahahaha!"
Nam Tae-woo, behind the wheel, burst out laughing at Jang Min-a's line.
"She's right! Chungju really is most famous for its civil servants! Min-a nailed it!"
"Right? Told you, oppa! Hahahaha!"
While the two of them cracked up, Ara quietly opened the internet on her phone by herself. And started typing into the search bar.
Chungju City civil servants…
In the storeroom where the food supplies were kept, a girl who looked about high-school age was working alone. For a food storeroom, there were a lot of empty stretches of shelf—but the new ingredients coming in today looked ready to fill those gaps. With hands short, the orphanage's eldest girl was sorting the supplies by herself.
"Ye-in. So this is where you were."
A childcare teacher found her there.
"Yes, Teacher. What is it?"
"The director is looking for you. Can you go see her?"
"Yes."
Shin Ye-in set the sorting aside for a moment and headed for the director's office.
Knock-knock.
"Director. You wanted to see me?"
"Yes. Ye-in, come in."
Director Jo Na-kyeong welcomed Ye-in with a kind smile. The worry and anxiety that had lived on her face for so long had eased considerably.
Every year the government raised its support payments for orphans—but whenever children aged out and left, the funding for the orphanage was cut back to match the remaining headcount. And it wasn't as if anyone could wish for more orphans just to keep the budget up. On top of that, the wages were so low relative to the labor that the number of social workers and childcare teachers shrank year after year.
They wanted to feed the children better things, give them better things—but the reality was that they could barely keep the kids fed and give them a bed that was warm in winter and cool in summer.
That was how Starlight Orphanage had been scraping by, day after day, inside a worn-out system—until an unexpected stroke of good fortune arrived.
A man and a woman who had bought an enormous amount of chicken and pizza for the children and come to the orphanage. They had walked straight into the director's office and said they wanted to donate the considerable sum of ten million won.
Jo Na-kyeong's first reaction to that news had not been welcome. It had been wariness. Money mattered, and money was exactly why the orphanage was struggling—but taking money from people whose identities weren't clear was far too dangerous. What if this was some new cult laying groundwork against children who didn't know any better? That would be a disaster.
So she had refused.
"I'm so grateful. But I can't accept this money. The food you brought, though—thank you so much. The children love it."
She had expressed her gratitude carefully, without giving offense.
"Ah, oppa! We should introduce ourselves first! I'd be scared too if a total stranger suddenly offered me ten million won!!"
"Ah!"
At the woman's words, the man pulled a business card from his jacket.
"I'm Nam Tae-woo. I'm here on behalf of CEO Jeong Yeo-un of YW."
"YW?"
Jeong Yeo-un? YW? Where is that?
It was a company name she had never heard. She wanted to look it up, but she couldn't. Doing that to someone's face would be terribly rude.
"It's a bit unfamiliar, right? If you'd like, please feel free to look us up right now."
As if she had read Jo Na-kyeong's mind, the woman who had come with him gave her time to check.
"Ah—then I'm sorry, but if you'll excuse me for a moment. Please sit and have some tea and snacks while you wait."
"Of course."
"Sure."
Jo Na-kyeong sat at her desk and started searching.
Entertainment, as I thought?
From the business card, she had already guessed it was an entertainment company on the celebrity side. But she didn't know much about celebrities, and the scale looked small enough that she figured there wouldn't be anyone she recognized.
Huh? These people…?
Except—every single one of them was famous. The agency had fewer than ten signed talents, but every last one of them carried serious name value.
Gil Ara?
And the actress who had been skyrocketing lately, Gil Ara, was under YW as well. CEO Jeong Yeo-un of YW. The site even listed the staff—and the man and woman sitting right in front of her were clearly photographed there.
That settled their identities. Of course the website itself could have been fake—but if you started thinking that way, there was almost nothing in the world you could trust.
Jo Na-kyeong walked over to where the two of them were resting and sat across from them.
"Did you find what you needed?"
"To restate it clearly: we'd like to donate ten million won to Starlight Orphanage. Under YW's name."
The man and woman restated their intention.
"I have one question."
Jo Na-kyeong voiced what she was curious about.
"I'm wondering why you came all the way out to Chungju in person. It would have been simpler to go through a donation organization. Why come yourselves?"
"Well, that's true. But our CEO told us to see it with our own eyes and fill in whatever was lacking. So we came."
"I see…"
Director Jo Na-kyeong rose from her seat.
She bowed—deeply.
"Thank you…"
"Oh—Director, please lift your head!"
"Truly… thank you…"
"Director! You don't need to do this for us!"
Even with their protests, Jo Na-kyeong's back showed no sign of straightening.
…
…
…
Back to the present.
"Ye-in."
Jo Na-kyeong spoke to Shin Ye-in, who had come into the director's office.
"Yes, Director."
"We have guests coming later. Could you show them around?"
"Guests? Who? Don't tell me… is it volunteer work?"
Somehow, a slight edge had entered Shin Ye-in's voice.
"No. You remember the people who came yesterday?"
"Ah! YW!"
"Yes. They said they're visiting again today. The teachers have a lot to do because of yesterday, so could you guide them?"
"Yes! I'll do it!"
"Thank you. They called to say they'll arrive in about thirty minutes. Rest until then."
"Yes."
Shin Ye-in bowed to Jo Na-kyeong and left the director's office. Then she headed back to the food storeroom.
Still, I should finish this first. Thirty minutes is plenty of time!
Shin Ye-in started sorting the storeroom again.
I hope a celebrity comes too.
Yesterday, when she heard the name YW, she had looked it up on her own—and she had been stunned.
My one wish is to see Unnie Ara just once.
She had become a fan of Gil Ara not long ago, after watching Stalker.
Paper boxes of ingredients, filling from the bottom up by type.
Come on—Unnie Ara must be insanely busy right now. Stop with the useless thoughts and just finish sorting!
Before long she had filled the shelves to the middle, and only the ones that had to go up over her head were left. A little more time passed.
"Nngh—! Hah!"
She managed to get one heavy box onto the shelf.
"Whew—!"
Only one box left.
"What time is it?!"
Ye-in hurriedly checked the clock. Five minutes until the expected arrival.
"Whew—!"
She let out a breath of relief.
"Just this one and I'm done, then I'll go meet them!"
She lifted the last box.
"Hup!!!"
A box packed full of bulk cans—the heaviest of the lot. And after working nonstop, Ye-in barely had any strength left. The box she hoisted over her head failed to catch the shelf and slipped.
"W-waaah!!!"
In that dangerous instant, as the box lost its center and started to fall toward her head—
Someone behind her shot out a hand and caught it from below.
"Whew—thank you."
Having narrowly avoided a real accident, she exhaled in relief and offered her thanks.
"You okay? Nothing hurt?"
"Yes."
?
Hm? But who is this?
The question rose in her. A voice from behind her back.
It's not one of the teachers…
It was a woman's voice she was sure she had heard before, but she couldn't place it.
"You shouldn't do something this dangerous alone. What if you got hurt?"
The woman who had been holding the box with her from behind plucked it cleanly out of Ye-in's hands.
And set it lightly—as if it weighed nothing—on the very top shelf.
"This is where you wanted it, right?"
"Y-yes. That's right."
W-what kind of strength…?
The shock lasted only a moment. There was something she had to do first. Namely: say thank you properly.
Ye-in turned around, looked at the woman, and opened her mouth.
"Thank yo—… huh?"
The woman who, until a short while ago, had existed only on a screen was standing right in front of her, looking back at her.
"Hi."