An Elementary School on the Brink

Kim Ji-eun, a third-year design major at Hankuk University, was currently on a leave of absence.

Once she became a senior, the pressure to find a job would become overwhelming. She needed to build her portfolio before then.

The Seoul Design Competition, the Sambyeol Supporters, projects hosted by the Korea Institute of Design Promotion, startup logo designs, web designs...

She had been churning out minor projects left and right, but nothing truly stood out. If she presented these at a corporate interview, the applicant sitting next to her would likely have the exact same credentials.

She didn't need a battle of quantity; she needed a powerful, emotionally resonant knockout punch.

"Huh?"

Just then, a notice posted on the university website caught her eye.

"Raymi Castle!"

Ji-eun gasped.

Raymi Castle? Wasn't that a massive, famous construction brand?

It was only natural for design students to seek employment at construction firms. This was especially true for Ji-eun, who was highly interested in infographic design and environmental graphics.

"This is perfect."

They weren't paying, but the project itself was gold. The narrative practically wrote itself. Traveling to a rural school on the verge of extinction, painting murals, decorating desks and chairs, and actually saving the school from closure through this beautiful transformation...

It sounded like something straight out of a drama. It would be a devastatingly powerful punch to throw during corporate interviews.

Ji-eun quickly clicked the button.

"Honey..."

The grandmother in pajamas stared at the scene in utter shock, standing alongside the pockmarked grandfather.

"What in the world is happening out there?"

That young man who had visited a few days ago—she didn't know what kind of magic Lee Yun-hyeok had worked, but a massive crowd of people had descended upon Doma-myeon to save Doma Elementary School.

Leading the charge was...

"Raymi Castle? Ain't that an apartment brand?"

A giant construction company had rolled up its sleeves. Though they were only providing minimal personnel, equipment, and basic materials, they were still top-tier specialists in the construction industry.

Their mere presence completely shifted the atmosphere.

And then there were the college students.

"Even during the holidays, we've never had this many young folks gathered here."

The sheer number of college students filled the site with a burning, vibrant energy.

"What are you two just standing there for? Help out!"

The village head was busy carrying armfuls of snacks he and his wife had prepared at home, tirelessly delivering them to the site.

It wasn't just the village head. At some point, the elderly residents of the village, realizing that this might actually work, began stepping forward one by one.

There wasn't much they could do in terms of labor, so they mostly focused on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠food.

"Whew. I swore I'd never dig this up again."

The grandmother in pajamas retrieved her homemade fermented soybean paste from a clay jar buried behind her house.

"Looks like the godmother of the Doma-myeon culinary scene has to come out of retirement for a bit."

It was exactly as Yun-hyeok had anticipated.

The villagers grumbled, but once the work actually started, they were more proactive than anyone else.

And there was one more group.

The retired technicians.

Doma-myeon was famous for tomato farming, but not everyone was a farmer. It was still a functioning community, after all.

Hardware store owners, lumber merchants, plasterers, tile layers—retired and active technicians alike began gathering. Yun-hyeok had posted recruitment notices at the entrance of the village hall and at the bus stops.

In an instant, Doma Elementary School was bustling with a massive workforce of volunteers and professionals.

And right in the center of it all stood Yun-hyeok.

Just as he had done at the negotiation table with the residents of Raymi Castle, Yun-hyeok had naturally assumed the role of general manager of the entire site.

Because he was the one who had bound all these disparate people together.

The distinct smell of a construction site—dust, sawdust from cut wood, and paint—blended together to create a strange, vibrant energy.

"Reinforcement structure check complete!"

A site supervisor dispatched from Raymi Castle approached Yun-hyeok with a checklist to report. Yun-hyeok pulled a small notebook from his pocket and quickly jotted down some notes.

"Excellent. Let's proceed with replacing the window frames this morning, and then we'll move on to painting the exterior walls in the afternoon."

Yun-hyeok turned his head to survey the workers.

On one side of the playground, the village's retired carpenters were repairing worn-out desks and chairs.

"Geez, do kids these days really use things like this?"

"The desks need to be a bit taller. These were made twenty years ago, so they're way too low."

"Yeah, the kids' backs will be ruined. Let's raise these legs a bit!"

Yun-hyeok walked over to them and pointed toward the college design students.

"Once the desks and chairs are repaired, please hand them over to the art team. They're going to make them look beautiful."

Inside the classrooms, retired plasterers and tile layers were laying down new flooring.

One of them, who had been kneeling to smooth out the floor for quite some time, opened a window and called out to Yun-hyeok on the playground.

"We're short on tiles here!"

Yun-hyeok handed a box of tiles to some grandfathers who were watching.

"Could you deliver this over there?"

Though they were elderly, their muscles, forged from decades of farm work, were no weaker than those of construction laborers. The grandfathers lifted the heavy boxes with ease.

"We'll get it there right away!"

Yun-hyeok walked to the back of the school. College volunteers were busy painting a mural.

They were sketching the figures of children onto a freshly whitewashed wall.

Meanwhile, landscaping trees were being planted in the empty lot. Raymi Castle was using relatively inexpensive, cost-effective landscaping trees to decorate and fence off a small garden.

"Mr. Lee."

General Manager Choi Jun-taek was also at the site. Frankly, his position was far too high for him to be visiting a site like this, but he had come because he wanted to see Yun-hyeok in person.

"Thanks to you bringing in almost all the labor from the outside, our labor costs are practically zero. However, the cost of materials like tiles, windows, paint, and landscaping is not insignificant."

"How much did you spend?"

"Around two hundred million won."

"That's not very much."

"..."

Yun-hyeok placed a hand on the shoulder of the visibly displeased Choi Jun-taek.

"General Manager, let's do one more thing. This playground here. Let's lay down turf so the kids can play soccer."

"Are you out of your mind?"

"I assure you, this will end up being highly profitable for Raymi Castle."

"By my calculations, we've already hit our break-even point. How much brand exposure can we really get in a rural place like this?"

Choi Jun-taek believed that spending two hundred million won was more than enough. While renovating a rural school was a heartwarming story, there was a limit to how much public attention a backwater place like Doma-myeon could attract.

"Since you're running for mayor, I already agreed to a slightly losing deal to accommodate that."

"Don't worry. You won't lose a single won."

Yun-hyeok was absolutely certain.

Choi Jun-taek couldn't help but chuckle at his absurd confidence.

"I assume you have another plan up your sleeve? Let's hear it."

After listening to the next step of Yun-hyeok's plan, Choi Jun-taek made the decision to install the turf on the playground.

Where were the children while the construction was underway?

Naturally, they couldn't go to school. Heavy machinery was constantly moving in and out, and the air was thick with the toxic fumes of paint and thinner.

During this time, the children were gathered at Yuri's family shop.

Yuri's mother ran a small factory that manufactured jams and ketchup using local tomatoes.

The school children were there participating in a hands-on field trip.

"Finished!"

Under the guidance of Yuri's mother, Yuri and the other children of Doma Elementary School used the factory facilities to produce several items:

1. Tomato jam.

2. Dried tomato snacks.

3. Ketchup.

The children carefully pasted hand-drawn label stickers onto the neatly packaged jars.

What were they going to do with these?

They were going to send them as gifts.

"I'm choosing Mukjjang TV!"

Yuri chose a famous mukbang YouTuber with three million subscribers whom she watched regularly.

Other children chose gaming YouTubers, fishing YouTubers, and even beekeeping YouTubers.

Their fields were all different, but they were all incredibly famous. Yuri's mother carefully reviewed each YouTuber's channel before giving her approval.

Next was Yuri's father's turn.

He took the tomato products made by the children, drove into town, and sent them via express registered mail to the agencies of each YouTuber.

"A viewer sent me a gift! They said they really enjoy my videos~. Oh my goodness, thank you so much!"

BJ Mukjjang, who ran a mukbang channel with three million subscribers, picked up a beautifully packaged jar of tomato jam.

"Everyone, look. This is tomato jam. The friend who made this and sent it to me is only eleven years old. Isn't that so cute? The jar is beautiful, too. Oh my gosh! Thank you so much, sweetie. I'll enjoy it."

The chat was already buzzing.

"When we think of jam, we usually think of strawberry or grape jam, right? But you can actually make jam out of tomatoes. And it's delicious."

BJ Mukjjang chatted briefly about the lycopene ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and antioxidant properties of tomatoes.

Then, she proudly held up the jar to the camera, showing off the drawing of a lizard that Yuri had sketched herself.

"Isn't it so pretty? I wonder if I even deserve such a lovely gift."

BJ Mukjjang hugged the jar of tomato jam tightly to her chest.

"Normally, sharing homemade food like this can run into food safety regulations. But in this case, the sender's mother actually works in the industry, so there's no issue. They made it together at her shop. However, since it wasn't made for promotional purposes, Yuri covered the shop's name and the original label with her own hand-drawn stickers."

BJ Mukjjang opened the carefully prepared jar, scooped a bit of jam with a spoon, and tasted it.

"It's so good!"

She decided on the spot that the theme of today's broadcast would be finishing this entire jar of jam.

"There's also a letter here from Yuri. Let me read it to you all."

BJ Mukjjang began reading the letter to the camera.

Amidst the flood of chat messages, someone dropped a critical comment.

Naturally, with so many viewers, someone was bound to look up Doma Elementary School.

"What?"

The sudden news of the school's closure, coming right after the heartwarming gift handmade by a young fan and her mother, felt like a sudden plunge from a beautiful fairy tale into a harsh, bitter reality.

The chat room froze instantly, reflecting the viewers' collective shock.

BJ Mukjjang struggled to maintain her composure.

She quickly searched for Doma Elementary School on the internet.

A few news articles appeared regarding the conflict between the Mir City education authorities and the local residents over the closure.

And then, a blog post appeared, announcing an all-out campaign to save Doma Elementary School.

That blog...

Was the very same blog where Yun-hyeok used to write his policy columns before being recruited by Representative Park Dae-man.

And now, it served as the official homepage for the "Save Doma Elementary School" campaign.

The world had truly become a convenient place.

Especially for shaping public opinion.