Rest (1)
After the financial crisis, asset values kept climbing, and the number of super-rich people surged with them.
As a result, ultra-luxury businesses aimed at that crowd flourished as well. Houses, watches, cars—no matter what they were, they sold like wildfire despite their outrageous price tags. Or rather, the more expensive they were, the faster they vanished.
Travel was no different.
Blackwood International had been catering to the wealthy for more than a century, so nobody understood rich people’s tastes better.
Luxury cruises that were basically floating hotels, or the so-called jet private tour that let you circle the world on a private plane, were wildly popular. And lately, rest and healing had also risen fast as major travel trends.
So Blackwood had thrown itself into building resorts for super-rich clientele.
The single most important thing here was nature. Even when choosing a location, they prioritized the natural surroundings over transportation access.
After all, the people who used a place like this would be flying around in private jets. Air connections weren’t exactly the point.
That was how, recently, they opened Blackwood Barbados Island, an ultra-luxury resort in Barbados at the far edge of the Caribbean.
There were only sixty rooms.
It was all-inclusive, with every service included at no extra charge, and even the cheapest room started at $100,000 a night. Even then, they only accepted reservations for stays of two nights or more.
The resort’s biggest appeal was how completely it blended with nature.
Open a window in any room, and all you saw was a white beach and a blue sea. It felt as if they had brought nature itself indoors.
Word had spread before the grand opening, and Hollywood couples visiting it made the place even more famous. Not long ago, a travel company had also ranked it first among the world’s most beautiful resorts.
I had come here alone.
A middle-aged manager came out personally to greet me.
“I’ve already been informed by the chairman. We’re truly grateful that you chose our resort, and we’ll make sure you’re comfortable and without inconvenience for your entire stay.”
“I appreciate it. I look forward to your care.”
The room the manager showed me was absurdly large for a single guest.
Three bedrooms. Three bathrooms.
When I opened the window, the blue sea and sky spread out before me.
“If you need anything at all, please just use the intercom at any time.”
“Thank you.”
I had tried to drag Seonwu and Syd along, thinking it would be boring to come alone, but they’d both turned me down, saying they were too busy.
So I’d come by myself in the end.
Maybe it was good to enjoy a little solitude once in a while.
Come to think of it, when had the last time I’d gone on vacation been?
This was my first time in this life, at least. After I regressed, I’d been too busy working and investing. And back in my first life, I’d been too busy frying chicken for a living.
I stepped out onto the terrace, sat down on the sunbed, and stared out at the vast white sand and sea.
Even the weather was fantastic. No wonder people paid ridiculous money to go find good places like this.
Before coming, I’d been torn about whether to bother. But now that I was here, I felt glad I’d made the trip.
Making money is great, but when it’s time to rest, you should rest.
＊ ＊ ＊
Han Sena met up with her friends after a long time.
Jung Sojin, Jo Yookyung, and Park Yejin.
She had known Sojin since elementary school, while she’d met Yookyung and Yejin in middle school and grown close to them. Even now that they were in college, the four of them still got together often to eat and gossip.
“You’re so lucky, Sena. Your brother even buys you a car.”
“Seriously.”
“I’m jealous.”
Jo Yookyung, the only one among them without an older brother, said it with a sigh.
“I wish I had an older brother too.”
At that, Sojin and Yejin both shook their heads.
“Don’t be fooled. Not every older brother in the world is like that. Mine is basically an enemy.”
“Exactly. Mine doesn’t just refuse to give me spending money—he still hasn’t paid back the money he borrowed from me.”
Han Sena nodded as if she agreed.
That was exactly how Han Miru used to be.
And yet he had changed!
I never thought I’d live long enough to be proud of my own brother.
Seeing her friends envy her made her shoulders lift a little with pride.
“But how did your brother make all that money?”
“Who knows.”
“What if he made a fortune with crypto or something?”
“Crypto?”
“I saw on PD Pursuit the other day that some people invested a few million won and made hundreds of billions.”
Hearing that, it sounded perfectly plausible.
The crypto craze had reached the universities too. There were more than a few students who stared at crypto exchanges all day, even during class.
But…
“Lately, though, crypto’s been crashing hard. My little brother got wiped out after investing in it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He bought some coin called Titan or something, and it went to zero. He lost everything because of it and even ended up in debt. My dad said he’d break his legs if he ever came home, so he’s hiding out at a friend’s place right now.”
“R-Really?”
My brother should be fine, right?
Thankfully, the house had been quiet, so it didn’t seem like there was any problem.
Jo Yookyung looked at Sojin and asked, “You’ve seen Sena’s brother, right?”
Sojin nodded.
“Yeah. Miru oppa is seriously handsome.”
“Really?”
“Does he have a girlfriend?”
Han Sena shook her head.
“Probably not.”
Sojin remembered the man she’d met that day, and the woman standing beside him.
“But he was with a super pretty older sister that day.”
“I asked him, and he said she was just a coworker.”
“R-Really?”
“Yeah. He definitely said that.”
At that, Sojin’s expression brightened.
After a long stretch of the usual idle chatter, they finally got to the real topic.
“So where are we going?”
The reason they’d met today was to plan a trip.
They were supposed to leave in two days, but they still hadn’t even chosen a destination.
“What about Gangneung? I heard the café street there is great.”
“What about Yeosu? Isn’t that place famous for its open-air bars?”
“Should we go to Jeonju Hanok Village?”
“But what are we even taking?”
“We can just ride in Sena’s car.”
“Can four people fit in the Mini?”
“We can sit in it, can’t we?”
“No, we can sit in it, sure, but where are we supposed to put the luggage?”
“Oh… right.”
Han Sena offered a solution.
“We could probably borrow Dad’s car.”
A Mercedes-Benz S-Class Maybach would have more than enough room for four people and their luggage.
“Then what will your dad drive to work?”
“My Mini?”
“……”
Leaning across the table, Jo Yookyung muttered, “Ah! I want to go overseas.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“A resort is the best. A pure white beach, blue water. A top-class resort.”
“Exactly. It’d be nice to go somewhere like Boracay or Cebu when it’s this cold.”
“If we had money, we could just take an overseas trip.”
“But we don’t have money.”
“There’s no way for us, right?”
Park Yejin asked.
“But you could go anywhere you wanted, Sena, couldn’t you?”
“Huh?”
“Your family’s rich now.”
At that, the others all nodded.
“Right. Sena’s family is rich.”
“I-is that so?”
Han Sena thought about it for a moment.
Come to think of it…
At some point, the car had changed from a domestic midsize sedan to a Mercedes-Benz S-Class. The house had become a penthouse. There was a chauffeur now, and even a housekeeper.
Her father’s company seemed to be doing well, and her brother had apparently made a huge amount of money.
At this point, maybe they weren’t chaebol-level rich, but wasn’t it still fair to call them wealthy by any normal standard?
She just hadn’t really felt it because her allowance hadn’t gone up much.
But why is my allowance still the same?
For a moment, she felt like she understood the hearts of office workers whose salaries never went up even when everything else did.
If my brother were still in Korea, I’d at least ask him to give me some spending money.
Unfortunately, after he left for America, he’d gone completely silent.
Then a good idea suddenly came to her.
Maybe I can use the brother card?
Han Sena said casually, “Should we ask my brother?”
“Huh?”
“Last time I saw him, he seemed to know people in the hotel industry and stuff. If we’re lucky, maybe he can get us cheaper plane tickets or a place to stay.”
“R-Really?”
At that, her friends all looked hopeful at once.
For the first time in a while, Han Sena called her brother.
＊ ＊ ＊
The lazy resort life went on.
Usually, when I woke up, I checked the market and the news first thing, but after coming here I intentionally avoided looking at my phone too much.
Watching the blue sea, I found my mind going quiet. There was nothing to think about.
But by the second day, I was starting to get bored.
I’d originally come planning to stay for about ten days, but now I was already beginning to want to go back to New York.
Was I really a man of the cold city after all?
A man who belonged more with Art Deco than Art Nouveau?
Still, since I’d come here on vacation, I figured I should at least last a week. Just then, my phone rang.
I wondered who would be calling at this hour, and when I checked, it was my younger sister.
I answered.
“Hello.”
“Hiiii~ Oppaaaaa~”
“……”
What was that sweet, cutesy voice?
It instantly made me feel annoyed.
“I’m hanging up.”
“Ah! Don’t hang up.”
The fact that she was trying to act cute with a voice that didn’t work on me at all meant she wanted something.
“What is it?”
“I heard crypto’s been dropping a lot lately. You’re okay, right, oppa?”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Yejin’s little brother invested in something called Titan and got wiped out. He even got kicked out of his house.”
“Ah… Titan, of all things?”
Then yeah, I could see why he’d get kicked out. Honestly, it was a miracle he hadn’t been cut off from the family registry.
“You didn’t invest in crypto or anything like that, right?”
“Well…”
I had invested, all right.
Just on the side of the crash.
“Are you still in America, oppa?”
“No.”
“Then where are you?”
“I’m on vacation right now.”
“What? Vacation? Why didn’t you take me with you?”
“Aren’t you on vacation every single day?”
I had never once seen my sister study.
“Where did you go on vacation?”
“Barbados.”
“Where’s that?”
“In the Caribbean.”
“Ah! Really? I want to go to the Caribbean too! The Caribbean!”
“Do you even know where the Caribbean is?”
“Of course. Do you think I’ve only been to CaribBay once or twice? Their wave pool is insane.”
“……”
Yeah. Your fool level is even more insane.
CaribBay was a water park run by the Yuseong Group.
Still, water was water, whether it was there or here.
“What are you doing there?”
“Just staying at the resort.”
“What’s the resort called?”
“Blackwood Barbados Island.”
“Wow! Just hearing the name makes it sound amazing. I want to go too. Can’t I come?”
“Why would you come?”
“Aren’t you even a little sorry for your little sister, who studies every day?”
“……”
Let me say this again: I had never seen my sister study.
“Aren’t you in school?”
“What are you talking about? I’m on break.”
“Ah…”
So she was on vacation too.
Then again, if she never studied anyway, I wasn’t sure what difference there was between school term and vacation.
“But there’s not much to do here even if you come. It’ll be boring if you come alone.”
“Then can I bring my friends?”
“How many?”
“Four in total, including Sojin.”
Sure. What did studying matter, really?
What mattered was getting along well with your friends.
“Fine, do whatever you want.”
“Yes! What do I need to pack?”
“Just your passport and some clothes. And a swimsuit.”
“Oh-ho! So you want to see your sister in a swimsuit that badly? Fine. I’ll wear a special bikini just for you, so look forward to it.”
“Put on a rash guard, and I’m saying that nicely.”
“Whyyyy?”
“If you’re going to wear a bikini, go to CaribBay.”
“Ah! Fortunately, I already bought a rash guard for you, oppa. But do we have to take a plane to get there?”
“What, are you going to walk?”
Of course there was no direct flight to Barbados.
If my sister were left alone at a transfer airport, she had a very real chance of ending up as an international lost child.
No, she’d probably manage to do even worse than that.
“I’ll send a plane for you, so take that and come.”
＊ ＊ ＊
Han Sena hung up the phone.
Her friends looked at her with expectant faces.
“My brother says he’s at a resort right now.”
“So?”
Han Sena declared proudly, “Then let’s go too! This older sister is treating!”
At that, her friends burst into applause.
“Whoa!”
“You’re amazing, unnie.”
“But where are we going?”
“Apparently Barbados. It’s in the Caribbean.”
“Huh?”
Wondering where on earth that was, they all pulled up Guble Maps to check.
“Oh! Isn’t this the place?”
“This one?”
Han Sena panicked.
She’d vaguely imagined some resort island in the Philippines or Indonesia, but she didn’t even know where this place was.
There was really a country like this?
But the more shocking fact was…
“What’s the resort called?”
“Something Blackwood…”
“Wait, is this it? Blackwood Barbados Island?”
“Ah, yeah. That one.”
“This place is $100,000 a night.”
“……Huh?”
Everyone’s eyes went wide.
“Hold on. You want us to go here?”
“Really?”
“But how are we supposed to get there?”
“My brother said he’d send a plane.”
At that, they all stared at her like they couldn’t process what they were hearing.
“What do you mean?”
“How do you send a plane?”
“W-Well…”
Sojin asked, “Maybe he means he’ll send a private jet?”
Han Sena shook her head.
“No way. This isn’t a movie or anything.”
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