Burger Landing, Part 4

The opening ceremony was held ahead of the grand opening.

In attendance were Hwaan F&B President Heo Gyeong-seok, Heo Min-woong, Sean O'Connor, and Director Lee Dong-ho, of course, as well as William Reicher, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea.

Dong-ho looked startled.

"No, seriously. Why is the U.S. ambassador here?"

"Because O'Connor Burger is really taking off in the United States right now, and Continue Capital is behind it."

"So he's here to make an impression?"

"Well, if he wants to keep doing politics, he'd better."

In the end, once the administration changed, he'd be going back to the U.S. anyway.

The current president was a Republican.

So was Reicher, but he was also known for maintaining smooth relations with Democrats.

With a bright expression, Ambassador Reicher greeted everyone around him one by one.

I shook his hand as well.

The white man in his early fifties gripped my hand firmly and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm truly glad we had the chance to meet like this today."

"You know me?"

He smiled easily.

"Of course. I understand you've done a great deal of important work alongside Director Lockhart."

As the U.S. ambassador to Korea, he clearly had some grasp of who I was. A Korean who could affect the U.S. economy.

Ambassador Reicher said it half-jokingly. "I tried O'Connor Burger when I was in California last time, and I've been a fan ever since. I'm very happy that I can eat it here in Korea too. I hope many more branches open elsewhere. If one were in front of the American embassy, that would be even better."

I answered in kind. "Why don't you open one yourself, Ambassador? We're always taking franchise inquiries."

"Ha! Then I suppose I'd better make a good impression in advance."

"I'll be counting on your support."

"If there's anything difficult, just let me know. If it's a role in helping American companies succeed, I'm more than happy to help."

The fact that he was trying to build this kind of bridge made one thing plain: Continue Capital really was something special.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

With the opening ceremony over, Sean's schedule in Korea was completely finished.

"You worked hard."

"Not at all. I enjoyed myself, thanks to you. I even got to enjoy a proper vacation for the first time in a while. Now I should go back and work hard again."

He was leaving first, but Trish planned to stay a while longer for reporting.

"How much longer do you need to stay?"

"I've wrapped up the O'Connor Burger coverage, but I still need to cover K-pop, and of course MFW and SW Games too. The editor contacted me and said ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as long as I send ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the articles on time, I can stay as long as I want. He just told me to watch the travel budget."

At this rate, she'd end up meeting everyone around me.

Sean said to me, "Please take good care of my sister. I'll leave her in your hands, Director. Well then, I'm off."

With that, he quickly headed back to the United States.

For some reason, it felt like he'd dumped the rest on me... Was that just my imagination?

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Han Sena, Jung Sojin, Park Ye-jin, and Jo Yu-gyeong.

For the first time in a while, all of my sister's friends were together in one place.

They talked all the time over messages, but whenever they met, they always had plenty to say.

School, friends, boys, celebrities... the conversation wandered through all of it, and eventually it turned to the latest hot topic: O'Connor Burger.

"You guys know O'Connor Burger opened in Korea, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. It's totally insane."

"I saw it on the news."

"SNS is going crazy over it too."

It wasn't even part of some challenge, and yet Linsta, TalkTick, and ATube were flooded with photos and videos of O'Connor Burger.

"Good thing we ate it in LA."

"It was so good ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when we had it in LA."

"Right, right. I'm really glad we ate it then."

"We were winners for trying it early."

They had been smiling and laughing only a moment before.

Then silence fell all at once.

Breaking that silence, Sena said, "Don't you kind of want to eat it again?"

"I know. I want it so badly."

"If we hadn't eaten it before, we wouldn't even be thinking about it."

"I feel like I shouldn't have eaten it at all. Now that I've had O'Connor Burger, no other burger can satisfy me."

Just thinking about it made my mouth water.

Sena sprang to her feet.

"Then let's go eat."

"I heard the line is ridiculously long right now."

"Come on, that's just opening-day hype. It's been a few days, so maybe it won't be so bad today."

"Maybe."

"Let's hurry."

Sena and her friends headed straight for Gangnam, where the first O'Connor Burger store was located.

The line stretched so far it seemed to wrap around Yuseong Town.

When they walked to the end of it, they found a sign that read: "Six hours from here."

All four of them were stunned.

"What is this?"

"I did hear the line was long, but..."

"I never thought it'd be this bad."

The passion Koreans had for hamburgers far exceeded anything they had imagined.

Everyone shook their heads.

"No way."

"I'd collapse waiting in this."

"Let's just go to McDonald's."

But Sena had anticipated this situation and said confidently, "Wait a second, guys. I've got a way."

"What way?"

Sena grinned.

"Big-brother privilege."

Park Ye-jin's eyes went wide.

"You mean...?"

Jo Yu-gyeong asked, "Miru oppa?"

Sena nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah. Think about it. When we went to eat in LA, there was a line then too, but we went straight in. So maybe it'll work this time as well?"

"That's true."

"Come to think of it..."

Park Ye-jin and Jo Yu-gyeong clapped side by side.

"Ohhh!"

"Sena, you're smart!"

But Jung Sojin suddenly objected as if shouting.

"N-no!"

Sena asked, "Why not?"

"W-well... Miru oppa is probably busy with work. I don't think we should bother him over something like this."

"Hah. Bother him? If his little sister comes by while he's working and he gets to see her face for a moment, won't that make his work go even better? And our brother isn't busy at all."

"......"

That wasn't actually the reason she was against it.

Sojin's face fell.

What do I do? I thought I was only meeting my friends, so I dressed casually and didn't even put on proper makeup. I didn't even wear contacts—I put on glasses instead.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Even several days after opening, O'Connor Burger's popularity showed no sign of fading.

If they had to wait in line to eat it, neither I nor the employees would have been able to get any. But those who were working in Building D, a.k.a. the Continue Building, could reserve ahead through the app and pick up takeout instead.

Thanks to that, I could order and eat it whenever I wanted.

Trish wasn't staying here just to have fun, either. She had set up her laptop in an empty seat and was concentrating on work. For a while now, her fingers had been hammering away at the keyboard.

Then, apparently stuck, she frowned and stared at the screen in thought.

I handed her a cup of coffee.

"Drink this while you work."

"Ah! Thanks. I was just about to go buy some coffee."

We took a short break and talked.

"You have your interview with Areum lined up, right?"

"Yes. There's a lot of interest in MFW in the fashion industry these days. Naturally, the public has a lot of questions too."

While we were talking, my phone rang. I checked it, saw that it was my sister, and ignored it because I couldn't be bothered. Immediately after that, messages started pouring in.

What was this? Did something happen at home?

I had no choice but to look at Sena's texts. Then I clicked my tongue in disbelief.

Seeing my expression, Trish asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing much. My sister came here with her friends to eat O'Connor Burger, but she says the line is too long and wants me to let them in."

"Ah! You said you have a younger sister, right?"

"Yeah."

Trish tilted her head. "Didn't you say your sister doesn't know you work at Continue Capital?"

"That's right. But when we went to O'Connor Burger in LA before, we skipped the line and went straight in. So I guess she thinks it'll work here too."

"It does work, though."

"I suppose it does."

If I couldn't make it happen, who could?

"What are you going to do?"

"Tell her to go back."

Then Trish went serious and said, "What are you talking about? An older brother has to do whatever his little sister asks."

"Huh? Why?"

"Why? Isn't it obvious?"

"......"

Seriously, who decided on such an unfair rule?

Had some so-called International Little Sister Association set it? Didn't something like this need to be run by a World Big Brother Federation too?

Trish closed her laptop and stood up at once.

"Your sister's probably waiting. Let's go!"

"Wait—you're coming too?"

"It's an O'Connor family matter. Of course I have to go."

"......"

We'd just come to eat O'Connor Burger. Since when was this a family matter?

She was clearly making excuses because she didn't want to work any more.

I had no choice but to head to the scene with Trish.

In front of the long line for O'Connor Burger, there were familiar faces at the very end.

None other than Sena & Friends.

With her neck stretched out like a meerkat's as she looked around, Sena spotted me and waved enthusiastically.

"Oh! Oppa, over here, over here!"

As I approached, the others all bowed in unison.

"Hello!"

They were Jung Sojin, Jo Yu-gyeong, and Park Ye-jin.

I had seen them enough times now that they felt familiar.

"Hey. You've all been well?"

My sister had blond hair tied up in a messy bun, Sojin wore a ponytail, Park Ye-jin had glasses and a bob cut, and Jo Yu-gyeong wore twin braids.

They were easy to tell apart just by their hairstyles.

For some reason, Sojin only peeked out from behind Sena.

"H-hello, oppa."

Was the girl suddenly shy?

For some reason, she looked a little different from the last time I'd seen her.

"Ah! You got glasses."

Sojin looked flustered. "I-I forgot to buy contacts, so... I don't usually wear glasses..."

"They suit you."

"Huh? R-really?"

"Yeah."

Just by putting on a pair of glasses, her image changed completely.

Sojin broke into a bright smile.

Ye-jin wasn't wearing a crop top, but she had on a short shirt. Every time she moved, the piercing in her navel caught the light.

"......"

So this was what had caught my sister's eye.

Now that I looked at it, though, it wasn't bad.

Sena asked me, "How did you get here so fast?"

"I work nearby."

More precisely, I worked in one of the four buildings here.

Trish waved at Sena and the others in greeting.

"Hello."

At the unexpected appearance of a beautiful white woman, everyone looked startled.

"W-who is that? Don't tell me she's your girlfriend?"

"Gasp!"

For some reason, Sojin looked the most shocked of all.

I explained to avoid any misunderstanding.

"No. She's a WST reporter. We knew each other through work in the U.S., and she's here in Korea for reporting this time, so I'm showing her around. You know WST, right?"

Sena said proudly, "Nope. Don't know it."

"Yeah. Figured you wouldn't."

I hadn't expected anything from her. My sister didn't watch the news.

But Sojin was different.

"I do know it. It's a famous American newspaper, isn't it? The one that ran the heiress fraud ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠case story."

"Oh."

Unlike my sister, she was sharp.

"That's right. She's the one who wrote that article first."

"Ah! Really?"

Sena nodded. "Well, of course. There's no way oppa would date such a pretty woman."

"......"

What was that supposed to mean, you brat?

Trish smiled and introduced herself. "I'm Trishy Oconnor. Nice to meet you."

Then Sena, who had been studying English hard lately, introduced herself with confidence.

"Hi. My nemu iz Sena Han. I hav a famiri, my hwa... my..."

"That's enough."

Don't speak to Americans like that.

I translated Sena's English self-introduction back into actual English for Trish, then introduced everyone one by one.