Chapter 192
Nothing Hana Can't Do
"Let's go eat, everyone! The food at our cafeteria is amazing!"
"Okay!"
Jiyu waved her hands as she answered, practically glowing. She was so happy she was bouncing where she stood.
"Yeah!"
Yumi followed after Hana as well. Today Maru seemed determined to stay with them to the very end, trailing along behind the children. Ordinarily she ought to have trusted Hana and sent her off, but something still snagged at her heart. Hana headed outside, swaying happily from side to side, and Jiyu and Yumi trotted along right behind her.
Watching them, Maru found the elementary schoolers unbearably cute. Clustered together like little chicks, they made her understand at last why teachers doted on small children. All these adorable kids gathered in one place, chattering away — it felt as if there were three Hanas. Of course, part of that feeling came from the fact that Maru wasn't the one looking after children around the clock.
It was more like the feeling of watching a niece. You got to skim off only the happy parts of raising a child and leave every hardship to your older sister and her husband. People said that sort of thing these days, didn't they? With marriage growing so difficult, she'd heard there were plenty of folks who poured their affection into nieces and nephews and raised them almost like their own. And now she understood exactly why they fussed over them so much.
The children huddled together in front of the elevator, waiting. They had so much to say they kept twittering nonstop, like a flock of sparrows. Even so, the sight left Maru relieved. Hana seemed to be settling into school life just fine.
Hana was so unusual that Maru had worried she wouldn't get along with kids her own age. She was a girl, and yet her tastes were almost those of a middle-aged man — simplest, really, to think of them as the tastes of a guy who'd done his military service. They rode the elevator toward the cafeteria. It was mealtime, and the place was packed with people coming in for dinner.
Byeolbit Research Institute had never been one of those exploitative companies that kept you late enough to feed you dinner. It was a perfectly decent workplace, complete with flextime that encouraged people to come in at nine or ten and head home around six. Most office workers preferred to eat dinner at home, but Byeolbit was different.
Until Hana arrived, the employees of Byeolbit Research Institute had been no different from workers anywhere else. When six o'clock came, they poured out the doors as a matter of course. But once Hana came in, the cafeteria was overhauled in earnest. Delicious food started rolling out in waves, and the staff erupted in cheers. The meal tickets weren't even expensive — the price was nominal, little more than a formality.
"No way. You can eat food this good for four dollars?"
"Works out great. Cooking at home is a pain anyway, so I might as well eat here before I go. And the meal tickets aren't even that pricey."
"The menu changes every single day, and you can take as much as you want. I love it. I've eaten at cafeterias at plenty of companies, and this place is the best."
Even the managers and department heads at Byeolbit preferred the cafeteria to company dinners. And unlike a factory floor, the institute wasn't overflowing with people, so a single cafeteria in the building was more than enough to feed every employee who worked there. Of course, no matter how good the food was, there were still people who left without eating.
"Kids! If you run around and trip, you'll get hurt!"
Maru scolded them the moment she saw the children racing gleefully across the lobby, but they had no intention of listening. Beside the long line stood a small door — Hana's private entrance. The doorway sat low, as if to tell adults they weren't welcome. You could duck and squeeze through, of course, but if you were caught, there was no telling what humiliation awaited you.
"Let's go!"
"Yeah!"
Jiyu and Yumi followed Hana through the door, and the moment they stepped inside, an astonishing sight greeted them. A company cafeteria usually called to mind something drab and rigidly standardized, but this one was as lavish as a buffet, glittering with decorative displays.
"Whoa! It's huge!"
That was Jiyu's verdict. Just as she said, the place was as wide as a soccer field. Tables and chairs had been laid out so several hundred people could eat at once, and a delicious smell drifted up from within — the kind that set your mouth watering all on its own.
Dozens of cooks were hard at work. Most of them were middle-aged men who looked as if they'd been at it for years. There were younger people too, but they weren't cooking. They were stuck handling the side tasks.
"Hana, you're here? Are these your friends?"
The woman checking meal tickets at the cafeteria entrance spoke up the moment she spotted her, and Hana nodded.
"Yes!"
"Go on in, dear. There's some very tasty steak today."
"Whoa!"
Thrilled, Hana made straight for the trays. Jiyu and Yumi, finished taking in the view, trotted after her, and Hana picked one up. Most cafeteria trays had only three compartments for side dishes, but the ones at Byeolbit Research Institute had six, room enough to pile on all sorts of them.
"This is like a buffet!"
That was Jiyu's one-line review as she carried her tray around, loading it with food. Beside her, Yumi nodded as if she agreed.
"I bet this is way better than dinner at my house!"
If Yumi's mother had heard that, it would have broken her heart — but fortunately, there was no chance she ever would. The children bustled this way and that, gathered rice and side dishes, then clustered together in one spot and dug in.
"This is seriously good!"
"Right? Cafeterias like this can't be common!"
It was their first time experiencing anything of the sort, and Jiyu and Yumi couldn't hide their excitement. They'd given Hana strange looks when she said she lived in the building, but if it meant eating like this every day, living in a skyscraper didn't seem like such a bad choice. The rooms were spacious too, and the air-conditioning blasted. In some ways, it might have been far better than an ordinary house.
And once they'd finished eating, there was a whole separate space just for dessert. Dessert after dinner! There was no place more like heaven. The cafeteria at Byeolbit Research Institute really did seem like a wonderful place.
"Take care, Hana!"
"Have fun!"
They'd been huddled in Hana's room, watching TV and chattering cozily together, and before they knew it, it was time for the children to get ready to leave.
"Huh? I'm coming with you, though?"
Maru would be the one driving, but Hana felt a little uneasy sending the children off by themselves, so she decided to go along. They headed down to the parking garage and climbed into the car.
It was summer, so even past six in the evening the sun still hadn't set. They sped along roads that were still bright with daylight, and before long they arrived at Jiyu's house.
Jiyu, Hana, and Yumi carried boxes of strawberries, while Maru carried a watermelon, and together they headed for the door. Grateful as she was, Jiyu came out to meet them even after they'd told her to go on inside.
Only after stopping by Jiyu's house, and then Yumi's, could they finally turn back toward home. Looking at Hana, who seemed worn out, Maru spoke.
"Today was fun, wasn't it?"
When Maru said that, Hana smiled.
"Yeah!"
A party sprang up out of nowhere at Jiyu's house. The family tasted the strawberries and watermelon set out on the table, and they were so delicious that everyone started eating in earnest. None of them had ever had strawberries and watermelon this good.
"Jiyu, where did you get these?"
Jiyu's older sister asked, plainly curious. Of course, she herself was all but inhaling the strawberries and watermelon Jiyu had brought.
"From the garden my friend grows!"
"Oh, that girl Hana?"
"Yeah!"
Jiyu's family already knew about Hana. She'd come over to play once before.
Parents generally weren't fond of children who had no parents of their own. It was just one of those things. But Hana was different.
"Hana's really smart! She's number one in the whole school!"
At that, Jiyu's parents were astonished. Their own daughter wasn't much of a student, and yet she'd become friends with the top of the school!
"And she's rich, too! I heard ordinary working adults couldn't even hold a candle to her!"
What they didn't know was that the money Hana made was on the level of a major conglomerate chairman.
And so nobody gave Hana any trouble about spending time with Jiyu and Yumi. What parents disliked were friends who had neither money nor grades, and Hana fit neither description. If anything, they were eager to push their own children forward and make a friend of her. First in the whole school wasn't a title you earned easily — and Byeolbit Elementary was hardly a school full of poor students.