I’m sitting in the office, looking at the tourist spots shown in the PPT.
If I could have my way, I wanted to buy every decent tourist spot in the PPT.
But I couldn’t.
I didn’t have enough money to buy all those places,
and I also wondered, Would I even need all of them?
Above all, I was only disguising myself so I could make deliveries,
so I was worried I might be blowing things way out of proportion.
So, just two places.
I decided to buy only Emerald Canyon and Lumina Lake.
And not all of them, either. Just parts.
I thought that alone would be enough to create a travel course.
I’d been there myself, and these places were incredibly beautiful.
So beautiful I couldn’t understand how they weren’t already known.
I had faith that even if I only bought part of them, I at least wouldn’t take a loss.
Not now, but someday, they would definitely become famous.
And once they became famous, money would come in even if I just sat still.
I kept looking at the map with Sandro and Patrick, discussing which areas would be best to buy.
For things like this, I figured locals who were born and raised here would know better than me.
We tried to find the optimal locations we could purchase within our set budget.
I had a little over one million dollars.
I’d spent some money last time, but what I’d received as a delivery fee had helped a lot.
Of that, I planned to use three hundred thousand dollars.
At most, five hundred thousand dollars to buy land.
It would be nice to spend more, but there were still many places where money would be needed afterward.
After several days of discussion, we finally decided on the land we would buy.
Now it was my turn to step forward with confidence.
I’d go, negotiate wonderfully, and buy the land.
“Boss, why don’t you wait here?”
“Why? I should go. I’m still the CEO, you know. General Manager.”
Sandro, who had become general manager, said he would go himself.
“For this kind of thing, foreigners shouldn’t get involved. The moment they see you, the land price will go up for no reason.”
“I’m Filipino, you know. Want me to show you my passport? My Filipino passport? It says Alex right here.”
“You really think some old geezer living in the mountains is going to believe that passport? Forget it and wait here.”
“I want to go too.”
“If we go, we can buy it cheap. Don’t worry. I’ll be back. Let’s go, Patrick.”
With Patrick at his side, Sandro set off, taking his underlings with him.
Five SUVs and pickup trucks moved in a row, forming a convoy.
He still hasn’t shaken off his habits from his Bahala Na days.
.
.
.
Sandro returned before sunset, carrying the contracts.
“Here are the contracts.”
But the numbers were a little strange.
“What is this? Why are the numbers like this? I still can’t get used to pesos.”
Twenty pesos, a hundred pesos, that much was no problem, but once the numbers got big, I couldn’t calculate them.
There were two contracts.
One had 5 million pesos written on it, and the other had 10 million pesos.
“I bought Lumina Lake for 5 million pesos, and Emerald Canyon for 10 million pesos.”
Not bad.
He had bought them for exactly three hundred thousand dollars.
He had stayed within the budget.
I liked it.
I should praise Sandro.
“Sandro, good job. Thanks to you, we solved a big problem. Thank you.”
“Huh? That’s it?”
“What do you mean, that’s it? What are you talking about?”
“I brought back an amazing contract like this, and that’s all?”
An amazing contract?
Only then did I look at the contracts again.
The numbers were what I had seen.
But the size of the land under contract was different.
“H-hu... huh... huck...”
Seeing me shocked, Sandro looked pleased.
“How is it? Amazing, right?”
“Wow, Sandro. How did you make a deal like this?”
Sandro hadn’t bought just the parts of the land we’d planned to buy. He had bought all of it.
We had been thinking of buying about half,
and we had been worrying ourselves sick over whether the landowners would sell it that way or not.
But Sandro had bought the whole thing.
The land had become twice as large as our plan.
Good. This is too good.
“The landowners knew my face. I’m the boss of Bahala Na, you know. They gave me a discount on their own.”
“Really?”
“You don’t believe me? Ask Patrick.”
I turned my gaze to Patrick.
Patrick couldn’t bring himself to lift his head.
It seemed like many different things had happened at the scene, but I decided to just pretend I didn’t know.
This was simply because my general manager was far too capable.
It was enough that I had obtained an incredibly amazing contract.
“Patrick, pay Sandro a special performance bonus.”
.
.
.
We prepared for the tour.
There were many things to do in order to prepare.
We had to plan an itinerary and prepare what was needed according to that itinerary.
Some things had to be bought, and some things had to be made.
There were also things we had to get permits for.
It was no ordinary task.
So we decided to choose and focus.
As a result, we excluded the marine tour.
This was a bit of a big blow.
Because many of the people who come to Bohol choose Bohol because they want to see the sea.
They come because they want to see whales, see turtles, and do things like snorkeling or freediving.
But we gave that up.
If we absolutely insisted on doing a marine tour, we could force it somehow,
but right now, I thought it was time to develop the tourist spots we had created.
We decided to go all in on the tourist spots we would make.
So we boldly gave up on the marine tour.
Once we gave up on the marine tour, only the land tour remained.
The land tour route is the same for every travel agency.
In the morning, the butterfly garden and lunch at the Loboc River restaurant,
then the mahogany forest tour, the tarsier monkeys, and the Chocolate Hills.
Sometimes there are travel agencies that come in a slightly different order,
but they don’t deviate from this.
That’s why several travel agencies often combine into one group and move together.
That way, they can at least cover the guide fee.
But our Candy Tour is different.
After that, we added Emerald Canyon and Lumina Lake to the itinerary.
It’s an overnight course.
We focused on that itinerary.
At Emerald Canyon and Lumina Lake, we planned to create unforgettable memories for people.
First, Emerald Canyon had a canyon, and a river flowed through it.
We made it so people could experience it, not just look at it.
By riding boats through the canyon, they could feel the scenery with their eyes, hands, and noses.
If they wanted, we also prepared a spot in the middle where they could swim.
It sounds easy, but we had to place dozens of boats in the canyon.
Not only that, we had to prepare life jackets, helmets, and lifelines,
and we had to separately build docks where people could get on and off.
We also had to prepare places where people who got wet could change clothes or wash.
Lumina Lake was the same.
Lumina Lake is a lake halfway up a mountain, and strangely, once night falls, the lake glows.
They say some kind of plankton emits light on its own, but I don’t know the details.
But the sight is truly fantastical.
It feels like you’ve stepped into a fantasy world.
We planned to pitch tents there and have people sleep.
Then, of course, we had to prepare it so people could camp.
Naturally, we had to provide tents and the things needed inside tents,
and we also had to make restrooms, shower rooms, and drinking water stations.
We also had to equip it with fire safety facilities and emergency medicines.
There were many things to prepare.
But.
Sandro.
Were you always this kind of character?
When Patrick made the plans, Sandro carried them out well.
He knew a lot of people and was skilled at managing them.
He handled things briskly.
Thanks to that, the tour preparations were completed in a short amount of time.
*******
Shin Seungheon is at Incheon Airport.
Today is the day he leaves for Bohol with his friends.
He did come, but he hadn’t prepared for the trip at all.
Because the trip had been arranged in an instant, like roasting beans in a flash of lightning.
In fact, he still had doubts about whether they were really going on a trip.
“What? Bohol?”
“A special deal came up. It’s not even 200,000 won round trip.”
“Bohol out of nowhere? Where is that?”
“You don’t know Bohol? The Philippines. If you go, there are beaches, the sea, and turtles.”
“Bohol wasn’t on our list. Is it okay to just go like this?”
“Southeast Asia is all more or less the same. Isn’t it enough to go somewhere cheap?”
“Is that really cheap? Isn’t 200,000 a price that pops up often?”
“Hey, fuck. If you’re going to be like that, you look it up. Why do you keep nitpicking every time someone says something?”
“I’m not nitpicking. You said it was a special deal, so I’m just saying I feel like I’ve seen that price even normally.”
“Then tell us some prices you see often normally. Fuck, you don’t do shit, but you run your mouth and bitch like crazy.”
“Namseon, that’s not what I meant...”
“Forget it. Fuck, let’s just not go on the trip. We’re going on a trip to have fun, but if you’re going to pick apart every little thing like that, let’s go separately. I think that’d be better. We’re going to clash even after we get there anyway.”
Park Namseon, who had suggested going on a trip, didn’t like Hong Gyeonggu, who nitpicked at every little thing and kept objecting.
Park Namseon, who had proposed the trip, had tried to make it happen somehow, but the response had been lukewarm.
The destination had already changed several times.
It had been Bangkok, then Kota Kinabalu, then Chiang Mai, then Da Nang.
Every time he asked, How about here?
“Isn’t that place too expensive?”
“I heard that place isn’t that great.”
“Wouldn’t three nights and four days be too tight?”
“Isn’t there nothing to see?”
“The flight time is too long. Long flights are uncomfortable.”
“I heard prices there are more expensive than you’d think.”
“The public security there is...”
Park Namseon grew angry at Hong Gyeonggu, who only listed flaws without offering any alternatives.
Even so, because he was the one who had suggested going on a trip, he was still trying to make it happen somehow.
Then he saw the special-price plane tickets.
He brought it up to his friends, but as expected, Hong Gyeonggu’s reaction wasn’t good.
He asked if it was really a special price.
Shin Seungheon said nothing.
It was a trip they were all taking together, but it felt like he was the only one working hard, so he wanted to stop.
It’s not like they’ll reduce my share of the cost just because I’m doing all this shit.
So he just said they shouldn’t go.
Because it didn’t seem like it would be fun even if they did.
“Forget it. Let’s just drop this trip.”
Park Namseon brought it up.
Only then did Hong Gyeonggu answer.
“No, I’m sorry. Let’s go. To Bohol.”
Hong Gyeonggu changed his stance.
The problem was that those special-price tickets departed the day after tomorrow.
They were tickets that left after work on Friday and arrived at dawn on Tuesday.
.
.
.
Shin Seungheon, who belatedly checked the conversation between Park Namseon and Hong Gyeonggu, was equally flustered.
He had gone to a meeting and come back to find things in this state.
Bohol was fine, Cebu was fine, and Boracay was fine,
but leaving the day after tomorrow was not.
Shin Seungheon wanted to prepare for a trip with at least a month of leeway.
Before going on a trip, he wanted to get his body in shape,
watch several YouTube videos and gather some information,
look up good restaurants and cafés,
and make a relaxed itinerary.
But they were leaving the day after tomorrow.
On top of that, they were leaving right after work on Friday.
That meant he had to bring his suitcase with him on the way to work Friday morning.
If he could have his way, he wanted to say, “No,”
but looking at the conversation between Park Namseon and Hong Gyeonggu, the moment he said anything about the schedule, this trip would fall apart.
Maybe their shallow friendship would fall apart too.
So he had no choice but to pack his suitcase.
.
.
.
Shin Seungheon was waiting at the airport when Park Namseon and Hong Gyeonggu arrived.
Shin Seungheon spoke first.
“By the way, we haven’t reserved anything. Will that be okay? Should we book accommodations even now?”
“First, since we’re arriving late at night, let’s just reserve a place to sleep tonight. We can’t sleep on the street.”
“And after that?”
“We’ll think about that after that. It’s Bohol. You think there won’t be a single place for us to sleep?”
“What about tours?”
“We’ll book them after we get there.”
“Can you speak English? Will you be able to negotiate there?”
“Don’t worry. Those guys speak Korean better than we do.”
And so they arrived at Bohol-Panglao International Airport.
After taking a taxi for about ten minutes, they arrived at Alona Beach.
The exotic scenery and smells made their hearts flutter.
The unfamiliar heat lifted their spirits.
As if they had never fought, they smiled at one another.
This is the taste of overseas travel.
.
.
“What the fuck did you say? Say that again.”
“No, did I say something I shouldn’t have? I said since it’s the first day, let’s rest a little. We don’t have a schedule anyway. I was working until yesterday. I came straight here after work. What’s the problem with me saying I’ll sleep a little more?”
“You think I came here after lazing around at home? You think I didn’t work? Why are you acting like you’re the only one who worked? We all came after getting off work. But if we came on a trip, shouldn’t we do something? If you’re going to sleep, why didn’t you sleep at home? Why come all the way here just to sleep?”
“You done talking? If we had plans, I’d get moving. But we don’t have any plans right now. I’m tired and said I’d lie down a little longer, so why do you keep telling me to get up?”
“We have to go out and find out, don’t we? What we’re doing today.”
“That’s why I fucking said we should’ve looked it up in Korea before coming. Made an itinerary, compared prices, then come. Who told us to come in such a rush?”
“Because of you, fuck. Because of you. Because you kept acting all prickly, no matter what place I brought up, no matter what lodging I mentioned, you kept being a prick. Fuck, of course nothing you did was wrong. You’re always right, and I’m the only one who fucked up.”
Namseon, rushing from early morning.
Gyeonggu, wanting to laze around forever.
They bickered back and forth, and before they knew it, curses were flying.
And between them was Seungheon, not knowing what to do.
“Why are you like this first thing in the morning on a trip? Calm down. It’s 8 now. Let’s rest just a little and go out at 9. We can go out and look into tours.”
The two of them acted as if they hadn’t heard Sin Seungheon at all and just lay in bed, playing on their phones.
But Sin Seungheon knew.
When 9 o’clock came, those two would be ready to go out.
.
.
.
“We have tour. See turtle.”
“Balicasag available. Tour. I do for 150,000 won.”
“Hopping tour. We take Korean money.”
“See whale. Balicasag. Turtle. Okay?”
When they walked toward Alona Beach, touts were no joke, calling out from every direction.
They were obviously Filipino at a glance, yet their Korean was better than theirs.
But the three of them didn’t respond at all,
and simply walked on in silence, looking straight ahead.
Even though they didn’t have a destination.
Then their eyes stopped on one shop.
This shop had an interior completely different from the others.
The other shops had photos of the sea,
photos of people freediving underwater plastered all over the place,
and were aggressively touting for customers,
but this place had a wood-tone design that didn’t suit Southeast Asia,
with luxurious sofas arranged inside.
At a glance, it looked almost like a hotel lobby.
The sign read [CANDY TOUR].
As the three of them stood there blankly looking at the shop,
a tall man spoke to them.
“Three people?”
“Yes.”
It was Korean.
A 100% Korean accent.
“Are you looking into tours?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of tour do you want to do?”
“We don’t know. We just kind of came here without a plan.”
When Namseon said that, the other two glared at him.
As if asking whether he wasn’t giving too much information to some man they didn’t even know.
In negotiations like this, laying all your cards on the table was something only total amateurs did.
They believed they had to thoroughly hide their situation in order to get better conditions.
Especially from Koreans.
“Hahaha. Don’t worry. I won’t rip you off. It’s not like I’m making money off this anyway. To explain simply, tours here are broadly divided into two types. Sea tours and land tours, like that. Sea tours are things like seeing whales and turtles, and land tours are seeing tarsiers and the Chocolate Hills. Usually, when people come for the first time, they start with the sea tour.”
“How much do they usually cost?”
“We don’t do sea tours, so it’s a little hard for me to tell you the price.”
“What about the tours you do here?”
“Our route is completely different from other places. We have an exclusive route that only our Candy Tour does. On top of that, there’s a ridiculously romantic camping experience too. Including the cost of staying overnight, the event price is 200,000 won per person.”
They were slightly startled by the higher-than-expected price.
The plane ticket had cost 200,000 won, and now the tour cost 200,000 won.
But at the mention of an overnight stay, they recalculated.
They still hadn’t found accommodation.
If they did the tour today, they could look for lodging tomorrow.
That meant they would save one night’s accommodation fee.
At that rate, doing the tour didn’t seem so bad.
“Where are you staying?”
The man who had been touting asked.
“We have to find a place again.”
“You came without making a reservation?”
“Yes.”
“Then do our tour today. And tomorrow morning, I’ll introduce you to a Balicasag tour. I’ll introduce you to lodging too, and if there’s somewhere you want to stay, tell me. I’ll negotiate it as cheaply as possible.”
“Really?”
“Yes. If anything happens, contact me.”
The man handed them a business card.
On the card was written Alex.
.
.
.
“Is this really some different kind of tour?”
“I told you, we got ripped off.”
“They say when you go overseas, you have to be most careful of Koreans. Isn’t this too much between people from the same country?”
“Fuck, what if the lodging was a lie too? Are we going to have to sleep outside tonight?”
“Is sleeping outside the problem? What if they harvest our organs?”
The tour had started right after they paid.
But it was no different from the people who had paid half the price to come.
People gathered by dozens of companies were divided among buses and moved around,
seeing the same places, eating the same things, and taking photos in the same spots.
“No matter how I think about it, I’m too anxious. I searched it up, and it’s twice as expensive as other places.”
“Fuck, stop making me nervous. The tour isn’t over yet. Let’s just wait a little.”
While the three of them wavered between anxiety and sightseeing, they arrived at the last stop on the schedule, the Chocolate Hills.
The sight of around a thousand hills shaped like Kisses chocolates spread out before them was spectacular.
After taking photos there, the schedule came to an end.
The three of them were filled with disappointment.
They had been deceived.
They had signed up for the tour because they were told it was special,
and they had paid twice as much to do it,
but it was no different from anyone else’s.
As they trudged back toward the parking lot where the cars were parked,
there stood a brand-new car, the likes of which they hadn’t seen anywhere in Bohol.
“What’s with that car?”
“Looks like an Arab prince showed up. Heh.”
“You can laugh right now?”
“Fuck, this is what traveling is. Is crying going to change the situation?”
The people leaving after finishing their tours also seemed curious about the luxurious car they were seeing for the first time, and began gathering nearby to look at it.
Filipinos and tourists alike glanced at it as they passed.
“But isn’t that the guy we saw this morning?”
“Huh, I think it is.”
Now that they looked, CANDY TOUR was written on the car.
Beside the car, Alex came out holding a megaphone.
“Those who reserved with Candy Tour, please board over here.”
“Those who signed up for Candy Tour, this way…”
“What? Are we riding that car?”
“Looks like it.”
The three of them headed toward the van.
Alex welcomed them with a broad smile.
They climbed into the van, so luxurious they felt unworthy even to place their feet inside.
Only now did it feel like they were finally being treated properly.
Their shoulders rose all the way to the sky.