Black Label [EN]: Chapter 276

Black Label Episode 27

Of course, I bought clothes for my mother and sister….

“Do you like it?”

My father looked down at the expensive watch on his wrist and replied in a low voice, seemingly displeased.

“Isn’t it too expensive?”

“But it looks cool, right?”

“Still, the price is….”

Jaesung then spoke to the employee.

“Could you give me one of each color of that model?”

“Currently, the stock is….”

“I would appreciate it if you could give me all the models in stock.”

Wallflower had also succeeded in establishing its position in the men’s watch sector, but he sent one of each of his company’s products as soon as they were released.

He was sequentially touring the stores of brands that could be considered competitors, buying up any products that seemed even slightly decent.

“Goodness….”

My father, who shook his head as if he couldn’t understand Jaesung’s actions at all, stared at the watch again for a moment.

“Excuse me….”

He called the employee….

“Yes, how may I help you?”

My father cleared his throat for no reason and then said.

“Where can I get the watch strap adjusted?”

“Pardon?”

“It’s all good, but the strap is a little loose.”

He must be satisfied.

* * *

After enjoying a shopping spree like that, the family headed to a fine dining restaurant, sat down at the reserved seats, and had various conversations.

Just trivial and insignificant stories that would surely be forgotten by tomorrow.

They laughed and chatted, had a good time, and spent time sharing delicious food and high-quality wine.

“But why doesn’t anyone ask?”

Seunghee suddenly asked.

“About what?”

When Jaesung asked back, his mother and father also stared at Seunghee’s face as if they were puzzled.

“I quit my job that I was doing well in overnight, but no one even asks why.”

At that, his father replied.

“There must have been a good reason.”

Silence flowed for a moment.

“Yes, that’s right.”

His mother suddenly explained the reason why she hadn’t asked why he had suddenly resigned, in place of his father.

“If you quit a job that you were doing diligently, there must be some reason. Also, if you don’t tell me the reason first, it seems like you don’t want to talk about it….”

His mother trailed off, paused for a moment, and then added.

“You must have made a good decision on your own.”

Silence fell at those words.

“Besides, it’s not like something big is going to happen just because you take a break from work, right?”

The allowance that Jaesung sent to Seunghee every month was clearly more than the average office worker’s salary.

And that’s not all.

He also sent a monthly allowance to his parents in the name of living expenses, and domestic real estate income was also steadily returning to his family.

In fact….

The family had enough financial leeway not to pry into the background or process of Seunghee’s resignation due to unavoidable reasons.

So….

Instead of wondering why Seunghee quit her job overnight, everyone just hoped she would be happy.

‘Money….’

Jaesung gently tapped the panna cotta served as the course dessert with the tip of his fork and continued to ponder.

The amount spent to have a good time with his family today alone amounted to hundreds of millions of won in Korean currency [approximately hundreds of thousands of US dollars].

It might be an amount that some people would never be able to touch even after working diligently for several years, but it felt quite different to Jaesung.

What would the tax accountant, who complained every year that he had to increase his spending this year to reduce taxes, have thought if he had seen this?

He would surely nag him, saying that this level of consumption was not even close and that he should work harder and spend more recklessly in useless places.

When did it start?

A long time ago.

He achieved financial freedom.

The feeling was….

Money can’t be everything.

But.

Most of the world revolves around money.

There are definitely happiness that money can’t buy, but there is also happiness that money can buy.

Also….

Money clearly had a good function of eliminating unnecessary noise and fundamentally blocking discord.

‘Okay.’

Of course, he had already earned so much money that it was no exaggeration to say that it was overflowing, so he didn’t attach much meaning to it or dwell on it.

But….

At least, he was in a position where he desperately hoped that he would never return to the life he had before achieving financial freedom.

“Shall we get up now?”

While he was picking at the ‘dessert,’ his younger sister Seunghee tilted her head as if she was wondering and asked.

“Are you going home with us?”

“Why home?”

“There’s a soccer game today.”

“Was there?”

“Yes, we should all watch it together.”

Jaesung shook his head.

“No, I’m going to go first.”

“Why?”

“There’s someone I’m going to meet.”

After saying that, Jaesung immediately got up from his seat and said.

“I’ve already paid, so continue your conversation and go home safely. I think I’ll be a little late getting in today.”

His mother tilted her head and asked in a low voice.

“Where are you going?”

The next moment.

“Dongdaemun [a major shopping district in Seoul].”

After saying that, Jaesung smiled.

* * *

President Song, who had spent another hectic day, couldn’t handle the fatigue that was rushing in like a tsunami, leaned back in his chair, and let out a soft groan.

“Oh, my aching body….”

This was because he had not only achieved successful results at the Paris Fashion Week, but also had to focus solely on work while taking short naps due to the issue with the LVMH Group [a French luxury fashion conglomerate].

“What the heck happened….”

President Song was also in a position to hear about the fact that Jaesung had received shares of ‘LVMH’ only a few days before the media announcement.

He just suddenly called and told him that it had happened, so it would be good to prepare for this and that.

Thanks to this, Wallflower’s brand value was once again elevated, and its future value was also highly valued thanks to LVMH’s technology.

He had benefited more than he had imagined, but he felt like his body was deteriorating as he tried to handle all the unexpectedly busy daily life.

“By the way, why haven’t I heard from him?”

He took out his cell phone and started skimming through his call history for no reason.

The fact that Jaesung had entered Korea a while ago had been widely reported in all the media.

Of course, President Song had been able to hear about Jaesung’s entry in advance….

“Is he very busy?”

He had been believing that he would contact him after resting for a few days, but for some reason, he hadn’t heard from him yet.

“Ugh-.”

He stretched once, got up from his seat, and grabbed his coat.

“I should sleep at home today….”

He was walking along the hallway leading from the president’s office to the elevator, patting his tingling shoulders with his fists, when….

Ding-.

A text message arrived.

“Huh?”

He immediately started checking the contents.

– Do you know the Chicken Noodle Soup place in the alley where the old Taeyang Corporation building used to be? How about seeing you there in an hour?

President Song, who checked the text message from Jaesung, snorted and shook his head.

“Seriously, he does whatever he wants….”

He immediately got on the elevator, pressed the button, and muttered to himself.

“Yeah, Chicken Noodle Soup is good.”

President Song, who had been thinking of drinking heavily and falling into a deep sleep since he was sleeping at home for the first time in a while, changed his plans.

* * *

“Why are you contacting me now when you came in so late?”

When President Song, who arrived at the store late, complained, Jaesung shrugged lightly and continued in a low voice.

“I was spending time with my family for the first time in a while, and a few days disappeared, you know?”

“Yeah, well….”

“Rather than that, eat it before it gets cold. You probably haven’t had dinner yet, have you?”

After saying that, Jaesung immediately put a few large pieces of chicken and several ladles of clear, transparent broth on his plate.

“What about you, President?”

When President Song asked back, Jaesung shook his head and replied.

“I had dinner with my family.”

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“I’ll just have some broth as a snack.”

Jaesung, who answered briefly, immediately twisted the soju [Korean distilled rice liquor] cap next to him and opened it gently.

“I’ll offer you a drink.”

“Hey, what do you mean offer….”

Before long, the two clinked glasses.

Clink-.

President Song, who frowned and took a big sip of the broth, asked back.

“No, so what’s going to happen now?”

“About what?”

“Are you really going to lead the ‘LVMH Group’?”

Jaesung nodded.

“Yes, as you can see.”

At those words, President Song shook his head once.

“Wow, who would have known that the kid who was desperately asking me to sell him a few sheets of Chanel ‘lambskin fabric’ would become the owner of the LVMH Group….”

Jaesung narrowed his brows.

“When did I desperately ask you?”

“You desperately asked, didn’t you?”

“I did because I had to buy it.”

President Song muttered again as if he couldn’t believe it.

“I really don’t know what I believed in and left a perfectly good fabric factory and followed the little CEO, but I think I did a really good job.”

He then asked back.

“It’s a miraculous thing, isn’t it?”

As he said, it was more than clear that it was a miraculous thing.

It was surprising enough that he had become a world-renowned designer.

Because he became the owner of a premium group with astronomical value.

“Yes, it’s a miraculous thing….”

Jaesung, who answered briefly, added.

“The atmosphere of the board of directors is not positive yet. It would be good to say that they are not happy with the sudden acquisition of management rights….”

“Well, it’s something you have to endure.”

“So, in the next season, I think I need to show something as a designer, but also as a businessman.”

After saying that, Jaesung brought up the main point.

“I have a project in mind.”

At those words, President Song looked at Jaesung as if he was wondering….

“Would you like to hear it?”

President Song nodded.

“I’m thinking of doing a collaboration.”

“Which brand and which brand?”

“We’re going to mix all the strengths.”

Silence flowed at those words for a moment.

“Wait, could it be?”

President Song was shocked.