Black Label [EN]: Chapter 13

Black Label 12

13. More and More Systematically

After leaving the house in England, the two moved with purpose.

Their focus was packaging the products ready to be sent to Wall Flower Reform Shop’s first customers.

After wrapping each item in OPP bags [Oriented Polypropylene bags, clear plastic bags often used for retail packaging] purchased from a stationery store, they completed the outer packaging with poly bags from a general merchandise store specializing in daily necessities.

As soon as Jae-seung finished packing, Yeong-guk exclaimed, “Oh!” and continued.

“It looks really professional after packaging! Just like clothes delivered from an online shopping mall, right?”

“Yeah. Well, these are packaging materials actually used by online shopping malls.”

Yeong-guk seemed quite surprised, but Jae-seung wasn’t entirely satisfied with the packaging.

‘First, I need to order and produce packaging materials with the Wall Flower Reform Shop logo printed on them.’

That meant OPP bags, poly bags, boxes for bulk orders, and even branded box tape.

It was clear that producing a small quantity of these supplies would be relatively inexpensive.

“Yeong-guk, you worked really hard today. Let’s send these parcels and grab some food.”

“Okay! Finally! Hey, how about chicken?”

“Sure. Let’s eat whatever you want.”

* * *

“I’m home.”

After finishing his meal with Yeong-guk, Jae-seung returned home and went straight to the dining table.

And then….

Clunk-!

He placed the packaged chicken box on the table.

“Wow, Oppa [term for older brother used by females in Korean], what’s this?”

The first to react was Jae-seung’s younger sister, Lee Seung-hee, who was watching TV in her pajamas.

“I bought chicken. You haven’t had dinner yet, have you?”

“What’s gotten into you? Are you finally acting like a decent human being?”

Soon, his mother, Kim Eun-hyeong, who was folding laundry nearby, frowned slightly and flicked Seung-hee on the forehead.

“Hey, watch how you talk to your brother.”

“Ouch! That hurts-!”

Jae-seung, watching with a smile, shook his head and said.

“It’s okay. Seung-hee’s being difficult isn’t exactly new.”

“Jae-seung. But why chicken all of a sudden?”

“I went to eat with Yeong-guk, but I felt bad eating alone, so I packed some to bring home.”

“Where did you get the money?”

“I’ll tell you later. Eat first.”

* * *

Before long, the three of them sat around the table.

As soon as Seung-hee unwrapped the packaging, she grabbed a steaming hot chicken leg.

“Oh my… look at this elegant figure.”

After an exaggerated display, she immediately brought the chicken to her mouth.

Soon. The moment she took a big bite of the plump chicken leg. ‘Crunch-!’ The sound of the crispy batter filled the air.

“Is it good?”

In response to Jae-seung’s question, Seung-hee nodded enthusiastically instead of answering.

Then, his mother, carefully placing pieces of chicken on a plate for his father, spoke cautiously.

“Jae-seung. But why chicken…?”

A question laced with worry. Jae-seung smiled brightly and began to explain everything.

Thanks to the allowance his mother gave him, he was able to purchase a sewing machine and materials, reform clothes, and resell them for a profit of 205,000 won.

As soon as Jae-seung finished speaking, his younger sister Seung-hee, after sucking on her greasy fingers, replied.

“Heol [Korean slang expressing disbelief or amazement], that’s totally awesome-! Is Oppa going to strike gold with an online shopping mall? There are tons of those stories these days. 20-something billionaire shopping mall CEOs!”

“That’s easier said than done. It’s not something just anyone can do, is it? Anyway, first of all, I want to go to university and study fashion properly.”

“Huh? Oppa, university? Why university all of a sudden?”

“Well? For now, I’m thinking about Parsons The New School for Design.”

Seung-hee frowned slightly and asked her mother, Kim Eun-hyeong, in a low voice.

“Mom. Is there even a university like that in Korea? I feel like I’ve never heard of it before? A vocational college, or maybe a vocational school…?”

Jae-seung shrugged and replied.

“No. It’s a school in Manhattan, New York, USA.”

“What? America? New York? Manhattan?”

Seung-hee repeated with a disbelieving laugh, and then burst into full-blown laughter.

“Puhahahahaha! Oppa! Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself? With Oppa’s grades, I don’t think you’ll even get into a local university, let alone New York! That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all year! Seriously awesome-!”

As Seung-hee clapped her hands and laughed, her mother, Kim Eun-hyeong, raised her voice.

“Lee Seung-hee! What are you doing now?”

“What? Mom, isn’t it funny?”

“No. It’s not funny at all. What’s so funny?”

Then she immediately looked at Jae-seung and said.

“Son.”

“Yes?”

“You can do it. You know that, right?”

“Of course.”

Jae-seung, replying with a faint smile, glanced at the clock on the wall and then spoke again.

“Mother. I have something to do, so I’ll head to my room. Seung-hee, enjoy the chicken. I’ll buy it again next time.”

“Oh? Oh. Thank you….”

As Jae-seung got up and walked towards his room, Seung-hee put down her chicken and spoke in a hushed tone.

“Mom….”

“Yes?”

Seung-hee peeked out, making sure Jae-seung’s door was closed before continuing.

“No, it’s just strange. He suddenly started studying, and he didn’t even get angry when I teased him so much… How can he become a completely different person in just a few days…?”

Kim Eun-hyeong looked at her son’s closed door and replied in a rather indifferent tone.

“It seems like your brother has finally come to his senses.”

Kim Eun-hyeong was also finding it hard to adjust to her son’s sudden transformation.

As her youngest daughter, Seung-hee, said, her son was showing a reformed appearance, as if he had become a different person in a matter of days.

‘…Our Jae-seung.’

As her son changed, many things changed as well.

Her youngest daughter told her about her son’s positive changes every day, and her husband occasionally asked about him.

If the house before her son’s change was winter, now it felt like early spring.

Before long, a deep smile appeared on Kim Eun-hyeong’s lips.

She was convinced that the positive change in her son was not just a temporary phase.

* * *

After leaving his family and returning to his room, Jae-seung immediately sat down at his computer.

He needed to address some issues that had surfaced after the first sale.

‘The packaging material problem can be solved soon, but I need a way to build customer confidence….’

Due to the nature of the blog market, it’s difficult to establish the same level of credibility as a standard online shopping mall.

General online shopping malls feel like established ‘companies,’ while blog markets often feel like ‘individuals’ running a side business.

Jae-seung opened his notebook and picked up a pen.

“Trust, trust, trust….”

After muttering for a while, Jae-seung exclaimed “Ah!” and started writing.

Swish swish-!

– Business registration.

This was the first solution that came to Jae-seung’s mind.

It was something he needed to do to formally use the trade name ‘Wall Flower,’ but it would also lend credibility to blog visitors.

‘I have to go tomorrow.’

After taking a picture of the business registration certificate, he could post it on the blog with sensitive information blurred out. This would help reduce the perception of the blog being run by just an ‘individual’.

Also, using a business account under the name ‘Wall Flower’ instead of a personal account with the name ‘Lee Jae-seung’ would make it much easier to build trust.

“Okay….”

As he’d planned, it was something he had to do soon anyway. Selling reformed clothes was only a temporary measure.

After securing more capital, he planned to introduce his own products.

‘Then business registration and mail-order sales reporting are essential.’

Selling reformed clothes was simpler, but it limited the items he could sell.

For stable sales, he could only handle free-size or standard-size clothing.

If he continued selling reformed clothing for too long, there would inevitably be a limit to the number of blog visitors.

From the beginning, reforming was just the first step.

‘Self-production has a much larger profit margin, so there’s no reason to delay it. It’s not like I lack confidence in selling my own designs.’

Devising a plan like business registration helped to some extent, but he still felt like something was missing.

“Ah, that’s right.”

Jae-seung, staring at the monitor, suddenly snapped his fingers and picked up the pen again.

Swish swish-!

– Establishment of a customer review board

This was the second solution that Jae-seung came up with. Although it might not have a big impact immediately, it would become a means of building credibility as review articles accumulated through repeated sales.

‘I should also think about what benefits to give to customers who write reviews.’

After that, he racked his brain for a long time, but he couldn’t come up with any ideas other than purchasing a domain and creating a separate site.

Since that was a plan he couldn’t realize right now, he decided to write it down first.

‘Let’s think slowly about how to build trust.’

Jae-seung quickly wrote down a few more ideas.

– Start writing fashion-related articles to attract more people to the blog.

– Order and manufacture packaging materials with the Wall Flower logo.

– Host events frequently to replace the mileage/rewards programs of general online shopping malls.

As he began to feel like he was getting a handle on the situation, he felt a sense of relief.

‘…I’m going to be really busy for a while?’

First of all, he had to register his business and report mail-order sales tomorrow. He also needed to place an order with a packaging material manufacturer.

Since there weren’t many companies that produced small quantities, he would probably have to sell quite a bit.

Then, he had to purchase additional no-brand clothing and materials for reforming.

To secure stable capital and start selling self-produced clothing, he would have to spend at least 2 to 3 weeks producing and selling reformed clothing.

He wished that was all….

Of course, not only tasks related to ‘Wall Flower’ but also various other responsibilities were piling up.

Attending school was a given, and he had to focus on the studies he had neglected in pursuit of university.

Moreover, he was considering attending an overseas design school.

Most overseas design schools required a minimum TOEFL score of 550. He had to make time to prepare for the TOEFL exam [Test of English as a Foreign Language].

“Whoa-!”

Jae-seung, taking a long breath, smiled briefly. Imagining the busy daily life vividly drawn in front of him, his heart seemed to be pounding already.