Black Label [EN]: Chapter 146

Black Label 145

146. All Stop

Several hours had passed since Jae-seung finished his conversation with Albert, the CEO of Diom.

Almost immediately after the conversation, Jae-seung secluded himself in his private office inside Diom House.

He needed to calm his mind and organize his thoughts.

His assistant designer, Lee Kang-jun, and several other designers from the team came to his office, but he sent them away, saying, “I’ll review everything at once tomorrow morning.”

Toc. Toc. Toc.

The tip of the fountain pen in his hand tapped lightly on the desk, the rhythmic sound echoing.

The solution to the unexpected crisis remained elusive.

It felt like something he couldn’t handle alone.

If it were like the seasonal products of other brands, which are cut by machines, including sewing machines, it would be a different story, but hand sewing was definitely beyond his capabilities.

Moreover, time was also a factor. He still had a mountain of work to do, didn’t he?

He hadn’t even finished all the diagrams for the haute couture to be exhibited this time, and the preparations for the show hadn’t even begun.

He was already short on time just focusing on his assigned work.

Turning his attention elsewhere was practically impossible.

“…Damn it.”

Jae-seung muttered and dropped the fountain pen onto the desk.

The fountain pen rolled and barely stopped at the edge of the desk.

The longer he pondered, the deeper his thoughts became. The night deepened along with them.

The darkness outside the window proved it.

Jae-seung took a long breath and shifted his gaze to a painting on one wall of his office.

It was a portrait of Christian Diom painted in the style of an oil painting.

“What should I do?”

As expected, no answer came.

Silence filled the spacious office.

Jae-seung shook his head a few times and began to gather his belongings.

He wanted to spend at least tonight on the plush, luxury bed in his penthouse, rather than the hard mattress in the Diom House dormitory.

After packing everything neatly into his crossbody bag, he was about to get up when—

“Hmm?”

A worn book on one side of the desk caught Jae-seung’s eye.

It was the first edition of Christian Diom’s autobiography, a gift from Albert a few days ago.

He had thought several times, ‘I should definitely make time to read it,’ but hadn’t even opened the book, using his busy schedule as an excuse.

Jae-seung put the crossbody bag back on the desk and picked up the book as if compelled.

Holding the old pages carefully, he glanced at the clock.

He decided to read for only an hour or two and then return to the penthouse, and opened the first page of the autobiography.

– I, Diom, was born in a spacious mansion with a horizon visible in every direction and a large garden.

The moment he read the first sentence, he felt a shiver run down his spine.

The words, printed neatly, felt like a ‘letter’ Diom had written to him.

Soon, Jae-seung’s eyes moved diligently, following the words on the page. He also felt a glimmer of hope.

Perhaps a solution was hidden in this old book.

* * *

Toc. Toc.

With every step Erica took, the sharp sound of her high heels echoed through the Diom House hallway.

She was asking around, tracking down ‘Lee’s’ whereabouts.

According to the design team, he had been holed up in his office all day yesterday and hadn’t met anyone, and today he hadn’t shown up even though it was well past his start time.

‘What on earth is going on…?’

Although they hadn’t spent much time together, she was sure that the young designer ‘Lee’ wasn’t the type to act impulsively based on his mood.

So naturally, she worried. She had all sorts of thoughts.

Could he have collapsed from overwork in a deserted place, or could he be so sick that he couldn’t even leave a message….

Toc.

She stopped in front of a brown door at the end of the hallway.

It was the door to the office Lee was using to prepare for haute couture this season.

Since he had been holed up in this office all day yesterday, she stopped by one last time before heading to the penthouse.

She turned the doorknob, but only heard ‘click, click’ sounds; it didn’t open.

The door was locked from the inside. Erica took out the ‘Master Key’ of Diom House from her inside pocket.

She inserted the key and turned it lightly to the right.

Click.

With a dull sound, the lock released, and the door slowly opened.

As the entire office came into view, Erica narrowed her brows and sighed, “Huh….”

Jae-seung was sound asleep, leaning back in his chair with his feet on the desk. She folded her arms and stared at him.

“Lee?”

Jae-seung twitched his eyebrows, then opened his eyes with difficulty and asked.

“…Erica?”

Erica nodded and took a step closer, asking softly.

“Were you sleeping here?”

Jae-seung shook his head to collect himself, then answered in a hoarse voice.

“Yes, somehow….”

Jae-seung trailed off and glanced at the old book on the desk.

He had ended up napping in the chair because of the book he had opened last night.

He was only able to close the autobiography after reading it to the end, and only then did he realize how exhausted he was.

Although the writing wasn’t outstanding, and it wasn’t filled with only exciting content,

the calm writing style was attractive, and his thoughts and ideas felt smooth.

It had a series of ‘resonances’ that moved the reader’s heart.

After closing the book, he felt sorry that he was from another era, and that he was no longer in this world.

Anyway, thanks to his autobiography, he had a clue on how to solve this problem.

Jae-seung lightly swept his messy hair up and asked softly.

“Erica, I’m sorry if I worried you. By the way, what’s going on?”

Erica muttered, “Wait a moment…,” tilted her head, and asked.

“Do you know what time it is?”

“I don’t know?”

Jae-seung answered briefly, shrugged, and added.

“I have a feeling I overslept.”

Erica nodded, glanced at her wristwatch, and replied.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s almost lunchtime in 5 minutes.”

In other words, it was almost 11:55 a.m.

The lunch hour at Diom House was from noon to 1:30 p.m.

Jae-seung smiled and joked.

“I knew my ominous premonitions wouldn’t be wrong? I need to take a shower first.”

Erica sighed and asked in a low voice.

“Do you have any clothes to wear today?”

“Of course not.”

When Jae-seung answered as if it were obvious, Erica put one hand on her forehead and continued.

“Take a shower first. I’ll have something ready in the dressing room for you to wear as soon as you come out.”

“Erica, I’m sorry, but I have a favor to ask.”

After speaking, Jae-seung began to walk towards the office door, whistling.

Erica stared intently at Jae-seung’s back.

Several question marks seemed to float above her head.

She didn’t think Jae-seung had overslept for no reason.

But she couldn’t find any traces of excessive drinking, and he didn’t seem like someone who had been heavily intoxicated with ‘*Weed*’ [a slang term for marijuana] all night long.

All she could do was speculate, ‘Could there be some kind of conflict within Diom House?’

Her mind was complicated.

At that moment, Jae-seung stopped walking and asked softly.

“Could you have a car ready for me?”

“Yes?”

“Not right now, but I have a place to go in the afternoon.”

“Understood.”

“Oh, and.”

“Yes.”

“Could you call an emergency meeting?”

* * *

Inside the design room, countless people were sitting in a circle.

The designers from the design team, the tailors from the atelier, Jae-seung’s assistant designer Lee Kang-jun, and even his executive secretary Erica….

The reason they were all gathered was simple.

Jae-seung suddenly summoned them all under the pretext of an ’emergency meeting.’

“Hmm….”

Jae-seung cleared his throat and glanced at the clock.

He couldn’t start the meeting yet because not everyone had arrived.

At that moment, the door opened wide, and executives of the brand’s board of directors, including Albert, appeared.

Before greeting them, Jae-seung examined their expressions.

Most of them had dark expressions.

He guessed they were unhappy about having to put aside their scheduled appointments because of the meeting he had called.

Jae-seung nodded in satisfaction, stood up, and said.

“It seems like everyone is here now.”

At Jae-seung’s words, Albert asked with a serious expression.

“Lee, what important matter is it that….”

Jae-seung raised his palm as if to stop him, and slowly continued in a relaxed tone.

“Since everyone is busy, I’ll get straight to the point without an introduction. In fact, it would be better to call it a ‘major announcement’ rather than an ’emergency meeting.'”

After speaking, Jae-seung looked around at everyone and carefully added.

“As of this moment, I will ‘all stop’ all work related to this haute couture.”