Black Label [EN]: Chapter 148

148. That Day

Waking up, Jaeseung stretched once before getting straight out of bed.

Ashlyn must have already started her day, as the already large king-size bed felt even larger.

He had barely stepped out of the bedroom into the living room when he saw Ashlyn sitting at the home bar in her underwear, eating.

“Lee, you’re awake?”

Jaeseung nodded at Ashlyn’s question and replied briefly, “Yeah.”

He couldn’t help but scan Ashlyn’s exposed skin.

Her flawless figure was attractive enough to evoke a sense of captivating allure.

He knew too well the sensation of touching her skin.

Her skin was as soft as a chick’s down and as warm as the midday sun.

Knowing intimately the effort she put into achieving that beauty, he found her even more attractive.

If it weren’t for the fact that he had to leave for work soon, he would have held her in his arms right away.

As Jaeseung, lost in thought, licked his parched lower lip, Ashlyn popped a cherry tomato into her mouth and asked softly.

“Breakfast? Should I get you something?”

“No, I’ll just grab something simple.”

“Want to eat with me?”

“No, it’s okay.”

Jaeseung replied with a slightly husky voice, glancing sideways at Ashlyn’s breakfast menu.

A few cherry tomatoes that looked fresh and a handful of lettuce seemed to be all she was having for breakfast.

Of course, lunch and dinner weren’t much different.

A few kinds of fruit and a piece of dry chicken breast were about it.

She said she supplemented the missing nutrients with shakes or vitamins.

And on top of that, she even did about four hours of weight training every day.

Watching Ashlyn’s lifestyle, he could understand why so many models suffered from anorexia.

“You’re really relentless.”

Jaeseung shook his head and said, and Ashlyn smiled faintly and replied.

“Once you try it, it’s not as hard as you think.”

“Really? I can’t relate….”

“It’s simple. Just do everything to the point where you don’t die.”

After speaking, Ashlyn added, “Exercise and diet,” and smiled again.

Exercise and diet, just enough to not die.

That’s how models prepare for the season.

Instead of spending all day at a desk in contemplation, they have to confront their primal desires.

He lightly kissed Ashlyn on the cheek, and the words she had said lingered in his ear as he walked towards the bathroom.

Yeah, just do everything to the point where you don’t die. Then reality changes.

It’s been that way until now, and it will continue to be so.

* * *

As soon as he left the penthouse after getting ready, he boarded the waiting limousine.

As soon as Jaeseung got into the car, Erica, dressed in a neat office look, greeted him with a bright tone.

“Lee, good morning.”

Jaeseung responded with a smile, and Erica immediately handed him the documents she was holding, adding.

“Would you like to review these?”

“What are these?”

“These are the articles that will be published starting at noon today.”

Jaeseung leaned back against the plush limousine seat and began to slowly scan the articles printed on the A4 paper he had just received.

The articles contained all the conflicts and discords that had occurred between the members of the Diom House [Likely a typo for Dior House, referring to the fashion house] and himself.

But, how should he put it? This was more like a novel than an article.

The exaggeration was so extreme that it was as if they had put dinosaur meat on fish bones, and they even made up facts and wrote them down.

Moreover, it was written as if the facts were revealed by an internal whistleblower, so it felt very vivid.

Jaeseung, who had been seriously reviewing the contents of the article, finally let out a burst of laughter.

Only now did he realize the meaning of Chairman Ardo’s words the previous evening at Diom’s ancestral home in Granville, that he would ‘increase the scale of the game.’

“It’s quite interesting. The reporters who wrote the articles, they don’t have to worry about making a living in the future.”

“Pardon?”

“If they ever reach a dead end, they could switch to being writers and be very successful.”

Jaeseung replied playfully and handed the stack of documents back to Erica.

This would be a very effective ‘noise marketing’ strategy.

There would be absolutely more people who wanted a young, genius designer to fall than to continue on a smooth path.

Some clever critics and editors might not rush in and would first look for clues, but really?

How many critics would be able to remain calm and act rationally in the face of such a delicious-looking subject?

Most of them would probably lash out without considering the consequences, and it would not be difficult to create a situation where everyone would anticipate the failure of the 2014 Christian Dior Haute Couture [High Fashion].

As Jaeseung nodded in satisfaction, Erica adjusted her glasses and spoke with a worried tone.

“I’m sure it will attract attention, but I’m not sure if it’s the right way to do it.”

“Well? It depends on how we do it, right?”

“As Lee is well aware, there will be a flood of aggressive columns as soon as the articles are published.”

Jaeseung replied once, “Yes, I know,” and added in a low voice.

“That will also be proof that I am receiving a lot of attention.”

Of course, he wasn’t a saint, so he couldn’t just humbly accept all the bad reviews, but what creators truly fear is ‘indifference,’ not bad reviews.

“Lee, if I may be so bold, I don’t think we can just look at the situation optimistically.”

Jaeseung began to stare intently at Erica.

Erica bit her lower lip once and immediately began to express her thoughts.

“As you know, there are only eight weeks left until the Haute Couture collection, right? Moreover, we have to completely overhaul it from the beginning.”

“That’s right.”

“If we can’t present Haute Couture that is beautiful enough to convince everyone, the negative public opinion that has already formed will not be easily reversed.”

That was definitely the right thing to say.

If he had even a little lack of confidence in himself, he would not have blindly accepted Chairman Ardo’s unconventional marketing.

“Erica.”

“Yes.”

“I like prejudice.”

“Prejudice?”

“There’s a unique thrill that you can only taste when you break prejudice.”

At those words, Erica stared blankly at Jaeseung.

She couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of alienation.

How should she put it? It felt like he had become a completely different person in just one day.

The aura he exuded was clearly different.

She could feel a different kind of composure in his words and even in his small actions.

“I won’t ask you to believe me.”

Jaeseung added again as Erica continued to stare at him without saying a word.

“I can do it.”

After a moment of heavy silence in the car, Erica smiled brightly and replied in her usual cheerful tone.

“Yes, I will assist you to make it even easier.”

“Thank you.”

Before long, the limousine smoothly stopped on Avenue Montaigne, where Diom House was located.

Jaeseung straightened his clothes and got out of the limousine, saying softly.

“It’s time to cut out the tumor.”

* * *

Numerous people were gathered in the design room.

It was because of the second emergency meeting called by Jaeseung. Unlike the meeting the day before, none of the board members of the brand attended.

Only the ‘working-level staff’ who were directly involved in the production were summoned separately.

As soon as Jaeseung entered the design room, the commotion that had been prevalent in the room completely subsided.

Jaeseung looked around at the people who were looking up at him with expectant eyes and opened his mouth in a gentle tone.

“I am truly sorry to everyone, but we will be discarding all but a few of the already produced Hanbok [Traditional Korean clothing]-themed Haute Couture products.”

As soon as Jaeseung’s words ended, sighs of disappointment began to leak out from various parts of the room.

It was a perfectly natural reaction. Too many people’s efforts are required for a single Haute Couture product to be born.

A proper Haute Couture product is created only when the sweat of the tailors is poured over the time of contemplation spent by the designers.

Because of Jaeseung’s one word, the efforts they had made so far were now in vain.

However, not a single person was openly expressing their dissatisfaction with Jaeseung.

They were just sighing with their faces covered with both hands, or muttering to themselves in a low voice so that no one could hear.

This was a prime example of how absolute the director’s words and decisions were within Diom House, who held the power of command.

“Since this is the result of my greed, I don’t think I have enough mouths to apologize. I will offer my apology for this matter not with words, but with the results of the Haute Couture collection.”

After speaking, Jaeseung bowed deeply once and immediately left the design room.

As he had said to them, the way to apologize must be a glorious result, not words.

To do so, he had to spend the given time solely contemplating beauty.

There was no time to delay, not even a minute, no, not even a second.

* * *

Around lunchtime, the promised articles began to appear one after another, and within minutes, the ripple effects began to occur in various places.

[Christian Dior and the promising young genius designer heading towards a scheduled failure.]

[Rookie designer, Lee’s downfall? Will this be recorded as a blemish on Christian Dior?]

[Discord heard from Christian Dior, the unprecedented crisis faced by Christian Dior, a premium brand with nearly a hundred years of history.]

As expected, all sorts of bad reviews began to pour out.

Like the saying that words travel a thousand miles, phone calls from Korea began to come in within minutes.

Starting with Director Song, as well as domestic fashion figures who were close friends, and even his parents and friend Young-guk, who were not industry insiders.

Rather, he soothed and appeased them before returning to work.

Unlike before, when he had fully delegated the schematic designs to the designers in the design team, he was planning to draw most of the schematics himself.

“Hoo-.”

He looked at the pencil in his hand.

It was a pencil with the logo ‘Wall Flower’ neatly engraved on the side.

The pencil, which was initially long, was gradually getting shorter over time.

Jaeseung smiled bitterly once, put down the Wall Flower pencil, and picked up an ordinary pencil.

The sound of the pencil lead touching the desk beyond the thin paper began to echo incessantly.

Scribble, scribble, time passes with the pleasant sound.

Quickly, faster and faster….

* * *

The temperature of the wind touching his skin becomes even hotter.

Days, two days, a week, time continued to flow aimlessly, and before he knew it, all of the remaining eight weeks had passed.

“President, shall we go?”

At Lee Kang-joon’s question as he opened the door to his private office, Jaeseung, dressed in a neat tailored suit, nodded and replied.

“Yes.”

The day of the long-awaited 2014 Dior Haute Couture collection had finally dawned.