Black Label [EN]: Chapter 165

165. Preparing for Debut (2)

Nam Gwang-min’s idea was receiving rave reviews from just about everyone.

Not only the marketing department staff at Wall Flower, but even the investors were praising the idea.

“There’s one problem.”

“What is it?”

Jae-seung frowned and asked, and Director Song nodded in response.

“I’ve drawn up a more detailed plan, and it seems we’ll have to spend more than initially expected.”

Jae-seung started to ask, “How much…” before shaking his head and correcting himself.

“No, I think I should hear the reason first.”

Director Song licked his lower lip, cleared his throat a few times unnecessarily, and began to explain why they had to allocate a larger budget.

The reason was that the zero-gravity flight package had a time limit of about two hours, and within that time, the actual time the aircraft would be in zero-gravity was only half of the flight time, one hour.

“I’ve spoken with experts, and the consensus is that even if we shoot as tightly as possible, we won’t be able to finish within two hours. If there are any delays on set, we might end up spending even more…”

Just as Director Song was about to continue, Jae-seung cut him off by raising his palm as if to stop him.

“So, how much should I expect it to be?”

“At least double.”

When they first discussed the plan, the roughly estimated budget was around 500 million Korean won [approximately $375,000 USD].

The guarantee for the lookbook model and photographer, the staff’s pay, airline tickets and other incidental expenses, and the rental cost of the unfamiliar and special zero-gravity space…

It was a rough calculation of all the expenses that could occur during the lookbook shoot.

Doubling it would be about 1 billion Korean won [approximately $750,000 USD]. It was clear that this was a considerable amount for a premium brand just taking its first steps to spend solely on a lookbook shoot.

Silence filled the president’s office for a moment. Jae-seung nodded a few times and said in a rather cheerful tone.

“It can’t be helped. I don’t care how many times it increases, just make sure the photos turn out as high quality as possible.”

“Just saying this out of concern, but you know there are still plenty of opportunities for money to go out, right?”

“Do you think I’m just going to make a lookbook and be done with it? Of course, I know. I can cover the shortfall with the cash I have on hand, so don’t worry.”

“The cash you have? How much do you have?”

The tone seemed to be half expectation and half doubt.

“I just have quite a lot. Income is constantly coming in, but I don’t have many places to spend it personally, so naturally, money just keeps accumulating.”

Director Song began to diligently work the calculator in his head.

He suddenly became curious about how much cash Jae-seung had on hand.

Just the ‘reliable sources’ that were paying hefty royalties every quarter would easily be more than three or four.

There were two premium brands he had worked with as a creative director, and he had released collaboration products several times.

In addition to that, there were additional revenues from documentary broadcasting rights, DVD sales, and even the cash being paid monthly by Wall Flower as a salary…

Moreover, as Jae-seung had said, there had been no need for personal expenses for the past few years. The brands he had signed contracts with had provided everything from food and shelter to vehicles and other luxury goods.

Before long, Director Song finished all the calculations and asked, leaning his face close.

“Wait a minute. Even a rough estimate is no joke, right?”

“What is it?”

“How much do you have in your hands?”

“No comment.”

“Oh? You’re going to hide it from me?”

Jae-seung smiled faintly and replied.

“Let me give you a simple hint. I spent hundreds of millions of won in half a year and still got scolded by the tax accountant.”

“The person LVMH [Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, a French multinational luxury goods conglomerate] introduced you to? Why?”

“He said this level of spending is not enough. It’s not confirmed yet, but I might end up building a public facility like a library in a foreign country. He said it helps with tax deductions.”

Just as Director Song was staring at Jae-seung with a blank face, Jae-seung added again.

“So, don’t worry about the financial part, and just focus on the quality of the lookbook. These are the photos that will represent Wall Flower this season, right?”

“I didn’t know you had these kinds of circumstances. You should have told me if you had such concerns. I may not be good at making money, but I’m an expert at spending it…”

Jae-seung shook his head as if he couldn’t win.

Even if it wasn’t his own cash, he was planning to protect the ‘zero-gravity’ theme no matter what.

He was confident that he could see significant cost-saving effects on the marketing side, regardless of the expenses during the shoot.

He expected that all kinds of media would rush to request coverage without him having to voluntarily promote it.

Director Song, who had been sarcastic, said, “Anyway, I understand what you mean. I like how cool our president is,” and continued.

“Just so you know, it’s not all bad news. We’re secretly assembling the shooting team to ensure that no information leaks out until we reveal the lookbook theme, but the response is quite explosive.”

“Hmm? What do you mean by explosive?”

“Photographers from prestigious agencies, including Global One, are saying they want to work with us, even if they don’t get paid.”

Jae-seung immediately replied in an excited tone, “That sounds like a very promising sign, doesn’t it?”

They want to work with us even if they don’t get paid? Most of the photographers who said that must have excessively high fees.

If they weren’t among the top photographers in the ‘fashion photo shoot’ field, they probably wouldn’t have even heard the announcement.

To think about it with a grand meaning, doesn’t it mean that it’s such an attractive project that top photographers are forgetting their materialistic desires and becoming detached?

“Anyway, I’ll compile the resumes and portfolios of the supporting photographers and attach them to an email by this afternoon. Review them slowly and narrow it down to about three people.”

Jae-seung nodded and replied, “Okay,” and Director Song glanced at his wristwatch and said.

“Okay. Let’s get back to it.”

* * *

Several more days passed. It was a continuous series of hectic days, as if someone was grabbing his hair and dragging him around.

As time goes by, the work should gradually decrease, but well…?

All sorts of documents were still piled high on his office desk.

When he silently looked at the documents piled up so high, what should he say? It felt like he was suffocating.

The quantity was one thing, but the types were also varied.

The design drafts newly submitted by the designers in the design team, the resumes and filmographies of those who applied for the lookbook shooting staff position, and the profiles of famous models obtained by requesting them from model agencies around the world…

Jae-seung took a deep breath and swallowed two Tylenol tablets with water.

Even though he was buried in work, it didn’t feel like there was any progress.

He didn’t think he had ever felt so sad that a day only had 24 hours.

Just as Jae-seung was reviewing the documents, the internal phone rang loudly.

Jae-seung kept his eyes fixed on the document in his hand and picked up the receiver with his other hand.

As soon as he said in a nonchalant tone, “Yes, go ahead,” a reply came back from the receiver.

-President. It’s exactly six o’clock. You should start moving soon if you want to arrive on time.

“Where is Director Lee?”

-He just went down to the underground parking lot in the building.

“Okay. I’ll be right out.”

Jae-seung put the document he was reviewing back on the desk and got up from his seat.

As soon as he took the elevator to the first basement floor parking lot, a very familiar voice was heard.

“President, over here!”

It was none other than Director Song’s voice. Director Song was smiling wryly, peeking his face out through the open window of the Carnival vehicle parked with its hazard lights on.

Jae-seung opened the passenger door and got into the car, asking back in a sarcastic tone.

“You know how busy I’ve been lately, right?”

“I know.”

“I refuse these kinds of jobs, you know?”

“But everyone is dying to get an explanation, so what can I do?”

Director Song fixed his gaze on the front windshield and added in a soothing tone.

“Everyone is in an uproar. The president’s work is important, but you have to think about the employees, including me. If we hadn’t scheduled the press conference today, the office phones would have been ringing off the hook. It’s better to relieve some of the curiosity at today’s press conference, and then it will be quiet for a while. You’re giving up a day, no, a few hours, and getting weeks of rest, so isn’t this a much better deal?”

The reason why he had hurriedly come down to the underground parking lot while he was busy with work was quite simple.

It was because of the press conference schedule at the ‘Golden Palace Hotel’ near Gangnam Station [a major commercial district in Seoul].

Recently, the Janel Group officially announced that ‘Lee’ had been hired as the sub-director of Karl Lagerbelt, the main director.

Revealing the lineup before starting the season preparation was a natural step, but the impact of the announcement was beyond common sense.

[Shouldn’t he be focusing on preparing for Wall Flower’s new season? I heard he was aiming for a premium brand…]

[What? A reversal without a word? How many fans were looking forward to Wall Flower this season? No matter how I think about it, this doesn’t seem polite?]

[Janel is a brand that’s tempting enough, but still…]

[Trying to catch two rabbits at such an important time? It seems like you’ll end up missing both.]

While the above negative posts were the main ones, posts defending Jae-seung were also pouring out.

[I heard he’s trying to do it simultaneously. His ability has already been proven, so what’s the big deal?]

[As he’s always done, the results will speak for themselves anyway.]

[Isn’t the most useless worry worrying about celebrities and worrying about Lee Jae-seung?]

Of course, not only ordinary people but also critics were reacting differently.

While some were criticizing it as a reckless choice, others were expressing anticipation and defending Jae-seung’s choice.

Even in overseas communities where competition was overheated, some famous critics were even arguing with each other.

“Do you remember the female critic who relentlessly attacked you when you were working as the creative director of Alexander King? The female critic who ended up buying all the products released that year.”

Jae-seung hummed and tried to recall, finally snapping his fingers and replying.

“Ah, I remember. Are you talking about ‘Eddie Dana’? But why her?”

“That woman, she’s become your ardent follower now.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s fighting against all the critics who have been harsh on you, as if she’s on the front lines.”

Jae-seung smiled faintly and replied.

“Actually, even after the incident ended well, I thought she was a disgusting woman, but not anymore.”

“Really?”

“Yes. If I had the authority to do so, I would have supported her as a candidate for this year’s best critic award.”

Anyway, the press conference was a schedule he didn’t like. He didn’t want to waste energy worrying about the reactions that would change in an instant once the results were out, or even if he just provided a clue.

Well, he didn’t express it on the outside because he couldn’t cancel the already scheduled event.

Just as the Carnival vehicle, which had been running for a long time, arrived in front of the hotel, security personnel who had been waiting were deployed.

He rested in the empty room behind the banquet hall where the conference would be held and appeared in the banquet hall at the appointed time.

Countless cameras, stickers on the side indicating the affiliated media, buzzing sounds, and constantly flashing lights.

As soon as he sat down in the seat prepared on the podium, Jae-seung unknowingly raised his head.

It was because he couldn’t open his eyes properly because of the camera flashes.

Then, all sorts of questions began to pour in. All of them were questions that were within the expected range.

Whether he was looking at the reactions of the current community, webzines, and critics, how he came to take on the position of sub-director of Karl Lagerbelt, with whom he had been in a war of nerves until recently, and whether he was confident that he could complete the season preparations for both brands without any problems, etc…

Jae-seung was just spitting out answers as quickly as possible, as if he wanted to get out of the seat as soon as possible.

“Of course, I’m looking at everything. Even when there are no special events, I often take the time to look at articles about me.”

“Karl proposed it, and I accepted it. That’s all. In the first place, Karl Lagerbelt and I were just fighting for each other’s ‘present’. This kind of animosity has the property of not being able to last long. As you know, the present becomes the past with just one step.”

“You must have been confident, so you made the decision to prepare for the seasons of both brands at the same time, right?”

The conference proceeded with a sense of speed and gradually reached its end.

Some of them had provocative questions that seemed to be prepared with the intention of irritating him, but Jae-seung only responded with witty answers.

Then, just as he was about to leave only the last question, the reporter who was pointed out by Jae-seung cheered and asked carefully.

“It may be a trite question… Do you think Wall Flower will succeed in becoming a premium brand this season?”

Jae-seung smiled faintly as if it was interesting and stroked his chin gently as he replied.

“Well? Maybe only the god of fashion knows the result?”

As Jae-seung’s answer came to an end, small and large laughter rippled through the hall.

Then, the reporter who asked the question shrugged his shoulders and asked back.

“I see you have faith that the god of fashion exists.”

Jae-seung, who briefly replied, “Yes,” immediately added.

“You are now talking to the god of fashion, aren’t you?”

After finishing speaking, Jae-seung winked once, got up from his seat, and began to move his steps towards the outside of the hall.

Director Song, who stood behind Jae-seung and watched the conference process in detail, muttered sarcastically and followed Jae-seung.

“What? You hate unnecessary schedules like press conferences? It seems like you’re a fish in water…”

It was impossible not to be amazed by the star quality and shamelessness that seemed to be increasing day by day.