Black Label [EN]: Chapter 169

169. A Bleak Future

I felt I needed time to mentally prepare before putting my decision into action.

As soon as I returned to the hotel, I grabbed a bottle of strong whiskey and downed three or four shots in quick succession.

As the alcohol began to take effect, a throbbing headache started to set in.

I swallowed a few Tylenol to suppress the headache, which only seemed to cloud my already hazy mind even further.

“Hoo-”

The breath that flowed from my lungs felt several times hotter than usual.

Jaesung rubbed his eyes roughly with both hands and took out an old box from the innermost part of his suitcase.

It was a box containing the items that had returned with him to the past.

The box he always packed before anything else when overseas schedules were set.

He lightly dusted off the dust that had settled on the lid of the box, then opened it immediately.

Inside, various items were neatly arranged.

The Wallflower pencil, now short enough to be described as stubby. The glasses he wore every season when judging model auditions. The wristwatch that must have played the most crucial role in causing the bizarre phenomenon of regression. And finally, the future magazine.

Among these four items, there were only two that he wasn’t using.

First, there was the wristwatch that had clearly contributed to his return to the past.

In fact, he assumed that the watch had lost its value after being used once, and he hadn’t been able to figure out how to use it properly, so it might be more accurate to say that he couldn’t use it.

And second, there was the ‘future magazine’ that allowed him to glimpse a limited future. It is said that trends in the fashion industry change by the second.

It was an exaggeration, but I thought it was a pretty apt expression. Not only did things change constantly, but complete upheavals could occur in just a day.

Considering these factors carefully, the item that could be of the greatest help at this point might be the future magazine.

Yet, why did I decide not to use it? It’s very simple.

It might be helpful right now, but it was all too clear that it would have a negative impact in the near future.

Even now, when I sit down to draw a diagram, the future designs I had already seen in my past life seemed to dance in my head.

What should I say? It felt like someone was whispering sweetly in my ear, saying, ‘Let me out.’

These are designs that have already been proven to be successful. Moreover, if I were to steal them deliberately, I could commit the perfect crime.

Even if the owner of the design and the release period overlap, no one can hold me accountable.

At least, they wouldn’t be able to sue me for saying, ‘That’s the design I was going to release in the future!’

Moreover, this is a happening that occurs from time to time. Just last season, some of Janelle’s and Christian Dior’s products had very similar outlines.

It was a truly tempting thing.

Not only could I protect the career I had built up so far without any special effort, but I could also enjoy even more glory.

It was tempting, but it was also something to be avoided. If I were to prolong my life as a designer by stealing other people’s designs, wouldn’t that be no different from my past life?

Moreover, stealing other people’s designs was clearly a much more malicious act than stealing money or goods.

It could even change the lives of some people entirely, or drag them down into the abyss.

It wasn’t an illegal act, but I had already decided that it was something I should never do.

As with everything, the beginning is difficult. Once becomes twice, and twice becomes three times.

When I’m cornered, I might miss the comfort and open the future magazine again.

Human will is not as strong as we think, and as guilt usually does, there will come a day when it becomes dull.

That’s why I’ve been wary of the future magazine and never opened it.

I’m going to open that magazine now.

I took out the magazine, which was just a bundle of coated paper with no writing or pictures printed on it yet.

After closing the lid of the box again, I consciously took a few breaths.

Karl Lagerfeld’s main products for Janelle’s this season felt close to perfect.

From composition, design, material, practicality, convenience, to internal and external design. There was nothing to criticize.

Jaesung was also predicting success, but no one, unless they were a god, could be sure of the outcome.

But what Karl Lagerfeld and I needed now was not just a good feeling, but a certainty of success.

It was the last season of someone who had reigned over the top floor of the fashion industry for decades.

It was the last season of a great man whom I had respected and dreamed of since I was very young, or rather, since my past life.

And I was going to participate in that great undertaking.

Even if I couldn’t help create a masterpiece that would be talked about forever, could I at least help create a final work worthy of praise by borrowing the power of the magazine?

If it was a season destined to fail, couldn’t I find the problems and fix them?

If it was a season destined to succeed, couldn’t I help from the side so that the direction wouldn’t go wrong?

After licking his lower lip, which had hardened without him knowing, he opened the future magazine.

Like magic, pictures and letters began to appear on the once-blank pages.

Soon, Jaesung’s face turned completely ashen.

* * *

As always, morning dawned. I filled my stomach with scrambled eggs and toast, and immediately set off for work.

All the way to Janelle House, I was preoccupied with reviewing the information I had seen in the future magazine yesterday.

No, no. To be more precise, I should say that I couldn’t easily shake off the thoughts related to it.

I was even almost hit by a car when crossing the crosswalk because I didn’t check the signal.

The same was true after work. I couldn’t concentrate on my work at all.

My eyes were fixed on the A4 paper with the diagram drawn on it, but that was it. I couldn’t seem to get any work done.

Then, Karl Lagerfeld, who was sitting not far away, chewing on the end of his pen and lost in thought, muttered, “Damn it, damn it…” and opened his mouth.

“Lee, you’re just sitting here today, but your mind is somewhere else entirely? Are you imitating the idiots who spend their working hours thinking about where to spend their salary?”

He was originally a grumpy and strong-willed person, but I felt that he had become even more sensitive lately.

According to what he told me directly, he was suffering from insomnia due to nervous tension.

I thought it might be a natural course of events.

People don’t remember the player who scored the goal in a penalty kick, but conversely, they remember the player who didn’t score the goal.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep well last night, so I’m not in good condition.”

“Heh heh. It’s really good to have a colleague who can share the pain. I smashed the grandfather clock in the living room in a fit of anger yesterday. It was a Swiss clock that I bought for a lot of money.”

“Why did you smash it? If you needed something to vent your anger on, you should have chosen something cheaper.”

Karl Lagerfeld chuckled once and waved his hand lightly, continuing.

“I couldn’t sleep because of the ticking sound. Even if I fell asleep for a while, I would wake up again because I was bothered by the ticking sound. I felt sick when I saw the broken grandfather clock in the morning. If I could have, I would have gone back to yesterday’s me and beaten him up.”

After a brief chat, the topic returned to ‘work’ again.

Most of it was related to the main products of this season, which Karl Lagerfeld designed himself.

“It’s good enough as it is, but I think it would be good to make a few more changes.”

At Jaesung’s words, Karl Lagerfeld twitched his eyebrows slightly and asked, “In what way?”

Jaesung shrugged his shoulders once and continued.

“It’s true that it’s a great design as it is, but well? If you conduct a blind test on people who have even a little interest in Janelle, I think at least ninety out of a hundred people will immediately recognize it as Karl Lagerfeld’s design.”

“Of course! Because it’s my design!”

“Having a clear identity can be a clear advantage, but it can also work in reverse for master-class designers like Karl, right? Some critics will definitely roar that you’ve fallen into ‘*Mannerism* (Mannerism: By always taking a fixed method or attitude, losing freshness and originality).”

“That’s what I do every year when I release Janelle’s new products…”

“Yes. I know. It must have happened every year. Like an annual event. But I don’t think you should ever hear that kind of evaluation this season.”

“Let me give you some advice. It’s not a good attitude to be too obsessed with your career and cherish it too much. The place we’re in is a jungle. If you move roughly, you can get scratches and deep wounds.”

Jaesung shook his head once at Karl Lagerfeld’s somewhat irritable words and replied firmly.

“It’s not because of my career. I’ve already been able to write ‘Janelle House’ in my resume, right? It may be a bit of a cold word, but even if Janelle’s season fails, no one will boo me. I’m just one of the dozens of contract workers at Janelle House.”

“Okay. Let’s say that’s the case. Then why do you want to block even minor criticisms?”

“I don’t want to put any pressure on you, but it’s your last season, right? You have to leave behind a masterpiece worthy of praise and retire.”

After finishing speaking, Jaesung paused for a moment and added, “To match the career you’ve built up so far.”

Karl smiled. His complexion was getting paler day by day.

The color of his pupils was so cloudy that it was blurry, but Karl Lagerfeld seemed to be trying to maintain his own sense of humor.

He sometimes made self-deprecating jokes as if his illness was nothing.

‘Anyway, it’s good that I don’t have to worry about being suspected even if I wear sunglasses in public. Thanks to wearing sunglasses diligently, it has now become an item that symbolizes me, right? No matter how good a person’s intuition is, would they ever think that I’ve become the Stevie Wonder of the fashion world? Heh heh heh.’

When I looked at Karl, who was making mischievous laughter like a teenage boy, my doubts grew again.

Why on earth? Why did the future Karl make such an extreme decision?

[Fashion giant ‘Karl Lagerfeld’ dies, shocked to be found dead in his home.]

If things continue like this, Janelle’s new season will be a smooth success. Karl will retire as planned, and a new director will fill the vacancy.

And after that…

Karl will make the extreme choice of suicide in less than a month.

Was he not satisfied with a vague success? Or was there no way to cope with the emptiness?

How can I prevent such a situation and change the future?