Black Label [EN]: Chapter 217

Black Label 216

217. VS Imitation (4)

“I think this should be enough.”

After saying that, Jae-seung vigorously shook the work gloves on his hands, making a ‘tap, tap’ sound. The other employees also straightened their backs, which they had been bending for a long time, and groaned.

“Wow, this isn’t even a big deal, but it’s incredibly tiring…”

“I know, right.”

Everyone looked exhausted, pressing on their backs or stretching.

It was a natural reaction, considering a six-hour-long task had just ended.

Soon, Jae-seung began to examine a few boxes stacked in a corner of the warehouse.

Out of dozens of boxes, they had only salvaged about six.

Imitations also had quality differences that were like ‘heaven and earth,’ so it couldn’t be helped.

In fact, some of the products were so infuriating that he couldn’t help but frown.

To put it bluntly, some products were so terrible that he thought, ‘How dare you try to imitate our products with such poor skills?’

“Everyone, you’ve worked really hard. We’ve only finished sorting, but it’s already time to go home.”

Lee Sang-yoon, a member of the design team, waved his hand and replied.

“No, it’s okay. I’ve been sitting in the office chair every day, so it feels refreshing to do some physical work for a change.”

As some employees chimed in with various comments, Jae-seung glanced at his watch and quietly added.

“Then, shall we have a small dinner party to celebrate? Let’s get ready to leave and meet again in the lobby on the first floor of the office building in about 15 minutes.”

As if they had promised, the employees shouted, “Yes, understood!” and began to move in an orderly fashion.

Jae-seung was no exception. After stretching once, he immediately started walking out of the warehouse.

* * *

Cheeeee-.
The beef on the grill was browning nicely.

Soju [Korean distilled rice liquor] glasses clinked in the air, and a clear ‘clink’ sound echoed.

The dinner party was in full swing in a friendly atmosphere, but Jae-seung stayed close to Director Song, constantly talking about work.

“Honey, are you really going to be like this even at a dinner party?”

“I have to do what I have to do.”

“Sigh, you win. I give up.”

Jae-seung picked up the file he had placed next to him and continued in a soft voice.

“You can have a comfortable conversation while eating. Should I order more meat? What cut would you like?”

“No, I’ll order it myself, so just get to the point.”

Director Song waved her hand, and Jae-seung smiled awkwardly and continued.

“Um… I’m really sorry, but there are a few things I need you to take care of.”

“Sorry for what? It’s your job to handle the tasks I give you properly; that’s why I’m paying you a high salary.”

Director Song was spending busy days taking on not only her original tasks but also the formation and construction of the Wall Flower watch line.

Knowing this, Jae-seung felt uncomfortable passing on more work.

“Then, can I ask you for a small favor? I was hoping you could find the ‘makers’ of the imitation products we sorted out today.”

“I thought you were going to ask me to do something big. That’s nothing. It’ll be over with about six phone calls…”

Only Director Song could finish this ‘search operation’ with just six phone calls.

After all, she had been active in the Dongdaemun [major shopping district in Seoul, South Korea] area for a long time.

From Director Song’s perspective, it was definitely a simple task.

“What’s next?”

As Director Song asked, fiddling with her soju glass, Jae-seung filled her glass and replied.

“It’s about moving the office.”

“Expanding?”

Jae-seung nodded and replied.

“Yes. We’re a premium brand now, right? It doesn’t look good to be working in a rented office.”

“Well, you’ve made a lot of money; it’s time to spend it. So, what’s the size? Roughly how big do you want it?”

“I’m thinking of a medium to large-sized office building. It seems like there’s not enough time to build one ourselves, so it would be good to review the available properties.”

“Okay. I’ll take a close look, so don’t worry and wait.”

After finishing her words, Director Song picked up her soju glass, poured the soju into her mouth, and continued.

“By the way, it’s so nostalgic. It feels like just yesterday that we were living in a small office of about ten *pyeong* [approximately 33 square meters], rubbing shoulders with each other.”

Jae-seung smiled.

Being able to share memories of the past with someone is truly a happy thing.

Especially being able to look back on the difficult times you’ve been through together.

“Thank you for your hard work all this time.”

Jae-seung replied briefly and picked up his soju glass. Director Song clinked her glass against his.

Clink. The two of them drank a glass of soju in one go, as if they had promised, and then frowned.

Director Song began to speak with difficulty.

“Ah, right. Honey. Come to think of it, this morning…”

“Yes.”

“I talked to Lee Kang-joon for a while.”

Jae-seung asked in a serious tone, “Is he doing well?”

Lee Kang-joon was also one of Wall Flower’s few ‘founding contributors’ who had gone through difficult times together.

He was recruited as the sub-director of the premium brand Saint Laurent, but he suddenly had a car accident, and after that, it was difficult to reach him, so he was worried.

What should I say? It felt like he was subtly avoiding his calls for some reason.

As Jae-seung stared at Director Song’s face, Director Song shrugged and replied.

“Yeah. The agency is looking for work for him, but it doesn’t seem to be going well.”

“If it’s really hard, why didn’t you tell him he could come back to Wall Flower?”

“I told him a long time ago. You know Lee Kang-joon’s personality, right? He said he doesn’t think he has the justification or the face to come back yet. He learned as much as he could and left, but he doesn’t want to go back without any achievements.”

After finishing her words, Director Song smiled and added.

“If the agency can’t find him a good job this month, he’s thinking of launching a brand in France.”

“A brand?”

“Yeah. He says it’s a last resort, but I don’t think that’s the case. I heard he’s already decided on the brand name.”

Jae-seung muttered, “Launching a brand…” and then carefully asked.

“Speaking of the brand name, is it ‘Diamond Look’?”

“What? Have you talked to Lee Kang-joon too?”

Jae-seung shook his head and made an excuse.

“No. He said he would use that name if he ever launched a brand.”

Diamond Look was the name of the brand that Lee Kang-joon had launched in his previous life.

It was a brilliant name that he could easily find whenever he opened magazines in the underground workshop in Dongdaemun with his impaired eyes.

Director Song quietly added.

“I told him to contact me again if he’s having trouble with funding. I said I’d talk to you and try to help as much as possible.”

“You did a good job.”

“I said that, but he’s the type of guy who would suffer alone even if he’s cornered, and he wouldn’t ask us for help. I’m really worried.”

Jae-seung replied in a gentle tone, “He’ll do well,” and immediately changed the subject.

In his head, he was busy thinking of ways to help Lee Kang-joon secretly.

* * *

The next day around lunchtime, Jae-seung was busy reviewing documents when he heard a knock on the president’s office door.

“Knock, knock.” As soon as the knock was heard, the door slowly began to open.

“Honey, you haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

The unexpected guest was, as expected, ‘Director Song.’

Director Song, who had come in with a large plastic bag in each hand, sat down on the sofa as if the president’s office was her own home and continued.

“I bought some sandwiches. No matter what, we’re working to make a living, so let’s make sure we eat properly.”

“As expected, you’re the only one who cares about me, Director.”

“Listen while you eat. I’m still reviewing the properties for the office building…”

Director Song trailed off and added triumphantly.

“About the makers of the imitation products that you and our designers sorted out, I’ve identified them all.”

“Already?”

“Of course. But this is interesting; the situation is developing in an interesting way, you know?”

Jae-seung picked up a sandwich and asked bluntly, “How is it developing?” Director Song sat down with her legs crossed and began to speak.

“Almost 80% of the imitation products we sorted out are the work of one person. He alone produced a large number of imitations that copied our designs with excellent quality, and he also produced a large number of secondary creative designs that are not in our design lineup…”

As Director Song said, it was an interesting story.

He made all those fakes by himself and even produced a large number of secondary creative design products?

“I see. That’s a really interesting story. When can we meet him?”

“Tonight.”

Director Song replied briefly, gave a bitter smile, and added.

“I thought he would avoid us and disappear if we asked to meet him, so I used some stimulating bait.”

“How?”

“I said I’ve attracted a lot of capital from China and asked if he’s interested in expanding the business and playing big. We’ve decided to meet briefly at a *chicken kalguksu* [Korean noodle soup with chicken] restaurant in Dongdaemun tonight.”

Director Song added, “What about you? If you have time, I think it would be better to go together,” and Jae-seung nodded and replied.

“Chicken *kalguksu* sounds good.”

After finishing his words, Jae-seung took a big bite of the sandwich and chewed it.

Then, he began to chuckle without realizing it.

It was because he thought it would be an interesting meeting.