Black Label [EN]: Chapter 275

Black Label Extra Story 26

In the car on the way home.

“What happened?”

At Jae-seung’s question, Seung-hee slightly shook her head and replied in a barely audible voice, “It’s nothing.”

“‘It’s nothing,’ my foot.”

While idly waiting in front of the main building’s entrance, I happened to run into an executive I had encountered several times at official events.

When he asked why I was waiting, I didn’t know what to say and just hesitated for a moment.

Unable to come up with a suitable excuse, I reluctantly told him that my younger sister worked there as a full-time employee. He made a big fuss, saying he couldn’t let me wait outside.

‘Going up there, I saw that situation.’

Actually, it didn’t matter how big of a mistake she had made.

I was just angry seeing my younger sister being scolded.

“What exactly happened?”

“Nothing happened.”

“Don’t just say that, tell me in detail…”

Seung-hee cut him off.

“Really, nothing happened.”

Seung-hee calmly began to explain the whole story as it was.

With performance evaluations just around the corner, people were getting hysterical over trivial matters.

However, the level of it was so severe and painful that it made people frown.

In a way, it was clearly something that could happen anywhere in the world.

The problem is that I just didn’t want it to happen to my family.

“Anyway, what should I do?”

At Seung-hee’s words as she looked out the window, Jae-seung quietly asked back.

“What do you mean, what should you do?”

“I just quit…”

“You can do whatever you want.”

Jae-seung added briefly.

“I’ll make sure there are no problems.”

Seung-hee smiled faintly because she felt strangely reassured.

“Oppa [Older brother, used by females], are you really not going to supply them?”

She asked, concerned about what Jae-seung had shouted inside the company earlier.

“That’s out of the question.”

Jae-seung said briefly, adding,

“Korea’s market share isn’t low enough to ignore, is it? Besides, it’s a matter of many people’s livelihoods…”

He had only said that in a fit of anger, but it wasn’t an issue he could decide emotionally.

“Are you going to keep working there?”

Seung-hee shrugged her shoulders once and continued,

“Well, after something like this, I can’t just brazenly go to work like nothing happened…”

Jae-seung replied to that.

“Yeah, just quit this time.”

After speaking, Jae-seung added,

“Rest for a while, and if you want to work again, I’ll introduce you to a new job.”

She then asked back.

“A new job?”

“Yeah.”

“Where?”

“There is one.”

Then he added.

“I wouldn’t introduce you to a place where you can’t work, would I?”

“Still, I need to hear what kind of company it is.”

Jae-seung replied.

“Wallflower.”

“No way.”

“Why not?”

“Just because.”

Jae-seung asked again.

“You don’t like being a parachute hire [getting a job through connections]?”

“Yeah, I don’t want to be helped anymore.”

“Then take an interview.”

It was a reaction he had already anticipated several times.

Because she didn’t want to receive any more help from Jae-seung.

She hadn’t even told them that she was working at an affiliate.

“It’s a career recruitment period, and I really won’t say anything, so take an interview.”

“Still…”

“As you know, I don’t come to the Korean headquarters, and if I don’t say anything, no one will know.”

After speaking, Jae-seung added.

“And as far as working conditions and benefits in the same industry go, there’s no place that can match it.”

At those words, Seung-hee hesitated and asked in a low voice.

“What kind of career person am I [what position is available]?”

Jae-seung replied.

“This career recruitment is for a department.”

“Huh?”

“It’s the supply management department.”

Jae-seung added again.

“If you get accepted, the roles of you and that manager will be completely reversed, you know?”

Was it because she had accumulated so much over time?

“Really?”

Seung-hee’s 고민이 길어졌다 [Seung-hee’s contemplation deepened].

* * *

The next day, early in the morning.

“Shall we all go shopping?”

At Jae-seung’s sudden suggestion, his mother asked back.

“At this early hour?”

Then, looking at Seung-hee, she said again.

“And Seung-hee has to go to work…”

At those words, Seung-hee replied.

“I quit my job.”

“Huh…?”

“It just happened that way.”

Jae-seung immediately changed the subject again.

“I wanted to buy some clothes for the family before going back to France.”

Of course, he was eager to fill his family’s closets while visiting Korea.

However-.

On the other hand, he also wanted to cheer up Seung-hee, who had suddenly resigned yesterday.

“Oppa [Older brother, used by females].”

Seung-hee, who was picking at her side dishes, tilted her head and asked.

“Where are we going?”

“The nearby H Department Store.”

“It’s closed today.”

After speaking, Seung-hee added.

“Did you forget that I was working at an affiliate until yesterday?”

“So?”

“H Department Store is always closed on the last Wednesday of every month.”

Jae-seung replied again.

“It’s not closed that day.”

“Then?”

“It’s a VIP event day.”

Although it was publicly known as a ‘closed day,’ that wasn’t the reality.

They just close the department store and host an event for a small number of valued customers.

And-.

Jae-seung was now a valued customer who could be invited to the event.

“Let’s go.”

Jae-seung got up from his seat and added briefly.

“Shopping.”

* * *

So, Jae-seung headed to H Department Store near his house with his family.

“This is the invitation.”

Jae-seung showed the VIP auction event invitation he had received on his mobile phone to the employee standing at the parking lot entrance.

“Yes, confirmed.”

The employee who had confirmed it provided ‘valet parking.’

“Shall we go in?”

As Jae-seung said, the closed day known as the last Wednesday of every month was not a day of no business but an event day for valued customers only.

“Wow, what is this…”

As Seung-hee murmured in surprise, Jae-seung continued to speak.

“I guess you didn’t have a chance to hear about it because it was another department’s work, but it’s always like this.”

At those words, his mother asked back.

“Jae-seung, but you wouldn’t have had many opportunities to buy things at Korean department stores, so how did you raise your customer level?”

Jae-seung immediately replied.

“Originally, they not only consider the purchase amount but also give VIP status to executives of affiliates or those who have a position or friendship within the related industry.”

Seung-hee immediately interjected.

“Wow, so that’s an invitation received with power, not money.”

It was then.

“Are you Mr. Lee Jae-seung?”

A dedicated curator approached.

“I will be assisting you with your shopping today.”

The auction event was not a matter of valued customers wandering around the department store aimlessly, but a format in which a dedicated curator escorted them like a museum.

“Yes, please take good care of me.”

“It’s an honor to have you.”

As the shopping began, Jae-seung began to look around the premium brand stores one by one with his family.

‘The DP [display] methods are all different…’

Even in the midst of all this, he couldn’t let go of his professional spirit and was busy examining the store’s internal displays and layouts in detail.

“The next store is…”

The curator hesitated.

“Wallflower?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Let’s skip this one.”

If he suddenly showed up and showed his face, the employees would definitely feel uncomfortable.

“Next is…”

Then Seung-hee said.

“Wow, it’s Janel?”

It was Janel, the premium brand that Jae-seung had worked as a guest designer for one season.

“Is there anything you want?”

“I think there will be something here.”

“Then let’s take a look.”

So Jae-seung entered the Janel store….

New items that were unveiled at Paris Fashion Week a while ago were on display.

“Wow, amazing. New items are already in….”

Originally, these hard-to-find and popular new products were sold to VIP customers first before the purchase order was returned to general customers.

“These are this season’s bags.”

Jae-seung replied briefly and began to look around the interior.

Seung-hee and his mother actively explored the store.

“Ugh, annoying.”

At that time, his father plopped down on the sofa in the store and began to complain.

“You can just buy me clothes that look good to you. How long do you think it will take to bring me along…”

“It’ll be over soon.”

“You can’t even pick out a single piece of clothing or a bag right now and keep hesitating. What do you mean it’ll be over soon?”

Is that so?

“Mom, how about this?”

“Oh, it’s pretty.”

“Mom, then how about this?”

“That’s pretty too.”

Jae-seung nodded a few times and looked at his father and replied in a low voice.

“It looks like it will take a while longer if we continue like this.”

“See?”

“I don’t think we can do it unless we use a trick.”

After speaking, Jae-seung immediately called Seung-hee to stop.

“Seung-hee.”

“Yeah?”

He brought up the main point.

“Pick out something you like.”

“I like everything…”

“You like everything?”

At those words, Seung-hee nodded several times in a row and began to continue speaking in a tone that seemed very excited.

“Really, aren’t Janel bags from this season totally amazing? How could they pick them so beautifully?”

“What about our bags?”

“Of course, Wallflower handbags are also incredibly pretty. But you sent me all of them by type.”

All products except the Devil Bag had already been sent by model.

“So you want to have everything?”

“That’s impossible.”

“What do you mean it’s impossible?”

After speaking, Jae-seung politely called an employee.

“Yes, customer.”

Jae-seung pointed to the bags placed from the beginning to the end of the display stand with a chin gesture and added.

“From here to there.”

“Yes?”

“Can I have them all?”

“Yes?”

“Yes, give me everything.”

At those words, Seung-hee was shocked.

“Oppa [Older brother, used by females]?”

In succession, his mother….

“Jae-seung?”

Also, his father….

“Huh, it seems like shopping will be over soon if you shop like this…”

Finally, the employee was shocked.

“Um, everything, you mean?”

The next moment.

“Okay, let’s go to the next store now.”

Jae-seung said in an indifferent tone and added briefly as he stepped out of the store first.

“We need to finish shopping quickly and have breakfast.”

In order to finish shopping quickly and have breakfast without being late, it was necessary to move diligently.