Black Label [EN]: Chapter 45

Black Label 44

45. Ripple Effect, Interaction

“Kangjun, wait. Just a minute.”

“Yes!”

Jaeseung gestured for Choo Jihoon to step aside, then settled into the seat himself, observing the reactions.

From the comments under the online news articles to those on various fashion communities:

Swish-.

Highend22: Wow, as expected of God Seungho. Do the jacket and pants look super expensive?

└Diselmaniac: Dude, the jacket and pants Ryoo Seungho is wearing are only around 200,000 won [approximately $150 USD] combined.

└Highend22: Wow, that’s way cheaper than I expected. Does it just look expensive because God Seungho is wearing it?

Swish-.

God-Venom: That guy is really cool as long as he doesn’t go too far ahead. Predicting one or two steps ahead is perfect, but sometimes he looks ten steps ahead. lol

└ Yoonfuture: Agreed, sometimes he pursues too much futuristic fashion.

└ Arete123: Futuristic fashion lol

└ DonDon: I think that’s right. This level is just right. Honestly, sometimes it’s too bizarre….

Swish-.

Fmonster: Here’s the link to the site selling the clothes Ryoo Seungho is wearing. It’s a new brand, and since it’s a designer brand, the prices are a bit high.

└ Newlove: So what’s the brand name?

└ Fmonster: It’s ‘Wall Flower.’ I’ve been using it since before, so can I say my fashion sense is on par with Ryoo Seungho?

Jaeseung, who had been blankly staring at the monitor screen, immediately stood up.

He felt the reaction he was getting from the community was like a spark to a fuse.

What if this spark burned all the way to the end of the fuse?

Clap-!

Jaeseung clapped his hands to get the employees’ attention and began to list the instructions one by one.

“Okay, everyone listen up. First, Seunwoo.”

“Yes.”

“Order more OPP bags [oriented polypropylene bags, a type of clear plastic bag], boxes, and shopping bags. All packaging materials.”

“Yes, I understand.”

In fact, there were still plenty of packaging materials left.

But it wasn’t enough to withstand the storm that was about to hit.

Yoo Seunwoo seemed to know this as well, as he didn’t argue.

“Next, Gwangmin.”

At Jaeseung’s call, Nam Gwangmin jumped up from his seat and answered.

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“Gwangmin, place an additional production order to the factory right away.”

“Should I order as much as usual?”

Jaeseung, who had been calculating in his head for a moment at Nam Gwangmin’s question, answered quietly.

“Order the usual amount for the other products. But for the coated jeans and coated jacket that Ryoo Seungho wore, order twice the usual amount.”

“Ah, yes. I understand.”

“I’m going to Dongdaemun [a famous fashion district in Seoul] with Lee Kangjun as planned. Report any big issues, but you don’t need to get my approval for minor things. Handle them at your discretion. Act first, report later. Got it?”

If there were procedures, the speed of work would inevitably be delayed. In times like these, it was necessary to minimize such procedures, so he said that.

“Yes!”

The employees looked quite determined as they answered loudly. Jaeseung turned his head and looked at Lee Kangjun, who was standing beside him.

He seemed anxious about whether he could really leave his seat in such a hectic situation, and whether he should step back from various front-line tasks and focus on making samples.

“Mr. President….”

“Kangjun, let’s go quickly.”

Of course, it was an anxiety that would disappear with just a word from Jaeseung.

“Ah, yes!”

* * *

On the way to Dongdaemun from the office, Jaeseung had to try to calm his heart, which was beating wildly.

As soon as they arrived in Dongdaemun, he parted ways with Lee Kangjun. There was no reason to move together.

He sent Lee Kangjun to the fabric market, and he went straight to President Song’s Taeyangsa.

“Hey, your phone’s gonna catch fire.”

President Song said, handing him a cup of instant coffee. He didn’t just say it for no reason.

The phone that Jaeseung was holding tightly in his hand was constantly ringing, ‘Kakao! Kakao!’ [referring to KakaoTalk, a popular messaging app in South Korea].

“I know. It’s a busy day today.”

“Are you doing well these days?”

“Yes. I was lucky.”

Jaeseung answered briefly and glanced at the last message he had received.

[Lee Kangjun: Finished purchasing fabrics and subsidiary materials. I will return to the office first.]

As Jaeseung put his phone in his pants pocket, President Song narrowed his brow slightly and asked.

“Your sales couldn’t have suddenly jumped, so did something good happen?”

“Yes. Today, our brand reached 2nd place in the real-time search rankings on portal sites.”

At Jaeseung’s words, President Song inadvertently spat out the coffee he had in his mouth.

He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and asked again.

“Wh-what? Really? How?”

“Ryoo Seungho wore it once at the airport.”

“Oh my gosh. There’s a reason why they call them celebs….”

Just as President Song was muttering to himself, Jaeseung took out a few files from his bag.

They were files containing the diagrams and work orders for the clothes he was going to ask Taeyangsa to make samples of.

“I’d like to request some sample production.”

“Oh? That looks like quite a lot?”

“Yes. Ten pieces in total.”

“Ten pieces?”

He was planning to have Taeyangsa make samples of ten of the twenty pieces to be released in this S/S [Spring/Summer] season.

He was planning to have Jaeseung make the seven main products, and Lee Kangjun make the three pieces designed by Lee Kangjun himself.

“What’s the deadline? When do you need them by?”

“Is it possible within 5 days?”

“Ten pieces?”

“Can’t you do it?”

“Hey. It’s not that I can’t, it’s that it’s difficult to do!”

President Song narrowed his brow slightly and sighed before muttering.

“No, how come there’s never a day when you give me a generous deadline? You think you can just grind people to make it work.”

“You should be used to it by now.”

“No, even so, 5 days is too tight. You have to give me a realistic deadline.”

“Then 7 days.”

President Song let out a “Hmm…” and fell into thought.

If he tightened the schedule really tightly, it seemed like he could finish it within 7 days.

“Okay. I’ll try to make it work somehow.”

As soon as President Song gave his confirmation, Jaeseung immediately got up and continued.

“Thank you. Please contact me as soon as the sample production is finished. I’ll deposit the payment on the way back to the office.”

“What? Are you leaving right away?”

At the question full of regret, Jaeseung smiled awkwardly and answered.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I can’t help it today.”

He wanted to stay and talk more, but he couldn’t today.

When he thought about the employees who were scrambling in the office, he couldn’t sit still any longer.

President Song nodded a few times and jokingly quipped.

“Tsk, you’ve become a slave to capitalism in the short time I haven’t seen you.”

“I have to make a lot of money.”

“What are you going to do with all that money? Take it with you when you die?”

At that moment, Jaeseung’s gaze turned to the wallet on President Song’s desk.

It was the wallet he had made by hand using lambskin fabric before.

A silence flowed for a moment. Then Jaeseung shrugged his shoulders and answered in a nonchalant tone.

“No. I’m going to save a lot of money and scout you.”

“What?”

Jaeseung smiled brightly, gave a brief bow, and immediately left the president’s office.

President Song, who was sitting blankly and staring at the door that Jaeseung had opened and left, chuckled and muttered to himself.

“That kid, he’s so audacious….”

* * *

The office after returning from the sample production request was nothing short of a madhouse.

Orders were pouring in. There weren’t enough people to sort and pack the products, so all the employees except Lee Kangjun had to help with logistics and delivery.

Even in the midst of all this, the employees were still smiling brightly.

“Wow! All the prepared stock is sold out?”

“I’ll request a sold-out notice on the Koomba Koomba store!”

It was a scene where you could closely confirm the power of a ‘celebrity’ named Ryoo Seungho.

If it had been another celebrity, would they have been able to achieve this level of ripple effect?

Probably not.

The backlog of work was roughly finished around 9 p.m.

“Let’s eat first.”

At Jaeseung’s words, the employees, clutching their hungry stomachs, began to gather in groups of three or five.

Today’s late-night snack menu was jokbal (pig’s trotters) and bossam (boiled pork slices) [popular Korean dishes]. He ordered four large sizes so that everyone could eat as much as they wanted. He felt bad that he had made them focus on work without even having dinner.

Jaeseung held a wooden chopstick in his hand and continued in a gentle tone.

“Everyone worked hard today. Eat as much as you want, and tell me if you need more.”

“Thank you!”

Everyone was silently focused on eating when Nam Gwangmin carefully opened his mouth.

“Ryoo Seungho’s power is really amazing. How can sales jump like this in just one day….”

Then Lee Kangjun chimed in and carefully added his opinion.

“Still, isn’t it because the clothes are good that sales jumped like this?”

“Well, other clothes are almost sold out too.”

Jaeseung was listening to the employees’ conversation when Jaeseung’s smartphone, which had been placed on the side table, began to vibrate violently.

Ziiiiing-.

“Oh? Mr. President, you have a call?”

At Choo Jihoon’s words, Jaeseung immediately reached out and picked up his smartphone.

“Oh?”

The name floating on the smartphone screen was Ryoo Seungho. Jaeseung smiled and immediately answered the phone.

“Yes, hello?”

– Ah, designer Lee Jaeseung. It’s me. Ryoo Seungho.

“Yes. I was just about to call you.”

– Did you receive the gift well?

At Ryoo Seungho’s question, Jaeseung smiled and answered.

“Yes. Thank you so much. Did you arrive safely?”

– Yes. I just arrived. Ah, I’m not calling to show off….

Ryoo Seungho trailed off and then said something completely unexpected.

– This time, I was hoping to get a little help from you.

“Yes? My help?”

– Yes. Would you mind helping me?