Chapter 39. The Witch 1.
Since it was Saturday, Hyeonu, who had slept in for once until the sun was high in the sky, stretched in bed.
“Krrrgh...”
When he drew back the curtains right beside the bed, bright sunlight shone on Hyeonu’s face.
As if something had suddenly occurred to him, Hyeonu glanced at the clock and sprang up in a rush.
It was almost time for his appointment to take pictures with Dr. Go Hwigeun.
After finishing all the tests, Hyeonu and Go Hwigeun sat on the sofa with coffee in hand.
“Was there anything unusual?”
Go Hwigeun shook his head with a bitter expression.
“No. In the past, when you heard speech, brain cells related to the optic nerve would react, but there’s no such response now.”
Of course there wasn’t.
Back then, he had looked at the other person’s face while listening to them speak, and now he hadn’t looked at their face.
“See? I told you I’m all better.”
“...”
“Then I don’t have to do any more tests now, right?”
“...No. Come just one more time.”
[Tests can fail to show results the first time, you know.]
Go Hwigeun, who had thought this to himself, flinched.
“All right. Then I’ll come again in a week. I really don’t think I’ll have time before then.”
“In a week?”
[What was that? Something just felt strange. Huh! Again!]
He didn’t know why, but Go Hwigeun seemed to have sensed something unusual.
“Yes. In a week.”
“Hmm... Today is Saturday, so what day will it be in a week?”
“...Saturday. Since today is Saturday.”
“Oh? Hahaha, that’s right, Saturday. Look at me, losing my mind.”
Hyeonu left, and Go Hwigeun remained alone.
His gaze was unfocused as he drank his cold coffee.
It was because his eyes were fixed on the image inside his head.
Something was strange.
Truly strange.
When he was speaking, Hyeonu’s eyes had somehow looked deep.
Eyes looking deep meant that the pupils had dilated.
After all, when the pupils dilated and the irises shrank, the eyes looked darker.
It was when I was talking. Did he see something then?
Judging by the movement of his pupils, it could only be explained as him having seen something.
While hearing speech, no less.
Vision reacting together with hearing.
So it was still happening after all.
But why hadn’t he reacted during the experiment?
There was probably something to it.
Though he still didn’t know what that something was.
After taking a sip of his cold coffee, Go Hwigeun muttered.
“Hyeonu, you... where were you looking? No, what did you see...”
* * *
Hyeonu rested fully throughout the weekend.
Eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating...
It had only been a month since he joined the company, but so much had happened.
Somehow, his goal in life had changed, and he had even ended up quietly interfering in the chairman’s family’s fight for management control.
It wasn’t bad.
Someday, the time would come when he would have to get involved in the fight for management control in earnest.
But that was still far in the future, and for now, Hyeonu wanted to start trying to do something with his own hands.
* * *
Since it was Monday morning, they held a brief meeting over coffee.
“Associate Song.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
“Anything special today?”
“I think I need to stop by the main branch of Mancheon Department Store.”
“For Carthibajak?”
“Yes. The sample photos for the spring spot inventory came in, so I was going to discuss the order with the manager. Her eye for products is better than mine.”
“Is that so? Hmm... Then will you go with Hyeonu?”
“With Hyeonu?”
“Hyeonu needs to start taking charge of affiliates one by one now, and I’m thinking of starting with Mancheon Apparel. Take him with you, introduce him to them, and then go around the department store together.”
“Yes, I’ll do that.”
Hyeonu asked.
“Um, but if I’m put in charge of an affiliate, can I push forward with projects related to that affiliate at my own discretion?”
“Why, are you trying to pull something off?”
“If I can.”
Yang Gyeonghun chuckled.
“Give it a try. But you need to be thorough with reports and approvals.”
“Understood, Team Leader.”
For a new hire who had only been there a month to carry out a project was something that made no sense, not only in a major corporation but even in a small or medium-sized company.
But no one objected or found it strange that Hyeonu was going to do it.
Because he had already shown his ability by actually handling matters far greater than a single project.
Rather than concern, there was only anticipation: “What will he show us this time?”
* * *
After parking the car in a parking space, Hyeonu and Song Gaeun got out.
Song Gaeun looked up at the building directly in front of them and said,
“This is Mancheon Apparel.”
Perhaps because it was a fashion company, it was a pretty building, three-dimensional and stylish in design.
“Let’s go in.”
It was a fairly large office, but most of the seats were empty.
“Huh? Where did everyone go?”
Just then, a deep male voice came from behind them.
“What brings you here, Associate Song?”
“Ah! Manager. Hello. A new employee joined us, so I came to introduce him.”
The man called manager turned his gaze to Hyeonu.
“Hello, I’m Kim Hyeonu.”
“Oh, right. Nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you.”
“I look forward to working with you as well.”
Song Gaeun asked,
“Where did everyone go?”
“They went to the product review.”
“Was today the product review day?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why are you here, Manager?”
“Assistant Manager Park went. In my place.”
[Why would I bother going? It’s obvious I’d just be wasting time.]
“All right. Then we’ll stop by the product review before leaving. Good luck.”
“Sure. Take care.”
“Take care.”
“Yeah. You too.”
Hyeonu asked Song Gaeun as she pressed the elevator button.
“Um, what’s a product review?”
“You can think of it as an event where they decide what clothes to make for that season, in what colors, and in what quantities. Since it’s winter now, the product review happening now is naturally targeting S/S, right?”
“What’s S/S?”
“Spring and summer.”
[I guess Hyeonu doesn’t know any of this. Well, he is a man. And he doesn’t seem interested in clothes either.]
Hyeonu truly knew nothing at all about this field.
But listening to Song Gaeun, he could tell how important an event a product review was.
Because the products to be sold that season would be decided through this event.
Hyeonu nodded as if he understood what she meant, then soon tilted his head.
“Why wouldn’t someone at the manager’s level attend such an important event?”
Song Gaeun answered with a gentle smile.
“Because it’s obvious. And product reviews are more important for planning and design than for production.”
“...”
He followed Song Gaeun into the product review hall.
In a fairly large space like an auditorium, several people who looked to be high-ranking were seated at a long table, and behind them, staff members holding diaries sat in a neat row on folding chairs.
In front of them stood two fitting models wearing black and brown jackets that were similar, but slightly different.
The man seated in the middle of the table tilted his head as he examined the fitting models, then opened his mouth.
“Could you turn around?”
When they turned, he tilted his head again.
“This isn’t very good.”
The woman seated at the end of the table responded.
“This is the style that’s in trend this year. Every overseas brand has something in this style, and I heard Black Mountain also took a sample in this style.”
“Really? Still, it’s not great...”
“If we just change the color, it’ll have a different feel.”
“Then we should have made the sample in that color.”
Suddenly, the man turned his head.
“Anyone who thinks this is okay, raise your hand.”
When his face came into view, his inner thoughts could be heard.
[If you’re going to copy something, at least copy something decent. What the hell is that?]
The employees seated on the folding chairs watched his reaction and hesitantly raised their hands.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.”
[There are quite a few, though.]
The man turned his head again, and his inner thoughts could no longer be heard.
“It’s in-between. Put it on hold for now. Next one.”
As the man said, the next product evaluation proceeded.
It was no different from just before.
Except that this one was fixed.
Once it was fixed, he asked how many pieces should be produced by size and color, and another man answered mechanically.
Having watched up to this point, Song Gaeun said,
“Since there’s a product evaluation today, it’s a bit awkward to introduce you. Let’s come another time.”
It really didn’t seem like the place to make introductions.
“Who was that person earlier? The one who looked back.”
“He’s the division head. Division Head Kim Songhak. He’s the one who practically oversees Mancheon Apparel.”
“Then what about the woman?”
“She’s the design director for Andy Miller.”
Andy Miller seemed to be the name of this brand.
“Let’s go, Hyeonu.”
Hyeonu, who turned around and walked after Song Gaeun, was quite shocked.
He had not known that decision-making and operations at a fashion brand could be handled in such a slapdash way.
On top of that, there was the attitude of the division head, which gave off an autocratic air, and the employees sitting there only as a formality.
He could not understand how a company like this had survived.
After leaving Mancheon Apparel, Hyeonu and Song Gaeun started the car toward Myeong-dong, where the main branch of Mancheon Department Store was located.
* * *
The main branch of Mancheon Department Store, towering in the center of Myeong-dong, gleamed golden in the sunlight.
With department store floors below and a hotel above, the main branch of Mancheon Department Store was the building that generated the highest sales in South Korea, and it was also located in the area with the highest real estate prices.
A woman in a luxurious silk gown held a cup of coffee as she looked down outside through the suite’s floor-to-ceiling windows.
Though she was past her mid-forties, she had a slim figure without an ounce of excess fat, and her skin was so clear and fine it seemed to glow.
The reason she had been able to maintain such youth at her age was thanks to a lifetime of receiving celebrity-level care, as well as the power of medicine.
Well, if one were being precise, both were really the power of money.
Her name was Min Jeongae.
She was the daughter of Min Yanghong, chairman of Mancheon Group, and the president of Mancheon Department Store.
Mancheon Department Store was a massive distribution and tourism affiliate that possessed department stores, marts, hotels, resorts, and more.
On the surface, it might seem less impactful than the affiliates held by the other children, but only people who knew nothing would say that.
Every business Mancheon Department Store operated was a cash cow with good margins and cash flow, and due to the nature of its businesses, it owned an enormous amount of real estate assets.
Min Jeongae spent most of her time in this suite, and she had her office here as well.
It wasn’t that she didn’t have a home.
She owned a mansion in Hannam-dong, where her husband, the director of Mancheon Hospital, and her two daughters lived.
Because she lived apart from her family like this, there were many rumors that her family relationships were poor, but that too was something said by people who knew nothing.
She made sure to spend enjoyable time with her family twice a week, and her marital relationship was full of affection.
It was simply that the work she did carried great weight, and she was the possessor of a free spirit that refused to be bound by anything.
Well, to be more honest, she was merely a woman who had money and power, and therefore lived exactly as she pleased, according to her temper.
Like any other daughter of a chaebol family.
After drinking her coffee, she pressed the intercom button.
[Yes, President. This is the secretarial office.]
“Send the girl up.”
[Yes, President.]
When she came out after taking a shower, a woman in her twenties who had not been there earlier had entered and was sitting on the sofa.
She was the dedicated artist who did Min Jeongae’s hair and makeup.
“Come in.”
[Yes, President.]
The woman followed her into the inner room with quick little steps.
She was receiving her makeup when the phone rang.
“Could you turn on the phone?”
“Yes, President.”
The woman pressed the speakerphone button on the phone by the bed.
“Yes.”
[Good morning, President. This is Chief Kwon.]
It was the chief secretary.
[A report just came in from the PR office. They say Jeong Inyeong caused an incident at dawn.]
“Jeong Inyeong? Our department store’s advertising model?”
[Yes. She crashed into a streetlight while driving under the influence, and it seems drugs were even found inside the car. Before it hits the media, Jeong Inyeong’s agency is asking us to use another model...]
“Enough. Tell them to get rid of her.”
[Then I will instruct the PR office to urgently arrange a replacement model through another agency.]
“...”
[Do you happen to have any separate instructions...]
“...Crush that bitch properly. Make sure she never appears before my eyes again. Filthy insect of a woman. I told her over and over to mind her dignity...”
[Yes, President.]
“And get Lee Suyeon.”
A short while later, the bell rang.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and the PR director entered, drenched in nervous sweat.
“Um, they say Lee Suyeon won’t work.”
A wrinkle formed on Min Jeongae’s fair forehead.
“What did you say?”
“L-Lee Suyeon herself says she absolutely won’t do it.”
Min Jeongae spoke with cold eyes.
“Absolutely?”
“Yes.”
“That crazy bitch... Bring that bitch in no matter what and take the photos.”
“No, the thing is...”
“Don’t make me say it twice. The back of my head is starting to throb.”
“U-understood.”
As the PR director turned and hurried out, the back of his head truly did begin to throb.