Episode 40. Witch 2.
The light changed at the intersection, and Hyeonu quietly looked up at the golden main branch of Mancheon Department Store across the street.
Hyeonu’s heart, usually calm no matter the situation, suddenly surged with emotion.
It was because a bad memory from a department store had abruptly come to mind.
Noticing that Hyeonu’s mood seemed different from usual, Song Ga-eun asked,
“What are you thinking about?”
“······My mother.”
“Your mother? Does she go to department stores often?”
“······She used to. Oh! The light changed.”
Hyeonu was always composed, but Song Ga-eun thought the calmness she had just seen on his face somehow felt different.
Should she call it complicated? It felt a little sad.
She had told him about today’s outside assignment on the way.
Cartibajac was a new overseas luxury brand, and Song Ga-eun said it had been brought in last year after she proposed it.
The result was in the lower-middle range of average sales for the luxury hall.
Since it had only been operating for six months, it was not enough to despair over, but she seemed to feel a lot of regret that it had not hit big at launch.
Still, it had not been long since the launch, so for now it was half regret, half expectation.
In any case, perhaps because it was a project she had pushed forward herself, Song Ga-eun had an enormous attachment to this brand.
The reason they had come here today was to discuss with the store manager the order for next year’s spring product spot models, models planned in haste after gauging the situation.
It was because she thought the staff on-site would know best which models would sell well, and that the store manager also had a better eye for clothes.
He entered the luxury hall with Song Ga-eun.
After walking for a moment across the simple yet luxurious floor, the Cartibajac store appeared.
The employee who saw Song Ga-eun approached with quick little steps, arms spread wide.
Song Ga-eun also spread her arms like her and hurried over in small steps; the two hugged each other and stamped their feet.
“Oh my, Assistant Manager. I missed you.”
“It must be so hard for you, Manager. I should come by more often, but I’ve been too busy.”
When the store manager’s gaze turned to Hyeonu, Song Ga-eun introduced him.
“This is Kim Hyeonu, who just joined our team.”
“Hello. I’m Na Hyeri.”
“She’s the manager who’s been here since launch, like family.”
“How do you do. I’m Kim Hyeonu. I look forward to working with you.”
The manager smiled softly and bowed her head, then turned back to Song Ga-eun.
“You said the spring spot samples were out?”
“Since they’re spot items, there are no samples, just images. Let’s look at them together and talk first.”
They went to the desk and turned on the laptop.
While it was booting up, Song Ga-eun asked,
“How are customers reacting these days?”
“Everyone says the products are good. Especially the clothing more than the accessories. But since the brand still has no recognition, it seems only people who know it come looking. I think that’s also why the clothing sells better than the accessories. You know how it is. With accessories like bags, people like them when they have a brand logo everyone recognizes.”
The brand recognition really had not risen at all.
They had advertised in fashion magazines every month and done celebrity marketing, but far too few people knew the brand.
It felt as if it would only take one round of word-of-mouth, but things seemed as though they might work out and then did not, leaving her heart burning with frustration.
“Right. So I thought we might try openly promoting it through power bloggers and YouTubers, and I submitted it for approval for now.”
“I really hope it catches on through that, at least. I’ve only worked in the luxury hall, so I think I have some sense for this, and our brand will really explode once people know about it.”
“I think so too. If only people really knew about it······.”
“When a new brand enters the store, the department store PR office usually gives it a push at least once, but we didn’t even get that······.”
“I’m sorry, Manager. I’ll talk to the PR office again.”
[I’m so annoyed. Seriously. We just entered as a new brand, and we couldn’t even get one promotional push, let alone an event. When we launched, Gucci made a fuss saying they were doing theirs, and last time Chanel cut in and we got pushed back. Haa······ I’m upset.]
“Why are you sorry? I saw with my own eyes that you did your best, Assistant Manager. I only said it because I’m upset.”
Cartibajac, the fledgling overseas luxury brand that Song Ga-eun was pushing with all her might.
There was nothing in their conversation that differed between what they said aloud and what they thought inside.
If the manager’s words about having a decent eye for products were true, it was a brand that would become a huge hit once word-of-mouth spread.
And if Song Ga-eun’s words were true, it was also a brand that had much to regret in terms of promotion due to the lack of support from the department store PR office.
Hyeonu was calmer and quicker-witted than anyone, but for now, he had no particular solution.
He knew too little about fashion and had yet to get a feel for it.
The laptop turned on, and they opened the file, then began discussing how this product was good, that one would be hard to sell, and this one would be good as the main item.
To Hyeonu, it seemed as though they were saying that about clothes that all looked the same.
Like when people of another race all seemed to look alike.
In any case, it was all very unfamiliar to Hyeonu, but he listened attentively.
Mancheon Apparel······.
He was beginning to take an interest because the affiliate he would be in charge of in the future was also a fashion company.
Then, over their shoulders, he suddenly noticed a middle-aged woman walking toward the store.
A woman who looked quite well-off.
And on one side, a man with a slim but solid build who looked like he could throw down was following her, while on the other was a pretty young woman.
What is this? The madam of a major corporation?
He had often heard that when a woman like that entered a store, she would buy goods worth several million won at a time.
He quietly spoke into the manager’s ear.
“Um, I think a customer is coming.”
At Hyeonu’s words, the manager and Song Ga-eun raised their heads, saw the middle-aged woman, and were startled.
“Oh my! H-hello.”
The middle-aged woman looked at the manager, shifted her gaze to Hyeonu, and then stopped on Song Ga-eun.
With her arms crossed, she scanned her up and down in an awkwardly blatant way and asked,
“Who are you?”
“I’m the person in charge of Cartibajac.”
“Mancheon Corporation?”
“Yes.”
Hyeonu realized that this sudden middle-aged woman was Min Jeong-ae, the president of Mancheon Department Store.
It was because he had heard Song Ga-eun and the manager’s inner thoughts.
Min Jeong-ae moved her feet and slowly looked over the displayed clothes, while the woman who appeared to be something like her executive assistant followed her with quick little steps.
Like a private who had been told, “If you get more than one meter away from me, you’re dead.”
The manager and Song Ga-eun stared at her with bewildered faces, tense.
In the somehow suffocating atmosphere, Min Jeong-ae finally opened her mouth.
“Tell her to wear this.”
The executive assistant pointed at the manager and asked,
“Her?”
“No, her.”
The executive assistant came hurrying over in little steps with the clothes to Song Ga-eun, who had been abruptly singled out and was startled.
“Would you try this on?”
As Song Ga-eun took the clothes in confusion, Min Jeong-ae’s voice rang out again.
“That shirt. Those shoes. For the bottom, hmm······ go with that.”
The executive assistant, who had run back with quick little steps, asked.
She had not seen what Min Jeong-ae had pointed at.
“This one?”
“Are you going to make me say it twice?”
“I’m sorry, President.”
At that moment, the manager rushed over and picked up the garment Min Jeong-ae had indicated.
“It was this one, right?”
“No. The black skirt with the frills next to it.”
“Understood, President.”
Song Ga-eun, still bewildered, was pushed by the manager into the fitting room.
When Song Ga-eun came out after changing, even the unflappable Hyeonu was startled.
She was so beautiful.
Min Jeong-ae, arms crossed and face haughty, looked her over and opened her mouth.
But once again, she spoke to the executive assistant.
“Tell her to let her hair down. And bring that bag over there.”
The manager quickly went to get the bag, and the executive assistant said to Song Ga-eun,
“Would you let your hair down?”
Song Ga-eun hesitantly let her hair down, and by the time she had finished, the bag the manager had gone to retrieve had arrived as well.
Hyeonu found this situation somehow amusing.
They had begun moving in a strangely systematic way.
Like the military.
The feeling was, if one person screws up, everyone dies.
Was this what they called charisma?
After looking her over once more, Min Jeong-ae turned around.
“Tell her to follow me.”
“Would you come with us?”
“Pardon?”
“Are you going to keep saying ‘pardon, pardon’ and make me repeat myself? I said follow me.”
At last, she spoke to Song Ga-eun for the first time.
It seemed she truly hated saying things twice.
Song Ga-eun looked at Hyeonu with a helpless expression.
Her eyes seemed to be asking, What should I do?
“Let’s go, Supervisor. It doesn’t seem like anything bad.”
Song Ga-eun grabbed Hyeonu’s arm.
“Come with me, Mr. Hyeonu.”
Perhaps because she had dressed up, she looked so pretty that 99.99 percent of men would have felt their hearts skip a beat, but Hyeonu had no such reaction.
Hyeonu’s heart was always as still and clear as a polished mirror.
When they got into the elevator, Min Jeong-ae looked at Hyeonu as if to say, “And what are you?”
Fortunately, she said nothing, so he simply rode up with them.
In any case, as he followed Min Jeong-ae this far, Hyeonu witnessed quite the amusing sight.
Every person they passed hurriedly retreated to one side of the wall as if repelled by some telekinetic force, then bowed at a perfect ninety degrees.
She was so different from President No Hyeon-cheol that he thought even presidents came in all kinds.
In front of the hotel suite, Min Jeong-ae’s personal makeup artist was waiting.
As she entered the room, Min Jeong-ae said,
“Do something with her.”
“Yes, President.”
Watching Song Ga-eun follow the artist into the inner room with a stiff expression, Min Jeong-ae walked over to the sofa, crossed her legs, and sat down.
Hyeonu was about to sit as well when she opened her mouth with an expressionless face.
“Hey.”
[Who said you could sit down?]
“May I sit?”
“No.”
“······.”
“Are you in the same department as her?”
“Yes.”
“Then you must know her well.”
“I believe I know her to some extent.”
“What is her usual conduct like?”
[No matter how pretty her face is, I won’t accept a girl who acts cheap. Like Jeong In-yeong.]
Who was Jeong In-yeong?
He didn’t know who she was, but it seemed she was comparing her to Song Ga-eun. In that case······.
“She’s polite, diligent, and smiles often. Her demeanor is modest as well.”
The modest part was a lie.
Rather than modest, Song Ga-eun was sociable, lively, and often hot-tempered.
The word “modest” itself was rather old-fashioned, but since this was the president of Mancheon Department Store, he thought there was no harm in making a good impression, so he gave the answer she wanted.
“Hmm······.”
[For now, she passes. Her face and figure are good enough to use as a model for Mancheon Department Store too.]
What, she was planning to use Song Ga-eun as a model for Mancheon Department Store?
Song Ga-eun was going to become Mancheon Department Store’s image model?
Hyeonu’s mind began working quickly.
If Song Ga-eun became Mancheon Department Store’s model······.
There was nothing bad about it for her.
She would receive quite a lot in modeling fees, and then she could buy the beef she had been wanting to eat so badly.
If she was lucky, she might even enter the entertainment industry.
Still, the thought of Song Ga-eun leaving the office made him feel a little strange for some reason.
Min Jeong-ae asked again.
“What about her relationships with men?”
[No matter how perfect she is, I absolutely hate bitches who are messy with men. Girls like that always end up causing trouble because of men.]
“There are many men around her who are interested in her, but she seems to have no interest in men at all. From what I’ve heard, her parents are strict, so she has to be home before nine no matter what.”
The corners of her mouth rose slightly.
[Fortunately, she doesn’t seem loose. She seems to have been raised well too. Well, she was born with a gem like that and still walks around without a bit of makeup. Her sense of style, too. She probably doesn’t even know how much she’s worth. In any case, that settles it. Perfect. There’s no one more suited to be the face of Mancheon Department Store. Lee Su-yeon? Tell her to get lost.]
Just then, Song Ga-eun came out from the inner room.
Hyeonu was startled once again.
Song Ga-eun’s face had completely transformed.
Min Jeong-ae looked Song Ga-eun, who was standing there awkwardly, up and down before opening her mouth.
But again, she spoke to her executive secretary.
“Tell her to turn around.”
“Um, turn······.”
Now, before the executive secretary could even say it, Song Ga-eun turned around on her own.
“Face forward again.”
She turned back around.
“Smile.”
Song Ga-eun smiled awkwardly.
“Widely.”
From that awkward smile, she merely opened her mouth wider.
“Hmm, her gums don’t show when she smiles. I absolutely hate girls whose gums show too much. They somehow look horse-faced.”
At the word “horse-faced,” Song Ga-eun flinched.
It seemed to hit a nerve.
Min Jeong-ae lifted her chin, looked down at Song Ga-eun for a while, and opened her mouth again.
“But this won’t do. She’s too tacky.”
“Pardon?”
“Her face is decent, and her figure is good, but somehow she looks like she has nothing. There’s a strange air of poverty about her too.”
[As expected, there’s no one but Lee Su-yeon.]
Song Ga-eun’s jaw dropped, and she looked as if her soul had left her body.
“That’s enough, so tell her to go in and change back.”
Hyeonu grew tense.
He remembered Song Ga-eun from the old horse-head incident.
Thinking he had to do something, he approached Song Ga-eun, but she lowered her head.
“······Yes, President.”
Song Ga-eun walked away without a word.
Min Jeong-ae did not even glance at Song Ga-eun as she walked away with her shoulders drooping.
Hyeonu truly wondered what this was.
It was something incomprehensible by ordinary common sense, something like······.
A word suddenly came to mind.
Nobility.
It felt as if she had come from living in the Middle Ages.
And yet this person was Min Yang-hong’s daughter, Kim Byeong-jun’s half-sister, and the president of Mancheon Department Store.
So conglomerates could run even like this······.
The door opened, and Song Ga-eun came out and stood beside Hyeonu.
“Tell them they worked hard and can leave.”
The executive secretary no longer spoke either.
Knowing that Hyeonu and Song Ga-eun had adapted to Min Jeong-ae, she simply spoke with her eyes.
They bowed to Min Jeong-ae, who sat haughtily with her legs crossed, and quietly left.
After leaving Min Jeong-ae’s room and walking a few steps, Song Ga-eun finally opened her mouth.
“Wow— isn’t that woman seriously crazy?”
Agreed.
“What was that out of nowhere? Calling over a busy person like that. If she weren’t the president, wow—”
It wasn’t exactly a good thing, but for some reason, Hyeonu felt like laughing.
“You held back well, Supervisor.”
“I had to. What else could I do? She’s the president of Mancheon Department Store. Imagine if I got on her bad side by mistake. She might even tell us to pull our store out.”
[I really want to make this work. Cartibajac.]
“······.”
“Sigh— Anyway, I thought I might get a modeling fee and treat myself to beef for once. What a shame.”
After walking a few steps in silence, Song Ga-eun opened her mouth again.
“But do I really look like I have nothing going for me? Do I look poor?”
Unlike usual, she asked somewhat cautiously.
She was already pretty as she was, but with makeup on, she had been truly beautiful.
“I don’t know.”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t know what it means to look like you have nothing going for you. But you’re pretty.”
Song Ga-eun smiled brightly.
“Right? I am pretty, aren’t I?”
So she did know she was pretty.
I thought she had no idea.
When I arrived at the elevator, the doors happened to open, and someone walked out with a phone pressed to their ear.
“What happened? (······) What happened to Lee Suyeon? (······) Damn it, what’s wrong with her? Does she want to see me dead?”
[Lee Suyeon is like this, the witch is like this—what the hell is going on? I’m the only one caught in the middle. Please, someone show up and help me. I’ll seriously grant you a wish or something. Before I really quit being head of PR, damn it.]