Do You Think You Can Buy Us With Money?
The group name Jeong-Hoon had chosen—Aurora—already belonged to a clothing company in Florence, Italy.
It was a firm steeped in seventy years of artisan tradition, and to claim that name, Jeong-Hoon had gone so far as to fly all the way to Italy.
The reason a man founding a Korean enterprise would cross the continent was simple: the family's businesses were never meant to be confined to Korea. They were global companies that faced the entire world.
Aurora was not an especially large house, but it possessed a quiet legion of devoted fans. That alone meant Jeong-Hoon had to appear in person, seek their understanding, and demonstrate genuine sincerity in persuasion.
Yet the moment Jeong-Hoon—operator of world-class hotels—set foot in Florence, the entire global fashion industry plunged into turmoil. Florence itself became the eye of the storm.
"Thank you for visiting our Aurora. Do our products please the Chairman?"
Startled by the sudden visit, the representative of Aurora still managed to suppress the tremor in his voice and speak with careful courtesy.
Lumen's duty-free shops were a fantasy realm open only to chosen brands. Labels that ordinarily selected their own customers could not even dream of entry without Lumen's invitation. That was how absolute the prestige was.
And now the man who ruled that untouchable domain had come to a modest clothing house, no matter how many hidden admirers it boasted. The representative could not stop shaking.
A single placement inside Lumen would elevate them overnight to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the world's greatest brands.
"Mm. I do have considerable interest in Aurora's products, but I've come today on other business."
Jeong-Hoon spoke neither Italian nor English, yet he needed no interpretation from Butler Joo. The previous trip to America had been too abrupt for preparation, but this time he wore a family-made simultaneous translator that clipped to the ear. Conversation flowed without the slightest hitch. The only drawback was a faint mechanical edge that colored his voice in the listener's ear.
"If not our products, then what...?"
"I'll be direct. I wish to purchase the company name Aurora."
"You want the company itself?"
Unable to grasp the true meaning at first, the Aurora representative's mind raced. Could the Chairman of Lumen be such a devoted fan that he desired the Aurora brand itself?
"This company has been a house of craftsmen creating their own products since the founder's day. Even the Chairman of Lumen cannot buy it. That is our pride."
"No. I don't want the company. I want the trade name. I wish to use the name Aurora."
Bang!
"Aurora is the name we have protected for seventy years. Do you think we would sell it?"
The moment Jeong-Hoon calmly declared he would take the name, the Aurora representative slammed the table in fury even with Jeong-Hoon sitting right in front of him.
Whatever Lumen intended, Aurora was their treasured trade name and brand. It was not something they would ever surrender.
"Of course I wouldn't ask for it empty-handed. Let's see... would one hundred million dollars suffice?"
"..."
Not won—dollars. More than a hundred billion won. At that figure the representative wavered for an instant. The sum dwarfed several years of Aurora's entire revenue; temptation was inevitable.
"Even if you name any sum—!"
"I'll add another hundred million, making it two hundred million dollars. After you change to a new company name, you will be eligible for placement in Lumen duty-free shops. And for five years I will charge no entry fees."
"...Placement in every Lumen branch worldwide?"
Conditions dizzying enough to make the eyes spin spilled out; the Aurora representative found himself asking before he could stop.
How could he thunder, Do you think you can buy us with money?! and refuse when the offer was this good?
"Every brand that enters Lumen enters every branch in the world. All locations are equal."
"Then please take good care of us from now on, Chairman—Erebos!"
In the blink of an eye the company name was swapped. At the words of the former Aurora, now Erebos, representative, Jeong-Hoon nodded in satisfaction. Achieving his goal the moment he arrived left him thoroughly pleased.
Long before Jeong-Hoon even boarded the plane for Italy, work to establish the group under the name Aurora had already begun in Korea. The negotiation had been unwinnable for the other side from the start.
Thus the schedule was already set: the moment Jeong-Hoon returned, they would announce that a single group had been born. The family's vassals were pouring every effort into the final stages of incorporation.
The reason only Jeong-Hoon and Butler Joo had come to Italy was precisely to leave no room for error in that finishing work.
"It'll take longer than expected? I thought everything was ready."
"The people we must invite say they are busy."
Jeong-Hoon, who had planned to return to Korea the instant the deal closed, frowned slightly at Butler Joo's report. He had deliberately chosen Incheon International Airport for maximum dramatic impact when announcing the group's formation. Now the entire timetable was tangled.
"Ah... then what should we do? Change the venue and announce at Lumen?"
"There is no need for that. Simply enjoy a brief vacation here until they can free their schedules."
"A vacation? In this situation?"
"Precisely because of this situation, rest is necessary. You were unable to enjoy sightseeing in America last time. Why not take the chance now? We are in Europe, after all."
Jeong-Hoon fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Well, a European trip was on my bucket list. I suppose I can check off at least part of it."
Florence, called the cradle of the Renaissance, was a city so thoroughly a cultural heritage site that tourism was its very identity. Jeong-Hoon nodded again.
"So what are the famous sights here?"
"...The entire city is a famous sight. Drive around and stop wherever catches your eye."
Thinking that sounded almost absurd, Jeong-Hoon turned his head—and his gaze locked onto a massive dome that filled his vision.
"Then let's start there. Can we climb that?"
"That is the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, called the largest dome in the world. Reservations are required, but yes, one may ascend."
"Is that so? Then tomorrow for that one... Butler Joo?"
Just as Jeong-Hoon began looking for another course at the mention of reservations, he froze: Butler Joo had already raised his phone and was dialing somewhere.
"They say you may go up now. Shall we?"
"...Why do we always end up using good power for things like this?"
"Because power exists precisely to be used for things like this."
When Butler Joo wore an expression that asked what possible problem there could be—after all, every scrap of influence the family had built was for the Gaju alone—Jeong-Hoon could only shake his head in resignation.
On the first day they toured the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. On the second they visited the museum of a world-famous fashion house headquartered in Florence. Now Jeong-Hoon was enjoying a meal at the restaurant beside that museum.
"Hmm. After this, where should we go next?"
"Today is not the only day. You may return to the lodging and rest if you wish."
"The schedule may not matter, but I'd like to finish Florence quickly so we can see other regions too."
By the second day a genuine hunger for sightseeing had taken root. When Jeong-Hoon voiced the thought, Butler Joo nodded and rapidly calculated routes. If the Gaju desired it, a city as compact as Florence could be thoroughly covered in a single day.
"Pardon the interruption, Chairman Lee Jeong-Hoon. Might I trouble you for a moment of your time?"
Just as Jeong-Hoon was about to leave Butler Joo to plan while he savored the meal, a middle-aged gentleman in a tailored suit approached and greeted him. Jeong-Hoon set down his fork and knife.
"Yes? What is it?"
Anyone wearing a multi-million-won luxury suit was surely a businessman; Jeong-Hoon nodded.
"Nothing of great import. You visited our museum today, and I felt it would be discourteous to send you away empty-handed. I have prepared a small souvenir."
The gentleman offered a business card with a smile. Jeong-Hoon looked awkward. The earpiece handled conversation, but he could not read Italian.
"Butler Joo..."
"Oh? You are a director of the brand that operates the museum. A pleasure to meet you. Here is our Chairman's card."
Butler Joo accepted the card on Jeong-Hoon's behalf and offered one in return. The man received it with a smile and a nod.
"We prepared them in haste, so I cannot be certain they suit the Chairman, but they should make excellent gifts."
People following him presented several shopping bags. Jeong-Hoon nodded with an awkward expression and briefly switched off the translator.
"Butler Joo, is it all right to accept these gratefully?"
"Had the Chairman visited the museum and left empty-handed, they would have been the ones at a loss. It is better to accept."
Though called souvenirs, the gifts were clearly for brand-image management; there was no need to refuse. Jeong-Hoon accepted them readily.
"Huh? But most of these are handbags."
As a man, he had little use for handbags. He looked at the director who had given them, yet the man only smiled more brightly.
"A gentleman of the Chairman's standing must have no shortage of charming young ladies to whom he might give gifts, no?"
"..."
He had thought the man merely a polished middle-aged executive of a global clothing house. Hearing such words left Jeong-Hoon with an awkward smile. He felt he had just experienced Italian culture of the sort one usually only read about on the internet.
After the encounter with the fashion-brand director, Jeong-Hoon finished sightseeing in Florence and, at Butler Joo's suggestion, moved to Rome, the capital of Italy.
However luxurious the lodging prepared for Jeong-Hoon's stay, the Florence accommodations still fell short of Lumen's standard. Therefore the butler recommended shifting their base to Lumen's Rome branch before continuing the Roman tour.
Even though he was abroad, arriving at a Lumen somehow felt like coming home; Jeong-Hoon found the change deeply satisfying.
"Was this place always this small?"
"It is certainly humble compared to the rooms the Gaju currently uses. It is my failure for not having ordered dedicated suites for the Gaju prepared at every branch."
The top floor of the Seoul flagship served as the family's headquarters and was reserved exclusively for them, but originally those uppermost floors throughout Lumen were meant for guests who truly deserved the highest treatment. Returning to a royal suite after so long, Jeong-Hoon shook his head at how much smaller it seemed than the scale in his memory.
"No, I've simply grown used to something else. Please don't force unnecessary changes that would hinder operations."
Wondering why he had even bothered entering the royal suite for nostalgia's sake, Jeong-Hoon turned his gaze to the mountain of letters piled on the table before the sofa.
"So... what are all these?"
"Invitations from European companies that learned the Gaju is currently visiting Italy."
Jeong-Hoon had never imagined he would be greeted by such a deluge the moment he stepped into Lumen; he stuck out his tongue in disbelief.
Perhaps because he had visited Florence, a rumor had spread that the Chairman of Lumen was scouting new tenants for the duty-free shops. And Italy was overflowing with luxuries that cost eye-watering sums. Consequently, firms eager to host a visit from Jeong-Hoon—already a world-class tycoon by the wealth he openly displayed—had stacked up like a mountain.
"I was under the impression I was on vacation."
"If you wish, every invitation can be declined."
"...Mmm. Please select the places worth visiting. As a businessman, the only product I sell is the brand called me. I ought to do at least this much."
Though he was Chairman, Jeong-Hoon neither set the direction of business nor launched new projects himself. A sense of duty surged that he should at least handle matters such as these.