Shopping (3)
Shopping (3)
The place the department store employees led us to
was a quiet floor with hardly any sign of people.
Calm classical music played in the background,
and the space felt not only luxurious but also warm and cozy
thanks to the indirect lighting.
I spotted plush sofas — should I say it felt like our living room?
Anyway, just moments ago we'd been wading through bustling crowds,
so what was this place with so few people?
Even the ones here were mostly employees in suits walking around.
There were only about two people who looked like customers.
Earlier they'd mentioned something about a lounge,
but this felt different from the airport lounges I'd seen online.
While I was looking around like a country bumpkin,
A-ra moved as if she were in her own house, completely at ease.
"Oh..."
Going further inside, we arrived at an area that gave off a strong café vibe.
At the counter, one handsome guy was wiping the moisture off cups,
and the place was filled with the savory scent of coffee beans and the tangy aroma of fruit.
Led by A-ra's hand, I sat down by the window.
A-ra, sitting across from me, was grinning from ear to ear,
looking pleased about something.
"What would you like to order?"
Another employee approached and asked us to choose our drinks,
so A-ra picked a coffee, and I chose a fresh fruit juice.
They apparently didn't charge separately for it.
"Noona, so where exactly is this?"
"Here? It's the VIP lounge."
The answer that came from A-ra's mouth couldn't help but be surprising.
So VIP lounges in department stores really did exist.
I'd seen them in dramas before — on days the department store was closed,
they'd invite VIP customers and let only those people shop inside the store.
Something like that, I'd thought.
"VIPs walk around on their own, but VVIPs have things brought to the lounge to look at, choose, and buy."
"Th-those VIP tiers are based on spending performance, right?"
"That's right."
A-ra nodded as if it were obvious and sipped her coffee.
Well, considering A-ra's idol activities, concerts, appearance fees, music royalties, CFs, Qtube, and all that
coming in every month, the income was an astronomical figure.
Add to that dividends rivaling those of major corporation presidents,
and the revenue from buildings in Cheongdam-dong, Daechi-dong, and Jongno...
Ugh... my head was starting to hurt.
Even if she spent 100 million won every time she bought clothes, I wasn't sure it would even be noticeable.
While we were talking,
the employee who had come directly to us earlier walked over.
"Ma'am, thank you for visiting our branch again today."
"I always come here."
"The items you've purchased so far have been placed in the trunk of your vehicle."
"Did they all fit?"
"Yes. Should you wish to purchase any additional items,
we will deliver them to your residence on the same day."
"That's good to hear."
A-ra nodded, satisfied.
Well, I didn't know exactly how much she'd loaded up, but she'd bought a fair amount at the luxury shops,
so they ought to do at least this much.
Just then, A-ra's eyes lit up as if she'd remembered something.
"Oh, right, store manager, please recommend an outer garment for my husband."
"We've already prepared for that. Would you like to see them now?"
"Yes, please show me right away."
When A-ra nodded,
several employees wheeled entire clothing racks over to us.
Quite a lot of nice-looking clothes were hung on them,
and they took them down one by one to show A-ra.
"That one's not bad."
The first top that A-ra said was decent
was an outer garment with an overall cozy feel.
And in the consultation that followed,
A-ra apparently liked a total of four outfits,
so she pulled a card from her wallet.
"And I'd also like to look at some watches, if I may."
"For watches, it would be best if you saw them in person, so I'll guide you to the boutique."
Since A-ra stood up at the manager's words,
I stood up too.
But what kind of watch was she buying, anyway?
***
"A man ought to have at least one watch."
"You can just check the time on your phone, though?"
"Seong-hwan-a, a person needs to know how to indulge a little greed sometimes."
A-ra, who had been holding the action cam in her hand,
shifted it to her other hand
and stroked my head.
It really was a bit embarrassing when we were outside.
"That aside, how much did you spend in total today?"
"Who knows? I didn't add it up, so I don't know."
She must have spent at least 5 to 10 million, hadn't she?
Even things like sweatshirts and hoodies were from
extremely famous luxury brands.
Plus she'd bought belts and all sorts of miscellaneous things,
so she probably spent around 10 million.
It was an outrageous amount.
An amount you'd have to grind for six months at a convenience store to earn,
spent in a single day...
"Noona, if there's something you want to buy, let's go get it."
"Really? I can buy it?"
"...? It's your money, noona."
"Th-this kind of thing, a person is supposed to get their husband's permission before buying, right?"
Was there ever anyone this adorable.
I was sure I'd told her before that she could discuss it with me and buy whatever she liked,
but it seemed she'd been holding back the whole time.
"What do you want to buy? Show me."
A-ra pulled out her phone with the hand that had been stroking my head,
and showed me an image.
In it was the car A-ra had wanted to buy for a while,
one that looked broad and cute.
Unlike typical sports cars, it didn't look sleek,
but for some reason the design suited the blue color incredibly well.
The license plate was also mounted off to one side...
"What's this called?"
"It's a car called the Bugatti Chiron... you don't know it?"
"Ah, so this is a Bugatti."
Since we'd left the car with the valet earlier,
it was waiting outside with the engine already running.
I was a little surprised when an employee opened the door for me,
but I thanked them, got into the car, and fastened my seatbelt.
I handed my phone to A-ra, who had gotten into the driver's seat.
Well, if A-ra wanted to buy one, one car was no big deal.
"This is a car where the blue one looks pretty, right?"
"Yeah! Noona likes the blue one too."
"I think the blue looks pretty too. Are we going to go see it today?"
"Bugatti doesn't have a dealership in Korea, so we can't."
How were you supposed to buy it if there was no dealership?
Were you supposed to go to the website and order it directly or something?
That was kind of funny in its own way.
"But is this really a supercar?"
"Huh? It's not a supercar."
"Then what is it?"
"It's called a hypercar."
It wasn't some Monster Ball or whatever — was there actually a difference?
I nearly let out a chuckle for a moment,
but since A-ra was serious about cars, I held it in.
If I laughed now, I might end up seeing A-ra get angry for the second time in our married life
today.
For reference, the first time was the convenience store incident.
"S-so, noona, you're buying this?"
"Yes, I'm curious what the actual car will be like."
And with that, our first department store shopping trip came to an end.
For reference, this wasn't the end of it.
Apparently the watches carried at New World Department Store weren't to her liking,
so we were planning to go to a watch boutique in Apgujeong.
Were watches really that important?
In the end, we bought the watch and everything else before returning home.
Personally, I thought something cheap like an OST watch was fine too,
but they say a person's first impression starts with their appearance and what they're wearing,
so she ended up buying another expensive one.
This particular item had no stock available right away,
so it was apparently going to take a little while.
Well, it wasn't my wish for A-ra to lose face
because I dressed shabbily either.
Since it had come to this, I'd have to become A-ra's mannequin.
***
"What the... what is this..."
The day after I filmed myself wearing the clothes A-ra had bought me and uploaded the video,
I logged onto the community site to check the reactions, and
this time it wasn't about food — the video comments and community boards were exploding over my clothes.
The hot topic this time was information that people had spotted me and A-ra at New World Department Store,
and they'd looked up and posted everything: the top I was wearing, the pants, the belt, and even the wedding ring.
[Story of spotting Song A-ra and Yoo Seong-hwan at New World Department Store]
[Prices of the clothes Yoo Seong-hwan wore in the latest uploaded video, jpg]
[Things you could buy for the price of the clothes Yoo Seong-hwan wore]
They'd even posted comparison threads — you could call these humor posts.
Even the titles looked interesting to me, the person involved,
so my hand moved to click on them automatically.
Just how much were they worth?
I'd been dying of curiosity since yesterday, but I'd held back.
I clicked on the real-time best posts one by one and read through them.
"Oh... five million won... seven million won...?"
It seemed I hadn't bought clothes, but a refrigerator or a TV.
If that weren't the case, there was no way those prices could come out.
Was there maybe some event going on where you got electronics if you bought clothes?
Nah, no way — those clothes cost that much all together?
Maybe they'd confused the clothes with something else?
Since they'd also posted links to the retailers, I clicked on one to check.
I tensed up for a moment and swallowed dryly.
As I scrolled down the screen, I checked the product description and the price.
"It's real..."
Surely not all the things I'd bought
were in that price range, right?
I wanted to believe they weren't.
I'd gone along with A-ra's spending like water, so I didn't even remember how much I'd bought,
but it had to be at least twenty pieces, hadn't it?
The sweatshirts and hoodies alone definitely numbered over ten.
And the outerwear bought at the VIP lounge alone was four pieces.
But it was only after hearing the prices of the clothes that I realized:
I'd already had the thought, 'Well, I suppose they'd cost about that much,'
before I even knew it.
And on top of that, it wasn't a particularly unpleasant feeling either.
Should I say my pride rose because I was wearing expensive clothes?
And these were, no less, clothes bought by a department store VVIP.
There was no way they'd be luxury items in the 500,000-won range per piece.
What was surprising now wasn't the price,
but that such expensive clothes were more understated than I'd expected.
To people who didn't know luxury brands well,
they'd just think, 'Oh, he dresses well and wears nice things,' that sort of level?
Because until just moments ago, even I had been thinking that way.
I headed to the master bedroom and into the dressing room.
My clothing section, which had been completely empty until recently,
was now packed full of clothes that looked expensive to anyone.
"Haa..."
I let out a sigh at the sight.
What was I supposed to wear to school?
They say humans are creatures of adaptation,
and it seemed I had already adapted.