A Thick Envelope
"Uh..."
Kim Taeyoung was flustered, which almost never happened. Ten years as a salesman had made him very good at managing his face, and still Kwon Ayoung's thanks caught him off guard—too sudden, and far too sincere.
"All right. I'll take the feeling. Thanks for telling me."
Old instincts didn't vanish just because he'd been thrown. He pulled himself together at once. The fallout from that business seemed bigger than he'd thought. All he had done was throw his weight around once, properly, to save the people he'd worked beside—one clean piece of gabjil. Being thanked for it, though, didn't feel bad.
"Of course. Please enjoy your time."
With that, Kwon Ayoung settled her professional expression back into place, bowed with perfect courtesy, and returned to where she belonged.
"No way. Oppa, you were the department-store gabjil guy?"
Once Kwon Ayoung was gone and Su Yeoning had heard the story, she clapped a hand over her mouth. The incident had blown up larger than anyone expected, mostly because someone had tipped off a current-affairs show with a decent audience. Namsan Department Store had moved fast, disciplining Baek Yuhyeon and handing him over to a police investigation, and the victims had been helped quickly. The other side of that coin was that Kim Taeyoung's details had spread. His face never made the broadcast, but his name and age traveled through the internet communities all the same: ten-year manager in the luxury hall, Kim Taeyoung, thirty. Anyone who actually knew him could have put it together. For a while the phone hardly stopped, even old classmates he hadn't heard from in years. After about three days the interest seemed to burn out, and the calls stopped coming.
"You knew about it too?"
"Yes. I saw the Shorts. The man who pulled gabjil to save an employee from being groped. I never imagined that was you, oppa..."
"Ahem. Do I look greater now? More impressive?"
"Ahaha... You were already handsome and impressive, oppa."
He'd only been teasing, and she answered with an awkward little laugh and a smear of flattery. It stung. He'd have to scold her for it later.
They were still talking when Ambite's manager came into the lounge with the wrapped clothes. Taeyoung knew him, of course. Managers in the luxury hall made a point of knowing one another; it made the work easier.
"Jiwon."
"Oh—Manager Kim? You're the one who called for concierge?"
Personal Style Concierge. The staff just called it concierge. The long version took a while; the short one was that a VIP asked and they did it. The service opened at Crown tier, free once a month, and anything beyond that cost extra.
"That's right. We needed clothes in a hurry. Yeoning, go put them on."
"Okay."
He handed the clothes to Su Yeoning.
"Wow, Manager Kim. You really made it. I heard you got Chief Baek thrown out, but Crown tier..."
"Got lucky. How are Ambite's sales these days?"
They slipped into the small talk they always used when they ran into each other, and from there the conversation turned, naturally enough, to Ecobloom, the shop he had left.
"Ahem. I'm not sure I should say this. I didn't hear it myself, so it's a little fuzzy."
"What is it? Go on. I'll find out anyway once I get to the shop."
"All right. Just don't say it came from me."
"Of course."
"You know the youngest on your old team. The pretty one Chief Park had it in for."
"Sua?"
"Yeah, yeah. I think that was the name."
"What about Sua? Did something else happen?"
"They're saying she's having a really hard time because money's tight at home. Her face has been pretty dark lately. Maybe that's why."
"Money's tight?"
He hadn't known a thing about it. He knew she worked part-time because of university tuition. Struggling just to get by—he had never heard that.
"I don't know the details either. Youngji at Ecobloom is close with Jieun at our shop, so it came to me secondhand."
"Thanks, anyway. That was useful. I'll stop by Ambite while I'm shopping today."
"Haha. You already bought clothes, and now you're going to lift our numbers again? Then I'm grateful. Oh, look at the time. I should get going."
"Sure. Head on back."
He had only meant a little small talk, and he'd walked away with something he hadn't expected. Money troubles. When he had worked the floor himself, he had never caught so much as a hint of it. She made mistakes often enough, but she had always been a bright kid.
So the house is in trouble.
If the problem was money, Kim Taeyoung could help. That suited him. Jo Sua was one of the reasons he had come to Namsan Department Store today in the first place. He had been turning over how best to treat her, and the answer had dropped neatly into his lap.
Better pull some cash.
This kind of thing had to be handed over in bills. Cash you could see moved a person more than a transfer into an account.
"Oppa, is it really okay for me to take this? The clothes are insanely expensive..."
Su Yeoning came out of the restroom, where she had gone to change, still wearing the knit and the pants with the tags on. How did one outfit clear a million won? She had put them on because she had nothing else, and now she was afraid of ruining them.
"Not bad. Told you Ambite's style would suit you. Keep the coat on, though. Your nipples are showing."
"Ah—ah..."
She hurried to close the coat.
"Oppa, top and bottom together, this is three million won.... I've never worn anything this expensive."
"So you hate it?"
"N-no. I don't hate it. It's just so expensive it feels like a burden."
"Then enjoy the burden. We'll need underwear too. Calling for that up here would be awkward, so we'll buy it at a shop later. And I'll get you a bag. Ecobloom has plenty of women's bags."
"Hah... R-really?"
"Yeah. You've been good about doing what I say, so it's a gift."
"Thank you!"
She brightened and thanked him. A moment ago she had been shaking over a knit and pants at three million won; now she was delighted that he would buy her a luxury bag worth even more. He couldn't quite see the difference. He didn't need to.
"Let's go."
Kim Taeyoung stood. The luxury hall wasn't far. From the VIP garage through the Crown lounge and on into the hall, it was all one corridor—two or three doors past the lounge and you were there. Even so, he made a point of going down to the first floor, because that was where the ATM sat in the lobby. He withdrew five million won. A hundred bills of fifty thousand. He liked how thick the envelope was.
"Oppa, are you going to shop in cash?"
"Hardly. There's someone I need to give it to."
Someone to give it to? Su Yeoning tipped her head, then let it go. She wasn't sure why, but Kim Taeyoung seemed to have a great many connections in this department store.
The shopping went on. On the first floor he picked up a few men's things at the perfume shop and the cosmetics counter, and Su Yeoning, whose income had swelled thanks to him, bought a few things of her own. After that they stopped at a lingerie shop. An ordinary man had trouble even walking into one. Kim Taeyoung had ten years in luxury fashion. Underwear was cloth. He stepped through the door without a flicker of shame.
"Um... are you from Ecobloom...?"
Someone recognized him here too. He had worked a long time in one shop, and taking down Chief Baek had made him famous. He smiled and nodded.
"That's right. Not anymore, though."
"Wow, our department store's biggest star. Please, come in. What can I show you? This lady will be wearing it, yes?"
"Yes. She'll wear one piece out, so have something comfortable ready. I'll choose the rest to taste."
"Of course. Shall we measure her first?"
He looked at Su Yeoning, the question plain in his eyes—did she need measuring?—but she didn't catch it. Better just to do it. Women, surprisingly often, didn't know their own size, and lingerie ran a little differently from brand to brand. Measuring in the shop was the surest way to buy right.
"Please do."
"Yes, ma'am. This way? I'll measure your bust. If you'll give me the coat, I'll hang it for you."
The employee who had recognized him attached herself to Su Yeoning. From off to the side came the usual murmurs—how large her breasts were, how pretty the shape. Listening, Kim Taeyoung looked for underwear that suited a taste. Not hers. His. He was buying it so he could look at it.
A luxury lingerie shop carried every kind: pieces that cared only about the comfort underwear was meant for, pieces that gave up a little comfort to look pretty, and pieces that threw comfort away entirely in order to tempt a man. That last sort was what people called event lingerie, shameless enough that it was almost surprising a department store sold it in the open. Thong panties were the baseline. There was mesh, and there were strap panties split wide at the crotch. Far more was shown than hidden. That was Kim Taeyoung's taste.
"This one, and this. And that too. Match the size. Oh, and a slip would be good. Mesh."
The employee brightened at the order. Event lingerie used far less fabric and cost far more than ordinary pieces.
"Here. Hold these."
"These are mine too?"
"Whose else? I bought them in a women's lingerie shop."
"Thank you. I'll wear them well."
"Yeah. When I call you, come wearing any of them."
"Yes, oppa..."
She flushed. She had already imagined what she would be doing in them.
Then they reached Ecobloom, and Jonghun, the manager, took one look at Kim Taeyoung and came running.
"Hyung! It's been so long—who's...? Is she your girlfriend?"
The welcome faltered the moment he saw Su Yeoning. His eyes drifted, by instinct, toward her chest, and he yanked them back in a hurry. Taeyoung snorted. He wasn't so small as to scold a man for a glance like that.
"Something like that. You been all right?"
"I've been fine. Why don't you ever answer on KakaoTalk?"
"Been busy. I do keep reading them."
"That's leaving people on read!"
"Haha. Sorry, sorry. How are sales today?"
"Not great. It's the weekend and they're still slow."
"Hyung'll sell some for you. Show me the bags. She's the one who'll use them."
"Ah! Thank you!"
At the promise of a sales boost, Jonghun bowed a full ninety degrees. The Jonghun who used to shake when a single meal burned through 1.2 million won was gone. What remained was a Jonghun grateful that his rich hyung was lifting the numbers.
Kim Taeyoung and Su Yeoning stepped into Ecobloom. Just then he caught the back of a woman fleeing toward the break room. He knew her from the back alone.
It was Jo Sua.