VVIP
VVIP
"Setting me aside, did Victoria really need to tag along for this shopping trip?"
The place we'd arrived at was a luxury department store I'd normally never have reason to visit.
And not just that—it was a private room that only VVIPs were allowed into.
This was where I first learned that rich people don't even need to move around to shop. You just tell the staff what you want, and they select the finest merchandise and bring it to you.
"Oh my, Si-hyeon. Are you dissatisfied with my accompanying you?"
"Brother, do you really hate having Victoria come along that much?"
"No. I'm asking why she's coming along when we're shopping for Mom's birthday present. And before that, did I even need to come?"
Afraid that if I stayed quiet I'd end up getting slandered in some weird way, I hastily explained myself.
We'd gathered here to shop for my mother's birthday present, with her birthday now only a month away.
But Victoria was an outsider, and I wasn't even sure I could afford to buy a present here.
Because everything was disgustingly expensive.
Of course, I could technically afford to buy one thing.
I received a generous monthly allowance and living expenses from my father, and although I wasn't working now, the money I'd saved from part-time jobs before enlisting and my military savings were still mostly intact.
Still, it was obvious that the moment I bought something, a huge chunk of money would vanish from my account.
You could ask how I could refuse to spend that much on my own mother's birthday, but even before filial piety entered into it, the money in my account wasn't mine alone.
Since I was handling all of our household finances, objectively speaking, spending like this was nothing but extravagance.
"First of all, Victoria came along because I invited her to Mom's birthday party."
"I still don't really get it. Why?"
"It's simple. I can show that I'm personally close with the daughter of the Adler Group, and if friendly exchanges develop from that, it becomes a credit to me, doesn't it?"
So even in close relationships, business always had to be taken care of—was that just the life of chaebol family children?
"It wasn't a bad arrangement for me either. Hancheon is a world-class company at the forefront of advanced industry, after all."
In short, their interests aligned.
I at least understood why Victoria had been invited, but there was still a problem remaining.
"I get that. But why did you tell me to come along?"
"Aren't you going to buy a present for Mom?"
"Do you think I can buy something like this with my own money?"
Right.
I'd forgotten because she'd shown me so many down-to-earth, unpretentious sides of herself, but this girl was unmistakably a young lady from a prestigious family.
In other words, her standards of luxury were inevitably different from mine.
"Then I'll buy it for you. Pick whatever you want."
"Is that okay?"
"It's going to Mom anyway, so whatever."
Come to think of it, that wasn't wrong either.
The problem was that, even so, buying a bag worth several thousand with someone else's money felt wrong.
"Still, it's Mom's birthday present, so I should buy it with my own money."
I think a gift is fundamentally a matter of the heart.
Even without buying something like this, wouldn't it be fine as long as the thought is there?
"Speaking of which, what about Aria? Didn't Aria say she was coming for Mom's birthday too?"
"Aria's participating as a performer, so the performance itself is her gift."
"Si-hyeon is right about that. Aria's performances carry value beyond that."
Victoria backed up my words.
After all, wasn't Aria the one who'd received an entire Hawaiian island owned by a billionaire in exchange for a single wedding anniversary performance?
I didn't know the exact value, but an ordinary luxury handbag probably wouldn't even register by comparison.
"Well, that's true."
Seo-yeon accepted it right away.
Victoria, a chaebol daughter of similar standing and an outstanding performer herself, had affirmed that value.
Probably even the old venomous Seo-yeon, not just the current one, would have accepted it.
"Just so you know, I'm not saying this with the intention of squeezing a present out of Aria. I only asked because you mentioned calling Aria earlier."
"What do you mean, calling Aria? Me?"
"Oh, you didn't? You told her the purpose and even the destination earlier, so I thought you were telling her to come here."
I had definitely called Aria earlier.
But that hadn't been my intention—telling her to come along.
"She was past the time she should've been back, hadn't returned, and hadn't contacted me at all. Of course I'd worry. That's why I told her."
"Hah..."
Seo-yeon let out a deep sigh.
Had I done something wrong?
"Did I do something wrong?"
"No, it's not your fault. But try thinking about it from Aria's perspective."
As Seo-yeon said, I tried thinking about it from Aria's perspective.
If it were the birthday of her beloved half-brother's biological mother—someone who could also become her future mother-in-law—she'd definitely want to give something extra to make a good impression.
And on top of that, hadn't I already revealed both the destination and the purpose? From Aria's perspective, it could easily have sounded like pressure to bring a gift herself. Even if it hadn't, she might still have felt she had to come.
"Wait. Then she should be arriving soon."
Worried about Aria, I stepped out to the lounge and called her.
If she was quietly at home, that would be a relief, but if she'd come looking for this place...
Fortunately, the call connected before long.
"Aria? Are you home right now?"
"I'm right behind you, Brother."
That was an answer straight out of a horror movie.
And on top of that, her voice came through doubled.
When I glanced back, Aria really was there.
"How did you get here?"
"Brother, have you forgotten who I am?"
Aria took a card out of her wallet and showed it to me.
It was a black card made of titanium.
As ignorant as I was about the lives of the upper class, I at least roughly understood the value and meaning this card held.
"I never knew you had something like this."
"Well, I haven't had much reason to use it in Korea, so I haven't. I was worried I'd have trouble meeting the spending requirements and lose my membership next year, but this works out perfectly."
Now I finally understood why my little sister had said she could support me in a life of luxury forever.
"But it's a bit unexpected. Did you spend that much money when you were abroad? You didn't seem like the type to live extravagantly."
I didn't know the details, but I knew they didn't just hand out black cards like this easily.
If you lacked any one of wealth, fame, or spending, you wouldn't even qualify for one.
"When I was in Sweden, I often had to spend money urgently—chartering planes or buying top-tier instruments. I had to participate in all sorts of competitions and concerts, after all."
Whether it was top-tier instruments or chartering planes, either way, sums of money beyond what an ordinary person could even imagine must have changed hands.
With that kind of spending history, it made sense.
"Brother, let's hurry and buy Mother's birthday present first. If we spend too much time here, something annoying is going to blow up."
"Something annoying?"
"I'll tell you later. We're short on time right now."
Did she have something urgent going on?
Anyway, I headed back to the private room with Aria. For some reason, Aria seemed to be warily scanning her surroundings the whole time.
"You're here, Aria."
"Welcome back, Brother. Did you go to get Aria?"
Victoria and Seo-yeon greeted us.
Aria returned a light greeting to the two of them, then sat down on the sofa with practiced ease and summoned a staff member.
"Manager. I'd like to see your most valuable merchandise."
"Understood. If you'll wait just a moment, I'll bring it right away."
The staff member responded without missing a beat, as if this were routine.
After the staff member left, a short while later, that same staff member returned to our private room with several other employees.
"Aria, how about something like this?"
Luxury bags adorned with ornate leather and jewels, necklaces made of large, beautiful gemstones and pure gold—things like that were laid out before us.
But Aria answered coldly, her expression aloof.
"Value isn't determined simply by price. I asked to see the most valuable items, not the most expensive ones."
Wasn't that the same thing?
Of course, I didn't voice that thought out loud.
But the staff member seemed to understand immediately what she meant, bowing deeply as he answered.
"You're looking for items with high rarity. I'll prepare them right away."
I watched the scene blankly.
The Aria I knew felt closer to a cute, affectionate puppy or kitten, but right now she seemed cold to the point of being almost emotionless.
The staff member brought merchandise again.
But this time too, the carefully selected items apparently didn't satisfy Aria.
"It seems you didn't understand what I meant. Merchandise decked out in expensive gold and jewels can be found anywhere."
"You're referring to showpieces or limited editions from high-end brands that aren't even displayed in stores. My apologies, but to arrange anything beyond this, we would ultimately need to contact each brand's director or branch president. Would that be acceptable?"
"...It can't be helped. Go ahead."
"Understood."
The staff member bowed politely and left.
Once the staff member was gone, Aria let out a deep sigh.
"Hah..."
"What's wrong?"
"The nuisance I was worried about finally happened."
"That brand whatever thing?"
Unlike me, who still hadn't grasped the situation, Seo-yeon and Victoria seemed to have figured it out to some degree.
It was Seo-yeon who answered in their place.
"Brother, you know that every luxury brand has ambassadors, right?"
"Of course I know that."
"The criteria for selecting ambassadors vary, but in the end, the most important question is this: can this person elevate our brand's value?"
Hearing this much, I thought I understood what Seo-yeon was getting at.
"So you're saying that right now, all sorts of luxury brands want to make an impression on Aria and are heading this way?"
"That's right. Just thinking about Aria's looks and fame, it's only natural. Honestly, it's surprising she hasn't had a contract like that until now."
When Seo-yeon finished, Victoria spoke this time.
"Even I'm already an ambassador, and I still get contract offers from other companies all the time. That's why I have separate contracts for necklaces, clothes, and bags. And it's common to receive offers even before a contract expires."
What kind of world do celebrities live in?
"I'm worried this might end up causing trouble for you too, Brother, because of me."
"For me? Why?"
"Well, you're more handsome than anyone else in the world, Brother. And if it gets out that you're my brother, wouldn't the offers pour in?"
No matter how I thought about it, this was just Aria seeing me through rose-colored glasses. For starters, the claim that I was more handsome than anyone else in the world was absurd.
"I'm just an ordinary person, remember? How much publicity would you even get from making me an ambassador?"
"Brother, putting everything else aside, that's not a problem. If someone sets their mind to making a person famous, it's easier than you'd think."
"And just this scene alone being seen would become a huge issue. Si-hyeon, try imagining seeing this scene from a third party's perspective. What do you think?"
I understood immediately.
A man sitting surrounded by a world-class genius performer and the daughters of major corporations.
Since this was a VVIP-only private room, there was no risk of paparazzi swarming or strange rumors starting. Even so, it was only natural for people to keep a close eye on me.
"It's fine, Brother. Even if that happens, I'll do my best to block any impact from reaching you."
"Well, that's a relief, but Aria, will you be okay?"
"I didn't really want to do ambassador contracts because they're a hassle, but still, if I leave the door open, keep them in line, and make them anxious, I don't think they'll be eyeing you."
After saying that much, Aria, who was sitting right next to me, hugged my arm and said,
"And on top of that, I want to give Mother the best possible birthday present. Since she's someone who'll become my mother-in-law."
At Aria's bold declaration, Seo-yeon's and Victoria's expressions changed. Both of them looked as if a weak point had been struck.
"That's true. If I want to get Mom's approval, I need to make the best impression I can right now..."
"For now, making a good impression wouldn't hurt me either. Especially if it's Si-hyeon's biological mother."
On my mother's birthday, I didn't even want to imagine what kind of bomb was going to go off.
I figured I should go prepared to be disowned.
At the very least, shouldn't I prepare the best present I could?
If a son brought a woman home, ordinary parents would be happy, but if there were three women and two of them were his sisters, the situation would be completely different.
But right now, I didn't have the luxury of worrying about something a month away.
A staff member approached Aria politely and said,
"Miss Aria. The branch presidents of H, C, and D are waiting outside the room to see you. Whom shall I bring in first?"
"It's a bother, so tell them all to come in."
Aria answered without even glancing their way.