106. VIP
106. VIP
***
After a short drive of about thirty minutes, the place Eunha headed for was one of the famous brand department stores, "S Department Store."
The moment the Bugatti Chiron Pure Sport, with its subtle blue sheen, entered the underground parking garage of S Department Store, VIP vehicle recognition was completed.
As soon as they entered the VIP valet parking area, a department store employee approached and got ready to receive the car.
Slide.
Serin got out after Eunha and watched the parking attendant, who had treated Eunha with impeccable courtesy, drive the car away. A thought struck her.
'So this is... the upper class?'
VIP or VVIP. She thought she had seen scenes in movies where employees treated the cars of such upper-class people with deference and parked them.
But seeing it in person left Serin with a strange feeling.
During the drive, she had told Eunha, as a small request, that she would prefer somewhere with relatively few people, and Eunha had said there happened to be a good place and brought them straight to S Department Store.
While getting ready to go out today, Serin had briefly debated whether to dress herself up so she would not look too similar to Another World's Rin, but she figured she would have to deal with it anyway and ultimately styled herself not too differently from Rin.
However, after talking alone with Eunha at the cafe and then going for a drive, Serin's desire to simply spend time somewhere quiet had grown.
She thought spending the time calmly wouldn't be so bad.
And so the employee drove off in the Bugatti Chiron.
Serin had assumed they would walk straight into the department store, but before she had taken more than a few steps, Eunha stopped walking. Wondering why she had stopped, Serin stopped as well and looked at Eunha.
Eunha was looking at a woman coming down from the opposite side.
A woman in a neat, tidy black suit approached Eunha with a slightly brisk pace and spoke with a bright smile.
"Hello, are you Yoo Eunha?"
Her voice was energetic yet polite, and at the same time restrained without being excessive. It genuinely caught the ear.
Even Serin's gaze was drawn by the employee's unusual voice.
"Yes, that's right."
Eunha answered the female employee calmly and showed her a card.
The entire card was pure white, but the golden VIP logo printed on the surface of the white card stood out especially.
After checking the card once, the female employee answered with a courteous smile.
"Yes, confirmed. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Lee Eunji, the personal shopper who'll be assisting you with your shopping today."
As she lightly emphasized her name and gave a small bow, Eunha gave a small nod and looked at Serin.
But even under Eunha's gaze, Serin was a little dazed by the situation.
'Personal shopper?'
The unfamiliar word itself was one thing, but judging from the situation, she was probably a department store employee dedicated to VIPs... or something like that.
But why was Eunha looking at her when the employee spoke?
"I came because S Department Store isn't bad for spending time quietly without crowds. And I've wanted to give Serin several gifts ever since before we met."
She spoke as though she'd stopped by the department store just to pass the time, making Serin retract her earlier thought that even a famous pro like Eunha thought much like anyone else.
The life Yoo Eunha lived was completely different from her own.
After all, she was someone sponsored with a hypercar valued in the hundreds of millions of won, so there was no way she lived an ordinary life.
"...If it's a kind gesture, I'll gladly accept it, but you're not pushing yourself too far, right?"
So rather than refusing, she figured it was right to just accept, and she brought it up once out of courtesy.
"Pfft... I'm not. If you'll accept the gesture, that would make me even happier."
Eunha laughed softly at the word "overdoing it" and shook her head slightly, and it sounded as if this level of spending was nothing to her, which struck Serin as remarkable all over again.
Whether her mindset was simply different or she was just that generous, Serin found herself wondering what lay behind Eunha showing her this much kindness when they'd only met today.
'Is it really... just simple kindness?'
Wondering if such a thing even existed in the world, and because she could not feel even a trace of malice from Eunha, Serin's feelings were complicated.
When the two women's conversation seemed to pause for a moment, Eunji carefully spoke up.
"The woman I'll be styling today... if you don't mind me asking, is it this woman rather than you?"
The woman, who appeared to be a department store employee, looked at me and asked carefully. I found myself glancing at Eunha.
Because this was also the first time she had heard such a thing.
"Yes, it's her."
Eunha smiled softly at Serin's reaction and nodded.
"Yes, hello. Customer, may I ask your name?"
Before Serin even had a chance to say anything, the employee asked, and Serin answered, flustered.
"Han, Han Serin."
While answering the employee's question, I found myself looking at Eunha.
"I'd like to hear both customers' opinions while you wait in the Diamond Lounge. Would you happen to have time?"
Whenever she finished explaining something, the employee asked for our opinions one by one. It felt awkward for me to answer, so I simply looked at Eunha.
"Yes,"
When Eunha answered as if to say she understood, Serin and Eunha followed the female employee's guidance and began walking.
Ding.
A luxurious golden door opened with a soft chime.
Even the elevator they boarded seemed to be VIP-only, far outside anything Serin was used to.
Perhaps even among VIPs, the floor differed depending on the classified space,
because there were only five buttons plus one button of unknown meaning.
And among the five buttons, the button just below the top floor.
The woman who had introduced herself as a personal shopper pressed the fourth button, the diamond button. Even that button had small gems embedded in it, drawing Serin's eye.
'...They embed gems in elevator buttons?'
Honestly, every single thing was not just new to Serin but shocking.
Serin had money but no real experience spending it, so it felt as though she were getting a glimpse of a true upper-class life she'd never even imagined. The whole experience left her feeling strange.
Seeing Serin like that, Eunha smiled softly, as if to tell her to relax a little.
"Serin? Honestly, I don't come to department stores that often either. I just want to give you a few gifts and spend some time, so there's no need to feel so burdened."
Hearing the words she'd said to Eunha at the cafe turned back on her struck Serin as oddly novel.
"Ah... yes."
And for all that Eunha said such things, Serin had seen the employee press the diamond button, the fourth one located near the top even among the VIP lounges, so the words did not land at all.
"Oh, is this your first time in a VIP lounge, Serin?"
The shopper turned to Serin with a calm smile and asked.
"...Yes."
Serin answered quietly. Even as she answered, she felt a little embarrassed.
At that, the female employee smiled brightly and continued warmly.
"For someone like you, Serin, truly... your natural appearance is so dazzling that I think you could pull off almost any luxury brand's clothes or accessories. Whatever preferences you tell me about in the lounge, I'm confident I can recommend something, so honestly, I'm looking forward to it too."
She praised Serin as if it were nothing, and Serin, who had been listening right behind her, felt her face flush faintly.
"Y-yes..."
They say people are creatures of adaptation, but no matter how Serin looked at it, that saying felt wrong right now.
How could other people look at someone and praise them so casually at first meeting? Feeling her face heat up again, Serin quietly averted her gaze.
At that, the female employee did not try to make more conversation.
Even a well-meant compliment lost its point if it only made the customer uncomfortable, so she settled for occasionally glancing at Serin and quietly trying to infer her style and tastes.
Chatrier, Bluante, Griansen—along with various luxury brands and even relatively well-known brands, many products came to mind, and Eunji was quite confident no matter which she brought.
Ding.
Right after, the elevator doors opened, and sleekly designed spaces came into view.
"Then I'll guide you."
With that, Eunji began walking slowly toward the Diamond Lounge, and Serin and Eunha followed her.
When they finally entered the Diamond Lounge, Serin calmly surveyed the space once and carefully steadied herself.
Like someone from the countryside visiting the city for the first time, Serin worked hard not to let it show.
Because if she showed it for no reason, she felt Eunha would be embarrassed.
Several people were inside, most of them older women.
They glanced once at Serin and Eunha, but that was all; they showed no particular interest.
After entering and walking a little farther, they arrived at a space with no people at all, and Eunji carefully indicated the seats and spoke.
"Before I ask about your tastes and styles, I'll help you order desserts and drinks. What would you like to order..."
At Eunji's words, Eunha and Serin simply ordered light lemon tea.
They had already eaten various desserts at the cafe, so they ordered only drinks to lightly refresh their palates.
Afterward, Eunji brought two glasses of lemon tea and carefully seated herself across from Serin and Eunha.
"Yes, then before we begin styling, Serin, could you tell me the brands you usually wear, along with the styles and colors you prefer? Based on that, I'll be able to put together a more objective set of brand catalogs and style categories. Oh, and I don't usually say this, but... your appearance is naturally so striking that, as I mentioned, I think you can expect good results no matter what brand you choose."
Eunji praised Serin with a confident smile, and she genuinely meant nearly half of it.
Styling a customer with this kind of appearance was on a completely different level of difficulty from the custom services she provided to the VIP customers in the other lounges right now.
It was so easy that the real concern for Eunji was what style would make her shine.
Having worked for several years as a stylist for famous celebrities, Eunji was also a little excited about styling the silver-haired woman in front of her.
But in contrast.
Serin went blank.
'...Brands I usually use?'
And styling matched to her preferred styles and colors...
The employee's words just now were all things that made Serin's head spin.