Chapter 113
I’m translating the chapter directly into the required HTML structure, keeping dialogue separate and styling the phone call as in-universe content per your format rules.CHAPTER_TITLE: Money-Making Bedding (2)
Prime Hotel in Gangnam, Seoul.
The glamorous lobby, the gentle spread of a fragrant aroma, and the staff’s polite guidance all made it the kind of place that practically invited people to spend money.
And then another thought came to him.
How much do they spend on payroll here every month?
Now that he had become a businessman, Seung-hyun found himself thinking first about sales and costs, about what the numbers would look like before anything else.
Led by the staff, he arrived deep in the floor where the hotel’s office employees worked, and a man whose age was hard to guess greeted him with a bright smile.
“You must be Director Jung Seung-hyun. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Yes, it’s a pleasure. I’m Jung Seung-hyun.”
“I’m Jo Kang-min. Please, have a seat.”
Originally, Hanil International had said it would be fine to hold the meeting at Haesol Textile.
Since it was Hanil International that wanted to request the purchase, there had been no reason for Seung-hyun to make the trip himself.
Even so, he had come all the way here because he wanted to experience the hotel as much as possible, even if only a little.
Besides, being cooped up at the company all the time had been getting dull.
“Please try some tea. This is gyokuro, a high-grade green tea produced in Japan. It has excellent sweetness and umami.”
“Thank you.”
The green tea President Jo served was clearly on a completely different level from the tea bags Seung-hyun had only ever known before.
So this was what Antoine had meant when he kept stressing experience.
“Thank you for making time for us today, Director Jung. As I mentioned earlier, Hanil International is very interested in Haesol Textile’s GyeolBit bedding.”
“Thank you for your interest.”
After quickly reading Seung-hyun’s expression, President Jo Kang-min continued his explanation.
“I happened to visit the Okura Hotel in Japan not long ago. They were attracting guests with a rather unusual concept. To be honest, I thought it was exaggerated advertising, but after staying there, I realized it really wasn’t exaggerated at all. It was truly an amazing experience.”
It was praise that sounded sincere, but Seung-hyun listened with a calm expression.
“Hanil International owns the best hotel chain in the country. We have five-star hotels in major cities such as Seoul, Busan, and Jeju. We’d like to introduce GyeolBit bedding into all of them. What do you think?”
What was there to think about?
They were offering to buy his product. Of course that was something to welcome.
“For Haesol Textile, that would naturally be a good thing, but...”
Seung-hyun already knew there was no way this was just a simple order that would end there. If it were only a matter of placing an order, there would be no reason for him to sit down with the president in person.
“Haha, yes, exactly. It’s not just a simple order...”
He drew a breath, then got to the point.
“We want to sign a long-term exclusive supply contract with Haesol Textile. Five years minimum, and if possible, we’d like to consider ten.”
Seung-hyun raised his eyebrows slightly, but showed no other reaction.
“An exclusive contract?”
“Yes. We want exclusive supply rights for GyeolBit’s hotel-specialized bedding. Of course, we’re prepared to pay accordingly.”
He slid the proposal he had prepared toward Seung-hyun.
“These are the initial contract terms we have in mind. I believe the quantity and the amount are both very attractive offers.”
Seung-hyun slowly picked up the proposal.
When he turned the first page, a very large number caught his eye.
The amount Hanil International proposed was certainly extravagant, but he took his time and studied the contents of the proposal carefully.
Five, ten minutes passed in silence, and President Jo Kang-min began to feel privately unsettled.
It was hard to believe a kid with so little experience could maintain silence for such a long time in a meeting this important.
That wasn’t something easily done if he regarded the other side as difficult to deal with.
At last, Seung-hyun spoke.
“The contents of the proposal are certainly interesting, but we already have contracts in progress with overseas hotels, including ones in Japan. Exclusivity would be a bit...”
“Of course, I’m aware of that. But no one knows how many additional contracts there may be with Japanese hotels. And if we’re talking about exclusive supply to five hotel chains, isn’t that essentially the same as handing Haesol Textile two years’ worth of work all at once? Opportunities like this don’t come around easily. Besides, at 5.8 million won per bedding set, I think this is priced high enough that it’s almost no different from a large-volume consumer purchase.”
For all that confidence, he was proposing a price of 5.8 million won per set.
The catalog price was listed at 6.5 million won, so for him to offer 5.8 million won to fill every room in five hotel chains with GyeolBit’s Solinen Prestige was, in his view, a sufficiently high offer.
It was even more expensive than the price sold to individual consumers at Mirae Department Store.
“The bedding sold to individual consumers and Solinen Prestige use different fabrics, though...”
“Come now, Director. When orders of this scale come in, the production cost of the fabric drops enormously, doesn’t it?”
He spoke with an easy laugh, but Seung-hyun only smiled faintly and didn’t argue.
What he said wasn’t wrong, and there was no reason to dispute it here.
He had no intention of granting exclusivity anyway.
“I understand your position very well, President. But important decisions like this need time for review. Especially an exclusive contract. That calls for even more caution.”
It was a contract worth 15 billion won.
Even if the bedding itself only accounted for around 30 percent of the cost, signing the deal would still leave roughly 10 billion won in profit, yet Jung Seung-hyun only tilted his head with an unconvinced look.
President Jo Kang-min was both exasperated and burning with frustration, but he tried once more to persuade him.
“Other luxury bedding brands are also producing bedding tailored to the concept of a good night’s sleep. Even so, the reason we’re making this offer directly to Haesol Textile is because we’re both Korean companies. If we’re going to spend the money anyway, isn’t it better to spend it on a Korean company? It looks better, too, and it would reduce foreign currency outflow.”
The part about foreign currency outflow was honestly a little funny, but Seung-hyun kept his expression under control.
“I appreciate that very much. But we still need sufficient time to review the contract terms.”
In the end, unable to settle matters there and then, President Jo asked,
“Of course. Then when would you be able to give us an answer?”
“I’ll need at least two weeks. We need to review whether granting exclusivity makes sense, and also confirm whether raw material supply can be secured smoothly.”
“Two weeks? Hmm...”
He fell into thought for a moment, then smiled again.
“Understood. Let’s discuss it again in two weeks. Since you’re here, I’d like to give you a hotel stay voucher at least. How about it?”
“No, thank you. I’m fine.”
“Why not? It would make a nice gift for someone, too.”
“No. It’s too large a gift, so I’d feel uncomfortable accepting it.”
It was true that, as Antoine had advised, he should enjoy a range of services in a suitably upscale place, but once he accepted something like this from a business counterpart, it would only make refusal harder later, so Seung-hyun firmly declined.
“Haha, I see. Then please contact us once you’ve finished your review.”
“Yes. Then...”
After finishing the meeting with President Jo Kang-min, Seung-hyun tossed Hanil International’s proposal onto the passenger seat and muttered under his breath.
“The tea was good, but... what a pity. Such a pity...”
*
It was late afternoon by the time Seung-hyun arrived at the Haesol Textile office in Hapjeong-dong.
Then, suddenly, a call came in from overseas.
To his surprise, it was Antoine Arnault.
“Allô, j’écoute.”
Seung-hyun had at least learned how to offer a first greeting in French, so after he spoke, Antoine’s voice came through, sounding a little excited.
I saw the sketches you sent.
He didn’t even bother with pleasantries and went straight into the sketch talk.
“Ah, yes.”
It had been less than a week since he sent Antoine the military line sketches, and he hadn’t expected such a quick response.
To be honest, I was a little surprised. You said it was just a hobby, so I was expecting something, but I thought the quality would be much lower.
It would have been natural to think that.
But when he sent the sketches, Seung-hyun had been confident in his own way.
He had already made sample designs with the Dualtex fabric used in Lesser Factory, then checked the product value score.
“Thank you for looking at them favorably.”
You have far more talent than I expected. That’s why I called right away. I’d like to showcase your military line at the LVMH Autumn Innovation Showcase in Paris next month.
At a proposal he had never imagined, Seung-hyun found himself unable to speak for a moment.
“A showcase? That’s...?”
A special event hosted by LVMH. It’s held during Paris Fashion Week. It’s a stage for introducing innovative brands our group has invested in or is collaborating with. I’m thinking your military line could be presented as a “Loro Piana × Haesol Textile Collaboration.”
“But I’m not a designer. I’m just someone who manages the company...”
You studied fashion design, didn’t you? And these sketches clearly show professional skill. Ah, I’d like you to change the name a little, though. If you’re launching a brand, it can’t be Haesol Textile.
“You’re already thinking about a full brand launch?”
Of course. Weren’t you planning to?
“I was, but... I was planning to start in Korea.”
No, no... that’s not how you launch a brand. All fashion begins in Paris.
Just how much pride did he have in Paris to say something like that?
An Italian would probably be shocked to hear it.
“Yes...”
You need to present it properly here, and open the first store here, too. Then take it back to Korea. Do you understand what I mean?
There was no way he could say, “I don’t really understand.”
“Yes...”
For now, if you just send the sketches and the fabric, our atelier at Loro Piana can help produce samples. Time is tight, but our team likes this kind of challenge.
One thing was certain: this military line would be difficult to express properly without the fabric from Haesol Textile.
“Understood. I’ll send plenty of fabric by air freight first. I’ll make my way to Paris in time.”
Good! Come to Paris next week and meet with our team. We need to discuss the details and start sample production.
After the call ended, Seung-hyun sat there for a long while.
“What the... a debut as a designer out of nowhere...”
He was bewildered, but as time passed, excitement gradually began to rise in him.
Being a designer had always been his dream.
And now he would showcase his work at Paris Fashion Week of all places?
He wondered if he would even be able to sleep properly from the nerves.
“Wait, wait... what should I call it?”
He had to be careful.
This wasn’t a one-off thing he would use once and forget.
After thinking about it for a long time, Seung-hyun went down to where the Lesser Factory office staff were gathered.
At the sight of their suddenly appearing president, the employees looked up, wondering what was going on.
“Everyone, pause what you’re doing for a second and listen to me. Uh... we might be launching another brand, but I’m not sure what name it should have. I’ll give a one-million-won department store gift certificate to anyone who suggests a decent name!”
“Whoa!”
“Amazing!”
Seung-hyun said to the employees, whose eyes had suddenly begun to sparkle.
“I’ll post a few sample designs on the company board in ten minutes, so check those out and send in your brand-name suggestions by midnight tonight.”
“Understood!”
He thought that borrowing the heads of several people like this was far better than sitting alone and grinding his own brain to dust, so after dumping the task on the employees, he went back upstairs.
And then he grabbed his tablet again.
The few designs he had sent to Antoine had been for the modest purpose of opening a small shop somewhere in Korea.
But if he was going to stand on a runway in Paris, a handful of designs would never be enough.
There was still a month left, but he couldn’t afford to relax.
Starting with modifying the designs he had already made, he believed that if he applied the various patterns found in different military uniforms, something good would come out of it, and he drew line after line across the tablet with focused intensity.
By the time he had been working feverishly on the tablet and midnight was almost here, Seung-hyun was looking through the brand-name suggestions the employees had submitted when one of them caught his eye immediately.
CIPHER...
That was pretty good.
Cipher meant a code, and it wasn’t too long a word, which made it a perfect name to attach to clothing.
Seung-hyun printed the name out, cut it from the sample design he had made, and attached it neatly to the garment.
“Good.”
A deep smile spread across his face.
After preparing that hard, the day before he was due to leave for Paris, he instructed Vice President Hwang Seok-jae to tell Hanil International that, regrettably, he would have to decline their proposal.
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t accept exclusivity.
---