Seoul Fashion Week (3)
When dozens of eyes turned to one place at once, most people could not withstand the pressure and ended up awkwardly looking away or flushing red.
Kim Ho-yeol, executive director or not, had never been the sort of man to feel embarrassed by that kind of attention. But after taking a fatal blow in front of dozens of buyers he had never expected to be watching, he had grown angry and stunned enough to blush with rage.
What a humiliating situation this was.
Yet the cold rationality he prided himself on cooled that crimson fury in an instant.
And then, as if nothing had happened, as though he had merely been asked by a shop clerk, "Did you enjoy the show?" he answered with eerie composure.
"I did."
He dismissed the performance as though it were nothing at all, said no more, and left the spot without another word.
His hands stayed in his pockets as he walked away at an unhurried pace, but in truth he was so angry he could barely breathe.
"You know the reporters, right?"
"Reporter Yoon? I'll call you later."
One man after another moved through the noisy, dopamine-soaked scene, asking the reporters to keep things under control.
Team leader Noh Chae-sang, his eyes sharp as if he might devour anyone who met them, dashed after Kim Ho-yeol, who was already striding away at full speed.
"It's nothing major. We've already told the reporters to keep their mouths shut, and PR is standing by. If anything strange gets posted, we'll deal with it right away."
But even with Noh Chae-sang's mechanical briefing, Kim's anger did not subside.
It felt exactly like being beaten one-sidedly and then forced to run away without even being able to call the police.
That was Kim Ho-yeol's situation to a tee.
"If Hanil Global was preparing that kind of new material, we should have found out long ago. We poured tens of billions into VEANT this season, and now look at us. What happened to our sources? Do we even have any?"
Noh Chae-sang broke into a cold sweat and offered an aggrieved explanation.
"I'm sorry, sir. The reason we didn't know Hanil's Aero Coolbreeze was because Hanil Global handled it confidentially through its overseas division, I believe. We combed through every existing partner, but we couldn't hear of a single prototype being developed, so... It seems they found a new collaborator and kept the development tightly sealed. But to think it was Haesol Textile... that tiny company..."
That only made Kim Ho-yeol angrier.
"A tiny company? A tiny company made us look like this?"
Kim gave a snort and glared at Noh Chae-sang. In his eyes, reproach for incompetence and pure contempt were tangled together.
Noh Chae-sang coughed awkwardly and hesitated, his face growing even redder.
"We didn't anticipate the possibility of a material like this. And we also didn't expect Haesol Textile and Hanil Global to commercialize it this quickly... The bigger problem is that they detonated it at the exhibition before I could report back to you..."
Kim shouted,
"That's incompetence! Every time, we get blindsided like this, and..."
As if forcing the anger down, he let out a long sigh. He glanced sideways at their surroundings; it seemed he no longer wanted to raise his voice out here.
"Team Leader Noh."
"Yes, sir."
"Come up with an idea within a week from now. I need VEANT to find some way to survive the summer golf market. Fabric, design marketing, social media collaborations, anything. Slashing prices? We've already scraped the bottom of the barrel on that."
Noh Chae-sang quickly pulled out a notebook and began jotting things down.
"Yes, sir. I'll organize ideas immediately and report back. We could bundle famous influencers with golf YouTubers, or run custom discount events on the online mall aimed at female golfers over thirty. In addition, I can draft a short-term promotion plan..."
But Kim Ho-yeol still looked unimpressed.
"Do you really think a promotion like that will turn things around? Motion-X is already being covered as a matter of technology, and buyers are flocking to it."
His voice sank bitterly.
"Haa... don't we have any new materials of our own? Goldentex? Zeromax? What about those projects we were developing before? Didn't the subcontractors all fail?"
Only then did Noh Chae-sang nod and add,
"Yes, the in-house research team's results were poor, but I'll check through another route. If we can contract an overseas lab and develop a similar material quickly enough to deploy it next season..."
Kim shook his head.
"What good is that after the season is already over? We need sales right now, during this summer's peak."
Silence settled between them, and there was no clear plan in sight.
The sunlight reflected off the car's surface, making Kim Ho-yeol's expression look even harsher.
"Team Leader Noh, one month. In one month, we'll know whether we've got results or whether we're going to be humiliated even more."
"...Yes, sir. I'll make sure we pull through."
Once inside the car, Kim Ho-yeol clenched his fist.
"That bastard, I'm not letting him get away with this."
By then, it no longer mattered to him whether the chairman built a hotel on Haesol Textile's land or a parking lot on bare ground.
The bastard who had humiliated him in front of so many people had to disappear now.
*
Right after Kim Ho-yeol left the Motion-X booth in disgrace, the time inside and outside the venue continued to flow indifferently.
Seung-hyun and the Hanil Global staff stayed busy handling the flood of buyers, while Taesung Apparel also made efforts to promote the VEANT line.
But neither side openly brought up the just-occurring "Kim executive humiliation incident."
As the event continued, a few sharp-eyed reporters did slip in hints that Taesung had not drawn much attention this time, but under the piercing looks around them, none of them dared push the topic further.
Given Taesung Apparel's advertising power, no reporter would dare craft an explosively provocative headline.
Even if someone knew Kim Ho-yeol had been made to look foolish by the Haesol Textile representative, no one could write about it openly.
Still, the fact that this could not be publicly turned into a scandal did not change the clear divide it created in the assessments of buyers and the fashion industry.
So even if no one could flat-out say Kim had been publicly humiliated, the articles still made the superiority between the two brands unmistakably clear by turning Hanil Global's Motion-X golf wear into a major talking point.
"Aero Coolbreeze really does catch the eye."
"Taesung's VEANT is elegant, but it lacks punch."
Every time passing remarks reached their ears, the Motion-X booth grew noisier.
Meanwhile, Seung-hyun had already been standing in front of reporters and other industry figures for quite some time, and he was starting to feel a little tired.
Originally, in this collaboration, Haesol Textile had been meant to occupy a supporting role, with Hanil Global naturally taking the lead.
But after what had happened with Kim Ho-yeol, buyers kept stopping him and asking their questions directly.
At first glance, it might have seemed better for Haesol Textile to be pushed to the front, but Seung-hyun had heard enough from his father to know just how beastlike large conglomerates could be.
When nobles looked after their inferiors, they might show generosity, but if those inferiors didn't know their place and shone too brightly beside their betters, a conglomerate would suppress them so hard they'd never lift their heads again.
Seung-hyun's concern proved entirely accurate.
Someone must have reported how buyers were crowding around Haesol Textile's Jung Seung-hyun, because before long Kim I-su, the managing director, appeared with an awkward smile and called him over.
"Representative Jung, I think you've already finished everything you needed to do at our booth. Most of the buyers have already confirmed the quality of the fabric."
Seung-hyun caught the intent behind the words and let out a faint laugh.
"Ah, yes."
He nodded, but Kim I-su seemed to think Seung-hyun's smile meant he had not properly understood, so he added once more,
"Besides, if you stay out front for too long, the media might get confused about who is actually leading the project, don't you think? Since you're already here, why not take a leisurely stroll around Fashion Week and enjoy yourself?"
"Sure, that sounds good."
This was not just empty politeness; actually spending the whole time indoors, dealing only with buyers, was not something he particularly wanted.
He had studied with dreams of becoming a fashion designer, after all, and he had lived imagining the moment he would stand at Seoul Fashion Week, on the kind of stage that drew the attention of not only Korea but the world's luxury houses.
Even now that he was the head of a fabric company, he could not help being curious about which designs were drawing attention at Fashion Week.
Still, it was amusing how blatantly he seemed to be trying to avoid standing out too much.
"Let's have a meal together once the event is completely over."
"If I have time."
His behavior had made it clear that he wasn't eager to spend time with him, so the message was that he didn't really want to make time for a meal with him either.
Of course, Kim I-su failed to catch that much, and left Seung-hyun alone as he headed back to the booth.
Seung-hyun had just taken a look around the trade show floor and was about to leave when he noticed a sign to the side reading Generation Next.
Generation Next was a core program of Seoul Fashion Week, a platform for discovering and nurturing the rising designers who would lead the future of Korean fashion.
It was exactly the place Seung-hyun had been imagining in his head.
He could not possibly help being curious about which rookie designer would stand there this year.
As he moved into the next area, small exhibition corners arranged around a temporary stage came into view.
"This has a different feel."
It was not as flashy as the booths of large companies, but the distinctive work of a few selected designers was shining beneath the lights.
Sleekly tailored jackets, dresses combining primary colors, futuristic sportswear... each piece was showing off its own unique sense of style.
As Seung-hyun walked among them, he saw the nameplate attached to one work and immediately furrowed his brow when he read Kim In-hyuk.
It was in English, so he might have passed it by, but yes, it was Kim In-hyuk.
Kim In-hyuk? No way... that Kim In-hyuk?
When Seung-hyun stepped closer, sure enough, a man was shouting at a staff member from far away and barking orders.
A neatly styled haircut, fashionable clothes, and an expression with a faint trace of arrogance.
It was Kim In-hyuk, the college classmate he had long treated like an enemy.
Just as In-hyuk was putting a stylish denim jacket on a model, he turned around absentmindedly and their eyes met.
For a brief moment he seemed startled, then In-hyuk's mouth curled upward in a sneer.
"Oh, Jung Seung-hyun?"
From the tone alone, there was nothing friendly about it.
When Seung-hyun merely gave a slight nod, In-hyuk came closer with a slimy smile.
"Out sightseeing? I guess you're here to look around since it's Fashion Week... Though, I suppose there'd be no way your name would be on the list of participants here. So? What's it like, seeing the designers for yourself, Mr. Fabric Shop Owner?"
That would be the face of a winner.
The old grudge stretching back to his first year flashed up again, but Seung-hyun had no interest in starting a verbal fight.
"Yeah, I just stopped by for a bit, so keep doing what you were doing."
He had just answered curtly when another voice came from behind him.
"Oh! Representative of Haesol Textile?"
Wondering what was going on, he turned his head and saw a woman who looked familiar standing with an older white man.
She hurried over in a few quick steps, her expression as if she'd stumbled on a treasure, and took Seung-hyun's hand in both of hers.
"We meet again here. I'm Yu Se-rin from Roche Bobois. I've been looking for you for so long... Ah, let me introduce you. This is Gabriel Moreau, the head of public relations for LVMH Group East Asia."
Then, turning toward the slowly approaching white man, she pointed at Seung-hyun and said in French,
"This is the owner who made the fabric I showed you earlier."
"Ah, the Art Fabric?"
This time, Yu Se-rin kept hold of Seung-hyun's hand as if she had no intention of letting go.
"Shall we talk for a moment?"
The moment Seung-hyun met In-hyuk's eyes again was only because he had turned his head by chance, with no meaning behind it at all.
But the bastard's expression, stunned and unable to believe what he was seeing, was so satisfying Seung-hyun wished he could take a photo and keep it.