Lesser Factory (2)
Hanil Global headquarters.
Kim I-su and Seung-hyun, meeting again after some time, could feel that the air between them had changed in some almost imperceptible way.
“You’ve been well, I hope?”
“Of course. I’ve been well thanks to you. It should be about time for the stores to start reacting. How’s it looking?”
Kim I-su wore an expression that was not quite a smile and not quite anything else.
“It’s good. Thanks to the rather noisy event you put on at the trade show, we even landed a feature article in a magazine, and overseas branches are already asking for large volumes. All signs point to a real hit.”
“Is that so? That’s a relief.”
From the perspective of a collaborator, there was nothing unpleasant about the clothes made with Aero Coolbreeze selling well.
“A relief, yes, but still... doesn’t that make Haesol Textile’s capacity even more of a problem? If you can’t supply additional volume... honestly, it’d be strange not to feel a little let down.”
“Actually, that’s why I came today.”
“Oh? And what exactly...”
“I wanted to talk about having another company handle Aero Coolbreeze production.”
Kim I-su looked genuinely startled, then quickly forced a bitter smile.
“So you’re saying Haesol Textile doesn’t have the production capacity right now, and we should hand it off to another factory?”
“That’s right.”
“Even while disclosing the core technology Haesol Textile holds?”
“To be honest, even if we call it core technology, it isn’t exactly the kind of thing that’s critically difficult to replicate. If another company really put in the effort, they could probably produce the same thing in a year. Maybe two at the latest. They just don’t choose to.”
“Fair enough. Then how much does Haesol Textile intend to keep?”
“We’re thinking about twenty percent of the current production volume. Royalties alone will be more than enough for the rest.”
At twenty percent of what they were currently producing, it was no exaggeration to say they were almost giving up production altogether.
Kim I-su let out a hollow laugh at the answer he had never expected.
“Ha-ha. Really? Then what exactly does Haesol Textile plan to make with the lines left over?”
Aero Coolbreeze had been developed through a technical partnership with Hanil Global, so the added value of the fabric itself was not particularly high.
But it still wasn’t so low that giving up production volumes made any sense.
If another textile factory had been in this position, they would have been so desperate for Motion-X to become a hit that it would not have been strange for them to hire a shaman and hold a ritual.
So curiosity was inevitable.
Cash was rolling in steadily while they sat there doing nothing with it, and yet they were willing to give it up?
Then you had to assume they were already holding a golden goose in their hands.
“We have a furniture fabric called Art Fabric. And we’re also preparing bedding.”
He already knew about Art Fabric.
He knew that was precisely why Haesol Textile had drawn the line and said there would be no additional production.
But bedding?
“Bedding? You mean quilts?”
“Yes. You know we recently received investment from LVMH, don’t you?”
“Of course I know.”
Wasn’t that exactly why they couldn’t pressure the subcontractors and had to swallow their frustration and accept whatever was given to them?
“Thanks to LVMH’s help, we were able to launch a bedding brand. The response has been quite good, so our current factory setup can’t easily handle Aero Coolbreeze production anymore.”
“What kind of brand is it, exactly...?”
Seung-hyun held up his smartphone and showed him the SNS message that had come from LVMH before.
There was a video of top model Michelle Lacroix rolling around while hugging a white duvet.
As Kim I-su watched it, his heart sank.
We’re screwed.
They were already in a position where they couldn’t even take a bite of LVMH’s investment, and now the scale was growing larger by the day.
If Haesol Textile kept growing like this and became a company worth hundreds of billions of won, who was supposed to take the pain of that envy?
The world went dark at the edges.
“Judging by the date, this was just a little while ago. Has the contract already been signed?”
“The inquiries kept coming, so we had no choice but to move quickly. So unless Hanil Global has a problem with it, how would you feel about sourcing Aero Coolbreeze from another supplier of your choosing?”
“Understood. We’ve heard Haesol Textile’s position clearly enough, so we’ll discuss it internally and get back to you.”
And just like that, the meeting ended.
“Damn it, we’re screwed. Go back and draft a report. Check that model’s SNS from earlier and find out everything about the bedding Haesol Textile is making. It has to be fully ready by next week when the president returns from his business trip.”
Park Ji-woo, the head of materials management, shut his eyes tight at the sight of Kim I-su’s face twisted like he had bitten into something rotten, and he could already feel the overtime ahead stretching into the night.
“Understood.”
*
Friday evening, as the light faded from the sky, Lee A-young had come home early and was sitting uncomfortably at her desk.
The TOEIC and TOEFL books, along with the various job-search pamphlets lined up on her desk, seemed to spell out exactly what situation she was in.
She had barely managed dinner, and now she was lying over her desk, fiddling with her sketchbook.
Her face looked vaguely tense.
A designer... could I really do that?
The offer President Jung Seung-hyun had made a few days earlier had stirred up feelings in A-young she had never expected.
Part of it felt like a dream, and part of it had a heavy anxiety rising from deep inside her, like a burden she could not quite set down.
Ever since she was young, A-young had been seen as little more than “the child who’s pretty decent at drawing or handiwork.”
Back in middle school, she had gone through a period when she was deeply absorbed in art and design.
Sometimes she would hear praise during art class at school, and friends around her would say she ought to go into design.
Of course, A-young had thought the same, and she had even enrolled in an academy near Hongdae to prepare properly for art school.
The problem came after that.
You’re not good enough at this level. Look at the other students. You don’t have any individuality.
A-young, who had thought she was at least decent, learned for the first time just how many gifted people there were in the arts.
I guess I don’t have that kind of genius instinct.
Even by her own judgment, her designs were plain compared with theirs.
She could not create anything that had never existed before, and she could not produce any revolutionary shock.
They were just safe and pretty.
That was all.
“Don’t get discouraged, sweetheart. Mom thinks you’ve got talent.”
Her mother had encouraged her, telling her not to lose heart, but the wall of reality had seemed far too high.
So, without telling her mother, she had quit on her own.
“I’m not going to do design after all. It’s less fun than I expected, and there are too many people better than me. I don’t have the confidence to fight and win.”
It had been running away before she was even properly scared, but A-young believed her choice was not a bad one.
People had to be wise, and she thought it was far better than wasting years on a fight she could never win.
College life had been satisfying enough.
Campus life was enjoyable, and because she was pretty, she had been popular too.
Most of all, she liked not having to do the kind of creation that made her want to tear her hair out.
She had heard that finding a job would be difficult, but what field in South Korea was easy these days?
As graduation drew near, the scramble for employment was just another mission everyone had to complete, and because everyone had to do it, she didn’t deeply regret the outcome she had now.
It wasn’t as if she had fallen completely behind.
Then she ended up working part-time at Haesol Textile as office support.
At one point she had even designed a simple work uniform for the company staff and, with her mother, helped make some clothes, but she had thought of that as nothing more than a bit of small-time side work.
But a few days ago, the president’s proposal had uprooted the thoughts she had carried for her entire life.
And then he said he would support her studies, too, and even raise her into a designer.
A-young knew how big this opportunity was, and that made her afraid at the same time.
I couldn’t even get into art school... can I really do it? Someone like me, a designer...
That inferiority and fear filled her head so completely that she could not bring herself to answer easily and kept turning it over and over in her mind.
Of course, her mother had already sensed some of the change.
Her daughter, who normally talked nonstop, was now sitting in her room and letting out nothing but heavy sighs.
“A-young, why do you look so drained lately? Is work being hard on you?”
When her mother asked with gentle concern, A-young hesitated for a moment before telling her about the last few days.
About Jung Seung-hyun suggesting they create a new brand, about him offering her a position as a designer, and so on.
Jung-mi naturally widened her eyes in surprise and asked, “Isn’t that a great opportunity? Then why are you so down?”
A-young curled in on herself and answered in a small voice.
“Mom... I’ve never really learned anything properly. I didn’t major seriously in clothes-making, and I didn’t even get into art school... can I really do this?”
At that, Yoon Jung-mi nodded and looked at her daughter with affectionate eyes.
“Oh, honey. I’m not saying this from just one or two times seeing you. Do you know how much you seem to enjoy making and designing clothes? When people ask you for things, the clothes you make are practical, and everyone says they’re comfortable. That kind of practical sense is real talent. You may not realize it, but your mother and everyone at the company does.”
A-young heard the words, but the weight in one corner of her heart remained.
She had always been crushed by the fact that she lacked elite credentials and had never received professional training.
“Okay. I’ll... think about it first.”
Jung-mi patted her daughter’s shoulder, giving her strength.
“I always say this, but it’d be such a shame to give up without even trying. The president must have his reasons for saying all that.”
Even after her mother’s comfort, she still lacked confidence.
What if the company suffered a huge loss because of her?
What if they told her she had to take responsibility for that loss?
No, even if nobody said the words outright, if the company wavered because of her, she could already imagine exactly how awful that would feel.
Others might call it a good opportunity, but to her it was an offer that was both attractive and terrifying.
And yet...
The president hadn’t said a single word to her since then.
Rather, he seemed so uninterested that she almost wondered whether the suggestion to create a brand called Lesser Factory had been a dream.
The site was busy producing Aero Coolbreeze, and some of the staff, including the plant manager, were discussing equipment adjustments for making GyeolBit bedding.
Adding more equipment for full-scale bedding production was only natural, so they were talking about how best to lay everything out and how to adjust the production line.
At that point, it almost seemed as if the president had just made a joke and she was the only one taking it seriously.
In the end, A-young could wait no longer and headed to the president’s office at quitting time.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
She opened the door carefully and stepped inside, only to be startled by the sample fabrics scattered across the president’s office.
“Huh?”
“You’re here? Sit down. These are... a few things I pulled together.”
“What?”
Still not fully understanding the situation, A-young sat on the sofa while Seung-hyun gathered the fabrics strewn across the table and placed them in front of her.
“What do you think of the colors? I pulled out as many colors as we can make with Dual-Tex as possible... Just pick the ones that feel the most marketable.”
“Ah, yes...”
Since he asked her to choose, A-young began selecting the sample fabrics that looked good to her.
“This one, and this one... and this one too...”
“Hmm, okay. How about burgundy?”
“I’d have to make it first to know, but I don’t think it’ll sell that well for men. But the texture feels a little different with each color.”
“The lining is the same, so there shouldn’t be any problem wearing it.”
“Wow, really. It’s so soft. Softer than workwear?”
“The workwear was cotton, but I thought the retail version should be better, so I went with Tencel. What do you think?”
A-young touched the fabric and broke into a broad smile.
“It’s really good.”
Smiling like that, she soon realized why she had come and felt a little ridiculous inside.
She had walked in fully intending to say she couldn’t do it, after worrying herself half to death, and yet not a single word had come out before she was smiling at the fabric and saying how much she liked it.
“But what if we make it like this and it doesn’t sell?”
Seung-hyun shrugged.
“Well, that can’t be helped. But we’ve got bedding and Art Fabric too, so would it really be a disaster? Then shall we make a few samples like this first?”
Seeing the president smiling with such open anticipation, all the negative thoughts that had filled her head suddenly seemed empty and foolish, and A-young found herself smiling along with him.
“Yes. Sounds good.”