Rapid Growth (1)
The day after Reporter Jeong Yu-min’s interview on Haesol Textile aired on MBS News’s Business Insight segment, the number of customers that had seemed to be quietly building since morning became unmistakable after lunch. There were more people than the day before, and although most of them were women in their early to mid-twenties, there were plenty of male customers too.
Perhaps because the reporter had said the brand was making noise for being affordable yet high in quality, most people checked the price first and only then turned their attention to the clothes.
The staff were so busy responding to customers’ requests that they barely had time to breathe. On one side of the store, A-young was on the phone while keeping an eye on the situation on the floor.
“Boss, maybe because of the broadcast, we’ve got even more people than yesterday. At this rate, I think we’ll sell out of stock before the day’s over.”
Seung-hyun’s voice came through the receiver.
“All right. I’ll rush over some additional stock. If you need more staff, let me know. I’ll even look for temporary part-timers if I have to.”
“We already have enough staff. If we can just get more merchandise in, I think we’ll be fine.”
After hanging up, A-young took a moment to look over the store, and that was when someone who looked vaguely familiar walked in through the entrance.
As soon as the sharply dressed man in his late twenties stepped inside, several customers recognized him and began whispering to one another.
There was no doubt he was no ordinary customer.
“Huh? Isn’t that fashion YouTuber Stylish J?”
“It is! That’s the guy with over 300,000 subscribers!”
Even among the employees, there were people who recognized him and gasped, and A-young realized she had seen him on YouTube before too.
She started to approach him, then stopped herself and simply watched.
For someone like that, it might be better to let him review things on his own.
The YouTuber known as Stylish J paid no mind to the people staring at him and kept filling his basket with clothes, one after another.
He didn’t just take one size, either; for each item, he picked up a smaller and a larger size as well, so by the time he brought everything to the register, the basket was piled so high it was nearly overflowing.
“Please ring these up for me.”
From the moment he came into the store until the moment he left, he had done so in complete silence, without wasting a single word.
A-young immediately went into the stockroom and called Seung-hyun.
“President!”
“What is it?”
“That YouTuber, Stylish J, just came by!”
“Who?”
“No, I mean... he’s a fashion YouTuber. Really handsome, dresses well... His influence is probably even bigger than the news coverage.”
“Really? That’s a problem... We’re already stretched thin running the factory.”
“What I’m worried about more than that is whether Stylish J will leave a bad review. If he does, sales could drop off hard.”
A-young was genuinely afraid of having her clothes judged by a fashion YouTuber with mainstream recognition.
The hand holding her phone was trembling so badly she was completely frozen.
“Ah... don’t worry too much. Let’s just watch and see.”
Even after Chairman Jung’s words, A-young could not easily calm down.
After that, she could barely focus on work at all, and kept checking only to see whether a new Stylish J video had been uploaded.
*
The next morning, at the Haesol Textile office.
Seung-hyun was watching the Lesser Factory review videos uploaded to YouTube on his computer screen.
Stylish J’s video had already passed 500,000 views.
“First of all, the prices are pretty good, right? There’s hardly anything here over 50,000 won. Basic items are the main line, but even the basics have details to them. This part here, where they add an extra layer at the cuff and on the inside? From a design standpoint, it looks pretty solid...”
He held up various pieces of clothing and explained them one by one with careful attention.
“But this fabric is really unusual. The outer layer is sturdy, but the lining is incredibly soft to the touch... I’ve never seen a texture like this before. They say it’s called Dual-Tex in the ads, but honestly, I have no idea what that means. We don’t exactly need to know, do we? Haha. Anyway, they say they formed an air layer within the double weave, and it definitely feels warm when you wear it. It looks thin, but it gives off a warm impression. I think women will really like it.”
He was explaining everything in a way that felt easy and natural to follow.
“And when you layer it like this, it looks really clean, right? The hem of the pants should stop here. These run a little large, so if you buy one size down, they should fit just right. But if you want something a bit roomier, go with your usual size. That’ll probably work best for people with thicker thighs.”
He went on explaining, piece by piece, how to wear the basics in a way that looked good, and the more Seung-hyun watched, the more impressed he became.
He could see why that kind of person became a popular YouTuber with so many subscribers.
As he kept watching, Director Hwang Seok-jae came in carrying coffee and said, “Chairman, thanks to the YouTubers, the publicity effect has been enormous. The online store server went down again. The IT team is increasing its capacity now.”
Seung-hyun nodded.
“I didn’t expect it to go this far. How is the second factory holding up?”
“Some of the lines are operating. Fortunately, fabric production is moving ahead without issues, and we’ve secured additional sewing lines as well. Production volume should increase significantly starting this weekend.”
“Good. Oh, and has the meeting with Roche Bobois been prepared?”
“Yes, everything is being prepared as scheduled.”
Seung-hyun checked the time. He still had some room.
“Then I’ll stop by the Lesser Factory store first. I want to check the site myself.”
The Hongdae Lesser Factory store was packed with customers again that day.
As soon as Seung-hyun entered, A-young greeted him cheerfully.
“President, you’re here?”
“Yes. I wanted to check on the situation in person. It seems a bit better than yesterday?”
A-young smiled and nodded.
“Yes, the extra stock that came in this morning helped a lot. But the popular items still sell out fast.”
Seung-hyun looked around the store.
Customers were choosing clothes, trying them on, and making purchases with lively energy.
“See? That YouTuber guy only had good things to say when I watched him.”
“Hehe, honestly, I kept waiting for Stylish J to upload the video. But once I got the notification for the new one, I couldn’t bring myself to watch it. I only watched after the employees told me he’d praised it a lot in the video.”
“Wow, A-young, you really are a scaredy-cat.”
“I didn’t even know I was this much of a scaredy-cat. I always thought I didn’t care much what other people thought and had a pretty strong backbone, but when it’s my own work, I get so nervous.”
“Then stop coming to the store and focus on design. You’ve got all these employees here already, so why do you keep coming in?”
In fact, ever since A-young had brought in her new designs, Seung-hyun had been telling her she didn’t need to keep commuting to the Hongdae store.
Her job was to keep creating new designs and feeding them into production.
He had even planned to give her a generous bonus at this settlement, in case she worried about money, but A-young still kept coming to the Hongdae store every morning despite what he said.
“I’m curious, okay? And it’s exciting to watch too... If I just hole up at home drawing all the time, I start going stir-crazy. Still, like you said, I won’t come in every single day anymore.”
Not coming in every day meant she would still show up a few times a week.
Seung-hyun could not talk her out of it any further, so after checking the store for quite a while, he returned to Haesol Textile headquarters.
Later, Yu Se-rin, the Roche Bobois MD, and Marcel Duguard arrived, and their expressions were somewhat stiff, as if they were displeased simply by the fact that the situation had come to this.
“Hello, Chairman Jung. It’s good to see you again.”
Marcel greeted him first.
“Yes, good to see you too. Have you made a decision?”
Marcel nodded.
“Yes. We discussed it thoroughly with headquarters. We’ve decided to accept the technology-transfer form of contract that you proposed.”
An expression of relief also flickered across Yu Se-rin’s face, since she had come here with him.
“However, we’d like to add a few conditions.”
“What conditions?”
When Seung-hyun asked with interest, Marcel pulled out a document and began to explain.
“First, we’d like the royalty payment period adjusted from 30 years to 20. Second, we want Roche Bobois to hold the exclusive rights to use the Versailles Line. Third, we’d like Haesol Textile’s technical support during the transfer process for six months. Finally, how would you feel about a licensing fee of 2 million euros, or about 3 billion won?”
Seung-hyun fell into thought for a moment.
However he looked at it, the terms were not bad.
“I understand. I think we can compromise on the royalty period at 25 years. The exclusive rights to the Versailles Line are fine. Technical support is also possible, but I’d like to limit it to three months. We’re currently focusing on other projects.”
“We’ll accept the royalty period. Twenty-five years is something I can explain to headquarters. But the technical support needs to be six months. We want the product to come out exactly the same as the previous Versailles Line. There must be no flaws, not even small ones.”
“...All right. Then I’ll personally come over and support you for six months.”
Only then did Marcel Duguard smile.
“Good. We’ll proceed on that basis. Our legal team will prepare the contract and send it to you within next week. The 2 million euros will be paid within fifteen days after the contract is signed.”
Seung-hyun smiled and extended his hand.
“Thank you. I hope we can maintain a good relationship going forward.”
Marcel’s smile broadened as he took the handshake.
“We feel the same. And... congratulations on the success of Lesser Factory. We saw it on the news.”
“Not at all.”
After the meeting ended and the Roche Bobois representatives left, Seung-hyun stood by the window, lost in thought for a moment.
The Versailles Line issue had been resolved, and Lesser Factory was growing far faster than expected.
Everything seemed to be moving smoothly.
*
An apartment in Sinjeong-dong, Seoul.
“Dad, try this on.”
A college-aged daughter was dressing her parents in clothes she had bought from somewhere.
She said she had bought them with the money she earned from her first part-time job, and from the perspective of her father, Mok Jae-gyun, it was impossible not to be pleased.
“Really? Does it look good on me?”
“Yeah. Dark colors suit you, Dad. Come out after you put it on.”
When her father came out wearing a black sweatshirt, the daughter looked very satisfied.
“What do you think? Pretty good, right?”
“Yeah, it does. But isn’t it expensive? I’d rather you saved the money you earned from your part-time job, sweetheart.”
“It’s not expensive at all. It was only 30,000 won.”
“Really? Only 30,000 won?”
“Yeah. It’s a sweatshirt, but it’s light and warm, right? Everybody likes it.”
“I see.”
Since his daughter had bought such good clothes so cheaply, Mok Jae-gyun was quite satisfied.
But once he wore it, he found it surprisingly light and warm, and that stirred his interest in the garment itself.
“What kind of fabric is this, anyway?”
“I don’t know. They had some ad copy about it, but I wasn’t really paying attention...”
“Right. As long as the clothes are good, that’s what matters.”
Mok Jae-gyun took the sweatshirt off and checked the fabric composition.
“Tencel, cotton, polyester...”
Suddenly curious, he went straight to the computer in his study and searched for the brand of the clothes he was holding: Lesser Factory.
Then he looked closely at the fabric details they were advertising.
[Excellent breathability and moisture absorption, soft to the touch, and especially outstanding in comfort thanks to its light elasticity. In addition, the outer surface blocks cold air, rain, and wind... ]
“So it even has a degree of water resistance?”
His eyes narrowed as he became more absorbed in the fabric composition.
On the business card sitting on his desk was written: Mok Jae-gyun, Lieutenant Colonel, Procurement Planning Division, Defense Acquisition Program Administration.
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