VIP (2)
“What are you going to do about it?”
“C-Chairman.”
“Chairman this, chairman that! I’m pissed off right now!!”
Inside a private room of a café along the central roadside of Gangnam-daero, Wang Jindeok, the academic affairs director of Cheonghwa High School, sat summoned for interrogation. The woman before him radiated a razor-edged, ferocious aura—she was a tiger. The second daughter of the Hankook Group: Misery Ju Miju. Venomous eyes poured irritation without restraint.
“There was no exam paper leak. We checked every CCTV.”
“And so?”
“Pardon?”
“Are you playing word games with me right now?! Why did my son get shoved down to second in the entire school?! And to a Sabaeja of all things!!”
Ju Miju erupted in indiscriminate, high-volume shouting. Conversation was impossible. Among every past parent association president of Cheonghwa High, she had the foulest mouth. Raised in a household that never treated the penniless or unconnected as people, she regarded the academic affairs director as little more than a household butler to be ordered around.
“The method is…”
“Publicly verify that bastard.”
“Pardon?”
“Do I have to spell the method out for you? Director Wang, don’t you want that principal’s title?”
“U-Understood.”
Wang Jindeok’s eyes bulged as he nodded furiously. In truth he too had felt a verification process was necessary. He had already been suspicious of the sudden prowess shown by that previously invisible Sabaeja, Ha Taewoong.
“And once you gather the evidence, blow that bastard out of the school. Just thinking about him makes me sick.”
Ju Miju spat the word “sick” over and over until it became grating.
“I will handle it according to school regulations.”
“Fine… Finish it before the grade-correction period ends.”
The same Ju Miju who had been ranting like a psychopath moments earlier suddenly smoothed her expression and smiled as if nothing had happened the instant things went her way. Cold sweat slid down Wang Jindeok’s spine. He could only click his tongue at her mercurial temper—there was no telling when she would flip again.
She had once become infamous for the Korean Air beef-jerky incident: hurling jerky at a flight attendant, then slapping the purser who tried to stop her. Photos from the cabin had circulated, costing her her executive seat at Korean Air and earning her the monstrous nickname “Guk-ssang”—the National Bitch. Yet her social influence had not vanished. The shares she inherited from the late chairman were substantial, and even her older brother, the current chairman, could not treat her lightly.
“I will resolve it as quickly as possible.”
Watching Ju Miju’s face change color by the second, Wang Jindeok bowed his head.
Thud.
A thick envelope landed in front of him.
“Gift certificates. Take the family out for a nice meal.”
“Every single time… Thank you!”
Each meeting without fail she handed him gift certificates worth roughly ten million won.
“I put a little more in this time. So handle it cleanly.”
“Yes, ma’am! Absolute loyalty!!”
A clear, pure voice rang out. Every head turned toward the sound. A beautiful middle-aged woman and a young girl stood there—mother and daughter who, at a glance, were clearly no ordinary pair.
“Madam, you’ve arrived.”
Park Taesu, halfway through turning, recognized the two and bowed. The middle-aged woman was the second daughter-in-law of the Oyang Group family—wife of Oyang Chemical President Lee Seokjun. Her name was Han Soeun, daughter of a mid-sized enterprise household. The Oyang Group ranked around sixtieth in the business world, yet its influence far outstripped its size. They were descendants of Sangchon Lee Jangsu, a magnate from the Japanese colonial era, and the current Oyang Group chairman’s elder brother headed the Doa Ilbo, one of Korea’s three major daily newspapers.
A personal shopper’s basic literacy included knowing every conglomerate inside and out. Though she was not one of the VIPs Park Taesu managed directly, a greeting was still in order.
“Team Leader Park. It’s been a while.”
Han Soeun returned his greeting with a smile. He was a personal shopper at the Apgujeong Hyeondo Department Store, and the high-society clients under his care numbered far more than a few. Han Soeun’s purchase record had not yet reached the threshold for direct management by Team Leader Park—partly because of her shopping style of never settling on a single department store, and partly because each store carried different flagship luxury brands. Her husband might be a company president, but the firm was not large, so her VIP ranking inside Hyeondo sat a little lower.
A friend of Hyoju’s?
She had come shopping with her daughter. Tomorrow was the family golf gathering; midterms were over, so she had brought her daughter along for a gift as well. Once children reached high school, attendance at the maternal-side golf outings became an unspoken rule. The current Oyang Group chairman was especially fond of sports, so direct-family gatherings were mandatory barring truly special conflicts.
Her daughter had just called out to the young man—no, the student—standing before them. Lee Hyoju, her eldest, almost never spoke about school life.
Tall, handsome, and he has presence too.
As Ha Taewoong turned at the sound of his name, Han Soeun scanned him swiftly. Looks aside, his style and aura were refined: an understated luxury leather watch, shoes and wallet that balanced perfectly with his casual clothes. He did not look like a child from an ordinary household. And the attitude of the department-store staff toward him confirmed it. Personal shopper Team Leader Park Taesu was treating the student with conspicuous respect, and Deputy Manager Yu—the next-generation ace shopper Han Soeun also knew—stood beside him. Two escorts together was a service reserved for chaebol heirs and no one else.
“Hyoju, who is this?”
Han Soeun asked, looking at her daughter. Hyoju looked faintly flustered.
“Huh? …A friend from my class.”
“A friend?”
The word “friend” from her daughter’s mouth felt strange. Until now Hyoju had never once called any boy a friend.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Hyoju’s mother.”
Han Soeun extended her hand first.
I knew it!
Park Taesu instantly confirmed that his intuition had been correct. Madam Han Soeun possessed a refinement that stood out even among chaebol wives—she belonged to the Sangchon Lee Jangsu family, once the most singular of this land’s wealthy clans. Though the Oyang Group ranked lower by objective metrics, its financial structure was rock-solid; its history was nothing like the overnight-rich upstart conglomerates. And this young man was friends with her daughter.
So he’s a Cheonghwa High student?
The Lee Hyoju Park Taesu knew was still in high school—Cheonghwa High, no less. That meant the customer standing before him was also a Cheonghwa High student. Lee Hyoju herself was a strong future-VIP prospect, and this young man was her classmate.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Ha Taewoong, Hyoju’s classmate.”
Ha Taewoong bowed cleanly with upright, courteous poise.
“May I shake your hand?”
“It would be an honor.”
His calm, disciplined manner was nothing like a typical high-schooler.
You can tell he received proper upbringing.
Park Taesu watched the three carefully. The young man he had already earmarked as a potential VIP—Ha Taewoong of Cheonghwa High. Park Taesu was now certain: this was a future VVIP worth investing significant time and effort in.
Friend?
Lee Hyoju rolled the word “friend” that had left Ha Taewoong’s mouth around in her mind. She simply hadn’t been able to say “Sabaeja” in front of her mother. And then there was the Ha Taewoong standing right before her eyes—nothing about him made sense.
That brand of watch costs at least several thousand. And those luxury shoes? A Sabaeja wears that?
Lee Hyoju was confused. Until recently Ha Taewoong had filled space like a shadow, barely existing. Lately he had become a completely different person. He had crushed the thug Oh Gwangjun and the self-important Oh Seora. Afterward he walked the classroom with his eyes open and his back straight, no longer cowed. He even spoke freely to her—someone everyone else tiptoed around and barely dared approach.
“Shopping for something?”
“I’m looking for some golf attire for an appointment.”
“Is that so? When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Shall I help you pick something out, then?”
“I would be grateful. And please, speak comfortably.”
“Hohoho. Shall I? If you’re Hyoju’s friend, I can treat you like a son, can’t I?”
Han Soeun rather liked the polite, smooth Ha Taewoong even on first meeting.
“Mom, you’ll make Taewoong uncomfortable…”
Lee Hyoju, on the other hand, was flustered by the two of them. She had acknowledged him on impulse without expecting the situation to balloon like this. Judging by her mother’s usual personality, Ha Taewoong had clearly made a strong impression.
Ha Taewoong looked at Lee Hyoju and smiled brightly at the corners of his mouth.
“Lee Hyoju, I’m fine. Shopping with your mother and having lunch together would be nice, wouldn’t it?”
“L-Lunch??”
Lee Hyoju even stammered at his response. A light shopping trip followed by lunch with her mother had been the next item on the schedule—a third party joining had never been part of the plan.
“Shall we? Yes. Mom will buy lunch.”
A full smile bloomed across Han Soeun’s face. Lee Hyoju’s cheeks, by contrast, flushed red. She quietly bit her lip. If she revealed right now that Ha Taewoong was a Sabaeja, the atmosphere would turn frigid in an instant. Some kind of decision was required.
Lee Hyoju looked at Ha Taewoong and pleaded with her eyes for him to extract himself here.
Grin.
It was the same self-assured smile she had been seeing frequently at school lately.
Tch.
Lee Hyoju realized from that smile that he had no intention of granting her request. She sighed inwardly. She had already called him a friend from the start. At this point she was also curious about the boy named Ha Taewoong—the one who had suddenly transformed.
“Fine. Let’s shop and have lunch too.”
Lee Hyoju decided to accept the situation.
“Taewoong, shall we head to this store? Clothes for the course need to be comfortable.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Hohoho. I like hearing ‘ma’am.’ Well then—Mom’s treating today!”
“Thank you, ma’am!”
For Ha Taewoong, who had survived the cutthroat world of corporate life, dealing with an innocent mother and daughter was no challenge at all.
“Deputy Manager Yu. Support them all the way through.”
Park Taesu, who had not taken his eyes off the scene for a second, whispered the instruction into Yu Areum’s ear. In his eyes he caught the signals that only VIPs recognized and exchanged among themselves—conversation conducted entirely within their own world. It was a unique, enviable rapport no matter how many times he witnessed it.