Shinsegi Group's Youngest Daughter (3)

Yu Hye-kyung sipped her tea and asked her youngest daughter a string of questions about MFW.

"How's the work going?"

"It's fun."

"Nothing too hard?"

"I'm learning as I go."

Metaverse, cloud, games, digital fashion, and so on. At first, even she hadn't really understood any of it, but now she had the vague sense that she was beginning to grasp the future Han Miru was trying to build.

She was curious about MFW, of course, but there was something else she wanted to know even more.

"What do you think of the person you're seeing?"

Min Ah-reum smiled as she thought of Lee Dong-ho.

"He's a good man. Dependable, too."

At first, it had been nothing more than curiosity. She wanted to know why Han Miru liked and trusted this man so much.

But after meeting him often enough, she thought she understood.

"He may not be the most capable person in the world, but I get the feeling he'd never betray me, no matter what happened."

Yu Hye-kyung nodded.

"That's the most important thing in a man. Bring him by anytime you like. I'd like to have dinner with him."

"All right."

Yu Hye-kyung said she was tired and went to her room first, leaving only the siblings in the living room.

That only made the atmosphere even more awkward than before.

Yu Hye-kyung had never run the business herself, but she had put her children through a brutal management education. Min Gijin and Min Ye-jin had both joined Shinsegi Group as entry-level employees and learned their jobs from the ground up. Sometimes they cooperated, sometimes they competed, and in the process they built up their own track records.

Department stores, shopping malls, supermarkets, duty-free shops, convenience stores, franchises, hotels, construction, and more.

Yu Hye-kyung had told her children that she would divide the group fairly according to their results. The broad outline of how the company would be split between the two of them in the businesses they were assigned to had already been decided to some extent.

What remained was a competition over who would get the larger share of the non-core affiliates.

Min Ah-reum was completely excluded from that contest. She was too young.

Yu Hye-kyung had already given the two siblings some shares, but she still held an enormous stake herself. If she were to hand that to Min Ah-reum instead, what would happen?

By then, guarded expressions had already settled over Min Gijin and Min Ye-jin's faces.

Min Ah-reum noticed it at once.

She thought back to the things that had happened in this house. Siblings in a chaebol family did not stay close very easily. After all, they were rivals fighting over limited resources.

But she had never really been one of the competitors, so she had grown up surrounded by the simple, unguarded love of her older brother and sister. Even now, those memories remained warm ones.

Min Ah-reum took a sip of her tea and said, "Don't worry. I have no interest in Shinsegi Group at all."

The world was changing fast, and an enormous market lay spread out before her. She was already busy enough focusing on that; she had no spare energy left to waste on anything else.

Ingrid Gable.

Now famous as the top designer in SoHo, New York, his original name had been Yngvi Gable, but he worked under the name Ingrid Gable because he wanted something more androgynous, something with a classical air.

He had captured people's attention with sensuous, fresh designs unlike anything the existing luxury brands had ever shown, and he had repeatedly unveiled bold fashion that broke the mold.

Before long, he had earned the reputation of being the greatest designer of the twenty-first century, and the clothes he designed sold like wildfire.

Recently, luxury brands had been scrambling to recruit young up-and-coming designers in an effort to shake off their old-fashioned image.

Several luxury houses had approached him with offers to lure him away, but he chose a different path.

Independence.

As soon as Ingrid Gable announced that he would launch his own brand, investment offers came pouring in from every direction. Among them was LVMH, the luxury empire.

With their backing, he could have vaulted instantly into the ranks of luxury brands. Even the terms were generous enough to be called outrageous.

As he mulled over LVMH's offer, someone came to see him.

It was none other than Min Ah-reum, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠representative of MFW.

She urged him to join MFW.

"I want to turn the Ingrid Gable brand into the greatest luxury label in the world."

At that, Ingrid Gable ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠let out a dry laugh.

"Do you really think that's possible?"

The reason luxury is luxury is because of the history and tradition built up over time.

No matter how much better the function or the design may be, it is impossible to surpass that history and tradition in a single generation.

But Min Ah-reum laid out a way.

"Because it's luxury in the real world, people recognize it as luxury in the digital world as well. That's why they're willing to pay such high prices. If that's true, then shouldn't the reverse be possible too?"

"The reverse...?"

"A brand recognized as luxury in the digital world will be recognized as luxury in the real world, too."

"......"

At that, Ingrid Gable felt as if his eyes had suddenly snapped wide open.

The fashion industry was well aware of what kind of success MFW had achieved through games.

If he fought in the traditional fashion market, he would never have a chance against the established luxury brands. But the metaverse was an entirely new category.

Here, no one had been crowned the winner yet.

"If you go under LVMH, Ingrid Gable will just become one more ordinary luxury brand in the real world. But if you sign with MFW, you could become the greatest luxury label in the digital world."

"Come to think of it, MFW was created with investment from Continue Capital, wasn't it?"

"That's right."

He suddenly burst out laughing.

"Why are you laughing?"

"No reason. It just reminded me of something that happened before."

Ingrid Gable had once met a woman named Emily Chloe through a friend's introduction.

She claimed to be the heiress of a French energy tycoon, and she had an unusual understanding of fashion, a sharp instinct for style, and a natural gift for making herself likeable.

So the two of them had become friends very quickly.

Then, at a year-end party, a man appeared and identified Emily Chloe as a con artist the moment he laid eyes on her.

If he hadn't done that, I might still be getting fooled by her to this day.

He had been right, and she was now being held in a detention center while awaiting trial.

If he received investment from MFW, somehow he felt as though he might get to see that man again.

Ingrid Gable nodded.

"All right. Let's make the deal."

The first thing Ingrid Gable did after receiving MFW's investment was not to open a store.

It was an online fashion show that used virtual humans and Surreal Screen.

Unlike ordinary stage setups, Surreal Screen changed the location and background in an instant, creating an atmosphere that felt almost dreamlike.

For this show, Ingrid Gable unveiled fashion that moved boldly between the real world and the digital one.

Normally, fashion shows only drew the attention of people in the industry; it was hard to capture the interest of ordinary viewers.

But the fashion show livestreamed online by Ingrid Gable became wildly popular.

Some dismissed it, sneering that it wasn't a proper fashion show at all, but most of the media did nothing but praise it.

Thanks to the success of Ingrid Gable's online fashion show, MFW had proven that it could move beyond masstige and contemporary brands and even break into luxury.

From that point on, people began paying attention to where Ingrid Gable would open his stores.

Department stores all over the world rushed to send out their love calls.

Shinsegi Department Store was no different.

Even if it couldn't be exclusive, it had to secure him before Rite Department Store or Daeyeon Department Store did.

Min Gijin and Min Ye-jin quickly accepted the changed situation.

Min Ye-jin met her younger sister in person and handed her the proposal.

"This is the store plan for Ingrid Gable. Take a look."

Min Gijin also came to see Min Ah-reum and said,

"I'd like to run a pop-up store at Shinsegi Mall..."

I was so startled that I blurted back at Senior Dong-ho.

"You're dating Ah-reum?"

"Yeah."

"Since when?"

"Not that long ago."

"How did that happen?"

"Well... it just happened."

"......"

So what exactly had he done?

Senior Dong-ho gave an awkward smile.

"You know me. I've always liked the small, cute type."

"I know."

Just looking at the girl groups he liked made that obvious enough. The girlfriends he had dated in college had all been that type, too.

But Min Ah-reum was the exact opposite.

She was tall, her features were sharp, and she had a strong, striking face. Rather than pretty, she was the kind of woman you would call cool.

"But if you really look at Ah-reum, she's got a cute, adorable side to her."

I thought about Min Ah-reum for a moment.

I had no idea what he was talking about. Was that something only a kind-hearted person could see?

"Anyway, congratulations."

Come to think of it, wasn't this all thanks to me?

I had been trying to push the two of them together all this time, so seeing it finally bear fruit left me feeling oddly satisfied.

At ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the same time, it was a little surreal.

Back in my first life, Min Ah-reum had been nothing more than a chaebol daughter I'd seen in the news, a celebrity from another world. And now Senior Dong-ho was dating someone like her.

Ah-reum had everything—family, looks, ability. She was the complete package. Her personality was sharp and decisive, too, so she would be able to support a wishy-washy guy like Senior Dong-ho just fine.

"But I'm a little worried."

"About what?"

"If things keep going this well, won't I have to meet Ah-reum's family someday?"

"I guess so."

"Doesn't Chairman Yu Hye-kyung seem a little scary?"

I thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

"She is kind of scary."

I had never met her in person, only seen her in articles, but Chairman Yu Hye-kyung had a face that suited the word iron lady.

And from what I'd heard, her real personality was every bit as fierce as her expression.

Senior Dong-ho said in a grave tone,

"Ah-reum said she wants to introduce me to her mother sometime, but what if I really go and get slapped across the face? What if the amalgam filling in my molar pops out?"

"Wear a helmet."

What the hell kind of useless worry was that?

"By the way, what were we talking about before?"

"Why you came wearing the same clothes as yesterday."

"Ah! Right. We were talking about that."

I stared at Senior Dong-ho for a moment.

"How is that related to what I just asked?"

"No, if you already know, why ask?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

I definitely needed to hear the explanation straight from his mouth.

Senior Dong-ho lowered his head slightly, his face turning red.

"I was with Ah-reum all day yesterday."

"Where?"

"At Ah-reum's place?"

"......"

Why would an unmarried man and woman spend the whole night in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠same house?

It wasn't as if they'd been sitting around catching up on overdue work together...?

Without realizing it, their relationship had advanced this far!

I thought back to my first life.

Senior Dong-ho had saved me after I collapsed in the fire and ended up suffering severe damage to his bronchial tubes. Because of that, he could barely speak and had trouble breathing.

But now his body was perfectly fine, and he'd even found himself a beautiful girlfriend.

"Congratulations, senior."

"Haha! Congratulations? For what?"

I put a hand on Senior Dong-ho's shoulder and said,

"I've always wanted you to be happy."

"Uh, thanks. But?"

"I didn't mean this happy."

"......Huh?"