Chapter 58: Even if No One Knows, as Long as We Remember Each Other
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 58: Even if No One Knows, as Long as We Remember Each Other
“Hermès will not require any promotional activities from you.”
Wait, didn’t they say the most important duty of an ambassador is brand promotion? But they’re not going to make me do it?
“We will not make any demands regarding what you wear. Even if you choose to wear other fashion brands, we will view it as your personal freedom of styling and will not interfere.”
No wardrobe requirements? They don’t care if I wear a competitor’s brand?
“Finally, Hermès will keep the fact of this contract a secret for as long as the ambassador wishes.”
Suddenly, the terms of the management contract (which read more like noble patronage) that Curator Han Ji-woo had offered me flashed through my mind.
It was a deal so one-sidedly in my favor that my lawyer had called it absurd, saying I was ‘gaining all the rights with zero obligations.’
Choi Yu-riang’s proposal was just as radical.
No one knows I’m a Hermès ambassador, but Hermès gives me money. They’re saying there are no obligations for promotion or wardrobe. They’ll give me money even if I just sit still and do nothing.
I felt like I’d heard of something similar to this before.
Shoot, what was it? Oh, right!
The Annuity Lottery! That was exactly it.
‘Wow, is this the Hermès Annuity Lottery?’
I felt quite proud of my naming sense.
When I glanced at Curator Han Ji-woo, she gave me a blatant smile of encouragement.
“It was a fresh idea that even surprised me. The world star everyone admires, Lee Yu-jin, is a Hermès ambassador, yet no one knows? That is the very essence of the Hermès philosophy.”
“But won’t this cause problems with things like ‘backdoor advertising’? There have been cases like that on Wetube lately…”
“Absolutely not.”
Choi Yu-riang shook his head firmly.
“For it to be stealth marketing, one must secretly advertise while hiding the fact that it’s an ad. But since you won’t be promoting us at all, how could that apply?”
“And keeping the ambassador contract itself a secret isn’t a problem,” Han Ji-woo added.
“In fact, you must not promote or praise Hermès.”
“If you want to do that, it must be after the fact of the ambassador contract is made public.”
The more I listened, the more I realized that people in the fashion industry had very strange minds.
“Um, then what does Hermès get out of this? You’re just spending money without gaining anything.”
“How can you say we gain nothing? The most beautiful fashion mannequin sculpted by God will always be with us.”
“…”
The compliment came so naturally that the ‘visual damage’ hit me with a delay.
Han Ji-woo added a nonchalant comment of her own.
“And we can prevent competing brands from taking Yu-jin as their ambassador. That could actually cause quite a serious loss in Hermès’ revenue.”
“Curator Han? I’m having trouble understanding that part. Could you explain?”
I felt the same way as Choi Yu-riang.
Suppose I became a Louis Vuitton ambassador. I didn’t think my wealthy fans, who only wore Hermès, would suddenly start wearing Louis Vuitton just because of me. They might buy a few things out of fan spirit, but they’d probably leave them in the boxes, untouched.
“Hehe, Choi Yu-riang. You have no idea what’s happening in the Hannam-dong luxury housing market right now…”
“May I ask for an explanation?”
Sensing something, Choi Yu-riang’s expression turned serious.
Han Ji-woo turned to me with an elegant smile.
“Yu-jin, why don’t you head up to the restaurant and start eating? This is agency business from here on out, so the artist should take a comfortable rest.”
“Understood.”
Choi Yu-riang tried to give me a French-style cheek-to-cheek greeting, but I recoiled in horror.
After settling for a handshake, I left the store. Immediately, two lobby staff members who had been waiting outside fell in step behind me.
“We will escort you.”
Customers wandering the lobby recognized me and tried to approach, but the hotel staff politely and effectively blocked them without causing offense.
Following the hard training I’d received from Jang Ji-hye, I greeted people with appropriate eye contact and small gestures as I boarded the elevator.
A life where the elevator is already down and waiting for me… It’s a bit surreal.
I was guided to the restaurant table where the other two were waiting.
“What? You guys haven’t ordered anything?”
“We were just waiting and getting infinite refills on the bread.”
“How could we eat before you got here, Sis?”
“I didn’t know how long it would take, which is why the Curator told you to eat first. Sigh, you dummies.”
When the server approached, I placed an order.
“Three more baskets of bread, please. And do you happen to have original Pepsi?”
“Certainly. I will bring that for you.”
The server bowed with a smile and disappeared.
I lowered my voice in surprise.
“Hey, hey. I asked without expecting much, but they actually sell original Pepsi. This place is amazing.”
“Totally. I guess a two-star Michelin French restaurant really is different.”
“This place has two stars? Then we have to taste every single dish before we leave.”
“Sis, aren’t you going to order the food, though?”
“It’d be cold of us to eat without her. Let’s hold out with the bread until the Curator gets here. If we get full on this, well, nothing we can do.”
“Yu-jin, you just scolded us for not eating earlier…”
As we were making do with bread and original Pepsi, Curator Han Ji-woo arrived.
She was a bit later than expected, but her face was full of composure.
“I thought Choi Yu-riang would be coming with you.”
“He had to go take care of business immediately. He doesn’t have time to leisurely raise a toast like us.”
Judging by the mention of a toast, the talk must have gone very, very well.
“Curator, did you have a meeting with Hermès? Is Yu-jin going to be a Hermès model?”
“It’s incomparable to being a model. She received an ambassador proposal.”
Jang Ji-hye gasped in shock.
“What? That Hermès? They never use celebrity ambassadors because their main customers hate it, and they loathe campaign promotions because they don’t want the general public swarming in.”
“But what can they do? Those very customers Hermès is so afraid of have fallen head over heels for Yu-jin.”
I wondered what on earth that was supposed to mean.
Curator Han Ji-woo called the manager over, placed an order, and then spoke again.
“We negotiated under very good conditions, so just enjoy your meal with a light heart for now. As soon as you see the agreement, Yu-jin, you’ll be screaming, ‘Hermès has gone crazy!’”
Han Ji-woo lightly clapped her hands and looked at the two of them.
“And the ambassador contract is a secret until Yu-jin chooses to reveal it, so please keep your mouths shut.”
“Oh, understood!”
“You’re maintaining an embargo to squeeze out even better conditions, right? I’ll definitely keep it.”
These two are hilarious.
It wasn’t an embargo; it was a contract where no one knows I’m an ambassador, yet Hermès pays me. A contract with absolutely no duties to fulfill.
*
Left alone, Choi Yu-riang was replaying his conversation with Curator Han Ji-woo over and over in his head.
「This is the list of residents I’ve secured. I’m sure the names will look familiar.」
The story was that super-rich individuals had moved to Seoul for the purpose of their children’s education.
Choi Yu-riang’s hands trembled as he looked at the names on the list.
Every single one of them was a super-rich individual with assets in the trillions or a member of a European noble family—the true, loyal customer base of Hermès.
Though there was no further explanation, Choi Yu-riang reached the core of the matter instantly with just that clue.
‘Super-rich men, or their sons, who fell in love with her after seeing her movie, have moved to Korea just to win Actress Lee Yu-jin’s favor.’
This wasn’t simple fandom.
It was the start of a long-term investment to take Lee Yu-jin as a partner once she became an adult.
Titans with enough influence to sway a nation’s policies, or the sons of such titans.
They were already moving with an eye on the future. The disappearance of ultra-high-end real estate listings centered around Hannam-dong was the result.
「Hermès avoids promotion. But remember this: the true customer base that Hermès favors has now begun to gaze longingly at only Lee Yu-jin.」
Han Ji-woo had smiled.
「Am I not the perfect example?」
*
A few days later, I met Choi Yu-riang again.
Naturally, Curator Han Ji-woo accompanied me.
The location was a VIP desk meeting room at the Baekhyun Hotel. It was great because there was no chance of running into general guests, and security was tight.
Choi Yu-riang wasn’t alone.
He was with a man in his 60s who looked like a quintessential Frenchman.
The way he looked at me was so moist and intense it was almost burdensome. I tried to avoid his gaze but forced a smile, thinking of my grandfather who had told me to sign a building gift deed.
“The negotiations are finished, but I will reiterate the important points.”
Choi Yu-riang looked more fatigued than he had a few days ago. However, his eyes were alive with a vibrant excitement.
“We will not make any promotional or wardrobe demands of our ambassador. We will also never issue recommendations to avoid competitor products. We respect the complete freedom of your personal styling.”
I nodded as I read the clauses.
The term was five years, the appearance fee was 10 billion won per year, and there were absolutely no requirements for commercials, campaigns, or modeling activities.
‘They’re really telling me to just put my name on the list and take 10 billion won a year. Is this really okay?’
Suddenly, a peculiar clause caught my eye.
“What is this? I understand I can freely take items from any store worldwide, but what’s this about an incentive?”
“In a typical ambassador contract, we provide separate fees for commercials, pictorials, and campaigns, but we intend to compensate you in a different way.”
Choi Yu-riang smirked, his confidence shining through his tired eyes.
“If you see a product you like, take as much as you want. In exchange, we will give you 10% of the product’s retail price as an incentive. This is in lieu of fees for campaigns and commercials.”
Wait, wait, wait!
So if I walk out with 1 billion won worth of stuff, they’ll give me 100 million won as an incentive?
If it’s 10 billion won worth, then 1 billion?
Curator Han Ji-woo was right.
Hermès is crazy. They’ve lost their minds!
‘Are they a Giving Tree that gives even its stump? Why are they going this far?’
I can hide the fact that I’m an ambassador. Revealing it is up to me.
I don’t have to promote them. I don’t have to wear their stuff. I can use competitor products.
I don’t have to do annoying campaigns or commercials.
And yet, they’re giving me 10 billion won a year for five years, and telling me I can take unlimited products I want.
On top of that…
‘They’re adding a 10% bonus of the product value? This makes me want to sweep the whole store!’
To say they’re doing this because they’re afraid I’ll become an ambassador for another fashion brand… the cost is just too high.
This seemed like too much of a loss for Hermès.
“If we do this, I’m the only one getting money, and it means nothing for Hermès.”
“How can it mean nothing? Actress Lee Yu-jin, you will always cherish the fact that you are our ambassador in your heart.”
“…”
“And we will always remember that you are our ambassador.”
“I—I won’t ever forget it either. That I am a Hermès ambassador.”
The man in his 60s stood up from his chair and knelt on one knee before me with a smile.
Startled, I looked at Choi Yu-riang and Han Ji-woo, but both were stifling their laughter.
“Your Queenly Grace, would you be our ambassador?”
The elderly man bowed his head and held out a flower to me. It was so cheesy I almost cringed.
‘Oh, it’s not a flower; it’s a fountain pen that looks like a flower.’
Still, suppressing the rising urge to refuse, I took the pen and signed.
Seeing the mischievous smile on the old man’s face as he stood up, I realized something.
That man just checked something off his bucket list.
The old man sat back down and signed, followed by Curator Han Ji-woo.
Suddenly, I remembered something Uncle Guk-shin had said.
‘The best thing in the world is to have lots of money while no one knows who you are.’
A contract where Hermès gives me money while no one knows I’m an ambassador. And with absolutely no obligations to fulfill.
‘There was a reason fashion designers seemed a bit loose in the head and crazy. A fashion brand is just a collection of the elite of the elite among those people.’
I’d only been an actress for a little over half a year.
I was learning that the more normal artistic people seemed on the outside, the more fatal an abyss they held within.
‘Hermès was a massive abyss. An ordinary person would drown in an instant.’
I understood why Hermès avoided going mainstream and only wanted to associate with their own kind.
It was similar to the way I cherished and protected the Iron-Bronze-Silver-Gold deep-sea plankton.