Chapter 124: Beauty Trap (3)
To establish the plan to allure Chairman Joo Jae-Eon, in other words the beauty trap, Park Seol-Hun pulled up a PowerPoint presentation in front of Kang Ra-Eun, Do Hye-Yeong and Ma Yeong-Jun gathered in one place.
“To win over Chairman Joo, I believe we first need to know his tastes.”
Ra-Eun’s forehead contorted.
“You even investigated something like that?”
Seol-Hun shrugged as if it was obvious despite Ra-Eun’s glare.
“What’s the easiest way to win over someone of the opposite sex?” he asked.
Ra-Eun answered without hesitation, “Money.”
She was a devout believer of materialism. Nothing could begin without money, so the first thing that she thought to prepare for her revenge when she first became a high school girl was money.
Seol-Hun smiled bitterly. “That’s not wrong, but our target is Chairman Joo. Would he even budge with money?”
Selling his company would get him an astronomical amount of money, enough for him to live in luxury for the rest of his life. Not just that, Chairman Joo was not the kind of person who thought having more money was better. All he needed was enough money to sustain him. In exchange for his lack of materialistic greed, his greed for his fashion design was considerably high.
“Money probably won’t have much of an effect,” Seol-Hun remarked.
“...”
Ra-Eun had no arguments there. That was why Seol-Hun had come up with a plan to allure Jae-Eon with Ra-Eun’s beauty instead.
Seol-Hun looked toward Director Do and asked, “Director. Do you have the information that I asked you to investigate?”
“Yes. It’s on the next slide.”
As Seol-Hun moved on to the next slide...
“What’s this?” Ra-Eun asked.
She reacted lukewarmly because the information on the slide had been completely different from what she had expected. Since Seol-Hun had mentioned Chairman Joo’s tastes, she had thought Seol-Hun was talking about the chairman’s tastes in women, but the PowerPoint slide covered the entirety of female clothes that the chairman had designed so far.
Yeong-Jun showed a completely different reaction from Ra-Eun.
“I get it now.”
Ra-Eun had expected Yeong-Jun to be the thick-headed type, but this was considerably unexpected.
“This Chairman Joo person is a fashion designer, is he not? So we’d be able to figure out his tastes in clothes if we go through the clothes that he had designed. Right?” Yeong-Jun explained to Ra-Eun since she still hadn’t seemed to understand.
She had finally realized why Seol-Hun had asked Director Do to gather such information. The information was categorized between top, bottom, shoes, and accessories.
“Looking at it statistically, he likes a see-through frill blouse for the top, and... a slim-fit miniskirt for the bottom.”
“A lot of the skirts that he has designed are black. As for the blouses, he seems to prefer brighter tones.”
See-through, and the miniskirt that Ra-Eun hated most. She felt dizzy just from hearing these words.
“If it’s see-through... won’t it show what’s underneath?” Ra-Eun asked in shock.
Director Do nodded awkwardly. “Yes, that’s correct.”
“Then won’t my bra be visible?”
“You can wear something underneath the blouse, so you don’t have to worry.”
“...”
Ra-Eun already had reservations against the coordination because she hated nothing more than showing her skin. They decided to go for long boots for shoes, and the only thing left was the miniskirt.
Seol-Hun asked while looking at the shuddering Ra-Eun, “Do you want us to get you the skirt as well?”
“...No, it’s fine. I was actually recommended a skirt exactly like the one on the slide, so I’ll just buy that.”
Ra-Eun recalled the skirt that Choi Ro-Mi had recommended back at the department store. She had said she would rather die than wear something like that at the time, but she had never expected to rescind the declaration in less than 24 hours.
***
Chairman Joo Jae-Eon had attended another meeting with the Levanche executives. He had tried not to meet people from the same company this often, but today was a special exception.
“When will Miss Kang be here?” he asked.
Kang Ra-Eun. Those three syllables were the only thing on his mind. Seol-Hun and Director Do continuously checked the time to see when she would arrive.
Slide.
A woman opened the door. Jae-Eon’s eyes changed as soon as he saw her. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Ra-Eun. She forcibly smiled and greeted him.
“Hello, Chairman Joo. Thank you for taking the time to meet me.”
“N-No! I would naturally come when you wanted to see me, Miss Kang!”
To Jae-Eon, Ra-Eun was nothing short of a goddess in the clothes that fit his tastes perfectly. A happiness spell was cast on his eyes. Although, the spell was torturous for the one who had cast it.
Ra-Eun sat next to Director Do. She did not need a blanket to cover her thighs with since the table covered them.
‘My legs feel so bare.’
Ra-Eun periodically pulled down the end of her skirt with her hand because it kept bothering her. Chairman Joo couldn’t be any happier to see the sight; how could he not be happy when his favorite celebrity was in front of him in clothes of his preference?
Jae-Eon’s eyes were fixed on Ra-Eun during their meal, to the point that it was making Ra-Eun uncomfortable.
“Is there something on my face?” she asked.
Chairman Joo was left flustered by her question.
“I’m sorry. You’re just so beautiful that I was staring without even knowing it.”
Jae-Eon apologized because he knew very well that such a gaze could be considered discourteous.
“I feel bad for the many models who have worn my clothes for saying this, but you look far more beautiful than them, Miss Kang. How should I say this... It’s as if the clothes can’t keep up with your presence.”
This was the greatest form of praise that he could give. The clothes that Ra-Eun was wearing were considerably high-quality. They were from luxury brands, designed by famous fashion designers that even Chairman Joo had to acknowledge. However, rather than the clothes exuding extravagance, it felt more like Ra-Eun was granting them a sense of extravagance simply by wearing them.
Ra-Eun giggled while covering her mouth.
“You flatter me too much.”
“This isn’t flattery; I’m being completely serious. Your presence itself is a work of art, Miss Kang.”
Seol-Hun and Hye-Yeong’s gazes shifted to Ra-Eun. She was giggling on the outside, but she had lost count of how many times she had hurled inside her head from Chairman Joo’s cheesy lines.
Other female celebrities might have been very happy to hear such praises, but not her. She still had not abandoned the thought that she was a man, despite this being her fourth year of being a woman. Hence, she could not help but feel reservations against such praises.
Chairman Joo’s praise attacks continued for thirty more minutes. Ra-Eun kicked the shin of Seol-Hun sitting across from her.
“Urgh!”
Chairman Joo asked Seol-Hun in confusion, “Did you bump into something?”
“Pardon? Oh... I-I think I hit the corner of the table while I was moving around...”
Seol-Hun glared at Ra-Eun reproachfully, in which Ra-Eun signaled with her eyes back at him to hurry up and get to the main point. He complied since he knew better than anyone what would happen to him if he disobeyed her.
“Have you made your decision, Chairman?”
Chairman Joo did not have all the time in the world either. Now that he had decided to sell his company, he had to make a decision soon.
“I’m still thinking about it, but... I have very positive thoughts about Levanche.”
Seol-Hun had set the stage, so now it was up to Ra-Eun to stick the landing. The one holding the initiative was not Chairman Joo, but Ra-Eun. She took action.
“I’ve loved your designs for quite a while now, Chairman. You have no idea how sad I was to hear that you’d be closing down your company.”
“I see...”
She was lying. Rather, she welcomed the news of Entre Happy’s closure of business with open arms, since Levanche could absorb Entre Happy. However, Ra-Eun was considered a prodigy actress. She continued to express disappointment while speaking with Chairman Joo.
“I know very well that you’re facing great pressure and fatigue from managing your company. So, why don’t you leave your company to us and take a break for the time being? I guarantee that you won’t regret handing Entre Happy over to us.”
It was certainly far more effective to have Ra-Eun say it than Seol-Hun. Chairman Joo couldn’t help but waver after hearing Ra-Eun saying such a thing. Seol-Hun and Hye-Yeong hid their surprise at Ra-Eun's masterful eloquence. They had known that she was a good talker, but they were unaware of her ability to perfectly act like a completely different person. They had become fully aware of why she was all the rage as an actress lately.
Chairman Joo blushed just from seeing Ra-Eun’s smile. He felt like he could trust her completely. And at last...
“I understand. I will hand over Entre Happy to Levanche,” Chairman Joo stated.
Their efforts had finally bore fruit.
“But in exchange, I have one condition.”
Ra-Eun lightly nodded. “I’m listening.”
Whether it was money or anything else, it did not matter. Nothing was a problem as long as they could take over Entre Happy.
“If I ever hold a fashion show under my name, I want you to be one of the models walking the runway. This is actually my life’s wish.”
The request was full of self-interest.
Ra-Eun answered with a wide smile, “Yes, of course. Please give me a call anytime and I’ll gladly accept.”
Even the dead got their wishes granted, so there was no reason not to grant the wish of someone handing over their company.
‘But I hope he doesn’t make me wear clothes like this.’
She did not want to wear a miniskirt ever again.
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