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Chapter 303: Together (3)

“A customer car, incoming~!” Yu Il-Han, a veteran parking attendant for the department store boasting two years on the job, used well-practiced hand gestures to guide the incoming vehicle to a parking bay. “...Eh?”

However, the car ignored his signals and crept to the other side instead…

\'Gimme a freaking break. This is why old farts are such a...\'

Just one glance at the vehicle\'s brand or the driver\'s behavior was enough for Yu Il-Han to decide that a wealthy and aging patron was out on a shopping trip. He might have found an extra ounce of bravery or two to honk his car horn if he encountered such a vehicle on the road, but now...

How unfortunate this was since Yu Il-Han was on the clock, and the wealthy but aging patron driving that vehicle was most likely one of the department store\'s VIP customers.

Before the expensive vehicle slipped into the commoners\' underground parking bay, Yu Il-Han quickly rushed outside his booth and then expertly blocked the road. He waited until the car came to a stop, then smoothly glided over to the driver\'s side.

“Dear customer, valet parking is this way,” said Yu Il-Han.

The driver\'s side window rolled down, then a young man peeked his head outside. “I\'m sorry?”

\'Is he a chauffeur?\'

Yu Il-Han thought the driver would be the... aging patron, but the darkened glasses seemed to have fooled him. It seemed the patron was riding in the back, and they liked to emphasize the importance of relaxed driving to their chauffeurs.

Yu Il-Han maintained his calm and repeated himself. “Sir, valet parking is this way.”

“Valet?”

“...Yes. The VIP parking, sir. It\'s this way.”

The young man peeking his head out, Kang Jin-Ho, looked confused and lost. “VIP? We are not VIPs, though?”

“I beg your pardon?” Yu Il-Han blinked his eyes. In that brief moment, he genuinely had to dig himself out of confusion. \'You\'re driving a Bentley, so how can you not be a VIP?\'

‘Right, you should be VIP! You mustn\'t just decide you\'re no longer VIPs, you know!’

“D-dear customer, perhaps you didn\'t bring your VIP parking voucher?”

“What is that?” Kang Jin-Ho blinked his eyes. His expression said he genuinely had no idea about any of that stuff.

This response forced Yu Il-Han into an even deeper pit of confusion.

\'Maybe... They won the lottery or something?\'

What were the odds of these people winning the lottery last week, buying the car this week, then coming here to shop? That was the only way to make sense of their blingy ride and their attitude of \'I just can\'t fathom what you\'re on about and need you to explain slowly, so I can understand!\'

“...Ah, wait! VIP!” Kang Jin-Ho suddenly nodded as if he remembered something. “This is the Jaegyeong Department Store, yes?”

“Yes, dear customer.”

“That means we\'re probably VIPs. I can go through here, yes?”

“Yes, dear customer. Please position your vehicle in this spot and wait for a few moments.”

“Got it.” Kang Jin-Ho drove the car toward the entrance of the valet parking lot. Unfortunately, the lot\'s automated gate didn\'t want to open.

Yu Il-Han walked up to the driver\'s side again and politely informed Kang Jin-Ho of the new situation. “...It seems your vehicle isn\'t registered with our system, dear customer.”

“Sorry?” Kang Jin-Ho blinked his eyes again. This time it was his turn to fall into the pit of confusion. “In that case, what was that thing about being a VIP...?”

\'What the hell? Is this guy messing with me or something?\' Yu Il-Han inwardly gritted his teeth.

It didn\'t seem like this youth was deliberately looking down on Yu Il-Han because he had some money. Could it be that being a parking attendant made Yu Il-Han look like an easy target to mess with?

Just before Yu Il-Han was about to blow his top, Kang Jin-Ho pulled out his phone and called someone.

“Hello, it\'s me. I\'m at the Jaegyeong Department Store to shop, but I\'m supposedly not a VIP and must register the car... Eh? You want to speak to the guy? Okay, please hold.” Kang Jin-Ho, making a weird expression, handed the phone over to Yu Il-Han. “Here.”

“...I\'m sorry?” Yu Il-Han alternated his puzzled gaze between the phone and Kang Jin-Ho\'s face, then cautiously accepted the mobile device and pressed it to his ear. “Hello?”

- Ah, hello. I\'m calling from Jaegyeong\'s Office of Secretaries. Forgive us, as this event was due to negligence on our side. So, please let this customer go through for the time being. You\'ll receive clearance soon from the department store manager.

“I\'m sorry? But, you can\'t just...” Yu Il-Han replied while making an unwilling expression. Regardless of what, he had rules to follow. Besides, how could he just blindly believe that this call was actually coming from the Jaegyeong Corporation\'s powerful Office of Secretaries?

If only this punk weren\'t driving a Bentley...! Yu Il-Han would have already shouted at the phone to stop messing with him and ended the call right there and then!

- We will sort it out right away, so please let the vehicle through for now. And, if we fail to sort it out, you can always deal with the situation appropriately later on, can\'t you?

“Y-yes, that is true.”

- Please wait three minutes after the call. In the meantime, please park the vehicle.

“For now, I\'ll follow your instructions, sir.” Yu Il-Han ended the call and handed the phone back to Kang Jin-Ho. He then pressed the hidden button to open the parking bay\'s entrance gate. “Dear customer, your car will be parked in there.”

“...In there? Really?” Kang Jin-Ho innocently scanned the exclusive parking lot ahead of him.

That was when Yu Il-Han realized something. This dude, he... didn\'t know what valet parking was. “Sir, I\'ll park the vehicle for you.”

“Eh? It\'s my car, though?” Kang Jin-Ho asked while not even bothering to hide his genuine confusion.

Yu Il-Han felt his chest clog up from frustration. Unfortunately, he could tell this young man wasn\'t behaving this way out of malicious intent, and that prevented him from losing his cool. “It\'s for your convenience, dear customer. When you\'re about to leave the premises, giving us a call beforehand or talking to a valet by the front desk will see your vehicle prepared in no time at all.”

Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow. “No, hang on. No need to...”

“Hey, you!” Suddenly, a sharp yell from a woman resounded from the back seat. “Just do as he says, will you?! Just do it! Don\'t you know what a valet service is?! Seriously! Are you a caveman or something?! Stop embarrassing us like this, will you?!”

Kang Jin-Ho shot back. “Why are you getting angry!”

“Can\'t you just do as someone tells you this once?! Look, mom\'s losing her patience from your nonsense!”

When \'Mom\' was brought into the shouting match, Kang Jin-Ho obediently turned the ignition off, opened the door, then speedily stepped outside the car. “I\'ll leave it in your hands.”

\'...What the hell is up with this punk?\' Yu Il-Han accepted the car key while looking at Kang Jin-Ho weirdly. He was certain these people weren\'t trying to mess with him, but this odd feeling of being pranked didn\'t want to go away. “...If you use this doorway, you can directly enter the department store, dear customer.”

However, wasn\'t Yu Il-Han a pro at this job? He expertly managed his expression to put on a smooth smile while guiding the weird customers into the building.

“Thank you. Later.” Kang Jin-Ho nodded, then he and his companions entered the store.

Yu Il-Han\'s expression finally crumbled. “Blooming hell. I swear, Imma make it big soon and get out of this damn place...!”

Before he could finish his grumbling, though, Yu Il-Han\'s phone began vibrating in his pocket first.

“Who—Heol?!” Yu Il-Han confirmed the caller ID that said \'Store Manager\' and felt goosebumps breaking out on his skin. \'Why is this guy calling me? And on my personal phone, to boot!\'

A mere parking attendant wouldn\'t normally exchange phone numbers with the department store manager. But Yu Il-Han was no mere parking attendant. No, he was a valet exclusively for VIP parking!

The department store manager told Yu Il-Han to immediately call this number in case a big customer—not just a VIP, but VVIP!—paid a visit to the department store. Under most circumstances, it\'d be this side calling the manager\'s side, not the other way around.

Unless there was an emergency…

Yu Il-Hwan nervously gulped back his saliva, then answered the phone. “Yes, manager. This is Yu Il-Han speaking.”

- The customer who arrived just now. Where did he go?

“J-just now, sir?”

- Yes! T-the customer driving a Bentley! I\'m asking you where he went?!

“He\'s already stepped inside the store building, manager.”

- Okay. Listen closely, Mister Yu Il-Han.

“Yes, manager.”

- The moment that Bentley is scratched anywhere, my life will also be \'scratched\'.

“...!” Yu Il-Han sucked in a deep breath.

- Which means... your life will also probably get scratched. What do you think, Mister Yu?

Yu Il-Han grimly replied, “...Yes, it does.”

- Since we both don\'t want scratches to our lives, let us do our best, shall we?

“I\'ll definitely remember that, manager.”

- And when the customer is about to leave, make sure there are absolutely no mistakes whatsoever! He\'s not just a mere VIP. Consider him on the level of an owner of this place, okay?

“O-owner? Seriously?”

- Yes, that\'s what I\'m saying!

Yu Il-Han animatedly nodded. “Understood, sir! I\'ll never forget it!”

- Good. I\'ll believe in you, Mister Yu.

The call was supposed to end there but didn\'t. It seemed the manager forgot to tap on the \'end call\' icon due to the urgency of the situation. Yu Il-Han could hear loud yellings and commotion coming from the other side of the line.

Shouts ranging from “Get the shopping assistants ready right now, damn it!” to “Call all the famous brands\' sales areas!” and “Did you clean the floors properly?!” could be heard coming from the phone\'s speaker.

Yu Il-Han dazedly ended the call there only to sober up at the sight of the imposing black sedan.

“The moment that Bentley is scratched anywhere, my life will also be \'scratched\'.”

“...Hah. F*ck me.”

Yu Il-Han had an ominous foreboding that his job might not go smoothly today.

***

“Gee whiz. That was crazy.” Kang Jin-Ho frowned deeply.

Just as he and his family stepped inside the store, a crowd suddenly rushed up to him and started bowing ninety degrees. Apparently, they were here to assist him during his shopping trip and wanted to stand behind him like some kind of entourage.

Kang Jin-Ho stood there wondering what the hell was going on. Then, a man with a name tag that said \'Department Store Manager\' hurriedly ran over to where Kang Jin-Ho was as if the latter were the President of South Korea or something. Not stopping there, the manager politely offered his business card and started rubbing his hands like a sly fly.

Only then did Kang Jin-Ho realize he made the wrong choice by calling Jo Gyu-Min. It was already too late for regrets by then, though.

From the manager\'s perspective, there was no way he would be able to sit still when Jaegyeong\'s Office of Secretaries suddenly called him on the phone and ordered him to “Immediately register that Bentley as VIP! And offer all convenience services available while you\'re at it!”

\'This is the first time a situation like this happened since the store\'s opening!\'

Jaegyeong, as a corporation, fought hard to die on the hill called \'principle.\' Wasn\'t it infamous for treating wealthy patrons not as VIPs even after they dumped a shedload of money into this place?

Not too long ago, there was a widely-reported incident of a customer forcing one of the parking attendants on their knees. If a similar thing occurred in Jaegyeong\'s store, then... The netizens jokingly guessed that the so-called customer wouldn\'t be sent home but to the nearest police station instead. After all, Jaegyeong had always practiced the mantra of \'Customers?are kings, but the salespeople are also kings, you know?\'

So, to think an event like this was taking place within Jaegyeong\'s halls! No wonder the manager felt like a sharp blade was thrust right under his throat from this crazy, improbable situation.

Kang Jin-Ho saw his mother\'s stiff expression, caused by the burdensome pressure of the situation, and tried to shoo all these hangers-on away, but his efforts were met with steel-wall-like resistance.

Even Kang Jin-Ho could see some kind of desperation in their faces, so he beckoned the brightly-smiling manager closer and asked, “You wanna talk to me now, or do you wanna see me call the Office of Secretaries instead?”

That was enough to chase all of them away. Even as he walked away, the department store manager seemed unwilling to quit like this, and he handed something over to Kang Jin-Ho.

“Where am I supposed to use this?” Kang Jin-Ho scanned the black card gleaming under the light, then tilted his head in utter confusion.

Kang Eun-Yeong\'s eyes gleamed just as brightly as she snatched the card away. “Don\'t you know? It\'s a VIP card!”

“What is that?” Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow.

“It\'s a card only given to those customers who \'help\' raise the department store\'s revenue. Heok, isn\'t this... It is! It\'s \'Infinity\'! The highest grade there is!”

“Is that right?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head again. “Is that good?”

“Of course it is! I think there are less than a thousand people in the whole country who has this card! Only those at the highest echelons can have it, you know!”

“Really? So few?”

“Yes, really! To get one of these cards, you gotta sink at least one hundred million won a year in this department store alone. Only then will they even think about giving you a card.”

“A hundred million...?” Kang Jin-Ho frowned deeply. “Who is crazy enough to spend that much money every year in a department store? Isn\'t that excessive spending?”

Kang Eun-Yeong looked at her brother in disgust. “Look at what you\'re driving first, you insane—”

And Kang Jin-Ho responded with a cocked eyebrow. “What did you just say?”

“...Orabeoni, this insolent girl believes that selling one of your current cars will net you enough moolah to last four years of shopping.”

“Hmm...” Kang Jin-Ho rubbed his chin. His little sister did have a point there. “Okay, got it. So, what\'s great about getting this card, then?”

“First of all, parking is totally free. And it comes with a valet service, too.”

“And?”

“You can even use the VIP lounge, too! With this card, you don\'t need to spend extra money to get some rest during shopping.”

“What? You\'re spending over a hundred million, but the benefits amount to only that much?”

“...I, uh, I think they also give you discounts?”

“Seriously, now…” Kang Jin-Ho shook his head in disappointment. Who cared about discounts? One could just not spend the hundred million instead and save themselves the trouble in the first place! With such pathetic benefits on offer, Kang Jin-Ho couldn\'t see the point of having a VIP card.

Kang Eun-Yeong noticed the totally-unimpressed expression plastered all over her older brother\'s face, and her eyes gleamed dangerously. “Orabi, since you don\'t seem to want the card, can I have it?”

“Sure. Suit yourself.”

“Yessss~! Orabi! Thank you so much! I\'m serious! Thank you~!”

Kang Jin-Ho smirked softly at that. He wasn\'t sure why Kang Eun-Yeong was reacting like that, but it didn\'t matter as long as she was happy.

Unfortunately for Kang Eun-Yeong, though... She had celebrated a little too early. Before celebrating their success, one needed to look at the situation from every angle first. Kang Eun-Yeong\'s fatal mistake was not knowing this simple truth.

“Eun-Yeong, my child,” said Baek Hyeon-Jeong.

“...Yes, Mom?”

Baek Hyeon-Jeong, who hadn\'t said anything until then and just quietly observed the unfolding situation, suddenly reached out to her daughter. “Give that to me. Now.”

“...!”

“Hurry.”

“...”

It seemed that the thing called the \'food chain\' still existed in this world.

1. At the time of TLing, it was around $80640 US.