Chapter 552. Maintenance (2)

“A photograph?” Yi Mi-Yeon tilted her head in confusion.

-You will see soon enough. Don't annoy me with more inane questions, okay?

“Oh, uh... of course, ma'am.”

Although a million and one questions were still swimming inside her head, Yi Mi-Yeon realized she wasn't brave enough to break through Choi Yeon-Ha's irritated voice and demand an explanation. If she was being honest, Yi Mi-Yeon would've loved to end the call as soon as possible.

So, she tried to put this situation in order. “So... Will we be welcoming only one client today?”

-Yes. And I want the full course done, including skincare and massage. And I advise you to do the best job.

“Of course, ma'am. We wouldn't dare neglect our duties with a client you've recommended.”

-Well, sure. You'd still have done a good job without my warning, anyway.

Yi Mi-Yeon didn't respond to that. After all, that provocation contained a hidden meaning unrelated to 'I believe in Niveo's customer service'!

-In any case. The person coming today is a dear friend, so I'll trust you to do an excellent job. Let me repeat it again. I'll trust you on this one.

“Please do not worry, Miss Choi.” Yi Mi-Yeon cautiously replied. Although, her brain still interpreted Choi Yeon-Ha's words as, 'If your customer service toward my friend is unacceptable, I'm personally flying back to Korea to tear off the hair of your director, okay?!'

-My friend should arrive there in around ten minutes. Do your best.

Drop.

Yi Mi-Yeon finally put the phone down after the line went dead, her hand unsteadily trembling. With a practiced movement, she opened a drawer in her desk, took out a bottle of aspirin, then popped several pills in her mouth.

'So, there it is.'

Finally, the origin of the chronic migraine tormenting Yi Mi-Yeon for so long had been uncovered. Unfortunately, now wasn't the time to celebrate this discovery.

Yi Mi-Yeon gulped down the green tea in her tumbler to swallow the aspirin pills, then hurriedly rushed outside her office. “Everyone, get ready! A VVIP is headed our way!”

“I'm sorry?! A VVIP! W-who is it, Miss Yi? C-Could it be Choi Yeon-Ha? Or Jeon Song-Mi? Or someone on the level of a wealthy madam?”

Yi Mi-Yeon cried out, “No, it's someone new!”

“A new client is a VVIP?”

The employees instantly grew tense. Spending a lot of money in Niveo wasn't enough for a new member to be treated as a VVIP. No, this individual must be someone very famous or wield considerable influence! And such a client was the scariest of them all.

Since this was their first time in Niveo, their evaluation of the store's services would be more objective. And, if they were planning to never come back here... Nothing would stop them from spreading terrible rumors about this place! This was why first-time clients always made Niveo's employees deeply nervous.

To make matters worse...!

Yi Mi-Yeon grimly landed the final gut blow to everyone. “This VVIP is... Choi Yeon-Ha's friend!”

“Heol...!”

That declaration just changed the arrival of a VVIP into the descent of a demon king! The employees finally realized why Yi Mi-Yeon was raising such a fuss, and looks of heroic determination quickly filled their faces.

“Then, we must prepare ourselves!”

“Seon-Yeong, go and increase the temp in Room 1!”

“Yes, big sis!”

The employees quickly got to work. They could easily guess the level of this mystery newbie VVIP's fussiness, who also happened to be Choi Yeon-Ha's friend. That meant they could not afford to let even one minor slip-up go unnoticed.

“Miss Yi! When will this client arrive?”

“In around ten minutes or so!” Yi Mi-Yeon quickly cried out. But the response she got was absolutely the worst.

“B-but...! I see someone approaching the entrance elevator, Miss Yi!”

“Already?!”

“But, uhm..” The employee monitoring the screen pointed at what she could see while sounding rather confused. “Could this person be our client?”

“Has to be,” Yi Mi-Yeon replied without much concern. Her attitude made sense when considering their building had only one elevator directly leading to Niveo's floor. During the planning stages, the building was constructed with Niveo being a members-only establishment in mind, so the skincare boutique was given an exclusive elevator.

Only those with a Niveo membership keycard could open the elevator's doors. Alternatively, those in Niveo's reception could do that. So, a regular passerby wouldn't accidentally get on Niveo's exclusive elevator.

Yi Mi-Yeon quickly trotted toward the CCTV monitors to confirm and then figured out why the employee had reacted that way a second ago. “It's a... man?”

The baseball cap-wearing figure stood before the elevator door, looking utterly confused. That person's silhouette unmistakably belonged to a man. Although he wasn't the buffest dude in the world, his body type seemed ideally suited to modeling clothes. In other words, it was the physique of a typical male celebrity.

Up to this point, this man seemed like the 'friend' Choi Yeon-Ha mentioned. However, something about him stopped the employees from opening the elevator door... and that was his clothing. Even from the CCTV monitor, his clothes looked quite shabby and ragged.

“Hmm...” Yi Mi-Yeon slightly frowned at this development.

The employee cautiously asked, “Miss Yi, maybe he's just rocking street fashion?”

“...You dummy, that's even more expensive.”

“Oh.”

That man's attire suggested that he wasn't deliberately wearing 'vintage' style clothing. It really felt like his clothes were worn down and stretched here and there.

The man on the monitor noticed the intercom next to the elevator and began pondering what to do, which wasn't surprising, really. Most elevators wouldn't have intercoms like that, after all. His fluster and confusion were understandable in this situation.

Yi Mi-Yeon grabbed the mic and pressed the 'talk' button. “Good day, sir. Are you here with your friend's recommendation?”

The man shifted his gaze toward the camera at the voice coming from the intercom.

-Yes, I am.

“I see. Let me open the door for you. Please come in.”

-Understood.

After opening the elevator door, Yi Mi-Yeon sighed softly. However, the employee looked flustered by the latest development. “B-but, is it okay with no confirmation, Miss Yi?”

“Yes, it will be fine.”

“E-even so, shouldn't we... at least confirm whose recommendation..”

Yi Mi-Yeon cut the employee off. “No, there's no need.”

The employee blinked her eyes. “Eh?”

Yi Mi-Yeon tutted softly.

'So, this girl didn't see his face.'

It was only for a brief moment, but Yi Mi-Yeon still saw the man's face as he looked at the camera. And that was already enough for her.

'It doesn't matter whether he's a celeb or not. I mean, just look at his face! No regular celebs can even dream of rivaling him!'

Without a doubt, that man was someone extraordinary. That alone was enough of a qualification to enter.

***

Kang Jin-Ho's jaw slightly dropped as he watched the elevator's doors smoothly slide open.

'That's something else, alright.'

Apparently, progress waited for no man. As if to prove that, Kang Jin-Ho got to learn that elevators like this existed in the world.

“Hmm...”

He let out a brief fake cough, then stepped inside the elevator. The doors automatically closed, then the elevator smoothly went up.

'Yup, something else, indeed...'

How did he end up coming here, though? It all started with his conversation with Choi Yeon-Ha.

***

-Okay, so... You want to take a break but don't know how to, and that's where I come in? You want me to teach you?

“Yes, more or less,” Kang Jin-Ho nodded.This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.

Choi Yeon-Ha sounded doubtful as she replied.

-I didn't mishear you, right?

“Mm? Is there a problem?”

“No, it's not that. How should I describe this... As expected of you, Mister Jin-Ho? Something like that? In that sense, I'm grateful, I guess? Without you, I'd never get to experience anything like this.

“...Kuh-hum.”

-In any case! I shall teach you the surest method to experience the best relaxation you can imagine and recharge your batteries. However, you must promise me something first, okay?

“A promise? What is it?”

-You must promise me to do whatever I tell you to do! And don't ask me for another method instead of this one!

Kang Jin-Ho nodded without hesitation. He didn't need to think too hard about this since there didn't seem any downsides to agreeing to her demands. “Very well. I give you my word.”

-Good! Then, I'll DM you an address pretty soon, so go there after lunch tomorrow. Okay?

“...An address? Of what exactly?”

-You'll see when you get there.

***

Kang Jin-Ho sighed softly.

'I should've thought more about it before agreeing with her...'

Just by looking at the elevator's interior, Kang Jin-Ho got a hunch that he was about to enter an extraordinary place. Even before he could mentally prepare himself, though, the elevator reached the top floor. As a clear chime went off, the elevator doors smoothly glided open to reveal rows of women in formal dresses standing on either side of the elevator.

“We welcome you to our boutique, dear customer.”

Kang Jin-Ho stood there in silence, his eyes blinking.

Since he remained frozen, the employees also couldn't move, either. That meant Kang Jin-Ho got even more flustered and couldn't move. And when he didn't say anything, the employees... also had to stand absolutely still in utter silence!

A bout of awkward silence descended on the lobby of Niveo. While everyone was standing around in confusion about how to deal with this awkwardness, the elevator door failed to read the room and dispassionately closed shut.

“Heol...!”

“Hurry and open the door! Hurry!”

An employee nearest to the elevator repeatedly hit the button until the door slid open again.

“D-dear client, please step inside. This way.”

“Oh, uh... Thank you.” Kang Jin-Ho nodded slightly, his expression still a bit weirded out.

'Did he come here without knowing anything?'

Yi Mi-Yeon was sure about it now. A potential client coming here wouldn't be as flustered as this man if they heard some info about this place in advance. However, considering the member recommending him here was that Choi Yeon-Ha, that explanation seemed reasonable.

“Allow me to guide you, sir,” Yi Mi-Yeon smiled good-naturedly. Regardless of this man's circumstances, nothing changed for the employees of Niveo. They still needed to offer the best customer service in town. Yi Mi-Yeon guided Kang Jin-Ho into the store's consulting suite. “We shall prepare the refreshment of your preference right away, sir. We have a variety of tea and coffee to choose from.”

When Yi Mi-Yeon spread open a menu and placed it before Kang Jin-Ho, he reflexively asked her, “Am I in a cafe?”

“...Fuu-wuph!” Yi Mi-Yeon hurriedly covered her lips with both her hands. She couldn't hold her laughter anymore at how genuinely confused Kang Jin-Ho looked. 'Is he really Choi Yeon-Ha's friend?'

He seemed way too pure to be an acquaintance of that witch-like Choi Yeon-Ha!

“No, sir. You're in a skincare specialist facility boasting an exclusive membership program.”

“Skin... care?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head.

“Yes. Besides skincare, we also offer comprehensive fitness and body type management services, and..” Yi Mi-Yeon tried to explain Niveo's specialties, but her words came to a sudden halt. She suddenly realized why this handsome-looking young man seemed so confused about skincare.

'Skincare? Really? Hold on...!' Yi Mi-Yeon was slightly dismayed while studying Kang Jin-Ho's face closely. '...What is there to care about on his skin?'

Yi Mi-Yeon was a trusted employee of the elite skincare boutique where only the top one-percenters were allowed to enter. As such, she had plenty of opportunities to study many different people's skin. One of the noticeable things about the wealthy folks frequenting this place was how silky-smooth and supple their skin was, especially after taking their ages into consideration.

Then again, that shouldn't come as a surprise. The clientele of Niveo consisted of folks wealthy enough to sink thousands of dollars per month on simple skincare products alone. And the heavens wouldn't forsake those driven enough to slather themselves in bizarre concoctions like cockroach essence if they could maintain good skin. So, Niveo's clients all boasted wonderful skin textures and suppleness that greatly belied their actual ages.

However, the skin of the man before Yi Mi-Yeon's eyes was in another realm of existence altogether! She suddenly understood what 'flawless' actually meant!

'H-holy cow, this is... no bloody joke!'

Anyone even remotely interested in skincare would dream of finding skin like this man's. As Kang Jin-Ho had already perfectly removed all impurities from his body through cultivation, his skin now possessed child-like suppleness and flexibility.

Since that was his story, why would he require skincare? It'd be no exaggeration to say Niveo's employees should be begging him to teach them his secret instead! This situation was like... Like a professional soccer player dropping by at a children's training camp to learn tricks to playing soccer!

“D-dear customer, sir, you are... here to receive our specialist skincare, yes?” Yi Mi-Yeon had to ask that, even though she already knew people would usually visit a skincare facility to manage their skin quality and not to play soccer!

However, Kang Jin-Ho's response was rather unexpected as well. “I was simply told to come here, you see..”

“I beg your pardon, sir?”

“Well, she said you'll help me get rid of my fatigue, so..”

“...Oh!” Yi Mi-Yeon's brain kicked into even higher gear. “I see. We've already received a call from Miss Choi Yeon-Ha earlier today regarding your arrival, sir. So, for today, we will provide you with a simplified experience of all the services offered by our facility.”

“I see. Let's do that, then.”

“Before we start, sir... May I ask you something first?”

“Yes?” Kang Jin-Ho looked back at Yi Mi-Yeon.

She carefully took out a camera. “D-do you mind if we take just one photo of you?”

“...I'm sorry?”

“If you permit us to take just one photo of your skin and display it in our office, we shall provide you with a free membership. For one... No, make that three years! Three years of free membership, sir! All for just one photo! No, wait! Two photos! Please!”

Kang Jin-Ho blinked his eyes. “I... uh... Sorry? What?”

“Even Miss Choi Yeon-Ha said it's okay to take one photo, you see! That is why I beg of you, sir! Please!”

Kang Jin-Ho could only nod in silence while looking utterly perplexed.

And so... the 'Kang Jin-Ho Relaxation Program' that Choi Yeon-Ha went to great pains (?) to create got underway. Although, it was anyone's guess if Kang Jin-Ho would get to relax at all during this program or not!