066 W Korea Fashion Magazine

Just a moment ago, they were still talking about the Songdo International City, and now Yoon Yun-hui had actually materialized right here.

He had an appointment with Aunt Tian at a newly opened café in Songdo, characterized by its botanical atmosphere, transparent roof, and lush green plants visible everywhere.

It was the kind of place that instantly improved one's mood.

"Sorry, sorry, I ran into Assemblyman Jeong Il-young at Grandma Wu's place and ended up chatting a bit longer than expected."

By the time Yoon Yun-hui arrived, Aunt Tian and Tian U-gyeong were already there.

"Every single one of the directors at our Songdo Memorial Foundation is capable of extraordinary things. Look at your Aunt Tian here, utterly accomplished at achieving nothing."

Aunt Tian made a self-deprecating remark.

Compared to professions like doctors or professors, although Aunt Tian managed Kaywon University of Art, she did not actually teach.

For her, Kaywon University of Art was a lucrative business.

"How can Aunt say something like that? You are, after all, a director of our Songdo Memorial Foundation."

Yoon Yun-hui said this quite earnestly, causing Tian U-gyeong beside him to chuckle.

"Exactly, exactly. Why is my dear aunt suddenly waxing poetic and lamenting the passing seasons?"

"Never mind that, U-gyeong. Hand the thing to Yun-hui."

Aunt Tian reined in her expression, and Tian U-gyeong handed an exquisite paper gift bag to Yoon Yun-hui.

After ordering his coffee, Yoon Yun-hui reached directly into the paper bag and pulled out a beautiful cardboard box. Tian U-gyeong introduced it:

"This is a sample from the DIY brand my aunt and I founded."

"It was mostly U-gyeong's idea; I just helped her set up the business framework."

Aunt Tian took a sip of her coffee.

Opening the box, inside lay a bracelet strung together with various plastic beads.

Um...

Harvesting leeks?
*(Note: A slang term for exploiting retail consumers or trendy youth.)*

That was Yoon Yun-hui's immediate reaction, and in reality, it seemed to be precisely the case.

Had you ever heard of the brand 'Pandora'? It was considered a relatively successful fast-fashion DIY brand.

"When you have time, Yun-hui, you should go to Seoul and check out our brick-and-mortar store. It's right in Seongsu-dong. Beads and cords of every material and shape—you could spend a whole day just browsing."

Perhaps noticing the doubt on Yoon Yun-hui's face, Tian U-gyeong offered an explanation, implying that she was not merely shearing ordinary sheep, but rather harvesting consumers with attitude and sincerity.

"Fine, then. It looks pretty good."

Yoon Yun-hui did not put the bracelet on; he merely rolled it around in his hands. The texture of the plastic was quite decent, suggesting a fair bit of production cost had gone into it.

Seongsu-dong could be described as the holy land for Seoul's literary and artistic youth. Converted from an old industrial zone, it was full of art, fashion, and numerous tourists.

Opening a brand store right there was definitely the right location choice.

"Thank you, Sister U-gyeong. I'll accept the gift. Now, can we talk about business?"

Yoon Yun-hui put the bracelet back into the box, expressed his thanks, and then turned his gaze toward Aunt Tian.

"I'm guessing you have a huge surprise for me, Aunt."

"Mm, your guess is correct."

Aunt Tian smiled.

Being in her forties, she had undertaken quite a few ventures over the years, experiencing both losses and gains, but she had managed to accumulate a solid network of contacts in the fashion and design circles. Now, an opportunity had presented itself that allowed her to cash in on those connections.

"Yun-hui, you certainly know the magazine *W*, right?"

"I know it, of course I know it."

Since he was already an entertainer, how could he not know about fashion magazines?

The mainstream fashion magazines in the peninsula were basically local editions of internationally renowned brands. Ranking them by status:

For men's magazines, only *GQ* and *Esquire* held real influence, both being top-tier.

As for women's magazines, there were quite a few more.

The top-tier ones included *Vogue*, *ELLE*, and *Harper's Bazaar*.

The second-tier included *Cosmopolitan* and *Marie Claire*.

Meanwhile, *W* hovered somewhere between the top tier and the second tier.

The copyrights for these magazines existed in two forms: either the headquarters opened a branch on the peninsula to operate it directly, or they sold the copyright to a local peninsula enterprise.

The Doosan Group and the JA Ilbo Group each held relevant copyrights.

"If I remember correctly, the peninsula copyright for *W* belongs to the Doosan Group, right?"

"Correct."

Aunt Tian affirmed, and Yoon Yun-hui blinked.

"So what about *W* magazine? Please, Aunt, just tell me directly."

Yoon Yun-hui actually knew that the Doosan Group's recent operational status was quite poor.

The Doosan Group was one of the earliest enterprises on the peninsula, as well as a rare chaebol family that practiced a brother-to-brother succession system.

To be precise, it was a rotational shift system among brothers, where everyone took turns serving as chairman.

How backward was that?

It felt even more unreliable than father-to-son inheritance.

Please, can we have some proper capitalist gameplay? Professional corporate managers are wonderful.

After operating this brother-rotation system for so many years, the Doosan Group had finally snapped under the pressure.

First, they took a massive loss in real estate, followed by being dragged down by the traditional energy market. Now, they had entered a restructuring and rehabilitation procedure.

"U-gyeong and I plan to acquire the peninsula copyright for *W*."

Aunt Tian stated her intention, and Yoon Yun-hui immediately posed a question:

"Will the Doosan Group sell? Can this little bit of copyright fee even make up for Doosan's black hole of losses? In my opinion, Doosan would at least need to sell off its heavy industry subsidiaries to make a dent."

One must realize that at its peak, the Doosan Group's asset scale placed it firmly among the top ten chaebols on the peninsula.

Facing such a colossal black hole of losses, let alone the copyright of *W*, even packaging and selling off the entire Doosan Publishing Company wouldn't amount to much.

In that case, they might as well not sell it, keeping it around for the female members of the family to play with.

"Yun-hui, pay attention to international news once in a while. Oh, I mean, as an entertainer, you should also keep up with global fashion culture."

Tian U-gyeong chimed in, though she didn't mean it as a lecture.

Clearly, Yoon Yun-hui did pay attention to international news, but it was equally clear that he didn't care much for fashion intelligence.

"How so?"

Yoon Yun-hui humbly accepted the advice, and Tian U-gyeong pulled out her phone to forward a report to him.

"Huh? Condé Nast sold *W*?"

As it turned out, Condé Nast, the renowned fashion media group that published magazines like *The New Yorker* and *Vanity Fair*, had sold *W* magazine itself.

"That's right. Several figures from the American fashion scene took over *W* and established W Fashion Media. As it happens, those figures in the fashion circle have some dealings with our Paradise Group."

Tian U-gyeong revealed the prerequisite of their plan, and Yoon Yun-hui nodded.

"Didn't the other party renew their contract with the Doosan Group? Is the copyright currently in dispute?"

"Rest assured, W Fashion Media has already reclaimed its overseas copyrights. They are currently in urgent need of cash flow, and the Doosan Group doesn't have any more money to spare for a renewal."

Aunt Tian's words dispelled Yoon Yun-hui's doubts. That baseline level of trust was still there; besides, they would undoubtedly verify it again later.

"So... Aunt and Sister U-gyeong... you haven't told your family about this yet?"

"That's right."

Things had reached this point, so everyone naturally needed to be completely honest with one another.

Yoon Yun-hui let out an "oh." No wonder these two had sought him out; it turned out they intended to run this business independently.

Setting up that DIY bead brand was probably done to build up their credibility.

"How much money do you need me to put in? What stake will I get?"

Yoon Yun-hui agreed on the spot. Since he was already mixed up in the entertainment industry, dealing with the fashion world was inevitable, and having his own pathway into it was even better.

"You put in three-fifths, and you get one-third."

"Agreed."

Yoon Yun-hui accepted the terms with absolute promptness. Since he had zero resources and zero connections in the fashion world, investing a bit more capital was only right.

As for how Aunt Tian and Sister U-gyeong intended to sort things out between themselves, that wasn't something Yoon Yun-hui needed to worry about.

Presumably, Aunt Tian would run it now and eventually hand it over to Sister U-gyeong later, seeing as Aunt Tian was unmarried and had no children.

"Talking business with you is always such a breeze. Happy cooperation?"

"Happy cooperation!"