Chapter 114 - Smile More, Dr. Kim!

'That man is crazy, how can he buy fifteen Louis Vuitton bags at once?' Ye Rim would like to keep some for herself, but her conscience told her it was better this way. She would make better use of these bags by selling and giving the money to the Pearl's musicians.

"Thank you so much for allowing me to sell the bags here, Ms. Cha!" she thanked the ajuhmma with sincere gratitude. This event was famous in the capital, used to gather many philanthropic entities and NGOs in a charity bazaar. The singer started to unpack the designer handbags.

"Stay calm, Ye Rim. Although the items are very expensive, in the early afternoon a group of socialites should come here to make their round for charity. I bet they'll be interested," Ms. Cha encouraged Ye Rim, while helping to unpack and label bags. She's got a small space next to the flowers that the Orchidists Association exhibited and sold to raise funds for a charity.

Mrs. Cha was the person who organized the bingo at the Pearl, and was a very friendly and rather plump ajuhmma. In return for the favor, Ye Rim would attend the Noraebang duet stage, as an official singer, in the late afternoon.

By the middle of the afternoon, Ye Rim had sold only two handbags. After all, they were really pricey. Even at a bazaar price, the brand-new bags caused much coveting, but they still hadn't made women open their wallets.

The singer was restraining her frustration as much as she could, when explaining to a potential buyer that the bags had a certificate of authenticity. Ye Rim showed again every detail of the product's excellent workmanship, when with a glance she saw the group of socialites coming in that direction.

She spotted among them Yoon Ji Ah! The former singer Ye Rim had the displeasure of meeting weeks ago, and with whom she had a long-lasting rivalry. 

Ji Ah was quite talkative and distracted looking at a stark-looking lady who came in the center of the group. Ye Ri could bet that this would be Ji Ah's future mother-in-law. The group had four or five more women, all as elegant as Ji Ah.

"Ajumeoni, this model really looks good on social occasions. Isn't it a keep? Imagine your friends, they'll be totally 'OH!' in shock! There are only a few units of this model in Korea!" Ye Rim insisted once again with her possible buyer, just wishing the group would pass straight by her counter this time. 'What the hell, why did you have to be with this group, Ji Ah?! You will definitely ruin my opportunity to sell the bags!' 

However, as she herself predicted, due to her 'bad luck' factor, the leader of the group came exactly toward her booth. Ji Ah even turned around at a glance, tossing her silky hair aside, pretending she hadn't seen that Ye Rim was the salesperson at the booth.

The singer just prepared for the worst.

The ajumeoni socialite gave Ye Rim a tight-lipped smile as she came, seeming to do so out of mere social obligation. Her court of women dressed in more or less the same style and with the same haircuts also gave Ye Rim copies of the same smile. Ji Ah, however, spoke extravagantly aloud,

"My Gosh, Ye Rim! Nice to see you!" the fake kisses in the air between both ensued, of course. "What do you have here, uh?! Wow, what beautiful handbags! Are they original?!" the young socialite took one of the bags with her fingertips. 

'Aish, why does this girl make me want to resort to violence every time?!' Ye Rim wondered internally. But she took  the bag from Ji Ah's fingers a little abruptly, and showed her the certificate of authenticity. 

"Ah! Aigoo, you weren't even kidding about your new phase, were you?" despite the slightly mocking tone, Ye Rim noticed a hint of doubt in Ji Ah's voice. 'Did that nonsense that Eun Ha did at the cafe really fool her? This girl deserves to be fooled, what a mean person she is!'

"Ah, well, I don't like to brag ...!" the singer smiled falsely, preferring to use the tactic of talking less, and not committing herself. She wouldn't deny anything, but she wouldn't confirm either,

"But please, ladies. Come on! Feel free to look at the bags. Prices are on the tags."

The women did not move, however. Even the previous buyer, who was looking for her wallet in her purse while this exchange was taking place, stopped and looked at Ji Ah's mother-in-law. And put the wallet back.

'I don't believe it,' Ye Rim resisted the urge to express her frustration.

Then the leader of the socialites came forward slowly and took out a bag, proceeding to examine it carefully.

"Who is your friend, Ji Ah?" she asked the future myeonuri, not even looking at Ye Rim a second time. She probably had the scanning before.

"Ah, Eomeoni, she… She went to college with me! Hahaha, Nam Ye Rim, meet Choi Hye Seok, mother of my fiancé Park Byung Soo."

'College? Uhn, right, she doesn't want to remind her mother-in-law of the embarrassing moments of her past,' Ye Rim quickly realized, frowning.

"Ye Rim works at HTN, as Byung Soo, Eomeoni."

"Aigoo, what is she doing? Does she really believe that or is she trying to promote herself with her so-called social circle?" Ye Rim even thought this was the right time to get back at Ji Ah, but she didn't consider herself so petty.

It was interesting to see Mrs. Choi's gaze going directly to Ye Rim's hands, more precisely to her right and left fingers. "Are you married, Miss Nam?"

"N-no," she replied a little confused, noting the baffled expression that Ji Ah tried to hide with a frozen smile.

"Eomeoni, Ye Rim is a career woman! But look at what beautiful Louis Vuittons! You didn't buy them all here, did you, Ye Rim? I haven't seen the entire collection here yet."

"Ah, well… they were bought in Zurich," well, she wasn't lying about that. 'If only they could decide whether to buy or just leave…' They were occupying the entire front of the stand and Ye Rim had the impression that other people wanted to get closer.

"Ah, and what is the cause for which you will be donating the sale amount, again?" Ji Ah asked.

In fact, the booth's board didn't have a sign telling it, because she was not sure if the public would be empathetic to 'Pearl Club's Renovation' story.

"Ah, right, the cause ... Well ..."

"Miss Nam is donating the proceeds from the sale of her collection to the Ji Hyeon Foundation," said the voice that came out of nowhere beside the women. Ye Rim recognized the voice and closed her eyes in total defeat.

She immediately flinched, feeling divine punishment fall on her.

"Dr. Kim!" Most of them recognized him immediately. He kept a small, friendly smile for the socialites, and his hands in his pockets. All this Ye Rim saw when she opened his right eye to see if Jun Hyeon Oppa was still there or was it just a nightmare.

He greeted the ladies, and turning to Ye Rim, asked with a radiant expression,

"How's the sales going, Miss Nam? Have we managed to reach the initial goal yet?" he glanced at the exposed bags. "Uhn, do we only sell two?"

Ye Rim nodded feeling shrinking. What could Dr. Kim say about her, since after being gifted all those expensive bags, the next day she was trying to sell them all out? Knowing Kim Jun Hyeon as little as she did, she knew it was not exactly a good reaction.

But… 'Hey, wait. Did he say the profits went to his Foundation? How come?!'

Dr. Kim had already gone behind the counter, and was now at her side, reaching out for handbags for the socialites to examine. As soon as he could, he muttered under his breath to Ye Rim,

"'Friend', you really are shameless. I barely turned my back around and you're already selling my bags!"

"You gave me the bags!" she grunted back, attending to a customer.

"Not for you to sell them!"

"Do you want to control something you gave away?"

"They were pricey and I regret purchasing them. I obviously did this in a moment of madness. I even had to pay import taxes at the airport."

"Taxes? How can you talk about your gift taxes?"

"Aren't we friends and play it fair and honestly? I can talk about rates and prices since I'm not trying to seduce you. You are not going to make money from the gifts of an old friend who is repenting it, are you?"

"You are so cheap!"

"I am not. You will donate to the Ji Hyeon Foundation. Your name will even appear at the annual event. Without you spending a dime with us."

This whole conversation followed in murmurs as they both turned to customers interested in the handbags with huge smiles. Obviously Ye Rim realized how charming and brazen Dr. Kim could be when it came to taking money from donors. 'Look who's talking about me, do you need to smile like that? If he grins a little more at this ajuhmma, Dr. Kim will touch his ears with the corners of his mouth!"

An hour later, they were selling the last designer bag. There was a sense of accomplishment when they thanked the last client together and looked at each other with smiles of satisfaction.

"It was very fast, wasn't it?" 

"Yes, after you arrived, those women almost slapped each other to buy the bags. I no longer know if they were buying bags or a smile of yours, "Ye Rim grunted, counting the money from the sale.

Jun Hyeon chuckled with amus.e.m.e.nt, "This is a Ye Rim's exclusive trick."

She glared at him, but said nothing.

"Come on, give me the money," the surgeon demanded, one of his striking eyebrows raised in defiance.

"OPPA! I don't ... "

"You didn't even sell the bags by yourself. And frankly. Work at HTN? Tsk Tsk. I didn't know you were a compulsive liar," he teased, holding out his hand, waiting for the money.

"Okay, okay!" Ye Rim handed the money over to Dr. Kim, irritated. Now she'd must find another way to get the money. Would she really have to accept Dae Won's proposal and sign a contract with an agency?

But he cut her inner thoughts, putting the money in his wallet,

"I saw that you are the singer of Noraebang Duet. Isn't it time to start? I want to sing."

"Do you want to sing?" off course she was surprised.

"Uhum," he replied indifferently to Ye Rim's surprise, taking her hand and leading her to the booth, "I want to celebrate the donation."

Ye Rim tried to control the sudden awareness of his hand in hers.