The third floor housed both the Design Department and the Development Department, facing one another across a narrow hallway. Even before stepping into the Development room, the rapid drrrrr of sewing machines vibrated through the door.
Through the large glass wall, dozens of sample sewers were hunched over their machines, needles flying. Pattern makers and cutters worked along a massive central table, their hands moving with practiced precision.
Lee Hyuk pushed the door open. Yoojin and Dongha followed close behind, their expressions still tense from the earlier scene.
But the moment they entered, the atmosphere shifted—Development Manager Kim Jung-ho and Design Manager Oh Min-ji greeted them with bright smiles.
"Oh, Lee Hyuk!"
"Good morning, Manager."
Kim Jung-ho was a small, wiry man in his 50s, his skin tanned from years spent hopping between factories. Beside him, Design Manager Oh Min-ji wore a dress made of an unusual textured fabric—her usual avant-garde style.
"These are our interns, Yoon Dongha and Han Yoojin," Lee Hyuk introduced.
"Nice to meet you. I've been curious—rumors have been floating around," Kim Jung-ho said, eyes widening as he took in the two of them.
"Kids these days… their proportions are something else."
"Oh, those two."
Manager Oh Min-ji clasped her hands dramatically, eyes sparkling.
"Hi, I'm Oh Min-ji from the Design Department. Sorry I missed the orientation—I heard all about it afterward and was annoyed I wasn't there. And thank you for the hard work finding those sample fabrics yesterday."
But even while she spoke, her gaze kept drifting up and down their bodies—especially their silhouettes. When her eyes accidentally met Kim Jung-ho's, both of them looked away hastily.
"Min-ji," Kim scoffed, "you're dying to dress them up, aren't you?"
"Oh please, like you're any different."
She shot back immediately, then resumed inspecting the two interns like premium mannequins.
"Han Yoojin is literally a perfect fitting-model size," she murmured. "Seriously perfect. But Dongha… he's nowhere near a standard sample size. Manager Kim, look at his frame."
Kim Jung-ho circled Dongha like a tailor at work.
"Hmm… yes, men's samples are all size 100. He's at least 110, maybe 115. Even 110 would be tight across those shoulders."
"Sorry, just a moment."
Kim tapped Dongha's back, waist, and lower torso, estimating measurements with muscle memory rather than a tape measure. Dongha remained absolutely still—expressionless, like an actual mannequin.
"His waist is quite slim compared to his chest. And his arms and legs are long. The patterns will need adjusting," Kim said. "But once we draft it? The fitting will look incredible."
Hearing this, Lee Hyuk's eyebrow twitched sharply.
"Don't tell me you're planning to use our interns as models?"
Kim and Oh Min-ji waved their hands as if caught doing something mischievous.
"No, no, nothing official," Kim said.
"We know your department is swamped," Oh added. "We just want to try the samples on them for a moment."
"Director of Sales, Hwang Ji-yeon is in Europe meeting with a high-fashion buyer," Oh continued.
"We're expecting a request for samples any day now. If we prepare the prototypes, having interns model them—just for internal photos—would be far more useful than putting them on mannequins."
The words high fashion instantly darkened Lee Hyuk's expression.
"High fashion? In this economy? We're better off mass-producing cheap fabrics and selling volume. Why make something expensive nobody will buy?"
At that, Kim and Oh's mouths immediately shut.
There was no point arguing with someone who simply didn't get it.
Yet even as they stayed silent, both of them exchanged a glance.
Perfect proportions. Ideal silhouettes. A rare chance.
Oh Min-ji took a breath, swallowing her pride.
"Director Hwang is negotiating the exclusive development and distribution rights for Marc & Max's mid-range line," she explained calmly.
"It's technically high-fashion, but the project is for a mass-fashion sub-brand. We were told that design capability will be a major factor. We need to prepare samples this week—and using real fitting models could make a difference."
Marc & Max—an Italian luxury brand known for dresses costing 2 to 3 million won each.
If they launched a mass-fashion line, it would dominate the Asian market.
Lee Hyuk didn't like the idea, but cooperation with the Design Department was necessary.So he shrugged.
"Fine. Use the interns when they're not busy. If that ever happens."
He smirked as he looked at Yoojin and Dongha, but the others only stared back, unimpressed.
Afterward…
They visited the HR & General Affairs Team on the 6th floor—Assistant Manager Lee Seyoung cheerfully welcomed them.The Finance Team was more conservative, dressed like bank employees.
Then on the 7th floor, the Systems Operations Team barely acknowledged their presence… until Yoojin walked in.
More than ten male employees snapped their heads up simultaneously, stunned.
Their darkened, exhausted faces flushed pink in an instant, like shy boys seeing a crush for the first time.
Dongha watched them with a cold, sharp gaze that made several developers swallow hard and snap back to their monitors.
Finally…
Instead of returning to their department, Lee Hyuk led them past it—toward two rooms at the end of the hall: the Color Room and the Executive Director's Office.
He knocked on the Color Room.
"Come in," came a drained voice.
Inside, a woman with long hair and pale skin sat in the dimmed room, reviewing fabric swatches under shifting light sources.
"This is our Colorist," Lee Hyuk introduced.
"She's certified to approve fabric colors. Without her confirmation, nothing can go into production. You'll want to stay on her good side."
"Nice to meet you," Yoojin and Dongha said politely.
The Colorist only flinched slightly before resuming her rapid work—switching between fluorescent, blue, and yellow light as she scribbled "approved" or "rejected" onto each card.
The three quietly slipped out and move to Executive Director's Office
"Ah, the interns! Come in," said Executive Director Park Jin-hee, her warm smile instantly easing the tension in the air.
Her cheeks puffed adorably when she smiled—an almost motherly presence.
She brewed roasted brown-rice tea for the three of them, the warm nutty aroma melting the anxiety knotted in Yoojin's stomach.
"I expected you yesterday," she teased.
Lee Hyuk replied defensively, "We had training and fabric retrieval in the morning. Then we handled the delayed-container cases. Fog in Shanghai is delaying departures—I'll send a report."
Park Jin-hee nodded slowly, memories flickering across her eyes.
"Oh yes… Shanghai fog. When I lived there, some days the commute took over two hours."
She and Lee Hyuk had both served as expatriates in the company's Jiaxing office.
"But it was fun," she sighed. "Now that I'm stuck in the office all day… not so much."
Then she looked at Yoojin and Dongha, her eyes crinkling.
"How are you two holding up?"
"It's only our second day, so… so far, so good," Yoojin answered with a small smile.
Something unreadable crossed the Executive Director's face.
"And you, Dongha?"
"I'm doing well. Same as Yoojin."
Park Jin-hee's gaze sharpened instantly.
"Manager Lee, they say they're fine. It's only been two days, right?"
"Yes, Executive Director. I'll start giving them more work."
She nodded once, satisfied.
"They're here now. Let's put them to real use. And… I should brief you on the Samho Entertainment matter as well."