Landing in Your Inbox

98 - take care pt. ii

June 18, 2021 4:00 PM
Seri's Apartment

For its summer fragrance launch, Seri's Choice rented a whole beachfront cafe in Jeju where the glass windows overlooked the lapping waves.

The large TV screen on stage was playing the commercial: a Cinderella-esque scenario where a woman in a ball gown is running down the stairs, fleeing from a party. She ends up on a seashore where she takes off the gown leaving a (beach-appropriate) chemise on. Amid a lilting neo-soul melody and a hypnotic guitar-riff that take viewers in another world, the protagonist claims her freedom with a frenetic transition of scenes: she meets new friends and they lay down a picnic mat on the sand. Then they fly a kite, swing on a hammock, play frisbee, and eventually run to the ocean with hands linked as the tagline is spoken by a female voice: "Feel a spray in the breeze. Brise by Seri's Choice."

There were food trays, cocktails, and more delightfully, carts giving away gigantic cotton candy and artisan ice cream. A photo wall was put up though the skies were blue enough to use the glass windows as backdrop.

Aquamarine perfume boxes and crystal-clear cylindrical bottles were on display. A spritz of the bottle would unlock a tantalizing buildup of water lily, lily-of-the-valley, and rose, uplifted by pear, violet leaves, and black currant leaves, and finishing with smooth, addictive notes of praline and captive musks. The event flew in a hundred or so influencers and press from Seoul and abroad, who would not only enjoy a complimentary weekend getaway but also a beach bag with goodies worth 200,000 won, including a replica of the frisbee in the commercial.

The launch event was capped off with a special message from the Seri's Choice CEO herself looking ethereal in an aqua dress exposing a pristine shoulder. Her lips were painted with a dewy nude tint, ears adorned with gold cuffs, wavy hair tossed to the dress strap side. "Summer is about remembering your first vacation. The time when all the possibilities were yours...Meeting your first love, doing soul searching, rejoicing carefreely..."

"It would have been nice if I said my speech in person." The present-time Seri was not as glamorous as the one on TV with her bare face and messy bun, though her pullover sweater and wide-leg pants were nowhere considered cheap. Instead of the coastal cafe, she was just on her couch in Seoul. And instead of holding out her label's newest summer scent, she held a disinfectant. Seri sighed deeply, mourning for the things that weren't meant to be.

"Then you would have scared them now." Jeong-hyeok quipped next to her.

Seri sent a side-glare at her boyfriend, lowering the phone that was released to her care after her fever had finally dissipated. "Hey."

"Your voice sounds lower than mine." He said, pointing at his Adam's apple.

She smacked him in the arm but he couldn't even be mad when her show of strength was a sign of recovery.

"When did you record that message?" Jeong-hyeok pointed at the perfume launch video.

"Last month, when I still had time." She lifted her phone again so she could continue watching the launch event recorded earlier. The camera panned to the packed venue with the audience clapping their hands. "Our Plan B in case I won't be able to make it..."

"It's a pretty video." Jeong-hyeok commented.

"It is, right?" Seri's eyes danced, forgetting he was picking on her, "Because I'm pretty in it."

"You looked lively in it." Jeong-hyeok allowed. "It was nice to see."

Seri could detect the slightest tinge of regret. "Not like now, you mean?" She frowned.

"You just seem happier when you're working for your company." Jeong-hyeok gestured to the happy faces of the Jeju crowd. "It shows."

"I enjoyed that campaign." Seri smiled wistfully at the screen. "And we made a great product. We hired a talented perfumer who studied in Grasse and a bottle-maker with an eye for 21st century design so people can imagine the scent just by looking at a picture online...Imagine all these people wanting to work with Seri's Choice. The company is flourishing, and it wasn't like that from the start. I'm proud of how far it has gone. There's new competition, but there's also plenty of room to expand and lots of fun opportunities."