Episode 2: Encounter with the Tiger Team Leader

Episode 2: Encounter with the tiger team leader, thud, thud! The dazzling midday autumn sunlight poured in through the glass wall of the conference room on the 42nd floor of Crown Tower, but the air inside was as frozen as a Siberian field at tens of degrees below zero. Just before entering the conference room, Assistant Manager Kang, a 5-year bear beast in charge of the role of gunner, gave Louis a paper cup of warm coix tea from the vending machine in the 42nd floor bathroom and tapped Louis on the shoulder. The secret warning that he gave was constantly ringing in Louis' ears.

‘Mr. Louis, don’t try to stand out during today’s meeting. 'The way to live is to just nod your head and remain quiet even when asked a question.' 'yes? Manager Kang, why are you doing this? Are you that scared of the team leader? Even when I saw him briefly in the morning, he had great charisma... … .'

‘It’s not that scary! Team leader Tia is the legendary 'Blood Tiger' who tore up the 5 billion dollar global project plan that the former head of the company ambitiously submitted last year, tearing it to pieces with facts and data in front of the executives and making them cry and write their resignation letters. He is perfectionism incarnate. It's not like I just got the title of youngest team leader in the industry. If you see even one loophole, your soul will be ripped out on the spot.' Louis was painfully aware that the harsh warning was not an exaggeration, just five minutes after the meeting began. Head seat at a large oval wooden conference table that seats 20 people.

Team leader Tia was lightly twirling the laser pointer between her fingers and staring coldly at the PowerPoint slide displayed on the large beam projector screen. Across from her, senior senior planners from Brand Planning Team 1 were drenched in cold sweat with their heads down, looking as if they were looking for a mouse hole.

“Assistant Kang.” Tia's low but harsh voice cut through the silence like an ice pick. “Yes, yes! Team leader!” Assistant Manager Kang, the bear beast, was startled and lifted his butt halfway off the chair. The bear's round and warm expression suddenly turned pale, like a criminal awaiting a death sentence.

“Is this the final result of the ‘Neo City Flagship Store Launching Concept’ that the entire company has been pouring into for the past three weeks?” "Well, that... We planned to maximize social media virality by analyzing the target audience and reflecting the recent trend keywords of the 2030 generation as much as possible..."

“Let’s look at slide page 4, ‘Neon sign photo zone meets retro sensibility.’ Slide page 7, ‘Collaboration between Instagrammable mirror room and barista specialty coffee.’” Tia mercilessly placed the laser pointer down on the table. The light friction of plastic echoed off the conference room wall like a cannon.

“A list of keywords is low-level data that even an artificial intelligence algorithm spits out in 3 seconds. It’s a ragtag combination of obvious clichés that hit you when you go to any pop-up store in the city these days. Where is Crown Corporation’s unique philosophy and soul in this plan? What kind of emotional resonance do you want customers to feel from the time they open the door to the time they leave?”

“That’s… a natural viral effect through instant visual gratification for the younger generation and inducement of social media verification shots….” “Customers who only want visual satisfaction will scroll through their smartphone screens and not take a crowded subway and walk to the store. The essence of offline space is ‘experience’ and ‘narrative.’ It is fatal negligence on the part of planners to just scatter a bunch of pieces and have them enjoy it on their own.” At Tia's cold command, Assistant Manager Kang became completely speechless and completely speechless. The other planners in the conference room could not bear to make eye contact with Tia and just stared at the notepad.

Tia sighed deeply and lightly touched her temple. A deep sense of fatigue and disappointment flashed through her amber eyes. And at that very moment, Tia's keen gaze fell on Louis, who was sitting in the last seat at the edge of the table.

“New employee there.” Louis felt his heart sink. The pure white rabbit ears perked up instinctively and the pinna fluttered. “Yes, four! I’m Louis, the new employee!” “Mr. Louis, who was showing off his brilliant puzzle skills on the subway in the morning. Today is his first day at work, so his mind must be very clear. What did you think when you heard the plan that Assistant Manager Kang just announced? Tell me honestly.” At that moment, all eyes in the conference room were focused on Louis. Assistant Manager Kang was sending a desperate SOS signal with his eyes as if to say, 'Please stay still and don't say anything.'

Louis swallowed dry saliva. 'What should I do? Should I just gloss over it as being so great, as my senior said? No, Team Leader Tia is the person who hates obvious flattery the most. 'I have to be honest and say what I think.' Louis held the cold plastic edge of the 3x3 cube in his suit pocket with his fingertips. The solid feeling of the puzzle at my fingertips instantly calmed my racing heart. Louis seemed to have made up his mind, took out a colorful 3x3 cube from his pocket and quietly placed it in the center of the conference table.

Sweet. All the seniors in the conference room widened their eyes in shock. It was clearly crazy to bring out a toy in front of the team leader. But Louis' expression was serious and determined. “I may be presumptuous, but may I tell you, Team Leader?” “As much as you want. Since you even brought out a toy, let’s explain using that toy.” Tia crossed her arms and glared at Louis with cool eyes. Louis took a deep breath, clicked the top of the cube 90 degrees, and opened his mouth.

“Assistant Manager Kang’s plan just now was like ‘unsolved pieces of cubes that were disassembled by color and lying around.’” “……What?” Tia's eyebrows furrowed. Louis paid no heed and continued without hesitation, lightly rotating the cube with his fingers.

“Neon signs, retro city pop, photo zones, and specialty coffees are all blocks of great and attractive colors. Each has its own distinct personality, like red, blue, and yellow. However, the current plan simply scatters these colorful blocks on the floor of the space. There is a complete lack of an ‘internal axis of rotation’ (Core Axis) that tells customers in what order they should rotate the space and move along what emotional axis when they enter the store.” Louis' eyes began to sparkle with passion.

"The reason the 3x3 cube is beautiful is because the six sides do not play independently, but are perfectly interlocked through a central three-dimensional axis. The same should be true for our flagship store. The ground floor on the first floor should be set as an 'escape from the twisted daily life', relieving tension with the analog sounds of retro city pop and warm lighting. And the central edge block on the second floor has a neon maze as a 'journey to find your own color', and the final third floor rooftop “I believe that an organic ‘three-dimensional storytelling axis’ must be designed that brings the night view of the city and specialty coffee together like a complete puzzle that is finally completed in the lounge.”

Sweet! As soon as Louis finished speaking, he aligned the last side of the cube exactly. There was a thrill that went beyond the silence in the conference room. Assistant Manager Kang couldn't close his mouth in astonishment, and the other planners looked at each other in disbelief. It was an interpretation of space that was so sharp and penetrating to the essence that it was hard to believe it came from the mouth of a new employee. Tia silently stared at Louis and the cube on the table without saying a word. A subtle ripple appeared in her cool amber eyes. Curiosity and intellectual admiration flickered like a flame in his cold eyes.

widely. Tia put her clasped hands down on the table. “Mr. Louis.” “Yes, team leader.” “The ‘3D storytelling axis’ you just mentioned… are you confident in proving whether it is a plausible pun or a concept that can actually be implemented?”

“If you give me a chance, I will prove it with numbers and drawings.” Louis answered firmly without backing down. A very faint but charming smile passed by Tia's lips. “Good. Assistant Manager Kang, please officially assign Mr. Louis as the main sub-planner for this Neo City flagship store project. And Mr. Louis, please place the draft space circulation plan based on the cube rotation axis concept you just mentioned on my desk by 9 a.m. tomorrow morning.”

“Yes! I will prepare diligently!” “The meeting is over. Everyone, please return to your seats and do your work.” Tia took the documents and walked out of the conference room arrogantly. As soon as the door closed, Assistant Manager Kang took a deep breath and grabbed Louis by the shoulders as if grabbing him by the collar.

“Mr. Louis…! Did your liver really come out of your stomach?! I thought my heart stopped when I was spinning the cube and talking about pieces in front of Team Leader Tia!” “Ah, I’m sorry, Assistant Manager… but I think it’s right to be honest…”

“No, I’m sorry! To be honest... I felt relieved too. What Louis said was right 100 times. By the way, Louis, did you see it earlier? When the team leader left, did the corners of his mouth turn up slightly?” “Huh? The team leader laughed?” “That’s right! Today is the first time I’ve seen Team Leader Tia smile in the conference room in the 5 years I’ve been with the company! Let’s go to the basement cafeteria and eat the crunchy homemade pork cutlet special and prepare for the overtime battle!” Assistant Manager Kang chuckled and slapped Louis on the back. In the cafeteria on the first basement floor, Assistant Manager Kang gave Louis another piece of pork cutlet and told him a secret behind-the-scenes story about the team leader.

“Team leader Tia may look like an ice princess without blood or tears, but in reality, she is someone who cares about her team members more than anyone else. Last month, when a team member almost crashed a buyer’s meeting by mistake, she stayed up all night to fix it. The fact that she appointed Louis as a sub-planner shows that she is truly looking forward to it.” At 2 p.m., Louis returned to the office and sat by the window on the 42nd floor, looking down at the endless forest of buildings in Neo City. I turned on the blank white screen of the dual monitor and clicked and turned the 3x3 cube placed in the corner of the desk with my fingertips.

'The first floor is the deconstruction of daily life, the second floor is the recombination of neon, and the third floor is the harmony of the completed brand.' The first line of the new plan began to be typed without hesitation at Louis' fingertips. A pleasant premonition warmly enveloped my entire body, as if a piece of a puzzle that was twisted and twisted had finally found the correct axis of rotation and made the first 'click' sound.