Yoo Hajin always looked at people first.
Not their body shape,but their walk.
The angle of shoulders folding inward.The moment a hand searched for a pocket.Where their eyes failed to settle.
Fashion cameafter that.
He built a brand.
Walked the runway.Hung in select shops.His name appeared in magazines.
It was success.
At least by the standardsthe city had set.
But the people wearing his clotheswere always the same.
Similar bodies.Similar expressions.Similar ways of speaking.
The city was wide,yet the places fashion reachedwere strangely narrow.
—"Hey.You still make clothes by looking at people's bodies?"
Hong Raon's callsalways came without warning.
"Then what should I look at?"
"The city."
Hajin laughed.
"Here we go again."
But Raon didn't laugh.
"I've met someone strange lately."
"You always meet strange people."
"This one's different."
A brief silence.
Raon didn't choose her words carefully.She never did.
"He memorizes the placespeople are pushed into—like a map."
"A homeless guy?"
"No.A designer."
Hajin had a cigarette in his mouth.He didn't light it.
"He says he's putting the city on trucks."
"…What?"
"Medicine. Housing. Food. Safety.Nothing fixed.They go where they're needed."
That's whenHajin put the cigarette out.
"So?"
"It sounds ridiculous," Raon said,"but it's not funny."
She paused, just a beat.
"There's no stylein his design."
"Then why are you shaken?"
"Because there are people in it."
—After the call,Hajin stood in the middle of his studio.
Mannequins.Fabric.Samples.Lights.
Everything was perfect.Everything was safe.
And everythingwas too far away.
He knew exactlywhere his clothes were never worn.
Factories.Sites.Worker dormitories.Night shifts.Migrant labor.
Their clothes were always good enough.
Cheap.Disposable.Functional—and nothing more.
But Hajin knew.
Clothes can protect people.And clothes can hide them.
—That night,Hajin redrew a truck blueprint.
There was no truck yet.
Instead,there was a person's day.
Morning.Sweat.Dust.Rain.Night.
Clothes weren't meant to be changed.They were meant to endure together.
"If the city moves…"
Hajin muttered.
"Clothescan't stay fixed either."
He messaged Raon.
When do I meet that guy?
The reply was short.
Soon.You won't be able to stay out.
Hajin didn't smile.
This time,it didn't feel like being dragged in.
—A few days later,Hajin stood at the edge of an industrial zone.
Containers.Trucks.Dust.
And inside it,people.
Doyoon didn't explain.
Didn't persuade.
He simplyunfolded the drawings.
Hajin asked,
"Where does fashion fit in?"
Doyoon didn't hesitate.
He drew a single line.
"Where peoplemove first."
In that moment,Hajin understood.
This wasn't a fashion project.
This was aboutputting a bodyback onto the city.
Yoo Hajin spoke slowly.
"I'll start by looking at people."
The city had not yet climbed onto trucks.
But fashion,for the first time,began movingtoward people.