Director Seo Joong Won’s eyes trembled.
‘No! Not yet! …’
It wasn’t time for the article to be released yet. Director Seo Joong Won couldn’t speak and quickly scanned the contents of the article.
[Former M2M member Seo Jun, is he returning to the entertainment world? He reserved a plane ticket to Korea…
According to an acquaintance’s report, Seo Jun, who caused a stir over school violence, will return to the entertainment industry. Even while living abroad, Seo Jun is said to have hung out with Koreans and partied every night, repeatedly saying things like ‘I’ll definitely go back to the entertainment industry’ or ‘I was wronged’.
…Upon confirmation, circumstantial evidence has been found that he had bought a flight ticket back to Korea. Given that Seo Jun’s father is an Ara Entertainment executive, it seems like returning to the entertainment industry would be easy enough. However, how the public will react to Seo Jun’s return after barely a year is…the victim is still undergoing psychiatric outpatient treatment, unhealed from his traumas.]
Director Seo Joong Won, who had gotten to the end of the article, grinded his teeth.
“What the, *beep*!”
Unable to hold himself back in the end, Director Seo Joong Won cursed.
Manager Jin Guk Sun, who had read the article alongside him, also didn’t have a good expression. It was difficult to say anything about it besides “things having gotten worse”.
Manager Jin Guk Sun had also known that Director Seo Joong Won was trying to get Seo Kang Jun, his son, to make a comeback. However, a successful comeback requires caution. Honestly, there is no such thing as “long enough time” when it comes to apologies, but they needed time for at least the public’s anger to die down.
It doesn’t involve them directly so for the public, if you show remorse or cry after just two or three years, they’ll easily forgive.
However, that wasn’t the case right now. Seo Kang Jun’s name was still being brought up in one or two comments on articles regarding M2M.
It was Director Seo Joong Won’s judgement that 6 more months had to pass at the least. Director Seo Joong Won was planning to have Seo Kang Jun return once he was put in the President seat.
Also, even if he did return, it definitely wouldn’t be like this.
He was planning on getting him cast in a drama one way or another and then release an article about the casting.
There would briefly be a controversy if he got cast, but that was the extent of it. Once a project is aired, people will be more immersed in the role than the actual celebrity. As the role gets added in, issues with the actual celebrity gets blurred.
It’s thanks to this that, compared to other types of celebrities, actors can easily come back after a controversy.
However, since an article saying he was returning to Korea too soon was released first, it would definitely inflame the public’s opinion.
The content of the article also felt malicious from Director Seo Joong Won’s perspective.
He held parties. He feels wronged. The victim is still traumatized. It was all true, but, to Seo Kang Jun, it was very unfavorable.
As expected, the trending searches on the portal site were going crazy with keywords like M2M, Seo Jun, Ara Entertainment, and Seo Jun father.
Moments ago, Director Seo Joong Won had ordered him to get people talking about Chae Eun Ho and Valentine, even if it attracted ‘trolls’.
However, it wasn’t just ‘trolls’.
If something bad happened and got deeply imprinted on the public’s mind again, right when people were starting to forget, Seo Kang Jun’s comeback really became impossible.
“Which *beep*…Sue them immediately for defamation…”
As expected, it was News Patch. The reporter’s name was a common name, Kim Joo Yeon. It wasn’t important who wrote it anyways. It was clear that Reporter Choi Sung Joon, who was the older brother of Seo Kang Jun’s school violence victim, was behind it.
Director Seo Joong Won, who was about to say to sue them, closed his mouth. If he sued, it could seem like a firm stance that Seo Kang Jun had no intention of returning, but nothing more. It could needlessly turn into a big deal.
Director Seo Joong Won grasped the back of his neck, his blood pressure rising to the top of his head.
Valentine fell behind Young Women, and Chae Eun Ho fell behind a singer he didn’t even know the face of. The distributor raised their fees, and Seo kang Jun’s comeback was on the verge of collapse. He could get through this one problem at a time. However, the issues were pouring in all at once.
“Are, are you ok?”
Manager Jin Guk Sun asked, his expression hardened. Director Seo Joong Won seemed like he could collapse at any moment.
Being attentive, the secretary served Director Seo Joong Won cold water.
Director Seo Joong Won chugged down his water.
“Haaaaa….”
Director Seo Joong Won sighed.
The fact that all these problems were happening ‘now’ of all time was the biggest issue. The board meeting for appointing the President was tomorrow. If this kept up, there was a high chance that the board would push back appointing Director Seo Joong Won as the President again.
He already had people saying ‘we have to observe a little longer’, ‘he hasn’t shown any real success yet’ that he had to overcome before the board meeting was held.
It was as if the brilliant achievements he had delivered as a working-level staff member, such as developing Sa Bang Shin Hwa, were reset when he rose to the position of Director.
If Director Seo Joong Won had been a direct family member of the current President or had a more reliable background, there would not have been this much scrutiny.
The ‘performance-based system’ that only applied to those outside of the board of directors was laughable, and at times disgraceful. That was why he did anything and everything he could for the day he’d sit in the President’s seat.
He couldn’t watch the President position slip away when it was so close.
“First.”
He felt like he was getting a migraine. Director Seo Joong Won spoke with difficulty.
First, he had to take care of the things that would be the most problematic at the board meeting tomorrow. Seo Kang Jun was Director Seo Joong Won’s child. If Ara Entertainment’s reputation was damaged because of Seo Kang Jun, that wasn’t a simple issue with an agency celebrity.
They obviously would want Director Seo Joong Won to take responsibility for it too. That was also why, when the issues with Seo Kang Jun first came up, he was kicked out of M2M to end the controversy quicker than usual.
“Make an official statement. That Ara Entertainment has absolutely no intention of having Seo Kang Jun do a comeback. Give the order to spread it to all the press releases.”
There was no way he felt good about putting the nail in the coffin of his son’s comeback himself. His wife undoubtedly would raise hell when he got home, but if he spun it as something that just had to be postponed because of the article, it should be fine.
At Director Seo Joong Won’s orders, the secretary confirmed and hurriedly left the Director’s office.
Cautiously, Manager Jun Guk Sun asked,
“But…what should I do about Pineapple Music?”
Manager Jin Guk Sun didn’t want to ask with everything going on right now, but they had to give Pineapple Music a response soon.
Director Seo Joong Won responded, frowning a little,
“For now, arrange a meeting as soon as possible.”
“Yes, sir.”
Manager Jin Guk Sun’s expression was not happy as he was answering. He was thinking that even Director Seo Joong Won might not be able to find a suitable solution this time.
However, he soon sorted out his thoughts.
‘Even if he can’t become President as soon as tomorrow…it’ll be ok if he stays in the Director position and looks for an opportunity…they probably don’t even have someone else in the company as a backup anyways…”
Thinking about the future of the lifeline that he had grabbed on to, Manager Jin Guk Sun bowed his head.
His footsteps were heavy as he was leaving the Director’s Office.
***
The day of the board meeting regarding appointing Director Seo Joong Won as the Ara Entertainment President.
The news that came in with the morning paper was that there was an agenda topic added to the board meeting.
“Director Seo Joong Won’s dismissal”.
The agenda was added by Director Jung, who was not fond of Director Seo Joong Won.
Postponing the appointment to President would make sense, but being stripped of the Director position was something nobody even imagined. There was no reason to do that.
It didn’t make sense to go as far as discussing removal during the board meeting over a few setbacks.
The major singers who made Ara Entertainment what it was today, not only the girl groups but also Sa Bang Shin Hwa, who was considered to have written the history of idol groups, were all groups that Director Seo Joong Won had a hand in, from the member composition to album and activity strategy.
It was thanks to that he had risen to the position he was in now, and there was some trouble with M2M, but they were still ranked as one of the top groups.
Director Seo Joong Won’s achievements became undervalued because they lost to KK. Even so, it wasn’t something to dismiss him over.
‘The board…is dismissing me? No way. If Director Jung is making this move now, he must have something…’
Director Seo Joong Won’s thoughts became more jumbled than ever before.
‘What is it…just what…’
The previous day, Director Seo Joong Won had stayed in the office until late at night, trying to find a solution, and then had stayed overnight at a hotel near the office. Another reason was that he didn’t want to go back to his Han Nam Dong residence and argue with his wife about their son.
‘Do I need to contact the other board members and dig up some information…?’
At that moment, Director Seo Joong Won’s cellphone rang. It was the current Ara Entertainment President.
Director Seo Joong Won quickly clicked the “talk” button.
“Sir!”
All his urgency and anger was mixed straight into his voice.
However, the voice of the person on the other line was very calm. He was an elderly man who was recuperating due to his deteriorating condition. Seo Joong Won cleared his voice.
“Sir, have you received word…? On the board meeting agenda, my dismissal…!”
-You.
The current Ara Entertainment President’s voice as he called out to Director Seo Joong Won was cold and stern. Everything aside, it was the President who had put him in his current position and the one who had been trying to pass over the President position to him.
The President’s ice-like voice made Director Seo Joong Won realize again the seriousness of the situation.
-I think it’d be better if you didn’t attend the board meeting at all.
“What do you mean?”
-Step down yourself. Quietly. As someone who used to cherish you, this is the last warning as well as consideration that I can give you. If you step down first, I’ll take care of what comes after.
Quit? The order to resign from the President, whom he had trusted, made Director Seo Joong Won furious.
He was cornered. He wanted to deny it, but he could feel it. Everything he had built was collapsing. Silently, like a sandcastle collapsing. Yet, quickly.
-Director Jung personally handed over evidence of all kinds of corruption you committed. If you go to the board of directors, your embezzlement and breach of trust will be brought to light.
“What do you mean?!”
Director Seo Joong Won yelled, unable to overcome his anger.
The President meant that Director Jung has more than enough evidence to bring Director Seo Joong Won down, and if Director Seo Joong Won stepped down on his own, the President would do what he could to ensure that he wouldn’t be held responsible for anything else.
“I gave you a clear opportunity. “
The President hung up.
Director Seo Joong Won, who had been frozen in panic, quickly searched his call list.
[Ju Min Ah]
There was a mechanical sound as soon as the call connected.
‘The number you have dialed does not exist…’
Director Seo Joong Won threw his cellphone to the ground. The cellphone tumbled across the carpet.
“This *beep*ing *beep*!”
***
[Music chart powerhouse! Who is ‘Please Take a Listen’ Bunker21?]
As she read the headline on the first page of the entertainment section in a sports newspaper, Division Head Jo Anna had a knowing smile. It was maybe once in a decade that a singer whose face wasn’t even known had this kind of result. Since there was no information at all, people’s curiosity was at its peak.
It was to the point that now it was hard to distinguish whether people truly wanted to know or if they were just into guessing games. Online, there were posts analyzing the voice second-by-second or even novels of sorts saying they knew who it was.
People were even making bets to guess who it was whenever ‘Please Take a Listen’ played.
“Everyone is going crazy. There’s even quite a bit of talk that it’s you, Do Wook.”
“Haha.”
Do Wook, who was seated in front of Division Head Jo Anna, lightly laughed and brought up what he was meeting with her to tell her today.
“Have you received word from Jam Music?”
“Yes, I have. You know that the agencies usually don’t like agency celebrities who are out of control, right? Seriously…in a way, you’re out of control. I didn’t know you were making these kinds of investments. Don’t you think you have too many secrets?”
At first glance, Division Head Jo Anna’s words sounded like a complaint. However, Division Head Jo Anna’s expression was full of satisfaction and pride.
“Thanks to you, I practically have nothing to do now.”
“I’m sorry. For taking away your work…”
“You’re even making those kinds of jokes now? Anyways, the Jam Music acquisition is progressing quickly. That’s the end of stressing over distributor fees.”
Division Head Jo Anna and Do Wook exchanged smiles.
Smiling, Do Wook checked the time on his phone. It was time for Director Seo Joong Won to not be ‘Director’ Seo Joong Won anymore.
Next chapter: Revenge wasn’t the only plan Do Wook had been working on