Chapter 112

Chapter 112. Double Good News

After ending my call with Na Young-hwan, I was able to meet Jung Tae-jin almost immediately.

I'd told Na Young-hwan that I'd explain why the competition program they were planning was bound to fail.

But that wasn't the only reason I'd come all the way here.

The program Ma Cheol-seong had been scheduled to do on MVN was called 〈A Dog Like This Exists〉.

When I checked the publicly announced schedule, it was placed at an almost perfect time, immediately after the idol program 〈Trainee School〉 ended.

〈Trainee School〉 would air from February through April.

〈A Dog Like This Exists〉 would follow from April through July.

This probably hadn't been their original plan.

Most likely, MVN had heard Root Entertainment was launching a major competition program and had hurriedly shoved their own show into the same period.

If anything, that worked out better for me.

If both programs blew up, it would mean they couldn't simply move everything else forward all at once.

My plan was to visit MVN personally, remove both shows from the schedule entirely, and have them put the 〈Blue Moon〉 documentary into the empty slot.

Of course, 〈Blue Moon〉 was currently supposed to be produced and distributed by Watflix.

To change that condition, I'd need a very careful analysis of its future success, just like I'd done with 〈N.Dolphin〉 and 〈I Love You So Much〉.

This time, the future news report had already given me the analysis.

The expert in the video had said the documentary became successful because Shin Hyung-geol's program collapsed and created public backlash against competition shows.

If that was true, then it was far better to persuade Seo Hoe-dong to leave Watflix, bring him to Universe, and turn 〈Blue Moon〉 into our own original content from the start.

We'd make money together and get the first step right.

What wasn't there to like?

"I overheard your conversation with PD Seo Hoe-dong earlier. You don't seem very positive about our 〈Trainee School〉. Is there a reason?"

Jung Tae-jin asked.

His hair was slicked back with wax, and his suit had a faint bluish tint.

He was the second son of Jung Jun, chairman of the massive ZJ Group, and had served as president of its subsidiary MVN for quite some time.

He obviously had money, but he also had both influence and ability.

MVN had grown noticeably after recruiting PD Na Young-hwan.

And Jung Tae-jin himself had been the one who recruited him.

"I'm not saying the program itself is bad. It's just that I think resentment toward competition shows has been building lately. Around January or February, I have a feeling that dissatisfaction is going to explode."

The anchor in the future video had said that production of 〈Deep-Rooted Girls〉 was canceled at the end of January, and that by February 25, public criticism of competition programs had exploded.

"What kind of... dissatisfaction are you talking about?"

"It's difficult to point to one exact thing. 〈Jackpot; Japan〉 had manipulation controversies, even if that was some time ago, and I took quite a bit of criticism during 〈Rebooting〉 too. Looking at all that, it's just the feeling I get."

I couldn't exactly tell him that a colony of narrow-mouthed frogs was about to explode at Odu-ri.

Not that he'd believe me even if I just said it was my intuition.

"If you personally think so, Mr. Do Jun-hyeok, then there isn't much I can say... Hmm."

"I'm actually planning to produce a Blue Moon documentary that I think will be extremely successful soon. Personally, I'd recommend canceling 〈Trainee School〉 and putting our program into that slot instead. PD Seo Hoe-dong would be producing it."

After hearing that much, you'd expect him to ask what kind of program it was or how I planned to make it.

But Jung Tae-jin didn't seem particularly curious.

Which meant he didn't believe my claim that the competition show would fail.

He'd believe me soon enough, so it wasn't a big problem.

If anything, it worked in my favor.

I hadn't actually pulled PD Seo Hoe-dong away from Watflix yet.

I intended to do it no matter what, so that wasn't an issue for me.

But if Jung Tae-jin heard that part, he might stop taking me seriously altogether.

"Hmm. If 〈Trainee School〉 really falls through like you say, we'd be in trouble, so of course we'd need another program. Blue Moon isn't an ordinary group either. And with the famous PD Seo Hoe-dong producing it, I don't see any reason for us to refuse."

"Thank you."

"But the same applies to my proposal. If you're that certain 〈Trainee School〉 is going to fail, why not just play along with me and agree to appear? Then when the program disappears naturally, you can hand us the documentary. As you already understand, Luna would participate more like a mentor, while you, Mr. Do Jun-hyeok, would act as a kind of executive manager for 〈Trainee School〉."

Executive manager?

Apparently Jung Tae-jin also knew what I'd done during 〈Rebooting〉.

Had Na Young-hwan told him?

"All right. I'll participate."

"Good. We almost ended up pulling the next program forward if 〈Trainee School〉 fell through, so this is a relief. PD Na almost had to run around in a swimsuit while it's still cold too. We should probably thank you, Mr. Do."

Jung Tae-jin laughed lightly.

He still wasn't taking my warning seriously.

"When you say you almost had to move the next program forward, you mean 〈A Dog Like This Exists〉, right?"

"Yes. That's right. The scripts and planning are already finished, and Ma Cheol-seong is the only cast member, so we can start filming immediately."

That show was going to collapse too.

"Ah... I really don't mean this maliciously, but what if 〈A Dog Like This Exists〉 also falls apart?"

"Then what?"

Jung Tae-jin thought for a moment before answering.

"That would be so troublesome I don't even want to imagine it. What would we do then? We couldn't suddenly move a program forward by four or five months... In that case, I'd have to get that documentary from you even if I had to kneel."

Kneel, huh...

Heh.

President Jung.

I've been very generous with you today.

Calling Seo Hoe-dong the moment I left MVN made me feel strangely like an industrial spy.

But I needed to get his documentary 〈Blue Moon〉 away from Watflix as quickly as possible.

Before their distribution plans advanced any further.

"Yes, Mr. Do Jun-hyeok. Are you finished with your business?"

"Yes. I literally just learned something, so I wanted to ask. Does the Blue Moon documentary absolutely have to be done through Watflix?"

Seo Hoe-dong sounded caught off guard.

"It should be. Watflix has great accessibility, and I'm a Watflix employee."

"Then what if you weren't a Watflix employee, and the program could air on MVN instead?"

"Well... Normally that wouldn't be possible, but right now we're still only at the stage where everyone's been talking positively about the idea. The atmosphere is such that nobody would be surprised if we signed everything tomorrow, so there would definitely be some hurt feelings."

In other words, word was already quietly spreading through the industry that Watflix would produce and distribute it.

From Watflix's perspective, that wasn't a bad thing.

If it really happened, they'd gain strong content.

Which meant this was exactly the right time to win Seo Hoe-dong over.

If you're going to boil a frog, you're supposed to heat the water slowly.

"I don't think there's any particular reason for me to choose one over the other. But what exactly is going on?"

I told Seo Hoe-dong that I thought the competition program was going to collapse.

I couldn't reveal the Ma Cheol-seong animal-abuse matter yet.

If I leaked it now, I'd only waste the animal protection association's firepower.

I'd already told the Shin brothers to send Denver somewhere else for the time being.

All that remained was to wait for the association to act.

The real trigger wasn't Ma Cheol-seong.

It was the narrow-mouthed frogs.

"This is seriously confidential, but you know I'm involved in a film called 〈The Stranger〉, right?"

"Yes."

"That movie's original shooting location was the Odu-ri Hollywood set in Ganghwa."

This was the story I gave Seo Hoe-dong.

While checking the set, I'd walked through Odu-ri and noticed a huge number of black frogs under the building that looked cheapest to demolish.

When I looked into them, they turned out to be narrow-mouthed frogs.

I became worried that touching that area would dump an ecological-habitat restoration obligation on us, so we'd stretched ourselves and moved filming to an actual Hollywood set instead.

Of course, every bit of that context was fabricated.

"Then I heard Root Entertainment was using the Odu-ri set this time, so I got curious and went back for another look. And what do you know? They were demolishing that exact building. I guess it looked easy to tear down to them too. Anyway, the moment they started, frogs came pouring out everywhere. Everyone was panicking, shouting, 'What the hell are these black frogs?' and making a huge fuss..."

"So what happened?"

"Those were the narrow-mouthed frogs. And honestly, I have a bad feeling those people are just going to pour concrete over everything. Do you know how much money is involved?"

I was presenting this as my own prediction, so it didn't matter if the details weren't exactly right later.

They weren't actually as evil as I was making them sound.

But the fact remained that a budget shortage would eventually get the idols furious, and the competition program would collapse.

I was running my mouth with a fabricated story right now, but once Seo Hoe-dong learned the real situation later, he'd probably forgive me.

He might even feel like compensating me.

"A lot of people saw those narrow-mouthed frogs that day. If this gets exposed, it's going to become a huge scandal. The backlash is going to spread to the entire competition-show format. 〈Deep-Rooted Girls〉 has trainees from a lot of agencies. Every one of them will get dragged into it."

After I finished explaining, Seo Hoe-dong stayed silent for a moment.

Then he asked,

"So?"

Right.

I still had more to explain.

"I told MVN President Jung Tae-jin this story, and he said he'd pull the show if something happened. Then he asked me to recommend a program to fill the empty slot. So I recommended you, PD Seo Hoe-dong."

This wasn't just about moving forward a program made by one of their in-house PDs.

The difference in money would be enormous.

He could produce ten programs at Watflix and still not make what a major broadcast slot like that could offer.

"Wow... I've always wondered how you see the future so clearly, Mr. Do Jun-hyeok. So this is how you do it? That's impressive."

If he thought this was how I saw the future, my pride was a little hurt.

Whatever.

As long as I got what I wanted.

"Still, quitting immediately makes me uncomfortable. You can't always think purely rationally, right? Stability is valuable too. If this cancellation becomes certain, I'll think about it again then. You can understand that much, right?"

"Ah... Of course. Understood."

And with that, the warlike phone call ended.

Only after hanging up did I realize that saying he'd reconsider once it became certain was a polite rejection.

Watflix both produced and distributed content.

Once he started making the documentary there, it was over.

MVN wouldn't be an option anymore.

Which meant I needed to make that schedule collapse immediately...

Wait.

Come to think of it, 〈Trainee School〉 had been inserted in the middle, pushing 〈A Dog Like This Exists〉 back by around two months.

Did the people at the animal protection association know the program had been delayed?

Probably not.

Things were moving quickly.

I didn't have even one second to waste.

I immediately called the animal protection association.

"President! We have a huge problem. Ma Cheol-seong! Ma Cheol-seong!"

The head of the variety division burst into the president's office and hurriedly turned on the television.

Something serious had clearly happened.

Jung Tae-jin silently focused on the news channel the director had selected.

Unfortunately, real life didn't have televisions that conveniently played the exact report you needed at the perfect dramatic moment like in movies.

After switching channels several times, the director finally pulled up the news article instead.

[Shock! Dog Trainer Ma Cheol-seong Revealed to Have Abused Dogs]

[Trainer Ma Identified as Ma Cheol-seong, Handler Who Beat Police Dog to Death More Than a Decade Ago!]

[Ma Cheol-seong Fully Admits Animal-Abuse Allegations, Announces Departure from 〈My Dog Has Changed〉]

This was breaking news in the truest sense.

Ma Cheol-seong was practically considered a saint when it came to dogs.

The fact that someone like him had been beating dogs was shocking even to Jung Tae-jin.

"We have 〈A Dog Like This Exists〉 too, remember? We've already canceled his casting. At least that's fortunate. If we hadn't inserted 〈Trainee School〉 into the schedule, we would've been in an even tighter spot."

The variety director sounded relieved.

But his words only made Jung Tae-jin afraid of the situation itself.

There was nothing fortunate about this.

What if this was only the sign before the storm?

At the end of their conversation, Do Jun-hyeok had asked what Jung Tae-jin would do if 〈A Dog Like This Exists〉 also collapsed.

At the time, Jung Tae-jin hadn't understood why he would ask such a thing.

But for the situation to change this drastically in just one day...

Maybe there had been a reason.

Out of all the programs MVN had, why would Do Jun-hyeok specifically mention that one?

Don't tell me 〈Trainee School〉 too...?

If everything Do Jun-hyeok had said turned out to be true, MVN's entire first-half schedule could have been destroyed.

Fortunately, Do Jun-hyeok had promised that he could fill any empty slot at any time.

Before hearing this news, Jung Tae-jin would have put the probability of 〈Trainee School〉 collapsing at one percent.

Now it suddenly felt closer to ninety-nine.

Unexpectedly, 〈A Dog Like This Exists〉 had vanished from the schedule.

He still didn't know whether 〈Trainee School〉 would disappear too.

But the safest option was obvious.

He needed to secure Do Jun-hyeok's documentary for that slot immediately.

"Call PD Na Young-hwan. Right now."