Chapter 131

Chapter 131. Affection Depends on How You Give It

[Do Hyung Is a Heretic in the Entertainment Industry]

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-Do hyung and Chief Kwon Dae-hun both went through absolute hell at Pantheon. And as everyone knows, Victory may be barely hanging on these days, but they used to be vicious enough to form a cartel with government offices. If Root was the enlightened hermit, Pantheon was basically the enforcer. Meaning they probably know roughly what every other entertainment company has been up to. Normally agencies can't touch each other because they all know one another's weaknesses. But Do Jun-hyeok? He left Pantheon after exposing everything. They have no dirt on him, while he's holding dirt on everyone else lol.

-Agreed. Looking at how he's not touching the other agencies right now, he probably doesn't even see them as opponents. Either that, or MVN was right and he's planning to acquire them.

-That's freaking terrifying ㄷㄷ He probably knew all of this would happen from the moment he blew up 〈Deep-Rooted Girls〉.

┗Possible.

-Nooo ㅜㅜ Let's just stay happy running our little corner shop, Do hyung ㅠㅠ

-〈Kim Serin〉 is basically a meme now anyway. There's no stopping it...

Once the commotion surrounding my trip to America for the upgrade finally died down a little, the fandom belatedly started making noise over the Tienhua incident.

These people were exaggerating again.

If you went by the rumors alone, I was apparently a man who single-handedly destroyed a human factory in the Philippines, drove a Weimarch at 180 kilometers per hour and totaled a Starius, then returned to Korea and executed a year-long master plan.

I wished I'd actually done all that.

Unfortunately, most of it was exaggerated.

They were saying I'd planned all of this since 〈Deep-Rooted Girls〉, but while I'd known about Tienhua for quite a while, the company hadn't even taken its current form before the Odu-ri narrow-mouthed-frog incident.

Meaning even a genius couldn't have predicted this far ahead.

Still, it was true that I had my own reason for not attacking the Korean entertainment companies.

Either way, I wanted to inflict major damage on Tienhua.

The best method would've been for all the Korean entertainment companies they had invested in to quietly lose value little by little until they were delisted.

But the moment Tienhua noticed the trend, they'd cut their losses.

I didn't particularly want this to turn into a long war either.

And no matter how exclusively I attacked Tienhua, the media would inevitably focus on the relationship between Tienhua and Korean entertainment companies.

Their stock prices were going to fall to some extent anyway.

What mattered was making sure Tienhua never tried another money show in Korea.

And once Tienhua pulled out of Korea, I planned to do a little window shopping among the entertainment companies whose stock prices had fallen far enough.

If I found a talented planner like Moon Hee-jung, or artists who were at least around Dessault's level, without even asking for another Blue Moon, I would've bought them.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anyone suitable.

So I didn't actually pick anything up.

Still, I felt refreshed.

That was good enough.

Tienhua eventually broke apart.

Whatever Serin's choice might have been, she could no longer transfer there.

What exactly had she been planning to do at a company with absolutely no know-how and nothing but money?

There were too many conversations the members hadn't been able to have with one another.

So after a long time, the five of us, including me, gathered together in the practice room.

The atmosphere was cold.

"Serin. Don't exaggerate your own feelings because you're blaming yourself. Explain everything as honestly as you can. You don't want to keep lying to the members after we've come this far, do you?"

"That's right, unni. Don't hold back because you're worried it'll sound like you're defending yourself. Tell us everything!"

Aran backed me up.

Serin sighed after hearing us.

"My feelings were complicated. But in the end, it's true that I made that decision because they offered me a lot of money. My uncle hasn't been able to live his own life since I was in middle school. I thought the right thing to do was earn even one hundred won more and repay him."

"Why did you only start thinking that way now?"

"I should've thought about it much earlier. But there was something I didn't know. My grandmother... was apparently diagnosed with stomach cancer."

Serin said that was the moment she'd completely lost her head.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Stomach cancer?

Now?

Right when her uncle suddenly had a reason to persuade her?

She had even tried to delay her schedule and go down to Seosan to visit her grandmother.

But her uncle absolutely refused to tell her which hospital she was in.

He had also disconnected her grandmother's phone and prevented Serin from contacting her.

Anyone could see it was a lie.

Using stomach cancer to shake Serin, when she'd lost her own mother to stomach cancer?

Even if it were true, I'd slap her uncle across the face myself.

Your mother has cancer, and you stop her granddaughter from visiting the hospital or even calling her?

That's not something a human being does.

I immediately called the Free Opt-Out number.

This time, I wanted to verify the truth.

"Hello, yes..."

"This is Do Jun-hyeok from Universe. Is it true that Serin's maternal grandmother has stomach cancer?"

I could guarantee it.

It was a lie.

Her uncle fell silent for a moment before asking,

"Why? Are you going to sell that story to the news too and make money off it?"

"Apparently you haven't been watching the news. Serin was stalked. Do you really believe the things Tienhua told you were rumors they just happened to hear? Those rumors don't exist. They followed Serin, discovered you, investigated our company, and then deliberately twisted what they found before feeding it to you."

I had no intention of criticizing him by saying, Why wouldn't you trust me when I can make Serin more money than Tienhua?

He didn't need to know how capable I was.

He didn't need to know how much I cared about the members either.

Still, shaking Serin's already exhausted heart like that was something I found almost impossible to forgive.

There was no way Serin would've considered leaving just because she wasn't earning as much as she'd hoped.

If that was all it took, then what had all those years of enduring being treated like a failed idol been for?

Serin's words earlier had made it clear.

What had truly shaken her was the guilt her uncle kept provoking, combined with the illness he claimed her grandmother had.

And of all things, stomach cancer.

Of course she'd think of her dead parents.

It would've been stranger if she hadn't been shaken.

"The stalking story is something you invented for public opinion, isn't it?"

Her uncle asked.

"You'll find that out soon enough. Let me ask again. Does her grandmother actually have stomach cancer? I know Serin's family circumstances, so I know exactly what that illness means to her. If you've lied again, I'll make sure you never see Serin for the rest of your life."

I had no intention of coaxing him gently.

I asked directly.

After thinking for a while, her uncle finally answered.

Maybe he was finally realizing what his words must have done to Serin.

"It's not stomach cancer. I felt bad because Serin was so shocked, but what else could I do? Getting her away from you was urgent."

"You didn't personally stalk her, so you probably won't go to prison. Still, you'll likely be called in as a witness here and there and gradually learn exactly what happened. Reflect on it then. Think, 'I trusted the people who stalked my precious niece and dug into her private life, and then I ripped open the wounds in her heart myself.' You won't get a chance to apologize to Serin, though. Blame yourself as much as you want. Just don't do something like killing yourself and shake Serin's heart all over again."

"So you're really saying everything on the news is true..."

I immediately hung up.

Tienhua had deceived Serin's uncle too.

Honestly, I could understand why.

I didn't have a magnificent beard like Shin Hyung-geol or the appearance of a seasoned veteran.

If someone like me kept controlling the future of his only niece, of course he'd feel anxious.

Then a Chinese entertainment company with absurd amounts of money came along and tempted him.

If he didn't know how vicious Tienhua was, it made sense that he might believe them.

But hadn't he hurt Serin as a result?

Uncle or not, I could at least yell at him over the phone.

He would receive his punishment on his own.

If he truly cared about Serin, then eventually he'd realize how cowardly the methods he'd used to change her mind really were.

"What did he say?"

Anna asked after hearing my heated phone call.

Serin's gaze pierced into me.

Her feelings had to be incredibly complicated right now.

"It was a lie. Serin, when we have time later, let's go visit your grandmother together."

"Wow. This is seriously impressive. PD Tak, haven't you only done variety shows? I didn't know you were this good."

The PD planning meeting began with us reviewing the fake documentary about Anna that Tak Hyun-mo had filmed.

The incredibly serious Tienhua Entertainment incident had been captured with surprising dramatic flair.

The conflict.

The reconciliation.

And even the development process of the praise rap 〈Kim Serin〉.

It was all presented in an entertaining way.

"I didn't do documentaries because I never got the opportunity. If you tell me to do it, I'm good at it. I used to work on travel documentaries too."

Tak Hyun-mo proudly added that, and the other PDs applauded.

The timing was perfect too, since the documentary could air soon.

I was satisfied.

Next was Yoo Jong-hak.

"Everyone is promoting from every possible direction right now, correct? I know the members have been appearing here and there as well. For my original content project, I've planned a variety show with Aran."

The instant Yoo Jong-hak said that, Na Young-hwan's eyes began burning.

Apparently, he'd assumed everyone had enough professional courtesy to leave Aran to him.

There was no such thing among PDs.

If you already had a good idea, why would you hand someone else the benefit?

The best thing to do was actively exchange ideas during the meeting.

"The title is 〈Aran, Do You Know or Not?〉. It's a program where she listens to the worries of ordinary people. Real documentaries are popular these days too, right? The more unpredictable something is, the more people like it. If we counsel ordinary people who can't be scripted or pre-cast, I think we'll get plenty of interesting situations."

Yoo Jong-hak finished speaking and played several clips of Aran's past variety appearances.

"Aran, there's a girl I like, but she doesn't pay any attention to me. It's really hard."

"Really? Then you need to get her attention. What does she like?"

"She's really interested in clothes, but I don't have enough money to buy them for her."

"Then you need to get a part-time job."

If you only looked at the conversation itself, it sounded like practical advice.

But when you thought about it afterward, you realized it was nothing special at all.

In other words, advice literally anyone could give.

"The funny part is that Aran keeps giving advice like this while looking completely satisfied, as though she's seriously providing solutions. It'd be good to have panelists who can speak for what viewers are thinking too. Her counseling is short and concise, so there's already a quiet nickname going around, 'Elder Songdo,' inspired by Master Do-ong Kim Yong-ak. And there's even that fortune-teller meme, right? If round, cute, young Aran sits in a high seat and hands out extremely simple solutions, I think we'll get plenty of content and popularity."

Na Young-hwan had initially been wary.

But the more he listened, the more excited he became, and soon he started suggesting ideas of his own.

"Then we should give her an overwhelming list of fake credentials that are the complete opposite of her current image. Alternate personas are popular these days too. For example, Aran could be a hundred-year-old grandmother shaman who's predicted every major national event in history. And obviously, she'd speak casually to everyone."

"That's good."

It was a decent idea.

This was exactly the kind of form I'd wanted when I first asked Na Young-hwan to make Aran an MC.

It would keep producing new character traits for Aran and keep her name circulating online.

"Sounds fun. Though if PD Na Young-hwan does it, he'll be the only one who feels wronged."

"Why?"

Na Young-hwan asked.

"You wore a swimsuit and lived as the youngest staff member for nothing. It's still this year. You weren't even too late."

"Now that you say it like that, I do feel a little cheated. Can't you let me be the oldest hyung for about a month?"

Na Young-hwan asked as though it were a joke, but the other PDs firmly shook their heads.

"The CEO likes the idea too. Then we should start gathering writers properly. Should we eat dinner and continue afterward?"

Dae-hun suggested a break.

"No, wait. I've got an even better idea."

Everyone turned toward Seo Hoe-dong.

"This time, I think we should make a documentary aimed at foreigners. With nice English subtitles."