Chapter 146. Choi Gyu-sik's Decision
After the incident with BombBomb's Yoo-won, Jo Yang-hoon started coming to the company almost every day, pointlessly washing cars or cleaning random places.
Apparently, he wanted to show just how deeply he regretted what he'd done.
His disciplinary dismissal had already been processed.
Of course, I knew Jo Yang-hoon probably felt wronged and miserable.
In the end, all he'd really done was run a side job.
Using my beloved car without permission.
And it didn't seem like he'd actually tried to poach any Universe trainees either.
Still, forgiving him wasn't easy.
I'd keep watching what he did, though.
If one of our employees came to me and asked me to forgive Jo Yang-hoon, then I'd seriously consider it.
I'd take that as proof he'd built up some trust inside the company.
Not that I expected that to happen.
More importantly, this wasn't the time to stress myself out over annoying matters like Yoo-won or Jo Yang-hoon.
Dae-hun had already warned Choi Gyu-sik to be careful.
When the time came, Yoo-won would destroy herself without me doing anything.
Right now, all I needed to do was celebrate Blue Moon taking first place domestically and Dessault reaching number one on Billboard.
Universe's MVN programs were now averaging over 4 percent ratings, and Yoo Jong-hak had even developed the public-service aspect of 〈Aran, Do You Know or Not?〉.
Recently, the program had begun helping with fundraising campaigns and searches for missing family members.
Blue Moon had now become an undeniably irreplaceable idol group.
And since Blue Moon had made their comeback, we were busy.
There were music-show appearances, of course, and they also had to keep promoting the new song by appearing on variety shows that invited them.
Still, it wasn't like before.
Back then, we had to physically run around and beg people to cast us.
Now, the publicity team only needed to make calls according to the schedule, and broadcasters would handle the casting themselves.
While I was browsing different fan communities to check current marketing trends, Dae-hun, who was also looking at his computer, spoke.
"Hyung, you should go on 〈Writer's Omniscient View〉 once."
"Writer's Omniscient View? Omniscient operational... what is that?"
"〈The Omniscient Writer's Viewpoint〉."
I glanced over at Dae-hun.
Apparently, he'd been checking the casting requests forwarded by the publicity team one by one.
〈The Omniscient Writer's Viewpoint〉 was a typical observational variety show.
Most episodes followed idol guests, but there was one unusual aspect.
Only the manager appeared in the studio.
The members' daily lives were filmed in advance, then everyone watched the footage together while the hosts asked the manager all kinds of questions.
"Ah, 〈The Omniscient Writer's Viewpoint〉? No, no. Why do they keep contacting us? Don't they have anyone else to cast?"
"It's because you're weirdly star-worthy for a manager. And this time they've added another condition. At least take a look."
We'd received offers from them several times already.
But there were so many observational variety shows that I'd never seriously considered it.
Dae-hun said it was one of the most popular ones, though.
Even if another program were slightly less popular, I could use the time spent interviewing me to show Blue Moon's faces one more time instead.
And if we appeared, the ratings would probably be good anyway.
I searched the company email for 〈The Omniscient Writer's Viewpoint〉 and checked the proposal.
If we agreed to appear, they would make Blue Moon into a special feature.
"A special feature? How much are they promising?"
"Normally, one guest wraps up in one or two episodes. For Blue Moon, they mean four or five episodes."
I wasn't sure that was such an attractive condition.
When I still looked unimpressed, Dae-hun spoke again.
"We already film our own documentaries, but more people than you'd think are curious about what you and the members are like in private. They've seen plenty of chemistry between the members, but not much of their chemistry with you."
"People are curious about that? Even when I was a fansite photographer before joining the company, I never cared what kind of relationship Blue Moon had with their manager."
"Come on. It's different. Just look at how often your name comes up. Do it for Blue Moon."
If anyone ever wanted to persuade Do Jun-hyeok to do something, all they had to do was add the words for Blue Moon.
Once someone said that, I had no choice but to go.
A manager sitting in front of the cameras was unusual enough that it might work.
And apparently, the show was popular too.
"Fine. I'll go. Anything else?"
"Plenty. One that stands out is a modeling offer from that FPS game you played during 〈Runner Runner〉."
"What? 〈Call of Ground〉?"
I searched the inbox for 〈Call of Ground〉.
There really was an offer.
It was a shooting-attack survival game with several different modes.
They wanted to create playable characters modeled after the Blue Moon members.
The game was popular across all age groups, so only top stars had ever been used as character models.
They also wanted to film commercials with them.
"They must've been impressed by our members' gameplay last time. I was surprised too."
"The game is surprisingly careful with the blood and gore settings, so it's rated for ages fifteen and up. A lot of teenagers play it too, so I think it'll help the members feel more familiar to younger fans. I'll tell them we're interested."
"Go ahead."
I guess being good at games really did pay off.
When the time came, I'd have to make sure they told the graphics team to make the models look good.
We kept reviewing outside schedules.
Then Choi Gyu-sik called.
Ever since receiving Kwon Dae-hun's warning, Choi Gyu-sik had spent every day extremely tense.
Kwon Dae-hun had tried to reassure him by saying,
"We've already handled everything, so don't worry."
But from Choi Gyu-sik's perspective, there was no way not to worry.
Someone was apparently trying to approach people who might resent Choi Gyu-sik's selection by the Film Council.
Even if he hadn't originally been aiming for the Academy Awards, how could he not care?
According to Kwon Dae-hun, BombBomb's Yoo-won desperately needed money.
She was planning to sell information that could be used to attack Universe to other production companies competing with Choi Gyu-sik.
Even if Universe successfully defended itself, a major film festival like the Academy Awards wouldn't tolerate any controversy.
If the film had been supported by an entertainment company that might be accused of unethical business practices, and its lead actress was also signed to that same company, even the Film Council could hesitate before choosing it.
That vague anxiety became real after Blanco Pictures contacted him.
They had submitted a film called 〈Cherry〉.
It looked like they were about to make a move.
The person who called was the president of Blanco Pictures.
Of course, it wasn't a direct threat.
He simply said that if Kim Serin, the lead actress of 〈The Stranger〉, became involved in controversy, the film wouldn't be nominated even if it was submitted to the Academy Awards.
So Choi Gyu-sik should withdraw his Film Council submission now before the sparks reached him.
That way, he'd still be able to submit the movie to some other international film festival.
The president of Blanco Pictures spoke as though, if Choi Gyu-sik gave up on the Academy Awards, they would refrain from using Universe's weakness against him.
It was obviously a lie.
Whether Choi Gyu-sik succeeded or failed, that BombBomb member Yoo-won clearly wanted to attack Universe.
Even if Choi withdrew his Film Council submission, Yoo-won would still expose the issue.
Then Choi wouldn't just fail at the Academy Awards.
He'd fail at Cannes and Venice too.
The moment the call with Blanco Pictures ended, Choi Gyu-sik immediately called Do Jun-hyeok.
"Yes, Director Choi Gyu-sik. What's going on?"
"I just spoke with the president of a production-distribution company called Blanco Pictures. He showed me specific evidence claiming Universe secretly pulled idols from other agencies and sent them to outside events."
Do Jun-hyeok let out a sigh after hearing that.
The evidence the Blanco president had sent as photos was fairly extensive.
Choi had no idea who had discovered the matter first and set all this in motion.
"Did you record the call?"
"Of course. But I don't think we can avoid controversy around the movie now."
Do Jun-hyeok said he'd send him a file and told him not to worry.
After the call ended, Choi Gyu-sik soon received an audio file from Do Jun-hyeok.
"Hey! Are you insane? How the hell did CEO Do Jun-hyeok personally show up there?! You guys planned that, didn't you?"
"N-No. We didn't."
"It's over. If this wasn't planned, you're already buried. Completely buried! You know how many major entertainment companies Do Jun-hyeok has destroyed, right? You think he can't bury one nobody like you?"
The recording began with a woman's angry shouting.
At first, Choi was merely confused.
But as the conversation continued, his expression gradually turned grave.
The recording included talk about ruining a movie for money and all sorts of other schemes.
Kwon Dae-hun had already told him the general situation.
But hearing the actual voices made it feel completely different.
He could understand the president of Blanco Pictures acting this way.
But Choi was also disappointed in the director of 〈Cherry〉, Han Young-jo.
Choi personally liked Han Young-jo's films very much.
Yet now he was participating in this kind of behind-the-scenes maneuvering.
As a fellow filmmaker, Choi found it deeply disappointing.
Still, if they made this recording public, it would completely erase any suspicion surrounding Universe.
Furious, Choi Gyu-sik sent the president of Blanco Pictures two audio recordings.
One was the call between the Blanco president and Choi Gyu-sik.
The other was the recording he'd received from Do Jun-hyeok.
Soon, the Blanco president called him again.
"What the hell is this..."
"Right now, call every single person connected to this. Anyone involved, anyone who heard it, anyone who passed it along, even anyone who stood by and did nothing. Bring every last one of them to my office... No. Bring them all in front of the Universe building!"
"Ah... hahaha. It's nothing. Things only went this well because CEO Do Jun-hyeok helped me. Is this really something worth congratulating me for?"
"Of course it is. Do you think anyone can reach number one on Billboard just because someone invested in them? Number one on Billboard is the kind of achievement that goes down in music history. That's not something you can accomplish by throwing money at it. And this was the first project of a brand-new company!"
Moon Hee-jung received a congratulatory call from Do Jun-hyeok, who had apparently been very busy lately.
A few days had already passed since Dessault reached number one.
Do Jun-hyeok kept praising her, saying that even if the number-one ranking lasted only briefly, it was still an achievement she could be proud of for the rest of her life.
These days, Moon Hee-jung's routine consisted largely of receiving congratulatory calls and tempting offers.
Even Dessault's first album, 〈City Heart〉, had begun climbing the charts again.
As soon as her call with Do Jun-hyeok ended, another call came from an unsaved number.
"Yes, this is Moon Hee-jung of New Dimension."
"I'm calling from the MUC business division."
MUC?
Unless she'd misheard, MUC stood for MultiUniverse Company, one of America's major integrated media corporations, comparable to Talent Holdings.
It had enormous influence over the American media industry and even owned a massive film-distribution company.
Of course, it had nothing to do with Do Jun-hyeok's Universe Entertainment.
"Ah, yes. Nice to meet you. What are you calling about?"
"Our company places an extremely high value on the success of the group Dessault and you, President Moon Hee-jung. I believe that's also the assessment shared by the American public. As such, our chairman, Brandon Burtman, would like to establish a long-term business partnership with New Dimension."
A long-term partnership.
Put simply, they wanted to acquire her company.
"We're already a subsidiary of another company."
"Isn't Korea's Universe Entertainment merely an investor? Of course, Universe Entertainment is also an excellent company, but when it comes to promotion and business strategy within the United States, we believe MultiUniverse Company is unparalleled. If you join us, we'll take care of every limitation currently holding back your business expansion. Naturally, that would also allow us to compensate Universe Entertainment at a very high valuation."
"Hmm..."
Moon Hee-jung carefully chose her words before answering.
"It's an extremely honorable offer, but I'll decline for now. I think our current capabilities still fall short of what you expect from us. Once we've grown more, I'll come to you first and confidently make the proposal myself."
"...I see. Understood. Thank you for your valuable time."
The call ended.
She had rejected them.
Still, she'd treat the offer itself like a medal.
An acquisition offer from MultiUniverse Company.
Immediately after the business division call ended, her phone rang again.
"Yes, this is Moon Hee-jung of New Dimension."
"This is Brandon Burtman of MUC. It seems my employee may not have fully explained our acquisition proposal, so I decided to contact you personally as chairman."
No way.
As if the acquisition proposal itself wasn't enough, now the chairman was calling her directly.
Moon Hee-jung immediately tensed.
"Financial support is obviously important. We understand that as well. But our merger and acquisition proposal wasn't meant to demand that you immediately sever ties with Universe Entertainment. Even after becoming part of our family, you could continue maintaining an ongoing relationship with Universe."
"Yes. I understood it that way."
When Moon Hee-jung answered, the chairman hesitated for a moment.
It would certainly be easy if she simply thought of it as receiving investment rather than becoming their subsidiary.
But she didn't expect them to guarantee her autonomy the way Do Jun-hyeok did.
And this wasn't even a decision she could make on her own.
Hadn't Moon Hee-jung achieved all of this because of Do Jun-hyeok?
As long as she maintained her relationship with him, she could probably continue achieving results in America.
There was no need to take an unnecessary risk.
"If you dislike the idea of an acquisition, couldn't we cooperate in another form?"
"I think anything related to business would need to be discussed with CEO Do Jun-hyeok of Universe first. I don't believe I have the authority to make that decision by myself."
"Do Jun-hyeok... CEO?"
After that final rejection, Brandon Burtman slowly repeated the name Do Jun-hyeok before ending the call.
He sounded as though he'd suddenly become very interested in him.
