The team’s general lead, Jung So-hyun, climbed the stairs.
The spot where her footsteps halted was the fourth floor of the building, home to the CEO’s office.
Jung So-hyun walked up to the door and knocked.
—Knock knock.
Then she heard the voice of the CEO, Kim Wi-dong, from beyond the door.
—Oh, come in.
Once inside the office, she saw the CEO sitting in his seat.
No, with the expression on her uncle’s face being so stoic, it seemed he had already made up his mind.
“Well, you’re here?”
“Yes, Uncle.”
Uncle stood up and walked over to the coffee machine.
“Want some coffee?”
“No, I’m good. I’ll just tell you what I need to and then head back down. I have more work to take care of.”
“…You’ll wear yourself out, take it easy. Your mom is nagging me about how you’re working overtime every day.”
“Yes, I’ll just finish the important stuff first.”
“Stubborn as ever.”
With a sigh, Uncle took his coffee and sat back down.
“Okay, we need to look into things, but… So-hyun, what do you want to do?”
Jung So-hyun took out a tablet and handed it to her uncle, Kim Wi-dong.
On the screen was a graph showing the revenue trend for Seven.
“First off, the graph…”
However, Uncle’s expression while looking at the screen was indifferent.
After taking a sip of coffee, Kim Wi-dong poked at the graph.
“Certainly, the sold-out Gocheok Dome indicates a high expected revenue. It’s more than your average male idol.”
Jung So-hyun added annotations to the graph.
“Yes, it’s Gocheok Dome, after all. Moreover, being the first girl group to sell it out makes it even more significant. Even though the market is growing, unless you’re at the level of Coral Blue, it’s next to impossible for any current girl group to achieve this. Our kids and the value of the Seven members have definitely shot up too.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. But do you think Coral Blue could sell out Gocheok Dome?”
With her brain ticking, Jung So-hyun delivered her answer.
“…Yes, it seems possible. It should have additional significance attached, though. This Gocheok Dome concert feels like it might be the last concert for the Seven members, or a test of fans’ purchasing power for a potential extension.”
Of course, that was LE’s commercialization tactic.
As if selling out Gocheok Dome would give fans hope that the Seven project would continue.
“Right. Those guys from LE, pretending to be a big company, haven’t changed a bit. No coexistence with fans or the agency. It’s all about boosting their own stats.”
Yet, because of that tactic, every company had to deal with the numbers.
Whether to extend it or not.
After all, they had sold out Gocheok Dome.
Jung So-hyun pointed out another graph.
“Anyway… the fact that the response to Seven is rising not just in Asia but also in the U.S. and Western countries is shown here in the Spotify trends—…”
“Anyway… the fact that Seven is gaining traction not only in Asia but also in the West, including the United States, just shows how much the Spotify situation has been…”
But the sentence couldn’t be finished.
“Former Director Hwang Hyun-man just came by.”
This was because Kim Wi-dong flipped over the tablet displaying graphs.
“The Director said he thinks it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep the two as Seven.”
Jung So-hyun felt an immediate urge to refute but decided to keep quiet for now. After all, he was her uncle and the representative.
“First of all, we only have two members, so the revenue generated by Seven’s growth is significant. Think about the first season of ‘Dare to Be,’ even Yoo Ah-hyun, who hit it big and achieved the top spot in personal brand reputation for girl groups, became just another celebrity after the spin-off group failed. So, do we really have a reason to give up a certain income stream like Seven?”
“Uncle, comparing Yoo Ah-hyun with Do-hee is absurd…”
“Listen till the end. I still have something to say. If extending Seven falls through due to rejection from other companies, the earnings to be made later will rely on the spin-off groups’ performance, so how about debuting them as actors or solo singers instead?”
The eyes of the representative and the head of the A&R team met.
Kim Wi-dong spoke while looking at Jung So-hyun, who was biting her lip.
“Let’s skip the graphs and just get to the point, So-hyun. If I keep making you work overtime, your mom will come after me.”
However, Jung So-hyun flipped the tablet back over to display the graphs again.
“Uncle, comparing Yoo Ah-hyun with Do-hee is… No, let’s move beyond that. Fundamentally, I see three reasons why previous spin-off groups have failed.”
Because of this, Kim Wi-dong sighed.
“I guess you take after your sister; you’ve got a stubborn streak, questioning every little thing.”
“First, the absence of charm in members who aren’t from survival shows. Fans coming in from survival programs have high expectations for the aces. Thus, they have high expectations for non-survival members in the spin-off group, too.”
She turned the page to reveal profiles of three trainees displayed on the screen.
“Na-eun. She ranked 8th in the final of ‘Dare to Be’ Season 3. As the leader, all the members follow her well.”
“Woo-ah. Before Do-hee came, she was the key member we scouted to be the next generation girl group centerpiece. Even now, she fits the image we envision, so we’re contemplating her and Do-hee for the center position.”
“Chiyo… as a foreigner, she has a distinctive character that is unique and appealing to the public.”
She flipped the page again.
The profile photos of Seven members, Seo-yoon and Do-hee, appeared.
“Most importantly, the two will undeniably serve as pivotal roles.”
The next page displayed a graph of the profit rates of the spin-off group from ‘Dare to Be’ Season 1.
“The second reason is fandom division. Because Seven is a survival project girl group, it still has a highly personal fan base. And given that it started as a competitive system, fans are used to pushing others down to elevate their own favorites, which significantly raises the likelihood of nasty personal fans appearing.”
“It’s still a situation where personal fans are densely packed. Since the beginning relied on a competitive system, there’s a high chance that personal fans will turn into malicious ones, as they get used to the idea that pushing someone else out means their favorite rises.
Only meaningful profits come from the initial debut. And as time passes, the curve declines.
“Of course, even if they do disband, there are many who say they’ll support it as an all-fan unit, but that will only last for a little while. As time goes on, a large portion of fans will turn into malicious personal fans, the so-called ‘malicious fans’. This means that disbandment won’t only fail to transfer the fandom completely, but it will also mean starting with malicious critics.”
After quietly listening, Kim Wi-dong spoke up.
“Yeah. Moreover, if the extensions fall through, LE will throw out a bunch of articles to sell Seven as their last shot, trying to escape the responsibility of their own tactics. They’re likely to shift the blame to the members’ agencies, and we know that we’re the most probable targets for that.”
Jung So-hyun nodded.
“Yes, for now, Hana Kwon and Park Ye-eun’s agencies are small, so they’ll probably agree to Seven’s extension from the beginning.”
So there would be no justification to shift the blame.
“And the other members’ agencies, Eun Se-ra, Jeon Ha-rang, and Gong Chae-rin, will oppose the extension, but JS, HARU, and ZY are mega agencies.”
From LE’s point of view, those are agencies that are not easy to turn against.
“From LE’s perspective, the easiest target will be us, Topist. Moreover, since we have two members in the agency, it’s an easy excuse to blame it on us for having more say compared to other agencies.”
“Yeah, rumors will spread saying that it’s because of us that they disbanded. Thanks to that, fans with a strong all-fan tendency will feel even more deflated by the disbandment, so they’ll want someone to blame, and it’s likely to be us. In other words, the most malicious fans will attach to our kids from the very start.”
As he calmly continued speaking, the voice of representative Kim Wi-dong trembled at the end, and his face turned red.
Seeing such an uncle, Jung So-hyun casually flipped through the pages of her tablet.
“Still, we do have some countermeasures. First of all, Do-hee has the most personal fans among the Seven members, and Seo-yoon also has quite a few.”
On the screen was a report from a brokerage firm detailing JS Entertainment’s schedule.
“JS’s new girl group launch is listed for the first quarter of next year. Of course, it’s unverified gossip at this point, but since it’s heard that JS has been covertly in contact with Kwon Hana’s and Park Ye-eun’s agencies, it seems like they’re trying to buy out those two members.”
Buyout means paying the member’s agency money to acquire them.
“Yeah, timing-wise, JS’s girl group launch seems almost certain.”
This meant that by paying a huge sum, they intended to launch a girl group soon and generate even more profit.
“Yes, so we can continue spreading this news within the community. Since JS was also planning to launch a girl group centered around Eun Se-ra, and since the Topist members turned them down, the rumors that they disbanded because of us will calm down to some extent. Of course, there will be malicious fans who believe what they want to believe.”
“Well, we can keep spreading this news throughout the community. JS was also planning to launch a girl group centered around Eun Se-ra, so the story about two Topist members rejecting it and leading to the disbandment should settle down somewhat. Of course, there will be toxic fans who believe what they want.”
Representative Kim Wi-dong nodded subtly, seemingly agreeing with his niece Jung So-hyun’s words.
“Right. I understand the first and second reasons well. What’s the last third reason?”
And at that moment, Jung So-hyun’s eyes sparkled with a clear goal.
“The lack of planning ability in incompetent agencies. Ultimately, the concept and the song are overwhelmingly more important than the members themselves.”
Starting as a new employee in the A&R team of her uncle’s company, she climbed the ladder to become the head of the A&R department.
Jung So-hyun had proven her abilities, not through parachuting, but by creating solo singers and groups like X-TEN and Pastel Love.
Her goal was to create her group that she had perfectly envisioned from start to finish.
Not as the A&R team, but as a producer.
“Are you confident since it’s your first time as a chief producer?”
And she was about to kick off that goal starting with this girl group.
She would also be receiving shares from her uncle and was set to become an inside director.
“Yes. And…”
Jung So-hyun thought of Do-hee.
It was somewhat amusing to see Headquarter Director Hwang Hyun-man compare Yu Ah-hyun and Do-hee.
There was no comparison in their star qualities.
“Do-hee will end up producing herself anyway, even if I can’t do it. I just plan to direct her.”
The representative, who was intently watching his niece, the often emotionless A&R head Jung So-hyun, smirked.
“Yeah, I had no intention of splitting money 50-50 with that LE bastard anyway. If I brought them in and debuted them, our income would be similar, so what’s the point?”
“I’ll completely surpass them, so you might need to give me more stock options.”
The representative chuckled.
Her uncle was being a little evasive.
Seeing her uncle like this, Jung So-hyun stood up from her seat.
“Well, I’m off. I have things to take care of.”
As she nodded at her uncle, she overheard his mumblings.
“Things with LE are going to get sour for a while, sigh.”
“Anyway, I’ll make them come looking for me first later.”
“Yeah, that’s how it should be.”
“Oh, So-hyun.”
“Yes?”
“Stop working and bring home your future husband already.”
Jung So-hyun walked out of the representative director’s office.
“Your mom’s gonna complain again that I’m making you work too much!”
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