God of Music

Chapter 211. The Difference Between Real and Fake (1)

After the last wave the cold swept past, the warm breeze of March arrived.

A warm wind was also blowing over World Entertainment as well.

“The results of this concert are really satisfactory.”

KangYoon smiled in satisfaction while reading the report that Jung HyeJin gave him.

Seeing him smile, Jung HyeJin spoke with a stiff voice as this was the first time she had written something like that.

“Y, yes! The ticket sales, as well as the advertisements, have gone extremely well, and also..”

“Miss HyeJin, you don’t have to be so nervous. Take your time.”

“What? Y, yes!”

KangYoon smiled and encouraged Jung HyeJin.

Lee HyunJi told him that she had educated her a little, and the results were showing.

Since she was writing reports and was reporting to the president of the company, this meant that Lee HyunJi’s workload was decreasing.

Thanks to that, Lee HyunJi was able to work on music charts at FinesTok.

After listening to Jung HyeJin’s report, KangYoon replied satisfactorily.

“Thanks for your work. I look forward to the next time as well.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Only then did she relax somewhat and return to her seat after giving KangYoon a bow.

KangYoon put down the report on his desk and finished up the matters with the concert.

‘Mirage Co. promised to help out next time. This might be better than just getting refunds.’

He could get refunds for the special equipment he couldn’t use from the American special effects company, but he went easy this time as he valued relationships more. Just because they made one mistake didn’t mean that they would make another one.

Mirage Co., who had never imagined that this would happen, had promised better quality service in the next potential concert. At a cheaper price too.

As for tickets, they were sold out, the best possible result, and the advertisement and promotion worked out well too, so this was a satisfying result financially.

The profits were good, but there was some trouble with the process.

‘JaeHoon told me that he had a hard time looking forward on the stage, while JiMin and Nael also mentioned to me about the lights as well. The acoustics were so-so as well. It was a little too bright overall.’

The audience was satisfied, but the singers weren’t.

Moreover…

‘Monitoring speaker.’

The instrument players didn’t get proper audio feedback.

‘On the 2nd day, the order of the lift was wrong right? If things went wrong, there might have been a huge accident.’

Due to a mistake from the stage staff, the order the violinist and the dancer went on the lift was almost swapped. There were a lot of other episodes as well.

KangYoon had noted down the things that occurred in the concert while listening to the conversation on the walkie-talkie. His efforts would prevent such accidents from happening in the future.

“Ugh.”

KangYoon stretched his arms out after signing the ‘Kim JaeHoon Concert Sales Report’.

He had a look at the time and saw that it was 6 p.m.

“Should we go home early today?”

Jung HyeJin and Yoo JungMin cheered when KangYoon gave them the best possible option.

After sending away the employees, KangYoon also got ready to go home.

Unfortunately, though, such joy didn’t reach KangYoon today.

“Team leader GiJoon, did something happen?”

Kang GiJoon gave him a call from Lunas, where his office was.

He spoke with a very urgent voice.

– President, something big happened.

“Something big?”

– Can you open your browser right now?

KangYoon opened his browser, thinking that this must be something serious.

When he entered Sace, the web portal, The word ‘Min JinSeo’ was the first on the rankings.

– Min JinSeo is titled as the actress who ignores ‘Guan Xi’.

– China claims they don’t need actors that ignore ‘Guan Xi’…

– Chinese veteran actor, Yang Huabai says “We don’t need actors who look down upon our culture”

KangYoon felt that something was off here.

Unless something happened in China, there was no way such articles would appear here in Korea.

“Did something happen to JinSeo? What is all this about?”

– I don’t know the details. From what I’ve looked into, this seems to be a misinterpretation of a drama press release in China where she rejected a script.

“Rejected a script? Isn’t that something common for an actor?”

– I think this is more complicated than that. The scriptwriter didn’t even get to meet the actress, and the company rejected them outright… I think the Chinese dissatisfaction towards the Korean actors ignoring ‘Guan Xi’ stemmed from that.

“So she became the scapegoat.”

KangYoon sighed.

She wasn’t involved in any scandals until now.

As she always gave off the ‘tidy and clean’ image, this little matter may snowball into something big.

KangYoon was worried about her, but he looked at the situation rationally.

“What is MG doing about this?”

– They claim that they’ll do a public apology tomorrow.

“Wait, What? A public apology?”

***

“…Again, why am I supposed to do such a thing?”

Min JinSeo glared at Director Kim JinHo, seated opposite to her, with frosty eyes.

Director Kim JinHo, who had urgently flown over from Korea, tried to console her while sighing.

“J, JinSeo. Don’t get angry and …”

“Wouldn’t it be strange if I didn’t get angry here? A public… what? Just what did I do wrong?”

She also gave the restless branch president in the corner a glare.

Who was it that didn’t even give her a choice by not showing her the script?

The branch president, who was the source of all this, couldn’t even lift his head.

Director Kim JinHo also gave the branch president a glare before nodding.

“…Yes. Of course, you did nothing wrong. But shouldn’t we put out the biggest fire first?”

“Fire? Yes, the fire should be put out. But why is it that I have to be the role of the fireman when it’s the company that set things on fire? Can an entertainment company really do this?”

“……”

Director Kim JinHo’s head was steaming.

She was as uncooperative as always.

‘If she wasn’t a top star, I would have just…’

Barely suppressing his feelings, director Kim JinHo tried his best to smile.

“Y, yes. You’re entirely right. We should be the ones taking care of this, but can’t you do this just once? This is a huge matter, and it will be troublesome to drag it on. If that happens, your reputation will receive a hit, no? You know how extreme the Chinese fans are. If we don’t take care of this, we won’t be able to do any more work in China.”

Although she was extremely angry, she was aware of the severity of the situation.

She felt disgusted, but she bit her lips and spoke.

“…Okay.”

“Thank you for coming to a difficult decision. Then let’s begin.”

“What? Begin what?”

Director Kim JinHo brought out a camcorder that he instructed the manager to bring beforehand.

“Rather than bowing your head at the press conference, we should better prepare here.”

“……”

After that, Min JinSeo gave glares towards the employees of the Chinese branch while repeatedly saying ‘sorry’.

***

“So we’re starting off with 33%?”

President Ha SeYeon crossed her arms while looking at the business agreement.

“This ratio… it’s definitely more competitive compared to the 46.5% that the other distributors use.”

President Ha SeYeon was satisfied with this.

Unlike other music distributors, who practically took half of the profits from the music sales, the distributor that FinesTok and World Entertainment were creating this time decreased their share. It was a strategy to become competitive in this market, and was also catered towards the artists more.

“It won’t be easy to generate profit for the first few months. However, I believe that things will change in the future.”

“If things go as we expected… We’ll cross the line in Q4 of this year.”

President Ha SeYeon drew a circle around the fourth quarter on the calendar where the sales would overcome the investment.

“We should best promote ourselves until then. I’ll also increase the channels related to celebrities.”

“Tell us if you need anything. We’ll help you whenever possible.”

“Yes, director. Rather than that… how about we go for a drink tonight?”

When President Ha SeYeon gestured drinking with her hands, Lee HyunJi smiled as she replied.

“I’m in.”

The two ladies got along very well even while drinking.

***

– The number you’re trying to reach is currently unavailable…

In the middle of the night, KangYoon tried calling Min JinSeo several times, but the phone only repeated back the same words.

‘Since such a thing happened, the company must have taken her phone now.’

When such a huge scandal occurred, even top stars would be under the management of the company.

There was no way getting a call through to her would be easy.

Due to his concern, KangYoon was unable to sleep until late into the night.

He read articles about Min JinSeo and only fell asleep late at night.

The next morning.

KangYoon headed to Lunas to see Kang GiJoon.

“The situation isn’t looking good.”

Kang GiJoon brewed some tea for KangYoon and explained to him the current situation.

“I’ve heard the specifics from an acquaintance of mine in Shanghai TV. False rumors are being widespread. Simply rejecting a role is being spread around as looking down on Chinese culture.”

“Does that make sense?”

“It doesn’t, but it still happened. Does being a top star allow her to look down on scriptwriters like that? We were the ones to give rise to the Korean wave, but can you still look down on us? Such rumors are being widespread. Chinese journalists are overexaggerating things even further. I think that some Chinese entertainment companies who are wary of Korean actors have a role in this as well.”

“That sounds plausible. Someone like Min JinSeo should be a huge fish. She was never caught up with scandals until now, so they can shave all of her reputation if they make her the scapegoat this time. How is MG acting about this?”

“They claim that they’ll hold a public apology at 11 am in our time.”

“…That’s a measure I don’t understand.”

KangYoon couldn’t understand what MG was doing.

Apologizing practically meant that Min JinSeo admits that she took such actions. They were implying ‘We were in the wrong, so let’s stop it here.’

“This won’t do. Team leader, do you have a passport?”

“A passport? I do, but… don’t tell me you’re…!!”

Understanding what KangYoon meant, Kang GiJoon’s eyes widened.

Regardless, KangYoon gave Lee HyunJi a call.

“…I’ll be in China for the next few days. Yes, there’s nothing urgent for a while so it should be fine. Then… please take care.”

After a brief call, KangYoon turned around to team leader Kang GiJoon.

“Let’s go.”

“P, president. Wait for me.”

Team leader Kang GiJoon followed KangYoon after hurriedly putting on his coat.

***

– …I am very sorry. Regardless of what happened, I apologize that I’ve incited public criticism as a public figure. I deeply apologize to the scriptwriter who had me in mind, the producer and, also… many of the fans who are disappointed in me. Rather than explaining the complicated situation, I believe that my apology comes first…

The press conference that MG Entertainment was holding was revealing Min JinSeo’s apology video that they recorded beforehand.

The journalists wrote down their articles while watching the video with sharp eyes, and some urgently called somewhere.

The duration of the video was about 5 minutes, and after that, Director Kim JinHo deeply bowed towards everyone.

[Hello everyone. I am Director Kim JinHo of MG Entertainment. First, I apologize to many of the fans in the country who are disappointed. Our employees, as well as JinSeo, are deeply reflecting. We’ll let this be our lesson and strive our best to not let such a thing happen again. Also…]

As soon as he finished his words, director Kim JinHo ended the press conference.

The journalists, who had a lot of questions, naturally rushed towards him for questions, but he shut his mouth firmly and did not speak.

In the end, all this was for naught.

Meanwhile, with her entire schedule canceled, Min JinSeo was spending time at the hotel.

– Get lost from our country.

– I really liked her… but I’m disappointed now.

– When you go, spit out everything you earned here.

She had never seen the script in question.

She wasn’t just feeling wronged, she was flabbergasted.

Perhaps this was what it felt like to be hit with a stone doing nothing?

‘I want to see him…’

She always wanted to see him, but those feelings were stronger than ever today.

‘Just where did my phone go?’

She looked for her phone because she wanted to hear his voice, but she couldn’t find it starting last night.

The manager told her he hadn’t seen it either. She tried calling, but the only message she got that it was turned off.

This was too good to be a coincidence.

Just at this important time, she couldn’t remember his number either.

– Go back to Korea.

– Die, die!

Watching the internet with vacant eyes, she no longer had the confidence to read any further and pulled out the power.

After standing up from her seat, she buried her face in the sofa and sobbed.

‘*sob*…’

Her heart ached.

Perhaps this was what it felt to fall to the depths of the abyss from the highest position?

‘…Sir, I want to see you…’

She remembered him, who opened her a path when she had it the hardest.

He was her light. If it was him…

If it was him…

‘No way, he can’t come all the way here.’

Min JinSeo made a powerless smile after looking up, teary faced.

Korea and China were close yet so far away. Moreover, KangYoon had a lot of people he had to look after. Would he come all the way here just to see her?

Just as she was about to stand up, the telephone in her room started ringing.

It was a call from the hotel front.

[…I didn’t order room service.]

– JinSeo.

A very familiar set of Korean words could be heard.

This was ‘his’ voice that she wanted to hear so much.

After that, nothing came to her mind.

“91st floor! See you there!”

Finishing the call, she hurriedly fixed her make-up and headed to the 91st floor.

She ran towards the man walking around restlessly on the lounge of the 91st floor.

“Sir!”

Before the man even looked around, she hugged him tightly.

Feeling the warmth, he spoke warmly.

“…You’ve had it hard.”

“*Sob*…”

The words she couldn’t hear until now melted her heart instantly.

The man, KangYoon’s, shirt became soaked with her tears.