Chapter 56

On August 8th, the fourth-week box office figures for "The Curse" were released. Although they fell by nearly 50% from the previous week's 311,193, they still managed to attract 169,903 viewers. This performance was on par with the first-week box office of many Korean films currently in theaters.

So, it was still impressive, and the total box office for "The Curse" surpassed 1.79 million viewers. Lee Jung-hui's share of the profits also reached the significant milestone of 2.3 billion won.

In such a favorable situation, the development of Empire Entertainment naturally improved. When Lee Jung-hui returned to the company after more than a month, he found that the office had been completely transformed.

The beautiful receptionist was still there, but the office, which was over a hundred square meters, now had nearly twenty employees. It felt much livelier and more vibrant, truly making it a real company.

"As you can see, we have hired eight female agents and two male agents. Of course, they have only just obtained their licenses and have no experience yet, so they will start as assistants," Zhang Dongguo said, looking at Lee Jung-hui with a smile. "However, our company is currently lacking in artists..."

Currently, Empire Entertainment only had five artists besides Lee Jung-hui: Son Ye-jin, Jeong Soo-yeon, Song Ji-hyo, Kim Tae-hee, and Kim Hyeong-je. Among them, only Son Ye-jin was not a complete novice, so there was no need to assign assistants to the others.

Thinking about this, Lee Jung-hui chuckled and shrugged. "Assign two to me, and they should be female!" After a brief pause, he added seriously, "The most important thing is that they are meticulous and hardworking. Everything else doesn't matter..."

Zhang Dongguo nodded without joking, and Lee Jung-hui continued, "As for the others, assign two to Guo Zai-rong, and the rest to Guo Jing-ze. Remember, they are there to help, to do work, to observe, listen, and learn. Make sure they stay focused on their tasks..."

Zhang Dongguo, who had been worrying about having people with nothing to do, found that everything was now resolved. This was undoubtedly a very good arrangement. With so many things happening on a film set and so many agents and stars to interact with, they would learn and mature much faster.

"Understood!" Zhang Dongguo praised Lee Jung-hui and felt invigorated. "By the way, the contract with KBS has been finalized. We can sign it this afternoon. Also..."

He paused, his expression becoming more serious. "I've had some contact with FUNNYPLAN. However, their representative doesn't seem easy to talk to." He chuckled. "He said we have to pay them 100 million won, or he will pursue the matter and take action against our company..."

"I've also heard from others, and it's similar to what you said. FUNNYPLAN has connections in Seoul, and if they decide to act, they will be ruthless..." This was the reason for Zhang Dongguo's concern. However, he smiled again. "There's also an interesting matter. The representative from FUNNYPLAN told me that WELLMADE is very unhappy with you because of the incident with Ha Ji-won, and they might join forces to deal with you..."

Lee Jung-hui wasn't worried about the KBS contract; he had already cooperated by taking promotional photos, and filming was about to begin. He had anticipated FUNNYPLAN's actions, but he hadn't expected the situation with Ha Ji-won.

The "Save Ha Ji-won" mission had been issued almost a month ago, but the system hadn't indicated any issues with her. He thought the matter was over, but now it seemed to be this situation.

In response to Zhang Dongguo's playful question, "What did you do with Ha Ji-won that night?" he just smiled, but he was somewhat concerned about her and thought he should meet her.

However, he put that aside for the moment and discussed the sponsorship for the film "Friend" with Zhang Dongguo.

"Regarding sponsorship, having Jang Dong-gun in our film is a great selling point. While we can try to approach almost all companies and brands, we need to ensure that the products fit the film. So, cigarettes, beer, soju, and cars are undoubtedly the best options. There are many companies in these industries, and the amount of sponsorship is not too important..."

Shooting and production were mainly handled by Guo Jing-ze, but other matters, including sponsorship, were under Zhang Dongguo's responsibility. Although Zhang Dongguo had been in the industry for half a year, he had no experience with these matters, and neither did Lee Jung-hui. Without immediately finding suitable people, they had to figure it out themselves.

"Start with cigarettes and alcohol; they have the most screen time!" Lee Jung-hui concluded. He didn't care too much about the amount of sponsorship; the key was to learn from the process.

He added, "You can also sign contracts with them, paying half upfront. If the number of viewers is less than one million, we will refund the money. But if the number is higher, they will have to pay more!"

Zhang Dongguo laughed, "You want to use that trick again!"

Lee Jung-hui shrugged, "A good trick works everywhere. Why not use it? These sponsors want that kind of guarantee. As long as your film is good, they will be willing to pay..."

If a film performs well at the box office and has a large audience, along with DVD sales and TV broadcasts, it will have a significant impact, and advertisers will naturally be interested.

Having not been to the company for a long time, he had been in touch about major matters, but now they discussed the smaller issues. The company had just started, and although they had made a good profit from "The Curse," they immediately invested it into the film "Friend" and the upcoming "My Sassy Girl."

So, the company still had little money and couldn't immediately start a more comprehensive film production project. This was why Lee Jung-hui had delegated almost all the power to Guo Jing-ze.

Honestly, if he, a novice producer, had to recruit the film crew, he wouldn't know many people in the industry, such as photographers, lighting technicians, costume designers, and prop masters. Not to mention, big stars wouldn't even pay attention to him.

Guo Jing-ze, on the other hand, had been in the industry for many years. As long as they had the money, it wouldn't be difficult to form a complete film production team.

Around 8 PM, after having dinner with Zhang Dongguo, Lee Jung-hui parted ways with him and called Ha Ji-won before getting into his car.

"What do you want?" As soon as the call connected, Ha Ji-won's cold and displeased voice came through.

Lee Jung-hui realized that he hadn't called her since the incident, but he was afraid of the awkwardness. Now, he thought that perhaps his lack of contact was the reason for her displeasure.

So, he admitted his mistake, "Sorry, I haven't called you!" After a brief pause, he continued, "I just heard that some people in your company are unhappy with me. I was wondering if you have also faced any difficulties?"

"What do you think!" Ha Ji-won huffed, but she felt a bit better that he was considering her situation.

"Um, do you have time now?" Lee Jung-hui could tell she was having a hard time and followed his plan, "I have something I want to talk to you about..."

"What do you want to say?" Ha Ji-won was still upset and didn't want to deal with him, but Lee Jung-hui could tell she wasn't completely resistant. "How about this, where do you live? We can find a coffee shop or bar near your place..."

To his surprise, Ha Ji-won's angry voice came through, "They won't let me go out!" After Lee Jung-hui was shocked, she suddenly lowered her voice, "Why don't you come to my place..."

Ha Ji-won lived in Seocho District, next to Gangnam. Lee Jung-hui took a taxi to avoid being seen by her assistant and quietly entered the building where she lived.

Ha Ji-won had only recently debuted, and if it weren't for the success of "The Curse," she wouldn't be well-known. Therefore, she lived in a simple one-bedroom apartment.

Although she had said "come to my place," Lee Jung-hui had no other intentions, especially when he saw her looking somewhat haggard after knocking on the door. He frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"

At this moment, Ha Ji-won's cold and angry demeanor had disappeared, and she looked very fragile, her voice soft, "Nothing!"

She walked to the sofa and sat down, hugging a blue pillow. She glanced at him and motioned for him to sit down.

The apartment was about thirty square meters, with a bed, sofa, and table. It was somewhat messy, probably due to her bad mood, and there was a bowl of leftover jajangmyeon on the floor.

"Alright, if you don't want to talk, I can't force you!" After looking around, Lee Jung-hui focused on Ha Ji-won and said, "But I still want to say, if you are facing difficulties from your company, you can come to me. When I said this before, you might have had concerns, but now you know I've made a lot of money from 'The Curse,' and things will only get better..."

Seeing her eyes show no reaction, he continued, "It's not that you have to have a specific issue. To be honest, I really want to bring you to our company. Don't worry, we will handle all the breach of contract fees and other issues. The agent's commission will be only 10%, and you will have a dedicated assistant, makeup artist, costume designer, a car, and even a bodyguard..."

"Why!" Ha Ji-won finally spoke, but she didn't seem moved, and her eyes were fixed on him.

"Ah!" Lee Jung-hui was taken aback and replied, "You are an excellent actress, and I believe you will become a superstar in the future!" Under her wide-eyed gaze, he scratched his head awkwardly and continued, "Well, after all, your current situation is due to the misunderstanding that night..."

"Misunderstanding!" Ha Ji-won looked angry, her voice sharp and piercing. Her eyes were even more intense as she stared at him. Seeing Lee Jung-hui still looking bewildered, she suddenly grabbed the pillow and hit him hard, cursing, "Bastard, you still say it's a misunderstanding..."

Lee Jung-hui finally understood and quickly grabbed the pillow from her. However, he then asked, somewhat confused, "What's wrong? Did you remember something?" PS: Please give more recommendations, thank you!

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