Chapter 99

After nearly two months of post-production, "The Paradise of Green Apples" was finally completed. Xia Hou Zhong Ying and Lee Hyori were very excited, as this was their first film as directors. They decided to treat their hardworking staff to a good meal, which was met with cheers from the team members who had worked tirelessly for two months.

DSP Entertainment was also very satisfied with the finished film and, after discussing with Xia Hou Zhong Ying, decided to hold a premiere.

The premiere was not held at a cinema but at Kent School. It was already mid-March, and schools in Korea had already started, with Kent School having been in session for about half a month.

The school readily agreed to Xia Hou Zhong Ying's request without hesitation, recognizing it as a great opportunity to promote the school. Many media outlets would surely vie to enter Kent School, and such a good opportunity could not be passed up.

Next, DSP Entertainment released the news to the media, and all the media outlets in Korea sprang into action. Regardless of whether they were optimistic about the film, as long as it involved Lee Hyori, it became a focal point. "The Paradise of Green Apples," with Lee Hyori's participation and co-direction, naturally became a major focus, and they could not possibly ignore it.

As soon as the news of the premiere was released, the media were eager and ready to go. Even the three major TV stations announced the premiere of "The Paradise of Green Apples" on their news programs. The film had not even started screening, but it had already attracted nationwide attention, making other films scheduled for release at the same time envious. They also secretly rejoiced, thankful that "The Paradise of Green Apples" was not being released in theaters, as it would have surely taken a large share of the market.

Many film and television production companies, seeing the buzz generated by "The Paradise of Green Apples" due to the Lee Hyori effect, immediately began to court her. Some companies did not even wait for the market response after the film's release but started contacting DSP Entertainment and Lee Hyori, inviting her to participate in their films.

Seeing the pile of scripts sent to them, the CEO of DSP Entertainment, Lee Ho Young, was almost overjoyed, constantly praising the wise decision to have Lee Hyori participate in the film. Even before the premiere, Lee Hyori's influence in the film industry had already increased significantly.

He expected that after the release of "The Paradise of Green Apples," her influence would rise even further. Lee Ho Young had seen the post-production results and was very optimistic about the film. He even considered poaching Xia Hou Zhong Ying, using all his resources to persuade him to join DSP Entertainment, promising full support for any films he wanted to make. He saw Xia Hou Zhong Ying as a valuable talent.

Unfortunately, Xia Hou Zhong Ying was not interested in Lee Ho Young's offer and did not even discuss it, which left Lee Ho Young very disappointed.

The current CEO of S.M. Entertainment is Kim Young Min. Lee Soo Man, due to embezzling company funds during a paid-in capital increase in 1998 to invest in S.M. Entertainment's stocks, profited from the stock market by hundreds of billions of won, which is a commercial crime. He was investigated by Korean prosecutors in 2002, fled to the United States for over a year, and returned to Korea last year to face trial, receiving a two-year suspended sentence in September last year. Therefore, he could no longer serve as CEO and now only holds the position of artist director in the company.

Although Kim Young Min had not yet seen the film, he was also very pleased with the current trend. The company had not done anything, yet the trainees like Jeong Se Yeon were already receiving media attention, with their fame rising rapidly. Many media outlets sent inquiries to S.M. Entertainment for interviews with them.

Kim Young Min was not very worried about the quality of the film; otherwise, Lee Ho Young from DSP Entertainment would not have gone to such lengths to hold a premiere. As a major competitor of S.M. Entertainment, Kim Young Min respected Lee Ho Young's abilities and trusted his judgment.

Therefore, on the day of the premiere, Kim Young Min personally led a team to Kent School, bringing many of the company's artists to support Jeong Se Yeon and others. Even the top-tier group TVXQ, who had no scheduled activities that day, was brought along. This caused the media, who had arrived early, to be very excited, surrounding them for interviews.

Jeong Se Yeon is known for her good relationships within S.M. Entertainment, getting along well with seniors like TVXQ. On the day of the premiere of her film, the members of TVXQ controlled the interview atmosphere well, steering the conversation back to the film to avoid overshadowing the main event.

"Hello, CEO, why are you here?" Jeong Se Yeon, Kim Tae Yeon, and the other girls were very excited to see Kim Young Min personally leading the senior artists to support them, and they greeted him with bows.

"Good, good." Kim Young Min nodded in satisfaction at the girls, encouraged them a bit, and then asked, "By the way, where is your director?"

Kim Young Min had met Xia Hou Zhong Ying once last year, when he had burst into the girls' practice room, causing a big commotion, but they had not spoken. At the time, he did not have a good impression of Xia Hou Zhong Ying.

He did not expect that in just a few months, Xia Hou Zhong Ying would create such a big scene, directly boosting the fame of Jeong Se Yeon and the other girls, which made Kim Young Min look at him with new respect. For such talent, Kim Young Min did not want to let him go.

S.M. Entertainment had always wanted to expand into the film industry. If they could poach Xia Hou Zhong Ying, they might achieve significant breakthroughs, leveraging his status as a student director and the buzz around "The Paradise of Green Apples."

Kim Young Min's attendance at the premiere also had the intention of personally recruiting Xia Hou Zhong Ying. After greeting the girls, he began inquiring about Xia Hou Zhong Ying's whereabouts.

"CEO, Brother Zhong Ying is over there." Lim Yoona said with a smile, "I'll go call him over."

"Don't be so informal; he is your director, and you should show some respect." Kim Young Min chided Lim Yoona with a smile, "Come with me; after all, he has helped you so much, and the company should thank him."

Kim Young Min, intending to recruit Xia Hou Zhong Ying, did not want to appear too high and mighty, which might leave a bad impression. He led the group to Xia Hou Zhong Ying.

"Brother Zhong Ying, this is our company's CEO, Mr. Kim." Lim Yoona quickened her pace and introduced Xia Hou Zhong Ying.

"Hello, Mr. Kim, I am Xia Hou Zhong Ying. It's nice to meet you, and I thank you for taking the time to attend our film premiere." Xia Hou Zhong Ying was surprised but very pleased to see the CEO of S.M. Entertainment, Kim Young Min, personally attending the premiere. Since he was not part of S.M. Entertainment, he did not need to greet him as a subordinate but bowed respectfully as a junior.

"Hello, I am Kim Young Min." Kim Young Min smiled and returned the bow, then teased, "Mr. Xia Hou, this isn't our first meeting. I saw you once at our company, and you almost offended all the girls there, ha ha."

Kim Young Min's casual and friendly tone, as if they were old friends, left the S.M. Entertainment staff stunned. They had never seen Kim Young Min be so friendly to anyone, especially a young man.

"Hehe, that was my fault. I mistakenly entered your company's girls' practice room and caused trouble for your company." Xia Hou Zhong Ying was embarrassed by the incident at S.M. Entertainment and laughed awkwardly.

The artists from S.M. Entertainment, including TVXQ, who had heard about the girls' practice room incident, now realized that the young man who had caused a huge commotion was the director of today's premiere. They struggled to suppress their laughter, finding it both amusing and awkward.