Chapter 83 of "The Techniques of an Idol Who Never Fails"

[Emergency! Overcome the Crisis]

“What’s all this fuss since January 1st...”

Muttering to myself, I entered my room and closed the door, then immediately called the TF team.

The TF team, who always answered my calls, didn’t pick up this time. Ah, this is definitely a bad sign.

So, I just called President Park Hee-taek directly.

-...Are you a ghost?

The moment he answered, I knew something had blown up, as I had anticipated.

“Why? Is something wrong at the company?”

-This isn’t something to talk about over the phone, so come to the office first.

“I’ll be there soon.”

I answered and left the room.

Rushing to the office, I was heading to the president’s office when a PR team member ran up to me.

“Hae-won, I was just about to contact you...”

“Will it take long?”

“No, it’ll be quick! It’s not a big deal, but it became a... minor topic overnight.”

The PR team member carefully explained and showed me a photo on a tablet.

It was a photo of me smoking in the smoking area near the broadcasting station when I was a manager. I was wearing a cap, making it hard to recognize me, but someone incredibly recognized and took the photo.

When I accidentally touched the tablet and the screen moved, the PR team member panicked and covered it. But I had already seen the text.

[Last year, I saw him smoking and took a photo lol. He’s taller and better-looking than I thought.]

“...The photo turned out well.”

It really did turn out unnecessarily well.

The PR team member, worried that I might react strongly to the word "national scandal," sighed in relief and said,

“Yes, the reaction is strangely positive. Some people are criticizing the fact that it was a photo taken secretly when you were a civilian. Anyway, fans already knew you were a manager... We’re planning to ignore it for now. Is that okay?”

“Yes, thank you for letting me know.”

I nodded and greeted them, then headed to the president’s office, but stopped again. I realized I had been keeping my hands in my pockets the whole time.

“Rude, huh?”

I muttered to myself and took my hands out. Seeing that my hands were cold from lack of blood circulation, I must have been nervous.

It’s a good thing this happened last year; if I had continued smoking after my debut, the fans’ reaction wouldn’t have been good. I really need to quit forever.

With that thought, I entered the president’s office. President Park Hee-taek, who had a deadpan expression, immediately asked,

“Did you hear something from someone? How did you know to call right away?”

“I just had a strong feeling.”

“You’re weird. Even President Park Jong-ryeol talks about it at drinking parties. He says you prevented Hyung from messing up, and that you must have received divine guidance. Then our staff says you ran in when Ji-woon almost caused an accident during a live broadcast.”

“Ah, yes. I kind of did.”

I answered appropriately and urged him to get to the point quickly.

“I’m hungover, so please hurry.”

“You should have called me if you were going to drink.”

“With the kids? Have you ever had a drink from the freezer with them? The atmosphere would be the same if I drank with them.”

“Ah, right. Sorry. I was a bit distracted by the New Year.”

Fortunately, the Firstlight members’ antisocial nature saved us from uncomfortable drinking sessions.

President Park Hee-taek, who is generous with alcohol, took a hangover remedy from a drawer and handed it to me. I wasn’t in a state to refuse, so I took it and swallowed it immediately. Meanwhile, President Park Hee-taek continued,

“Did you swallow it? I was worried you might spit it out.”

“I swallowed it.”

After I confirmed, President Park Hee-taek said,

“VMC seems to want to acquire TRV.”

“...”

I was right to swallow first and listen.

President Park Hee-taek continued,

“I heard this from the vice president today.”

Hearing this, I finally believed that President Park Hee-taek had been telling the truth when he said TRV was a company run by the president and vice president, and he was just a lackey.

President Park Hee-taek is really a lackey... I swallowed that thought as well.

“So what’s the plan?”

“The president says no, but the vice president wants to sell quickly and start a new business.”

I squatted down, feeling a headache. Did I drink makgeolli? I can’t remember. I must have drunk whatever was available...

While shocking, an acquisition won’t happen overnight. It will take at least six months, and even then, it might not go through. I’ll have to endure, as I’ll be with VMC for about a year.

The problem is what will happen in the meantime.

It seems the vice president welcomes VMC’s acquisition, and given that he only showed up once since I joined TRV, his future actions are somewhat predictable.

He’ll try to squeeze as much profit as possible from Firstlight fans quickly. He’ll fill his own pockets and make the company look financially healthy. By the time fans get tired and close their wallets, it won’t be his problem anymore.

President Park Hee-taek continued,

“The Japanese debut will likely be moved up.”

“And we’ll print a million goods.”

“Of course.”

Albums have production limits, and there’s no better cash cow than merchandise.

My stomach churned. I couldn’t tell if it was from the hangover or the emotions.

At that moment, Vice President Choi Gi-moon burst in and sat on the sofa.

“Hey, Hee-taek.”

I greeted him, but he ignored me. It seems he doesn’t care if VMC acquires TRV.

President Park Hee-taek introduced me to Vice President Choi Gi-moon.

“Remember? This guy writes songs for Firstlight.”

“So?”

“Good songs mean money.”

“What songs make money? Money makes money. Get a good songwriter. Invest money.”

Wait, what? Hold on. This won’t do.

“I’m already working on the next mini-album. This time...”

Vice President Choi Gi-moon interrupted me.

“Hey, I’m the vice president, and I know how the company works. A&R makes the decisions.”

“True, but our album involves a lot of member participation.”

“That’s why we can’t do better.”

Ah, it’s a good thing I came alone.

If Hwang Saebi were here, he would have already cursed and left. Haha.

Anyway, from his words, it’s clear he has no interest in the entertainment industry.

Or...

“Let’s focus on girl groups. The settlement is faster.”

...He wants to focus on girl groups.

Transparent, so transparent. There are still people in the entertainment industry who think that putting pretty girls together and debuting them will automatically make them popular.

VMC acquiring TRV isn’t a special crisis. It’s just a business deal that doesn’t directly affect my idol career. While VMC still has unresolved issues with me, that’s my problem, not Firstlight’s. It could even be beneficial for Firstlight.

But if the vice president starts bringing in songs from other songwriters and interfering with the album, that’s a different story.

Could VMC want to focus on boys and exclude me...? Is that too paranoid? No, it’s better. Being excluded because my songs are bad is worse...

Anyway.

The real crisis for me is on this side.

If Firstlight takes songs from other songwriters, they’ll work hard but won’t fully commit...

...But now that they’re professional, what if they do well? What if they like it more? Maybe it’s time for them to get songs from real songwriters?

Maybe I’m still hungover, but I wasn’t filtering out external comments as well as I usually do.

Then, unexpectedly, President Park Hee-taek said,

“Gi-moon, why are you talking to someone who’s worked hard like that?”

“You’re the one. You should call him ‘Vice President’ in front of the kid.”

“Ah, right. Sorry, Vice President. Hae-won has worked hard.”

Even though he’s a lackey... no, the president has been here long and is on my side.

I took a deep breath, put on my professional smile, and said,

“Vice President, VMC. I think they want to reunite a survival group. They want to brand it as a VMC survival show.”

Businesspeople don’t dislike the word "branding." I don’t understand it yet, but I memorized it. When the company does something I don’t understand, I add "branding" to the answer. When a director or creator does something I don’t understand, I add "building a universe."

As expected, Vice President Choi Gi-moon reacted to the word "branding" and focused on me. I continued,

“But Firstlight is doing so well. There are seven members, and the public clearly recognizes them. If the idea of ‘the boys’ reuniting becomes uncomfortable, there won’t be a need to acquire TRV. The company is already big enough.”

I exaggerated the company’s size. Damn, damn.

Vice President Choi Gi-moon crossed his arms and listened.

“Don’t invest too much. Let us work quietly and on a small scale. For a niche fan base.”

I wondered if it was appropriate to tell them