Chapter 50

"What? They actually made such a request?"

Kikuchi Eirou, the public relations director of BURNING Agency, received a call from his confidant, Araki Masahito.

Araki said that the acquisition of CATS had encountered a problem. The creator of the girl group had set conditions, demanding not only a transfer fee but also a batch of TV channel distribution resources.

"Unbelievable, can't Hino Kenichi even control his subordinates?!"

The acquisition plan for CATS was something he had personally promoted, and even the head of the agency knew about it.

As the public relations director, if he wanted to advance further, he needed to achieve something substantial in terms of making money.

Currently, the traditional idol business of BURNING Agency, from auditions to debuts, to releasing albums and holding concerts, was firmly controlled by the planning department.

This acquisition of CATS, a new type of girl group, was also an attempt to break into a new field. Otherwise, why would he have sent his confidant, Araki Masahito, to handle this matter?

"If it becomes a big fuss, it would be embarrassing to be mocked by Oda Masahito from the planning department." Kikuchi Eirou closed his eyes and weighed the pros and cons of the transfer fee and the distribution channels.

Being mocked by the planning director was not something that could be brushed off in the workplace.

It would be a sign that his reputation and abilities were being looked down upon, and a promotion would be delayed by at least two or three years.

...

...

Earlier,

Yoshimura Daikichi was sitting across from Hino Kenichi.

"Yoshimura, are you really going to go this far?" The president's face was very grim. "You should know that if I make this call, our decade-long good cooperation will end."

Yoshimura Daikichi explained the current situation of CATS and the conditions set by Nagayama Naoki and others.

The good cooperation here referred not only to the relationship with BURNING Agency but also to the employment relationship between him and Yoshimura Daikichi for over a decade.

"President Hino, this is unavoidable; it's a must for them."

Yoshimura Daikichi had already made up his mind to resign.

In fact, from the moment the agency threw him into a completely new business,

and then sold it without mercy after he had achieved results,

he knew he was being marginalized in the agency.

What could he do in the agency after the girl group was sold?

The GG business was already being handled by a new planning director. Would he, as the "head of the department," be demoted to work under a junior?

Or would he return to being a talent agent?

Or become a rubber stamp in the administrative department?

But even that position was already occupied!

This small agency had no department that needed him anymore!

For a lifetime employee of RB, changing jobs at the age of 40 was indeed a significant decision,

but the time he spent working with Nagayama Naoki and Ido Shuichi was undoubtedly full of passion and very promising.

After experiencing that, it was hard to go back to the mundane life of a corporate drone...

More importantly,

the transfer fee this time, Nagayama Naoki said, would be split among the three, with Yoshimura Daikichi getting half!

Even if the transfer fee for each person was only 5 million yen, Yoshimura Daikichi would still get over 12 million yen!

Working for three or four years might not even earn that much money!

...

...

In the end, Kikuchi Eirou agreed to the transfer fee, but he preferred to raise the transfer fee to 6 million yen per person rather than give more distribution channels.

He could distinguish between floating assets and sources of income. In exchange, GG, this shell company, handed over all the operational and distribution rights of CATS to BURNING Agency, including the exclusive and indefinite use of the cat ear accessory patent.

...

After signing the contract, all three breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yoshimura-san, after working for so many years, you probably haven't had a long vacation, right? Take some time off after this!" Nagayama Naoki said to the somewhat haggard Yoshimura Daikichi, "We'll consider how to restart the girl group later."

This impromptu shell company would become their true business from now on.

After all, having just received 15 million yen, to say that Yoshimura Daikichi was very sad...

Wouldn't that be a joke?

But a certain sense of loss and confusion was inevitable.

Ido Shuichi also said, "Yes, Yoshimura-san, a vacation in Hawaii would be great at this time of year~"

"Hawaii? My English is really not good..." Yoshimura Daikichi laughed, "But I can go back to my hometown to avoid the heat. It's quite cool in Nagano in the summer, and I haven't been back for a long time..."

Back to his hometown?

When people feel uneasy, they always want to return to that initial haven.

It seems there is still some sense of unease...

It looks like it will take some time to adjust.

...

...

After saying goodbye to the two, Nagayama Naoki went to the shop in Shibuya.

The real estate agency had called earlier to say that the shop was ready, and all the procedures were completed. They asked when he could come to inspect it.

When Nagayama Naoki arrived, the agency staff was already in the shop. From the outside, it was indeed cleaned up, with a large, clean window, a freshly painted facade, and even the signboard position was left empty.

The agency staff wanted to inspect each item, but it was only a 50-square-meter space with a couple of additional display racks for small accessories. What was there to see?

Nagayama Naoki walked around the shop, took a quick look, and then paid the final balance. Next, he just needed to customize a signboard, hire a shop assistant, and he could open for business.

Initially, he wanted to make it a store specializing in CATS merchandise, but now, he would start by selling cat ears and eventually expand to include merchandise from all the girl groups under GG.

The patent and transfer fees over this period had made Nagayama Naoki's wallet a bit fuller.

The desire to buy land was starting to stir again~

But with over 15 million yen, he couldn't afford a great location. He would wait until he earned more.

...

It seems I'm free again~

It was just past noon, and Nagayama Naoki didn't want to go home and lie around, so he went to the house in Bunkyo Ward to practice the piano.

He almost treated this place as a music room.

When he bought it, he didn't realize that this three-story Western-style house was very close to the school, and most of the residents were students.

During the day, they were mostly in class, so it was very quiet.

Nagayama Naoki's room was on the second floor, with only two rooms: a living room and a bedroom. Outside the glass sliding door was a balcony, and outside the balcony was a lush cherry tree.

The room didn't have much furniture, with the largest item being a piano by the window.

A desk with a small bookshelf was left by the previous tenant, a bit old but still usable.

There were a few chairs and a kettle for boiling water.

Oh, and in the bedroom, there was a futon on the tatami mat that Nagayama Naoki occasionally used for naps.

Opening the window and the glass sliding door to the balcony, fresh air instantly filled the room, blowing a few sheets of paper on the desk.

The house, which he visited frequently, didn't have much dust.

He boiled a pot of hot water and did a bit of cleaning,

and then sat down to practice the piano.

The nearby residents knew that the house had a new owner, who seemed to be from a music school, as they occasionally heard pleasant piano music coming from inside.