Chapter 154: If You Commit A Sin, You Should Be Punished (4)
"Eun-Yung's secret account got exposed on Star Patch!"
As news of the Golden Road's scandal broke out, murmurs rippled through the chiefs gathered in the conference room.
Observing the dismay etched on the faces of Lee Gi-Cheol, Kim Dong-Soo, and Cha Sang-Jin, a sweet taste of satisfaction tingled on my palate.
'They should have listened when I first warned them. I tried to stop it—if only the ever-so-precious Jang Eun-Yung hadn't messed with Yeon-Hee.'
That's when the always-a-step-behind Lee Gi-Cheol raised his voice in the meeting room.
"That idiot still didn't delete her account after getting scolded by Assistant Manager Jung yesterday? And Chief Cha! What have you been doing until this happened!? You were supposed to take care of her!"
"Uh, well, you see..."
While Lee Gi-Cheol pressed Cha Sang-Jin, I quickly checked the entertainment news section on the portal. The front page article on Star Patch revealed the contents of Jang Eun-Yung's secret account in explicit detail.
[Golden Road's Jang Eun-Yung. Scandalous private life. (by Star Patch)]
-Golden Road's leader Jang Eun-Yung is in a relationship with ZIZAK's leader Park Hyun-Woo.
-The table of the innocent girl group Golden Road was filled with empty liquor bottles and cigarette butts.
-Unmentionable photos found in a secret account of a girl group member...
The article's ranking was climbing in real time. Other reporters were also quickly following up with their own stories, adding (Breaking) to the headlines and cleverly altering the titles of the Star Patch article.
With this amount of coverage, Jang Eun-Yung's scandal was certain to hit the top of live search rankings within ten minutes.
"Stop the articles from being posted! Stop it right now!"
With his face pale as a ghost, Cha Sang-Jin was frantically ordering his staff over the phone to head straight to Star Patch.
Lee Gi-Cheol's face turned white as a sheet. Golden Road, responsible for billions in annual revenue, was plummeting in real time.
Despite desperate efforts to contain the situation, it was beyond control at this point—it was beyond even presidential intervention.
Coming to his senses, Lee Gi-Cheol questioned, "Chief Cha, where's Eun-Yung right now?"
"She's on her way back from a scheduled event," replied Cha Sang-Jin.
"Then tell her not to go to the dorm. The reporters will be there any minute," instructed Lee Gi-Cheol with a frown.
Without much thought, Cha Sang-Jin asked, "Should I bring her to the company then?"
Lee Gi-Cheol's eyes opened widely as he lambasted Cha Sang-Jin, "Are you out of your mind!? Don't be dumb! Haven't you thought about the reporters who are willing to camp out in front of the company?"
When Lee Gi-Cheol spat out a curse, Cha Sang-Jin flinched and nodded.
"S-sorry. I'll tell her to go to a hotel."
"Do that right now! And the other members too!"
Amidst the chaos, Lee Dong-Min and I, who knew the real story behind how the scandal broke out, had to work hard not to reveal our inner thoughts.
That's when Lee Gi-Cheol turned to me with a desperate look.
"Assistant Manager Jung. Do you have any good ideas?"
I was speechless at the audacity of his question.
'Lee Gi-Cheol is asking me for solutions? How does he even have the nerves and audacity?'
Lee Gi-Cheol angrily pressed for an answer.
"Speak up! Don't you have any way to fix this situation!?"
'Had he completely forgotten how he was haranguing me just moments ago?'
But there was no solution this time. And even if there were one, I had no intention of sharing it.
"I'm sorry but there's nothing we can do at this moment. That's why I warned everyone several times. I did say Star Patch was digging around, didn't I?"
At that moment, Lee Gi-Cheol glared at me and shouted, "Hey, Assistant Manager Jung. Did you orchestrate this?"
'What a surprise. This man has a strangely good intuition sometimes.'
But I firmly denied it and dropped all pretense.
As Lee Gi-Cheol was about to vent his frustration on me, Sung Min-Suk urgently burst into the room again.
"Mr. Lee! Another bombshell has dropped!"
"What is it now!?"
"I, I think you should see this for yourself."
Sung Min-Suk projected an article onto the large LCD in the conference room.
[Golden Road's Jang Eun-Yung accused of bullying her sister group Cherry Blossom members? (by Weekly Stars. Lee Hyung-Sik)]
-According to an anonymous source, rumors have been circulating that Jang Eun-Yung has been harassing Woo Yeon-Hee.
-A broadcast staff member witnessed that Golden Road had always tried to discipline their hoobaes in various ways...
This time, it was an exclusive from Weekly Stars.
Lee Gi-Cheol held the back of his neck and slumped into his chair upon looking at the screen,
"Oh, my blood pressure is rising...!"
Lee Dong-Min had arranged a phone interview between a Weekly Stars' reporter and Lee Eun-Hyang the night before. When I glanced sideways, I saw Lee Dong-Min covering his mouth and struggling to hold back his laughter.
I shot him a look. 'You'll get caught laughing like that.'
'Look who's talking! You better manage your expression too!' Lee Dong-Min glanced back at me.
We exchanged signals with just our eyes and barely managed to contain our laughter, straightening our expressions.
All we did was poke another hole in the already sinking ship but the ship was going down at an exponential rate.
It was like the Titanic.
***
The day was nothing short of a storm.
From 11 p.m. onwards, the entire company had to endure a war-like situation and handle calls from entertainment reporters.
The photos released by Star Patch included not only the dating scandal but also scenes of drinking and smoking. To make matters worse, Park Hyun-Woo and Jang Eun-Yung added fuel to the fire.
Park Hyun-Woo of ZIZAK heated up various communities by claiming, "We kissed but didn't make out." Such an absurd statement only stirred the controversy even further. Jang Eun-Yung also contributed with a novel statement, "I held a cigarette but never smoked it."
This only served to escalate the fans' anger to a peak.
(Comments)
-Wow, these two are really something.
-They are made for each other. A perfect match.
-Park Hyun-Woo, I've burned all the merch I bought from you. (Burnt merch.JPEG)
-Jang Eun-Yung has always been a snake. It looks like the innocent Hyun-Woo oppa was fooled by her dirty trick.
-Fooled? That's ridiculous. Your love for Park Hyun-Woo is like a religion at this point. I respect the faith.
The fandoms of ZIZAK and Golden Road began to gather all sorts of goods, gifts, and tribute items for a collective bonfire. As the flames soared high, the popularity of both groups evaporated along with them.
The fans' rage didn't subside easily even after that, causing many Hoop Entertainment staff to feel as if they were walking on thin ice. Reporters camped outside the company to get an interview and talent agents were overwhelmed trying to block them.
Less than 24 hours later, Golden Road had no choice but to announce a hiatus in their activities.
[Golden Road to halt activities abruptly due to scandal! They decided to reflect for some time.]
[Golden Road cancels all overseas schedules!]
[ZIZAK halts all activities!]
It felt like a long-held breath was finally released.
"That's what they get for not behaving. Why would they mess with our kids for no reason?"
With the cancellation of the cash cow Golden Road's concert in Japan, Singer Division 1 lost at least 10 billion won in revenue. As a result, the company atmosphere turned grim. But the weight in the singer management office started to shift from Singer Division 1 to Singer Division 2 for the first time.
From being centered around Golden Road to focusing on Cherry Blossom.
***
At the upscale Chinese restaurant Hwaryong, four men in elegant suits sat with grim expressions.
Their ages ranged from their 30s to their 70s, and they shared one thing in common: all were alumni of Seoul National University of the Arts and shareholders of Hoop Entertainment.
Among the men seated at the slowly revolving round table, the most senior among them began to speak.
"We should be meeting for good reasons, yet we always seem to gather for unfortunate events."
Choi Eun-Tae, the leader of the group and a major shareholder of Hoop Entertainment from the ninth generation of Seoul Arts Comprehensive University, opened the discussion with a calm tone.
At the age of 75, he was a formidable figure in the Myeong-dong's private loan market and was known in the industry as a major president.
At Choi Eun-Tae's words, another man at the table frowned.
"Really, Choi sunbae? Is this the time for greetings?"
Lee Sang-Pil, a representative from the 19th generation of Seoul Arts Comprehensive University, grumbled from across the table because the halt in Golden Road's activities had disrupted various business plans he had.
Lee Sang-Pil, a 65-year-old man who managed LSP Inc., dealing in clothing and cosmetics, had first started as a peddler between Japan and Korea.
"Then do you suggest we should be expressing our anger instead?"
"When it's time to get angry, we should. That jerk Lee Gi-Cheol messed this up, so shouldn't we come up with some countermeasures? Do you have any idea how much my business has suffered because of Golden Road's downfall?"
Lee Sang-Pil had invested in Hoop Entertainment with the intention of expanding LSP Group's pie in Japan. With Golden Road's venture into Japan, he planned to launch LSP Group's cosmetics line—a plan now up in smoke.
"Sunbae-nim, please calm down. Chrysanthemum tea is known to soothe the mind."
Park Hyung-Moon, a representative of the 34th generation of Seoul Arts Comprehensive University and managing a venture firm called True Angels, poured Lee Sang-Pil some chrysanthemum tea. With the help of his fellow alumni, Park Hyung-Moon had ambitiously expanded his firm's scale rapidly.
"More than that, is that jerk Lee Gi-Cheol coming or what?"
Lee Sang-Pil's question was met with Park Hyung-Moon shaking his head.
"Gi-Cheol seems to be tied up cleaning up the mess. But if you were going to be that concerned, why didn't you exert your influence sooner?" Park Hyung-Moon asked.
Lee Sang-Pil replied with a sigh, "I'm regretting it too. Things escalated too quickly while we were watching."
"Shall I exert some force then?" Park Hyung-Moon suggested.
That's when a warning came from Choi Eun-Tae seated at the head of the table.
"Don't make any rash moves."
Lee Sang-Pil bristled at the warning. "So are we just going to watch and do nothing?"
A smile appeared on Choi Eun-Tae's lips and he asked, "Then what? Are you suggesting we oust Gi-Cheol and hand over the management to Dong-Soo?"
"That would be best. Dong-Soo is much more capable and efficient than Gi-Cheol," Lee Sang-Pil remarked.
Choi Eun-Tae clicked his tongue.
"Tsk, tsk. I know you've got Dong-Soo's back, but now's not the time."
"Pardon?"
"Isn't President Kang supposed to return soon?"
As Lee Sang-Pil was about to say something more, Choi Eun-Tae raised his hand to stop him.
"Man-Sik, did you look into what I asked?"
Hailing from the 47th generation of Seoul Arts Comprehensive University, Choi Man-Sik, the youngest shareholder at the age of 37, nodded silently. Originally named Lee Man-Sik, he was adopted by Choi Eun-Tae, taking on his surname and working in the Myeong-dong's private loan market as the latter had no biological sons.
"Yes, sir. I checked with a connection I have working at Johns Hopkins Hospital in the US. President Kang Gam-Chan underwent surgery for a brain tumor."
The group focused silently on their conversation, intrigued by the new information.
"Hmm. And how did President Kang's surgery go?"
"Yes, he's entered the recovery phase. He might return as early as September."
The mood subtly shifted with Choi Man-Sik's report. Though they had a complicated relationship with Kang Gam-Chan, such troublesome situations hadn't occurred when the capable Kang Gam-Chan was around.
Mixed feelings about his return were evident among them.
Choi Eun-Tae then turned to Lee Sang-Pil.
"Sang-Pil, we can't do anything about what's already happened. But fortunately, we have Cherry Blossom as an alternative. How about leveraging them?"
Lee Sang-Pil's expression changed at Choi Eun-Tae's suggestion.
"Are you saying we should take Cherry Blossom to Japan?"
"Exactly. I've looked into it and their overseas reception isn't too bad. If you can coordinate well with the Japanese broadcasting industry, it could be beneficial for both them and us."
"The production committee, which is essentially the investors, has significant influence in Japan. But we might fall short on funds to join the committee..."
"Discuss the necessary funding with Man-Sik."
It was the moment when Golden Road's role began shifting toward Cherry Blossom.
As the conversation was winding down, Choi Man-Sik cautiously spoke up.
"Um, Mr. Choi..."
"What is it?"
"I've heard that this whole situation was orchestrated by a rookie from start to end."
"A rookie? Who are you talking about?"
"He's recently been promoted to assistant manager and his name is Jung Yoon-Ho..."
As Choi Man-Sik's story continued, the faces of the other three lit up with curiosity.
"Is this information reliable?"
"Yes, sir. I've completed cross-verification."
"And his affiliations?"
"He's been marked as promising by Kang Gam-Chan's line and pulled in early."
Choi Eun-Tae pondered for a moment before speaking again.
"Meet up with him, Man-Sik. If he's useful, see if we can get him to switch to our side."
"Understood, sir."
A deep, enigmatic smile played on the lips of Choi Man-Sik as he lowered his head.
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