A Small Media Kingdom - 4
The rising red sun was especially beautiful.
"Time really flies."
"Right? Feels like just yesterday we were celebrating becoming adults. And now we're already twenty-one."
"We..."
I murmured the pleasant word and turned from the sunrise to look beside me.
Lee Naye brushed her hair behind her ear against the cold sea breeze, a faint smile on her face — truly beautiful.
How nice it was when she smiled like that without getting angry?
Though this other one smiling too much was the problem.
"Let's come again next year too~ Heehee."
Eunsol dove into my arms, resting her chin on my chest, blinking her round eyes with a bright smile.
A smile I always saw, yet still so beautiful.
"Yeah, let's come again next year. Us."
"Heehee~"
"Eunsol, get off already."
"No! Naye, you go away!"
"You little...!"
"Sol and Naye, haven't you two been fighting a bit too much lately?"
"Stop fighting and let's go already...! I'm freezing! Hurry!!"
Before we knew it, it was 2019.
We'd all come to watch the sunrise together, and once we returned to Seoul, our busy daily lives would be waiting for us again.
As soon as 2019 arrived, I used the 24 billion won I'd been saving to buy shares of Down Compotech at an average purchase price of 1,275 won.
It was a company with a market cap of about 30 billion won, and even though a full 80% of its shares were floating freely, I couldn't use all 24 billion.
That would have been tantamount to acquiring the company outright, and a healthy volume of stock trading needed to continue for the year-end price surge to be possible.
Still, I purchased enough to become the second-largest shareholder — 18.7% of the stock, roughly 5.4 billion won worth.
"Just stamp here, CEO."
What a relief.
The commercial property purchases that had been dragging on forever were finally done.
With the 18.6 billion remaining after buying the stocks, I also sold the building near Hyehwa Station for 17.9 billion.
I'd bought it for 16 billion and, after all the costs, walked away with 17.9 billion — a reasonably successful investment.
Pooling that money in as well, I purchased the corner lot at the intersection across from the current Dawon Media Group headquarters.
Buying two commercial buildings and an empty lot cost a little over 34 billion.
On roughly twenty-five hundred square meters of land, we planned to construct a new Dawon Media Group headquarters.
"When does construction start?"
"It'll take some time. We're out of money now."
"Shall I lend you some? The 70 billion you invested still has plenty left, CEO."
I snorted a laugh and shook my head at Won Chaeyoung's words.
Each company was growing, and the current building was gradually getting cramped, but new construction wasn't easy, and getting permits and actually building would take quite a while.
Having money right now didn't mean we could put up a building.
"More importantly, how did things go with that person?"
"Apparently moving companies right away is difficult. They agreed to take over Lime Ent as early as this summer, or by early next year at the latest."
We were working behind the scenes to bring over the art director who, in the summer of 2022, would create a girl group with a completely different color from existing ones to Lime Entertainment.
Of course, since they weren't a professional executive, we planned to appoint a separate COO and CFO.
We were also scouting various producers and composers, and the finalist trainees from The Project 32, which had started last September and ended at the end of this year, would be debuting soon.
"Hmm... things are starting to slow down a bit."
"It's not a pessimistic situation. New subscribers and paid members are still on an upward trend."
It might have been a hassle, but whenever I came into the office, Won Chaeyoung, Gu Hongjun, and Jeong Donghyuk would visit my office for a kind of executive meeting.
"What's the current paid member count?"
"1.87 million, a 3% increase from last month."
It had doubled compared to before we started streaming The Cat Cries Meow and The Project 32.
This was the result of roughly half a year, and monthly revenue that had been 8.3 billion had grown to 13.6 billion.
The revenue growth rate was lower relative to the paid member growth rate, but that was because we'd adjusted the pricing once more.
Basic plan with ads: 4,000 won.
Standard without ads, providing 1080p quality: 7,000 won.
Premium providing up to 4K quality: 10,000 won.
Special providing 4K quality plus K-POP content and behind-the-scenes cookie videos from Future Studio productions: 20,000 won.
Plus à la carte payment service.
Overall prices had dropped, the high-margin à la carte payments had low usage rates, and even the most expensive Special plan had few subscribers, so revenue was being recorded lower.
On the other hand, new subscribers canceling existing OTT services and switching over at the cheap prices kept growing, and we planned to gradually increase content to boost à la carte payments and Special memberships.
"President Gu Hongjun."
"The drama I Am the Baseball Manager has finished all production work and is currently in contact with broadcasters. Emergency Exit, which wrapped at the end of last year, should complete post-production by May as scheduled. The drama Fallen Love just cranked in, and The Cat is scheduled to crank in next week. Ah! Casting for the film Taegukho is complete, and crank-in is set for July."
Everything was progressing according to plan.
The Cat Cries Meow had also been confirmed for airing on a cable network, locking in its production as a TV drama.
Shooting starting next week already — time really flew.
And Taegukho, Korea's first space SF film, would originally abandon theatrical release due to the Chinese-origin epidemic and premiere exclusively on Metflix.
But this time, it would get a theatrical release.
It would open about a year later, but after social distancing lifted in 2022, we'd do a theatrical release and then exclusive distribution on Witch.
Of course, that plan only existed in my head for now.
"Working hard."
After the meeting, I went down to Lime Entertainment's practice room.
I watched Kim Sua and four other trainees pouring sweat into their practice.
She'd only just turned sixteen, but Kim Sua had confidently made the final cut of The Project 32 and was set to debut.
And there was an unexpected finalist as well.
Lee Hayeon.
Lee Hayeon, who would debut as a solo singer at the late age of twenty-three, was included in this debut lineup.
A short clip of Lee Hayeon singing — not even an official trainee — had been included among the contestant trainees' vocal videos, and after a flood of inquiries asking why such a trainee wasn't appearing, Won Chaeyoung personally invited her to participate.
Fortunately or unfortunately, one of the trainees had injured her leg during choreography practice, leaving a spot open.
So Lee Hayeon joined as a substitute, ranked first in every evaluation category except choreography, and proudly made the debut team.
"Knock knock knock~"
"Oppa!!"
"Hello, CEO!"
"Haa... haa... You're here..."
"Hello."
"Haaa... Hello..."
I cracked the door open and knocked with my mouth.
Kim Sua and one trainee ran over excitedly, one collapsed into a sitting position to greet me, Lee Hayeon stood in place and bowed politely, and the remaining one sprawled on the floor while greeting.
Of course, the choreographer was giving me a look that said why are you interrupting at such a critical moment.
"We were just getting it right... You're too much, CEO..."
"Sorry."
"Haa... Alright, everyone take a ten-minute break."
"Kyaa~!!"
"We're saved..."
"Haa..."
"Haaa..."
"Come more often...! At this rate we're gonna die!"
This trainee whose personality was way too similar to Kim Sua was Kim Eun-seo.
Her singing wasn't outstanding, her dancing wasn't outstanding, and her looks weren't particularly exceptional either.
She was pretty enough to fit with this lineup, of course, but aside from being short and cute, there was nothing special.
The reason she'd made the debut team with my strong support was her composing ability.
From 2026 until 2035, before I regressed, she was the genius composer who swept the music charts every year with girl group title tracks.
She was so famous even I knew about her.
I figured she'd probably switched to composing late after trying the girl group path.
"Ah... ten minutes is nothing... ten minutes..."
The trainee sprawled on the floor grumbling over there was Park Ji-an.
In 2025, a tragic female rapper who rose to prominence only to be instantly destroyed by a drug scandal.
She'd been acquitted, of course, but the drug offender label had already stuck, and she'd left Korea to continue her rap career in America, as far as I knew.
Anyway, she was a person of interest.
She had both skill and looks, but her unfiltered speech and the kind of lifestyle that could get her entangled in drug suspicions meant absolute personal management was essential.
"Haa... haa..."
Squatting next to her, gasping for breath, was Jeong Yu-na.
Actually, Jeong Yu-na might have been the most unexpected of all.
As far as I knew, Jeong Yu-na was an actress.
In her twenties her acting had been slightly lacking relative to her looks, so she wasn't quite leading-lady material, but by her thirties she'd been recognized enough to take leading roles — and now she was squatting right there.
"Oppa."
"CEO."
"Yeah, CEO Oppa."
"...What?"
"Buy us ice cream. But you have to sneak it past Manager Unnie! If she catches us she'll take it all!"
Lee Hayeon, who would commit suicide three years into her career; Park Ji-an, who needed absolute personal management; Kim Eun-seo, whose composing talent needed to be awakened; Jeong Yu-na, who might switch to acting entirely later; and Kim Sua, who was a pain in the ass.
They needed thorough management in many ways, but this was a far better lineup than I'd expected.
The best main vocalist and main rapper, a composer-producer capable of in-house production, a solid variety personality, plus an actress I'd have to persuade into dual careers.
If I managed and polished them well, a world-class girl group might just be born.
"Are you even listening to me?!"
"I'll have someone buy ice cream."
"Who?"
"Your manager."
"Huh??"
Since thorough management was needed, I needed a manager I could truly trust.
So I'd called this guy.
"Hey, ice cream errands are a bit much, don't you think?"
Park Daeseok grumbled, arms full of ice cream he'd bought in bulk.
From now on, this guy was their manager.
"It's not for me. The artists you'll be in charge of starting today asked for it."
"What?"
"Say hello. He's your manager."
"Me??"
"Hello~ I'm Kim Sua!"
"I'm Kim Eun-seo!"
"Lee Hayeon. Looking forward to working with you."
"Jeong Yu-na."
"I'm Park Ji-an~"
"P-Park Daeseok... Hey, wait, let's talk for a second...!"
Park Daeseok set down the ice cream and dragged me out of the practice room.
"Why am I those kids' manager?!"
"Your assignment changed."
"Since when?!"
"Starting now."
"Hey!! Then what about that guy..."
"Jinwoo."
"Right! What about Jinwoo!"
"You're already prepared. The way you even mix up the name of the actor you used to manage."
"Don't talk nonsense! What happens to Jinwoo now!"
"What do you mean? I assigned him a different manager. Look. He already posted a verification shot on SNS calling him his new manager."
Since he didn't seem to believe me, I showed him the photo that had just gone up on Shin Jinwoo's SNS.
"This bastard...!"
"Four million won a month. Treatment right under the division head level. Plus performance-based additional incentives."
"Leave it to me."
Both of these guys had Udyr-level stance switching.
In an instant, Park Daeseok put his hand on my shoulder and nodded with a resolute expression.
"I'm counting on you. But given the treatment you're getting, if anything happens with those kids, you're responsible."
"Of course."
"But are you really okay being separated from Jinwoo?"
"Jinwoo...? Who's that?"
He'd been diligently working out, so he'd manage them better than any other manager.
Plus, with a bear of a guy like him around, no men would dare approach out of fear.
"Hey... do you have plans or something...?"
"Plans? No?"
"Someone seems to be waiting for you...?"
"For me? Who?"
"Over there, the writer..."
"Meow~"
"......"
"......"
I didn't even need to look back.
Just the cat meow echoing in the hallway was enough to know who it was.
But why make that sound when this guy was here too...!
"Wh-what..?!"
"What?"
"Ahem..! Then I'm off."
"......"
"What?!"
"What?"
"Don't look at me like that! It's not weird!"
I turned away from Park Daeseok, who was staring at me with a thoroughly unpleasant gaze.
Jeong Hana, who'd been peeking her forehead and eyes around the corner, pulled them back and hid when she saw me approaching. I glanced back one last time and quickly slipped around the corner.
"Why did you make that sound..! Now he thinks something weird..!!"
"Hiss..!!!"
"...What are you doing..?"
"Apparently cats make this sound when they're angry."
"Huh??"
"So why did you make me angry?"
"When did I?"
"You never threw the celebration party you promised! You said I couldn't come, but you invited Suyeon Unnie to your house!"
"I did?"
"Then who else?! I heard you invited her to Sunwoo-ssi's house! I'm going with Unnie too, so you know."
"......"
I invited Jeong Suyeon to my house..?
Don't tell me....
"Yep! Sol invited Suyeon Unnie~"
"No, why?!"
"Naye said we should too~ It's late, but we need to throw a housewarming."
"......"
"So come home early today~~~"
"O-today?!"
"Yep! Today's the day~ See you later~~~ Mwah mwah mwah mwah~~"
Haha... hahaha....
This was far too ominous.
Eunsol, Lee Naye, Yun Jiyeon, and Jeong Hana.
These four women gathering in one place??
"Damn it..."