Shanghai Media & China Media's Korean Visit (6)

Like the day before, Young-hoon and his team grabbed a quick lunch and then gathered in the office for a strategy meeting.

"So, Attorney Min, you're saying the two companies' offers are pretty much a wash?"

"That's correct. Both companies are quite fond of us. It's like they're asking, 'Do you love Mommy or Daddy more?'"

"Then which company should we sign with? I'd like to hear everyone's opinions."

Young-hoon looked first at President Lee Jae-man and asked for his take. "What does ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠President Lee Jae-man, CEO of Girin Entertainment, think?"

"Like I said yesterday, it doesn't matter to me either way. My only wish is that our girls are treated properly and get to perform in China with the respect they deserve."

"Then what about you, Director Kim?"

Drawing on his years stationed in China, Director Kim Jong-seok decided ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to offer Young-hoon a few hard-won pointers. "I know from living in China for a long time — putting all your eggs in one basket is dangerous. In other words, I'd avoid an exclusive contract with any single company. China is a vast country with an enormous population, and dozens of TV broadcasters are scattered across it. What's more, each of them broadcasts to a different region, so signing TV licensing deals with multiple stations wouldn't cause any real conflict. The problem is… well, music works differently. A single company can cover the entire nation, so licensing your music to several companies at once is out of the question."

Team Leader Park Sung-ho had assumed that even a country as big as China couldn't have many more broadcasters than Korea's handful. As far as he knew, the state-run CCTV was about the extent of Chinese television. So hearing that there were dozens of stations sparked his curiosity.

"So, Director Kim, you're saying Five Girls can appear on multiple Chinese TV channels without any issue when they expand into China?"

"That's right, Team Leader Park. Only the music rights are a problem."

"Then how about we sign with both companies at the same time?"

Young-hoon found the suggestion intriguing. If they signed with both, he figured the two groups would be a tremendous asset down the road as well, when his liquor, coffee, and tea businesses pushed into China.

"Team Leader Park, can you explain in more detail?"

"Sure. What I'm suggesting is that we don't sign Five Girls to a music company — we only license the songs themselves. For example, 'A Loving Heart' could go to Shanghai Music, and 'After Farewell' to China Music."

"Attorney Min, would that be feasible?"

"As long as the two companies are willing to tolerate each other, I don't see a problem."

"Then let's proceed as Team Leader Park proposed. Any other issues we should discuss?"

This time, Director Kim Jong-seok answered in his place. "First, scheduling will be a challenge once they debut in China. There could also be complications with full-length albums — a proper studio album would have to be contracted exclusively with one company."

As the old saying goes, even a sheet of paper is lighter when carried by two. With so many people pooling their ideas, problems that had seemed daunting were beginning to unravel with surprising ease.

"How about this? We work with Shanghai Music one time, then with China Music the next. Coordinating in between won't be easy, I admit, but if we juggle it well, we can build smooth relationships with both companies without anyone losing face. And when it comes to a full-length album, we could put the rights up for auction — or else split the album material into a series of mini-albums instead."

"That's a great idea. There's really no need to fixate on a full-length album."

"Some people raise hell because they can't break into China, and here we are agonizing because too many people want us… The world really isn't fair, is it?"

Amid the bliss of such a luxurious dilemma, a half-joking lament drifted around the room.

Since they had to return to the banquet after a short break, Young-hoon began wrapping up the meeting. "Let's summarize what we've decided."

With that, Young-hoon jotted down the agreed points.

Having boiled it all down to four points, Young-hoon looked around the room and brought the discussion to a close. "If there are no further opinions, you have free time from now until six o'clock this evening. We'll regroup in the first-floor lobby at six."

"Understood."

After two nights and three days of a relentless, breakneck schedule, it was time for a little rest.

Young-hoon suddenly called out to President Lee Jae-man, who was on his way out the door. "President, just in case, I'd like Five Girls kept on standby again today. The outfits are the problem — take them to a department store and buy them some new clothes. Three days in a row in the same outfits would be a bit much."

"I guessed you'd say that, so I already have everything prepared. Their wardrobe is packed and ready to go."

Perhaps because he'd spent decades in the entertainment business, President Lee Jae-man's ability to read a situation and respond was exceptional. Once again, without Young-hoon saying a word, he had everything squared away in advance. It was honestly astounding, in retrospect, that a man this capable had gone so long without his moment to shine.

"What time is the move tomorrow?"

"We plan to wrap it up briskly in the morning. Otherwise the schedule will tangle itself into knots."

"Tomorrow we'll be signing contracts with the two Chinese companies, so as soon as the move is finished, I need you to join us right away, President."

"Understood. Then I'll rest a bit and see you again soon."

Having finished his talk with President Lee, Young-hoon made his way to Chairman Jang's office. Inside, Chairman Jang and Chairman Choi sat together, deep in conversation.

"Gentlemen, how was your workout?"

"Excellent. This one here sent us off in proper style, I tell you. Hehehehe."

"Sent you off in style? What do you mean?"

"Chairman Xu — he's agreed to become one of our members. He's now Hogu #2 of the 'Homecle' Swindler Crew. And that's not all. Chairman Xu has decided to become a sworn younger brother to me and old Jang here."

"Wait — what exactly is the 'Homecle' Swindler Crew? And who was Hogu #1… don't tell me it's Chairman Wang?"

"You know how you young folks are always cooking up new words. So we decided to make one of our own. It's short for 'Hogu-Making Club' — Homecle! What do you think? We put real thought into the name. And since selling the elixir does involve a bit of a hustle, we tacked on 'Swindler Crew.' You're a full member of the 'Homecle' Swindler Crew, Chairman Wang was Hogu #1, and Chairman Xu is Hogu #2. We're aiming to get all the way to a hundred… that much supply is manageable, isn't it?"

Young-hoon could only blink at the news that Chairman Xu had become the chairmen's sworn brother. "Is all of that… because of the elixir?"

"What good is a mountain of money just sitting there? And how much of it can you actually spend, anyway? But when something brings back the joys of life you thought you'd lost forever — well, how do you think that feels? If we play Chairman Wang and Chairman Xu just right, we can take China for ourselves, guaranteed. Hehehe~"

"Well done, gentlemen. Then there's no need to bring the elixir to today's banquet, I take it?"

"Of course not. Why waste something that expensive? Oh, and take this." ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Chairman Jang held out an envelope to Young-hoon.

"What's this?"

"What else? Money. The sixty billion won for the elixirs, as promised."

"Why are you giving me this? That was just hospitality — my treat."

"None of that. A promise is a promise. We drank our fill, didn't we?"

"Refusing would only make you angry, so… I'll put it to good use. Thank you."

"And once our Chinese brothers head home, let's set up a meeting next week or so to talk about the drama production."

"Understood. Enjoy your rest, gentlemen. I'll come collect you later."

At six o'clock, everyone attending the evening's banquet began gathering in the first-floor lobby. Getting to the Walkerhill Hotel in Gwangjang-dong would take some hurrying — and with it being Friday rush hour, there was no telling how the traffic might turn.

Then again, he couldn't for the life of him figure out why the banquet had to be held at a hotel all the way out in Gwangjang-dong. Young-hoon would travel with the two chairmen, while the rest of the party would move in President Lee Jae-man's car. Five Girls were to meet everyone directly at the venue.

PD Shin Hye-yoon was at her wit's end — her blood had run completely dry.

To be sure, having China's two largest media groups show deep interest in a drama that hadn't even aired on Korean television yet was a wonderful thing. The trouble was, both of them announced on the very same day that they would be arriving in Korea. The small mercy was that they were supposedly landing separately, one at three in the afternoon and one at five. Receiving the guests should have been manageable.

Then, that very morning, a call came through: both delegations would now arrive at the same hour. That was when the mental breakdown began.

The one stroke of luck was that one team was coming through Gimpo International Airport and the other through Incheon. Apparently, the two rivals despised each other enough that neither wanted to land at the same airport — a statement of principle, in its own way.

After no small amount of wrangling, the president went out to receive the guests at Gimpo, while the vice president handled the arrivals at Incheon.

Guests had come, so a dinner was owed. But they couldn't run two tables at once. So Sinabro left the Shanghai Media Group to Girin Entertainment and hosted the China Media Group people themselves. Their dinner proceeded in perfectly ordinary fashion, without a single incident.

The next morning, when they asked the Girin side how the Shanghai Media Group dinner had gone the previous evening, the answer was, in a word: chaos.

The morning meeting with China Media Group also ended, in a word, fruitlessly. Typical Chinese, all right — they seemed interested in nothing but grinding the price down to buy the broadcasting rights on the cheap.

That evening the roles reversed: Sinabro hosted the Shanghai Media Group guests, while Girin Entertainment took charge of China Media Group. Once again, their own dinner flowed along unremarkably.

The following day, they asked Girin whether last night's hosting had gone smoothly, and were told it had been an utter circus. Sinabro had far more experience with this kind of entertaining, and knew every trick in the book — so why on earth did dinner with Girin Entertainment always end in a disaster? It baffled her completely.

Today's morning meeting with the Shanghai Media Group also wrapped up with almost nothing to show for it.

When the drama rights negotiations stalled into a stalemate, CEO Joo Young-ki's stubborn streak flared up, and he invited both delegations to dinner — at the same time. Practically the entire staff tried to talk him out of it. These were people who couldn't stand each other even in China, who swore up and down they would never set foot in the same room. But CEO Joo dug in with his trademark mule-headedness and ordered them to make the dinner happen, no matter what.

Between a rock and a hard place, Hye-yoon gritted her teeth and called the Shanghai Media Group first. Unsurprisingly, they refused flatly. She thought that was only natural — but orders were orders, and the boss said jump.

She asked again, as graciously as she could manage. This time they asked who would be attending. When she said it would be the people from Sinabro Production and Girin Entertainment, they agreed on the spot — on one condition: the dinner would be held at a third hotel, not at the one where their team or the China Media Group was staying.

Having scraped the agreement together, Hye-yoon immediately called China Media Group. Expecting the same reaction she'd gotten from Shanghai, she led with the Girin Entertainment angle. Without so much as taking a breath, they said yes right then and there. She simply couldn't understand it — what on earth had Girin Entertainment done to entertain them that they'd accept without a moment's hesitation?

And then the real problem cropped up just moments ago. The dinner was set for seven o'clock, but at six they were already arriving, staking out seats in the banquet hall and settling in like they owned the place. Isn't basic courtesy to show up about ten minutes before a banquet begins? What did these people think they were going to scrounge, charging in at six like that?

With the two feuding companies seated in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the same hall, the banquet room right now was colder and more frigid than a Siberian plain in the dead of winter.

She'd already fired off an SOS to President Lee Jae-man of Girin Entertainment, begging him to get over here as fast as humanly possible — but who knew when he'd arrive?

Aigoo. She was going to lose her mind.