The Korean Visit of Shanghai Media & Zhonghua Media (7)
Young-hoon was chatting leisurely in the car with Chairman Jang and Chairman Choi, entirely unaware that PD Shin Hye-yoon was waiting with her blood boiling.
"Chairmen, would it be all right if I enrolled both Chairman Wang and Chairman Xu as members of the 'Homecle' Swindler Crew? Word has gotten around that the two of them don't get along—I'm worried it might cause problems down the line."
"No problem at all. We can keep those two in check between the two of us."
"Then by all means. They've already fallen into the elixir trap and can't crawl back out. If it were up to me, they'd probably even play dead for me."
"That's right. Hey, Jang—did we price the elixir too cheap? We should be asking around fifty billion won, and I bet they'd still buy it up and swallow it whole."
"Choi, let go of your greed. We need to let them do some selling too. Do you have any idea how many rich men there are in China? We've got to throw those two a few scraps."
While Young-hoon and the two chairmen made small talk, they arrived at the Walkerhill Hotel before they knew it.
The moment the car door opened, CEO Joo Young-ki and PD Shin Hye-yoon came rushing up, panting and out of breath, as if their lives depended on it.
CEO Joo Young-ki finally caught his breath and greeted Young-hoon's party.
"Chairmen, welcome. It's an honor to have you."
Chairman Jang received the greeting on behalf of the group.
"What are you all standing out here for? You knew we'd walk in on our own."
"Chairmen, right now the Shanghai Media Group and Zhonghua Media Group people have taken their seats in the banquet hall. The looks in their eyes are absolutely vicious—the atmosphere is so hostile that our people can't even go inside."
"Really? Those guys didn't come at the appointed hour, so why show up early and raise hell? Don't worry—we'll sort it out ourselves. CEO Joo, let's go in."
The moment Young-hoon and his party opened the doors of the banquet hall, the frigid Siberian-plain chill that had hung over the room thawed instantly, like spring snow melting in the third month of the year.
Chairman Wang and Chairman Xu greeted each other with the delight of long-lost brothers separated during the Korean War.
Watching the display, Chairman Jang delivered a stinging remark.
"Why do you two show up before the appointed time and make everyone uncomfortable? The people preparing the event are too intimidated to even enter the banquet hall."
After the interpreter relayed his words, Chairman Wang and Chairman Xu looked sheepish and offered their excuses.
"I only wanted to see my elder brothers and Representative Kim as soon as possible."
"I feel exactly the same as that Wang fellow. I wanted to see our elder brothers too."
"All right, enough of that. Let's all take our seats."
Just then, PD Shin Hye-yoon nudged Young-hoon in the side. She was signaling for him to step outside for a moment.
"Chairmen, please excuse me for a moment. I need to use the restroom."
"Of course, go ahead."
The moment Young-hoon excused himself and stepped out of the banquet hall, a storm of questions came pouring down from PD Shin Hye-yoon.
"How do you know Chairman Choi, Representative Kim? And how on earth did the Chinese chairmen become sworn brothers with the Korean chairmen?"
She fired off several more questions after that, but with time running short, Young-hoon gave her only quick answers.
"Chairman Choi got to know me naturally because he's a friend of Chairman Jang. As for the circumstances behind the Chinese chairmen becoming sworn brothers with the two of them, I honestly don't know the details myself. I need to get back in there, so let's talk later."
"Fine. Go on in."
When Young-hoon returned to the head table assigned to him, laughter was blooming all around.
"Hey, little brothers. Word on the street is you two lowballed the TV drama licensing price?"
Hearing the interpreter's relay of the remark, Chairman Xu Jiayin was caught off guard. To his ear, it sounded like an outright reprimand.
"H-how did you know about that, elder brother...?"
"You two, that drama is something I invested in and produced. I won't tell you to buy it at an outrageous price, but pay what it's properly worth. And the songs—you know full well who wrote them, don't you?"
"Yes, elder brother. If you invested in producing it, then naturally we should pay what it's worth. Xu here will buy it at a higher price than that Wang fellow. The songs as well, of course."
"Elder brothers, please don't worry. I will buy it for more than that Wang fellow."
CEO Joo Young-ki could only stand there dumbfounded at the scene unfolding before him.
During the licensing negotiations, the price his team had set had been hammered down so far below their estimates that he'd been seriously agonizing over whether to sell the rights at all. And now, out of nowhere, both of the Chinese chairmen were competing to buy at the highest price possible.
What kind of sleight of hand had Chairman Jang pulled, he wondered, that had Chairman Wang and Chairman Xu scrambling like this? He couldn't make head or tail of it.
Chairman Jang looked at CEO Joo, who was lost deep in silent thought, and addressed him.
"Hey, CEO Joo. How much per episode do you figure you should charge?"
"I'm sorry? That's... it would probably be best if you judged it as you see fit, Chairman."
"Really? Then how about we accept about three hundred thousand dollars per episode?"
"If you would grant that, I would be truly grateful."
Chairman Jang looked at Chairman Wang and Chairman Xu and delivered his conclusion as a flat notification.
"You'll buy at three hundred thousand per episode, as our CEO Joo here requests. Understood?"
Chairman Wang nodded and agreed, as if Chairman Jang's word went without saying.
"Of course. It's barely six billion won, after all."
But Chairman Xu had fallen oddly silent, so Chairman Jang pressed him again.
"Chairman Xu, why so quiet? What is it? Don't you like my offer?"
Of course, Chairman Xu knew perfectly well what Chairman Jang wanted. But greedy to score even a few extra points, he decided to go one step further.
"Elder brother, isn't that a little too cheap?"
Chairman Jang saw through Chairman Xu's intent in an instant. He was overpaying deliberately to win favor—and at the same time, clearly trying to set himself apart from Chairman Wang Chenchen.
"That'll do. Instead, tell them to think about paying a proper price next time. Even so, I'll make absolutely sure they don't take a loss."
"Then what shall we do about the songs?"
"Ask Representative Kim about that. You have a meeting tomorrow, don't you? Settle it then."
CEO Joo Young-ki's mouth fell open wide enough to fit a rice bowl.
He had privately figured that fifty thousand dollars an episode would be a fine outcome—but Chairman Jang had just inflated it sixfold. And now they seemed to be mulling over paying even more, calling that price cheap.
If the licensing deal closed on these terms, they would recover most of their production costs—and with plenty of countries still left to sell to, he could smell a mega-mega-MASSIVE hit coming.
Partway through the banquet, Chairman Wang and Chairman Xu had Five Girls sing their songs once more.
After listening, the two chairmen handed over envelopes, calling them tips. Young-hoon had no idea how much was inside. He'd have to ask casually once the banquet ended.
The banquet drew to a smooth close under the leadership of Chairman Choi and Chairman Jang.
These were men who, treating each other like mortal enemies in China, would never set foot in the same room together—and yet they had sat side by side for over three hours.
Whether it was the crushing charisma of Chairman Jang and Chairman Choi, or the elixir at work, Young-hoon couldn't tell—but to his eyes, the two of them looked completely taken for a ride.
To be sure, the moment the banquet ended, the two reverted to their usual relationship and parted without so much as a backward glance, but their respective staff were to reconvene at Young-hoon's office to sign the music sales contracts.
With relations between Wang Mimi and Xu Linhong hardly any friendlier, Young-hoon did wonder whether summoning everyone to the same place again tomorrow was wise—but he resolved to push forward without hesitation.
After seeing the Chinese delegations off, the Sinabro Production staff, including CEO Joo, expressed their heartfelt thanks to Chairman Jang and Chairman Choi.
As they looked upon the two men who had handled the matter so effortlessly in what had seemed an impossible situation, their eyes shone with nothing but admiration.
The two chairmen chuckled heartily, waved their hands as if it were nothing, and took their leave.
Once Young-hoon's party and Hye-yoon had finished sorting most things out, they gathered at the hotel coffee shop.
There he noticed that the Five Girls members were still lingering, and asked in puzzlement, "Aren't you girls tired? You have to move tomorrow. Have you finished packing?"
"Yes, Representative. We have no schedule tomorrow, and we're not tired at all."
"Really? Then I suppose it doesn't matter. By the way, Hye-in, hand over those tip envelopes. Let me see how much you got."
"Yes, Representative. Actually, I was worried because the amount is so large. I wasn't sure we should really be accepting it."
"How much? Give it here."
Young-hoon took the envelope from Hye-in and peered inside.
There were checks for ten million yuan (roughly 1.7 billion won) and fifteen million yuan (roughly 2.5 billion won) apiece.
"Well, those old men spent a little at least. Still a long way short of thirty billion, though."
"I'm sorry—thirty billion?"
"Never mind that. Knowing is bad for your health. CEO Lee Jae-man, please take these envelopes."
Hye-yoon couldn't make sense of what was unfolding before her.
Her team had negotiated themselves to death to sell the drama, reaching a tentative agreement at roughly one billion won—and then Chairman Jang had jacked it up to six billion in one stroke. That part was fine.
But then Five Girls had sung a mere three songs and pocketed about 4.2 billion won.
And this Young-hoon, going one further, had brushed it all off, muttering about thirty billion as though it were beneath notice.
She simply could not understand what on earth was going on.
Young-hoon felt an urgent need to break up the gathering. Thanks to the elixir, he himself hardly knew fatigue, but looking at everyone else, he could see exhaustion literally dripping off their faces.
"Tomorrow, my team gathers at my office by ten. CEO Lee Jae-man, please arrive by eleven. Section Chief Heo Kyung-hwan, you take charge of the office relocation and the dormitory move and see them through without a hitch. And Five Girls—have a good move tomorrow."
"Yes, Representative. I'll take personal responsibility and complete the relocation without any problems."
"Yes, Representative."
Young-hoon sent everyone home and was about to head out himself.
But PD Shin Hye-yoon stopped him in his tracks. She seemed to have made up her mind about something today, as if she had something to say.
There was a steely resolve in her, and Young-hoon found himself unable to refuse.
"Have you been waiting long?"
"Not at all. Chasing after a drama shoot and then playing host to guests—you must be run off your feet."
"Well, the results turned out well, so I'm in a good mood."
"And yet... why did you ask to see me, exactly...?"
Hye-yoon hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke with deliberate resolve.
"Representative Kim, what are you, really?"
"I'm sorry—what am I? I'm exactly what you see before you."
"Chairman Jang is one thing, but Chairman Choi—when did he even come to know you? When I watched his eyes, he looked at you the way a man looks at his youngest son. You're really not in some kind of relationship like that, are you?"
"PD Shin, if my parents back home heard you say that, they'd be furious. That's an inappropriate thing to say."
"Oh, I'm sorry. That wasn't what I meant... Anyway, thank you for today. Thanks to you, we were able to sell our drama at a good price."
"How was any of that my doing? It's Chairman Jang you should thank."
"You don't have to be modest—I know everything. I know the Chinese visitors came for Five Girls' songs. We were just a bonus."
"Then buy me dinner sometime."
"Of course. I'll definitely treat you, so don't even think about running away."
"Well then, good luck with the contract signing tomorrow, and here's hoping next week's ratings are a monster hit."
"Did you not hear? Our drama's slot was changed. It's been moved to the Wednesday-Thursday miniseries block."
"What? When? Why am I only hearing about this now? Why was it changed?"
"About ten days ago. There were even articles about it... They had originally planned it as a weekend drama, but apparently they decided Wednesday-Thursday gave better odds. Such is the sad reality of following the network's decisions."
"Then you'll have a little more breathing room?"
"Far from it. We have to prepare the drama's preview screening too. It's next Thursday—you absolutely must attend."
"Well, if I'm invited, I suppose I'll come."
"Then rest well—you must be exhausted. I'll see you next time."
On the way back to the dormitory, the Five Girls members were in turmoil.
They had made a great deal of money, which felt good—but the ranks of their rivals kept growing, and it grated on them.
Even at today's banquet, the way Wang Mimi and Xu Linhong had looked at Young-hoon oppa was anything but innocent—and PD Shin Hye-yoon was more than a little suspicious herself.
Something had to be done. Emergency measures were needed.
They couldn't shake the feeling that if things went on like this, their Young-hoon oppa was going to be stolen away.
From here on out, it seemed, they would have to play as a team rather than each going solo.
Once they moved to Gangnam, there would be far more chances to see Young-hoon oppa—and it was that moment they needed to set their sights on.