Entertainment Life With A Camera

Chapter 191

There were only those who had already exploded and those who were about to explode.

Lee Byung-hun, the CEO of BHL Entertainment, the agency of Awi and Fever, attended a gathering with his acquaintances for the first time in a long time.

“Oh, CEO Lee.”

“It’s been a while.”

His acquaintances were all either working in the entertainment industry or the heads of entertainment agencies. As soon as Lee Byung-hun entered, everyone in the room turned their eyes to him.

“CEO Lee must be smiling from ear to ear these days.”

“Of course. His artists are doing well lately.”

Awi was needless to say, and Fever had successfully completed their debut and signed a contract with a Japanese agency.

As a follow-up group to Awi, they already had a name recognition that made it easier for them to gain popularity than other rookie groups.

“Well, it’s all thanks to our kids. I didn’t do anything.”

Lee Byung-hun waved his hand. He went to a seat that he had reserved in advance and sat down.

“Let me have a drink first.”

“How are you doing these days, CEO Min? I saw your kids on the news.”

“Our kids are… touring around.”

Lee Byung-hun took a sip of the alcohol that the person next to him, CEO Min, poured for him. The person next to him was the head of the agency of Luna Girls. Luna Girls had achieved quite a big success in their US debut and were on a world tour.

“That’s amazing. You should also try to expand overseas. Do you have any plans?”

“There was one US show that we got… “

“Oh, really? What show?”

“I think it was called the Caden Hurt Show? I don’t know, I don’t know much about that stuff. It’s all prepared by the US agency.”

Actually, Lee Byung-hun knew very well, but he pretended not to.

The Caden Hurt Show was a variety show hosted by Caden Hurt, a representative host of the US. It had good ratings and was one of the long-running popular talk shows in the US.

Therefore, most of the people who appeared on the show were top stars who represented the country, and it was hard to get on the show unless you had a decent popularity.

“That’s a famous show.”

“Is it?”

CEO Min exclaimed and poured more alcohol into Lee Byung-hun’s empty glass. Lee Byung-hun smiled faintly.

“But isn’t Japan better than the US?”

The person sitting across from Lee Byung-hun said, drinking his beer. The man across from him was CEO Jeong, the head of the agency of the boy group Jasper. And Jasper had a Japanese member named Daiki.

“Japan is more profitable. It’s stable.”

CEO Min also nodded his head and said. Lee Byung-hun sighed and patted his own shoulder.

“I have to pay attention to Japan too. I have to watch out for the Japanese agency.”

“Do they have a lot of requests?”

“Yeah. They say there are a lot of fans too. Don’t you think we should send our kids to Tokyo Dome at least once?”

“Then just taste the US. It’s not a market that you can get into just by wanting to. Oh, CEO Min, your kids are girl groups and have a unique charm, that’s why they made it.”

CEO Jeong shrugged his shoulders. Jasper had tasted the yen as they had a Japanese member, so they were quite popular in Japan. That’s why Jasper was more focused on Japan than Korea.

CEO Min had a lot to say, but he just laughed.

“There’s also My Dear, who succeeded in the US debut as a boy group.”

“Hey, they were forced to debut in the US, and they broke through because they were My Dear. How long have your kids been around?”

He meant Awi by his kids. Lee Byung-hun couldn’t help but smile when he thought of the Awi members. He felt full even without eating.

“Our kids? It’ll be four years in December.”

Lee Byung-hun said with a smile, and CEO Jeong raised his eyebrows.

‘Is that all? And they’re already that popular?’

He tried to hide his agitation and gulped down his beer.

“Wow, you still have a long way to go. Tour a lot and suck them dry. Do you think kids with that much popularity will stay in the group? They’ll leave and make their own nests when the contract ends.”

That’s what usually happens when they get popular. They look elsewhere and get distracted. CEO Jeong smirked.

CEO Jeong had become very arrogant since he tasted the yen with Jasper.

‘But why is this bastard acting so friendly since earlier?’

Lee Byung-hun frowned slightly, but no one noticed his subtle expression change except CEO Min.

CEO Min tapped Lee Byung-hun’s back as if to say ‘just bear with it’.

“Especially the male kids, you have to be careful. If they go to room salons and drink too much and get a taste of women, they’ll be in big trouble. Room salons are not the only problem. These days, they also pay money to those VJs, you know? Those sexy ones.”

Lee Byung-hun clenched his fist.

‘That bastard. Does he think our kids are like him?’

Lee Byung-hun was also a hot-tempered person, so he felt like punching him first. CEO Min poured alcohol into Lee Byung-hun’s empty glass and urged him to drink.

CEO Min waved his hand at CEO Jeong to stop him.

“Hey, Awi kids have been fact-picks since their debut. They’re still like that, right?”

“Did I say anything wrong?”

It was a very rude remark.

CEO Jeong lifted his face shamelessly and asked CEO Min as if he was arguing.

“But how did you know that, Representative Min? Are you covering for him because you’re his old schoolmate?”

“You know that our Juyeon and Ian over there had a dating rumor, right?”

“Oh, that?”

“So after that, FactPix followed them around annoyingly, but not a speck of dust came out of the two kids.”

They made a name for themselves as idols who made FactPix give up. Representative Min quickly changed the topic, afraid that Representative Jung would spout nonsense about Ian and Kim Juyeon’s dating rumor.

“By the way, have you heard about ST Entertainment, Representative Jung?”

“What about it?”

Lee Byunghun couldn’t ignore Representative Min’s efforts, so he just drank.

‘ST Entertainment? I’ve heard that name a lot.’

He tried hard to divert his attention and swallowed his anger.

“You know, Representative Yu. Yu Kwangshik.”

“Representative Yu? Oh, the big brother who used to be good at fighting back in the day?”

Lee Byunghun listened to the conversation between Representative Min and Representative Jung without saying a word, just sipping his drink.

“What about them?”

“They say they’re financially unstable. They’re even behind on their employees’ salaries.”

“No way. Their artists go to Japan a lot, don’t they?”

“That’s what I’m saying. How can they be behind on their employees’ wages when they’re earning so much yen?”

“There’s your answer. They’re sick of business.”

Entertainment companies not only manage their artists, but sometimes they also expand their business.

“Is it something like food business? MI Entertainment also did that and almost went bankrupt, remember?”

“MI Entertainment is different from ST. They’re one of the top three.”

The text is a part of a web called “Living in the Entertainment Industry with a Ghost” by PJ. It is a fantasy story about a failed idol trainee who reincarnates as a genius celebrity. The text is in Korean and it needs to be translated into English and edited for web style. Here is a possible translation and editing:

However, there were many cases where they ruined their company by meddling with various businesses. This did not match Lee Byung-hun’s philosophy that an entertainment company should focus on entertainment.

“If you can make one group successful, you don’t need to do those things. You’ll have money in your bank account.”

Lee Byung-hun stared at President Jung with a meaningful look. President Min also joined in the provocation.

“Right, like Awi?”

“Like Luna Girls.”

Lee Byung-hun and President Min laughed and clinked their glasses. President Jung, who was sitting across from them, hardened his expression.

“But why does President Park look like that?”

Lee Byung-hun gestured to President Park, who was sitting at the end of the table and silently drinking.

“Don’t say anything. He lost two of his Chinese members. They were the main vocals, so the group went bankrupt.”

“Oh, that happened?”

There was a time when they debuted groups with one foreign member each. It was still the same now, but it was before the foreigner pigeon incident exploded.

Lee Byung-hun had debuted Black Rush with all Korean members.

He had been criticized for not following the trend. They said that if he added foreign members, especially Chinese members, the album sales would be different in that market. And President Park was at the center of those criticisms.

“But becoming a pigeon is not just one or two cases. If you write the contract well, they’re like ATMs.”

Lee Byung-hun gulped down his drink and said. Even if they became pigeons, if they still had a contract period with the original agency, they had to pay a portion of the money they earned in China to the Korean agency. That’s why some Korean agencies let them go without a lawsuit.

“He didn’t just become a pigeon. He appeared on a historical distortion program and wore a hanbok and spouted nonsense about the Northeast Project. How can I take that money? I would donate it all.”

“Ugh.”

Lee Byung-hun sighed. He said that, but he was also jealous and pitied the Korean members who were left in the group.

“You were right to be stubborn, President Lee.”

President Min chuckled and poured more drink into Lee Byung-hun’s glass. Lee Byung-hun snickered.

“See? Foreigners, especially Chinese, are either already gone or about to be gone.”

Awi had Ian, who had an American citizenship, but he was still of Korean descent and his love for his group and fans was famous in the entertainment industry. There was no case of a Western idol member becoming a pigeon yet.

Lee Byung-hun glanced at President Jung, who had been scratching his nerves since earlier.

“You can’t be complacent about the Japanese either. What if your Mysta private account gets hacked? What if you get caught saying something anti-Korean? President Jung, you should take good care of your kids.”

“Of course, there are some who are not like that, but you never know what can happen, right?”

President Min chimed in. President Jung forced a smile and said.

“Haha, our Daiki is fine. The kids get along well. How about your kids? Are they close?”

“Of course, our kids are like family. When girls get close, they last like sisters.”

President Min sneered at President Jung’s self-consolation.

“What about you, President Lee? Isn’t one of them too dominant there?”

“Ian? Ha, did you see him getting an award from that arrogant Yu Sang? He’s sweeping the awards by himself, as if he’s the only one in his agency.”

Lee Byung-hun remembered the day he watched the award ceremony live at home. He raised both hands above his head and cheered when Ian’s name was called. Because of that, his phone flew out of his hand and the screen cracked.

“But why? He’s doing great right now.”

“What about the rest of them?”

Lee Byung-hun already knew what President Jung was trying to say, but he learned from Park Jin-hyuk that the ‘clueless bastard strategy’ made the other person more annoyed in situations like this.

“What’s wrong with the rest of them? They’re perfect in composing, writing, producing, DJing, acting, hosting, and speaking foreign languages.”

“But they’re not as good as that one. The rest of them.”

Lee Byung-hun clicked his tongue. He wanted to say, ‘Don’t you think the other kids are jealous of him? Won’t the team split up?’ But that didn’t work on Lee Byung-hun.

“That’s your problem, President Jung. You have too narrow-minded thinking.”

“What is?”

“If our kids had a bad team atmosphere, they would have performed without him when he was sick.”

“…Is, is that so?”

President Jung stuttered as his words didn’t get through.

“Taewoong was sick, so they all went to rest and visit Taewoong. They even sent me pictures to show me he was okay. Do you know how touched I was then? Ha, do you want me to show you their pictures?”

President Jung was dragged into Lee Byung-hun’s words. Lee Byung-hun searched through his chat room with Lee Joo-hyuk and showed him the pictures and messages he sent.

The picture showed Awi’s group photo with Mrs. Shin Soon-ja and the countryside as the background. The message said that they were having fun together and Taewoong would recover soon, and told him not to worry.

The leader was indeed, the leader.