Samuel went to Jane's office to get updates; Park called to tell him the plan was in motion. They only had to wait and see if their target would fall into the trap. But first, he needed to learn more about his enemies.
So far, he only knew that the SK were being complacent with handling the situation. They hadn't leaked the information about disbandment, but it would be coming soon. He needed to know who were the people behind it.
As usual, Jane worked overnight and presented a file with everything she could gather. It was a lot, a whole stack of documents piled up in the corner. It was the first thing that Samuel saw when he entered her office.
lightsΝοvel " Is this everything?"
" Pretty much; I could give you the brief summary if you don't want to go through with it. I have it here in this file-"
" No, I want to know more about them." It's not like Samuel didn't have his source, the wealth of knowledge tucked away in his mind, but over the years, he learned not to trust it fully. First, they were mirror information, and he couldn't find much about this realm, but the critical problem was that his involvement was derailing the future.
He couldn't clearly see it even if he wanted to and had to rely on significant events that were bound to happen no matter what he did, like the market crash. A petty feud inside a Korean corporation wasn't even a blip in what's essential for mapping the future.
This was why he needed to do it the old-school way: research their weaknesses and find out what made them tick so that he could be better prepared for unforeseen circumstances.
" Did you hear anything from the guys?" He asked as he sat down to go through everything.
" No, really, they are still looking for more bases. The two surveillance teams that we put in Paris are still on standby. Whoever was behind the kidnapping must be a scary guy because they refused to come out of their hole, just waiting to let it all pass."
" That's good; it means we are getting close. Did you also tell everyone to prepare for upcoming skirmishes right? They know more than me how dangerous those guys were; it was a miracle no one got hurt."
" Miracle? It's more like you rushing into enemy territory and taking them out yourself. They were humiliated with how everything turned out. That's why they even set up some weird lab to reverse engineer the tech we recovered."
" Tell them to take it easy; I will give them some information about it. I happen to know few things myself."
" How- never mind. I will inform them to visit you soon. Oh yeah, the issue with the drama series has been resolved. Apparently, it was a problem with the publishing house, but Benjiro handled it."
" Good." He still remembers how he had saved Benjiro many years ago. He had been working under him for almost a decade now; it seemed like it was time for him to get a big promotion. Samuel took a mental note and dived back into the heap of paperwork.
He finished going through everything in under an hour, remembering it was easy, but he needed time to process it. By the end of it, he felt pretty bummed out by it. It was a classical tale of envy that led to everything unfolding.
SK Corporation has been an industry giant for almost two decades now. It has seen steady growth since its inception, being funded by one of the media giants and several venture capitals. But everything was not smooth sailing at the beginning.
They have a significant rival, a similar agency throwing money at everything, even poaching some of their new talents. Most people went to their rival company because it was not very well known.
It was near the information age when everything unfolded; SK was still transitioning when their rival, despite being established for fewer years than them, was gaining more and more popularity. Unlike SK, a public company, their rival was a wholly private enterprise.
It was a son of a Chaebol, a fancy Korean word to describe someone who came from a wealthy empire that established the company. The Chairman of SK was unhappy about it; their rival hailed from a technology background, making it easier for them to take advantage of the changing landscape.
It was a two-year war, by the end of which SK lost. Being a self-made man, the Chairman felt very ashamed, losing almost half of their business. They previously had seven of the top ten bands under their agency, but due to the 'shadow' war, they ended up with only three, and those were on the bottom of the list.
Even the entertainment news didn't let them off the hook; it was a free game. They would report about several scandals behind the scenes as they were aware of the friction. They would rub salt in their wound weekly just to push their own agenda as the 'reliable' news!
But the worst was yet to come. For the betterment of the economy, SK was forced to work with their rival, and only to humiliate them, their previous idols were made to work with their current one just to put on a good show. The order came from the top and was done to show solidarity in the Korean entertainment industry.
The Chairman of SK vowed to never let it repeat again; within a decade, they were among the top contributing massively to the entertainment industry. They had their own television network along with several top idol groups under their name. Even now, that humiliation was not discussed openly for fear of upsetting the upper echelons.
Samuel knew the corporation's history was not necessary to what was happening now, but it played a significant role if one were to look at the bigger picture, and that was the Chairman's son, Seung Jung.
He was currently the talent agency's general manager, overseeing everything related to their entertainment section. Unlike his father, who established everything independently, he was the Chaebol that his father so despised.
He was a bright kid from childhood, but when his father gained wealth in his teenage years, his personality began to rub off on him. From an early age, his father wanted him to follow in his footsteps, to be strong and not cave under any pressure, making his own mark in the world.
But even if the intentions were good, it did more bad than good. He joined the company at the same time as Manager Kim. His being in charge of an already established band signalled to others that he already had a path to being the general manager in a few years; after all, he was the son of the Chairman.
Instead of being humble, he was extremely arrogant, even thinking his co-workers, who were also managers, were beneath him. He especially hated Kim because he always showed resilience despite always getting the shorter end of the stick.
Unlike him, Kim was in charge of some newcomers fresh out of their trainee academy. There were tens or hundreds of people trying to make it in this industry daily. How many of them really succeed? Jung was sure Kim was wasting the company's money trying to nurture a bunch of garbage.
Kim kept running around for four years with his two bands, auditioning in shows and opening for well-known bands under their banner, but it went nowhere. It's not like Jung actively tried to hamper their progress; it's just that the industry was that cutthroat!
Even then, Kim was well respected in the entertainment circle for his professionalism; he was always polite and even helped newly hired interns whenever possible, showing them the ropes. Jung couldn't comprehend why everyone felt Kim was someone to be respected.
It was true that he had been in the company for almost half a decade, but that's it. He didn't bring huge revenue for the company, and his bands were still doing stage pranks just to break even. Shouldn't they fire him already?
But everything changed after they put out their mini album. Few of the songs made it to the top hundred on national charts, which was a significant achievement for lesser-known bands like them. Even the girl band started gaining recognition for their quirky personality and beautiful looks!
With Jung and Kim being the oldest employees, people even began to compare them, which sounded absurd if one looked at their revenue, but it didn't stop others from talking. Within the next two years, SK Boys and Grace Generation firmly cemented themselves at the upper echelons of the agency.
Few members even began getting roles in new dramas, which meant more people started recognizing them. They were still unknown in the local market, but their popularity exploded overseas. It was Jung's wake-up call; if he didn't do something, his throne could be contested, and with how much loved Kim was by his co-workers, the public sentiment could even sway their investors!
He began formulating the plan to kick Kim out of the company even if he had to use underhanded methods!
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