star of the peninsula

The next morning, KakaoM sent out the news of the cooperation.

"It's really not serious to release the news at 8 o'clock. Do you know how many people haven't woken up yet?!" Chen Chen didn't really want to complain, but his mouth was itching after seeing the news. "It's just a signed contract. The specific connection hasn't started yet. Why are you in such a hurry to announce it?!"

"If KakaoM looks serious, it won't be KakaoM." Pei Zhuxuan was awakened by Chen Chen's movement. She turned over lazily and hugged her boyfriend from behind. "Just think about what kind of image KakaoM has always been."

"How about you tell me about it?" Chen Chen moved his body and lay straight, then took his girlfriend into his arms, "You have been in the entertainment industry longer than me, so you should have a deeper understanding of them."

"I wasn't there a few days earlier than you, so you don't have to say that." Pei Zhuxuan seemed very dissatisfied with Chen Chen's statement, "And KakaoM was only acquired by Kakao in 2016, which is actually less than a year away from your C headquarters. You should know them better!"

"I do know a lot about business operations, but I know less about the reputation and various interesting titles that people have." Chen Chen replied: "We don't look at these when doing business. We only look at the image of the other party in our hearts."

The image of KakaoM in Chen Chen's mind was very clear and had never changed. It was the top giant backed by a chaebol. When Chen Chen wanted to start his own company and was researching information about various entertainment companies, he found that KakaoM had just been acquired not long ago. He was shocked.

No wonder KakaoM is always keeping an eye on C headquarters. If the acquisition is regarded as a new beginning, the two companies actually started one after the other.

"It can't be said that KakaoM started to do things like this after it became KakaoM. It seemed to like this when it was still Loen." Bae Joo Hyun thought about it and said something good for the current KakaoM, "It's just spending money to acquire entertainment companies, but after the acquisition, it doesn't operate well, giving people the feeling that I just acquired it for fun and don't intend to be serious."

Well, it was like this before. It didn’t develop after I became a KakaoM. It was indeed a good thing to say.

"Think about it, how can someone who keeps doing things like this become serious?" Bae Joo Hyun joked, "If it were a person, it would probably be a rich second generation with a bad brain, no skills, and a love of playing."

"That sentence of being stupid is a bit too much. KakaoM is obviously getting better and better." Chen Chen's face was a little stern. "I don't allow you to say that about my partner!"

"Speaking of which, what is the content of your collaboration?" Bae Joo-hyun poked her boyfriend's chest, "I saw in the news that it only said it was a collaboration with artists, but doesn't MODHAUS have any artists at all?"

"Not now, but there will be one soon." Chen Chen narrowed his eyes unconsciously as he spoke, "The I Division has so many trainee resources that they are about to overflow. They will definitely flow to MODHAUS. With mature trainees, it will be very convenient to form a group."

"The way MODHAUS wants to form an idol group is somewhat special. Their trainees will face fans and audiences very early. Only those who are accepted by fans and audiences can survive and enter the debut group."

"Yeah," Chen Chen felt more and more reliable as he spoke, "It's really suitable to throw the male trainees from Division I over there."

"After all, the trainees in C headquarters are special. They are almost the male trainees with the highest average quality in South Korea at this stage." Bae Joo-hyun was not proud of this, she even wanted to sigh.

The male trainees from C headquarters are here to make their debut, and they want to give it a try for the boy group that C headquarters is about to launch.

Although there is no news to prove that C headquarters plans to launch a boy group, the most basic judgment made by everyone is that since they have launched two girl groups in a row, it should be a boy group.

The level of trainees who transfer here with the intention of joining the C headquarters boy group must be good. Basically, they are those who can almost debut in second-tier entertainment companies. After a certain period of training and improvement in the I division, they will have a chance to debut in the C headquarters.

At worst, they can transfer from Division I to another lower-level entertainment company. Being a trainee in Division I should be considered a good qualification among the trainees.

"Never mind. Once the audition is over, just throw it to MODHAUS and let them worry about it." Chen Chen was mostly indifferent. "I think President Zheng and KakaoM are probably laughing while worrying about it."

"Then why don't you let MODHAUS President Zheng participate in the internal audition? There's still time now." Bae Joo-hyun suggested.

"Okay." Chen Chen nodded. "It should be a good idea to let him have contact with the person who will be handed over to him in advance. I'll tell him later today."

"Okay, you should get up." Pei Zhuxuan suddenly pushed Chen Chen, "I'm tired from talking about all this. You go to work. I'll sleep a little longer."

"How come I've made you sleepy from talking? And don't you have to go to the set today?" Chen Chen was unmoved.

"Because I don't feel involved, I still feel like an outsider when I hear about what's going on in Division I." Bae Joo Hyun pouted. "It was OK when I used to do something in Division I, but now there's nothing I can do, and I don't go there anymore. The feeling of being an outsider is getting stronger and stronger."

"Don't worry about that." Chen Chen patted his girlfriend's back gently. "Just be an artist during your prime time as an artist. You'll have plenty of time to get close to the I Division in the future."

"Don't mention you. I haven't cared about the trainees in Division I for a long time. I'm more concerned about the big picture."

"I don't know whether the male trainees have reached the debut standard, or whether there are any good-looking female trainees recently. The last time I looked at the trainees' information, I didn't know."

"Well, I don't think I read it last time. I just flipped through it and threw away the whole pile of information. I didn't feel like reading it at all."

"So you don't have to feel bad about this." Chen Chen said something random but it made sense. "As someone who runs an entertainment company, I don't worry about that. Why would you, a working artist, care about it?"

"That seems to make sense." Pei Zhuxuan pushed Chen Chen twice again, "Anyway, you should get up and go to work. Don't disturb my sleep. I have to stay on the set for the next period of time."

"Okay." Chen Chen revealed some future information. "When you come out of the set, Red Velvet's comeback plan should be ready. The comeback in May will definitely be an unforgettable experience."

"How did you know?" Pei Zhuxuan's eyes were full of confusion, "Why do you know about Red Velvet's comeback when I don't?"

"Because I'm a senior consultant of SM Entertainment, my status is higher than yours, OK?" Chen Chen had a blank expression. "Do you think that a senior consultant like me has no status in the eyes of you SM artists? Why don't you think of me when it comes to idol group comebacks, which is completely related to my professional field?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I haven't accepted your role as a consultant yet." Pei Zhuxuan quickly hugged Chen Chen's neck and kissed him twice as an apology. "I will pay attention in the future. Please forgive me this time."

"That's enough, that's too much." Chen Chen smiled and got out of his girlfriend's arms, "I'm going to work, you take a rest."

……

Chen Chen's work today actually consisted mostly of answering phone calls. As soon as the news about KakaoM came out, all kinds of people in the circle who had some connection with Chen Chen came over to chat and ask questions.

This is a collaboration between C headquarters and KakaoM. Each of them is a very powerful entertainment company if taken individually, let alone when combined together.

What is most frightening is that both companies have their own powerful trump cards.

C headquarters can borrow the influence of Tik Tok to a certain extent, KakaoM is an important member of Kakao, and Kakaotalk can probably be used. If Tik Tok and Kakaotalk work together, South Koreans will not be able to see any other news on their phones that day, as they will all be caused by these two.

Everyone knows that things can't possibly happen to this extent, but the mere possibility is scary enough!

"C headquarters' development requires me everywhere, and I definitely don't have time to waste on trainees. The original idea of ​​setting up MODHAUS was to have someone to help me deal with the trainees' problems."

"I'm quite surprised that we can cooperate with KakaoM now. Maybe they are interested in the trainee resources of I Division?"

"Let him be. If that's the case, I'm happy. There's one more person to help me solve the problem."

"In the beginning, I was a little worried that KakaoM might have some ideas about C Headquarters, but they only cooperated with MODHAUS and only cooperated with artists, which made me feel a lot more at ease."

"First, MODHAUS cannot reach C headquarters, and second, the contract was signed very cleanly."

“But there are also many problems. Although the implementation of the cooperation will take a long time to achieve, this time is definitely not enough for MODHAUS to launch its own artists. KakaoM’s participation may become a pressure for MODHAUS to promote the debut of artists in advance.”

"This is what I am most worried about. After all, things that are prematurely matured always have many hidden problems, and the same is true for idol groups."

"In short, we can only take one step at a time. I can't predict the future of KakaoM."

"Oops, sorry, there's another call coming in. Let's stop here for now and continue the conversation later."

"..."

Chen Chen hung up the phone expressionlessly and turned off the phone.

There was no incoming call. It was just that Chen Chen had said everything he needed to say and was too lazy to continue.

"You said you wanted to answer the phone, so just answer it. Why did you come to my place to answer it?"

Park Jin-young standing by had a look of helplessness on his face. He didn't know why this man had gone crazy and ran into his office, making it impossible for him to work.

You can't just ignore what Chen Chen said on the phone, especially since it's a call with Hybe's Bang Si Hyuk. You'll definitely regret it if you don't listen.

But now I seem to regret it even more after listening to it. There was no substantial content at all. Chen Chen just repeated the content of the news released by KakaoM in his own words to fool people.

"Your place feels more like an office, unlike my place, where I feel like I'm enjoying myself when I go to the office." Chen Chen spoke in a completely rude manner, "Although I don't think making and receiving phone calls counts as office work, it's always better to stay in a place with an office atmosphere."

"Are what you said true?" Park Jin Young asked.

"What did you say?" Chen Chen spread his hands. "I've called you several times. If you don't tell me what you meant, it'll be hard for me to answer you."

"The cooperation with KakaoM is limited to MODHAUS, and the content of the cooperation is limited to artists." Park Jin Young pointed out.

"At least that's what's written in the contract." Chen Chen did not hide anything but was not as optimistic as the outside world thought. "I don't know whether other cooperation projects will be developed through this cooperation project in the future. After all, the result of this cooperation may not be a happy one."

Now everyone outside believes that the cooperation between KakaoM and MODHAUS is very likely to evolve into a full-scale cooperation between KakaoM and C headquarters, and the project of cooperation between the two parties is the artists.

Almost all cooperation in the entertainment industry revolves around artists. If you have cooperated with artists, wouldn’t it be easy to find an excuse to start cooperation in other areas?
"Not necessarily pleasant, you mean?"

Park Jin-young asked curiously.

"Literally." Chen Chen replied calmly, "Each company has a different view on the success or failure of an idol group. MODHAUS may not be able to give KakaoM the kind of group it wants."

"This is a bit ridiculous." Chen Chen's tone suddenly became frivolous, "KakaoM must want to create an idol group like Integrate, but can Integrate be created just by thinking about it? Even I don't have the confidence to create a second one! If they come with the idea of ​​creating Integrate, the result of this cooperation is likely to be a big mess!"

"Haha, that's true." Park Jin Young expressed his understanding, "But if I don't work on projects with artists from C headquarters for Integrate, it always feels a little less interesting. I just feel unwilling, you know."

"I know and I understand, but don't expect me to accept it!" Chen Chen rolled his eyes. "We are the target, okay? We feel bad!"

"Okay, since you're upset, let's not talk about this." Park Jin-young changed the subject, "When are you going to take action against SMART?"

"Wow, you can openly talk about this kind of topic in your own office?" Chen Chen laughed dumbly, "You should keep it secret from others!"

"Hey~ That's why you're too cautious. Everyone in South Korea knows why you went to SM Entertainment!!" Park Jin-young said with a look of "Don't try to play tricks on me!" "Now that the joint concert is so successful, you directly promoted Lee Sung-soo. Isn't this a preparation for trouble?"

"That's Lee Soo Man, you thought he was a steamed bun from the roadside!" Chen Chen laughed and scolded: "I haven't been mentally prepared to target him yet, let alone think about taking action! I'm just an ordinary 30-year-old mature man, I can't do such a difficult thing!"

"So what are your plans?" Park Jin Young asked.

"You've found out so much about it. If Lee Soo Man and I fight in the future, do you plan to come over and help?" Chen Chen asked with a squint.

"Hey, well, maybe."

Park Jin-young followed suit, since talking didn't cost any money anyway.

"First, establish roots, and then plan slowly." Chen Chen restrained his expression, his eyes became deep, "Protect Li Chengzhu from falling, and there will definitely be good opportunities in the future."

...(End of chapter)