Peninsula: I'm the Top Streamer

Chapter 595 Jin Dongtian, you bastard! (6.2k)

"At this crucial stage of growth, Aespa is being given high expectations at the upcoming awards ceremony, and any slight mishap could undo all our previous efforts."

The room leader's fingertips tapped lightly on the smooth tabletop, producing a rhythmic soft sound, each tap seeming to strike Liu Zhimin's taut nerves.

“You should be more aware of your position and the boundaries of your behavior. You are the captain, Zhimin.”

The room leader lowered her voice even further, with an almost interrogative tone, like a sharp knife precisely stabbing at the place she feared most.

"Inside."

At this moment, Liu Zhimin just numbly responded to what the room leader said.

"Speak for yourself."

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhimin's chest heaved slightly, her soft lips trembled, and she looked timid.

"I went to see Quan Xuanhe."

"he?"

The room leader paused for a moment, somewhat surprised, but also not entirely unexpected.

Kwon Heung-bon has a close relationship with aespa.

First, they were invited to perform at the fan meeting, and then they collaborated on a stage at the end of the year, creating the most-watched and best-received scene among all the award ceremonies at the end of the year.

Going back further, Kwon Heonhyuk was a trainee on loan from the company at that time.

As a result, the room leader in front of him had even more things to think about.

At the time, Kwon Hyun-hyuk was a special trainee who was sent in by Lee Soo-man after being introduced by higher-ups. As a middle manager directly in charge, he naturally heard about it.

And since Liu Zhimin is involved with Quan Xuanhe, it's hard not to think of the current company struggles.

The internal power struggle within SM Entertainment is now reaching a fever pitch, with two distinct factions openly and covertly battling each other.

A group of high-ranking officials, led by Lee Soo-man, and another group, led by directors Lee Sung-soo and Tak Young-joon, were locked in a power struggle.

The main reason is related to Like Project, which is 100% owned by Lee Soo-man.

Under the guise of idol production, this project essentially requires Lee Soo-man to unconditionally receive nearly 6% of SM Entertainment's annual sales revenue, which is equivalent to SM Entertainment "paying tribute" to Lee Soo-man.

Who can bear this.

Lee Soo-man no longer holds any real power or title at SM Entertainment. He is merely the largest shareholder who doesn't have to take responsibility and can abandon the mess and run away at any time. If he messes things up, he won't have to take the blame or resign.

This is even more unbearable.

Lee Soo-man abused his position for personal gain and embezzled public funds, continuing to receive a salary without working even after retirement. As a result, a significant number of shareholders and senior executives wanted to remove Lee Soo-man from their positions.

Although Lee Soo-man single-handedly built SM Entertainment into the K-pop empire, it is no longer the one-man show it once was.

Therefore, this issue has been causing turmoil within SM Entertainment since 2018, and it has only intensified since then.

By 2022, the situation had become extremely serious.

As a middle manager who does the hard work in the company, I now have to consider taking sides. Everyone wants to be neutral and wait for the final result, but being neutral is not so easy.

The room leader's thoughts returned, and she looked up at Liu Zhimin.

What exactly is your relationship with him?

“Ani…” she said instinctively, her voice choked with panic.

"It's not that kind of relationship." She subconsciously wanted to deny any intimate relationship, but the rapid heartbeat in the elevator and the lingering touch on her lips still felt like they were burning her cheeks.

The room leader leaned forward slightly, and the tapping stopped. That brief pause was more suffocating than the continuous tapping.

He didn't speak, but fixed his scrutinizing gaze on her, as if questioning her silently.

A female idol, the team leader, dressed up carefully late at night and secretly went on a date with a promising young actor without telling the company. Now she's telling me "it's not that kind of relationship"?
Liu Zhimin felt a fine layer of cold sweat seeping from her forehead. Despite the heated office, her hands and feet felt icy cold. She knew her explanation was somewhat weak and unconvincing.

But the key issue isn't their boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. If she could, she'd rather tell everyone he was her boyfriend than her company.

"Zhimin, now is not the time to joke around."

"Ani, he really isn't my boyfriend. We're just..." Liu Zhimin's voice trailed off as she finished speaking, unable to continue, finding it difficult to say.

They're flirting.

The section chief's hawk-like gaze did not waver despite Liu Zhimin's weak denial; instead, he made a direct judgment.

"The company is aware of your relationship with Quan Xuanhe. You understand that you only have one choice now."

What choice?

Naturally, it means breaking up. Or, for two people who are not in a romantic relationship, it means cutting off contact.

Why are newly debuted idols who have frequently been exposed for dating scandals, but she is subject to such strict control?
The truth is, we couldn't hide it anymore. There was a mole among our teammates, so there was nothing we could do.

Sometimes, even the company only finds out about a dating scandal that has been exposed. Don't underestimate the determination of boys and girls to have a secret relationship.

She looked up and met the head of the department's cold gaze. Her voice trembled slightly, but it held a hint of stubbornness that was barely perceptible compared to before.

"Manager-nim, you've misunderstood. Xuanhe oppa and I are really not in the kind of romantic relationship you're thinking of. We're just...very good friends."

The room leader looked at the highly anticipated captain in front of her, and the girl's shyness, fear, and the panic after her thoughts were exposed were clearly visible.

He softened his tone, adopting a heavy and realistic one:

“Jimin, you should know better than me where Aespa is right now. The achievements since your debut have not come easily. With several important award ceremonies just around the corner at the beginning of the new year, this is the golden period for you to take another step forward. 'Monster Rookie', 'Future Girl Group Top', how much resources has the company poured into you? The entire K-pop industry is watching you!”

"You understand better than anyone what 'dating' means for a female idol, especially for a rookie girl group leader who is still in a crucial growth phase!"

"That's not just a cliff for your personal career, but also a betrayal of the entire team! A scandal of 'secretly dating the captain' is enough to burn all of Aespa's efforts to ashes, make investors and partners lose confidence in you, and even affect the company's future strategy! Can you bear this responsibility?"

After saying such a long thing, the room leader seemed to be a little thirsty at the end, so he picked up his water glass and gulped down a mouthful.

Looking at Liu Zhimin, who was too intimidated to look up, he was satisfied. He then coughed lightly and continued to intimidate her.

He slammed the water glass down, the glass bottom hitting the table with a dull thud.

He leaned slightly forward, speaking slowly and with an overwhelming sense of pressure:

"Did the company train you so you could date? What's clearly written in the contract? Do I need to remind you of the consequences of breaching the contract?"

The reality is that when an idol breaches a contract, even if there are some disciplinary clauses in the background, on the surface, the company still has to protect them, and there are no effective measures to restrain them.

Even for some members whose relationship scandals went too far, the company had to reluctantly accept it even after they left the group, and even continue their activities because it was written in the contract.

People like Huang Xuxi took advantage of the company, but no one expected that someone could actually benefit from this.

After the room leader finished his threats, he looked at Liu Zhimin, who was stammering and didn't know what to say, and knew that the effect was almost there.

The romantic relationship between Yoo Jimin and Kwon Hyun-hyuk is actually quite valuable, so it shouldn't be decided arbitrarily.

However, Liu Zhimin is so bold. As the team leader, she not only fails to set a good example, but also dares to secretly date behind the company's back. It would be a shame not to give her a good scolding.

"I'll give you plenty of time to think it over. Go back now."

The room leader didn't give her a chance to speak, and seeing that she was in such a state that she was unlikely to say anything more, he simply waved her away.

Liu Zhimin's voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, yet it was like a stubborn thorn stuck in her throat, refusing to be swallowed.

"Manager-nim, I really haven't had that kind of relationship with him yet."

She lowered her head slightly, her thick eyelashes casting a small shadow, but unable to conceal the stubborn light in her eyes.

Her fingers unconsciously twisted the hem of her coat; this obvious little gesture revealed her inner tension, but also highlighted her uncompromising nature.

Liu Zhimin has become obsessed with Quan Xuanhe, and their tumultuous emotional journey seems impossible to sever now.

She can even ignore the fact that Kwon Heon-hyuk has a girlfriend, so she's not afraid of any criticism or punishment from the company.

How could you possibly let her leave the group?

Is there any need for Aespa to exist now that she's left the group?

It's an absurd but undeniable reality that while corporate exploitation is one aspect, when it comes to profitable "cash cows," even if they make mistakes, the company has no choice but to grit its teeth and clean up their messes.

"It's really not what you think..."

The section chief stared intently at her, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. The initial plan to handle the situation gently, which had arisen because of Quan Xuanhe's background, was gradually worn away by the stubbornness of the girl in front of him.

The room leader's patience finally ran out.

He slammed his hand on the table, causing the water glass beneath his hand to shake violently and make a jarring sound.

"Hey! Liu Zhimin!" The room leader's voice suddenly rose, no longer able to maintain the calm and authority she had been deliberately controlling. Instead, she was annoyed at being contradicted, and her face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Are you determined to argue with me about these useless definitions?!"

Liu Zhimin was startled by the sudden angry shout, her shoulders shrank and her head drooped even lower, but she still pursed her lips tightly and stiffened her neck.

The section chief's chest heaved violently twice as he gasped for breath.

He knew that continuing to talk would be a waste of breath; Liu Zhimin was too stubborn to listen to any reasoning at this moment.

Looking at the figure with its head down and fingers twisted until they turned white, a deep sense of powerlessness and anxiety welled up inside him.

Instead of wasting time arguing with her about "yes or no," it's better to just ignore her.

"Alright, alright!" The room leader waved his hand impatiently, as if shooing away flies, his tone full of frustration.

"I'm too lazy to argue with you! You know best in your heart whether it's true or not! I don't have time to waste here with you!"

He stopped looking at Liu Zhimin, leaned back heavily in his chair, picked up an unimportant document from the side, glanced at it haphazardly, and spoke with a clear sense of dismissal.

"Now! Immediately! Get out! Don't miss tomorrow's practice, and give it your all! If you cause any more trouble before the awards ceremony, you'll bear all the consequences! Get out!"

The final word, "Get out," was almost a growl, leaving no room for negotiation.

Liu Zhimin felt as if she had been granted a pardon, but she could not hide the grievance and embarrassment of being rudely reprimanded. She quickly looked up and glanced at the gloomy face of the room leader, not daring to linger for a moment, and responded with a low, indistinct "Yes, sir," before turning around in a panic and almost fleeing as she pulled open the heavy office door.

The door closed gently behind me, shutting out the suffocatingly low pressure inside.

Liu Zhimin leaned against the cold corridor wall, breathing in the fresh air, her fingertips icy cold, still feeling lingering fear.

A feeling of exhaustion washed over me instantly.

Although she had temporarily escaped questioning, the room leader's furious roar and gloomy face clearly indicated the enormous crisis she was facing.

Her affair with Kwon Hyun-hyuk was completely exposed right under the company's nose.

"I guess the manager oppa is going to get scolded too."

Liu Zhimin still remembers begging her manager to keep this a secret, but now there's no way to hide it anymore.
Ugh.
Oh, thank you.

She didn't plan to tell Kwon Hyun-hyuk about it, because she felt that sharing it with him would only double the trouble.

The next morning, Kwon Heon-hyuk did not return to the film set, but instead went to find Park Jung-jung.

Quan Xuanhe didn't waste any words and directly pushed the script of "Breaking the Tomb" in front of him. "Uncle, take a look at this."

Park Jung-jung put down his coffee cup and picked up the script: "The Tomb Raider?"

“I’ve heard about this. The lead actor changed before, and Choi Min-sik was only recently cast.” He said as he quickly flipped through the plot summary and character descriptions.

"This is a thriller/suspense film; you can see for yourself what it's like," Kwon Hyun-hyuk answered succinctly, but his next words were the key point.

"Luo Changmin stopped me after the Netflix presentation today and said that with Choi Min-sik joining the cast, they urgently need a male lead who can act opposite Choi Min-sik."

Park Jung-jung paused in his hand as he turned the page, looked up, and said with obvious suspicion in his eyes, "Choi Min-sik? It's a good thing, but you also know that the reason they're coming to us now is probably because they're having big trouble with fundraising and want to use your 'golden image' and 'superstitiousness' to boost their image and attract investment."

“I’ve received many of these kinds of projects, and they’re mostly scams. No matter how good the script is, it’s all for nothing if the market doesn’t accept it.”

This is why the script didn't catch Kwon Hyun-hyuk's eye. It's not Park Jung-jung's fault, though. Nobody expected it to be a movie with tens of millions of viewers. If it gets over a million viewers, that would be good. If it reaches five million, we'd be celebrating with champagne.

Ten million?

Can't even think about it.

"I never imagined that in just a few years, even Choi Min-sik would be unable to attract investment."

Park Jung-jung guessed it at a glance, and then started to sigh again.

"I've already decided on the idea of ​​acting, but what I'm thinking is, could we set up an investment company?"

He felt that the more senior Park Jung-jung had a better opinion.

Upon hearing this, Park Jung-jung's brows furrowed immediately, clearly knowing what he was thinking. After pondering for a while, he finally uttered a remark.

"This is not easy to handle."

That means it's possible, but there are difficulties.

"Uncle, time is our money. To be honest, I can tell whether a project is good or bad just by touching it. You know how long this has been going on."

Of course I understand. Quan Xuanhe is a goldmine right now. Anyone who hears about a project rushes to put their people in, and the bastards are even more eager to snatch up projects.

"If I say I'm going to act in this project, the investment issue will be resolved without me even having to think about it."

"Then why can't we be the ones investing? Why should others be making the money?"

Park Jung-jung's furrowed brows did not ease at Kwon Hyun-hyuk's words, but the pure doubt in his eyes slowly settled into a more complex consideration.

“Xuanhe,” Park Jung-jung’s voice softened, his fingers unconsciously tapping the cover of the script for “Broken Tomb” on the table.

"Your idea... is quite bold. Setting up an investment company? It means you're going to step out and do something on your own, which is not as simple as just investing money."

"Legal, financial, project screening, risk assessment—every step could be a step in the wrong direction. Most importantly..."

He raised his head, his gaze sharp as he looked at Quan Xuanhe.
"This means you have to bear the full risk of this investment; the company's safety net won't cover you. If it succeeds, you'll share the profits; if it fails... you'll have to personally cover the losses."

That's right, but Kwon Heon-hyuk has a cheat code.

Quan Xuanhe leaned forward slightly, his eyes revealing an undeniable confidence.

"Uncle, just tell me if we won or not!"

Looking at the familiar, almost prophetic, unwavering light in his nephew's eyes, and recalling his past successful verifications, Park Jung-jung knew that his judgment was far beyond the reach of reason.

After a long pause, Park Jung-jung let out a long sigh. His tightly furrowed brows did not completely relax, but the seriousness in his eyes began to ease, replaced by a thoughtful determination.

He nodded slowly, but clearly.

“You’re right, Xuanhe.”

Go all in!

Park Jung-jung stood up and walked to the window, his back to Kwon Hyun-hyuk, but his voice came through clearly: "This project is just a starting point, a touchstone. Setting up a company... there are many things to prepare, and it can't be delayed. The first thing, let's come up with a catchy name?"

He turned around and looked at Quan Xuanhe, his eyes no longer showing hesitation, but only the sharpness of an executioner.

Without a second thought, Kwon Hyun-hyuk said, "Let's call it Sixth Sense!"

"Sixth sense?"

Park Jung-jung was stunned for a moment.

Kwon Hyun-hyuk explained with a smile, "My eyesight is like a sixth sense."

Upon hearing this, Park Jung-jung nodded, no longer dwelling on it; the name was naturally up to him.

"Immediately contact Representative Luo Changmin to begin preliminary discussions. Later, clearly express our strong interest in providing not only performances but also funding. Have him provide a detailed budget, project schedule, core team list, and..."

"We need to grasp the most crucial information as quickly as possible."

Park Jung-jung was clearly thinking a lot at this point; creating an investment company is not a simple matter.

Quan Xuanhe has enough ideas, but in reality, he considers many more.

Aespa and the others, who hadn't had enough sleep, were listless in the car, yawning every now and then, utterly exhausted.

The car's heater was on full blast. Ning Yizhuo and Huili were wrapped in blankets, their heads tilted to one side, breathing evenly, clearly still sound asleep. Jin Dongtian closed his eyes to rest, his head also tilted to one side, his chin resting on the neck pillow.

Liu Zhimin sat silently in the bumpy nanny van, her eyelids heavy but she was wide awake.

She felt something was off. Why was she inexplicably called back and given a beating?
Is it that guy Jin Dongtian again? Is he really determined to go all the way down the path of betraying himself?
She even thought that Jin Dongtian had reformed.

The only sounds inside the carriage were the low hum of the air conditioner and the rumble of the wheels on the road.

Liu Zhimin broke the silence, her voice low, carrying a deliberately composed calmness and weariness, as if she were chatting casually: "Did you sleep well in the early hours of the morning, Minzheng?"

Kim Dong-won's eyelids seemed to twitch slightly, but she didn't open them immediately. Her tone remained calm and even: "I'm fine. How about you, Unnie? You must be exhausted from rushing back last night."

Liu Zhimin gripped the edge of her coat tighter, gazing at the fleeting street scene outside the window, and pretended to tidy her wind-blown hair: "Yes, there were some small things at home, so I went back to take care of them. It did take quite a while."

Through the reflection in the car window, she saw that Jin Dongtian's lips seemed to twitch very slightly, so quickly it was like an illusion.

"Ah, I see," Kim Dong-won finally opened his eyes, turned his head to look in Yoo Ji-min's direction, his expression sincere and full of just the right amount of concern.

"The head of the department asked really urgently last night, which startled us all. Luckily, unnie came back in time."

She paused, lowering her voice even further, as if whispering, "Next time, if Unnie is in a hurry to go home... or... goes somewhere else,"

Her eyes were clear and innocent. "Could you have told us first? So we wouldn't be caught off guard by the dorm leader's surprise inspection and have to scramble to catch us all."

This sounds like a considerate suggestion, showing consideration for the team.

She turned her head and met Jin Dongtian's calm gaze.

A tired but gentle smile appeared on Liu Zhimin's face as she avoided Jin Dongtian's probing: "Alaso."

Then, she changed the subject, her tone becoming confused.

"But it's really a coincidence. I had just left for a short while when the room leader asked me about it. It felt like he was watching me all the time."

Kim Dong-won met her gaze, his expression remaining flawless, showing only confusion and a hint of deep agreement: "Who says otherwise? The dorm leader has been keeping a particularly close eye on things lately. And since you're the leader, it's natural that your requirements are even stricter, unnie."

She subtly shifted the blame back to the duties of the room leader and Liu Zhimin's role as team leader.

A brief silence fell over the carriage again, broken only by the sound of the heater. Liu Zhimin's smile faded.

This was too much trouble to explain, so Liu Zhimin decided to just talk to her directly on the phone.

Did you leak the information?

A direct question made Jin Dongtian pause for a moment, then she tapped her fingers and replied to her without much hesitation.

【what? 】

I really didn't.

Jin Dongtian had this move hidden; he had a backup plan all along.

He took a screenshot on his phone and forwarded the chat history of the message he sent to his roommate last night to Liu Zhimin.

What else can you say?

You're blindly thinking about Quan Xuanhe all the time; I think you're doomed!
Jin Dongtian was just unhappy, but as for the reason?

What reason do you need if you're in a bad mood? Do you have to prove that you're happy?

Liu Zhimin stared at the glaring chat screenshot on her phone screen.

Kim Dong-won is indeed flawless, but among the four members of the group, who else could have betrayed her? Who else could it be but Kim Dong-won?

Good grief, he even brought out this screenshot. On the surface, it doesn't seem like much, but it was just to appease her.

Just when things are going well between her and Kwon Heon-hyuk, Kim Dong-won always pops up.
What does this guy want to do?
(End of this chapter)