Peninsula Platinum Era

Chapter 222 is too presumptuous.

"Are you feeling unwell? You took so long to go to the restroom, and our practice was already over."

When Fan Yuxin saw Xiao Chi running back, she held her hand with some concern. She had indeed been gone for quite a while, and she had even gone to look for her but couldn't find her.

"Ah! Ahh!"

After sneezing twice in a row, Xiaochi wiped the sweat from her head and felt something was wrong. It seemed that the early signs of a cold, which she hadn't had for many years, were starting to appear again. She needed to go back and rest as soon as possible.

Chen Shijun and Enhui were unaware that they had tricked the little girl. They were now working hard to separate Team N's project from Source Music. Despite knowing that things were going to be difficult, Su Chengzhen successfully reached a preliminary agreement with all parties involved.

After receiving certain economic compensation, the company transferred Team N's plans to a new label. As compensation, the company had to fully promote Team S as the company's first girl group to debut. With Chen Shijun witnessing and participating, a new gentleman's agreement was officially born.

"We will officially announce the launch of this plan around the middle of the year!"

Fatty Fang genuinely intends to do this, but the new label is currently in a rather awkward situation. Chen Shijun has higher demands for the 12% stake, while Min Xizhen is even more difficult to deal with.

In return, Bang Si-hyuk officially relinquished his position as the head of N Project's music division, and the new label decided to first prepare under the name of an internal label within Source Music.

However, the disagreement lies in the fact that Min Hee-jin wants operational autonomy, while HYBE retains only major control. As the company's representative, Chen Shi-jun must also act as a rubber stamp, exercising supervisory power only to a certain extent.

“If the company holds 100% ownership, I think Ms. Min’s suggestion is also reasonable. I am willing to give up these shares, and Ms. Min will also give them up, in exchange for a more generous incentive policy.”

Chen Shijun also offered his own suggestion: "Since you insist on this, I'm going to flip the table!" This suggestion received a lot of support, but Ms. Min, who had ulterior motives, was naturally furious.

Ultimately, the talks came to a temporary halt. The woman with grand ambitions naturally didn't want any hope to be nipped in the bud. She came to HYBE from SM as a working-class person, not to continue being a functional manager.

100% ownership means absolute control. Min Hee-jin argued that absolute control represents absolute conservatism and that she needed an environment that allowed her to quickly experiment and make bold decisions.

Ms. Min's ultimate goal is for HYBE to retain only the veto power over financial audits and key strategic milestones. The two sides are engaged in a new tug-of-war over some performance-based agreements, which are not expected to be finalized for some time.

Even now, Chen Shijun felt that Fang Shihe had been too lenient with Min Xizhen. Even without Zhang the butcher, could they still eat hairy pigs? Allowing a visual planner to hold them hostage again and again was not a good sign.

This is all before the woman has achieved anything. If the other party really achieves outstanding results, who knows how arrogant she will become and what kind of ambition she will develop.

Chen Shijun knew that the success of aespa and the upcoming girl group plans had made Fatty Fang feel threatened. He hoped to launch a group as soon as possible to participate in the market competition. If the rapid progress of Team S could force the birth of Team N, that would be exactly what he wanted.

After Source Music moved to its new company, the reserve members of Team N have been training separately from the other trainees, which further indicates an impending split.

The members of GFRIEND were starting to feel uneasy. Days passed by, and they seemed to have been completely forgotten, left to fend for themselves without anyone's attention.

"What does this mean?! There's been no explanation at all. If you're not going to renew the contract, at least arrange a final event for us!"

Yinhe was a little irritable. Although everyone came to the company to train and maintain their condition when they weren't working, it seemed like no one cared if they didn't come? The feeling of being ignored was extremely uncomfortable.

Normally, a proper farewell ceremony should be held from beginning to end, not like this. So the girls still have some illusions, but the company is busy with relocation and restructuring and doesn't have time to talk to them about contract renewals for the time being.

It's also possible that the other party is trying to lower the price, using the increasing pressure of time to create a sense of urgency and reduce renewal costs. Everyone's guesses are varied, and it seems like everyone's opinion has some merit. No one has considered the worst-case scenario; it's been completely overlooked. There's simply no time to arrange a dignified ending for them; everything has become meaningless.

Because under normal circumstances, it really shouldn't come to this, after all, they are facing a well-known group that was once very popular and has a considerable number of fans, not those marginal groups that rise and fall quickly.

The dozens of singles represent the years when they competed with TWICE. Although their momentum has waned slightly, they are still not the kind of team that can be taken lightly.

"Let's wait patiently! The company is probably busy lately, so we'll probably get a response in a while."

The team leader suppressed her anger. Sometimes emotions are contagious. In this situation, the company is being inhumane, and the women would get very worked up if they discussed it.

However, as the team leader, it is also necessary to stabilize the situation at this time, otherwise if things get chaotic on your side, you will have even less leverage to negotiate with the company.

Actually, if we're talking about frustration, I'm undoubtedly the most frustrated. The group is technically quite popular, but the individual members haven't really seen corresponding development. As for acting, who in the industry recognizes Kim So-jung?

To be honest, she has only appeared in music videos and at most served as an MC on some variety shows. Generally speaking, the reason why the film and television industry uses idols as actors is because of their popularity and fame.

"Waiting? But we've been waiting for so long! Didn't we tell them before we moved? Are we just supposed to be left here to mold?"

Yerin also complained. In fact, she knew that many trainees had come to the company, and they were being trained separately. Maybe they had really given up on them.

"Fans are asking us, and we don't know how to answer. We can't just say that the company has forgotten about us, can we?"

Yinhe felt that if things continued like this, she might not even be able to get into the company cafeteria anymore, and she would have to bring her own lunchbox, which made her feel terrible.

In fact, as the leader, Kim So-jung sensed the company's indifference more than anyone else. Last time she asked the company's director, he said that Source Music was carrying out the contract renewal activities as planned, but now he won't even answer the phone.

"If anyone knows the inside story, it would be great to ask them. It's much better than being completely clueless like this. Should we go find Representative Su?"

Another member, Hwang Sung-eun-bi, remained silent, but also offered suggestions at the opportune moment. As early veterans of the company, the artists and CEO So were not far apart.

"That's a good idea, but it might cause trouble, though it can't be worse than it is now!"

“But I haven’t seen Representative Su for a long time, and the other party may not be willing to see us.”

"Nothing will do! Nothing will do! Ever since the company was acquired, it's become a mess. I think Big Hit is a bunch of devils!"

She quickly covered her sister's complaining mouth, but their discussion also reminded her that the contact in her phone might know some inside information.

Thinking about it carefully, although there were some misunderstandings with Chen Shijun, there were no conflicts after the misunderstandings were cleared up. Moreover, I was doing it for official business. The members are right. Nothing is worse than doing nothing.

Holding the phone so tightly that my fingertips turned slightly white, I revised it several times before finally sending a message that was as polite and respectful as possible, yet also conveyed some concern.

"Director Chen, I'm Kim So-jung, the leader of GFRIEND. I apologize for bothering you... The members are very confused and anxious about the group's contract renewal..."

(End of this chapter)