Genius Manager Who Hears Voices - Chapter 58



Only Noblemtl

Episode 58

Heeseong stopped using his chopsticks and widened his eyes at the fact he didn’t know.

“Mr. Yoo Jae-wook is CEO Yoo Hyung-seok’s nephew? Really?”

“Hee-sung didn’t know? Well, it’s not widely known, so there are many people who don’t know. In the first place, Yoo Jae-wook debuted as an idol.”

Yoo Jae-wook is the main vocalist of the second-generation idol group M2B.

Like Pierstar, it was a boy group that was ambitiously launched by GEM Entertainment and was quite popular, especially in the Korean Wave.

At that time, K-POP was not as global as it is now, so just leading the Korean Wave was a measure of how great a group was.

With such vigorous activities, they overcame the seven-year mark, known as the lifespan of an idol, and all members chose to renew their contracts. It seemed like they would maintain their top spot even after 10 years.

But as is the case with most groups, incidents and accidents among the members started to occur one by one, and the group that started with five members was eventually reduced to only two.

One of those two was Yoo Jae-wook.

“But why are you suddenly asking to terminate the contract? Surely you’re not doing this because you want to go to another company.”

“I know you heard what Heesung said earlier, but it wasn’t like that at all. It’s not that I’m trying to end my career in the entertainment industry. I think I’ll never be able to sing again.”

“Yes? Mr. Yoo Jae-wook? No… … Why?”

As it is a boy group, Heeseong was not very interested in the group M2B, but he often listened to Yoo Jae Wook’s songs.

This is because he not only had outstanding singing skills, but also actively pursued solo activities when he wasn’t in a group and even held a solo concert, which is unusual for an idol.

Although he is an idol, he is a member who receives more attention for his skills than his looks, and he is a singer who is better suited to ballads, where he sings with his unique sweet and explosive singing ability, rather than dance songs.

Those were the adjectives that were attached to Yoo Jae-wook.

Im Eun-ha answered Hee-sung’s question with a look of regret.

“There’s only one reason why a singer can’t sing anymore. His vocal cords are damaged. And that’s serious.”

“If you say it’s a malfunction, are you talking about vocal nodules?”

Im Eun-ha nodded obediently.

“I think it’s been a while since I had vocal nodules. At first, I thought it would just pass and not be a big deal, but I guess it was more serious than I thought. It lasted longer. You know, Heesung? There were a lot of videos uploaded to YouTube recently about Yoo Jae-wook’s singing ability controversy. There was also the concert refund issue.”

I didn’t watch the YouTube video myself, but I knew something like that happened.

I also came across the concert refund issue through an article.

But I never thought it might be because of vocal nodules.

“Mr. Yoo Jae-wook received more attention than others because of his outstanding skills that were not like those of an idol. Because his singing ability is not inferior to that of solo singers. However, when you look at the videos uploaded on YouTube, there are many embarrassing parts that make such words seem meaningless. Not only is his low voice unstable, but there are also many cases where he loses his voice in the high notes. It must have been so bad that they even made a separate video titled ‘Comments on Yoo Jae-wook Losing His Voice’ by editing only those videos. The number of views has easily exceeded 1 million.”

Videos titled ‘Ddang Ddang Comment Collection’ are literally edited videos where only the comments with many likes or positive reactions are collected and added onto the video.

Usually, it is made with stage videos of idol groups, but if cross-edited and good comments are combined, it can receive enthusiastic support from their fans.

However, that is only the case when only good comments are collected.

As soon as he heard the title, ‘Collection of Yoo Jae-wook’s voiceless comments,’ Hee-sung felt dizzy.

“Well, even though I wasn’t involved in it, I feel like I know how you felt when you saw it. The comments under that video must have been full of criticism and sarcasm.”

“Why not? That’s why the PR team even sent an email to the owner of the account and asked them to take it down, and they even contacted YouTube headquarters to report it, but it was all useless. But that doesn’t mean it’s illegal or anything.”

I can only imagine how much worse it must have been, considering that even if something illegal is uploaded, it is not easily deleted.

“If it was in that condition, shouldn’t the concert have not been held in the first place? It’s hard to perform even one song, so how were you going to perform ten or twenty songs?”

It may be okay during group activities, but for solo concerts, I have to fill up the entire 2 hours by myself.

Of course, guests may appear in the middle of the show, and instead of singing, they may show dance or individual performances, but the song must still have a large portion.

That means you have to be able to handle at least ten songs, and if your throat is in that condition, you probably know your condition better than anyone else.

“Besides, don’t concert tickets usually cost over 100,000 won? The best seats can cost over 200,000 won. If you pay that much money and the singer can’t sing properly… … Hmm. I think I’d stand up too.”

The best seats were usually the R seats, which allowed for the closest view of the singer and were also in the best acoustic position, which is why the tickets were so expensive.

If you think about it roughly, it’s obvious.

There is bound to be a significant difference in the experience between watching the stage from the 2nd or 3rd floor and seeing it right in front of you.

But even if you were a fan, you would be upset if you paid that much money and only heard a feast of unstable pitch and out of tune.

“That’s why the refund issue happened. The agency wasn’t the first to bring up the issue of refunds. A fan who went to the concert secretly filmed a video and uploaded it to a community. After seeing it, other audience members who went that day shared it here and there, and their coordinates were traced. That’s why even fans can’t block this, so they demanded a refund from the agency.”

“Of course the agency would have refused.”

“At first, it couldn’t be helped. If it had been canceled in advance, then it would be fine, but since it was a show that had already ended, if we were to give refunds, it would be damaging not only to the singer and the agency, but to many other people as well. The agency would have to shoulder all of the damage.”

“That’s why the controversy grew so big. Because the refund request wasn’t accepted readily.”

“It’s unfortunate, but there are parts where I can understand both sides. Of course, in the end, the agency had no choice but to back down.”

As seen in the article, the fans’ protests were so severe that it spread to a boycott of not only Yoo Jae-wook but also GEM Entertainment itself, and the situation became quite serious.

No matter how large the agency was, it would not have been possible to continue the confrontation with fans at that level, and eventually, an official apology from the agency was issued along with an immediate refund.

Only then did the fans soften and put an end to all the controversy as if it had never happened.

“So, has Yoo Jae-wook been out of action since then? Since the concert refund incident?”

“Probably. Doesn’t everyone? Even if the condition of his throat is secondary, the mental damage must have been indescribable. Since his debut, his fans believed in him and supported him fervently. They were the ones who liked him no matter what he did. Because of that one concert, they all turned their backs on him.”

Earlier I wondered why he was so angry, but after hearing the details from Im Eun-ha, I felt like I understood a little bit.

For anyone with a decent mentality, it would be very, very difficult to endure that situation.

“But why were you so angry at the company? Strictly speaking, the company suffered greater losses because of that. And on top of that, you’re the nephew of CEO Yoo Hyeong-seok. Shouldn’t you be doing that even more?”

“That’s why he does that. Because so many people are suffering because of him. It’s been almost two years since the concert refund incident. During that time, the company has been helping Yoo Jae-wook with his treatment. Both physically and mentally. But he’s not getting any better, so I think that’s probably why he’s angry at himself.”

Im Eun-ha added, putting down her chopsticks and picking up her glass of water.

“CEO Yoo Hyeong-seok is also his nephew, so he might not let go and take responsibility for it until the end. He thinks that if he lets go, he might really fall to the bottom. He’s his uncle. They’re like real children.”

“Hmm.”

Just as successful celebrities can’t help but deal with family issues, Yoo Hyeong-seok was in a similar situation.

If I had thought of it purely as a business relationship, I might have given up a long time ago.

I still feel quite sad because I have several of his songs on my playlist.

“Oh, by the way, Heesung, why did you go to GEM Entertainment today? You don’t even work there, do you? Did you have someone to meet?”

Heeseong nodded slightly to Im Eun-ha, who asked a question while changing the subject.

“Yes, sir. Mr. Yoo Hyeong-seok. I helped you with something.”

“Oh, you met CEO Yoo Hyeong-seok in person? Mr. Hee-seong? One-on-one?”

“Why, is this strange?”

“No, it’s not weird, but… … I’m a little surprised. As far as I know, meeting him is almost like trying to find a needle in a haystack. He’s such an amazing person, and there are so many people lining up to meet him. Wow, Heesung is really amazing. He seems completely different from the person I used to know. Isn’t it going to be hard to even see his face soon?”

“Haha, what is it? I’m not a celebrity or the president. If Eunha asks to see me, I’ll come out whenever I want, so feel free to contact me. It doesn’t matter if it’s day or night.”

Im Eun-ha’s expression suddenly became hazy at Hee-sung’s story.

Im Eun-ha opened her mouth and spoke, looking at Hee-seong with meaningful eyes.

“You know that’s flirting, right? You shouldn’t say that to just any woman. Women are easily misunderstood, you know.”

“Plotting? What is that? A plate?”

“Phew. That’s a plate.”

“Oh, right, right. It was stairs, right?”

“That’s the floor. And it’s not stairs, it’s the floor?”

“Ah… I guess I’ll have to quit Min Byeong-chil tomorrow. My English skills are like this.”

“Hahaha. Anyway, it’s funny, Heesung. You know everything, but you’re just trying to make people laugh.”

Im Eun-ha laughs loudly, holding her stomach as if Hee-sung is having fun.

Heeseong couldn’t help but smack his lips at the sight.

‘Ugh, I guess it’s better not to say anything here.’