The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 169



Only Noblemtl

The Malicious Member Returns! Episode 169

* * *

During that time, Shin Ki-ho kept his distance from T.O.J., making it seem like the idol from the program that brought in the planners and investors was meaningless.

Not only the mental distance, but also the physical distance.

“Director, it’s been a while since you’ve been to Korea. Did you have a nice business trip?”

“Is a business trip a big deal? It’s all the same. I’m not going out for a day or two, but why are you asking me such questions?”

“Ha, but you went to America this time, right? You’ve been going to China all this time, so I was wondering if you might be interested. Besides, the people you met are also people.”

“…Let the car start. I’m going to the office to sort out some paperwork.”

He had lost a lot of trust from Chinese investors because he failed to debut Liu Wei, and at the same time, he was in a situation where he had to do anything to find his own way out.

One way to influence T.O.J.’s activities was to immediately shout out that he planned the idol group and then use that to his advantage.

However, Shin Gi-ho did not want to become such a shallow person.

It’s not like he got his grand nickname, Tiger, just because his name has the letter ‘ho’ in it.

‘…If I don’t have the capital power, then such influence exercise will not be meaningful.’

First, you need to have a background to exert influence.

It’s the next thing to grab the members of T.O.J., shake them up, and get your place back thanks to them.

Under that judgment, the first thing that Shin Gi-ho thought of was, ironically, the hint that President Do Jae-chan had given him during the last live broadcast of .

“Just because you’re a China expert, do you plan on never seeing the English-speaking market for the rest of your life? That’s difficult. How can you grow properly like that? After all, the English-speaking world dominates the global music market.”

This was quite a plausible persuasion, not typical of President Dojaejan.

In reality, China has high ‘expected profits’ from its population, but it is not enough to be called the center of the world music market.

Ultimately, it is the English-speaking world that dominates the global music market.

Therefore, Shin Ki-ho, who had left the live broadcast scene at the time, immediately tried to contact someone after sending Liu Wei back to China.

An investor couple who left their son behind in Korea and leisurely headed to the United States sent their secretary to the live broadcast site.

The result is….

“What the fuck? ‘Isn’t it what you want us to do if we don’t intervene?’ Huh!”

“Well, it seems that the fact that we sat down with Logan and talked to him back then left a bad impression. At the time, it was better for us if Logan left.”

“… I need to meet them in person and talk to them. I’ll cancel my plans to go to Cheongdo and make new plans.”

Well, it was miserable.

The business trip to the US that T.O.J. went on while preparing for their debut and promoting ‘Hide and Seek’ for two weeks was not much different.

“… Let’s talk a little more. Isn’t that the group your son is in? I’m sure it will have a positive impact.”

“No way. We don’t teach Logan that way. I think he would rather succeed on his own.”

“Ha… You raised him in your grandmother’s hands, and you two taught him. Listen. I saw it then. You’re trying to improve your relationship with your son, right? If this is the case, then you’re definitely going to be back with Logan… .”

“If Logan ends up failing in that matter, won’t it be back to us? If that’s what you were trying to provoke in such a hurry, then it’s a shame.”

“Wait, that wasn’t my intention. I’m just giving you a good option. A pretty good option that won’t cost you much.”

“… Well, in the end, it’s up to us to make the choice. For today, please go back.”

We barely managed to make an appointment, but the meeting ended after we couldn’t even talk for 30 minutes.

It is true that Shin Ki-ho’s difficult and sensitive behavior when he entered the repackaged album conference room was due to his personality, but it cannot be said that this business trip experience did not have an effect.

I absolutely have to work on a repackaged album just to have some minimal influence, but I don’t have any significant capital to do so.

“How many times do I have to tell you that you have a set budget right now? You have to meet the schedule to get it back on time!”

“Don’t be petty about it for a week, really. You’re just arguing that it can’t be done when it can’t be done, right?”

“Small, ha… .”

Moreover, Moon Yoon-ha, who is just a director, trusts Do Jae-chan and looks down on him.

“Oh, right. It’s our album after all. Why are you guys talking amongst yourselves like that? Are we some kind of puppets? You used to respect our opinions a lot… .”

“Mars, shh.”

Even though he is the one in charge of his own team, the members of T.O.J. look on their faces as if they are wondering, ‘Why did that guy suddenly appear and do that?’

‘These kids are real!’

Like that, Shin Ki-ho’s anger that had been building up since exploded, and he forgot his original intention of biding his time and shouted, “Shut up and do what I say.”

“Is that a song your family liked? It’s such a shame we couldn’t include it!”

“What?!”

Kim Chun-yong’s conversation with Logan, in which he deliberately raised his voice, reached Shin Ki-ho’s ears.

“…what?”

It goes without saying what a turning point this brought to this conference room.

* * *

In fact, it wasn’t like Kim Chun-yong knew everything about Shin Gi-ho’s situation.

In the first place, I was so busy preparing and promoting my debut album that I was dying, so how could I know the inside story of the company?

So, all Kim Chun-yong could do was to deduce using what he knew.

For example.

“Oh, Logan. Are you sending a message to your parents?”

“Yes. Something, I see Chun-yong hyung talking on the phone with his family often. It makes me… a little… nervous. Because of the time difference, I can’t talk on the phone, and Huh. It’s kind of weird to hear his voice either.”

“Hey, what are you doing? You’re just taking one step at a time. Slowly, slowly. Do your parents reply to you often?”

“Sometimes! But, I don’t really understand what they’re saying. I think it’s because they’re people who don’t communicate well to begin with.”

From something I heard from Logan, who felt something from Kim Chun-yong, who was constantly talking on the phone with his family during the hide-and-seek activity, like a story about my parents.

“Logan, you too. You’re usually so dog-like, no… puppy-like. You’re really a bit mean to your parents.”

“You know, Chun-yong hyung. I know four-character idioms now. This is what our mom and dad sowed.”

“Ugh, self-inflicted… Yeah, yeah. I understand how you feel. So what did you send me?”

“Um, I heard you met someone from my company. Seriously, I think you’re lying to win my favor.”

“… someone from our company?”

“Yes. But, that’s ridiculous. Right now, all of our staff at AG are busy preparing for our debut. When would you go there? Of all places, in New York.”

A very short story I heard from Ben during his busy and hectic activities.

However, it had a different meaning to Kim Chun-yong, who knew the background of Logan’s departure issue.

‘… It doesn’t sound like a lie. Logan’s parents care about him, so they wouldn’t lie about something like that. But… If he met Logan’s parents directly, he wouldn’t be just an ordinary employee.’

Unlike his days as a trash can struggling with alcoholism, the current Kim Chun-yong has sharpened his senses through the hardships and adversities he has endured since his days on survival.

So, I don’t know the details, but… .

‘… It looks like you’re trying to look good. There’s something I want from Logan’s parents, and I need to talk to them in person. Even if it means going all the way to New York. Let’s just find out for now.’

I could tell that some people in the company were thinking about looking good in front of Logan’s parents.

“Kim Chun-yong practice, no. … Mr. Chun-yong. What did you say just now with Logan?”

“Oh, did you hear that? You were talking… Sorry for interrupting!”

“Okay, I asked you what you meant. I wish you would answer quickly.”

‘Okay.’

Kim Chun-yong was inwardly delighted as he looked at Shin Ki-ho’s sharp gaze fixed on him.

It was because I read the strange sense of anticipation mixed underneath it.

‘It was definitely Director Shin’s side. Since he missed Liu Wei’s line, this time he’s trying to catch Logan’s parents. … There was also a possibility that it was Director Do’s side, so that’s fortunate.’

Since his name includes the character ‘dragon’, it seems that his claim that all his dreams are of dragons turned out to be true.

“That’s it… .”

This is where it got important.

Because for the first time in a long while, Kim Chun-yong was able to carry out his plans without any negative variables or help from X.

Kim Chun-yong, who lightly licked his lips with his tongue, continued speaking as naturally as possible.

“I don’t know if you heard it before, but when the demo song ‘Hide and Seek’ came out, Logan played a song for our members. It was something he had made before, and he said he was happy because the nuance was similar to his debut song.”

“Huh?”

Before Shin Gi-ho could say anything, Moon Yoon-ha, who was standing next to him and looking like she was going to rip Shin Gi-ho’s pomaded hair, responded first.

So, the aesthetic fanatic reacted to the new beauty.

“Does the A&R team know about that? I heard they’re still finalizing the candidates for the repackage demo.”

“Oh, I know one person! He said that the song was good and that it would be nice if it was polished up a bit more and released later.”

“Later? No, it has a similar nuance to ‘hide and seek.’ It would be better if we could put something like this in right away.”

“God, that’s what I’ve been wanting to do, but I don’t have time….”

While Moon Yoon-ha and Logan were having a quick conversation, Kim Chun-yong looked at Shin Ki-ho, whose wrinkles between his eyebrows were getting deeper, and measured his temper.

“… … .”

Shin Gi-ho seemed to be thinking about something.

How this will benefit you and how it will harm you.

Should we focus more on attracting investors, or should we focus on the instant buzz that Tioze can generate?

And then.

“Oh, Logan. That song?! I wish I could put that in! No, I thought Logan was a genius when I heard it. How could he make that at 17?”

“Uhm… That’s right. Hwasung and I have been to our company’s music camp a few times. Logan was much better, haha. I think that song would be really good if it was included in this repackaged album.”

At just the right time, the members’ firepower support began.

[Is this correct?]

‘…oh.’

Kim Chun-yong rolled his eyes, hiding his surprise, as he saw Son Jae-ha quickly scribbling on the meeting materials with a ballpoint pen.

okay.

Even though Kim Chun-yong couldn’t think of getting first place as the condition for the surprise mission he received from X, the members’ opinions were similar.

“This… is a repackage, an album… so to some extent, if it’s an extension… and continues to receive responses, I think it’ll be good.”

“That’s right. Oh, if you want, I can play you a demo right now! Logan played it for me a few times, so I’ve memorized up to the bridge part.”

Thanks to Kim Chun-yong opening the door, unlike at first when everyone was surprised by Shin Ki-ho’s coercive attitude and couldn’t say anything, everyone started to speak properly one by one.

“Huh, the members like it that much? Then I guess I should include it, huh? Excuse me, Director. You’ve been at AG longer than me. Isn’t the artist the top priority here?”

“… … .”

“Ah. If you give me just a little more time, I think I can definitely prepare a good song and album… .”

Meanwhile, everyone’s opinion was unified except for one person who was struggling.

A good album has good songs.

To put in good songs, enough time and support are needed!

Let’s all have a more active meeting for a while.

“Um, it’s true that my family liked it. Especially, mine, not anyone else’s… .”

“after.”

Shin Gi-ho’s lips, which had been tightly shut for a long time, opened again when Logan’s words reached his ears once again.

“Let’s take a quick rest and then go. I’m tired.”

“…yes.”

As usual, his voice was cold and indifferent, so others only commented, “He must be in a bad mood,” but Kim Chun-yong, who had led the situation, could clearly tell.

It is certain that Shin Gi-ho has now half given up.

‘… Okay. If we do this, we’ll have the foundation set to win first place at least once.’

however.

That was the moment when Kim Chun-yong clenched his fist under the conference room table and let out a sigh of relief.

“Mr. Chun-Yong.”

“…to?”

“Let me talk for a moment. Follow me.”

A bit of an unexpected thing happened.

…it wasn’t a big deal.