Chapter 201. A Very Scary Christmas For Some (1)

“Whoa, are these guys not afraid of the fans? What do they think they’re doing?”

Seeing the articles on the internet, President Yoo MyungHoo snorted.
Considering the reputation they had to upkeep as well as the relations they had to maintain, suing a news company was the worst decision possible.

“Should we write another scandal? You know, like, about Lee KangYoon or something.”
“Do you have something good?”

When Bae OhMin snorted with his lips curved, President Yoo MyungHoo became curious.

“Not yet, but don’t you think I can get something if I watch him 24/7?”
“Not a bad idea. Good, I’ll give you a team, so try writing an article about Lee KangYoon. Perhaps he’ll come to me for negotiations later.”
“Okay.”

Journalist Bae OhMin returned to his seat to get his camera gear and leave the company. After he left, President Yoo MyungHoo frowned while looking at the lawsuit.

(T/N: The author completely forgot what character Bae OhMin is (the editor-in-chief from a few chapters ago)… he’s the guy who said ‘we shouldn’t touch World, they’re scary’. and here he’s…)

“Let’s see what happens when you piss off a journalist.”

His eyes were on fire.

***

Starting off with the showcase, Eddios started their activities.
The showcase that took place in Angel’s House, Wonju, had good reactions from the public. They could present to the public a positive image as they announced that all the profits from the album sales would be donated to charity.
Naturally, the public showed a positive reaction.
Although articles about Han JooYeon’s scandal popped up from time to time, the general opinion was shifting towards a positive note. This time, World Entertainment minded more about the media by accepting most of the interviews.

“I thought handsome composers like Muse were the only people at World Entertainment, but the director is a beauty as well.”
“Thank you. Your skin is so smooth too, Miss DaYoon. It’s like you’re still a teenager.”
“Business people are so good with words….”
“Hahaha.”

Lee HyunJi was having an interview at World Entertainment’s studio with someone from HMC’s popular celebrity news program, ‘Celebrity Night News’.
Although it was growing in popularity amongst aspiring artists, no one knew very much about World Entertainment at all. As this interview took place along with a reveal of the office, HMC station sent their number 1 reporter, Han DaYoon.
The interview progressed under a good atmosphere.
Although this was the first time Lee HyunJi was taking an interview for a TV program, she was very proficient. She calmly introduced the company and made it so that people would look forward to what the company would do in the future.
The reporter, Han DaYoon, nodded her head at Lee HyunJi’s answers and asked the most important question.

“…An unfortunate event took place recently. I’m really careful about asking this, but is that alright with you?”
“It’s fine.”
“You got into a legal battle with a news company regarding matters involving Eddios this time, haven’t you? I wish to know the reason behind World Entertainment’s strong legal actions when many stars could only stay still despite the damages done by the general public.”

This was the question that most people wanted to know the answer to.
In a battle between celebrities and media, the celebrities were always the weaker party. The media could give rise to a star or be their downfall.
As such, even when receiving damages, most celebrities did not take action due to realistic reasons.

“That’s a question I have to be careful in answering. People have the right to know, and celebrities are public figures. It’s natural for the public to be curious, and the media take the roles of fulfilling their desire to know. However, celebrities are humans too.”

Lee HyunJi sipped the cooled coffee before continuing to speak.

“They have their personal lives, and that should be respected. Only then can they show a good image to the public. However, some parts of the media go overboard and make it harder for us to do so. Although the reality is that it is hard for the stars to take action, I could not let a family member suffer.”
“A family member?”
“The family members of World Entertainment. This cannot happen again in the future, so we had no choice but to take extreme measures.”

Lee HyunJi’s determination was recorded on the camera.
It was very rare for stars and companies to do an interview when unfortunate events took place. At best, it was a phone interview or an anonymous interview.
However, Lee HyunJi invited a reporter to the company and took the interview boldly, and her determination was shown to the whole country through the TV program.

– Dang, World is good.
– It’s good to see you taking care of your artists~ Here’s a thumbs up.
– Man, Director Lee HyunJi sure is pretty. I want her as my wife.
– Hey, she’s mine.

After the interview went on air, the general public was leaning towards World Entertainment.
Eddios’s activities were going well, and Lee HyunJi’s neat appearance and calm attitude affected the people positively.
However, Hidden Catch did not stay still.

– Lee HyunAh of White Moonlight, a dinner with a middle-aged man. A sexual favor?
(T/N: Again, ‘sponsor’ was the word actually used here.)

They counterattacked with articles with provocative titles.
Their target was Lee HyunAh this time.
They had photographed Lee HyunAh who was dining with Professor Choi ChanYang to talk about her upcoming song and wrote an article about it.
Not even 90 minutes passed until the article was uploaded on the internet after the photo was taken.
9 p.m.
It hadn’t even been 30 minutes since the article went up.

– *sob, sob*… I’m sorry

KangYoon sighed while listening to Lee HyunAh’s sobbing voice over the phone.

“Calm down first.”
– No, no. I just ate dinner with the Professor like I always did… I’m really scared right now…

Lee HyunAh was scared.
The word sexual favor had a very big impact. A ‘suspicious photo’ and a series of playful words made Lee HyunAh suffer due to all the bad commenters.

“The Director and Manager DaeHyun are going to your house. Don’t come out of your house and don’t access the internet, okay?”
-…Yes.
“Don’t access any sort of media. Don’t think about the article either. Okay?”

KangYoon finished the call after saying the same thing over and over again.
Lee HyunAh wasn’t a veteran celebrity with a seasoned heart, so he was worried that she may take drastic actions. Actually, he wanted to go himself, but Lee HyunJi and Manager Kim DaeHyun were more than capable so he decided that he had to solve this problem first.

“Let’s start with the correction.”

The priority was to publish an article that corrected the facts under World Entertainment’s name.
KangYoon contacted all the journalists he knew. No, he even asked President Choo ManJi for help.

-…If that’s the case, then okay.
“Thank you so much.”

After explaining his situation, President Choo ManJi also promised to get the journalists he knew to help out.
A little less than 2 hours had passed since the original article was published.
He first called Professor Choi ChanYang.

– …Alright. If you need it, I’ll give out explanations myself.

Professor Choi ChanYang gladly stepped up after listening to the situation.

“Thank you. However, I need to upload some personal things about you, Professor, in order to solve this quickly.”|
– Go ahead and do it.
Professor Choi ChanYang didn’t say much. He also found it absurd that he was involved with a scandal.
With his permission, KangYoon first uploaded a correction on World Entertainment’s website and White Moonlight’s fan club, ‘Rebirth Luna’.

– (omitted) the male in the photo of the article is Professor Choi ChanYang of Hallyeo Arts University. The vocalist of White Moonlight, Miss Lee HyunAh, had met him to talk about her new song, but a photo was snapped by a paparazzi…. (omitted)

After the notice was published, the journalists that he had called as well as the ones that President Choo ManJi called arrived at World Entertainment.
KangYoon brewed some coffee for them and spoke about his matter.

“Thank you for gathering here today. Your Journalism….”

He even used flattering words, which he usually didn’t use, as he talked about the topic.
The journalists accepted KangYoon’s request under the implication that they could interview the artists of World Entertainment later.
After the journalists called their contacts, correction articles started being uploaded on the internet.

– Vocalist Lee HyunAh of White Moonlight was actually consulting to the man in the photo, a Professor at music college, for her next song.
– Lee HyunAh, the man in the photo turned out to be one of her old professors.
– A trivial misunderstanding ruins an artist. Lee HyunAh complains that it’s hard to eat with one of her teachers

***

The articles were published three hours after the supposed scandal was published.
It was midnight.

***

The next morning.
The bad comments had mostly disappeared after the correction was published.
KangYoon was sitting on his office chair blankly as he had stayed up all night monitoring those articles.

“…Good mor… I guess not.”

Lee HyunJi greeted KangYoon with likewise tired eyes. She gave KangYoon some energy drinks.

“Thank you for that. Wow, that’s good. Is HyunAh okay?”
“She was able to fall asleep only in the morning. The bad comments were endless when the article was about sexual favors.”
“It’s a sensitive topic. Let’s include this matter in that as well.”
“They only published the correction article at 7 in the morning.”

Lee HyunJi frowned in frustration.
The word ‘sexual favor’ was a very provocative word.
By adding a question mark at the end, they left themselves a way out if it ‘turned out to be wrong’.
The view count increased, and the stars mentioned in the article would receive damage.
KangYoon bit his lips.

“This must be their retaliation for the lawsuit. They’re coming out strong.”
“I think so too. They’re just like a news company.”
“This must be a sign that they will resort to drastic methods if we don’t retract the lawsuit.”
“What are you going to do?”

At Lee HyunJi’s question, KangYoon closed his eyes for a moment.

‘I can’t get emotional about this. If we act weak because of this, they’ll take advantage of us in the future.’

After thinking, KangYoon replied calmly.

“We’ll keep on going with the lawsuit. As far as I know, the lawyer you introduced to me is doing a great job.”
“Yes. He has good connections. It’s just that it’s expensive to get him to work…”
“Please look for ways to include this matter into the lawsuit. We can’t be the defending side all the time.”

Lee HyunJi understood and passed a file to Jung HyeJin.

***

World Entertainment’s office was very busy due to the trouble they had with Hidden Catch, but the artists at the company weren’t influenced all that much.
When Hidden Catch published an article about World Entertainment, a correction article was published soon after.
There was a week left until Christmas.
The internet was still hot with the media. At first, there were a lot of bad comments, but people became more and more immune to ‘speculative’ content and their trust towards Hidden Catch started falling.
That resulted in a fall in view count, and unlike a week ago where the view count was sky high, they couldn’t be ranked in the top ten this week.
At the President’s office in Hidden Catch.
President Yoo MyungHoo shouted while slamming down the book in his hand on the desk.

“Are you writing articles with your foot!”

Journalist Bae OhMin lowered his head while inwardly complaining.

‘Dammit… why don’t you try doing it?’

The quality of the photo or the quality of the article hadn’t changed at all.
However, the readers had changed. Too much stimulation made them insensitive to those kinds of articles. Moreover, correction articles were published less than 2 hours after the original article was published, so at this point, the public was more ‘You guys again?’ than before.

“Ah, my head is aching. Hey, why are the views half of what it was before? Huh? If it keeps going like this, we are going to get less ad revenue and we’ll starve to death!”

He scolded Journalist Bae OhMin.
The journalist was frustrated since he was being scolded despite putting all of his efforts.

“President, we watched them for 24/7 and wrote articles about them every day. World Entertainment shows no sign of becoming tired and countered every time we did something. In fact, they would have gotten more recognition now because of the articles.”
“I want their image to fall! So that they won’t be able to continue the lawsuit. Don’t you hear me?”
“We’re trying, but the people are…”
“I’m not listening to your excuses anymore. Go and work.”

President Yoo MyungHoo waved his hand in displeasure.
Journalist Bae OhMin left the office while barely calming down.

“I’m having a hard time because I’m working with an idiot like him…”

Scolding his subordinate, President Yoo MyungHoo lit a cigarette.

***

“This is getting frustrating.”

World Entertainment’s office.
Lee HyunJi sighed while looking at the article Hidden Catch released about Kim JiMin.

“They should be aware that we’re taking photos of them too… I don’t understand their actions.”

KangYoon was confused as well.
In order to get a photo of Kim JaeHoon, a man and a woman duo had trespassed onto KangYoon’s front yard.

“I have heard rumors about how vicious President Yoo MyungHoo is, but I didn’t realize he was this bad.”
“It’s the kids that suffered. The managers too.”

KangYoon felt sorry for his artists.
Although he had decided to take this damage in order to not experience such a thing again, leaving the paparazzi tailing them was a very tiring matter.
Despite that, it was worth his efforts.

“Won’t be long before the fat lady sings.”
“Wow, you still use such an expression?”

Lee HyunJi smirked while showing KangYoon some documents she received from the lawyer.