Chapter 414: Finalized
During this period, DM Entertainment and many people in the industry noticed something.
Jiang Shu, the President of DM Entertainment, was always accompanied by a JYP artist. Basically, wherever Jiang Shu went, he would bring this 'pendant' with him, and he would introduce her to everyone he met.
Such unusual behavior made many people focus their attention on Wu Haiyuan, leading to numerous speculations about NMIXX.
This abnormal behavior naturally also caught JYP's attention.
JYP didn't have a public opinion monitoring system, but Jiang Shu had been openly parading Wu Haiyuan around for over half a month, and the people at JYP weren't so cut off from the world as to be completely out of the loop.
They were happy about it; Jiang Shu was no ordinary entertainment company president, and with him leading the way, Wu Haiyuan stood to gain a great deal.
Although Wu Haiyuan's individual contract had already been traded to DM Entertainment, her group contract was still in place, and from a short-term perspective, JYP would still benefit greatly.
As for long-term development…
When has JYP ever focused on long-term development?
After noticing this, JYP immediately reduced Wu Haiyuan's schedule, not to put her on hiatus, but to allow her as much time as possible to be by Jiang Shu's side.
Then, by March, when Wu Haiyuan was no longer following Jiang Shu, JYP began to pour resources into her.
It seemed as if this matter was only circulating internally, with no impact on Wu Haiyuan's popularity?
But in reality, there was an impact, and a very significant one at that.
JTBC Television, a meeting room before the recording of a certain music variety show.
“When will Wu Haiyuan arrive?” The PD glanced at the time and asked the assistant in charge of communication.
It had been three minutes past six in the evening, the scheduled start time for the meeting, and Wu Haiyuan, one of the guests, was still nowhere to be seen.
“She’s on her way, should be here within ten minutes,” the assistant quickly replied.
“What a big shot, a bunch of seniors waiting for just her,” a female guest scoffed.
“She didn’t mean to be late. It’s raining outside, plus rush hour traffic. It’s understandable,” another female guest said with a smile, defending Wu Haiyuan.
“How come we weren’t late?” the first female guest said, displeased.
“Because you’re not as popular as her, and you don’t have as many schedules as her,” a male guest said with a mocking expression. “Do I have to spell it out for you to be happy?”
“Wu Haiyuan isn’t even here yet, she won’t know you’re sucking up to her,” the female guest was no pushover and immediately retorted.
“Heh heh, I just think everyone should be more understanding in such extreme weather,” the male guest wasn’t annoyed and said cheerfully.
“Isn’t it just…”
“Enough!” The PD frowned, interrupting their conversation.
He was very displeased with Wu Haiyuan’s lateness. If it were a top idol like Karina or Zhang Yuanying, it might be acceptable, but for Wu Haiyuan, who wasn’t even ranked, to make so many people wait was unacceptable.
“It’s raining heavily outside, plus rush hour traffic, so being a few minutes late is normal. Everyone, please wait a moment,” the PD’s expression softened slightly, setting the tone for the matter.
The female guest snorted but didn’t speak again.
In the Korean Entertainment industry, while popularity isn't entirely equivalent to status, someone with low popularity definitely won't have high status.
Only top-tier artists can negotiate with variety show PDs, and clearly, no one present met that standard.
Click.
The door to the meeting room suddenly opened, and Wu Haiyuan appeared before everyone with slightly damp hair.
“I’m so sorry, so sorry! Thank you all for waiting for me, I’m really sorry about the traffic!” As soon as Wu Haiyuan entered, she stood at the doorway and immediately bowed to apologize to everyone.
The sternness on the PD’s face instantly vanished. He stood up with a cheerful smile and reached out to help Wu Haiyuan, who was continuously bowing and apologizing.
“It’s alright, Haiyuan xi. With this weather and rush hour, everyone understands being a few minutes late.”
“I’m truly sorry, PDnim, I will definitely adjust my time next time!” Wu Haiyuan apologized again. She didn’t want to be late either; her schedule was too packed, and a small issue with her previous schedule caused her plans to fall behind, leading to her being a few minutes late.
“It’s fine, Haiyuan xi, everyone just arrived too.”
The male guest looked at the smiling female guest as if he had seen a ghost.
What the hell are you doing?
You said I was sucking up?
What are you doing now?
Damn it, you're saying all my lines!
“That’s right, Haiyuan xi, don’t worry too much, everyone doesn’t mind.”
“Exactly, exactly.”
Everyone in the room chimed in with agreement.
This made the originally very nervous Wu Haiyuan breathe a sigh of relief. It was good that no one minded, otherwise she wouldn't have known what to do.
“Thank you, everyone,” Wu Haiyuan said, taking a breath.
“Haiyuan xi, please take a seat,” the PD said, gesturing to Wu Haiyuan.
“Yes.” Wu Haiyuan nodded and went to the seat with her name tag.
“Wipe the rain off,” the female guest next to her handed her a tissue as soon as Wu Haiyuan sat down.
“Thank you, Senior,” Wu Haiyuan took the tissue with both hands and thanked her.
This respectful demeanor made the female guest feel very pleased.
Such a well-connected and popular artist still has to call me senior. Praise society!
Just as a major face-changing scene was unfolding on Wu Haiyuan’s side, a discussion was also taking place in the top-floor meeting room.
“Everyone’s here,” the MBC President looked around, addressing the four-person team capable of making decisions for MBC.
“Today, I met with Li Duohui. DM Entertainment needs a definite answer from us within three days. Their basic work is already completed; they’re just waiting to confirm the location for the first performance.”
“SBS is in contact with Li Duohui, I think we can’t drag this on any longer,” the Vice President of Operations interjected.
“Why would SBS be willing to do this? And where would they get the approval procedures?” the Vice President of Technology asked, puzzled.
The reason MBC could so confidently string DM Entertainment along, trying to gain more benefits by delaying, was because they were a semi-public, semi-commercial television station, capable of easily obtaining approval for yacht excursions and live broadcasting at sea.
KBS could also get it, but with a management full of old fogeys, KBS would never agree to DM Entertainment’s request, so DM Entertainment never even considered them.
The purely commercial SBS had no such connections, so DM Entertainment’s first choice was naturally MBC.
This was also MBC’s biggest leverage in daring to string DM Entertainment along.
But now, their old rival SBS was also getting involved?
“We’ve dragged it on for too long,” the Vice President of Content Production said helplessly. “This time has been enough for SBS to pull strings and get the necessary procedures.”
After all, they were one of the Three Greats television stations in Korean Entertainment. Even if they couldn’t get procedures as quickly as MBC, given enough time, they weren’t to be underestimated.
“Should we continue to compete?”
