Chapter 429: New Year's Eve Gala
December 31, 2023, MBC Television Station.
As the last grand event of 2023, and one of the few New Year's Eve galas in many years, it not only invited numerous artists and celebrities but also saw many high-ranking executives from entertainment companies attending.
However, the highly anticipated celebrity Chairman Jiang Shu was absent from this New Year's Eve gala, with DM Entertainment's President Li Duohui and Vice President Bae Joo-hyun attending together.
Speaking of Bae Joo-hyun's Vice President title, as soon as the DM Entertainment family's Mid-Autumn Gala ended, attendees uploaded Bae Joo-hyun's name tag online.
The name tag "Vice President Bae Joo-hyun" stunned netizens, who initially thought it was a photoshopped image, only to later discover it was a genuine live photo.
?
Bae Joo-hyun?
Irene?
Red Velvet's leader?
DM Entertainment's Vice President?
Is this right?
Not just fans, but even passersby were confused.
It's not unheard of for artists to become company executives, but they usually go through a gradual process, like becoming an employee first, then being promoted to middle management, and finally to a high-level position.
At the very least, they'd become a director first and then be given important responsibilities a few years later.
DM Entertainment, however, was quiet as usual, then suddenly, out of nowhere, announced a Vice President.
Seriously, a Vice President?
Even if Bae Joo-hyun were a nominal Vice President, she would still be a Vice President, a legitimate high-ranking executive.
So, what exactly is DM Entertainment up to?
Why did Bae Joo-hyun suddenly become a Vice President?
With such a heated public discussion, naturally, some people wanted to get in on the action, and so many industry insiders emerged, each revealing news with their own version of events.
Some true, some false.
The reasons for the false news were bizarre, but there was indeed some true news.
Bae Joo-hyun became Vice President because she held a large stake in YG and voluntarily transferred her YG shares to DM Entertainment, which then entrusted Bae Joo-hyun with the task of holding the YG shares on its behalf.
Ordinary artists, of course, are not qualified to hold company shares on behalf of others, so DM Entertainment gave Bae Joo-hyun the position and title of Vice President.
Initially, this revelation was not widely believed; how could an artist who debuted five years ago hold a large stake in one of the Big Four companies?
It sounded like an absurd boast, completely unreasonable.
Then…
YG is a publicly traded company, and public companies have strict disclosure requirements. While DM Entertainment, being a non-listed company, doesn't have as many requirements, YG does.
Changes in YG's major shareholders are officially recorded, and subsequently, Bae Joo-hyun's name appeared in the public eye.
Bae Joo-hyun's name was indeed on record.
Now this was interesting.
This seemingly fake revelation turned out to be true!
Indeed, the more outlandish the disclosed news, the more likely it is to be true.
What the…
However, after several months of settling, the "setting" of DM Entertainment's Vice President Bae Joo-hyun was gradually accepted.
DM Entertainment's official website also stopped being secretive and updated its executive organizational chart, adding Bae Joo-hyun's information after Jiang Shu and Li Duohui's profiles.
Each director held more actual power than Bae Joo-hyun, but nominally, Bae Joo-hyun was still the Vice President, a higher position, so her information was listed before the various directors in the data sheet.
The individuals involved wouldn't care about such minor details.
But the fans did.
Now, Bae Joo-hyun's already numerous solo fans were even more emboldened, riding roughshod over the fans of her teammates. They even dared to confront the fans of Liu Yuan and An Yingzhou, whom they previously wouldn't challenge.
Don't ask why, just know she's the Vice President, we are the bosses, you are the employees, now kneel!
During this period, Jeolgi (Bae Joo-hyun's fandom name) could be said to be attacking everywhere, like a honey badger, fighting anyone it encountered, almost causing public outrage.
DM Entertainment naturally noticed this but chose not to intervene.
The more fiercely fans fight, the higher their loyalty and purchasing power.
This is a theory summarized from decades of market operation in K-pop.
If it works well, why bother managing it?
For this New Year's Eve gala, Li Duohui and Bae Joo-hyun were present, but in reality, only Li Duohui was seated, as Bae Joo-hyun had a performance and therefore was not seated at all.
As for where Jiang Shu went…
DM Entertainment's artist dorm building.
Jiang Shu exited the elevator with a sling bag, arrived at a room door, checked the room number, and then took out a white letter from his sling bag with "IVE" written on it.
He took out his phone.
"997621," Jiang Shu murmured, then unlocked the password lock and entered the code.
Click.
The anti-theft door of IVE's dorm clicked open.
The password for the artist dorms' password locks and the keys for the manual locks were all in the chairman's office safe. No one except Jiang Shu and Li Duohui could retrieve them, which was to protect the artists and also prevent situations where they couldn't enter the dorms due to unexpected circumstances.
Jiang Shu went into the living room, placed the letter prominently on the coffee table, and then exited the dorm.
He then went to the dorm across the hall.
Again, he took out a letter with "LE SSERAFIM" written on it and placed it inside.
Floor after floor.
All of DM Entertainment's artists lived in the same building, which made Jiang Shu's "work" convenient. Letters for solo artists and groups were all delivered.
He raised his hand and checked the time; it was almost ten o'clock.
"Let's grab a bite and then head to the venue," Jiang Shu rubbed his stomach. It was his last dinner, so he had to treat himself well.
He had been mentally preparing for so long that Jiang Shu wouldn't feel a sense of trepidation at the last moment. The time for being sentimental had passed; now, all that remained was to face it calmly.
He stretched in place.
"Time to eat, time to eat."
…
MBC Television Station.
The New Year's Eve gala had already begun. MBC had spared no expense this time, opening its largest studio, capable of holding over five thousand people, a studio usually reserved for major holidays.
But then again, New Year's Eve could be considered a major holiday, couldn't it?
Fans of various groups were seated according to their designated areas, with all light sticks in each area being the same color. And because the seats were divided by area, there wouldn't be a phenomenon where one or two groups had an overwhelming number of light sticks while others had pitifully few.
After all, it was a New Year's Eve gala, a time for everyone to be happy together.
The audience members were also carefully selected and were very supportive.
No matter which group, artist, or collaborative stage, they would give the most enthusiastic applause and cheers, ensuring that every performance was well-received and fully supported.
This New Year's Eve gala started at eight o'clock and continued until the early hours of January 1, 2024, lasting a full four hours, featuring as many as seventy-three artists and over forty songs performed.
There were nearly ten collaborative stages, making it the largest scale ever.
Regarding broadcasting, in addition to MBC TV, all online platforms were also authorized and open, ensuring that if you wanted to watch, you could watch.
