Chapter 133: Undercurrents Surging
Jiang Shu’s three nominated awards were also secured, but compared to IVE, which had eight awards and was at its peak, he seemed to have nothing worth paying attention to.
Just as IVE ascended to the altar, radiating immense brilliance as if about to become deities less than a year after their debut, undercurrents began to surge.
In a top-floor private room of a members-only club in Seoul, over a dozen men and women sat on sofas, watching the MAMA Awards ceremony playing on the large screen in front of them.
Yang Hyun-suk watched the incredibly popular IVE, holding eight awards on the screen, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.
“They are indeed incredibly popular,” a middle-aged woman said in a sarcastic tone.
“IVE debuted at their peak, and now, with only six months of experience, they have swept various awards. More importantly, the youngest, Zhang Yuanying, is only fourteen years old,” a middle-aged man said.
“The new group Red Velvet also caused quite a stir upon their debut, and according to reports, DM Entertainment is currently producing a group called ITZY. They are not satisfied with launching two girl groups in six months; they want to completely monopolize the girl group market,” another person chimed in.
“President Yang, what do S.M. and JYP say?” someone asked.
“I haven’t contacted them yet,” Yang Hyun-suk shook his head.
“Why not contact them?”
Yang Hyun-suk narrowed his eyes, looking at the person who had just spoken.
“Are you questioning me?”
The man’s face changed, and he lowered his head somewhat fearfully.
“My apologies, President Yang, I spoke out of turn!”
“Hmph!” Yang Hyun-suk snorted coldly, his chilling gaze sweeping over everyone present.
“I am doing this for the benefit of most companies in the industry, and I hope you all don’t make it difficult for me.”
Bullshit!
Who doesn’t know about your conflict with the President of DM Entertainment?
But they could only think this in their hearts, as it would be beneficial for all of them if IVE was gone.
Seeing everyone show submission, Yang Hyun-suk finally retracted his gaze.
“I understand those three guys at S.M. Without sufficient threat, Li Xiuman and Kim Young-min will not agree to target DM Entertainment. As for Min Xizhen, that woman has a close relationship with Jiang Shu, so if she knows about our plan, it means Jiang Shu knows. We cannot contact S.M. for now.”
After all, they were future teammates, so Yang Hyun-suk still told them the reason, lest some useless person mess things up.
“Isn’t the threat DM Entertainment poses now enough?” someone asked, puzzled.
“Of course not,” Yang Hyun-suk sneered. “It’s just the girl group market; they haven’t monopolized both boy and girl groups.”
If DM Entertainment currently had a boy group as popular as IVE, he wouldn't even need to take the lead; S.M. would already be clashing with DM Entertainment.
But DM Entertainment doesn’t have a boy group, which puts the situation in a very delicate position. Everyone’s girl group market is blocked, but there’s a larger boy group market, so some big companies are not very willing to go against DM Entertainment. After all, targeting a company and targeting an artist are two different matters.
“What about JYP?”
“That idiot Park Jin-young is obsessed with the European and American markets; he doesn’t care about the domestic market at all,” Yang Hyun-suk said helplessly.
Park Jin-young was currently focused entirely on the European and American markets, not caring about the Korean market at all. He didn’t even care that his own executive, Kim Young-joo, was poached by DM Entertainment.
This guy had gone mad.
“Can we really do it alone?” someone hesitated.
Although DM Entertainment was a new force, it was an entertainment company that had already touched the edge of being a mid-sized company. It held a lot of industry secrets, and some things couldn't be weighed. Once you pushed them too hard…
Jiang Shu, the President of DM Entertainment, was a young man, and youth meant impulsiveness. If pushed too hard, he could do anything.
They wanted the girl group market, not to die with DM Entertainment.
“We are not trying to destroy DM Entertainment; our goal is IVE.” Yang Hyun-suk did want to destroy DM Entertainment, but he also knew that forcibly uniting others to destroy DM Entertainment was not feasible. This would mean that YG wanted to create a monopoly, not allowing newcomers to survive. If this precedent was set, the industry would never be peaceful.
Moreover, as DM Entertainment expanded, the industry secrets it held gradually increased. If they were all exposed, it would be enough to cause them a lot of trouble.
The key was that Jiang Shu was also Chinese. If he exposed everything and then ran away, you couldn’t do anything to him. You couldn’t kill him, could you?
Yang Hyun-suk certainly wouldn't dare.
Killing an ordinary Chinese person required considering the impact, let alone a celebrity with a certain influence?
Don't think that this neighbor is always quiet; only the common people think they are weak, but in reality, they are the truly weak ones.
“Then what should we do?” Hearing that they weren't going to destroy DM Entertainment, a group of people also breathed a sigh of relief.
Most of them were small and medium-sized companies in the industry. If Yang Hyun-suk insisted on destroying DM Entertainment, they would have to think about how to protect themselves.
If DM Entertainment could be destroyed today, they could be destroyed tomorrow.
“As far as I know, the relationship between IVE’s twin stars and the four supporting members is not entirely harmonious,” Yang Hyun-suk said with a smile.
“Internal conflict? Such a reason would be hard to make work, wouldn’t it?”
Wouldn't the company and members just clarify such a matter and be done with it?
“What if the members themselves say it?” Yang Hyun-suk said with a smile.
Everyone sat up straight.
“You’ve contacted IVE’s members?”
Yang Hyun-suk’s lips curled up.
“That’s right, they are willing to cooperate with us. After all, not everyone is willing to be a supporting character.”
“But what good would destroying IVE do them?” someone asked, puzzled.
“My promise to them is to suppress IVE’s twin stars and help them rise to prominence.”
“…” xN.
Only an idiot would believe such a thing, right?
Hmm… it's hard to say. Among IVE’s four supporting members, only Soo-jin is not young; the others are at an age where they are easily swayed.
“Which members?”
“Choi Yunjin, Kim Garam.”
Most people looked bewildered, clearly not very familiar with these two names.
For IVE, the public’s general perception was usually “Karina and Zhang Yuanying’s group,” or “the twin stars and the four supporting members.”
As for who the four supporting members were, they didn't know, didn't care, and it wasn't important.
“Furthermore, I also found out a bit about IVE member Xu Suizhen’s past,” Yang Hyun-suk continued. “It’s related to bullying.”
Everyone’s eyes lit up.
Bullying?
Bullying is good!
South Korea has zero tolerance for bullying. Even if it’s fake, as long as public opinion can be stirred up, it’s enough to ruin an artist. With bullying rumors and those two as inside informants…
“What if DM Entertainment goes all out to protect IVE?” someone asked. “Without S.M. and JYP cooperating with us, they still have a chance to protect IVE if they go all out.”
“I’ll take care of it. Wait for my news.”
“Yes!”