Chapter 147: Falling Like a Comet
February 6th was supposed to be an ordinary day for IVE fans, a day to continue urging DM Entertainment for IVE's comeback. However, a piece of news disrupted the daily lives of all IVE fans.
DM Entertainment:
Hello everyone, this is Dream Museum Entertainment.
Our agency's girl group IVE members, Yunzhen and Kim Garam, have decided to terminate their exclusive contracts with our agency early and announce their departure from the group.
After a long period of consideration and in-depth discussion, our agency has decided to disband the girl group IVE. The remaining four members (Karina, Yuan Ying, Lily, susu) who remain with our agency will appear before you in a new form in the future.
Over the past eight months, IVE has ushered in a new era of girl groups with its novel style, performances, and music, gaining the love of K-Pop fans.
We express our heartfelt gratitude to IVE for the time they spent with Dream Museum.
We extend our deepest thanks to all the fans who have loved IVE, and we hope you will continue to support the members who will appear in a new form.
We, Dream Museum, will also continue to support the members who are taking new steps towards a better tomorrow.
Thank you.
As soon as the announcement was made, IVE fans were stunned.
No, where did my big IVE go?
How did the group disappear after the New Year?
Choi Yunjin and Kim Garam are leaving the group?
Are you two crazy? Isn't it good to enjoy the good life with the two big sisters? Why leave the group?
Subsequently, before fans could react, DM Entertainment's next announcement was released.
DM Entertainment stated that the campus bullying accusations against Xu Suizhen were false information and that they had filed a lawsuit with the Seoul District Court against the rumor-mongers.
This news was seen by many, but IVE fans, whose group was gone, no longer cared whether Xu Suizhen was innocent or not. They all rushed to Choi Yunjin's and Kim Garam's Instagram accounts to scold them.
The decision to disband IVE was made by DM Entertainment, but the announcement was highly suggestive, almost explicitly stating that IVE was disbanded because Choi Yunjin and Kim Garam left the group.
The IVE fans, whose group was gone, were seething with anger, and Choi Yunjin and Kim Garam became the outlet for their fury.
The news of IVE's disbandment by DM Entertainment caused a stir in and out of the industry no less than their sudden emergence, perhaps even more so.
The Korean internet exploded directly, with accusations everywhere against Kim Garam and Choi Yunjin, while DM Entertainment beautifully disappeared, focusing all the firepower on these two young girls.
On the other side, Li Xiuman was dumbfounded when he saw the news from DM Entertainment.
IVE is just gone like that?
No, where is Jiang Shu's resistance?
Did he misjudge him? Does Jiang Shu actually not have much backbone?
In Li Xiuman's prediction, if the YG Alliance made a move, then DM Entertainment should counterattack, right?
Damn, he didn't counterattack; he directly surrendered and blew up his own house in the process.
What kind of operation is this?
It's gone, but why was Xu Suizhen protected?
Jiang Shu's operation completely confused Li Xiuman; this was completely putting the cart before the horse. IVE is gone, what's the point of protecting one Xu Suizhen?
Liu Zhimin and Zhang Yuanying are indeed still in hand, but can you really create a second IVE?
Li Xiuman didn't understand; he decided to wait and see.
The reactions of other company heads who were not involved in this matter to IVE's sudden demise were basically consistent with Li Xiuman's; they all didn't understand Jiang Shu's logic of behavior.
Completely incomprehensible.
And on DM Entertainment's side, after IVE's disbandment announcement was released, Li Duohui called in Choi Yunjin and Kim Garam, these two pawns who were used and then discarded.
"You should be clear that voluntarily leaving the group requires payment of a breach of contract fee." Li Duohui looked at the two girls in front of her, feeling a little sorry for them in her heart, but as the company's Vice President, pity is pity, but what she had to do, she still had to do.
"Breach... breach of contract fee?" Kim Garam looked at Li Duohui blankly and said.
"According to IVE's commercial value..." Li Duohui simply explained, and then gave an astronomical figure that even she found absurd.
Choi Yunjin, who seemed to have lost her soul, couldn't help but raise her head in shock when she heard this number.
In reality, although Choi Yunjin and Kim Garam said they wanted to leave the group, they only said it verbally and did not prove their intention to leave with actual actions. If anything, their departure was actually pushed by Jiang Shu.
But just as they could be easily fooled by Yang Hyun-suk's simple lies, it wasn't difficult to change the coerced departure into a voluntary departure to demand a breach of contract fee.
However, this change wasn't to trick these two sisters. Even Li Duohui couldn't come up with such a large breach of contract fee in a short time, because this money was not being asked from them at all.
Just like their positioning, Jiang Shu's target was not these two pawns, but the chess player behind them.
"We don't have that much money..." Kim Garam said, lowering her head.
You'd have to let her work in IVE for ten more years to possibly pay that back, right?
"You certainly can't pay it back, but someone can." Li Duohui smiled slightly, "Whoever made you leave the group, let them pay for you."
Choi Yunjin and Kim Garam were stunned, then looked at each other.
"But... will President Yang agree?" Choi Yunjin asked, puzzled.
"You are the parties involved. If you choose to reveal everything..."
Choi Yunjin and Kim Garam were just young and easily deceived, unable to distinguish between truth and lies, but they weren't truly foolish. Li Duohui had said so much that they understood.
This was to make them threaten Yang Hyun-suk.
Thinking of threatening the boss of Three Greats, both of them felt apprehensive. But this exorbitant breach of contract fee...
The two looked at each other, seeing determination in each other's eyes.
"Okay!"
Choi Yunjin and Kim Garam left. Li Duohui looked at the backs of the two girls and couldn't help but sigh.
Sometimes, clearly knowing one's position can prevent many misfortunes. These two children could have had brilliant star paths but chose to walk this path.
Although there were reasons for external temptation, the final choice was still in their own hands. Otherwise, why weren't Lily or Xu Suizhen the ones to threaten Jiang Shu?
Li Duohui thought of IVE.
After shining briefly in K-Pop like a comet, they quickly fell. Such a group was disbanded by Jiang Shu like this. How will DM Entertainment's future unfold?
Li Duohui couldn't help but sigh.
...
Choi Yunjin and Kim Garam approached YG. Yang Hyun-suk, after understanding their intentions, was very reluctant to pay the money, but this matter truly couldn't be exposed. They absolutely couldn't let them reveal it; they could only pay this money.
If it were really exposed, and DM Entertainment fanned the flames behind the scenes, the company's upcoming new girl group would face very tricky problems.
Jiang Shu's counterattack, however, made Yang Hyun-suk look at him with new respect. He had thought of a way to stop the losses so quickly.
Therefore, Yang Hyun-suk called the other companies in the alliance, and they pooled enough money to give to DM Entertainment.
It was impossible for him, YG, to pay alone; they had to pay together!