Chapter 299 Fireworks
Jiang Shu averted his gaze, picked up the wine glass on the table, and clinked it with Bae Joo-hyun.
“Come on, drink.”
Bae Joo-hyun felt a bit disappointed by Jiang Shu’s obvious change of subject, but she wasn’t too upset. She raised her glass and clinked it with Jiang Shu.
Bae Joo-hyun drained the remaining red wine, and seeing this, Jiang Shu also finished his wine. He picked up the bottle and poured a small half-glass for each of them.
Both of them tacitly avoided mentioning what had just happened.
Bae Joo-hyun hadn't directly expressed her feelings, and after seeing Jiang Shu's attitude, she was even less likely to do so.
As for Jiang Shu… with the matter of Liu Zhimin already present, plus other reasons, he wasn't very keen on responding.
“How are the preparations for the first full album coming along?” Jiang Shu put the wine bottle back in place and found another topic.
“The preparations are going well, everyone is working hard on their practice,” Bae Joo-hyun said with a smile, having adjusted her mindset after a brief moment of disappointment.
“Good,” Jiang Shu nodded. “This concentrated comeback will be an opportunity, and also your last comeback before your tour begins.”
“When does the tour start?” Bae Joo-hyun’s eyes lit up at the news, and she asked.
Once a tour begins, the money artists can earn starts to double.
“Preparations and planning will begin after this comeback of yours concludes,” Jiang Shu said after some thought.
“So, that would be mid-year then,” Bae Joo-hyun said, thinking for a moment.
“Roughly,” Jiang Shu nodded. “It’s not clear who will start the tour first. The company can currently support two groups touring simultaneously; any more than that would be unsustainable.”
If they didn't do anything else and only focused on this one thing, they could support three or four groups touring together, but that's impossible.
DM Entertainment is no longer the small company it once was, with only IVE. The larger the scale, the more it means that no single project can receive all resources; you can't put all your eggs in one basket.
Tours make money, but they can't just focus on tours; other activities and projects still need to progress.
“I see,” Bae Joo-hyun nodded. “Then it should be IZONE and ITZY starting first, right?”
“No,” Jiang Shu shook his head. “IZONE and ITZY can’t go together. Their fan overlap is not low, and touring simultaneously would mean earning less money.”
Bae Joo-hyun: “…”
There's even that layer of consideration.
“IZONE will start first, then we’ll see who to add after that,” Jiang Shu didn’t hide it from Bae Joo-hyun; after all, Red Velvet wouldn't make it into the first batch of tours.
IZONE starting first is very reasonable; it's fine for the first top-tier group to kick off the touring era.
As for the second one… aespa?
Not necessarily; the company will probably need to discuss and consider it.
“Then we should be able to make the second batch, right?” Bae Joo-hyun asked again.
“Roughly,” Jiang Shu raised a hand to rub his eyes, switching the screen back to Bilibili’s New Year’s Eve live broadcast.
“I have a song, a song that can make you legendary, and I’m considering when to give it to you,” Jiang Shu said, putting a small slice of steak into his mouth.
“Legendary?” Bae Joo-hyun looked at Jiang Shu in surprise. It was the first time she had heard him describe a song like that.
“A song like that, for us?”
“It was tailor-made for you anyway; no other group can sing this style besides you,” Jiang Shu waved his hand and said.
“How about… the second half of this year?” Bae Joo-hyun was very curious about the song Jiang Shu described as legendary, and she tentatively suggested.
“The second half of the year?” Jiang Shu pondered for a moment.
The song he was referring to was naturally the divine song “Psycho,” and it was about time it was brought out.
It was just the timing of when to release it that made Jiang Shu a bit troubled.
There was a lot of work this year, and Jiang Shu was temporarily unsure, so he simply brought it up to ask Bae Joo-hyun’s opinion.
“Let me discuss it with others next year.”
Bae Joo-hyun was stunned by Jiang Shu’s mention of next year, then immediately realized that in a few hours, it would be next year.
“Yes,” Bae Joo-hyun replied, looking at Jiang Shu, who was deep in thought, and said, “It’s New Year’s Eve, are you still thinking about company matters?”
“Many things require me to steer the ship. If I don’t consider them, who will?” Jiang Shu said with a smile.
“Don’t overwork yourself; take care of your health,” Bae Joo-hyun said with concern.
“This is nothing,” Jiang Shu chuckled and shook his head. “I can earn so much money with this amount of work; being a bit tired is nothing.”
Bae Joo-hyun blinked. Jiang Shu’s words… weren’t wrong.
However, Jiang Shu’s position isn't something just anyone can replace. Although his workload isn't high, as the helmsman, he needs to constantly ensure he's correct in the overall direction, and only then can he lead DM Entertainment to a better future.
The size of the workload doesn't apply to executives; management still needs to be judged by decision-making ability.
But from the perspective of workload, Jiang Shu indeed isn't particularly overworked.
“Come on,” Jiang Shu pointed to the dishes on the table. “Eat a bit more, then we’ll go to the rooftop to watch the fireworks.”
“New Year’s Eve fireworks?” Bae Joo-hyun smiled. “Sounds good.”
The two ate and chatted, and when the time reached 11:50, Jiang Shu came out of the office, carrying a wine glass and a red wine bottle.
Seeing Jiang Shu and Bae Joo-hyun emerge from the office, the two on-duty staff members immediately stood up.
“Come on, grab a glass each, and let’s go to the rooftop to watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks,” Jiang Shu said with a smile.
The two staff members exchanged glances, but then reacted, responding with surprised affirmations.
“Notify everyone else in the company; except for security personnel, everyone can come to the rooftop to watch the fireworks,” Jiang Shu told them.
“Yes!”
Soon after Jiang Shu and Bae Joo-hyun arrived on the rooftop, more on-duty employees gradually came up. Upon seeing Jiang Shu, they all respectfully bowed.
“Come on, everyone, have some,” Jiang Shu said with a smile, handing the red wine to the employee closest to him.
That staff member took the red wine and glanced at it, and that one glance almost made him drop the red wine in his hand.
“P-President, romanee-conti, this…?” the staff member stammered, looking at Jiang Shu.
The other staff members holding glasses were stunned when they heard this.
What the heck?
Is this the legendary romanee-conti, the red wine worth tens of millions (korean won)?
“It’s for you to drink, so drink without worry,” Jiang Shu said with a cheerful smile, swirling the wine glass in his hand.
The staff member swallowed, distributing the wine one by one.
Many people pulled out their phones to take pictures as a memento; they had to consider if this was their only chance in life to drink romanee-conti.
Drink!
Jiang Shu and Bae Joo-hyun didn't mind getting dirty; they found a random spot to sit down. The two sat side by side, and the staff members tacitly kept their distance, staying far away from them.
At the stroke of 00:00, brilliant fireworks rose from all directions across the city of Seoul.