Chapter 1057: Shifting Alliances

After declaring that he was entrusting the fate of Jinseong Inc. to me, Jin Dae-Woon began issuing orders to his four children.

"First, Ah-Ram. As of today, you're the president of Jinseong Hotel & Resort."

Jin Ah-Ram blinked in a daze. "Are... are you serious?"

"I am. It's overdue, but this is your reward for turning the Yeongjongdo Resort around."

"Yes, Mr. Chairman!"

With Jin Ah-Ram becoming the president of Jinseong Hotel & Resort, it meant the permanent removal of the former president, Jin Myung-Hee, who had been on leave.

Sure enough, Jin Myung-Hee exploded. "Dad! If you hand my position over to that little brat, what am I supposed to do?"

Jin Dae-Woon roared back at her. "Isn't the one who's even more useless than that 'little brat' you? You bought Sejin Resort at a disastrous price, caused enormous losses, and left Jinseong Resort in Yeongjongdo completely empty. And you still have the nerve to complain?"

He shouted so loudly that Jin Myung-Hee actually started hiccupping in shock. "I-I... hic..."

"What a disappointment."

Clicking his tongue, Jin Dae-Woon turned to President Jin Sung-Joon. This time, however, there was a completely different weight to his voice than when he had spoken to Jin Ah-Ram.

"And President Jin Sung-Joon."

"Yes, Mr. Chairman."

"From today onward, in addition to serving as the president of Jinseong Foods, you'll also hold the position of director at Jinseong Inc. Headquarters."

The room fell silent as though an invisible bomb had just exploded. Ever since the eldest son, Jin Myung-Gyu, had stepped down as vice president, none of the four siblings had held an executive position at headquarters.

Appointing the third child, Jin Sung-Joon, as a director at headquarters meant only one thing—he was being named as the company's next successor.

"So from now on, you'll attend the executive meetings at headquarters every day."

Realizing the significance of those words, Jin Sung-Joon answered with his whole body trembling. "Yes, Mr. Chairman."

The moment I saw how happy he was, my own heart began to pound. After all, I was the one who had helped bring Jin Sung-Joon to this point.

***

After delivering his storm of orders, Jin Dae-Woon turned to Jin Myung-Gyu and Jin Myung-Hee. "As for Myung-Gyu and Myung-Hee, I'll give each of you one profitable subsidiary. If you manage them well, they should be able to rank within the nation's top one hundred companies."

Just then, the previously silent Jin Myung-Gyu finally spoke. "I told you Assemblyman Park Sang-Gon is targeting us. Don't you think you're making this decision too hastily?"

There was an icy glint in his eyes, and his voice had become flat and emotionless. The way he spoke made it seem as though he were addressing a complete stranger.

Jin Dae-Woon answered, "Based on the results Sung-Joon and Ah-Ram have achieved, there's nothing left to deliberate."

Jin Myung-Gyu pointed a finger at me. "Even though every one of those achievements came from Chief Jung's help?"

Jin Dae-Woon answered as though the question itself was foolish. "The essence of management is knowing how to use capable people. What's wrong with that? Besides, they delivered results. Isn't that what matters?"

Jin Myung-Gyu trembled with rage before pushing himself to his feet. "Understood. Then, unless you have any further instructions, I'll be leaving."

Without so much as a bow, he turned sharply toward the door.

Jin Myung-Hee shouted after him, "Oppa! Oppa! Have you lost your mind? You're just leaving like this?"

"Shut up and follow me."

With those final words, Jin Myung-Gyu walked straight out of the chairman's office.

Having no choice, Jin Myung-Hee reluctantly got to her feet before turning to look at her father. "Dad. You'll regret today's decision... I guarantee it!"

After glaring at all of us with clenched teeth, Jin Myung-Hee stormed out of the Chairman's office.

Bang.

The moment the door slammed shut, Jin Dae-Woon, who had been sitting perfectly upright, let out a long sigh. No matter how disappointing they were, Jin Myung-Gyu and Jin Myung-Hee were still his children.

Yet, true to the man who had built Jinseong Inc. from the ground up, Jin Dae-Woon quickly straightened himself and issued an order to Chief Secretary Seok Han-Joong. "Put people on those two. They may try something reckless."

"Yes, Mr. Chairman."

Seok Han-Joong took out his phone and stepped off to one side of the office.

Meanwhile, Jin Dae-Woon looked directly at me. "Chief Jung."

I answered, "Yes, Mr. Chairman."

"You understand that Jinseong's future has effectively been decided because of you, don't you?"

"I do."

"I'm sorry, but Jinseong is still too heavy a burden for Sung-Joon to carry alone. Will you help him shoulder it?"

"I will, Mr. Chairman."

"In that case, I'd like you to accept the remaining 7% of Jinseong Hotel & Resort that I tried to give you before. I'll feel much more at ease if you own that much."

In the past, he had tried to give me 10% of Jinseong Hotel & Resort. At the time, I had refused and accepted only 3% instead. Back then, I thought he intended to use those shares to control me. This time, however, his offer carried nothing but a sincere plea for me to share Jinseong's fate.

"Come on, Yoon-Ho. Please accept it."

"Please, Mr. Jung. Accept it this time."

Jin Sung-Joon and Jin Ah-Ram also pleaded along. The three of them seemed convinced that if I became one of Jinseong Hotel & Resort's major shareholders, I would naturally devote that much more attention to Jinseong Inc.

I was about to tell them that, as long as Jin Sung-Joon and Ah-Ram were my friends, money didn't matter. Then Jin Dae-Woon's next words left me with no room to refuse.

"You accepted 10% from Daechon, didn't you? Are you discriminating against us now?"

I had no response. In the end, all I could do was smile awkwardly.

"...I'll accept it."

And just like that, after helping settle Jinseong Inc.'s succession, I became one of the major shareholders of Jinseong Hotel & Resort.

***

Instead of the usual members of Faithful, only three people sat in the VIP room of Japanese Restaurant Today located in Yeouido: presidential hopeful Assemblyman Park Sang-Gon, his daughter Park Sang-Ah, and Yang Ji-Hoon, the former Chief Secretary to Choi Man-Sik.

At the moment, Park Sang-Gon was on the phone with Jin Myung-Gyu, the eldest son of Jinseong Inc.

-My father rejected your proposal, Mr. Assemblyman.

"I see. Then once I've secured the presidency, shall I remove your father from his position?"

-Yes. And I'd appreciate it if you'd get rid of those vermin of my half-siblings as well. In return, I'll use every ounce of Jinseong's power to support the Republic of Korea.

From the very beginning, that had been the deal between them. If Jin Dae-Woon refused to side with Park Sang-Gon, then once Park Sang-Gon became president, he would remove Jin Dae-Woon and install Jin Myung-Gyu as the chairman. In exchange, Jin Myung-Gyu would devote the full strength of Jinseong Inc. to supporting President Park Sang-Gon.

The two men were simply reaffirming that agreement over the phone.

"I'll be counting on you."

-Yes, Mr. Assemblyman. I'll see you at our next meeting.

Click.

After ending the call, Park Sang-Gon turned to Yang Ji-Hoon. "So, just as you said, Jinseong was a failure."

Sip.

Yang Ji-Hoon took a sip of his hot tea and smiled. "I told you already. The current Faithful is nothing more than a gathering of fools. They have no chance of defeating Jung Yoon-Ho."

With Chairman Sung Hak-Soo imprisoned, Hong Ah-Yoon arrested, and HK Inc. on the verge of being split in two, Park Sang-Gon could no longer afford to place his trust in Faithful. That was why he was meeting with Yang Ji-Hoon.

"I admit it. So what do you suggest we do now? 90% of the major corporations we've contacted have already agreed to side with TK Entertainment. But the moment that brat Chief Jung's artists become the next big sensation, they'll all run back to Hoop Entertainment."

Clink.

Yang Ji-Hoon set down his teacup and looked at Park Sang-Gon. "Have you ever heard of Japan's Bunnies Productions?"

"I've heard of them. Weren't they said to have ties to the yakuza?"

"Yes. Then did you know Bunnies Productions owns more than 50% of the shares in most of Japan's entertainment companies?"

"What?"

"It's a company with countless subsidiaries that has dominated the Japanese entertainment industry for decades."

"Haha. That's astonishing. Japan's entertainment market is several times larger than ours. If they monopolized half of it for decades... But why bring them up when we were talking about Jung Yoon-Ho?"

Yang Ji-Hoon let out a faint chuckle. "Because I'm going to turn TK Entertainment into Korea's version of Bunnies Productions. Then it'll swallow every talent agency and production company in the country. Once that happens, Jung Yoon-Ho—that arrogant bastard who's been acting like he's above the press and television networks—won't have anywhere left to stand."

Only then did Park Sang-Gon smile at the sheer scale of Yang Ji-Hoon's ambition. "You really think on a different level. Excellent. If you're going to do something, that's how big it should be. But is it actually possible?"

"Yes. It is. Provided you continue helping me as you have been."

"So you want me to keep pressuring corporations to give work only to the Korean version of Bunnies that you're building?"

"You caught on immediately."

"Hmph. There's no need to flatter me. But where do you intend to get the money for all these acquisitions?"

Yang Ji-Hoon smiled. "I'll take care of that myself."

Park Sang-Gon was curious about the source of the funding, but decided not to press the issue. "Hmm. Fine. As far as I'm concerned, all that matters are the results."

Park Sang-Ah quickly spoke up as well. "I'll help too."

Yang Ji-Hoon smiled at their enthusiasm. "Then, as promised, please get Man-Sik hyung-nim released as quickly as possible."

Park Sang-Gon had once completely abandoned Choi Man-Sik, but he had changed his mind. There was no reason to reject someone who had brought him money.

"Next month, the current party leader will resign, citing health reasons. The moment I take that position, that'll be my first priority. After all, he's going to become my daughter Sang-Ah's husband."

Park Sang-Ah nodded with a satisfied smile. Then she asked, "But if you're trying to build Korea's version of Bunnies, wouldn't it make more sense to center everything around Kim Dong-Soo's Ace Entertainment? TK Entertainment is already the industry leader. It'll attract too much attention."

"The situation in Korea is different from Japan. We don't have that luxury."

"Really?"

"Even so, I do intend to meet with Kim Dong-Soo. Out of everyone, he's the most suitable person to deal with Jung Yoon-Ho."

"You mean you're going to make Kim Dong-Soo your representative?"

"No. I'm going to make Kim Dong-Soo my right-hand man."

A catlike smile spread across Park Sang-Ah's face. "I hope it succeeds. Oh, and when you meet him, I want to come too."

"I'll let you know."

A plan was quietly taking shape to drive Jung Yoon-Ho out and reshape Korea's entertainment industry into something resembling Japan's.

***

After leaving Jinseong Inc., I immediately called President Kang Gam-Chan to report everything that had happened. Fortunately, he wasn't overly surprised to hear that the major corporations were choosing TK Entertainment. He said Chairman Choi Eun-Tae had already made preparations for a situation like this.

-Even if the major corporations said they'd choose TK Entertainment, they won't be able to make any obvious moves right away. Besides, some of them only gave that answer because they didn't want to make an enemy of Park Sang-Gon.

They had been forced to choose one side, but in reality, many of them were still trying to keep a foot in both camps.

"Then the damage should be less severe than I expected."

-That's right. Even so, we still need to prepare. Regardless, you did well bringing Jinseong over to our side.

"You're giving me too much credit. By the way, Mr. Kang... I have one favor to ask."

-What favor?

"Even if advertising inquiries slow down for a while, I hope we won't lower our celebrities' endorsement fees."

The major corporations choosing TK Entertainment meant they'd start directing their advertising budgets there.

The easiest way to win those contracts back would be to slash the rates charged by our celebrities. However, I had no intention of lowering their value. Once you lowered a celebrity's market price, raising it again was incredibly difficult.

-So you're saying you're willing to go head-to-head with the major corporations?

"Yes. If that's what it takes."

-Hmm. Very well. Then let's show those corporations just how foolish their decision was.

"Yes, Mr. Kang. Then I'll leave the rest to you and head over to Miso's filming set."

-All right. Good work.

After hanging up with Kang Gam-Chan, I also contacted Kang Eun-Gi, Lee Doo-Oh, and President Tae Beom-Gu, asking them to gather any information they could about what Park Sang-Gon and Yang Ji-Hoon were up to.

Even with Everyday, the more information I had, the better.

***

Hope Hospital located in Guro was a private hospital run by three generations of doctors: Doctor Seo Hwan-Hee, who was now eighty years old, his son Seo Ha-Jin, and his grandson Seo Myung-Woo. It was also the hospital where Lee Sa-Yeon, the wife of Park Sang-Gyu, a member of Devoted, was staying.

The hospital occupied roughly 2,000 pyeong of land, with a five-story building over forty years old taking up about 500 pyeong of the site. SBC had rented two vacant patient rooms on the fifth floor, transforming them into the rehabilitation center set for Land of Happiness, where filming was currently underway.

"All right! As soon as the lighting is ready, we'll begin filming."

Today's shoot was for Episode 17 of Land of Happiness. The scene would show Yoon Kkot-Nim gradually becoming brighter and more cheerful after being influenced by Lee Sol-Ji, a young leukemia patient she had met back in Episode 15.

Miso, who played Yoon Kkot-Nim, was once again sitting beside Lee Sa-Yeon, who was appearing as an extra, chatting away happily.

"Auntie, how are you feeling today? Are you doing okay?"

Lee Sa-Yeon gently stroked Miso's hair before answering in a halting voice. "Y-... Yeah. I'm feeling... much better."

Lee Sa-Yeon had recovered enough to move around in a wheelchair now, but after being unable to speak for so long, her speech was still slow and slurred. Even so, she had once been a member of the Ace Theater Company alongside Park Sang-Gyu, so acting at this level was effortless for her.

Miso clapped her hands together. "That's great!"

Watching the two of them talk, I noticed Miso looked brighter than I had expected.

'Looks like she still hasn't seen the audience reactions.'

Episode 15 of Land of Happiness, the daily drama Miso was currently filming, had reached a remarkable 25.8% viewership ratings, setting new records day after day. However, viewers were fiercely criticizing Miso for her portrayal of Yoon Kkot-Nim.

In Land of Happiness, Yoon Kkot-Nim was initially a deeply twisted character, consumed by guilt and self-loathing. Episode 15, which had aired the previous Friday, had taken that trait to the extreme, leaving viewers condemning the character.

I had anticipated this from the beginning, so I had forbidden Miso from searching for reactions online, worried the criticism might hurt her. Perhaps because of that, she still didn't seem discouraged.

I quietly walked over to the two of them and greeted them. "Miso."

"Oh! Uncle Yoon-Ho!" Miso greeted me with a bright smile.

After giving her a high-five, I turned to Lee Sa-Yeon. "Noo-nim, you're looking much better today."

"Thanks... to you... I am."

"Come on, it's because you've been working so hard on your rehabilitation. But are you sure you'll be okay filming today?"

"Y-... Yeah... I'll... be fine."

Lee Sa-Yeon had earnestly insisted on participating as an extra for these three episodes. I couldn't understand why she was pushing herself before she had fully recovered, but she only smiled and still refused to tell me the reason.

"All right. Then I'm looking forward to working with you again today."

"Y-Yeah..."

Just then, PD Ju Se-Hyung called out, "All right, everyone! We're rolling! Get ready."

"Yes, sir!" Miso sprang to her feet and handed me the phone she had been holding. "Here, Uncle Yoon-Ho."

"Okay. I'll keep it safe."

As Miso headed over to her wheelchair, I wished Lee Sa-Yeon good luck as well before stepping out of the camera's frame.

Jin Gong-Ju arrived a moment later, greeted everyone, and climbed into bed number four by the window in the six-patient room. Miso wheeled herself over and stopped beside bed number four.

After checking that everything was set, Ju Se-Hyung spoke to Miso. "Once we start rolling, tell Gong-Ju that you've been cleared to walk while holding her hand. And... Kkot-Nim is happy, but Sol-Ji's condition still hasn't improved. I want you to show both joy and guilt at the same time. Got it?"

"Okay!"

After giving her usual spirited reply, Miso placed both hands on the wheels of her wheelchair and immersed herself completely in the role.

The moment he saw she was ready, Ju Se-Hyung called out, "Here we go. Episode 17, Scene 5. Ready... Action!"

Miso rolled her wheelchair right up beside the bed where Jin Gong-Ju was lying.

『Um, Sol-Ji...』

Jin Gong-Ju pushed herself upright in bed.

『What is it, Kkot-Nim?』

『Well...』

Tears streamed down Miso's face. The tears came so quickly that everyone watched in admiration, just as they always did.

Then, Miso never said her next line. Even after ten full seconds, Miso still couldn't get the words out. It was a situation none of us had ever seen before, and both I and the entire staff began to panic.

However, nothing changed. Miso remained silent.

Finally, Ju Se-Hyung broke the heavy silence. "Cut!"

To everyone's astonishment, Miso—the child prodigy who almost never made mistakes—had just flubbed a scene.

'Miso... what happened to you all of a sudden?'