Chapter 155: Hostility (3)

Translator: Dreamscribe

Expressionless, Kang Jae-ha carefully went through the materials on 'GOO Production' that Cha Chung-hyeon had handed him. The flow of funds and so on. Normally, this would not have been easy, but for Cha Chung-hyeon, it was child's play.

While Jae-ha was looking through the materials, Cha Chung-hyeon let out a small yawn and muttered briefly.

"'GOO Production'. Not just in Korea. The offshore tax evasion through Shanghai is pretty extensive too."

Just as he said, the flow of money through 'GOO Production' reeked of something rotten. It had grown even worse after the company accepted Chinese capital several years ago.

'So it started when they set up a paper company in Shanghai.'

After setting up a paper company in Shanghai, 'GOO Production' used it to conceal income or process fictitious expenses. For one, they did not remit the appearance fees their artists earned from events, advertisements, and broadcasts in China back to the Korean headquarters.

'They ran it through the Shanghai paper company.'

On top of that, they siphoned money away through fraudulent or secret contracts. In the process, they took inflated contract payments or padded fictitious service fees. Those were just the major cases. Including all the smaller ones, they had handled a considerable amount of money offshore.

'These bastards have been raking it in for a long time.'

'GOO Production' had probably expanded the management side of its business for the sake of offshore tax evasion too. The interesting thing was.

"Was Jeon So-hee in on it too?"

Jeon So-hee, whose illegal Propofol injection scandal had just erupted, was mixed up in 'GOO Production's tax evasion too.

"Yes, it looks that way. I don't know whether Jeon So-hee knew about it, but- money leaked out whenever she worked in China too."

"She definitely knew what she was doing, no way she didn't."

"Yes, I think so too."

Whenever Jeon So-hee finished working in China, some of that money had probably been passed to her under the pretext of a bonus. Well, it was only Jae-ha's speculation, but he was almost certain of it.

On top of that, there were quite a few nasty rumors about 'GOO Production'. The source was Ha Yeon-ji. To the point that virtually everyone who had worked at 'GOO Production' cursed the place. Cha Chung-hyeon slowly scratched his chin and asked the Commander.

"What do you think?"

Kang Jae-ha smirked.

"This should be enough. Good work."

"It was nothing. As you know, I can do this much with my eyes closed."

Kang Jae-ha set down the materials Cha Chung-hyeon had handed him and gave a simple order.

"Once the Jeon So-hee thing really catches fire, time it right and toss this to the National Tax Service too."

Afterward.

The news of Jeon So-hee's illegal Propofol injections engulfed the country. The breaking story that erupted that morning had swollen to enormous proportions in just a few hours, and now that night had fallen, wherever one looked was utter chaos.

It was only natural. Jeon So-hee was one of the country's most prominent Top Actresses.

No matter which search site one checked, Jeon So-hee's name was everywhere, and news programs from multiple broadcasting stations competed to cover the Jeon So-hee incident.

-["Controversy is spreading after actress Jeon So-hee's former manager exposed her illegal Propofol use."]

Youtube was no different. Whether long-form or short-form, Jeon So-hee's face was everywhere.

The fallout was enormous. Because Jeon So-hee had been at such a high point.

Public opinion had gone beyond cold and frozen solid.

-Holy shit this is kinda shocking;;

-So this is how Jeon So-hee goes down lmaoooooo now she's gonna get buried in breach penalties

-The entertainment industry seriously feels like a junkie paradise

-Amazing lmaoooo catch and punish the bastard who sold Jeon So-hee the drugs too

-Catch the doctor who gave her the injections too

-Jeon So-hee's fucking crazy;;

-Crazy..... What could a top-tier actress at her level possibly have been lacking.....

-Don't give her a slap on the wrist, punish her properly

It had not even been a day, and things were already this bad. By tomorrow, the uproar would probably be several times worse. Jeon So-hee had practically become proof of just how fast someone could fall after reaching such heights.

Meanwhile.

《[Star Talk] 'Illegal Propofol Use' Jeon So-hee Remains Silent Without Issuing a Statement, The More She Avoids It, The Bigger It Gets/ Photo》

Jeon So-hee, the person at the center of the incident, remained silent. Her agency, 'GOO Production', was the same. Well, they were probably coming up with countermeasures among themselves, but it hardly mattered. The incident was only growing larger with time.

Sure enough, starting on the morning of April 5, one day later, additional accusations involving Jeon So-hee began pouring out one after another.

《[Exclusive] Jeon So-hee's Former Stylist Comes Forward Too "Jeon So-hee Treated Staff Like Slaves" Shocking》

Victims who had been keeping quiet began emerging in droves.

《More 'Jeon So-hee' Victims Continue to Appear Through SNS and Online Communities/ Photo》

At this point, there was no way anyone in the entertainment industry had not heard about the Jeon So-hee incident. Including, of course, Moon Ji-a, who was reading the articles while waiting to shoot on a photoshoot set.

"...Why on earth."

Yoon Da-yeon, An Ji-hee, and all the other big-name actors in Korea were also watching Jeon So-hee's downfall unfold in real time. Leon, where Kang Jae-ha had arrived for work, was abuzz as well. In the middle of it all, only Jae-ha remained quiet...

"......"

Kang Jae-ha had merely lit the fuse that was Jeon So-hee. Everything else was burning on its own. In a way, she was finally paying for all the karma she had piled up while climbing to the top. Even without Kang Jae-ha, it might have blown up someday. He had merely brought it forward a little.

'That's why people need to behave themselves, it all comes back around someday.'

Leon and the rest of the world might have been in an uproar, but Jae-ha stopped paying attention to Jeon So-hee and shifted his thoughts elsewhere. To 'Kisera', who were probably working through the schedule they had managed to secure. Kang Jae-ha picked up his phone.

He went through TilTok and the other platforms and SNS where he had pushed overseas viral content for 'Kisera'.

A few minutes later, Kang Jae-ha lowered his phone and smiled faintly.

'Three million views... That's gone up a lot.'

The view counts on 'Kisera's short videos had increased considerably. In particular, the video that had hit one million views had now surged all the way to three million. The other videos had risen alongside it too, ranging anywhere from one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand views.

'Up to one million could still be brushed off as nothing special, but three million is different.'

Just as Jae-ha had thought, three million views on platforms like TilTok or Reels carried quite a bit of significance. It meant the videos had caught the attention of overseas audiences.

The comments were overflowing with English, and the phrase 'easy listening' appeared frequently. In other words, 'Kisera's songs did not put overseas audiences off. There were even comments saying they sounded like American indie pop.

And once people learned that the songs had been sung by a rookie Korean idol group, interest only seemed to keep growing.

After checking the reactions, Kang Jae-ha moved over to Youtube.

Both of 'Kisera's music videos had passed five hundred thousand views side by side. Those were numbers practically unheard of for a brand-new rookie girl group.

On top of that.

'I can't even see any Korean in the music video comments anymore.'

It would not have been an exaggeration to say that more than 90% of the comments under the two music videos were in English. Even the comments being posted right now were all in English.

"The tide's coming in."

It was not exactly pouring in yet, but 'Kisera' was undeniably growing its recognition overseas. Kang Jae-ha thought of the next stage. Three million views on TilTok and five hundred thousand on Youtube. If the snowball had already rolled this far, the algorithm was next.

An algorithm was like word of mouth or a trend.

One tap, one view from someone, and 'Kisera' would spread to the people around them. Of course, he needed to push the overseas viral marketing even more aggressively. 'Kisera' also needed to keep filming short videos to throw overseas while working through their domestic schedules, including music shows.

There was no need for 'Kisera' to immediately start scheduling overseas activities just because they were getting some attention abroad.

Looking at the whole picture, the overseas attention 'Kisera' was receiving was still minuscule, and at times like this, they needed to focus even more on their domestic activities.

'It'll be better to show those activities to overseas audiences.'

The next thing Kang Jae-ha searched for on Youtube was 'Moonless Village', whose teaser trailer had recently been uploaded. As soon as he saw the result, Kang Jae-ha smiled. Naturally.

-Moonless Village | 1st Official Teaser Trailer | Netflix

-Views: 1,881,535

The teaser trailer for 'Moonless Village' was already closing in on a staggering two million views. It was causing quite a stir. Something about it felt extraordinary. Kang Jae-ha slowly crossed his legs and predicted.

'At this rate, the animated-film industry must be talking about nothing but 'Moonless Village' by now.'

And that was exactly what was happening. 'Moonless Village' was the follow-up to the wildly successful 'House of the Daytime Moon'. The internet as a whole might have been in an uproar over Jeon So-hee, but within the animated-film industry, 'Moonless Village' was hotter than Jeon So-hee.

"'Moonless Village' is finally coming out? Whoa, the teaser trailer is already at two million views?? Damn- public anticipation is definitely shooting through the roof."

"'House of the Daytime Moon' did insanely well, after all. Not only was it a massive box-office hit, but its secondary and tertiary sales seem to be doing well too. But I don't think 'Moonless Village', which is basically the second installment, will do as well as 'House of the Daytime Moon'."

"Why?"

"Spin-off series rarely do well, and the Korean animation scene is still pretty barren. 'House of the Daytime Moon' really just got lucky. I've got a feeling 'Moonless Village' will shine for a little while at first, then slowly fizzle out."

"I think 'Moonless Village' will do well too. Going with Netflix instead of a theatrical release is something new, and judging from the teaser, the quality looks even better than 'House of the Daytime Moon'. They really brought out the Korean flavor in the characters, backgrounds, music, and everything else."

"We'll have to see when it comes out."

Whatever the case, one thing was certain at this point. Aside from Jeon So-hee and those productions, the things Kang Jae-ha had his hands in.

"Who knows? Maybe 'Moonless Village' will become a massive hit in Korea and spread worldwide too."

"Hahaha, isn't that a bit of a stretch?"

Were shaking up the world right now.

Around the afternoon of the 6th.

Kang Jae-ha, wearing the face of Director Kim Ha-jae, could be found on a filming set. There were many familiar staff members there. Several staff members spotted Jae-ha and kept bowing in greeting.

This was the set of the 'One-Act Drama Project', where filming for Season 2 was in full swing.

Season 1, featuring An Ji-hee, Oh Jong-man, Yoon Da-yeon, and others, had already been a huge hit.

'Everyone looks upbeat, the whole set is full of energy.'

The staff's morale was through the roof. Some of them could also be seen whispering among themselves about Jeon So-hee. Whether they did or not, Jae-ha remained impassive.

-Swish.

He seemed to be looking for someone. The person he was searching for soon entered Kang Jae-ha's sight. Among the key staff was director Baek Jeong-ha, quietly going over the direction for the next scene.

Thanks to the 'One-Act Drama Project', her already-high market value had risen even further. Kang Jae-ha looked at her.

'Her skin looks even rougher than before.'

Without much hesitation, he walked over to Director Baek Jeong-ha. Sensing someone approaching, Baek Jeong-ha turned her head and spotted Jae-ha. Apparently they had arranged this meeting in advance, because Baek Jeong-ha greeted Kang Jae-ha without much of a reaction.

"Ah, General Manager Kim, you're here? No, I suppose I should call you Director now."

Kang Jae-ha calmly held out his hand for a handshake.

"Call me whatever you're comfortable with."

After moving a short distance away from the group of a dozen or so staff members, including the key staff, Director Baek Jeong-ha asked Kang Jae-ha.

"So, why did you want to see me? Sorry, but I don't have much time. Five minutes, tops? We have to go straight into the next shoot after that."

As though that did not matter, Jae-ha nodded.

"That's more than enough."

Just then.

"Ah!!"

The lighting director standing nearby shouted while looking at his phone.

"Jeon So-hee's holding a press conference??!"

"Seriously??!"

"Yeah, it's live, live."

"Let's watch it together!"

Apparently Jeon So-hee had just begun a major press conference. Kang Jae-ha laughed inwardly. It was obvious that Jeon So-hee would appear with a face like her world had collapsed and offer a public apology to the entire country.

'The timing's right, time to take down 'GOO Production' too.'

Kang Jae-ha decided he should give Cha Chung-hyeon the order immediately, then quietly brought up the real reason he had come here to Director Baek Jeong-ha, who had turned her attention toward the key staff.

Jeon So-hee or whatever the hell else, even with the world in chaos, Kang Jae-ha.

"I came to recruit you, Director Baek Jeong-ha-nim. Come to 'MEG', Director-nim."

Was still growing 'MEG'.

*****

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