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Chapter 246: Drama Wars (1)

Ryu Shin, chief secretary to Jiang Wei, was so proficient in Korean that he could almost pass as a Seoul native.

Upon hearing that Ryu Shin was here, So Yi-Yung rushed over and curiously chimed in. "What is it? Whose call was that?"

After a brief hesitation, Han Se-Hwa answered irritably, "President Jang from Womans."

"President Jang? Why would she call you? Is there a problem with tomorrow\'s interview?" So Yi-Yung asked.

Han Se-Hwa ignored So Yi-Yung\'s question and spoke to Ryu Shin. "Mr. Ryu, President Jang had just ousted Womans\' editor-in-chief."

Despite the unexpected and uncomfortable news, Ryu Shin\'s expression remained unchanged. "She must have been displeased with the bribery."

"Yes, she stated firmly that she has no intention of working with me or Blanc ever again," Han Se-Hwa added.

Ryu Shin fell into deep thought with his arms crossed. "Hmm..."

Unlike the calm Ryu Shin, So Yi-Yung snapped at Han Se-Hwa with a distressed expression. "Ms. Han! Then what about my article in the August issue? Is all the extra space I was promised gone?"

Han Se-Hwa swallowed dryly. "Just wait a moment. Let me check."

Han Se-Hwa called Choi Yung-Eun but she did not answer. After calling twice or thrice she was greeted with an automated message saying, "The phone is turned off."

It was clear that Choi Yung-Eun was avoiding her calls.

"That fucking witch! She took my money and now she won\'t answer the phone?"

As rough curses spilled from Han Se-Hwa\'s mouth, Ryu Shin sighed and adjusted his posture as he spoke. "Calm down. The promised support will not be canceled."

Only then did Han Se-Hwa let out a small sigh of relief.

Jiang Wei had provided the money, but Han Se-Hwa orchestrated the situation and handled the lobbying. She had expected to be harshly criticized for the failure. However, she was forgiven so easily as if it were no big deal.

"Do you have any idea why this happened?" Ryu Shin asked.

"Not really. President Jang stepped back from work and had been obsessed with golf for a while, so I don\'t understand why she suddenly returned to the company," Han Se-Hwa replied.

"Could it be that Hoop Entertainment noticed something and took action?"

"Hoop Entertainment?"

Ryu Shin elaborated, "I understand there\'s a rather capable guy named Jung Yoon-Ho at Hoop Entertainment."

At that moment, Han Se-Hwa\'s face contorted.

She was well aware of the name Jung Yoon-Ho. However, it was absurd to mention the name of a mere team lead among industry bigwigs.

Han Se-Hwa replied with a slightly displeased expression, "I\'ve also heard rumors about Team Lead Jung\'s competence, but I doubt he could influence President Jang to this extent..."

That\'s when Ryu Shin raised his hand. "That man is a talent Mr. Jiang Wei has his eye on."

Han Se-Hwa gasped and quickly closed her mouth.

\'President Jiang Wei is interested in a mere second-year team lead?\' She thought.

At that moment, Han Se-Hwa suddenly understood the significance of the title "team lead" attached to a second-year employee.

Hoop Entertainment was a top-tier management company in the industry, and it was extremely rare for someone who was not even thirty to become a team lead in such a place.

Although she had never met Jung Yoon-Ho in person, Han Se-Hwa realized she had to re-evaluate him if even Secretary Ryu Shin spoke so highly of him.

"I acknowledge I was rash. I\'ll immediately verify the details of the situation and look into Team Lead Jung Yoon-Ho."

Ryu Shin nodded with a satisfied look. "Mr. Jiang Wei dislikes losing. Whatever it is, just ensure that we win in viewership ratings. That\'s all that matters."

At that moment, Han Se-Haw swallowed dryly upon realizing that the statement about not canceling support didn\'t mean forgiveness but rather a temporary suspension of the decision.

Han Se-Hwa responded nervously, "Yes, Mr. Ryu!"

The satisfied Ryu Shin nodded and stood up.

At that moment, So Yi-Yung also stood up and bowed deeply. "Take care~ Mr. Ryu."

Wearing a dress that fully exposed her chest, So Yi-Yung didn\'t even cover herself as she bowed.

However, Ryu Shin nodded stiffly as if looking at a stone and left the office without turning back even once.

Thud.

As the office door closed, So Yi-Yung grumbled, "Ugh, what\'s with that guy? Is he a eunuch? Why is he showing no reaction?"

So Yi-Yung felt slighted by Ryu Shin\'s lack of interest in her and complained.

Han Se-Hwa sighed and leaned back on the sofa. "Yi-Yung, why would the secretary pay attention to the woman meeting Jiang Wei? Do you think he wants to lose his head?"

"But still! Ugh, this is so annoying," So Yi-Yung whined like a child.

Han Se-Hwa sighed again as she sat down. "But really, will something come out if we investigate Team Lead Jung?"

So Yi-Yung stared at Han Se-Hwa intently. "Should I meet him myself?"

"What?"

"Team Lead Jung is rumored to be hot among actresses these days..."

"Are you crazy, Miss Yi-Yung?"

Han Se-Hwa was shocked. It hadn\'t been long since So Yi-Yung decided to join Jiang Wei\'s line, but she was already talking about another man.

"What? Can\'t a woman meet multiple men?"

So Yi-Yung was implying she wanted to meet Jung Yoon-Ho and have some fun with him.

"Don\'t you know you could get burned? Powerful men like Jiang Wei can get quite jealous."

"That\'s what makes it thrilling and fun. Besides, what if I get caught? When dealing with older men, you have to make them jealous to stimulate them. Don\'t you know?" So Yi-Yung said with a smirk.

"You are unbelievable. Are you out of your mind or just bold?"

Han Se-Hwa was about to tell So Yi-Yung to stop saying such nonsense, but then she thought twice.

If anyone could pull it off, it might be So Yi-Yung.

However, Han Se-Hwa couldn\'t give So Yi-Yung permission directly because it would be troublesome if anything were to go wrong and she ended up being blamed.

Han Se-Hwa subtly distanced herself and tacitly allowed the situation to unfold.

"Ah, I don\'t know. Miss Yi-Yung, handle it as you see fit. This has nothing to do with me."

The moment Han Se-Hwa gave her indirect consent, So Yi-Yung smiled widely.

***

The promised interview with Yoo-Jin at Womans was personally conducted by Jang Ji-Hye, who also acted as the editor-in-chief.

The questions were not only about actress Jung Yoo-Jin but also about the person Jung Yoo-Jin.

Jang Ji-Hye led the conversation comfortably and allowed Yoo-Jin to share stories not even told in the documentary, The Human Story.

Pleased with the interview, Jang Ji-Hye promised a total of nine pages including exclusive photos.

Jang Ji-Hye even gifted me a golf club set after the interview.

I expected second-hand items, but it turned out to be a brand new Honma 4-star set which was still unwrapped.

I tried to refuse saying I couldn\'t accept such a hefty gift, but I couldn\'t refuse further when she mentioned that her husband\'s company, Yuseong Construction, was due to change its advertising model.

After all, I wanted to recommend Lee Tae-Poong as the model for Yuseong Construction\'s apartment brand, Star Park.

The interview ended smoothly, and the day of the broadcast of In the Name of God finally arrived a few days later.

It was July 29th, 9 a.m.

However, the portal\'s entertainment news section was flooded with articles about Festival of Money.

[Festival of Money. A lineup of glamorous stars!]

[Festival of Money. Trailer airing today (July 25th)!]

[Festival of Money. An epic casting!]

...

It seemed Han Se-Hwa was desperately spending money to make up for the loss after failing to bribe Womans.

Gu Seong-Cheol asked with a serious expression, "Do you think we\'ll be okay? I know that President Han received a large investment, but the articles in her favor are indeed overwhelming."

"Don\'t worry too much. Once this month\'s issue of Womans hits the bookstores this morning, people will pay attention to us as well," I assured him.

Oh Duk-Gu and Ju Yung-Hoon grinned playfully.

"Looks like Team Lead Jung has gained some experience. Not even trembling, huh?"

Gu Seong-Cheol chuckled. "You guys, why can\'t you do half as good as Yoon-Ho? Huh?"

Ju Yung-Hoon laughed and replied, "Shouldn\'t you be worried about your own performance instead of ours?"

"What~?"

When Gu Seong-Cheol raised his fist, Oh Duk-Gu and Ju Yung-Hoon pretended to die playfully and ran away.

"Those guys always ask for trouble."

At that moment, the conference room door burst open and Kim Mi-Hye ran in yelling, "Mr. Jung! It\'s happening!"

"What is?" I asked.

"Womans!"

Kim Mi-Hye was causing a commotion, urging us to check the live search rankings.

However, the impact of this month\'s issue of Womans was far greater than I had expected.

[Live Search Rankings]

1. Womans

2. Womans Server Down

3. Womans Stock

4. Yetterang Miso

5. Jung Yoo-Jin Miso

...

Gu Seong-Cheol was stunned. "What, what is this?"

Kim Mi-Hye replied excitedly, "There\'s a frenzy because of the Yetterang samples included with this month\'s Womans issue. The online store is already sold out, and people are scrambling to find stock in Seoul bookstores."

Womans had previously caused sell-out frenzies by providing samples worth far more than the magazine price, but it was the first time the company\'s website had gone down.

Gu Seong-Cheol tilted his head in confusion. "Why is a sample of an as-yet-unadvertised cosmetic causing such a stir? The TV commercial isn\'t scheduled to air until 9:50 p.m. tonight."

Yetterang\'s new cosmetic TV ad was scheduled to air just before the broadcast of In the Name of God.

Kim Mi-Hye shook her head. "The TV commercial is scheduled for later, but Miss Ha-Na, Miss Yoo-Jin, and Cherry Blossom members have posted their sample reviews on Instargem."

Kim Mi-Hye immediately turned on the large LCD in the conference room and displayed related comments.

Gu Seong-Cheol looked surprised upon seeing the impact of viral reactions compared to paid articles.

"Yoon-Ho, did you plan this far ahead?" Gu Seong-Cheol asked with eyes wide open.

I scratched my head and smiled sheepishly. "To some extent. We can\'t just sit back, can we?"

Yoo-Jin had 400,000 followers on Instargem, Ha-Na had 170,000 subscribers on her MeTube, and Cherry Blossom had 500,000 followers.

Each celebrity in Team Jung had influencer-level followers and subscribers, creating an impact beyond what reporters could achieve.

Gu Seong-Cheol suddenly stood up, walked toward me, and hugged me tightly with his thick arms. "Aww~. I love you to death!"

Gu Seong-Cheol\'s beard rubbed against my cheek.

I was 27 years old this year, or 37 if I included my previous life; I didn\'t expect to be cuddled like this at this age.

"Ugh. Mr. Gu! Your beard! Your beard!" I complained.

I cried out in pain, but the other team leads simply laughed without any intention of rescuing me.

Fortunately, a phone call saved me.

"Mr. Gu, there\'s a call for Mr. Jung! It\'s urgent!"

"Who is it?"

"President Jang from Womans!"

Gu Seong-Cheol reluctantly let go of me.

"Yes, this is Jung Yoon-Ho."

-Team Lead Jung! Have you heard about the current situation?

"Yes, I\'ve heard the response is amazing..."

-It\'s more than amazing. All stock in Seoul is sold out right now and they\'re almost gone even in the provinces. We\'re printing more copies immediately.

Womans had been achieving an average magazine circulation of 40,000 copies with the decline in the print magazine market despite being the number one women\'s magazine.

They had printed 50,000 copies this time with high expectations, but now even those were about to sell out.

-I thought 50,000 copies were a lot, but I never imagined this would happen...

At that moment, I realized why Jang Ji-Hye was calling.

"Is this about the samples?"

-See, I don’t need to repeat myself with you, Team Lead Jung. Is that why people call you Star Jung the Fortune Teller?

Jang Ji-Hye complimented me while speaking kindly. However, I couldn’t fall for her subtle attempt to get more samples through me. Since Yetterang\'s product was well-known at this point, there was no need to send free samples for promotion.

Womans was the party who needed something from us. With the increased magazine sales, the advertisers would gain significant additional benefits.

Hence, I reluctantly explained to Jang Ji-Hye that her request wouldn\'t be easy.

"Ms. Jang, it\'s not my decision to make. Also, it might be difficult to provide additional samples because Yetterang\'s financial situation isn\'t great."

I exaggerated further by saying that Yetterang didn\'t have enough cash to pay the factory workers\' salaries.

-Oh, really? Is it that bad?

"Yes, they recently took out a loan to expand the production line. So if you could cover some of the costs for the additional samples, it would make it easier for me to negotiate with them."

-Still, buying promotional items is kind of...

After a brief consideration, Jang Ji-Hye let out a sigh.

-Okay. The quantity is 30,000 units. I can add a 3% margin on the cost price, so please handle the negotiations for me.

"Yes, ma\'am."

My heart started pounding as soon as I hung up the phone. I couldn\'t believe I managed to sell the promotional samples at a cost with a margin.

Yetterang had produced a total of 100,000 promotional samples. 50,000 had already been sent to Womans, and the remaining 50,000 were planned for retail distribution.

But now, I could give half of that amount to Womans and recover some of the cost.

I suppressed my excitement and immediately called Ahn Seok-Hoon of Yetterang.

I quickly updated him on the situation. "Mr. Ahn, the president from Womans said..."

Hearing the situation, Ahn Seok-Hoon was astonished.

-Pardon me? Are you suggesting that we should sell the samples we made for promotion?

This news was like rain in a drought for Ahn Seok-Hoo who was short on cash right now.

However, I didn’t stop there and made another proposal.

"Yes, and if you agree, I can try to increase the margin further... What do you think?"