Chapter 74 Does signing with the company require cohabitation?
[OMG, this episode of "Knowing Bros" is absolutely amazing! The beginning was hilarious and so satisfying, and then they dropped a bombshell at the end!]
[Ahhhhh, she admitted it! My sister herself admitted that Fox is a very important person to her. It turns out it's a victory for the FC party, and the Fox/Snake party is the ultimate winner!]
[Fox snake? kkk It's kind of cute and kind of fits the FC style.]
[Hahaha, Coldy's words are truly impressive, I have to admit defeat. Every cut goes straight for the artery, he always targets the opponent's sore spots.]
I really wish Coldy would write a book to teach me how to swear without using profanity; I desperately need it.
I also want my mentor, Coldy.
This shows that Coldy really did his research, for example, he's 170cm tall and his hair is 4cm long, which shows he put in a lot of effort.
What the other side said doesn't bother Coldy at all. Even if they don't renew his contract, so what? Would WK1 dare to bench Coldy?
WK1 is relying on Coldy and Lumera to build a new building, and ZB1 is making a lot of money; their luck has really turned around in the last two years.
[To truly succeed, one must rely on one's own abilities. There's not much the other side can use to attack Coldy. Everyone knows Coldy hasn't had plastic surgery, and while they might say his career is lacking, Coldy is far from bad. He currently has zero scandals, so they can only bring up rumors. But too many rumors are tasteless. Nobody dares to touch GD, who's at the center of the storm, and even the regulars won't mention him often.]
So this game was tailor-made for Coldy, right? I really enjoyed watching Coldy roast people; I kept laughing.
[Thank you Tukutz! You are our KC party's god!]
[I've been waiting for someone to mention this person, and hehehe, I finally got to see it! Now I don't have to guess anymore, Fox is Coldy's officially acknowledged teacher and a very important person~]
[What's so surprising about kkk? This attack is like a tickle. The teacher who taught her to write songs must be very important to her, that goes without saying.]
[I definitely can't ask a question like "Is Fox your boyfriend?", otherwise I'll be bombarded with criticism. But asking it subtly like this is also a sweet gesture, hehe.]
[Um, this is just a game, of course you can't take what they say seriously. Coldy only said "of course" because he wanted to win, okay? If you take it seriously, then everything about Meimei not wanting to renew her contract is justified.]
[But look at Coldy's expression, he clearly panicked for a moment. It seems like FOX's identity isn't simple; he's more than just a teacher. Would he panic if he didn't have some shady dealings?]
[Coldy used gestures like shaking her head and making heart shapes to express her disagreement with others, but she didn't do that with FOX, which proves there's a real problem.]
[Kang Ho-dong is absolutely right, Coldy has had a whole bunch of rumored boyfriends. He hasn't even finished dealing with G-Dragon yet, and now Fox is back. So, who's your favorite, G-Dragon or Fox?]
[Sigh, if GD weren't so mired in trouble right now, he probably could have brought it up too. I'm really looking forward to directly asking GC if they have a special relationship.]
[Even if you ask, I won't cut it out for you to see, otherwise this show will be criticized to death, and the person who said this will be cyberbullied until they delete their account, plus they'll be subjected to all sorts of attacks, including exposing their ancestors for eighteen generations.]
[Today is a joyous day for Fox and Coldy fans (completely satisfied)! GD, you can step down now. Coldy, you don't need to cling to GD as your senior producer anymore. Your own producer has arrived!]
[Humorous, Fox came first, GD came later, our Coldy's true white moonlight has returned.]
[I have a guess: Could Fox be a family member of Coldy? Otherwise, why would her expression be so strange?]
[Is this speculation too far-fetched...? Fox is supposed to be a Korean producer, right? Where does Coldy have any Korean relatives?]
[Is he Korean? After all, the K-pop vibe he put on is very authentic, but the Recording Industry Association of Korea doesn't disclose his nationality.]
The sweetest thing about this couple is that Fox's song list is full of Coldy's songs. This "exclusive" label is spot on; their quality surpasses 99% of couples.
[This is a pairing that's adorable for both men and women, and you won't regret investing in it!]
[KC really looks like a pyramid scheme, aren't the dedicated fans going to do something about it?]
[Solo fans only care about Coldy's career and are used to the constant stream of rumors. Our Coldy is the new queen of rumors, yet there isn't a single non-work-related intimate photo of her with a man!]
[It's just that some people don't believe Coldy can be so perfect, so they're desperately trying to bring her down from her pedestal and make her tainted with some worldly aspects.]
[It's all because my wife writes love songs that they're too perfect. "Always You & Me" is a masterpiece of love songs. Each song tells a different story of a relationship, from the deep love in "Always You" to the love-hate entanglement in "Hate," and finally the bloody love in "Prayer." Every song is a masterpiece.]
[The speculation about a romance started with "Don't Play Pranks," and now it's extended to non-romance songs like "Wildfire" and "Fire and Torrent." Netizens are really bored.]
This episode of "Knowing Bros" achieved the highest viewership rating of the year and surpassed 10 million views on YouTube in just one day. The medley clips featuring Lumera and Epik High also saw a crazy surge in views, especially the performance of "Always You," which garnered over 5 million views and 1 million likes in a single day—a truly unprecedented success.
Everyone joked, "Epik High is making a comeback!"
The three men themselves acknowledged their comments on social media, posting: "[Thanks to the juniors at Lumera, special thanks to Coldy (crown) (stars)]"
A crown emoji seems to be crowning a queen, while the star represents only one thing—"Loyalty!"
In response, Coldyyy replied: 【(laughing and crying) (laughing and crying)】
The day after the show aired, she posted a short postscript, in which she said, "The moment I said some of those words, I felt that my career had come to an end. Being on 'Knowing Bros' is an unforgettable memory for me."
The fans below were laughing hysterically, frantically tagging the show's official account.
[Hahaha, if "Knowing Bros" invites Coldy next time, will he not go? Don't let him traumatize my child!]
[Is the show "Knowing Bros" afraid to invite Coldy again? Maybe they'll be even harsher next time.]
[The woman who instills fear even in the most seasoned regulars—Coldy!]
The "Of course" game show was incredibly entertaining, but it shouldn't be done too often, or my heart couldn't take it.
[Do you dare listen to what my sister says?!]
[Actually, she was already quite restrained; she didn't use any insulting words like "pig," "fat," "ugly," or "short" throughout the entire conversation.]
[It's just that every sentence conveys the same meaning.]
[Let this sharp-tongued little girl off the hook; she even called herself a venomous snake, and she really is.]
[Haha, what a terrible pun!]
Most fans were just exaggerating and joking. Having been in the Korean variety show industry for so many years, they've said far more outrageous things than Coldy. Soon, they were looking forward to Lumera's confirmed attendance at the opening ceremony.
After watching the show, Kwon Ji-yong also deeply felt how sharp his girlfriend's words were. Fortunately, she never used such attacks on him. It's probably because Jiang Tinghan actually dotes on him quite a bit. At most, she would say a few words like "stupid," "shameless," "pabo," or "shameless," which sound like she was just being affectionate.
【Baby~】
As soon as the show ended, Kwon Ji-yong went to harass Jiang Tinghan, adding two tildes as if he were shouting the name in a greasy, bubble-like voice, which gave Jiang Tinghan goosebumps when she saw it.
【？】
Kwon Ji-yong: [Concert tickets (shrugs)]
Jiang Tinghan: [Oppa, do you have to talk like that?]
Kwon Ji-yong: [No way! This way you can feel my resentment. You didn't even tell me you were having a concert beforehand.]
Jiang Tinghan: [(The kitten scratches its head) I was supposed to say this on the 5th, but I forgot...]
Kwon Ji-yong: [What happened next? We met on the 10th, right? Did you put my messages on dormant?]
Jiang Tinghan: [kkk No, I'm waiting for Oppa to find out and ask me himself, like this.]
Kwon Ji-yong: [(Angry) (Angry) So I wasn't worth your invitation (The kitten melted into a cream-filled kitten cookie.JPG)]
Jiang Tinghan had actually been too busy lately and forgot. She hadn't been talking about anything serious with Quan Zhilong and hadn't even remembered it when she saw the chat box. But she absolutely couldn't tell Quan Zhilong the real reason. The best thing to do at this time was to change the subject directly.
I'm going to ask the team now, and I'll probably get a lecture from the manager again, but it's okay, I'll get Oppa a really good ticket.
Start cosplaying as Green Tea.
Kwon Ji-yong savored the tea with great relish, and began to feign concern: "Don't worry, baby. If the company targets you, I won't go. I can't cause you trouble (poor me) (poor me)"
Jiang Tinghan: [Really? (Poor thing) (Poor thing)]
Kwon Ji-yong: [TT TT How can you bear to let me miss your first ever concert?]
The two of them had a lot of fun acting out their roles.
Getting a family member ticket is very simple. Even if Kwon Ji-yong doesn't have a ticket, he can just take off his mask at the entrance and the staff will let him in.
This reminded Jiang Tinghan, so she started sending out concert ticket frames, sending them to all the artists she was familiar with, including Yoo Jae-suk.
So much so that Yoo Jae-suk casually mentioned in the latest episode of "Running Man": "Oh... I need to be free on the 30th of next month."
Kim Jong-kook: "Wuei?"
Yoo Jae-suk: "Coldy gave me tickets to Lumera's concert, I can't just not go."
"???!!!"
HAHA: "Moragu? What about me?"
He shouted in frustration, "Coldy, don't forget, the photo was taken by me and Jae-seok hyung together, and it also includes my flowers!"
In the next episode of RM, Haha will be showing off again, holding a Lumera ticket and beaming with pride.
On November 19th, Lumera performed at the Gocheok Sky Dome, the venue for this year's League of Legends World Championship. Next month, Lumera's concert will begin at the Goyang Stadium, with a capacity of approximately 40,000 seats.
After the opening ceremony, T1 defeated WBG 3-0 in three quick rounds. The hashtag "Faker's fourth consecutive championship" quickly topped the trending charts, followed by "Lumera is great," "Lumera's amazing opening ceremony performance," and "You'll regret not listening to Lumer's explosive live performance"...
Countless comparison videos of fifth-generation girl groups were created overnight, and even casual viewers couldn't help but click in and leave comments like, "I cried when I saw Lumera's performance, and I cried when I saw Newjeans' performance."
"Seeing Lumera's performance—wow, are active girl groups this amazing? Seeing Newjeans' performance—where do girl groups even begin?"
"They all look about the same thin, so why does one group sound so weak and listless when they sing?"
"Let Lumera sing both songs. The transition from 'Fire and Torrent' to 'Ascension' really made me experience what it means to go from heaven to hell."
"Isn't this what LPL fans are like today? They got speedrunned. Faker has never had such an easy finals before."
This blatant act of comparison and disparagement has turned the two fan groups into bitter enemies, making the already murky waters of the fifth-generation girl groups even more turbulent.
Meanwhile, the MAMA popularity poll also began. Fans of fifth-generation girl groups such as Lumera, Asepa, Newjeans, and ive put in their best effort to vote, determined to make their favorite group number one. However, Lumera was number one from day one until the day the voting ended.
Lumera has so many fans around the world, and the Chinese fans, who are most willing to vote and work hard, are numerous and active. Even with many obstacles, they are determined to win a big award for Lumera.
The MAMA awards have already announced that Lumera has been nominated for Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Best New Female Artist, Best Female Group, and Best Vocal/Dance Performance Group. Coldy herself has also been nominated for Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Female Solo Artist, Best Vocal/Dance Performance Female Solo Artist, and many other awards. The list is so extensive that it's hard to keep up, and I can't help but feel excited for this year's MAMA.
If Lumera and Coldy weren't there to buy goods, then there's something fishy going on!
The day before the MAMA awards ceremony, Kwon Ji-yong's detailed test results came back, and he was still negative. This completely proved that he was innocent, and Kwon Ji-yong was completely innocent.
Kwon Ji-yong himself plans to establish an anti-drug foundation, and more and more netizens are beginning to apologize to G-Dragon. After enduring more than a month of speculation and rumors, he has finally ushered in a bright future.
WK1 has finally begun to formally contact Kwon Ji-yong, inquiring about his intention to sign a contract. Currently, GD's team is considering the offer. WK1 is backed by the large company CJ, and compared to large companies, Kwon Ji-yong prefers a smaller company with more say and potential for development.
However, WK1 was genuinely sincere, not only inviting him repeatedly but also offering to provide legal assistance to Kwon Ji-yong at any time. While they may not be experts in smear campaigns, they do have some experience, making them better than inexperienced new companies.
Jiang Tinghan had never interfered with her boyfriend's contract. Kwon Ji-yong should be more professional in this area than she was, but Kwon Ji-yong took the initiative to send Jiang Tinghan two companies he was currently considering. One was WK1, and the other was a brand-new technology company called Galaxy. If he joined, he would be the company's sole artist and hold shares.
Jiang Tinghan didn't understand why Kwon Ji-yong had his eye on this company. Although AI technology has great potential, if the artist department is to develop from scratch, it means that the company is not helping Kwon Ji-yong at all. He has to rely entirely on his own team and even have to leech off G-Dragon to survive, which is obviously very unhealthy.
She didn't strongly suggest persuading Kwon Ji-yong, but simply expressed her opinion: "Oppa, since that's the case, I think it's better to sign with Stone Music Entertainment. There are no other artists here besides me. Basically, we only have a cooperative relationship with others to distribute albums. Once you come here, you'll be the most popular, with so much power that no one will dare to disagree with you. The key is that there's also an artist department and a public relations team, which is better than nothing."
"Or you could try to negotiate a stake with Stone Music and WK1. At least for the next two years, Lumera will still be able to make a profit."
Jiang Tinghan's mindset is different now. She originally thought she could leave whenever she wanted after two years, but after sharing joys and sorrows with her teammates for so long, she is also reluctant to end the group that she has worked so hard to build. As long as WK1 doesn't mess things up, she will probably renew her contract.
If Kwon Ji-yong invests, it's like taking a portion of the revenue that originally belonged to WK1 and Stone Music, and the money flows back into the young couple's own pockets.
To be fair, WK1 isn't a great company. Based on past experience, their long-term management ability is terrible. The fact that they produced Lumera was purely because the parent company had money to spend on a world-class talent show, and they were lucky to have Coldy. But now G-Dragon's requirement for the company is not to hold them back. WK1 is still above average. They spend the necessary marketing money and don't interfere too much with the creative process.
After careful consideration, Kwon Ji-yong decided to sign with Stone Music and become a strategic partner of the company. The company was practically a shell, with WK1 managing it entirely. However, the signing fee was very substantial, amounting to 10 billion won, plus 10 billion won worth of WK1 shares, making it a 20 billion won "cash + equity" package.
Jiang Tinghan felt a little envious when she saw the encrypted contract. When she first debuted, her signing fee was only a fraction of Kwon Ji-yong's. She probably earned a lot of that signing fee herself. Suddenly, she had the feeling that she was paying Kwon Ji-yong to support him.
"Oppa, does that mean I've become your senior?" Jiang Tinghan joked.
Kwon Ji-yong now felt a sense of relief, as if everything had been resolved at once, and his voice was filled with laughter: "Baby, I'm a partner and a shareholder, while you're an artist, so I should be at a higher level, right?"
Jiang Tinghan heard Quan Zhilong's words implying that he wanted to put her down, raised an eyebrow, and said, "I don't care, let's hear you call out 'Nuna'."
This is also a reversal of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.
Kwon Ji-yong smiled helplessly, his voice still carrying a hint of his former childishness, and said with a touch of indulgence, "Alright, Coldy noona."
The next second, Jiang Tinghan's clear voice drifted over, also hiding a hint of a smile: "I recorded it."
Kwon Ji-yong lazily drawled, "Ah... it's lagging! I still have some pride, let's delete it—"
"Beep beep—" Jiang Tinghan hung up the phone.
Kwon Ji-yong looked down at the screen that had gone dark, and couldn't help but smirk again.
A few seconds later, Jiang Tinghan called back, pretending nothing had happened, and said, "Oppa, I have some good news, do you want to hear it?"
Kwon Ji-yong smiled again, his eyes crinkling with laughter: "I'd like to hear the details."
Jiang Tinghan: "Didn't we move dorms recently? Our manager just said that starting today, we won't be strictly required to stay in the dorms anymore."
WK1 was overjoyed after signing Kwon Ji-yong, as if they could imagine a bright future where they would make a fortune with Coldy on one hand and G-Dragon on the other. So, not wanting their relationship to have any cracks and affect the company, they let them date sweetly, hoping to lock them up as their lifelong cash cows.
On the PR side, they've recently been putting a lot of pressure on professional fans who ship the couple. Even if they don't want to ship them, they'll be forced to. So when the truth comes out, even if the fans make a huge fuss, another group of fans will be overjoyed.
Kwon Ji-yong understood Jiang Tinghan's unspoken meaning: cohabitation is not a dream!
This is indeed good news!
His tone sounded much more excited: "Want to come to my house? I have lots of empty rooms."
Jiang Tinghan added, "So I've been looking at properties lately. Do you have any recommendations for locations? Not near Oppa's house, though, because I can't afford that."
There were some rustling sounds coming from the other end of the phone. It seemed that Kwon Ji-yong had stood up excitedly, but his voice sounded very calm: "If you can't afford it, I'll buy it for you. I just made a lot of money recently."
Coldy makes money for WK1, WK1 gives G-Dragon a huge signing fee, and G-Dragon buys Coldy a house, forming a perfect closed loop.
"Okay, then I want to be closer to WK1."
The WK1 building is located in the bustling Gangnam district, where apartments cost at least 2 billion won. Jiang Tinghan looked around but gave up. It wasn't that she couldn't afford it, but if she did, she would become penniless. Seoul isn't a very big place, but land is incredibly valuable. Her hometown is still the best.
Jiang Tinghan took Quan Zhilong's words as a joke. Although Quan Zhilong could easily spend hundreds of thousands or millions, he should still think twice about spending tens of millions.
As a result, Kwon Ji-yong acted very quickly and soon found several houses for Jiang Tinghan to see. The first house was in Yeoksam-dong, a commercial center; the second house was in Sinsa-dong, a place with a strong fashion and cultural atmosphere; and the third house was in Cheongdam-dong, a top-tier residential area that is comparable to Hannam-dong.
The first apartment was worth around 2.5 billion won, the second around 4 billion won, and the third around 6 billion won. Although the price was far less than Kwon Ji-yong's current 25 billion won luxury apartment, it still broadened Jiang Tinghan's horizons.
Good heavens, she's hooked up with a rich guy.
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Author's Note: Signing with a company is like choosing between two equally terrible options. Because my hatred for Galaxy Entertainment has recently reached its peak, I've made sure they leave as quickly as possible.
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