Chapter 396

Early in the morning, Sun Ye-jin woke up from bed and glanced at Charles who was still sleeping. She gently picked up the slip dress beside her and put it on. She got up and went to the window.

The thin mist on the Han River and the surrounding mountains formed a beautiful scene. Looking down from Mount Eosari at the Han River was indeed an enjoyable experience.

"Hey, you're up so early?" Sun Ye-jin was admiring the morning view of the Han River when Charles, who had also woken up, hugged her from behind.

"It's not early. The air is good now, and the morning view of the Han River is really something special," Sun Ye-jin turned her head and kissed Charles on the cheek.

Charles rested his chin on the lady's fragrant shoulder while looking at the Han River view outside the floor-to-ceiling window. "Where in Korea do you think has good scenery? Let's go explore for a few days?"

"In terms of scenery, Gangwon Province has the best scenes in Korea. Jeju Island is also called the 'Hawaii of Korea,' and it feels pretty good too," Sun Ye-jin leaned her whole body into Charles' arms, placing her hands over Charles' hands around her waist.

"Where do you want to go?"

Gangwon Province is located in the northeastern part of Korea, facing the East Sea and bordered by the Sea of Japan. As for Jeju Island, it is the largest island in Korea.

"Korea is indeed too small," Charles almost forgot that Korea is a tiny place; there's not much fun to be had.

"How about going abroad? Any country you want to visit? My private jet is just parked at Seoul Airport anyway."

"But I still have to prepare for shooting Haeundae. We've changed the lead actors, and since the story takes place in Busan, I need to get a grasp of various situations there," Sun Ye-jin was definitely happy to land the lead actress role in Haeundae.

"Fine then, I still have to stay in Korea for a few more days anyway," Charles liked Sun Ye-jin's down-to-earth personality. "We could also take a break in Europe or America if we get the chance, just as a vacation!"

Sun Ye-jin squeezed Charles' hand. "I thought you'd forget about me after these few days?"

"Are you kidding? How could I?" Charles said as his hands moved upwards, his fingers caressing the peaks.

"The Korean entertainment industry is quite messy. Believe me, no one will dare give you trouble anymore. Miky Lee should know what to do!"

Sun Ye-jin's breathing became a bit erratic as she grabbed Charles' mischievous hands. "Last night wasn't enough for you?"

"Morning is also a time of strong desire," Charles said, directly lifting the lady back to bed...

...

At CC Entertainment Co., President Kim Kwang-soo signed a contract in his office, establishing his own talent agency.

"Alright, President Kim, working at Net Entertainment is also a good choice," said Miky Lee's representative, putting away the documents on the table. Net Entertainment Holdings, a subsidiary of cccj Entertainment, was a small company.

Now, Kim Kwang-soo directly signed the stock transfer agreement, and cc Entertainment no longer had anything to do with him.

Kim Kwang-soo went straight to work at Net Entertainment.

"The girls I trained at cc Entertainment, I wonder if -" Kim Kwang-soo began but was interrupted.

"The girls at cc Entertainment, you can't touch even one," Miky Lee's representative glared at him.

Kim Kwang-soo's heart skipped a beat, he quickly nodded, "Understood, understood."

After all, the cj Group belonged to the Samsung family. Kim Kwang-soo felt a bit shaky and quickly bowed to apologize.

After Miky Lee's people took the transfer agreement, they left without looking back. A small fry like Kim Kwang-soo wasn't worth their time.

...

"Boss, where are you? I'm at the headquarters of CC Entertainment in Seoul, South Korea. Oh, it's been renamed East Asia (Korea) Management Company," Phyllis Jones' call woke Charles Capet from his slumber.

"Oh, I'll head over soon," Charles opened his eyes, put down his phone, and remembered the matter he had almost forgotten.

"What's going on?" asked Sun Ye-jin, who was rubbing her sleepy eyes beside him.

"A few days ago, I acquired an artist management company. It's already finalized," Charles leaned on the bed, letting Sun Ye-jin snuggle up in his arms.

"Why don't you merge your small management company with East Asia (Korea)? It'll be easier for you to manage as the boss."

Sun Ye-jin's management company was just an ordinary small agency, and its representative, Kim Min-sook, had been managing her for a long time since she discovered her talent.

"Kim representative is definitely willing," Sun Ye-jin had already spoken to her manager, who was surely on board.

"You really want me to manage East Asia (Korea) Management Company? I know about CC Entertainment. Although it hasn't been established for long, it has a lot of trainee resources!"

"Of course. Didn't I say I want you to become a capitalist in the Korean entertainment industry?" Charles smiled, then reached out to touch the woman beside him. "Last night, you kept calling me 'Oppa'. I really liked that. You've spent too much time reading the script for Haeundae (Tidal Wave) these days!

Come on, call me Oppa again..."

Sun Ye-jin gave in, kissed Charles on the chest, and softly said, "Oppa..."

...

It was around ten in the morning when Charles and Sun Ye-jin arrived at the headquarters of CC Entertainment in Seoul. The company, acquired for 10 billion KRW, was now East Asia (Korea) Management Company.

Sun Ye-jin's manager, Kim Min-sook, a sharp-looking woman in her forties, greeted them at the office.

Phyllis Jones had reviewed some of the company's assets, which mainly consisted of debuted singers and trainees yet to debut.

In the president's office, Charles Capet, Phyllis Jones, Sun Ye-jin, and her manager Kim Min-sook sat together.

"Seven singers, one of which is the girl group Davichi, are the main assets. Then there are the trainees, including the girl group T-ara, which was formed early last year and is preparing to debut. It was the ambitious project of the former representative, Kim Kwang-soo," explained Kim Min-sook. She agreed to merge with East Asia Korea because, besides her 10% shares, Sun Ye-jin held 20%.

Furthermore, the parent company, East Asia Media, had directly invested 5 billion KRW as development funds.

"All singers, no actors?" Charles suddenly asked.

Kim Min-sook glanced at Sun Ye-jin, implying they now had an actor.

"We can sign actors. Representative Kim is an experienced talent manager," Sun Ye-jin explained.

Charles nodded, "By the way, what's the profit division like in Korean artist contracts?"

Phyllis Jones was also curious. "I haven't looked into that yet."

Kim Min-sook quickly explained, "Trainees generally don't get paid. Some companies provide living expenses, but many small companies don't."

"The profit division after debuting is usually 1:9," she added.

After hearing Sun Ye-jin's translation, Phyllis Jones blinked. "1:9? Like Hollywood's big agencies?"

Charles chuckled at Phyllis, "Not quite. Artists get 1, the company gets 9."

Phyllis's eyes widened in disbelief, "Do they really sign up for that?"

Sun Ye-jin explained, "There are a lot of idols in Korea. The company invests in them before debut, and the artists make money for the company after debut."

"Boss, is this legal?" Phyllis quietly asked Charles in his ear.

"Perfectly legal!"

However, Charles didn't need to rely on artist management for his income, so he said, "Representative Kim, adjust the contracts to give artists a better share. They can earn more when they become popular. Focus on actors in the future. Movies and advertisements are where the big bucks are!"

"Got it," Kim Min-sook nodded.

"Boss, I'd like to check out the trainees," Phyllis was interested in the training system, a star-producing factory.

"Isn't it just like in Japan?" Charles was puzzled.

"Does East Asia Japan have this?"

"Oh, maybe not. Then let Representative Kim show you around," Charles' East Asia Japan mainly had actors, some of whom were idol actors.

Although AKB48 members were idols, they trained outside of East Asia Japan's offices; only a few artist contracts were managed by the company.

After Phyllis Jones and Kim Min-sook went to the company's training rooms, Charles started reading through the document on the T-ara trainee group.

He recognized some familiar faces, but why were there only five members? He didn't recognize two of them. T-ara was supposed to be a six-member group, later becoming seven when an extra member was added, causing a lot of controversies and issues.

*****

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