CHAPTER 316: BOYCOTT POP STAR ACADEMY (2)

As a show producer, there were only two instances when one of your supervisors graced you with an unprompted visit.

When the show was doing exceptionally well and they wanted to congratulate you and the rest of the staff personally while bringing gifts.

And the exact opposite when things had gone so far off the deep end that

Judging by the cold expression on Bing Yongsun’s face and the situation that was going on right now, it was most likely the latter.

"A private room?" Bing Yongsun spoke in his usual slow, measured tone, and after a second, Pd Ji-ho responded.

"Of course, sir. Please follow me."

Feeling as if there were nails being stabbed into his back, PD Ji-ho led the creative director into his office, respectfully offering the comfortable seat behind the desk and standing at attention where his staff members usually stood when they came to meet him.

Slowly and carefully, Bing Yongsun sat down, adjusted his glasses with a sigh, and looked PD Ji-ho up and down with disappointment.

Dun dun.

Dun dun.

Dun dun.

As Bing Yongsun’s fingers tapped the desk, PD Ji-ho felt a cold sweat drip down his back from nervousness.

Unable to take the silence, he couldn’t help but blurt out the words.

"I can explain!"

"The Korean and Western media are in an uproar, pumping out articles left and right. Both fans and the general public are aware of the situation and are speaking about it. There are even multiple celebrities talking about this issue while calling for a boycott and for us to take accountability for the situation. Parents are calling. Investors want an explanation. There was a brief stock market dip. We’ve received labor and child abuse concerns from multiple people. Since you said you can explain, explain."

"This can be fixed! I can fix this! I just need to get Ariel back! If he’s here, he can fix this because it’s his fault!" PD Ji-ho shouted.

"Why? What are you expecting an 18-year-old to do when this is entirely your fault? How will his presence fix this? I’m listening, so explain from beginning to end," Bing Yongsun asked calmly despite his fury at the entire situation.

He wasn’t the type of man who yelled when he was angry.

He preferred logic to emotion, talking things out calmly rather than throwing a tantrum, and letting explain their point of view before crushing it

Those who worked with him knew that one of his favourite proverbs was ’Give someone enough rope, and they will hang themselves,’ and it thoroughly depicted his management style.

He liked creativity in others.

It was an absolutely crucial element in the entertainment industry, and the way to cultivate that wasn’t by micromanagement; it was to give people enough leeway to express themselves and come up with new ideas that hadn’t been seen before.

Even though creativity often came with quirks, a certain level could be tolerated because if the person was smart, they would toe the line and not step over it too much.

He had thought PD Ji-ho, a PD who came recommended as a promising talent, understood what that line was, which is why he was one of the two PDs chosen to handle the idol survival show that was a big investment and new venture.

Although he might not have worked on such a survival show before, he knew what the goal of a survival show was.

Get people interested in the contestants and, by extension, the group.

Create a fandom for the contestants from the beginning, that would be the solid foundation for a group that would generally do well.

Naturally, there were some cons to the idol survival show methodology, one of which was the portrayal of contestants and the decisions that went into generating the final lineup.

On the business portion of the back end, there were deals being made and meetings being had to help highlight which contestants fit the business vision while still aligning with the public choice.

And on the front end, the PDs were responsible for aligning their vision with the viewer’s vision, the business vision, and, of course, making it entertaining.

This meant that the PDs had to have leeway to portray things as they saw fit, as long as it didn’t cross any overt lines, and often meant that they would receive benefits from other parties that wanted their vision included in the final product.

Bing Yongsun understood that, the PDs understood that, and other business partners understood that.

All parties knew that a certain level of manipulation and creative/villainous editing was acceptable, but at the end of the day, the contestants who made it through were going to become valuable products for the company, to be used and squeezed to generate as much money and accolades as possible, so their reputations couldn’t be damaged too badly.

Everything in moderation.

That was the way of life.

Even for those who wouldn’t make it to the debut ranks, having risen to the top 30 was enough for them to be picked up by other agencies or to be shelved for a debut in the future.

And that’s why this situation truly angered Bing Yongsun.

This situation had gone entirely too far.

The harsh editing, and then finding out that the video was doctored to protect another contestant who had no qualms about injuring other contestants.

The fallout.

Having the business finances, the group, and certain individuals’ reputations damaged, and all the other things to this extent, was utterly unacceptable.

Especially for a contestant, Bing Yongsun had his eye on for his creativity even before he had seen the stunning visuals and learned of his connection to one of the hidden dragons of the fashion world.

He was furious at the PD and Wilfred Forbes, especially because such a thing shouldn’t be happening when they knew the goal was to debut a group to dominate the music market.

Bing Yongsun understood that Wilfred Forbes wanted his nephew to make it by any means necessary, and clearly PD Ji-ho had joined his side and done the dirty work. But why was the PD so stupid as to let the evidence leak to the public?

Now, there was no other option but for him to be made an example of so that they could recoup some of the losses that were happening right now.

These thoughts ran through Bing Yongsun’s mind as he listened to PD Ji-ho’s excuses that boiled down to greed, falling for Wilfred’s Forbes sweet words, and blaming an 18-year-old contestant for something that couldn’t possibly be his fault.

Once PD Ji-ho eventually fell silent, Bing Yongsun drummed his fingers on the desk before speaking slowly.

"You know what you have to do, right?"

Even though it was posed as a question, PD Ji-ho knew that it was a statement by Bing Yongsun.

Whether he wanted to or not, his next set of actions was clear.

Publicly take the blame.

Admit that he was the one at fault, had impure motives, and had forced William to act the way he had.

Naturally, he would lose his job.

He would then be blackballed from the industry and find it hard even to get a job as a basic video editor, much less becoming the PD of another show.

All this because he chose the wrong side, accepted a little money, and had an inconceivable situation happen to him.

Feeling resentment in his heart at Ariel, at William, Wilford Forbes, Bing Yongsun, and Ariel once again, Pd Ji-ho bowed his head and shed tears.

*******

"I’m bored," Ari complained out loud in the hotel room.

After discussing some other things with Chloé including her threatening him to never contact Martin again much less ask for a favor from him, Sabine dropped him off at the hotel and told him to enjoy himself on Chloé’s tab, which he did.

Thoroughly.

After exploring the entire hotel, swimming in the pool, getting a massage, ordering everything on the room service menu as a sampler, sleeping, back to the pool, eating a lovely breakfast, and taking another nap, Ari was rolling around on the bed, bored.

The past couple of months, he had almost always been surrounded by people, and before that, he was super busy trying to survive.

This was the longest stretch of time he had to himself, with no homework, no phone or laptop, no job to attend, nobody to talk to, and nothing to do but watch Korean news on TV.

It was boring, a bit lonely, kind of miserable, and left him a lot of time to be in his head, which Ari hated.

He wanted to go back to the Pop Star Academy building but he also wanted to use his break properly.

Unfortunately, he was bored so he began complaining to his only companion.

"NOVA, I’m bored."

[So?]

[What am I supposed to do about it?]

"Entertain me? I always had to work or do homework or other things, so I’ve never had this much free time in years. It’s boring."

[Sleep.]

"I’m not sleepy."

[Watch TV.]

"Don’t wanna."

[Read a book.]

"There are no books in here."

[Go to the media room.]

"It’s too much work."

[....]

[I’m not a babysitter, so figure something out and keep yourself occupied.]

"But I’m bored."

Despite his complaints, Ari was ignored.

Not to be deterred, he continued harassing the system.

"NOVA."

"NOVA."

"NOVA."

"NOVA."

"NOVA."

"NOVA."

"...SIS?"

[Enough!]

[Rest!]

[Or go for a walk or something.]

"I already did my repeat missions for the day, which is the maximum amount of exercise I’m interested in completing apart from swimming later. I’m bored. Let’s talk. Where are you from? What are you really? How were you discovered? What’s the old man’s name? Are you an alien? Let’s get close and personal."

[I refuse.]

"I refuse your refusal," Ari replied with a small smile.

[I refuse your refusal of my refusal]

"Well, I refuse your refusal of my refusal of your refusal."

[I refuse your refusal of my refusal of your ref-]

[...I refuse to come down to your level.]

[Ding!]

[Surprise Mission: Stop Pushing My Buttons When You Can Go Push Some Keys Instead!]

[There’s a grand piano in the hotel lobby and bar. Go take requests, practice your song composing, let out some energy, and play for at least 3 hours.]

[Reward: Unknown.]

"Are you treating me like a dog or an unwanted child?"

[If the shoe fits.]

"I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Regardless, I’m not the best at playing piano, though? It’s been years since I took lessons, and I haven’t played anything too complex when working with Jamie."

[Then this is an opportunity to improve your skills.]

[Utilize it and stop bothering me.]

[Shoo shoo.]

"Can you at least make the reward stat points or something? To give me a little more incentive."

[I refuse.]

"Booooo..."

[Booing me is a waste of both our time, considering how many times you’ve repeated the words ’I’m bored’ in the past 10 minutes.]

[Countdown to accept the surprise mission: 10]

[9]

[8]

[7]

[6]

[5]

[4]

"Fine. Whatever. I’ll go."

Since he had nothing better to do, Ari really went down the stairs to the lobby which was extremely fancy with

"Hello. Do you mind if I use the piano?" Ari asked one of the familiar-looking concierges with a polite smile.

Looking at the handsome face, the concierge smiled back as she recalled that he was staying in one of the presidential suites.

"Of course, sir. You can play, but if it’s bad and people complain, then we’ll have to ask you to stop."

"That’s fine. Could you point me to the computer room? I’d like to print some sheet music."

"Sure. Right this way, sir."

After getting a variety of sheet music printed by the concierge, Ari made his way to the piano.

A few people looked at the handsome young boy dressed in all white, sitting at the white grand piano, and arranging the pile of sheet music on the stand.

Wondering if this was a performer arranged by the hotel staff, a few individuals pulled out their phones to record it, but then

Plink-

Plunk-

Plink plunk-

Despite the professional posture, what came out of the piano was random key presses with no rhyme or reason.

The concierge and waiters winced while glancing at each other, their eyes conveying dismay, as they wondered who had to tell the handsome boy to get off the piano.

"Ah! Got it!"

As they were placing bets on who would go, the seemingly random key presses stopped, and suddenly, the beautiful melody of Für Elise sounded out.