Chapter 136

# 137

Across the Sea (1)

“You weren’t asleep, right?”

-Oh, I just came in.

Director Oh Baek-ho found a small house right near the accommodation and was staying there with Koo Cheol-min.

“I have something you need to know about. “I can’t do it now… Could you come early tomorrow morning?”

Dowook asked carefully in an apologetic tone.

In fact, tomorrow was a day off for the entire staff, including the KK members. Do-wook felt sorry for getting help from Director Baek-ho Oh until that day.

-what’s the matter?

Director Oh Baek-ho asked as if he was worried.

“Ah… there was an article posted on the Internet. I’ll send you the link right now. “I think I should check it out.”

-okay. I’ll see you and go early tomorrow morning.

“yes. Then take a break. thank you.”

When Director Oh Baek-ho and Do-wook finished the call, Ahn Hyeong-seo and Park Tae-hyung looked worried. The two people had also checked the article posted on the Internet.

“This is a gift we also saw. Why is it abandoned here like this? “I don’t understand.”

“That’s why… Cheolmin… decided to take care of it…”

The gift and letter in the photo arrived at the awards ceremony along with a lunch box support. The members had checked everything during rehearsals, and since they could not leave it in the waiting room, they decided to move it to a van.

This was even more puzzling because it was Park Tae-hyung who also listened to Director Oh Baek-ho giving instructions to Gu Cheol-min.

Dowook looked back at the two people and said.

“We can find out tomorrow.”

Hyungseo Ahn nodded while looking at the comments and sighed.

“Hate comments are no joke. “I think it’s half congratulations and half curses that we won the grand prize.”

Dowook wasn’t in a good mood either, but it wasn’t unexpected. Of course, I thought it was simply a controversy over KK’s eligibility, but I had no idea that such a specific incident would break out.

Following the controversial posts, posts were posted one after another cleverly driving the situation by maliciously combining facial expressions and interviews from KK’s broadcasts.

Of course, there were many comments defending KK, asking what foolish agency would throw away gifts like that in a place where everyone could see.

However, it seemed clear that there was a group of people who were continuing to push the situation towards the bad side.

‘They’re probably the people who most disapprove of KK winning the grand prize…’

Do-wook thought.

By looking at the IDs of those who left negative comments and looking at their previous posts, it was not difficult to find out what kind of group they were. Most of them were fans of other idols.

‘I know you’re upset, but…’

In fact, it could have been overlooked, thinking it was just a fight between fans.

However, something that would cause unrest within the fans should not have been created. One of the big reasons why KK was able to gain so much popularity was the fans.

By reaching out to fans with a variety of content, creating a friendly image, and continuously appealing to fans that KK cares about them, fans were able to support KK as if it were their own business more than other singers.

Even though it was a small and medium-sized agency, KK achieved the highest album sales thanks to the full support of its fans.

The trust between KK and fans should not have been broken. Do-wook thought that this incident should be clearly addressed.

***

The next day, after talking with Do-wook and Jeong Yoon-gi, Director Oh Baek-ho yelled at Gu Cheol-min.

“You should have taken good care of that!”

“sorry.”

Gu Cheol-min kept his head down and repeatedly said he was sorry.

When reporter Choi Seong-jun maliciously published an article about Do-wook’s interview, in fact, there were many things that Koo Cheol-min could not do, and since it was a common occurrence while learning the job of a manager, Director Oh Baek-ho was not very angry.

However, in this case, it was clearly Gu Cheol-min’s fault.

Because we arrived in the waiting room, there weren’t many support items. Except for lunch boxes, most of them were miscellaneous items such as letters and hand warmers that could be used in the waiting room.

As a result, Koo Cheol-min left the things he had decided to move to the van to the fan-marketing team intern without thinking much about it.

When the fan-marketing team intern in the waiting room said that he had to stop by the office to come back, Gu Cheol-min said that was right, pointed to the items with his finger, and asked him to move the items over there as well.

“Oh, I’m confused. Can you tell me again later? “I have a lot to take care of right now.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Ku Cheol-min, who said that, did not stay in the waiting room to watch the rehearsal while the KK members were rehearsing.

When it was time to go to the office, the intern was gathering his luggage and suddenly remembered Gu Cheol-min’s request, but since Koo Cheol-min was not there, he was unable to pack it and headed to the office.

It was difficult to know how the letters and gifts ended up on the street in the empty waiting room.

There were some parts that were difficult to attribute to the intern. Clearly, the person responsible was Gu Cheol-min.

“If it disappeared later, you should have checked!!!”

“sorry. “I have nothing to say.”

Director Oh Baek-ho’s voice rang loudly throughout the conference room.

Gu Cheol-min bowed his head and apologized once again. Gu Cheol-min noticed that the gifts were missing from the waiting room, but he just thought that the intern had taken them. I was so distracted that I didn’t even think to check.

In fact, if it had been another agency, this matter could have been over with just one complaint. However, like Dowook, the agency considered fans very important.

The ideology of fans being ‘customers’ rather than ‘bad guys’ as they are often referred to in public was firmly established.

“How are we going to solve it?”

“That…”

Tak!

Director Oh Baek-ho frowned and slammed the floor of his desk at Gu Cheol-min, who was hesitant due to nervousness.

“Are you a little kid? “If you’re going to say something, you have to say it straight!”

“Ah… I checked the CCTV in the waiting room…”

Manager Oh Baek-ho’s eyebrows rose to one side. Although it was Gu Cheol-min who made the mistake, it was still because I thought that Gu Cheol-min moved faster than expected.

“Some girls came in and took it out.”

“what?”

Gu Cheol-min took out his cell phone and sent a video to Director Oh Baek-ho.

It was an edited copy of the CCTV received from the security office of the concert hall.

In the video, people wearing hats and masks were seen entering the waiting room and coming out carrying items.

After some time, a security guard found them in the hallway and asked how they got in. He was also seen holding out his staff ID card. In order to run the show, TBN had selected many young female staff members, so at first glance, they seemed no different from staff members. There was a possibility that it might actually be a staff member.

The security guard, who was slightly tilting his head, waved his hand as if to tell me to leave the waiting room. They said hello while holding a pile of gifts and leisurely disappeared to the end of the hallway.

“What is this…”

Director Oh Baek-ho’s brows were wrinkled.

***

“I think it would be a good idea to post something on the Internet.”

Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee, Director Oh Baek-ho, and KK members gathered in the conference room. The KK members were in the position that they could not remain silent about this incident.

Even now, posts are being posted in real time saying they want to know the true feelings of the KK members. Of course, there were many posts saying that they trusted the members, but I didn’t want to leave any misunderstandings. I really wanted to clear up the misunderstanding.

These were the fans who shared the joy on this happy day.

Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee responded to Do-wook’s words.

“I don’t know who this is and it’s hard to reveal my face to find out who it is. The matter could have escalated for no reason…”

Manager Oh Baek-ho nodded at Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee’s words. Posting something on the Internet right away could have made things worse.

It only showed the taking of the gift and did not include a scene of the gift being damaged. It was difficult to check the CCTV under the streetlight in the photo.

“Depending on how you post, the response may actually be worse… It is true that management was poor on our part…” “

But we can’t just sit still like this! “It’s so unfair.”

Hyungseo Ahn shouted.

“It will get better with time.”

Jeong Yoon-gi spoke to Ahn Hyeong-seo while scratching his temple. Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee also looked embarrassed. It was not easy to take action at the company level.

“First of all, it is clear that our staff did not dispose of it carelessly.”

“Yes.”

Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee nodded at Do-wook’s words.

“Then wouldn’t the situation be a bit better if I posted a post focusing on theft rather than mismanagement?”

“theft?”

The word ‘theft’ itself had a lot of negative energy. If we focused on that, it was obvious that attention would be focused on who committed the theft.

But at the same time, there was a high possibility that it would become more chaotic due to fights on the Internet. Unless the culprit is clearly identified.

“I think it would be good to say that it is clear that the theft occurred after checking the CCTV and that the identity of the person who committed the theft is already known.”

Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee nodded. I understood what Dowook was trying to say.

Actually, it wasn’t that difficult to figure out his identity.

It may take some time, but all you have to do is ask the police to investigate. Or, if you distribute video captures among fans, the culprit will probably be caught.

However, as time passed, interest dropped and KK’s image was already damaged.

It would end after the young criminals were hacked to pieces. Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee judged that it would ultimately be bad for KK’s image for the agency to take the lead in such matters. Of course, if there was no way to turn this around, it would have been the method that should have been chosen in the end.

“We’re thinking of filing a complaint, and we’ll have to say that we’ll give you leniency if you issue an apology.”

“yes.”

Of course, even if I posted that apology, I would still get hacked to death on the Internet, but I thought I deserved that level of punishment.

“And it would be nice to post something like our sincere apology.”

Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee asked back as if what he meant.

“Apology? The members didn’t do anything wrong, so why…”

“After all, it was a gift we received. “Even if it’s not an apology, I want to express my regret.”

The other members, including Jeong Yoon-gi, nodded at Do-wook’s words.

The situation had already been discussed with the members.

Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee, who was once someone’s fan, was deeply impressed. It made me think that I would be happy if I were a fan of Dowook or K.K. I felt like I could cheer more passionately than I did then.

At the same time, I realized again why KK’s fans support KK.

***

Less than a day after the agency posted an announcement and the KK members posted heartfelt messages expressing their apologies, an email arrived at the fan-marketing team.

The subject of the email was ‘I’m sorry.’

It was an email from someone who was clearly one of the women who caused the incident. It said he was reflecting and asked that no charges be filed.

Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee, who traced the email address, frowned.

“what’s this…….”