Chapter 161. R U READY! (3)

Translator: Chamber

Editor: Illidan

“First, thank you for accepting today’s interview. From 2008 to 2011… Wow It’s been three years since you released an album in Korea. Please tell us your feelings of having returned after such a long time.”

At the journalist’s question, the one to answer was the leader, Jung MinAh.

“A lot of things happened recently, and I’m very glad that we were able to release an album at last. Actually, we’re very grateful that the fans still remember us. I hope they’ll like our new album a lot as well.”

“How can they possibly forget about you? You’re all beauties.”

Everyone laughed at those words. The nervousness in the air was starting to dissipate.

Shin GyeSung had a look at the materials he had prepared and started asking the real questions.

He asked each member about their hobbies as well as their episodes on appearing TV, as well as their plans for the future.

“I can’t be Zoa-unni forever, but I think it’s only right and proper for me to continue doing my best for now. I am planning to do my best in order to not let my younger fans down.”

After summing up Ailee’s words as well, he asked a final question.

“Finally, do you have something you want to say to the fans?”

The members appointed Seo HanYu as their speaker. She hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“It has been 3 years since we released an album. I hope you like our work, and we’ll do our best in the future, so please look after us. Thank you.”

The hour-long interview ended like that.

When journalist Shin GyeSung stood up from his seat in satisfaction, KangYoon entered through the door.

“Thank you for your work.”

“Thank you too. I had an easy time thanks to everyone.”

KangYoon shook hands with Shin GyeSung. Things were looking very good.

“I hope you write good things about us.”

“Hahaha. Obviously, I had a wonderful interview, so the article will be wonderful as well. I hope to see you next time.”

Shin GyeSung, the journalist, bid everyone farewell and left Lunas.

***

Having failed in collaborating with Sace, KangYoon was now in need of another promotion strategy. In regards to Eddios, he wouldn’t dare go public with them without proper promotion.

“Let’s go together today.”

KangYoon had Lee HyunJi, who was managing the other artists, stand up.

“Is there something that requires my attention?”

“I’ll explain to you the details on our way there.”

Lee HyunJi hopped onto the car with KangYoon with a confused expression.

KangYoon inputted a building in Gasan-dong on the GPS navigation while sending a text on his phone.

Lee HyunJi, who was on the passenger seat, asked him about what she wanted to know as the car sped up.

“Where are we going right now?”

KangYoon replied while pressing the accel pedal.

“We’re going to meet someone that can replace Sace.”

“Someone to replace a huge web portal, huh? Is there someone like that?”

“Yes.”

At KangYoon’s confident expression, she became curious and asked further.

“What kind of company are they? I don’t think I’ve heard of a giant web portal that can replace Sace, at least not one in Gasan-dong….”

“Do you know about FinesTalk?” (T/N: I’m guessing Kakaotalk?)

When he asked that question, Lee HyunJi became shocked.

“Of course I do. It’s a hot issue nowadays. Wasn’t it a messenger application that used internet data?”

“Yes. Are you using one?”

“I was going to, but it said that I can’t use it without an unlimited data plan. The telecommunication companies are quite evil. They’re making the excuse that it takes too much traffic. They’re all trying to kill FinesTalk off.”

Lee HyunJi expressed her complaints. As someone doing business, her phone plans were of the expensive variety, and this single app required an even more expensive unlimited data plan…

She was feeling the downsides of the monopoly.

“So you are quite knowledgeable on this side as well. Right now, we’re going to see the CEO of FinesTalk.”

“Hmm….”

Lee HyunJi cleared her throat a little before speaking.

“If you think about it reasonably, I’m not sure if FinesTalk can endure the pressure from those telecommunication companies. Right now, they don’t even have a profit model due to the pressure from the telecommunication companies, so they’re having a hard time. I even think that they should switch to offering paid services.”

KangYoon only smiled at her words.

‘Right now, FinesTalk is being led around by the nose by the telecommunication companies, but it’s also a time where people are having many complaints about those telecommunication companies. Whether legally or logically, they have no reason to block FinesTalk. It’s a time fight.’

They couldn’t suppress the complaints of customers forever. In at least 2 to 3 years, the restrictions the telecommunications placed on FinesTalk would be gone. FinesTalk was unable to endure that long and went bankrupt, and Sace, who benchmarked their idea launched a similar service and was hugely successful.

This was a huge issue before he went back in time, so he remembered it clearly.

“President, what are you thinking about?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, director. I’m thinking about ways to utilize FinesTalk.”

Lee HyunJi opened the window. The wind blew on her hair. She spoke carefully after tidying up her thoughts.

“President. I think you’re acting this way because of Sace, but if it’s about collaborating with FinesTalk, I personally don’t want to agree with you. I don’t think there’s a need to go against the telecommunication companies by collaborating with a dangerous company.”

“Trust me, this is all worth it.”

When he said that, Lee HyunJi’s eyes widened.

“The music charts like Heaven Chart or V-chart may give us disadvantages. It will be trouble for us if they decide to manipulate the rankings.”

“For now, just trust me and follow me in this one. You may question my decisions now, but after all this, this will be an ace move.”

Seeing KangYoon so confident, Lee HyunJi had nothing more to say. When KangYoon went out strong like this, he always replied to her with results.

KangYoon arrived at a start-up building in Gasan and headed towards the 15th floor, where FinesTalk HQ was located.

“Welcome.”

A female employee greeted the two. KangYoon and Lee HyunJi greeted them back before being guided by her to the president’s office.

Inside the president’s office, FinesTalk’s president, Ha SeYeon, was waiting for them. She was wearing high-heels and had light make-up on. Her overall atmosphere was similar to that of Lee HyunJi’s. Ha SeYeon was more of a mature sort than Lee HyunJi.

“Welcome.”

“Nice to meet you.”

The three people introduced themselves before sitting down.

The general gist of things seemed to have already been talked about over the phone as they could get to the point directly.

The first topic came from KangYoon.

“As I told you before. What we want from you is to use FinesTalk as a platform to promote Eddios.”

“Are you aware that we are only building infrastructure for network messengers?”

KangYoon grinned at those words.

“I’m also aware that you are preparing other services as well. Aren’t you just waiting for the right opportunity?”

President Ha SeYeon smiled and nodded.

“We are of course preparing to launch a profitable business model. However, our current finances aren’t looking good, so this is not the right time.

They wanted to provide other services, but they couldn’t because of the pressure from telecommunication companies and other external factors.

Hearing those words, KangYoon calmly talked about his opinion.

“To get into the topic. I wish to use a strategy that will be a win-win for both of us. I wish to create an Eddios channel on FinesTalk. That is, creating a platform where one can watch videos that are only found on the platform as well as uploading their schedule on it as well. It will be a service that isn’t hosted anywhere on the internet like portal sites. Of course, we’ll pay a fee for it as well.”

These were very good conditions.

President Ha SeYeon’s eyes gleamed.

“If that happens, we’ll be able to attract not only the die-hard fans of Eddios but people who have an interest in them as well. It will also be an advertisement for us as well. It is indeed a win-win strategy.”

KangYoon nodded his head at those words.

“Of course. FinesTalk will provide us the platform, while we will provide the content. This is our proposal.”

“Hm….”

President Ha SeYeon became silent. KangYoon’s proposal was both simple and good. However, her position as the CEO made it hard to accept it immediately.

“It definitely is a good proposal for both of us. However, it’s also too good to be true for us FinesTalk. What else do you gain other than promotion?”

At those words, KangYoon spoke with confidence.

“We’re looking for a long-term partner.”

“A long-term partner?”

KangYoon accentuated his voice.

“It’s very difficult to find a business partner that lasts a long time. We have a hard time in promotion every time we do something. I value FinesTalk’s platform very highly. If we can use it stably, it will be a great deal for us.”

“……”

“We’ll be waiting for your answer.”

KangYoon finished speaking and stood up from his seat.

Negotiations don’t finish in just one meeting. KangYoon turned around with Lee HyunJi, trying to leave.

At that moment.

“…Very well. We’ll have to negotiate on the specifics, but I’m with you.”

He got approved. KangYoon turned back around with a joyful expression.

“Thank you.”

KangYoon looked at Lee HyunJi and grinned at her before shaking hands with president Ha SeYeon.

She spoke with a smile.

“I hope it will indeed be a win-win for both of us. As you said, president, I hope things will last for a long time between us. Actually, we are in need of a profitable business as well.”

Lee HyunJi spoke after hearing those words.

“We should consider selling merchandise and albums through FinesTalk as well.”

“That’ll make us grateful.”

Selling merchandise through a platform meant paying commissions so it would help FinesTalk out as well. President Ha SeYeon was delighted at the suggestion.

KangYoon added in as well.

“Once the platform expands, we’ll be helping each other a lot. We will strive to provide high-quality content. If that happens, other companies will flock to us as well. You just have to stick with us when the time comes.”

“Don’t worry about it. Should we write the contract right here?”

Ha SeYeon delightfully called an employee to print a contract paper.

KangYoon and Ha SeYeon.

The meeting of these two people, who would bring out the best from each other, started with this meeting.

***

Wednesday, July 5th, 7 p.m.

In a fancy club in Itaewon with bright purple psychedelic lights, Hello Tint’s showcase was being held.

“Waaaa—!”

The fans cheered out loud. Hello Tint’s new title song, titled ‘Candy’, bringing out the dance in the audience was being live streamed to the internet through several cameras.

– You color me with refreshing scent —

The 6 girls decorated the stage with refreshing and fantastic dances.

***

3 hours before Hello Tint’s showcase.

Han MinGi (T/N: random person), who claimed himself as a fan of Eddios, was grumbling while running FinesTalk on his phone since it wasn’t running well.

“Ugh, this is so laggy. Those damned telecom bastards…”

There were already many complaints on the internet towards telecommunication companies because of the fact that FinesTalk was laggy because of the intervention of telecommunication companies. Moreover, as he was a college student, his data plan was quite cheap. It wasn’t completely blocked, but it was extremely laggy. Due to limitations in technology, the telecommunication companies couldn’t outright block the service from running.

“This is why a monopoly is bad… huh?”

He left the library to smoke a little when a message popped up on his phone. It prompted him to update the app. He updated the app and the update happened quite quickly.

But then…

“Huh? Eddios!?”

Eddios was right there on the main screen! It was also all 6 of them at once. When he got into FinesTalk, there was a new menu next to the chat menu. It was a menu titled ‘search the internet’.

However, there was something that caught his eyes before the newly updated menus. It was ‘Channel Eddios’.

“Whoa.”

When he clicked on it, there was a lot of content about Eddios, including videos of their practice, music video teasers, as well as their full schedule. Moreover, there were individual interviews and even footage of them from TV shows. All the fun stuff about them was all gathered there.

“This is awesome!”

He immediately put on his earbuds and dived through them. Although he was losing a lot of data in the process, he didn’t care.

***

Eddios and Hello Tint’s albums released!

Some referred to this as the battle between the older and the younger generation, while others referred to this battle as the fight between small and large scale companies.

Hello Tint went full-force with the promotion through collaborating with the web portal Sace, while Eddios used FinesTalk, which many people used, to show just as much firepower. People were very interested in the battle between the two.

However, Eddios only revealed practice videos and teaser videos, while Hello Tint did a showcase about their album. Despite that, the general opinion on the two was similar. In fact, more people showed interest in Eddios, who only showed their practice videos and teasers. This was seen by the fact that search term rankings on the web.

1. Eddios

2. FinesTalk

3. FinesTalk search service

4. Hello Tint

5. Hello Tint Showcase.

6. The dumpling issue.

7. Sace video platform

The media was very hot about Hello Tint and Eddios.

The war began with the attack from Eddios 3 hours before the showcase.

And Thursday was the big battle.

It was the comeback stage on KS TV.

***

“Are you girls all ready?”

“Yes!”

In front of the dorms, KangYoon looked after each and every member of Eddios. He checked whether something was wrong for any of them. Only after that did everyone hop in the van.

When KangYoon got on the passenger seat, manager Kim DaeHyun whispered to him.

‘HanYu’s condition is not looking good. It’s that day.’

The magical day did not make exceptions. A handicap like this was bad for days like today when they had to do a dance.

However, KangYoon didn’t encourage them to eat pills or do anything.

He told the manager that he was plenty prepared and the van drove off.

When they arrived, everyone prepared themselves.

Just as all 6 members were getting make-up done, Hello Tint visited them.

“Oh, hello, seonbae-nim.”

The 6 girls all took deep bows and Eddios waved back at them in response.

“Hi, it’s been a long time. Looks like we’re both having our comebacks today.”

“Yes, seonbae-nim. Please take care of us.”

When Jung MinAh spoke as their representative, Hayul of Hello Tint responded.

The two groups didn’t talk a lot. Eddios knew full well that Hello Tint was their ‘replacement’ and Hello Tint was uncomfortable with them as well.

Eddios finished their make-up and left the make-up room.

“Then see you later.”

“Yes, seonbae-nim.”

When all members of Eddios left the room, the members of Hello Tint started whispering amongst themselves.

“Those seonbaes are still as stiff as ever. Do they still think that they’re in the first place?”

“My words exactly. But despite that, I’m so~~~ envious that team leader Lee KangYoon is with them. He’s capable, he’s loyal, and he’s so tall as well. Where can you find a man like him these days? Should I switch as well?”

“Forget it, what if that devil hears about this?”

“Ugh, that sounds horrific. Anyway, I really like team leader KangYoon. Director JinHo is so annoying.”

The chat made the make-up room noisy.

***

“How does it feel to see your juniors?”

KangYoon asked the members of Eddios who had returned to their waiting room which made all of them silent.

KangYoon chuckled and continued speaking.

“I dare say, those girls are talking bad about you right now.”

“……”

Indeed. Seo HanYu’s eyes became cold. As today was a ‘bad day’ for her, her emotions were quite all over the place.

“Who do they think they are?”

One person’s opinion was agreed upon by the others.

Although KangYoon didn’t like propaganda, it was quite necessary right now.

“I did all I could for you. Now, it’s your turn to show me something.”

“……”

The eyes of Eddios all gleamed at his words.

It became time, as an assistant director knocked on their door.

“Eddios! Please get ready!’

“Okay, then. Let’s do this!”

The members of Eddios stood up from their seats and headed towards the stage with KangYoon.