Peninsula Platinum Era

Chapter 13: Next Generation Girl Group Members?
"We still need to build our own secretarial team. Let's see if any of those people are interested."

Although he didn't get much practical experience at Big Hit, Chen Shijun seems to need to cultivate some close associates within the company, and the soon-to-be-established subsidiary will also require personnel.

At this point, poaching from my former employer seems like a good option, but I still need to take the time to call and ask for their opinion. For now, I can only make do.

Although he planned to meet with Su Chengzhen and Min Xizhen, he also analyzed some of the pros and cons. Fang Shihe had many ideas and his ambitions were astonishing, but relatively speaking, he did not have the courage to match them.

Min Hee-jin, who was poached with a hefty sum, was naturally there for the girl group project. Meanwhile, CEO So, who founded Source Music, was also good at trainee selection and girl group planning. They should have been a powerful combination, but they ended up in a mess over the control of this so-called "N girl group".

Min Hee-jin hopes to get Fang Pangzi's full support, but although Fang Pangzi has acquired Source Music, he does not want to change the company's structure, nor does he want to make Representative Su feel any sense of crisis.

After all, Representative Su and Park Jin-young are longtime friends with a very good relationship. According to Fatty Fang, they are like brothers, and he specifically gave them some instructions this time.

"Representative Su and I went through the hardships of a small company's rise together; we shared the hardships of growing together."

Chen Shijun felt that this hesitant and timid behavior was unnecessary. Unclear authority was a major taboo. He suggested either handing over the leadership to Representative Su and limiting Min Xizhen's role to visual and conceptual planning.

Alternatively, we could clearly define the direction with Min Hee-jin in charge, split the project out, and provide Representative Su with a certain level of resource compensation. In any case, we shouldn't leave it in an in-between state.

Source Music's representative, Su Chengzhen, is about forty years old this year. He looks like a very serious person. He gave Chen Shijun a kind smile and did not look down on this director because of his age.

After all, as a member of the board of directors and the fourth largest shareholder, he represents the core leadership of Big Hit to a certain extent, and even though he has a good relationship with Bang Si-hyuk, he cannot be neglected.

This guy has a similar background to Min Hee-jin; both of them entered SM Entertainment after graduating from university. He has served as the manager for BoA ​​and Shinhwa, working his way up from tour manager to production-related positions, so it can be said that he has accumulated a wealth of experience.

Two years later, she left SM and joined JYP. Coincidentally, Min Hee-jin joined SM in the same year. In addition, it must be said that SM's manager position is a place that produces talented people.

Although the job is low-paying and extremely stressful, and is usually held by healthy young people in their twenties, one of the agents in those years was Han Sung-soo, the founder of Pledis.

Big Hit's acquisition negotiations with Pledis are progressing rapidly. It's unexpected that SM Entertainment could produce two geniuses, a hidden dragon and a phoenix, plus that Ms. Min. Representative Fang is truly a blessed man.

This company is quite small. Although it is located in the wealthy Longshan District, its facilities are so outdated that Chen Shijun felt it was very shabby. The office area and practice room are in the basement or semi-basement. It is truly rare for GFRIEND to be created under such circumstances.

"Please excuse our humble abode. We're just a small family, and we're sorry to have made Director Chen laugh at us. Once the Big Hit building is completed, we'll move in together."

Even the representative's office looked rather shabby. Chen Shijun felt it was worlds apart from his office at Big Hit, but this seemed to be a normal phenomenon for small companies.

They decided to proceed with the meetings according to their job titles, but Fatty Fang was pessimistic about whether they could coordinate the direction of their journey, feeling more like they were trying anything as a last resort.

Even if coordination is impossible, it is still necessary to clarify the various relationships and make the right judgments, so at least the project should be pushed forward to some extent.

"By the way, our Min CBO also participated in the building design. I believe Director Chen will be impressed when it's unveiled."

The assistant quickly brought coffee. Chen Shijun was quite surprised that the unassuming woman had such abilities; indeed, appearances can be deceiving.

"I'm really looking forward to it. Representative Su has achieved such results under such difficult conditions. The projects in the future will surely be even more brilliant."

As a veteran who has proven himself, Chen Shijun has reason to believe that he can replicate the success of GFRIEND. Although the group seems to be lacking in momentum now, it still maintains its status as a top-tier girl group.

In this era of TWICE's immense popularity, the fact that this group from a smaller company can still make its voice heard is a testament to their talent. If these two can work together, backed by the formidable resources of Big Hit Entertainment, this "N girl group" might very well become the rulers of the next era.

But eventually, it was time to get back to the main topic. Representative Su was fully aware of Chen Shijun's intentions and disapproved of Fatty Fang's attempt to smooth things over.

"Let me first tell you about the upcoming situation. For the next girl group, we have already recruited some trainees, some from China and some from Big Hit's global recruitment. They are all very promising talents."

Representative Su didn't seem to want to reveal too much, but he told Chen Shijun about some things, including what he had done for the "N Girl Group" plan. Chen Shijun, who knew very little about it, could only nod repeatedly.

After all, his purpose in coming here was to see the governor, not to interfere in affairs and make the situation more chaotic. Both of them were more or less experts.

“According to the previous agreement, Min CBO is responsible for the brand, visuals and concept design of Team N, while we are responsible for member selection, dance training and daily management, Representative Fang is responsible for music, and I have the final decision-making power.”

The middle-aged man suddenly stood up, his voice gradually turning cold, clearly harboring resentment towards Min CBO's actions.

"She wanted to expand her authority, first by demanding music production from Team N, but I did not suppress her desires, nor did Representative Fang."

So Sung-jin said he accepted her role changes more than four times, but she wanted to take on more content, and she is a woman who is never satisfied.

Chen Shijun naturally didn't believe that this guy's one-sided story was the truth, but it was indeed very similar to what he had learned. However, Fang Shihe was convinced that Min Xizhen could build the future of Big Hit.

At this moment, no one remembered that the company still had one of the best girl groups of this era, GFRIEND, who had created countless glories in the four years since their debut. It seemed that everyone had forgotten about them.

Min Hee-jin even stated directly that GFRIEND was not in the plan, making no attempt to hide her disgust for the group. According to the information handed to her, she felt that even hearing the name of the group made her think that it was pandering to men.

Gradually, this woman also formed a profile in Chen Shijun's mind. She was an exceptionally capable fighter, a person who possessed both creativity and a desire for control.

"I heard that CBO Min comes to inspect the trainees every two weeks on Fridays. Will we be able to see him today?"

Chen Shijun's words startled Representative Su, whose expression changed, but he smiled calmly and nodded after asking his assistant.

Interestingly, he himself did not intend to accompany Chen Shijun, but instead arranged for a training supervisor to lead Chen Shijun on a tour.

Logically, personnel management and daily training should also be the responsibility of Source Music, which is also a direction for Min CBO to further intervene in the project. Chen Shijun's arrival today is quite timely.

"Indeed... the space is a bit cramped."

The company didn't have many practice rooms, and the employees' offices were quite crowded. Along the way, people kept bowing to Su Chengzhen, but the middle-aged man just put on a dignified appearance.

"Look at you, you're as fat as a pig. Are the judges of Big Hit's global selection process all blind?"

"Let her go! Who told you to support her? She can only dance and doesn't know anything else... She's an idiot who can't even dance properly!"

Chen Shijun, standing outside the door, felt somewhat awkward, unsure whether he should go in, as he felt the woman inside had even cursed Representative Fang.

(End of this chapter)