Start with My Artist Neighbor

Jiang Haoyang took a closer look and almost turned around and ran away in shame.

I saw a drop of water as big as a thumb in the middle of the autograph book. I knew what the drop was without having to think about it.

Jiang Haoyang was so embarrassed.

He explained forcefully, "Because it was lunch time, I went to move lunch boxes for everyone, and this might have been the juice that dripped on during the meal."

"Carrying lunch boxes? Is that why you came so late?"

"Yes, yes, that's what delayed us."

Chuu blinked, "Okay then, but thank you anyway, I finally got Girls' Generation's autograph."

“You really like Girls’ Generation?”

"Of course! If I hadn't been influenced by Girls' Generation, I probably would never have been a trainee in my life, let alone debuted as an idol."

Jiang Haoyang looked at her in surprise: "So you are really an idol? I thought you were a solo singer~!"

"Ah! I'm so cute, don't I look like an idol!?"

As she said that, Chuu raised her little pink fist as if she was going to hit him.

Although she looked angry, she looked particularly cute in Jiang Haoyang's eyes.

Chuu is different from the older girls in Girls' Generation because of her youthful appearance and cute personality.

No matter what I do, it feels like watching the little girl next door playing, full of youthfulness.

Even Jiang Haoyang was infected by the cuteness. He laughed playfully: "Yes, yes, very cute. He really feels like an idol~"

"Hmph~!"

271 Loona, Kim Ji-woo!

Because he offended Kim Taeyeon and successfully angered her, before the recording of Kim Taeyeon's new variety show was finished,

Jiang Haoyang didn't want to go back so early and suffer Kim Taeyeon's anger.

I started chatting with Chuu on the sofa in the hall.

It turns out that Chuu did not lie, she really debuted as an idol.

However, she does not belong to the three traditional Korean idol companies, S/M, JYP and YG.

It comes from an unknown small company.

Chuu's real name is Kim Ji-woo, and she made her official debut as a member of the group "LOON".

People who are familiar with Korean entertainment may have heard of this group.

Because they debuted from a small company, in order to create enough buzz before the group's official debut,

The company announced the information of one member per month, and it took a full 12 months to announce all the information of 12 members.

For this reason, they became a little famous in the circle and accumulated a certain amount of popularity and traffic before the group debuted.

But a small company is a small company after all.

Both the quality of their albums and the flow of resources are far inferior to those girl groups launched by big companies.

Since their debut, LOONA has been tepid, without any hit music or any outstanding achievements.

Even the attempt to create some gossip to attract traffic was like a drop in the ocean without making any splash.

Since its debut, it has always been on the edge of a small and obscure group on the 18th tier.

But starting from 2019,

Chuu became very popular for his "biting heart" emoticon.

And thanks to this popular move, she became the only member among the 12 members of LOONA who has personal resources.

The company treats her as the super C position of this month's girl group.

Chuu has lived up to expectations with her hard work and has starred in many popular Korean variety shows and frequently appeared on TV.

During the period from 2020 to 2022, he was invited to be a permanent guest on many new variety shows.

He has become a new star in the variety show circle.

But things went against her wishes. After working hard for two years, the unscrupulous company not only deducted all her wages,

They even isolated her from the LOONA group and stopped providing special cars for all their activities, forcing Chuu to take a taxi herself or rely on her family to drive her there.

After hearing these stories, Jiang Haoyang felt very heavy. He had long heard about the dark side of the Korean entertainment industry.

Even a girl group of Girls' Generation's stature suffered a lot when they first debuted.

But compared to LOONA, the protection provided by S/M company is much better.

Jiang Haoyang was really angry about what Loona Girls Company did, and couldn't help but ask:

"You are already the center of the group. As long as the team continues to operate with you as the core, everything will be fine. Why does the company want to isolate you?"

"Because I didn't listen."

"Ok?"

It turns out that becoming a Korean trainee is not as easy as it seems.

For trainees recruited by the company, all their food, clothing, housing and transportation will be borne by the company from the moment they become trainees.

Until this group of trainees can successfully debut.

But even if they successfully make it from being a trainee to debuting, all profits from the subsequent group's debut will be turned over to the company to make up for all the capital invested during the trainee period.

Only when all costs of the current period are recovered, will the subsequent profits be distributed equally to each member.

Many groups, from their debut to their disbandment, have never made up for the debt they incurred during their trainee period.

But LOONA is different...

272 Chuu's idol career...

Because of Chuu's popularity, the company earned a lot of capital.

When Chuu applied to view the revenue details of LOONA, the suffering began...

The reason why a "small company" is called a "small company" is that it is nominally small in size and has few resources.

There is another very critical point, that is the rationality of the distribution of profits!

There are generally only two outcomes for girl groups launched by small companies: either they become popular because of the right weather, location and people, or they become popular because of the right weather, location and people.

The girl group Girlfriend and the boy group BTS are good examples.

Both groups debuted from small companies, and later, due to a combination of luck and strength, they achieved a successful comeback.

The company that BTS belongs to has become the fourth largest idol entertainment company in South Korea, second only to the three traditional idol companies in terms of fame.

In addition to becoming extremely popular, another possible ending is that the group disbands as soon as it debuts.

This is also the fate of more than 90% of girl groups from small companies in South Korea. The rest of them survive with difficulty by relying on various commercial performances.

The situation of LOONA Girls is rather awkward; they are neither extremely popular nor hopelessly obscure.

Instead, relying on Chuu's personal strength, he has received dozens of advertising endorsements, and regularly appeared on four or five variety shows, bringing countless profits to the company.

However, the company that did nothing used all the revenue it earned from Chuu to fill the gap left by LOONA Girls.

As a result, even though Chuu was at the peak of her popularity, she still got nothing after two years of hard work.

You know, if she just wanted to repay the debt owed by Chuu as a trainee, with her current business ability, she would have paid it off long ago and even had some surplus.

Don’t be fooled by Chuu’s cute appearance, but she is very tough when she gets serious.

Faced with a dictatorial company, Chuu acted decisively. She separated her personal schedule from the company and signed a contract with a new company.

In simple terms, Chuu is still a member of LOONA, but the company that LOONA belongs to only has the rights to Chuu's team activities.

Her personal activities are no longer affiliated with LOONA's agency, but are handled by another company.

It was this action of hers that caused Loona's agency to completely isolate her from the team and no longer provide her with a special car to take her to any team activities.

What's even more amazing is that in the Loon Girls World Tour Concert held in 2022, the company directly eliminated Chuu's role.

The official statement given was that Chuu's personal schedule conflicted with the concert schedule, and in order not to affect the performance quality of the concert, they chose not to allow Chuu to participate.

What happened next was the drama that everyone is familiar with. Chuu filed a lawsuit and unilaterally announced the termination of her contract with LOONA's agency.

The counterattack of LOONA's agency is also very interesting. They actually spread negative information online, such as Chuu bullying her teammates, putting on airs as a celebrity and insulting company employees.

But in the end, the members of LOONA couldn't stand it anymore and came out to defend Chuu.

The humiliated company knew it was powerless to recover and could only issue an announcement to unilaterally terminate the contract with Chuu.

As a result, the conflict between Chuu and the company that LOONA belongs to came to an end.

In 2023, Chuu signed with a new company again.

This time she appeared as a guest on "Amazing Saturday" for no other reason than to promote her first solo album after signing with a new company.

After learning about Chuu's idol career over the years, Jiang Haoyang felt even more heavy-hearted.

273 Bet with Chuu!

There are always some strange and shocking events in the Korean entertainment industry.

After listening to Chuu's story and looking at the innocent and cute smile on her face, Jiang Haoyang actually felt that she was so pitiful.

Jiang Haoyang stared at the autograph book in Chuu's hand and said seriously, "How much do you like Girls' Generation?"

"Ah?" Chuu was a little confused by Jiang Haoyang's unreasonable question.

"How many Girls' Generation members' autographs did you get?"

"This... no~"

Chuu shook the autograph book in her hand and said, "Now we have it. Taeyeon's autograph should be the first one."

"Then I'll help you get all the autographs of Girls' Generation."

"what?!"

Chuu was stunned at first, but when he reacted, his already shrewd eyes became even brighter.

"Really?!"

But Chuu's happiness lasted only three seconds, and her expression darkened again, "You big liar, why don't I believe you have that ability?"

"Hey! Why are you talking like that? I was just a little late, you don't have to treat me as a liar!"

"You are a big liar~"

Jiang Haoyang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "I'm helping you sincerely, but you still say this to me, so do you want it?"

Chuu blinked, "Can you really get everyone's signatures for me?"

"I'm an employee of S/M Company, so my chances of meeting Girls' Generation are naturally greater than yours."

"Tsk~ Several senior members of Girls' Generation are no longer with S/M Company, okay? I'm not that easy to fool."

"..."

Chuu's words gave Jiang Haoyang a good reminder.

But today's Jiang Haoyang is no longer the same as before. Kwon Yuri, Choi Sooyoung, and Lim Yoona have all had deep and intimate exchanges with him.

He could easily get the signatures of the other members of Girls' Generation through the three of them. It was just a matter of time.

There are many reasons why Jiang Haoyang agreed to Chuu.

First of all, he and Chuu are both fans of Girls' Generation. Secondly, he admires Chuu's ability.

Whether it was her business ability or her confrontation with her former company, he was impressed by this pink-haired girl.

Another point is that it is a kind of compensation for being late.

After all, with the help of Yoona and the others, getting the autographs of all the members of Girls' Generation might not be as difficult as he imagined.

"Don't worry about whether they are still in the S/M company. I certainly have my own way, but you need to give me some time."