Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols
SS Chapter 103: Turning The Tables (3)
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TL: FoodieMonster007
The center's role was to promote the group through media appearances. Song Minil was supposed to fill that role for Parthe. However, after the power abuse scandal broke, Han Gawoon had to take on that responsibility.
While Han Gawoon, who already had many parts, stood at the forefront of the stage, the other members repeatedly caused controversies and went on hiatus. The company ignored their circumstances and just pushed the idol in front of the cameras.
He was not thick-skinned enough to ignore fans or anti-fans, so the words "I'm sorry" constantly left his mouth. Everything around Han Gawoon dragged him into the spotlight, even when he did not want to be there.
It would have been easier for him if he were as thoughtless as Song Minil, or as irresponsible as the other members.
I remembered Mr. Han Gawoon from when we filmed 'Act on' together. He trembled so much when I hugged him to congratulate him on his win. I vividly remembered his voice adding an apology after his thanks.
Mr. Han Gawoon could not openly stop his colleagues. The environment made it impossible in the first place.
Even though they were his fellow members, they were all older than him, and most of them had bad personalities.
Even those who were initially uncomfortable with Song Minil's outrageous behavior were eventually corrupted. They changed to the point where they did not care if a member cursed at staff or put their feet on the table right next to them.
Only Mr. Han Gawoon did not lose his humanity. He took such good care of Jeong Seongbin when they were a team on the show that Jeong Seongbin said his conscience pricked him. He was someone who was ashamed of his team's actions in stealing a junior's concept.
…It was also Mr. Han Gawoon who acted as our inside informant.
When MYTH threatened Parthe, Mr. Han Gawoon contacted Jeong Seongbin, even though he was also one of the ones being threatened. He despaired with no way out of MYTH, but he still gave me a warning for my own sake.
In that precarious moment, he thought more of me, even though I must have seemed much better off than him at the time.
"Are you alone?"
…However.
I was weak to this type of person, someone who steps up to help with other people's problems even when their own life is not going smoothly.
This person… why did he once resemble Nam Jooah and make my heart uncomfortable…
"I called to tell you a way for you and the other seniors to survive."
…and when he himself is in the most difficult and tough situation, he acts like my sister, making it so I can't turn away in the end.
When idols and companies fought, the idols usually lost. Idols sometimes won lawsuits, but it was hardly a great victory because their group life ended and the company suffered almost no damage.
When an employee and a company fought, the employee lost with a high probability. For an ordinary person to win against a corporation, they had to draw in public opinion, but that was not easy.
A single news article was not much help. Only when the public outcry did not die down and the government or media outlets showed movement would the company try to offer a compromise.
The law is above corporations. A company could not surpass the law.
Instead, the law had loopholes. The industry learned and passed down ways to exploit those loopholes over a long period.
While the loopholes were not filled, the higher-ups accumulated know-how. Sayings like, 'It's better to neglect the problem and pay a fine if caught, rather than spending money to fulfill obligations from the start,' and 'In the long run, it's more profitable to abuse your power while doing business and just pay a penalty if a correction order is issued,' circulated openly.
Laughable punishments made the rules seem laughable too. The law, which did not reach those with the means to escape it, was not scary.
What if the conditions here changed just a little?
What if, instead of facing the company individually, the idols and employees created public opinion from the start and attacked as a group.
This was not just about idols taking group action or former employees forming a victims' group. There were plenty of precedents for that. However, you could tell just by reading a few news articles that the companies did not budge.
So, a larger collective was needed. It could not just be the idols stepping forward, nor could it be just persuading former employees to raise the issue. A variety of voices were needed to testify that MYTH was a trash can.
"It might be difficult, but I'd appreciate it if you and the other Parthe seniors would testify about the meeting MYTH held as your contracts were nearing expiration."
The fact that Parthe wanted to leave MYTH had become an established fact due to the tampering incident. Whatever their future plans were, as guys who had already failed to leave once, they would hope to escape rather than stay and walk on eggshells.
The employees who left MYTH and got new jobs would naturally be uncomfortable with the current situation. There is a reason for the saying that the scariest people in the world are former fans and former employees. They are holding knives in their mouths.
They would find out their former company was still trying to hold them back, and the ill-fated relationship they thought was over was affecting their current lives.
They would never stay quiet. If given the chance, they would expose everything. All I needed to do was set the stage for them.
The current employees probably joined because of MYTH's reputation as the top in the industry and are still protecting the company… but what happens if that pride and sense of stability from being number one is shaken?
Until now, they had probably endured by consoling themselves with the relatively high salary, benefits, and large scale among entertainment companies. However, UtopiA had already shattered the perception that 'the whole industry is like this' or 'it's worse outside'.
Becoming a company that had no trouble recruiting even without posting job openings meant just that.
In an entertainment market where the saying 'changing jobs is the best way to raise your salary' circulates, UtopiA rapidly emerged, challenging MYTH, which had been the best option. For those who had turned a blind eye to the company's corruption, saying there was nowhere to go but MYTH, another path opened up.
With Hellas continuing their activities smoothly after transferring and the newly established entertainment department proving UtopiA's potential, how long could they live with their eyes covered?
It is not easy to pretend you do not see a better option. If people start pointing fingers at the company, it will become even harder to endure.
In such a situation, if testimonies from former colleagues started to come out, was there any guarantee that the people inside MYTH would not be shaken?
That anxiety would create a crack. It was the same kind of crack MYTH found and used to exploit broadcasting stations, society, and the net of the law. A very small and trivial fissure would become the key to undoing MYTH's tight gag order.
Imagine former employees, current employees who want to avoid punishment, idols who left the company, and idols who want to leave all saying, 'Actually, they surveilled, harassed, and threatened us.'
What media outlet would not bite that bait? They would immediately slap on a headline like 'Idol Powerhouse MYTH, Unable to Overcome Disgrace… The Fall of the Throne' and put it on the front page of the entertainment section.
It would be even better if one or two congressmen eager to look like they were working got involved. If they framed it as a large corporation exploiting idols who joined as trainees at a young age and were vulnerable to company power, and employees who were overworked for near-minimum wage salaries, their voices of criticism would not be easily ignored.
Circumstantial evidence of them lobbying broadcasting stations was widely reported before, but there was no punishment. It's the perfect situation to say that leniency towards large corporations has worsened the situation to this extent.
Because it was all true that MYTH used methods they could not reveal to the public to corner Hellas and Parthe, and that they bribed broadcasting stations or threatened writers to promote their idols.
Isn't it rather surprising that there is not a single lie in all of this?
When the problem got this big, an investigation was bound to happen. Once the press started covering it, it was like something that could no longer be stopped.
Then…
MYTH will have no choice but to delete my photo.
Because they would be screwed if they got caught. The media would release voice recordings, messenger conversations, and whatever else they found in real-time. If evidence of them blackmailing someone with a photo of their suicide attempt came out, they would have to worry about the company's survival, not its stock price.
All the conversations they had idly chatting amongst themselves about how to use it internally would come back as arrows.
They would be too anxious about forensics to just delete or format it, so they would probably try to destroy a few disks.
It was obvious. They would have no choice, even knowing they would be suspected with headlines like 'MYTH revealed to have damaged storage devices! It's a clear attempt to destroy evidence!'
Being embroiled in suspicion is less severe than being accused of toying with someone's life, so even knowing they would get caught, they would dispose of it for certain, in a conspicuous way that I was bound to notice. Their desperation to avoid the worst-case scenario would end up helping me.
The moment the public's suspicion that there was really something going on with MYTH turned into conviction. That was the perfect time for Parthe and the others to hold a press conference.
After being hit with a surprise press conference following the patricide controversy, I knew a thing or two about timing.
The greater the company's sins, the stronger the iron mace of justice against the corporation became. Therefore, for the people who turned their backs on MYTH to survive for sure, they had to talk about how much they harassed me and spArk under the company's orders.
We would not need to open our mouths. The people who knew the internal situation best would step forward and expose it for us.
Just as spArk was able to clear its name while All Over was swept away by a drug scandal and Parthe imploded from personality issues, Mr. Han Gawoon and I could also say goodbye to MYTH without seeing any more filth.
I explained the series of events, summarizing as concisely as possible. I left out the part about how I hoped my photo would be deleted along with everything else.
Well, that was not information Mr. Han Gawoon needed.
"One person alone won't be enough. All of Parthe has to step up together, and we need people who will testify. It'll be difficult if all the conditions aren't met."
If the timing was even slightly off, there was a high chance the whole thing would fizzle out. We had to strike when people's interest was gathered and reporters were on edge, ready to write articles.
The exposures had to follow one after another, to the point where MYTH could not help but raise the white flag. Only then would a path to survival open up.
"…I understand."
A listless voice flowed from the phone.
"There's one thing I want to ask if you've considered, Mr. Iwol."
"What would that be?"
"[After so many controversies, who would listen to us…]"
It was the same tone as in the voice recording Jeong Seongbin had played for me, the one where he said he was sick and tired of people. He sounded so exhausted.
"[From the moment we turn our backs on the company, until it's reported in the media, public attention gathers, and MYTH collapses… If there's no immediate reaction, someone has to be the Speaker. Is there anyone who can do that?]"
His voice was weak, as if he had given up. However, he could not break down yet.
"After all that's happened, did your fans ever leave you, sunbae-nim?"
Because the fandom would create all the public opinion needed to reach the destination.
As the person who would receive that love, he could not afford to lose heart before he even began.