UAI Chapter 30

Episode 30


As the elevator doors closed, Hajin asked Cheolhwan.


"Who's that guy? I don't think I've seen him before."


"Oh, he's a trainee who joined not long ago. You probably haven’t run into him yet."


"Ah, that makes sense…"


"You mentioned you were preparing for the next group, right?"


"Yeah. After you guys and Violet, the company is betting big on launching a new male idol group."


"Now that I think about it, it's already been over three years since Violet debuted, huh?"


"Yeah, considering that, it's been quite a gap."


"True. There haven't been any male idols since us."


As they continued chatting like that, they soon arrived on the 9th floor.


When they reached the CEO's office, the secretary stood up to greet them.


"Welcome. The CEO said you can go right in. Please, go ahead."


"Thank you."


Cheolhwan knocked and then opened the door.


"Oh? You're here!"


As they entered the office, CEO Kang Seokjin greeted them warmly.


"Hello, sir!"


"Hello!"


"Oh? Sejin, you’re here too? Haha, it’s even better seeing you in person like this!"


Once everyone was seated on the sofa in the middle of the office, CEO Kang began to speak.


"Let’s order drinks first and talk after. The head of the legal team will be joining us too. What would you all like to drink?"


"We'll have iced Americanos, please. Sejin, what do you want? Juice?"


"Yeah. I think we have juice, cocoa… and milk too… Sejin, what would you like?"


"Juice, please."


CEO Kang used the intercom to ask the secretary for the drinks. He also texted the head of the legal team to come up.


After a short while, the refreshments were brought in, and the head of the legal team arrived.


Once everything seemed set, CEO Kang began to speak in earnest.


"First of all, thank you again for trusting us and agreeing to renew your contracts. Honestly, I didn’t expect all five of you to agree to re-sign. You guys accepted so easily—I was kind of taken aback. Haha!"


The members B-One of laughed and responded.


"Come on, CEO! Where else would we go if we left you?"


"That's right. It's a bit disappointing you thought we’d leave."


"After everything you and the company have done for us? We've never even thought of moving elsewhere."


"Exactly! Guess we were the only ones feeling all the loyalty."


"We went through tough times together in the beginning—there’s no way we’d just walk away."


Hearing their words, CEO Kang could feel that all his efforts hadn’t been in vain.


When he left a major entertainment agency to start his own company, Kang had been confident he’d succeed quickly.


But running a company turned out to be far more challenging than he imagined.


Money was tight, and nothing seemed to go smoothly.


In the midst of all that, the members of B-One were the ones who stuck with him and believed in him to the end.


Though he managed to get them to debut, compared to major companies, they were lacking in many areas—promotion, TV appearances, and more.


In the beginning, the group only gained mild attention from idol fans for their good looks, but they didn’t get much spotlight.


Just when it seemed like they might flop, they got a lucky break when they filled in last-minute on a variety show, which caught the public's attention.


The show featured them visiting rural villages to chat with and help elderly people living alone—cleaning, doing chores, and offering companionship.


It was their first time doing anything like that, so they were awkward and clumsy at first. But their genuine effort, not caring if their hair or clothes got messy, won over viewers.


Their polite behavior and sincere personalities became just as noticed as their looks.


After getting their faces out there once, casting offers began pouring in, and things finally started to turn around.


All the members were tall, handsome, and had strong skills to back it up—so it wasn’t long before they were recognized as top idols.


Of course, it wouldn’t have been possible without the support from CEO Kang and the rest of the company—and the members knew that better than anyone.


Thanks to B-One’s success, Ain Entertainment steadily grew.


Three years after B-One debuted, they launched a girl group, Violet. While not as big as B-One, Violet still saw significant success.


They also began signing actors, further solidifying their status as a mid-sized entertainment agency.


Though Violet and the actors were doing well, B-One remained Ain Entertainment’s biggest moneymaker.


Since B-One brought in 60% of the company's revenue, their contract renewal was a huge deal.


And with all the members agreeing to renew without hesitation, CEO Kang felt both relief and deep gratitude.


"Alright, Manager Park. Please hand out the contracts to the boys."


"Yes, here they are. I’ll explain everything shortly, but please take a look first."


The head of the legal team distributed the contracts to the members.


They each took a copy and started skimming through the contents.


At that, CEO Kang began speaking.


"Park will go over the details, but let me just point out the key parts. It’s a 3-year contract, and we’ve revised the profit-sharing ratio. Originally it was 70:30, but now it’s changed to 90:10. This applies to both group and individual activities. What do you think?"


The members were visibly shocked and stared at CEO Kang.


Jaewon quickly recovered and replied.


"Uh… While it’s great for us to get a higher share, wouldn’t that be a huge loss for the company?"


"Yeah. It sounds like there wouldn’t be much profit left for the company…"


"CEO, how about we just go with an 80:20 split instead?"


"Yeah. We think that’s fair enough."


"Besides, we’re already making a lot of money."


Worried that the company might take a loss, the members all chimed in with concern.


At that, CEO Kang and Team Leader Park burst into laughter.


"Hahaha! Wow. This is the first time I’ve seen people turn down more money!"


"Seriously, right?"


After things calmed a bit, CEO Kang looked at the members and continued.


"I really appreciate you worrying about the company. But you all bring in so much revenue that even with a 90:10 split, the company won’t be at a loss. Sure, the profit margin will shrink a bit, but considering everything you’ve done so far, I need to at least do this much to maintain my dignity."


"Come on, CEO! You’re running a business—you can’t just reduce company profits to save face!"


Hwan joked.


"Right! Let’s just revise the profit share again."


Jaewon’s suggestion got quick nods of agreement from the other members.


Seeing that, CEO Kang made an exasperated face and said.


"Seriously… do none of you care about money? Every other group tries to squeeze out as much signing bonus and better terms as they can during renewals…"


"That’s other people. We’re not like that."


"Yeah. We actually talked it over a bit before coming here. It’s not like we got successful purely on our own talent. Without the company’s support, we wouldn’t be here."


"Providing support is the company’s job. Don’t think that way. Oh, and I haven’t mentioned this yet—but in exchange for the better profit split, there’s not much signing bonus this time. I don’t have the money. So just sign already."


He said with a teasing grin.


"Hahaha!"


"Haha, CEO! If you don’t have money, that’s all the more reason we shouldn’t be taking the bigger share!"


The members laughed as they countered his claim.


Watching the exchange, Team Leader Park from Legal smiled and interjected.


"Ahem. I’ve worked with other companies, but I’ve never seen a negotiation where people are arguing to take less money. Usually, it’s the other way around—negotiations fall apart over demands for more. This is heartwarming and moving, really. Still, shouldn’t we settle this already? I do have other work to do after this, you know. Please think of your poor office worker here."


"Hahaha! Just like Park said, let’s wrap this up."


"CEO, didn’t you prepare a backup contract in case this happened? Shall I bring that one out?"


"Hmm. Yeah, let’s go with that…"


The members tilted their heads curiously at the exchange.


"Wait… a different contract, CEO?"


Joomin asked, and Kang nodded.


"Yeah. I’ve known you guys for almost 10 years—did you really think I wouldn’t see this coming? So I prepared an alternate contract with different terms. Just choose whichever one you’re comfortable with. I’m not budging beyond this."


While Kang spoke, Team Leader Park pulled another envelope from his briefcase and handed out the second contract to the members.


Everyone flipped through the new documents curiously.


"This one has no signing bonus. Just like you wanted, the profit split is 80:20."


The members nodded in agreement at that.


Seeing the members’ reactions, CEO Kang let out a chuckle and asked.


“No one’s going to object to not getting a signing bonus?”


The members snickered.


“Seriously? What kind of guys are you?”


“Anyway, that’s the deal. But instead of the bonus, I’m giving you something else.”


“Something else? What could that be?”


“Yeah, like what? You buying us cars or something?”


At their teasing, CEO Kang replied in disbelief.


“Cars? Please. The value of the bonus and the profit share you gave up is worth way more than any car. Just don’t go around being this naive with other companies, alright?”


He looked at the members with a now-worried expression.


The members laughed at his face.


“Come on, we’re not that gullible. Don’t worry!”


“Haha! CEO, your face is priceless right now!”


Feeling a little awkward at their reaction, CEO Kang cleared his throat and spoke again.


“Ahem. Well, that’s a relief. Just… if you ever sign anything or negotiate contracts elsewhere, and you’re not sure, make sure to ask our legal team or another lawyer. Don’t just wing it. You’re not kids anymore. Anyway, back to what I was saying—let me explain the ‘other’ condition.”


“Hehe. Okay.”


“So… our company isn’t publicly listed yet, but thanks to you guys, Violet, and the actors we’ve brought on, it’s been doing really well. We’ve had investors over time, so about 30% of the company shares are owned by investors. The remaining 70% belongs to me.”


“Ah, okay.”


The members nodded, listening intently.


“While preparing for the contract renewal, I thought a lot about what I could do for you. But aside from changing the payout ratio or offering a signing bonus—which you’d probably just turn down anyway—there really wasn’t much. Then I figured the best thing I could do was to share part of what I have.”


“Out of the 70% of shares I own, I’m giving 3% each to the five of you—15% total. I really hope you won’t turn this down.”


"!!!"


As CEO Kang finished speaking, the members all froze in shock, mouths open.


They had been expecting maybe a car or something, but shares?


It was so unexpected that no one could say a word—they just stared at each other in disbelief.


Then, they quickly began to object.


"CEO! Shares? We can’t accept that!"


"Yeah, we don’t need shares!"


"We’ll just take the signing bonus—what do we need shares for? Jeez…"


"Exactly! Just give us a car or something instead and call it even."


"After everything you’ve already done for us, this is way too much. We really can’t accept it."


Hearing their protests, CEO Kang smiled gently.


"I knew you’d feel burdened. But this is something I really want to do. Honestly, I even thought about giving you more, but I held back at 3% each—because who knows what might happen with the company in the future. Without you guys, this company would’ve collapsed long ago. Just take it knowing that. From now on, you’re shareholders too—so you’ll just have to work even harder to boost the company’s revenue. Hahaha!"


Realizing that CEO Kang wasn’t going to change his mind, the members exchanged glances—and after some deliberation, they finally accepted the offer.


"Thank you. We’ll work even harder from now on!"


"That’s right! We’ll bring in lots of money!"


One by one, the members expressed their heartfelt gratitude.


"Good. Since you’re part owners now, you’ve got to act with a little more responsibility. If you don’t bring in income, Park here and the rest of the staff might not get paid, you know. This is all part of my grand scheme to make you work even harder! Hahaha!"


CEO Kang joked, laughing heartily.

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