Chapter 137 - Hann Constructions (XIII) D-Day Part Two

Ash, Dasom and Somi were waiting for the President and his team to show up. The door opened. All three of them turned around to see President Shun followed by Soojin entering the room. They stood up to bow down.

"Please sit down," President Shun gestured to the seats. "Would you all like to have some tea or coffee?"

"We're alright," Ash assured him.

"I insist," Shun said. "I'll order some Japanese tea for all of us. We had just imported some of the finest tea leaves."

They looked at each other. Dasom shrugged while Somi maintained a neutral expression.

"Alright," Ash replied.

"Soojin, please go and order some tea for us," Shun instructed the PR. 

"Yes, sir," Soojin said and went out.

Somi checked her watch. She still had eight minutes.

"So let's get to business," Shun said, leaning forward. "Ash, I've heard you are considering another drama's offer. Is it true?"

"I am positively reflecting on it, yes," Ash replied.

"May I ask why?"

"They are offering me more," Ash said. "Fixed hours of shooting with revenue sharing. It is a much better deal than a drama which may not see the light of the day."

"What makes you say that?" Shun narrowed his eyes. "Our drama shooting is about to start."

Ash leaned forward. "Shooting does not bother me. What does bother me the fact that the drama is sponsored by ETC Corporations."

"It is a well known company," Shun said. "They are investing over five million dollars in the drama."

"ETC Corps have been in the market for hardly one year," Ash countered. "Are you saying that a mere rookie company has the money and assets to invest in this high profile drama?"

Dasom and Somi were observing the conversation. Dasom was surprised by the information while Somi showed no reaction. She knew about ETC Corporations since she and Mirae dug up the dirt on it. She checked her watch. Six minutes.

I'll have to start now, she thought.

"ETC Corporations is a dummy company, isn't it?" Ash questioned Shun Oguri.

Before Shun could reply, Somi stood up.

"Please excuse me," she said. "I need to make a quick call."

With that, she exited the room. The men continued their talks.

She hurried towards the elevator and pressed the third floor button. Checking her watch, she saw that she had less than four minutes.

As soon as the elevator reached the third floor, she hurried out of it. 

"Somi!" 

Somi turned around only to be surrounded by a few people.

"Aren't you Somi?" one of them, a man in his late thirties, asked. 

"Err…"

"We are huge fans," he ushered to him and his companions, all of whom looked like office employees. "Will you take a picture with us?"

"Uhh…"

It was hard to refuse them.

"Guys, let's take a selfie!" he exclaimed to his other colleagues. Before Somi could reply, she was surrounded by the employees, who took out their phones for pictures.

Somi checked her watch. Two minutes…

….

Mirae glanced at her watch. There was only one minute left. In order for their plan to work, Somi must arrive exactly on time. Otherwise, she would not be able to access the files…

There were two people inside the IT room, overseeing the monitors. Both of them were dressed in black suits and were carrying walkie talkies. They were constantly staring at the monitor, not blinking much.

Somi, get here fast! Mirae prayed.

The two men were not bulging from their position. They were probably ordered not to move from their positions. 

Thirty seconds…

Suddenly there was a loud noise followed by a scream outside.

"What the-?" One of the men said out loud.

"Did something happen?" the other man asked. The noise came from right outside the room.

Suddenly the door burst open and Somi came in running.

"Please help!" she cried. "One of my anti fans tried to attack me and ended up assaulting an employee!"

The two men looked at her in confusion but she pulled both of their wrists.

"What are you waiting for?" she shouted at them. "Come on and help me!"

She pulled both of them out. As soon as they were out, Mirae opened the ventilator and crawled out. She made her way towards the main computer. She took out a pendrive and inserted it.

Immediately, she hacked into the cameras and put up dummy videos on them, disabling the live CCTV. For the next twenty minutes, the monitors will play the fake videos of the place on the monitors and the cameras will remain off. After the twentieth minute, the cameras will automatically turn on again and the dummy videos will be deleted.

Mirae hurriedly took out the pendrive and locked the ventilator. She then crept out of the room without detection. There was a large commotion outside as people were gathered around Somi and the injured person. No one noticed her creeping out of the room. 

Somi glanced to see Mirae sneaking out of the room. She had passed the first hurdle. 

Good luck, Mir! She cheered for her friend.

….

"Dummy company?" Shun raised his eyebrows. "ETC Corporations is a subsidiary of Hann Constructions, which specializes in entertainment. It has an intensive idol training program which is the best in the country."

"A company which has been open for merely one year has an intensive idol training program?" Ash scoffed. "It took Mystic Entertainment years to establish its training program. Are you implying that ETC Corporations was able to achieve that big of a feat which took the country's top agency years to achieve. That too without debuting a band?"

"They are working to debut a band this month," Shun said. "This investment is merely a marketing stunt to drive the attention to their band. After all, their rookie idols will also appear in the drama."

"So they are spending millions on a drama instead of their band's marketing?" Dasom joined in. "Isn't that a bit too much for a rookie company? Five million dollars is no joke. Now, even I am questioning your claims."

Shun picked up a file from the desk and handed it to Ash.

"Please take a look at the file," he said. Ash took it and read the contents. The papers showed the validity of the company and has been legally registered with the government as well…

"As you can see," Shun went on. "ETC Corporations is a completely legitimate company. It has no shady dealings and is a professional business. The training program also has been approved by the government and also falls within the labor standards."

Dasom took the file from Ash and skimmed through. There was nothing which suggested that it was a fake company…

"And may I remind you," Shun continued. "You signed a contract with us prior to this drama. If you back out, you will have to pay ten times the damage costs. And if I'm not wrong, Mystic Entertainment cannot afford to give out so much money at this moment. With KJ's injury, the company lost a lot of investment. While the stocks are up again, the company cannot risk losing any project right now."

Ash and Dasom looked uncomfortable.

"If Ash backs out, then he has to pay ten times the cost," Shun said in a calm tone. "And Dasom has to take over the role. EXOTIC has to be present in this drama. This was our clause."

Both the men were at a loss for words. Shun had them cornered. Ash wanted to extend the bargaining but it seems like the President had some tricks up his sleeve as well. He checked the watch.

Barely ten minutes had passed. He needed to keep the President occupied for at least ten more minutes.

"Now, if you  may excuse me," the President said, getting up. "I have more urgent matters to attend to."

He was about to walk off when Ash spoke up. "I want a revenue sharing clause added," he said. "At least thirty percent of the revenue of the drama."

He expected the President to refuse or barter further. To his surprise, the man nodded. 

"Alright," he said. "We can arrange that."

Shun turned away once again. Ash was trying to come up with more excuses to keep the President stay put but his head was out of ideas. The guy was either countering their accusations with proof or agreeing to their demands. 

He was about to speak again when the door opened. Shun looked up to see two figures entering the room. Ash and Dasom turned around and were surprised to see Hyun Jung with a  female, approaching them.

"Detective," Shun noted in surprise. "I was just done with this meeting. I'm afraid I have another meeting otherwise I would have entertained you-"

"Mr. Oguri," Hyun Jung said. "Unfortunately for you, this time we have legitimate grounds to question you."

"I already said that I don't know anything about Jung Taewon's death," Shun said in an irritated tone.

"It's not about Jung Taewon's death," Eli chipped in. "In fact, it's a good thing that the members of EXOTIC are also here. We will need to question them as well."

"For what?" Dasom sneered at her.

"For the murder of CEO Ahn Naesung," Eli shot back.