Chapter 32:

Tae Yang and CL watched in silence as BoA paced the floor in one of the rooms in SM Entertainment, trying to prevent any news that happened hours ago from spreading.

“We need to get this news under control.” BoA spoke agitatedly over the phone.

“I know that it’s tough….”

Tae Yang and CL did not know how long they sat at one of the rooms in SM Entertainment along with Boa and Seungri as both of them tried their hardest to ignore the commanding match going on between Boa and the other person over the phone.

While a blanket of chaos seemed to fall over the room and every single staff in SM Entertainment were trying to find a solution desperately, Tae Yang’s eyes then moved toward CL’s. She was watching him. The fear in her wide eyes was unmistakable as they peered at him questioningly as if they were begging him to tell her everything would be all right.

Tae Yang looked away. Dread had settled in the pit of his stomach as he stared at the floor, not knowing what will happen as well.

All of a sudden, the door of the room they were in creaked open. Tae Yang looked up from the floor, his eyes flickering to the direction of the new arrival.

 It was the director of SM Entertainment, Kangta!

Tae Yang watched Kangta walked into the room as he felt his heart missed a beat.

Kangta may seem to be someone approachable as shown on screen, but at the back of his mind, a niggling doubt was fighting to make its voice heard, telling him to be careful.

Tae Yang remained rooted to the spot, the only sound was the thudding of his heart as what he saw right in front of his eyes.

Every single staffs in SM Entertainment were looking at Kangta with something close to awe, if not respect. Even Boa became quiet as Tae Yang noticed every single staffs from SM Entertainment unconsciously began to straighten up, eyes glinting with new resolution.

Tae Yang simply watched in a mixture of fascination and dread.

It took Tae Yang some time to realise the vast difference of leadership between Seungri and Kangta.

There’s no way that Seungri could get to that level.

Even G Dragon would probably need few years of intense leadership training to reach up to that level.

A voice at his side brought him back to reality. CL was standing there, her eyes wide and her face pale and drawn.

This scared him even more than seeing Kangta.

"Do you think everything will go well for our side?” CL asked nervously.

"I don’t know," Tae yang muttered, looking around once more before facing CL. Her eyes seemed to pierce into him worriedly and he quickly dropped his gaze, doing anything to avoid eye contact. 

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps made Tae Yang looked up, watching Kangta walking towards Seungri.

"You must be Seungri," Kangta's lips lifted in a barely there smile. "I have heard news about you being the next CEO of YG Entertainment.”

“I was expecting someone great since President YG have contributed so much to the Korean music industry.” Kangta paused for a moment before he continued.

“How disappointing…”

Before Seungris could reply, CL launched into a long imperious stride towards Seungri.

"You…" CL said coldly as if she got rid of the fear she felt as she looked at Kangta as if she was a child guarding her prized possession.

“CL,” Seungri interrupted immediately, his voice quiet but firm. Getting Jong Hyun in hospital has caused a little strain in the relationship between YG and SM Entertainment. He doesn’t need another.

“Would you mind going to the hospital to check on Jong Hyun’s condition?”

CL’s eyes darkened, an indication that she disliked being ordered. CL wanted to disobey. But, knowing Seungri’s intentions, CL inhaled and her clenched fist relaxed weakly, trying to regain her composure.

“There isn’t the need to,” came Kangta's voice, stopping CL from following Seungri’s orders. “I was reported that Jong Hyun is not seriously injured, but his nose did get hurt so he’s currently at the hospital receiving treatment.”

“Even though he’s fine, it’s unfortunate that Jong Hyun got himself injured at such a critical moment of preparing a project he was involved in.” Kangta said in a voice that nearly made Seungri cringe. It was cold and sharp, and it seemed to bite down on him and take hold. He couldn't shake the feeling of his voice even after he stopped speaking.

Seungri stared at Kangta's indifferent face for a moment, silently feeling glad that Jong Hyun is alright. However, a new worry was beginning to surface.

“What’s going to happen to the project that Jong Hyun was involved?” Seungri sounded just mildly curious.

"It’s obvious, isn’t it?" Kangta replied, his voice barely above his breath but somehow deafening at the same time. "He will be replaced."

Seungri bowed his head, staring at the floor. He had been expecting this of course, SM Entertainment had always been well known about its treatment for their artists   but even the mental preparation didn't stop him from feeling guilty.

He had come to America in hope of completing the task President YG gave him and trying to resolve the controversy between JYJ and SM Entertainment. Instead, he ended up creating problems for Jong Hyun, SM Entertainment and wasting CL and the rest of the big bang members’ efforts in helping him.

Tears of anger and frustration threatened to leak from his eyes, but he shook them off angrily.

He had to think. He couldn't give up now. There must be something he could do to turn the tables.

 “Kangta sunbea nim, it’s unfortunate that Jong Hyun was injured at such a critical time. It would be a waste to get him replaced after Jong Hyun has put in so much effort in the project he’s working on right now.” Tae Yang suggested lightly.

The mention of the name, Jong Hyun, caused Seungri's eyes to look at Tae Yang in surprise.

Tae Yang was helping Jong Hyun.

Tae Yang was helping his friend.

Seungri couldn’t help but give Tae Yang credit for that at least. 

Seeing no reaction from Kangta at his suggestion, Tae Yang gathered the courage to continue.

“I hope that you could wait for Jong Hyun to recover and give him a chance to proof that he’s the right person for this project.”

A curtain of silence fell over the room, draping it in tension as Kangta remained silent before he gave a little chuckle.

“Going about on effort in the business world of the entertainment industry, I see that all of you still have a naïve side in you.”  Kangta stared at CL and Tae Yang for a moment, before looking at Seungri.

“Have you ever thought about how a delay of a project could affect the schedule of the rest of the upcoming projects in the company?” Kangta turned and looked at Tae Yang with a hard glare.

“Have you ever thought about the huge amount of cancellation fees incurred and how it could affect the company financially due to the contracts that have already been set up with MV sets, video-graphers and producers, music shows and live performances?”

Kangta paused, and Tae Yang realized he was giving him time to nod.

"I didn't think so," Kangta spoke, his cold voice laced with irritation as well as sarcasm.

"If there is nothing more,"Kangta started as he turned away from Tae Yang but he was stopped by Seungri.

“Kangta sunbea nim, I have something to say.” Seungri had his head bent, and he spoke slowly yet with determination.

Kangta turned towards Seungri. “I believe we have enough of this talk about Jong Hyun.”

“No, I’m not going to talk about Jong Hyun.” Seungri spoke in a voice that was surprisingly steady and clear even to his own ears.

"I can understand the difficult position you were in that made you decide to get Jong Hyun replaced."

Seungri looked up at Kangta as he said this and no one could not detect the slightest faltering or hesitation in his voice.

“Instead, I hope that you could give me five minutes of your time to listen to what I want to say, the purpose of why I’m here.”