Petals of Success

Ch.3: Rampant! Management

BREAKING NEWS! SM CEO FIRED!

“We have just received word that Kim Youngmin, former CEO of SM Entertainment, has just been relinquished of his position in the company. He has been in that position since 2006 when Lee Sooman, founder of SM Entertainment, passed on his leadership…”

“His sudden removal comes as a shock to Korean music industry and Kpop fans are extremely curious about what transpired for Kim to move. Furthermore who will fill his position? Stay tuned on this developing story.”

BREAKING NEWS! FOREIGN MANAGEMENT BUYS OUT SM ENTERTAINMENT!

“We’ve received news that a foreign management company has bought out SM Entertainment. The company is known as Rampant! Management and is a Euro-American management company that has been around for over 20 years…”

“Rampant! Management is known in the business world as a fixer type of company. SM is no stranger when it comes to publicized scandals and lawsuits so this might be a step in the right direction…”

“The new CEO’s of SM are Son Hyunwoo, a management expert born in Korea but raised in England, and Hadya Rousseau, the founder of Rampant! Management. They are both new to the Korean industry but due to their success in other foreign countries, we should greatly anticipate their future efforts.”

The media was in a buzz all over the country about Rampant! taking over. Everywhere they walked you would see SM news all over newspapers and on television screens. Tao couldn’t contain his mind from curiously thinking about the change as he rode in the van with his fellow Exo-M members. It was no surprise that many of the SM artists weren’t fans Kim Young-min so they were both happy and slightly anxious about meeting their new boss. What if they were even worse than Kim Young-min? From all the coverage on Rampant!, they didn’t expect them to be horrible but it was still an afterthought and the standards they hold.

Rampant! Management didn’t take just anyone under their wing. The clients and employees that worked under them had to be fluent in atleast three languages or else they couldn’t be managed. They look at things from a global aspect and if someone couldn’t market themselves in multiple countries and cultures then there was no point in trying. It was intimidating since most of the artist under SM only knew Korean, unless they were foreign or a special case, but still, for some reason, wasn’t as frightening as what went on before.

All of the SM artists were to head to SM building for a meeting and introduction with Rampant! Management, which was where he was riding to. Tao was, personally, pretty nervous yet excited. He didn’t know the exact reason as to why he was excited but he just felt it would be a good thing. The Chinese maknae looked towards his Duizhang, who was sitting to his left while listening to his music, and tapped his arm.

“Ge, are you nervous? I sure am!” Tao told the older male.

Kris sighed. “Yes, Tao, for the eighth time, I am nervous but not in a “this-is-going-to-be-horrible” type of way.” he added. “I’m happy we’re getting a new CEO. I don’t know if you guys know this but I was not a fan of Kim Young-min.”

“Really? We totally couldn’t tell from all the ranting you did while manager-hyung was away.” Jongdae spoke up, sitting behind the leader. “Joonmyeon-hyung was so annoyed by you.” Kris couldn’t deny it. He was allergic to bull and Kim Young-min was full of it. He didn’t know how many times he outwardly admitted his distaste for the bastard who used to be his boss. Joonmyeon would try to call Kris out by saying “don’t talk down on the CEO, he gave us the chance” and “without him there wouldn’t be Exo” and blah, blah, blah, etc., etc., etc. Yeah, he was grateful for the opportunity (he trained for five years with a slim chance of debuting and prayed every day that he would be of the lucky few) but that gratitude had stopped at some point. If Young-min didn’t lack the ability to stick to what he put in the contract, then he wouldn’t have any problems. But, alas, money and power make people absolutely crazy. He knew that Rampant! was a Western management company, so he hoped that they would understand the need for a little freedom and respect as human beings. That way he wouldn’t have to take matters into his own hands…

The group finally made it to the SM building and was met with the same crowd of fans outside of the building, waiting to record and take pictures of them. They quickly made it through the front entrance and down the hall. They were meeting in the conference room, which they never used before, to meet their new bosses. Once the Exo-M members entered the room, they saw their Korean counterpart, Exo-K, and most of their sunbaes, Super Junior, SNSD, DBSK, and f(x), were present (SHINee were completing their last Japanese tour) along with other staff such as make-up artists, stylists, choreographers, etc. Up ahead there were a few more people who stood out, some that were noticeably more foreign and carried themselves with a high level of business authority. Many of the other staff employees were quietly gossiping over the matter, shocked that there weren’t any Korean entrepreneurs to manage a Korean company that thrives off a Korean entertainment industry located in South Korea…just some very nationalistic opinions that non-Korean born artist have grown slightly accustom to. The foreign artists, especially the Chinese, Japanese, and pretty much any other country, experienced bullying from fellow Korean trainees during their trainee period. It wasn’t right but if they were honest, they felt it would be the same discrimination in their own country due to pride. Sad reality.

The foreign business people of Rampant! finally stopped talking amongst themselves before the black woman of the group, whom most of the idols agreed was pretty, tall, and exuded confidence. Hadya cleared before she brought the mic to . “Hello, all! Before I dive into the introductions, I’d like to get something settled and out of the way.” she started, speaking in fluent Korean which impressed the natives. Tao needed Kris to translate what was going on to him. Hadya then gestured to herself. “As you can see, I am not a Korean native nor am I Korean. I am an African-American woman. My team consists of an Indian-American man, a Puerto-Rican woman, a Chinese man who’s Mexican born and raised, and a British-Korean man, not to mention the other thoroughly diverse employees I have in my group. I have a pretty good grasp on the Korean language and I’ve heard some of the comments going around. If the fact that you have to work under a foreigner makes you uncomfortable, you are more than welcome to leave. I have no tolerance for dealing with nonsense that hinders the proper function of my management system and would prefer it if you didn’t waste my time. The door is right behind you and I can find your replacement with no problems at all, but I do wish you the best of luck on your next venture and hope your xenophobic mindset can be cured in time. You can take this moment to make your exit.” Hadya informed them, her stare and tone completely serious. It was very intimidating. All of the current SM employees looked around to see if anyone would leave. No one did. Hadya’s face turned up into a smile, her aura changing instantaneously. “Excellent, now we can begin the introductions.” she said and one of the Rampant! workers walked up to take the microphone from her hand, one of the men.

“Thank you, Hadya, for that very, uh, moving opening piece.” the man thanked and Hadya bowed, rather comically which made some of the workers chuckled. Maybe she wasn’t as scary as they initially thought.

The man that spoke was Yun Lang, the Mexican born Chinese man Hadya mentioned, and he told them he would try to use his marketing team for every idol and actor that worked under the company, because at the end of the day, every one of them appealed to a certain type of audience and they should give the people what they want. He also announced that there would be attending mandatory language classes to make them even more marketable. Next was Talia Rosales, the Puerto Rican woman, who talked about ensuring idols were working under proper working conditions and given proper time to recuperate as to not have more instances. Under Rampant! Management, there was a mandatory three month vacation period throughout the year, not necessarily including or excluding national holidays. There would also only be work five days a week unless an event is scheduled over the weekend. The hours would also vary but the latest they would be allowed to stay was 2am, the same time SM would be closed. After was Siva Agni, the Indian man, whom dealt with the company’s money and ensured that pay would be dispersed accordingly. He also promised that there wouldn’t be any instances where pay was withheld from an employee compared to previous years. Then came a few employees who would be working closely with the artists, the one who really stood out was the young lyricist Miko Lang, who was very beautiful and the multiracial daughter of Yun Lang (meaning she was untouchable, pretty much). She also proved that she was talented with writing songs and would be there to help idols out when they made their own songs. Last up were Son Hyunwoo and Hadya Rousseau, who informed that even though they were the new CEOs, they didn’t want the employees to be scared to speak to them and to tell them what was on their mind. Communication is what they thrive on and it builds bond and understanding between one another. They assured that it would be the first step towards a brighter tomorrow and the rest of the SM employees were anxiously excited.

~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day went by in a blur, a fast blur. The next few hours were, basically, just a meet and greet between employees and management and announcing that they would be looking over every individual contract, and group contracts if needed, to make sure there aren’t any illegal clauses in the writing. If any were founded, they would change it almost immediately and notify the employees of such. After that the day pretty much ended which is why Exo-M was now on their way back to the dorms.

“The new bosses seem pretty forward but nice. I like them.” The ever so quiet Minseok announced breaking the short silence they had once entering the van.

“I know! We actually get a vacation period and more than two hours of sleep every night!” Tao exclaimed. “Pinch me, I must be dreaming. Luhan, don’t touch me!” he exclaimed as said visual was already reaching behind his seat to pinch the maknae’s leg. Tao slapped his hand away, glaring lightly, and Luhan snickered.

“I hope we get to do more activities in China soon since that’s what Exo-M was designed to do.” Yixing added. “I also wonder if they’ll let me use the songs I wrote.”

“Probably. I think we’ll have more opportunities to enhance our personal talents.” Kris deduced. “I don’t know what lies ahead but I feel like I can trust this management.” he said and the others nodded. The groups van pulled into the garage of their dormitory, a large apartment complex in Seoul, and headed towards the elevator. When the doors opened they didn’t expect to see Park Chanyeol, their deep voiced Happy Virus and Kris’s twin tower from Exo-K, pacing around in the lift nor have they ever seen him look so nervous before.

“Hey, Chanyeol-ah, what’s wrong?” Jongdae asked, very concerned.

“Why are they here? What’s going on in this dormitory?” Chanyeol mumbled before looking up at Tao and his Exo-M hyungs. “Hyung, why are they here?!”

“Why are who here, Chanyeol?” Kris asked.

“Nadia Ageuni and Logeon Kaleudoso are standing in our lobby at this very moment!” Chanyeol quickly explained. “I got so nervous; I pressed the wrong button and didn’t cancel it. I can’t believe they’re here!”

“Nadia Ageuni?” said Luhan.

“Logeon Kaleudoso?” Tao added in confusion.

“I’m guessing their names are Nadia Agni and Logan Cardoso and I know you can say these better if you were calmer but, yeah, um, I’m sorry who are they exactly?” Kris asked.

“You do…You don’t know who they are?!” Chanyeol asked, completely shocked. “Hyung, what is wrong with you?!”

“Well, excuse me! I didn’t know I was supposed to know this!”

“Who are they?” Minseok asked curiously.

“They are possibly the most talented cousin duo in the whole entire Western world! They’re both like former child prodigies or something and were in a really prestigious performing arts program when they were little. Super talented!” Chanyeol explained excitedly. “Logan can play almost every instrument, can sing like an angel, and is a composing genius! She’s worked with Beyoncé, Rihanna, Drake, and Justin Timberlake to name a few but also some artist here in Korea, mainly YG Entertainment. She contributed to Big Bang-sunbaenim’s Fantastic Baby and 2NE1-sunbaenim’s I Am The Best!”

“Wow.” they said collectively.

“Then there’s Nadia who is a dancing goddess. She can dance nearly every dance form and creates the most intense dance choreography. She has a YouTube channel along with Logan and posts her dance covers on there. They are so amazing!” Chanyeol explained as the elevator stopped and revealed a heavily panting Kim Jongin, power dancer and visual of Exo-K. They were going to ask why he was so exhausted but Chanyeol explained. “He was with me when I saw the two and he’s a huge fan of Nadia’s. But he ran away as soon as he saw them. Glad you’re back, Jongin-ah.”

“They. Are. Here. Oh. My. God!” Jongin breathed as he clutched Tao’s arms, scaring the Exo-M maknae. Jongin was usually calm, this was not calm! He never wants to see Jongin’s super fanboy mode ever again! Soon the elevator dinged and the door slid open to reveal large cardboard boxes being carried by two small figures.

“Pardon me.” said a soft, pretty voice in Korean.

“Oh! Let me help you!” Tao insisted in his unpolished Korean, gently taking the box from her the girl’s hands. Yixing did the same for the other girl. They soon revealed slightly familiar foreign faces smiling gratefully at them. The same two faces that reduced Jongin and Chanyeol to a pair of frozen fanboys.

“Ah, Kamsahamnida!” Logan smiled and Nadia bowed.

“I remember you!” Tao gasped switching to Mandarin.

“Tattoo girl?” Kris questioned.

“Yeah.” Logan nodded.

“And you’re “Mr. Makeup on point” if I recall.” Nadia chimed in.

“Well, it was on point that day.” he added and Nadia chuckled. "What a small world."

"I guess so. I can't believe you remember us." Nadia added. 

“Hyung, why did you lie?! You said you’ve never met or heard of them!” Chanyeol sighed.

“Well, now I guess I did meet them but I didn’t know their names. They were at Kcon and came to our fansign event.” Kris replied. “We didn’t know that they were famous.”

“You know about us?” Logan asked as the female cousins stared at the two Exo-K members, who blushed.

“Y-yeah. We watch your videos on YouTube.” Chanyeol explained.

“You two are amazing.” Jongin added.

“Wow, thank you so much!” Nadia smiled with a slight bow.

“It always shocks me when I hear we actually have fans in Asia, even more so if they’re famous. It means a lot.” Logan said, being very humble. Chanyeol had such a wonderful Western bias to fanboy over.

“So where are you headed to with all of these boxes?” Luhan asked.

“To the top floor.” Nadia answered.

“The penthouse suite?”

“Yeah, that’s our new home for the time being.”

“Really? Wow, that’s even bigger than our dorm and we have twelve members and a manager living there.” Minseok whistled.

Logan chuckled. “I guess we’re living it up then.” The group traveled up to the fourteenth floor, the penthouse level, and walked to the door. Nadia opened it with the special room code and they walked inside. It was a really large space with two floors and really high ceilings. The living room was peppered with a bunch of cardboard boxes. “You can sit them down next to the others.” she told Tao and Yixing and they did so.

“Thanks again.” Nadia added and the two nodded.

“See this is where I should be living! This is a place fit for a king, like me.” Kris exclaimed as he looked around. “I should not be living in a tiny cubicle with a troll!”

“You’re not that pleasant to be with either, sunshine!” Jongdae retorted as the two glared at each other slightly, making the two girls chuckle.

“So what brings you guys all the way to Korea?” Luhan asked ignoring the two.

“For work.” Logan answered. “I head back to YG to handle my business there.”

“And I start my first day at SM but I also dabble with YG and JYP as well.” Nadia answered.

“Oh, you get to work with us! That’s so cool.” Jongin smiled. “We just got a new CEO and she’s really cool, though I feel like she can be scary.”

“You don’t say.” Nadia chuckled and Logan joined in.

“Yeah, she doesn’t seem like an ajhumma. I can’t believe she’s almost 50!” Jongdae added and the girls chuckled. “You two should meet her.”

“Oh, that’s already been taken care of.” Logan answered.

“Really? You’ve met her before?” Chanyeol asked curiously.

“In more ways than one. I also believe I’m the reason she did the whole SM take over. I would talk about her in my vlogs but we usually run on different time schedules.” the girl added and all the guys became confused. “Hadya Rousseau is my mother.”

“And my aunt.” Nadia chimed in.

Silence…then….

“WHAT?!”

<3