What is it that Blitz Magazine has that other publications don’t?

That’s the million dollar question publicconnect’s Editor-in-Chief, Han Sang Hoon, asks himself every night before going to sleep.

Why do you think Blitz is so successful?

“A line of great leaders, I guess,” Han scratches his head while answering, “I had always admired the past 2 Editor-in-Chiefs of Blitz, but the current one…his name is Jaejoong, right? Err…not so.”

Too bad, Mr. Han, because this so called Jaejoong who had failed to gain your respect is the very same person who will help get your magazine back on track.

You will be working with Kim Jaejoong for the next 2 weeks. What are your thoughts right now?

“ my life.”

The next morning, Publication Brigade throws itself and Han right in the middle of constructive chaos as Asia’s most reputable magazine prepares for its annual infamously content-packed issue: The Visions of April.

Yes, we have ventured to where no other production team has ever gone: Blitz’s Headquarters.

It is only 7.35am, but the lift lobby is already jam packed with employees waiting their turn to take any 1 of the 6 elevators up to their respective offices. 10 minutes later, Publication Brigade’s crew and Han are still waiting to get into the lift so they can study the inner workings of Blitz.

Han realises a trend and taps on the shoulder of an impeccably dressed lady who is standing on his left, “That man over there joined the waiting crowd about a minute ago but he is entering the lift now, why is that so? And how come nobody is telling him off?”

The 29-year-old Features Writer, who wants to be identified solely as Lee, shared that there is a structure to using the elevators in Blitz's HQ from 7am to 9am.

“So you’re supposed to use the stairs right?” Han chuckles.

“I’m late, but I’m from the Lifestyle Department, so I have to let the late Fashion people go up first.” She gives a weak smile.

“Late!?” Han splatters, “But it’s only 7.48!”

“Mr. Park (Yoochun) starts the daily prep talk for our Lifestyle Department at 7.30.” She scratches her head embarrassedly.

“Prep talk?” Han raises a brow.

“It’s very motivational and helps us struggle on since our department faces a road block at least once per week.” She explains.

“Road block?”

Lee lets out a forced laugh, “Kim Jaejoong, of course.”

We learnt from one of your department staff members that you give prep talks daily.

“It’s important to keep the department’s morale up. I do not believe in this saying: Spare the rod, spoil the child. What’s the use of beating them down? That’ll only cause unhappiness and tension within the office. When that happens, they leave the company, and they might spill Blitz’s confidential information and whatnot. Every single staff member is important and I treat everyone equally regardless of ranking within the magazine. I have a Department Happiness Index in which I follow very strictly, and it works for me and the Lifestyle Department because we meet deadlines and produce awesome articles for our beloved Blitz followers.” Park Yoochun smiles.

Doesn’t your methods of running the Lifestyle Department clash with the way your Editor-in-Chief run things within Blitz?

The Creative Director laughs, “You must have mistaken something here. I used to be in charge of the Lifestyle Department, but now, I am in charge of everyone, except Jaejoong, of course, and I give prep talks to anyone; it’s just that the Fashion Department people have been beaten up so badly that they refuse to listen to a single word I have to say to them. Getting scolded and sometimes injured is part and parcel of their work life, so whenever they return from 'war', all I can do is drop them an email to cheer them up. I guess everyone has their own method of running things. Yunho, our ex-Editor-in-Chief, used micromanagement and Jaejoong, on the other hand, gives out tough love. Their methods might be on the darker side, but it works.”

I’m sure you must have been told off before about your seemingly ‘lax’ methods in running things around here.

“Every single day, Jaejoong shoots a complaint email about me being too lenient with the staff members. I always reply with a picture of gifts and thank you cards from Blitz employees and tell him: But I still get the job done, boss, along with free stuff at the end of the day. What do you get?”

And what does he say?

“I got my job done too, subordinate, along with free stuff- courtesy of The Wardrobe.” Yoochun then chuckles while shaking his head, “One can never win Jaejoong in a war of words.”

The first publication your Editor-in-Chief will be helping out is publicconnect. What are your thoughts on this?

“publicconnect? Oh wow, I haven’t heard of that name in a really long time,” Yoochun gapes slightly, “They used to be really popular back then, and they were like the Blitz Magazine of the 1980s. Hmm…what I think went wrong was that they didn’t bother to push themselves to newer heights, so their competitors easily caught up and surpassed them as the years went by.” He then turns to look towards the camera, “Jaejoong, I'm sure you'll have no problems helping publicconnct out, but what I fear is for the sanity of those staff members. Try to tone down on the verbal and physical abuses, alright?"

It is currently 8.30am, and almost 97% of the staff members are already at their desks.

Today is a very important day, and as shared by a Blitz staff member whom we had caught up with while blindly walking all over the place, Blitz is currently in its ‘egg’ stage. 

Stylist Kim Junsu kindly agreed to spare us a few minutes to explain about this peculiar lifecycle within this magazine.

“We've just sent next month’s issue out to the printers, so right now, Blitz is back to the beginning, which is called the 'egg' stage. The executive staff members will conduct a major brainstorming session later for the entire afternoon, and us employees will have to bounce ideas off each other. Tomorrow, we will enter the 'caterpillar' stage. Caterpillars constantly feast on leaves, and in our case, everyone will be gathering information, researching, and going out to source for products to showcase in April’s massive issue. In about 1-2 weeks’ time, we will be in our 'chrysalis' stage, compiling everything we have gathered so far and churning them into beautiful photoshoots or articles. This is also the stage where everyone’s cocoon will experience all sorts of turbulances-”

That’s the euphemism for Kim Jaejoong, right?

Junsu lets out a very unique sounding laugher which is very much comparable to dolphins, “You got the hang of things very quickly! I presume you have been talking to a few other staff members?”

Yes, we have, *winks.

“As I was saying, everyone will be knocked left and right, but we will all emerge to become butterflies...but that’s only if your articles or photoshoots are approved. Once that is out of the way, we are given 1-2 days to rest and recuperate before we magically revert back to being 'eggs' once more.”

What if an article or photoshoot keeps getting rejected? Won’t that mean that one would have to skip a particular round of ‘becoming a butterfly’?

“Like I’ve mentioned before, we will all emerge to become butterflies,” Junsu’s smile falters a little when he adds, “Because Jaejoong will not stop until he squeezes you out of your cocoon.”

Before the producer could ask further questions, Junsu reminds the crew that it will be 9am soon so he had to hurry off to prepare for the important brainstorming session later on. He quickly scribbles down the location of important ‘checkpoints’ in Blitz’s HQ and even encourages the crew to sit in during the session which will start promptly at 2pm.

 We finally decide to head into the Lions’ den; The Wardrobe, located on the 20^th floor.

We are greeted by very chirpy Senior Fashion Assistant, who insisted on being referred to as Number 1.

Why Number 1?

“Jaejoong numbers all Fashion Assistants because it’s too much of a hassle for him to remember our names.”

But I’m sure he breaks no sweat remembering millions of designer labels.

Number 1 shrugs, “He’s the boss. He can do whatever he wants.”

And just when we wanted to delve in deeper to understand more about Seoul’s fashion dictator, another Fashion Assistant bursts into the department, panting like as if she had just finished a marathon with tons of garment bags in tow.

“Number 2,” Number 1 introduces.

Number 2 gives us a rushed bow before disappearing into one of the room at the back of the office.

“Who just ran in?” An airy yet sultry voice booms from behind the half-open office door at the front of the department.

“Number 2, Jaejoong.” Number 1 answers.

“Tell her that running in Louboutin platforms is dangerous and that medical claim forms are a hassle to fill in…so I won’t.” Blitz’s Editor-in-Chief drawls.

“Yes, I’ll pass the message on, Jaejoong.” Number 1 answers.

Was she really wearing Louboutins?

Number 1 nods vehemently with a grin, “His hearing is very acute, especially when it comes to fashion related stuff.”

The Fashion Assistant then proceeds to ask us if we wanted to have a chat with Jaejoong. Plucking up all courage, we said yes.

One of our producers got knocked on the head by a flying file with a Post-it taped onto the front cover, and the message read: Too busy to around on camera.

Is he usually this rude?

“That’s not rude at all. In fact, you guys haven’t seen anything yet.” Number 1 smiles sweetly.

We finally get a glimpse of Blitz’s notorious Editor-in-Chief, Kim Jaejoong, during the brainstorming session.

Even before we could finish setting up the cameras in the room, one was knocked down for having blocked his path. 

The visual shocker, dressed in a black Louis Vuitton suit paired with a scarlet fur lined scarf, shoots us a dirty look before taking his seat at the head of the long meeting table.

“Hey, Jaejoong, isn’t it too warm to be wearing a scarf made of fur?” Yoochun asks and everyone’s eyes fall on the alabaster skinned beauty.

“This,” Jaejoong caresses the scarf, “is a fashion statement. And since there are cameras around here today, this is also a protest against a protest. Zoom in to me.”

We comply to this request so as not to get attacked by another hard and accurately hitting flying file. 

“To the bunch of moronic juveniles who protested against me for being heartless towards animals for my entire life…you’re wrong.” Jaejoong smirks, “I was a vegetarian for 13 years.” Then tosses the scarf onto the floor in front of him, “And to further prove my point of not being heartless, I’m even reusing this fur scarf now- as a floor mat. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get the brainstorming session started. And allow me to warn everyone now: Whoever doesn't contribute creatively during this session will be awarded with a one week's worth of leave."

How can getting a week off work be a bad thing?

"Jaejoong will be expecting you to have your article or photoshoot submitted to him on the day you come back to work but the unfortunate thing is, you are banned from working on it for that entire week." Yoochun whispers. 

Then how is one supposed to have their work done without doing anything? That doesn't make any sense.

"Exactly. Terrifying, isn't it?" 

Our producer gets attacked again by The Flying File.

"YOU'RE INTERRUPTING MY ING BRAINSTORMING SESSION!" Jaejoong screeches. 

Sorry...b*tch. (This comment is edited out, of course...*sigh)

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