Inspired by AOA's "Still Falls The Rain"
Male Reader
Fluff(?)
___
The head of SM Entertainment, Lee Sung-soo has taken a temporary leave, leaving me in his place. Reasoning? No idea.
Why a 24-year-old fresh-faced guy like me?
Again, no idea. I spent a few years under SM as a trainee but decided to stop training and ended up becoming a member of the management side of the company, mainly as a background figure. I climbed the ranks pretty swiftly, but this was an unexplainable jump.
Now, I'm the acting head of the company. I was given complete control over one of the largest entertainment companies in South Korea.
Was I scared when I started? Damn right I was.
I freaked out when the company notified me that I was going to be in control. It also didn't help that the decision was already finalized and that it was going into effect the next day. Even worse, Sung-soo let me know through text. Not even a face to face chat or even a professional, well-written email explaining everything. Just through a lazy text message that read "you'll be head of sm for a while." Like, who does that?
But it's also been a year since I've taken over at the helm and it's become a lot less stressful. Mind you, it's still a little nerve-wracking when the general public has no idea about this predicament. The former SM CEO's temporary leave was swift and silent. The public still believes SM Entertainment is being run by Lee Sung-soo. Even 95% of the company doesn't know about this since he's still seen walking the halls and talking to the groups under the label.
He just didn't want to create any scandalous headlines with his decision. Public announcements on behalf of the company were still done by him so everyone still believes he is at the top of the corporate chain.
Even better, I could walk around the SM building without being noticed. Virtually no one knows I'm the acting CEO of the company they're working for, so there's a lot less stress for me and everyone employed by the company. If they had suddenly found out Lee Sung-soo wasn't manning the company, I'm sure chaos would've ensued.
For now though, everything is smooth sailing.
To be completely honest, I think the business has grown pretty well. We've put more money into promoting songs from our artists and the popularity of the company, as well as its image, has become more of a clean one. I wouldn't say I was the cause, but I'd say I was a good part of it. Listening to the public's worries helps a lot.
Today, I've been spending time with Mr. Lee himself. He invited me to sit in on a recording session with a few groups, which to be honest, have no idea why he'd do such a thing. Not that I was complaining. As someone who was an ex-trainee, it's great to watch industry veterans do what they do best.
After our time in the studio, the two of us checked up on the groups that were under the label. Well, more like he talked to them and I sat outside the room while eavesdropping. I still didn't want anyone to know about the situation Mr. Lee had put me in.
From NCT to EXO, Lee Sung-soo casually strolled into their practices and made small talk with them, catching up on their recent activities.
While Mr. Lee spoke with the girls of Red Velvet, I heard a few members voicing their concerns as he was talking to the other members. I caught a few things being said like "he seems a little more disconnected" and "why doesn't he know what we've been doing?"
Of course he didn't. That was because he wasn't controlling their schedule anymore.
Lee Sung-soo eventually excused himself from the practice room and came to me.
