Chapter 4: DM's Four Dark Heavenly Kings
After sending off a bewildered Choi Ji-yeon, Jiang Shu once again picked up the profiles of his Four Dark Heavenly Kings.
Lisa, the leader of the Four Heavenly Kings, had already been sold by him at a high price, but Jiang Shu had no intention of selling the remaining three Heavenly King trainees.
Mainly because even if he sold them, he wouldn't get a high price.
Unlike Lisa, who had been targeted by Yang Hyun-suk early on, the other three were completely unnoticed.
S.M. Entertainment had just launched the industry's first second-generation girl group, Rainbow Girls, and they weren't interested in female trainees at all right now.
JYP had their sights set on the European and American markets; they wouldn't turn their attention back to the small peninsula market until they had failed, let alone creating a new girl group.
As for the other companies, they were just there to make up the numbers. In this chaotic K-pop world, only the Three Greats and later Hybe, the company founded by Fang Shihe, who hadn't yet left JYP, had ever truly made a name for themselves.
The other companies were not worth mentioning.
Well, DM Entertainment, without a cheat, was now also one of those not-worth-mentioning companies.
The Rainbow Girls launched by S.M. Entertainment had nothing to do with Girls' Generation. Currently, the K-pop industry didn't have a truly standardized girl group, let alone a top-tier group. Everyone was still exploring their path forward.
In fact, if you overlooked the problematic aspects of the Four Heavenly Kings, all four sisters were top-notch talents who could absolutely make a name for themselves in the current chaotic scene.
But the problem was...
The problematic aspects couldn't be ignored.
Jiang Shu's current trump card was Liu Zhimin. He needed to build a girl group around Liu Zhimin to fight a comeback battle for DM Entertainment.
The game world didn't have the classic girl group songs from the real world. As long as he could create a suitable girl group, Jiang Shu was confident in winning this comeback battle.
“YG, Hanlim Arts High School...”
These were two talent pools. As long as he could find a main vocalist from these two places, the new girl group could debut immediately.
When there was no one available, the Four Dark Heavenly Kings would have to step up.
He put down the trainee profiles, opened his computer, and created a folder.
“Song Library”
...
DM Entertainment, practice room.
As a company on the verge of bankruptcy and likely to be delisted at any time, DM Entertainment had only one trainee practice room, which was also where DM Entertainment's only four trainees practiced.
“Yunzhen, Garam, it’s time to practice,” Xu Suizhen (currently 20 years old), with a neat ponytail, a round face, but a very good figure, said to the two girls lying on the floor playing with their phones.
“Coming!” Kim Garam (currently 13 years old) on the left scrambled up from the floor, while Choi Yunjin (currently 14 years old) on the other side sat up lazily but didn't stand.
“Where’s Lisa Ouni?”
“I'm not sure.” Xu Suizhen shook her head. “Get up quickly. I think we can practice our debut song again today.”
“That terrible song has no chance of becoming popular, and the choreography is so simple. We can just practice it casually,” Choi Yunjin said with a wave of her hand, a little disheartened.
“No, I heard from our manager Ouni that we’ll be performing on music shows for our debut!” Xu Suizhen explained.
Choi Yunjin suddenly looked up.
“Performing on music shows? Really?”
“It should be real.” Xu Suizhen nodded.
“You get excited just hearing about performing on music shows?” Kim Garam rolled her eyes at Choi Yunjin.
For this companion who only wanted to go to a big company but lacked the corresponding ability, the thirteen-year-old Kim Garam didn't even bother to pretend.
“Garam!” Xu Suizhen looked at Kim Garam reproachfully. “You can’t talk to your elders like that!”
Looking at the “gentle” Xu Suizhen, Kim Garam subconsciously shrank her neck.
“Yes...”
Choi Yunjin sneered disdainfully. In her heart, this place was ultimately just a stepping stone, and they were just temporary teammates. If Kim Garam looked down on her, did she look up to Kim Garam?
Bang!
The practice room door was flung open with a bang, and the three of them looked over simultaneously.
What met their eyes was a woman with obvious mixed-race features.
Seeing the newcomer, Choi Yunjin, who had been sitting on the floor, sprang up in an instant.
“Lisa Ouni!” X3.
The three respectfully bowed to Lisa (currently 21 years old) in greeting.
“Mm.” Lisa nodded, a bright smile on her face. “Everyone will be teammates from now on, no need to be so respectful.”
“Ouni will definitely be the leader in the future, so it’s necessary to be respectful,” Xu Suizhen said with a smile.
“Ouni is strong, and has trained the longest among us, so she’s definitely the leader!” Kim Garam, seeing Xu Suizhen speak up, also chimed in.
Choi Yunjin raised an eyebrow, looked at Xu Suizhen, then at Kim Garam, sneered disdainfully, and said nothing.
Lisa looked at the “respectful” three and nodded in satisfaction.
“Everyone is on the same team. When I become the leader, I won’t treat anyone unfairly!”
“Yes!” x3.
“Are you all here?”
At this moment, the voice of Director of Trainees Choi came from outside the door.
Lisa, who had just been acting like a big sister, immediately turned around and bowed in greeting towards the door.
Her movements were so smooth and fluid that the three behind her stared in astonishment.
Director of Trainees Choi glanced at Lisa, then looked at the four with an expressionless face and said, “I just received instructions. The debut preparation group is disbanded, and your four debuts are canceled. The specific debut date will be announced later.”
“?!!!”
The four stared blankly at Director of Trainees Choi, their faces full of disbelief.
They were about to debut, and now he was telling them they weren't debuting?
Was this a joke?
What kind of bizarre company was this?
Oh, their own company was already pretty bad, so never mind.
“Also, the CEO personally recruited a trainee who will be coming in a couple of days.” As he spoke, Director of Trainees Choi remembered the CEO’s instructions and looked at Xu Suizhen. “This trainee is someone the CEO values, so pay attention.”
Why are you looking at me!!!
Xu Suizhen looked at Director of Trainees Choi in confusion. Why was he looking at her like that?
“Are we not allowed to debut, or are we reforming the debut group?” Choi Yunjin couldn't help but ask.
If she wasn't allowed to debut, she would leave!
【If Choi Yunjin asks questions similar to whether she can still debut, tell her that it's just an adjustment to the debut group, and the existing members won't change, to stabilize her.】
Thinking of this, Director of Trainees Choi, while marveling at the CEO's foresight, also spoke.
“It’s just an adjustment to the debut group members, adding new members.”
Hearing this, all Four Heavenly Kings breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they weren't being replaced by a sudden new arrival, whether there were more people or not didn't matter.
“Yes! We will obey the company’s arrangements!” Lisa regained her expression and said respectfully.
“Mm.” Director of Trainees Choi nodded, glanced at the company’s only four remaining trainees, and thought, they really don't have the same aura as the new trainee the CEO brought in.
Never mind, it's not his business; he's just an employee. He turned and walked away.