103: Chapter 103: Investment Decision Confirmed with JYP

On November 15th, the rain in Seoul finally stopped. Kim Young-jun parked the car on the second basement level of the JYP Entertainment building, turned off the engine, and glanced at the back seat through the rearview mirror.

Chairman Wang Shunyi was flipping through the investment agreement. He reached the last page and closed it.

Today, he was wearing the deep blue suit that Park Min-ji had picked out for him. Well, she didn't exactly pick it out; it was one already in his wardrobe. One day, while helping him organize his hangers, she mentioned it looked good, and he remembered that.

With white gold cufflinks and a deep red tie, Kim Young-jun got out first to open the car door.

"Chairman, Park Jin-young's people have arrived. The meeting is in the large conference room on the 12th floor. Both the legal and financial teams are present."

"What about the translator?"

"Waiting in the conference room. She was hired by JYP and has been through the previous rounds of negotiations, so she's familiar with the terms."

Chairman Wang Shunyi nodded and stepped into the elevator.

On the conference table lay two copies of the final investment agreement, placed side by side. The covers were printed with the logos of Shunyi Foods and JYP Entertainment; the paper was thick and had a high-quality texture.

Park Jin-young sat at the head of the table wearing a black turtleneck sweater, with a dark gray suit jacket draped over the back of his chair. He looked much more relaxed than at their last meeting.

He was whispering something to the CFO beside him, but when he saw Chairman Wang Shunyi enter, he stood up and reached across the table to shake hands.

"President Wang, thank you for your hard work."

Chairman Wang Shunyi took his hand. The palm was thick, and the grip was firmer than the last time they shook hands, as if confirming he hadn't chosen the wrong person.

The lawyers from both sides read through the agreement clause by clause. This process took nearly forty minutes.

Kim Young-jun occasionally glanced at Chairman Wang Shunyi's expression, but Chairman Wang Shunyi didn't frown once. The terms had been ground out over many previous rounds of negotiation: a unit price of 18,500, an 8% stake, totaling 14.8 billion KRW. There was a three-year priority right for exclusive endorsements; Shunyi had the right of first refusal for food-related endorsements for all artists under JYP. The pricing was benchmarked against several top Korean companies—slightly lower than SM, but JYP's groups had higher global recognition.

Kim Young-jun had originally wanted to push it down to 7%, but Chairman Wang Shunyi hadn't agreed.

"At 7%, JYP would think we're stingy. At 8%, they feel we're being generous. For that 1% difference, we save two weeks of grinding at the negotiation table. It's worth it."

When they reached the clause for automatic renewal in the third year, the opposing lawyer mentioned that renewal conditions would be renegotiated based on market conditions at that time. Chairman Wang Shunyi interjected.

"The automatic renewal ratio should follow the first contract."

Park Jin-young glanced at him but said nothing, signifying tacit consent. This was a point Kim Young-jun hadn't been able to negotiate successfully. Chairman Wang Shunyi had prepared for this; before the negotiations, he had looked through JYP's endorsement contract templates from the last five years and knew there was room for flexibility in their renewal clauses.

He brought it up spontaneously today because the timing was perfect—a concession at the very last moment before signing is the most valuable.

Just after twelve o'clock, the tips of their pens touched the final page. Park Jin-young signed first in a stylish, cursive English script.

Chairman Wang Shunyi signed his Korean name, stroke by stroke, exactly as he had when signing his first business license at the night market.

"President Park, it's a pleasure doing business with you."

"President Wang, it's a pleasure doing business with you."

After the signing concluded, Park Jin-young took the initiative to give him a tour of the office building. The hallways were lined with official photos of every artist who had debuted under JYP, from god in the early 2000s to the rookies who had just debuted, filling an entire wall.

TWICE's photo hung at the corner at the end of the hallway. The nine members were in white dresses, smiling brightly. Park Jin-young paused in front of the photo, saying that TWICE was one of his proudest creations.

Chairman Wang Shunyi looked at the nine young faces in the photo and remembered when he was still running a street stall. There was a high school girl who came every day to buy two packs of fire chicken noodles; her phone case was TWICE merchandise, and her ringtone was TWICE's 'Feel Special'.

He didn't know who they were back then, but now he did, and he was going to be doing business with them from now on.

"They'll be in the recording studio next Wednesday for a new song. Would you like to come by? We can discuss the endorsements while we're at it."

Park Jin-young spoke casually, as if inviting a neighbor over for tea. But Chairman Wang Shunyi could hear the underlying meaning: JYP needed to show its shareholders the chemistry between its artists and the brand. A meeting was the most direct commercial demonstration.

"Alright. Next Wednesday afternoon."

At three in the afternoon, the conference room at Shunyi Foods headquarters was packed. Kim Young-jun, Lee Jung-hoon, and Choi Soo-jin sat on either side, their notebooks filled with writing. Chairman Wang Shunyi briefly summarized the results of the signing in a flat tone, much like saying the weather was nice today.

He summarized the key points of the signing into two items: the priority endorsement rights were locked in, and the renewal conditions were settled. Kim Young-jun followed up by reiterating the price: 14.8 billion, already paid in full from Shunyi's own reserves, without affecting cash flow.

Lee Jung-hoon opened his marketing plan and projected the first page onto the screen.

"We plan to start filming the endorsement ads with TWICE next month. There will be 30-second and 15-second TVCF versions, two versions for online short videos, and a set of print ads. The working title is 'Deliciousness Makes Life More Exciting'."

He emphasized the words "working title" and added a sentence afterward, implying it needed the Chairman's confirmation.

Five out of the nine TWICE members would be selected for the shoot based on popularity. This was JYP's suggestion, not Shunyi's choice, but Chairman Wang Shunyi knew why Park Jin-young arranged it that way: having the popular members in the ads would lead to higher brand exposure.

He agreed to the plan but added one condition. The entire TWICE group had to appear on the packaging of the co-branded products, not just those five. All nine of them should be included because fans wouldn't argue over who was missing from the packaging. However, the commercials could feature only five, because arguments also generate buzz.

The meeting ended near five o'clock. Kim Young-jun closed his notebook and asked, "Should I confirm the meeting time with TWICE with JYP?"

Chairman Wang Shunyi said, "Next Wednesday at 2:00 PM. Have the car ready; I'll go alone."

"Chairman, should I bring Director Park?"

Chairman Wang Shunyi glanced at him and said, "No need, she has her own car."

Kim Young-jun didn't ask further.

Chairman Wang Shunyi returned to his office. Kim Young-jun's email had already arrived, containing the names, photos, and personal profiles of the nine TWICE members. No reply was requested.

He turned off his computer and picked up his phone to scroll to Park Min-ji's chat window. He saw the message she had sent at noon.

"Did the signing go smoothly?"

He had replied with a simple "Mhm" at the time. He looked at it again now and put the phone down.

The TV was still on with the volume low. On the screen, a shopping channel was selling non-stick pans; the demonstrator was pouring batter into a pan. He didn't turn it off.

After a while, she sent a photo of an army stew, with luncheon meat, rice cakes, and kimchi arranged in the pot. He said he'd be there soon and added another line.

"I'm wearing that deep blue suit today."

She replied with a wide-eyed emoji.

He picked up his car keys. The office lights were turned off, and the motion-sensor lights in the hallway turned on. He left through the back door and went to a mall near the company to buy a bouquet of flowers—not too large, in white wrapping paper. The clerk asked if he wanted a card, but he said no.

The car was in the underground garage. He sat inside, placed the flowers on the passenger seat, secured them with the seatbelt, and started the engine to drive out of the parking lot.

The lights of Namsan Tower were still flashing. He took a glance and withdrew his gaze. The car merged into the evening rush hour traffic; he drove slowly, in no rush.