Hollywood Zenith

For the next two days, Samuel was holed up in the studio, sleeping, drinking and eating on his custom producer chair. Adele would come from time to time and they would record songs together after which he would start mixing it fully engrossing himself in post production.

The reason being, he wanted to have a leisure new year together with the girls and enjoy the last few remaining days lazing around. This past year had been a turbulent one and he didn't even get to have any rest dealing with all sorts of stuff.

From venturing into new business, starting different subsidiaries to his acting career and trouble with the shadow organization. A lot of things happened in short span of a year.

There was also the concern of Nicole acting strange that day but after seeing her laughing and interacting with Kate and Adele, he firmly put that matter to rest. His little maid was competent so there was no reason for him to worry about her.

But he did notice them secretly whispering couple of times, he could spy on them and listen to what they were planning but in the end he decided not to do it. They could be planning something for new year celebration, it would be hurtful to ruin their surprise.

On the matter of music, they had already recorded everything. Samuel was able to polish the final version and let everyone give it a listen. They were so surprise that Adele even kissed him in front of everyone!

She even asked him to go through with her other song to see if there was something he could do about it too. Samuel had already received his reward, so there was no way he wouldn't be able to deliver!

To make him for motivated, Kate and Adele would take turn fooling around in the studio. They were aware of the peeping tom incident after pressuring Nicole couple of times. So, the studio that was soundproof became a ideal space for them to get their 'fix'.

Samuel never knew sitting on the chair while he worked and Adele 'servicing' him from below could be such a unique experience. It greatly improved the productivity especially when Kate and Adele would tag-team him together!

He even when on to design a modern cover for her album and sending it to Russell for review. Unfortunately, they didn't have professional camera equipment, if not he could have followed through the entire process himself.

Just like that it was during morning, before new year when he received a call on his private cell phone. He expected it to be flooded by greetings but not this soon. After looking at the number, it was unknown overseas number.

" Hello, who is this?" He asked. Most of his subordinates were on leave, it could be someone reporting about some important issue or else they wouldn't have disturbed him.

" Boss? This is Benjiro!" He heard japanese from the other side. Benjiro was someone he hired few years ago when he visited Japan. He was responsible for everything related to his business there.

" Yes, what's the matter? You don't sound so good." Samuel could hear other party breathing heavily through the phone.

" I am sorry to disturb you during the holidays but I need to report about the current process of our television series!" He exclaimed.

Samuel was silent for second before he realized that he really neglected his asian business these past few months. " Boys over flowers" was the first series that they produced independently and Benjiro came few months ago aggravated about issues plaguing the production.

The japanese writer suddenly had a issue with leasing the contractual property delaying the release of the series. Because it was their debut piece, Samuel basically opened his wallet to give them unlimited budget.

He was practically certain about the success because the lead actors casted were talented, he even knew the lead actress during the event, she was set to be the lead according to the information he got from the source.

He was yet to see the finished product but the few private screening did yield positive result. The way of his marketing was unorthodox, especially in these times where the shows basically mirror the public perception and change their story for later episode to appease them.

Samuel's company on the other hand was sitting on the finished product for weeks at this point. There were a variety of problem that could crop up like leak of plot or even whole episodes if they were not careful!

This series especially susceptive to it because of this premise, two male lead fighting for attention of the the female lead. People had to keep guessing who the actress would chose in the end which was the crux that made it famous in the first place!

" Did you encounter other issues?"

" No boss! I wanted to tell you that the show has been greenlighted! The first episode would air on new year!"

" New year? Didn't they already have selected drama for this holiday season?" Samuel was confused. There were predetermined slots especially in holiday season. Which channel would dare to miss such an opportunity? Benjiro seemed to guess why his boss asked him such a question.

" Boss...the thing is we didn't win any slot from KBS or MBC. They are the leading giant and did show some interest but due to our uncertain schedule refused in the end."

" It's understandable. So you went with SBS?" Samuel was well aware about the internal grife in television industry. This July, after heated political debates, amendment of the Media law passed the South Korean national assembly to deregulate the media market of South Korea.

" Yes..boss."

It would take them whole year before, the government would give out four general Cable Television networks licenses. SBS was a little worse but it was a blessing in disguise. With their stronghold in Seoul, the expensive brands that Benjiro contracted for the series would enjoy explosive success.

The Korean wave would only grow stronger enveloping other countries with their culture, why shouldn't they start from the heart of the country? The capital could be said to have the most amount of purchasing power.

" Alright, just follow through with it. There is no need to feel bad about it, once our production company get a foodhold they would come out flocking just hearing out name." Samuel wasn't discouraged about it. In a sense, his company was the one that was asking for excessive treatment. He only said it uplift Benjiro who had been running in Japan to curb the issue.

That's right! He asked what really was the problem but Benjiro couldn't give them proper answer for it. There was some trouble with government then with the author who kept changing it's mind even going so far as to selling the rights to another party knowing the series was already finished.

Even when Benjiro's team threatened with a lawsuit and reminded him about the fee for breach of contract, the author stayed unmoved. They had several meeting since then before author suddenly changed his mind and stopped his silly movements suddenly. Was they found out who was behind the production company or did his father do something about it? Samuel didn't know yet.

" Boss, I wanted to ask him if you will be here for the after party. I plan to host it during the last episode premier. It will be end of march so I wanted to make appointment beforehand." Benjiro asked hesitantly. It must be the reason why he was feeling so tense earlier.

" I will see what I can do." Samuel didn't give him any definite answer. His movie was set to start production soon, with two simultaneous filming it would surely be intense.

" Boss you must come! I will arrange for best accomodation for your arrival!" Suddenly he heard someone else through the phone. He immediately guess the other party's identity.

" Chairman Park? You guys are together?" If he thought more about it, it wasn't hard to picture them in the same room. After all Benjiro had to coordinate with Park for everything.

" Boss! I thought you already forgot about us. There had been no direction since the time you acquire the two bands!" He was strangely enthusiastic about it.

" How are they doing? Are you taking proper care of them?"

" They are doing fine. But because your conditions are too good, they felt a little awkward accepting it without doing anything. They are eager for their fresh debut. Especially Miss Yoona and Miss Soo-jin regularly enquires about you."

" I have been meaning to make a trip to Korea but because I am covered in work here, it kept being pushed back. Don't worry I have a lot planned for them. Just tell them to keep practicing and if they have any issue they already have my contact information."

Chapter Explore:

" How could they contact you knowing that you are busy? But I will follow your orders. Boss, there is also the issue of the place getting crowded with so many people-"

" Just buy another building beside it. I will ask Abigail to arrange for it." Samuel wasn't too worried about these things.

Since the financial crisis, most of the developing and developed world was feeling the ripples of it especially in the real estate market. Any functional building would be a good investment. As far as he remembers, the Studio Dragon was located in Gangnam, that place already had a skyhigh price but it would only go up in the next decade!

" Thank you boss!"