Growth

Breezing through immigration Min-soo found Hyun-woo waiting for him at the arrival's hall. Min-soo had packed pretty lightly and had only brought a small luggage bag with him, after all, if he really needed anything, he could just buy it there anyway. That was the power of money indeed.

"Young Master, it's good to see you back. The company has been doing well in your short absence. President Sun has many things up and running already. It's probably best you ask him for the details." Hyun-woo greeted immediately.

Min-soo had Hyun-woo assigned as his personal secretary in the company and so during his absence had been his main representative, going around and overseeing any issues that Uncle Sun could not resolve personally. After all, there were only a limited number of things one person could do.

In fact, Min-soo felt a little bad, because Hyun-woo, Uncle Sun even Choi Hyun-jung were doing more for the company than he had done. But Min-soo knew it was better to feel a little bad now than to try and get involved, be in way over his head and screw things up and have them clean up after him anyway.

This was the way Min-soo would do things, he had always believed his role to be the networking or big ideas guy. The face of the company and also the source of money.

But perhaps one day, he could delve into more of the nitty gritty, after all, people grow, and they learn new things all the time. Or at least that was a core philosophy of Min-soo's.

Take the case of the BTS that Min-soo wanted to re-create. Throughout their long journey so far, the bright and naïve boys that they debuted as were very different to the more mature and worldly idols of when he died. Growth personified.

Of course, this also created headaches for Min-soo after all he was not sure where or how BTS should debut. Should he copy and paste the progression and direction from his past life, or move things around, try new things and develop the 'past' BTS and mix it with who they were in this world.

A conundrum that he would need to solve as soon as possible.

Min-soo put that to one side and decided to head home first and check in with his Mother first.

"Hyun-woo, is Mother home?"

"Ah, no, the Madam is out dealing with some business with her Father. She did ask me to remind you to go visit your maternal grandfather some time when you're free. After all, you have four grandparents, is what the Madam said."

Min-soo only smiled in response, before asking Hyun-woo to drive home anyway.

Even though the flight was incredibly comfortable, first-class that is, it still did not beat the comforts of one's own bed. Plus, he also felt like taking a shower, cologne could only do so much.

Min-soo looked out the window of the car as it sped along the highway and marvelled at just how different yet so familiar the city skyline was to him.

Occasionally he would see billboards with familiar faces, actors and actresses from his past life. Both Western and Korean, advertising luxury cars to luxury watches and even the occasional soft drink. It made him realise that even though Korean pop did not exist in this world, people still sought after the warmth and succour of the arts.

In reality, the Korean entertainment industry existed, but it was merely a shadow of its potential when compared to Min-soo's previous world. Whereas they once could have been actors or actresses renowned across Asia, in this world they were merely famous within Korea.

There were many reasons for this, and many industry insiders have for over a decade tried to crack this problem, and every attempt has only suffered miserably.

Despite this, the 50 odd million people in South Korea were a large enough market to sustain the nascent industry allowing it to limp along and despite the best efforts of the entertainment bosses, many were speculating the decline of the Korean entertainment industry.

Cheap films from China and the massive Hollywood productions time after time sucked up the oxygen from the local box offices as well as the disposable incomes and valuable time of cinemagoers.

The situation was exacerbated by the lack of government support and an apathetic public, where some still remembered the scandals of over a decade ago. They saw it as the just desserts for the rampant greed and unbridled corruption displayed by the rich and the powerful.

However, this was merely Min-soo's speculations, and the occasional insights glimmered from news articles he browsed in an attempt to catch up on the missed history of this world he now inhabited. After all, plunging headfirst without even the most basic of preparations would be foolish, the past always has lessons to heed for the future.

For now, though Min-soo decided to focus on bringing together all seven members and then taking it step by step to turn them into the world idols they were destined to be. As for the other problems, he would deal with them if they ever crossed his path.

Min-soo spent the rest of the day at home, researching and trying to get a better feel for the state of the entertainment industry in Korea. He also began to concretely plan out the steps he would take from hereon.

Five years was how long he promised Jung-kook it would take to become global idols. But Min-soo felt this was the maximum time he would need. After all, he believed having observed their trajectory to success in his past life, in this life, he could maximise their potential earlier and spur them ever onwards to greater success.

With the resources and the backing, he now held, Min-soo was sure that if the BTS of his past life had even a fraction of, they would have dominated the world much earlier.

However, without experiencing the ups and downs of life, perhaps the BTS he knew before he passed on would not have been the same. Either way, Min-soo felt their motivations and who they were, on the most fundamental level should remain the same. He hoped so at least.

Being told that neither of his parents were returning home for the night, Min-soo had an early dinner and went to bed.