Konnect The Dots

11: WakeOne

Merriam-Webster Word of the Day:

Gullible (GULL-uh-bul)

Adjective. Easily fooled or cheated and quick to believe something that is not true.

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"I'm sorry, Daniel-nim. WakeOne will not accept your proposal for Kim Jaehwan-ssi's possible activities as a Wanna One member," Shin Jeongsoo, CEO of WakeOne, told Daniel.

"May I know the reason?" Daniel did his best to control his emotions.

"We were already informed beforehand regarding this negotiation through Jaehwan-ssi as he stated his intentions to not join your possible reunion," Jeongsoo stated.

"I beg your pardon?" Daniel was surprised, to say the least. Did he hear right? His Jaehwannie-hyung didn't want to join the reunion?

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I still have somewhere else to go," Jeongsoo exited the conference room at the Konnect Entertainment building, leaving behind a dumbfounded Daniel in his seat.

A few minutes later, Kim Taeyeop, Bong Saeron, and Chae Chinjeol — the three executives in charge of Wanna One's reunion — entered the conference room, only to see their CEO frozen on his seat.

"How did the meeting go, daepyonim?" Taeyeop asked Daniel.

"WakeOne..." Daniel was in some sort of a daze. "...rejected our proposal."

"What?" the three could not believe what they heard.

"Please cancel my schedule for the rest of the day. I need to rest back in my apartment," it was very obvious Daniel was devastated by what just transpired.

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Daniel was lying supine on his bed, just staring at the ceiling of his bedroom in the middle of darkness. His mind kept replaying what happened during the whole meeting, trying to figure out what he might have done wrong. He blamed himself for failing to convince the agency of Kim Jaehwan, the other half of Wanna One's main vocals and resident mythomaniac.

Daniel's musings were only interrupted when his phone vibrated due to an incoming call.

"Hello?" Daniel did not even bother checking who was calling.

"Daniel-ah, what happened?" the high-pitched voice of Jaehwan was being broadcast through the speaker. "Jeongsoo-daepyonim said you didn't want to accept any of WakeOne's requests."

"What are you even talking about?" Daniel was now confused. "The negotiation failed because WakeOne rejected my proposal."

"But daepyonim said you did not want to cooperate regarding my schedules and profit distribution," Jaehwan replied.

"Jaehwannie-hyung, relax and listen to me. Do you really think I won't be cooperative and flexible regarding the negotiation when I was the one who planned all of this?" Daniel slowly explained to Jaehwan.

"So, it wasn't true then? Was daepyonim lying to me?" Jaehwan muttered.

"Aigoo, Jaehwannie-hyung. You never changed. You're still as clueless and gullible as ever," Daniel chuckled.

"Yah!" Jaehwan blurted out.

"Let me explain what happened during the meeting," Daniel leaned on the headboard. "He told me during the meeting that you told him to not accept the proposal because you did not want to join the reunion. That is the reason why Jeongsoo-nim rejected our proposal."