– “The CEO of Wisu Entertainment manipulated the situation to forge the consent of a legal representative and signed an exclusive contract with underage Jeong Dajun. Is that correct?”
– “Yes… it is.”
As the sound of the recorded conversation filled the office, the CEO opened his mouth in shock. It seemed like he didn’t anticipate me resolving everything within three days, or rather, two days.
“Is this… really what you’ve done?”
“Yes.”
I nodded my head and presented the original termination notice.
“With this, everything should be settled.”
“How did you even…!”
“I got it.”
The CEO was surprised at how easily I had obtained it and looked back and forth between the termination notice and me.As soon as I entered the lobby, Jeong Dajun, who seemed to have been waiting for me, stood up anxiously.
I purposely left him outside, as I couldn’t speak properly with him there.
“I’ve done my part here. Please handle the rest, CEO.”
“…”
“I hope you do better next time.”
I cleaned up this mess, so figure it out yourself next time.
The roles of the powerful and the weak had been completely reversed. Still, it seemed that somewhere deep in his conscience, he reluctantly agreed to my demands.
However, I didn’t stop there.
“Is the renewal ready?”
“About that…”
He hasn’t prepared it.
He thought I couldn’t solve the issue.
His expression stiffened.
If I had failed and Jeong Dajun’s contract had been breached, he would have definitely not settled the matter.
Rather, he might have used it as an excuse to invalidate this renewal and corner us.
What a world.
I purposely didn’t say anything. When you stare at someone silently, they naturally look for an excuse.
“Well, Dajun’s matter hasn’t been completely resolved yet, so…”
“CEO.”
I weighed my options for a moment. Should I go through the trouble of finding another agency, or should I manipulate the CEO to make him more useful?
“For me…”
My style was the latter.
In that sense, this current agency that left me alone wasn’t all that bad. It was easier to control with my own hands.
“When I was talking with Wisu Entertainment and carefully examining the contract, I remembered something.”
“Uh, yes?”
“When I first renewed my contract, I created a penalty clause. Do you remember?”
‘…the investment money that has been put into me so far should be charged to me twice as much.’
‘Okay. Let’s make the penalty clause twice as much as the investment.’[1]
The clause stated that I would repay twice the investment funds as a penalty.
Although it had become a useless clause since the last promotion ended, it was still a valid card I could use.
“I remember.”
“I thought about it, and it might seem like an unfair contract to others…”
As I spoke up, the CEO’s eyes began to shake. He had a “No way, no way” sort of expression.
I gave a slight smile.
That’s right.
That was a trap from the beginning.
Thinking he was dealing with a rookie idol, the CEO accepted it without a second thought. But he had made a mistake.
If such a clause were to be leaked to the public, the company would be branded as one that presented unreasonable conditions to an idol, and the CEO would be caught up in the unfair contract scandal.
If he didn’t want that to happen, he had no choice but to listen to me, even if I threatened him.
It’s time to put some pressure on him.
The CEO wouldn’t have thought that a 23-year-old, naïve rookie idol would go this far without any conscience. He couldn’t have predicted it.
If it were any other normal person with common sense, they wouldn’t want to stick their neck out with such a clause and risk getting into trouble.
But I was different.
I am Seo Hoyun, a mud-slinging specialist. I won’t die alone, even if it kills me.
I leaned back comfortably against the sofa.
Although my voice was slightly uneasy, as if I was worried about it being leaked to the public, I subtly emphasized certain words to pressure him.
“I hope it doesn’t leak out. You can manage it properly, right?”
“…”
“I want to be with Daepaseong Entertainment for as long as possible. A good Daepaseong Entertainment that can protect its artists.”
Not being completely stupid, the CEO must have understood what I meant. He pressed his forehead and nodded obediently to my words, which implied that he should behave if he didn’t want to be screwed over.
“Seo Hoyun…”
“Yes?”
“…Never mind.”
The CEO let out a heavy sigh. I could hear him mumbling, “I messed up.”
Really?
I pretended not to hear him and stood up.
“Thank you. I’ll go ahead then.”
As I opened the office door, Jeong Dajun was standing there, still tense and not having heard anything.
Dajun stuttered and bowed his head to the CEO. The CEO was lost in thought but still managed to smile brightly as he stood up.
“Dajun.”
“Yes, yes?”
“Thanks to Hoyun, everything has been resolved. And…”
The CEO hesitated for a moment and glanced at me surreptitiously.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t believe in you.”
“CEO?”
“I wasn’t lying, but I was too anxious and didn’t see the bigger picture. If a CEO doesn’t trust their artist, who will protect that artist first?”
Talk about a change of attitude…
I clicked my tongue internally as I observed the CEO trying to appease me with kind words. I knew that surviving required such actions, but seeing it in person was truly disgusting and nauseating.
…Forget it. It’s not my place to say anything.
“I’m really sorry.”
“…Ah, no, it’s alright.”
At times like this, it would be best to confidently accept the apology by saying, “I understand,” but Jeong Dajun, who was still too soft-hearted, vehemently denied it.
Well, it’s not up to me to worry about that.
“Work hard.”
“Yes, thank you. But there’s a limit to how much we can achieve just by working hard.”
In other words, give us more money.
“…If you need anything, I’ll support you as much as possible.”
The CEO couldn’t say anything else and just watched us. As expected, people should be regularly appeased so they won’t bother you easily. That sight was quite satisfying, so I laughed heartily.
[Options:
- CEO! Cheer up~ We’re~ here for you~
- Well, Hoyun and Dajun will work hard and get going now >.<
- Hey, yo- man! Thank you for all of that!]
Even amidst all of this, the system window continually annoyed me.
“Well~ Hoyun and Dajun will work hard and get going now!”
“…Right! The Dawn, our agency’s rising stars, fighting!”
“Fighting!”
Like snakes, we laughed and turned away from each other.
One had a bitter expression, and the other wore a winner’s smile.
Naturally, the winner was me.
***
“To celebrate the end of Dajun’s case safely~.”
“And to congratulate the renewal of our contracts!”
“Congratulations~!!”
We spread out newspapers in the middle of our dorm and laid out the ordered chicken in celebration of the safe conclusion of Jeong Dajun’s double contract case. We sneakily added some alcohol, but of course, only carbonated drinks were served to Jeong Dajun.
“You guys did well on the V-Live yesterday.”
“Was it alright?”
Seong Jiwon smiled, eyes squinting. Kang Ichae chimed in from the side.
“We had fun~ We had so much fun, but I heard Seonghyeon was worried a lot. So, we quickly switched to a ramen-eating show. You don’t have to talk when you eat.”
“You did well. Good job.”
“Should only Seo Hoyun do it?”
Fortunately, no one found out about this incident. There were no rumors or news articles because nothing was leaked.
There were too many controversies this year, and even the fans were getting tired. It was better to only show the good side during times like this.
It’s better to move on quietly.
In fact, if possible, I wanted to live as if I were invisible.
As I mumbled to myself and picked up a piece of chicken, Kim Seonghyeon curiously asked.
“How did you do it? I heard even the CEO couldn’t do anything about it…”
‘I sneakily told paparazzi Kim Jaeyeon that he should tell Wisu that Seo Hoyun was interested in a new contract. I then borrowed designer clothes from Joo Woosung to create a clueless idol image. Then I purchased a tea leaf that made him confess everything when mixed with water and had him drink it.’
‘Wow!’
Actually, saying it out loud could make me sound like a real madman!
I couldn’t say it like that, so I just brushed it off.
“I was just lucky, I guess.”
“Dajun said you suddenly went and acted like a different person.”
“Well… something happened.”
At Seong Jiwon’s words, I shrugged and changed the subject.
“Did you renew your contracts well?”
“Yeah, we all signed them.”
“Fortunately, the ratio went up.”
Yes, I was satisfied.
As I had already renewed my contract, I didn’t join the members when they signed. The manager vaguely explained that I had already signed the renewed contract after meeting with the CEO regarding Jeong Dajun’s case.
Even though I helped them, they’d feel betrayed if I had renewed the contract alone. I initially intended to maintain such a ratio only for myself.
The reason my thoughts changed was…
Well, just because.
As I sorted out my complicated thoughts and just focused on eating chicken, Seong Jiwon suddenly spoke.
“You could have just done it for yourself. Thank you.”
“…Huh?”
“Ah, right, hyung. You already renewed your contract, right? It must have been a hassle to go to the CEO again, but thank you so, so much!!”
“…Uh, what?”
What were they talking about right now?
As I swallowed the chicken and looked around at the members, they pretended not to notice my strange expression, then looked back at me with puzzled faces.
“Hoyun, why?”
“…You guys already knew?”
“What?”
“That I had already changed my contract…”
My words trailed off, feeling a bit awkward. The members’ faces were filled with even more question marks.
“Hmm?”
“Of course, I knew….”
“Was that supposed to be a secret?!”
What were they talking about……?
Kim Seonghyeon asked with a puzzled look.
“Did you really think we didn’t know?”
“…Of course.”
“Ahaha, what’s with this situation?”
Everyone seemed confused, but Kang Ichae burst into laughter, holding his stomach.
“What, you guys really knew? Seriously? Since when did you know?”
“About 5 months ago? I guessed it when I saw you going up alone. The manager couldn’t keep still either….”
“But why didn’t anyone say anything?!”
“Well, what should we… say?”
Wasn’t it normal for a group to get angry when only one member renewed their contract?
I would’ve been pissed off, too.
“Aren’t you mad?”
“Mad~?”
As the conversation continued to misalign and I couldn’t comprehend, Kang Ichae, who still laughed, wiped the tears from his eyes and grabbed my shoulder.
“Hoyun-hyung, we all knew and didn’t care… No, rather, we thought it was natural.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We all know you’ve been through a lot, hyung. How many things have you solved for us in the past six months?”
Everyone nodded in strong agreement at Kang Ichae’s words. Seong Jiwon cautiously added his opinion.
“Honestly, Hoyun, you deserve more. You should have a better share than us. We should be the ones feeling sorry….”
Ding!
[Shocking! The Buddha exists!]
I had never heard such a thing in my life.
I was really at a loss for words.
“Ah, that’s right!”
As if Kang Ichae had suddenly remembered something, he abruptly snapped his fingers while opening a soda can. Then he looked at me and laughed out loud.
“Hyung! Was it because of this that you were being so careful when discussing the share last time?”
“…”
“Wow, it must be true!”
Kang Ichae said back then that he was sick of people being greedy for money. He even playfully teased me as he danced in front of my eyes.
“I didn’t get sick of you~!”
“Please, just go away.”
He teased me relentlessly. What a guy. The other members asked with curious faces.
“Seo Hoyun being careful?”
“Hyung did that?”
“Hoyun… Why were you acting so nice?”
“His heart is quite tender.”
These crazy guys…
Looking at the members bursting into laughter, I was flabbergasted. The hurdle for being a good person these days was too low.
“Hyung, hyung, hyung.”
Feeling defeated, I sprawled out on the sofa when Jeong Dajun came over and started teasing me. Somehow embarrassed, I grabbed the string of Dajun’s hoodie and pulled him closer.
“Hey, you, come here.”
“What is it?”
“I, a tender-hearted hyung, will listen to all your worries.”
The big issue was resolved. All that was left was to proceed with Jeong Dajun’s scenario. Dajun thought for a moment with wide eyes before sitting on the sofa’s edge.
“Um… I do have one thing.”
“Okay! Tell me!”
Trying to look dependable, I sat up straight. Dajun awkwardly scratched his nose.
“I’ve been into hamsters lately. But since I’m busy with activities, I can’t take care of one even if I raise one. I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with YouTube. Yup, that’s right.”
“Get out.”
“What? You said you’d listen!”
“Just leave. Don’t come back home.”
“That’s too much!”
Dajun whined and clung to me.
No, I didn’t need Dajun; I needed to complete the main scenario.
I was about to tell him to raise an imaginary hamster like Kang Ichae but got lazy and just pushed Dajun’s forehead instead. Suddenly, his eyes sparkled with anxiety.
“Eek, home?”
“…”
“I have a favor!!”
“…What.”
“Hyung, I want to go to your home!!”
I looked at Dajun coldly, but the members chatting nearby heard this, and their eyes lit up like hyenas who found their prey.
“I want to go too!”
“Me too!!”
These guys….
Their faces clearly showed they were looking for more fun.
[1] See Episode 9.
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