God of Music

Chapter 104. Hot Spring (5)

President Yoo MinSung replied calmly, hiding his restlessness in his heart.

They say bad things come in waves, and this seemed to be exactly like that.

He had become very sensitive since Hyun MinWoo had turned himself in, since his own gambling history might get leaked, but the one who sued him had called him now.

He didn’t feel that good.

Regardless, his conversation opponent spoke calmly as well.

-Perhaps, since we had some disagreements with each other. However, if you change your thinking slightly, we might need something from each other.

“I don’t need anything from the likes of….”

– Hyun MinWoo, as well as money.

President Yoo MinSung became speechless since the words were spot on.

When he became silent, KangYoon continued to speak.

-I’ll be there in 2 hours. if you don’t need it….

“Well… I might be out, but if you don’t mind waiting, then sure.”

President Yoo MinSung’s eyes sparkled hearing the word ‘money’.

However, he couldn’t show that he was thirsting for money. Since the opponent was the one coming to him, it was very likely that the other side wanted something as well.

-Well, then see you in a bit.

The call ended.

President Yoo MinSung snorted at his phone.

“Hmph, looks like he’s in quite the hurry, saying that he’ll come here himself. Let’s see what trash talk he’s got.”

Snorting, President Yoo MinSung leisurely cleaned up his office.

***

2 hours later.

KangYoon had arrived at Rebirth Entertainment.

Guided by a female staff, he was lead to the President’s office.

Inside, President Yoo MinSung was waiting for him there, with a proud posture.

“Welcome.”

President Yoo MinSung gestured KangYoon to sit wherever he liked. Although his actions were quite rude, KangYoon’s expression did not change at all.

Instead, the female staff looked ashamed and gave KangYoon a cup of coffee.

“Thanks.”

The female staff was very astounded to see KangYoon so calm despite her own boss’s rudeness. She thought that he may be on the losing end of this matter, but it didn’t look like that from his attitude. In her curiosity, she put her ears against the door after leaving the room in order to listen to what they were talking about. Next to her was another male employee.

Regardless, the main topic began inside the president’s office.

“I was wondering if I would be able to see you at all after your haughty attitude.”

“Since we’re in an uncomfortable relationship, let me get straight to the point. I have something you want, and you have something I want. I wish to trade the two.”

“Oho? Something you want? And you have something I want?”

“As I told you two hours ago, I can give you money.”

KangYoon took out a small box of canned drinks. It was a small box enough to contain 10 cans. President Yoo MinSung snorted at that.

“What would that be?”

Just as President Yoo MinSung was about to stand up to leave, KangYoon silently opened the box. Inside the box were not a series of drinks, but stashes of 50,000 won bills (50,000KRW is about 50 USD)

“Whoa…!!”

“It’s a little over 50 million won (50K USD), I’ll hand it to you.”

President Yoo MinSung’s eyes sparkled when he heard those words. This was 50 million won. There was no way he was going to get this for free. However, 50 million was still very tempting.

‘He’s getting riled up.’

KangYoon secretly smirked seeing that President’s Yoo MinSung’s eyes were being colored with greed.

President Yoo MinSung looked as though he was hesitating for a long time. After couting them all, he asked KangYoon.

“You aren’t going to give this to me for free. So, what is it that you want?”

“I’ll get straight to the point. I ask for the copyrights to Kim JaeHoon’s songs.”

Hearing that, President Yoo MinSung became very angry.

“Wh… WHAT? Copyrights? With such a small amount of mone… GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!”

President Yoo MinSung’s voice rang across the whole office. However, KangYoon calmly talked back.

“Due to their characteristics, copyrights only give you a large sum of money in one go. In the case of Kim JaeHoon, the rights to his songs should be quite high compared to other singers, but the number of people looking for his songs decreased during the past few years due to his blank. I’m not 100% sure, but I believe that the income from his copyrights should be decreasing. Am I wrong?”

“That’s…. hm….”

KangYoon’s words weren’t wrong. President Yoo MinSung suppressed his anger. However, he still shook his head as though he was worried about something.

“Fuu, copyrights, you say. But…. Kim JaeHoon’s coyprights aren’t that cheap.”

President Yoo MinSung’s eyes sparkled again. He practically said ‘you got no more money?’. KangYoon immediately understood the implications.

Now, then. The real deal began.

“How about 70 million?”

“It’s a little low… but well, I’ll take it.”

President Yoo MinSung answered nonchalantly, but he was actually rejoicing on the inside. He got his hands on a large sum of money from something he practically gained for free. This was the best trade of his lifetime.

Seeing him excited, KangYoon spoke.

“Since we’re at it. I wish to create the contract right away.”

“That’s good with me! Right away.”

“I’ll talk to my employees to cancel all the lawsuits. Let us meet in better situations in the future.”

“Hahaha! Looks like I’ve made a mistake. I did not imagine that you were so easy to talk to.”

President Yoo MinSung reached out his hand towards KangYoon. KangYoon laughingly reached out to grab that hand.

“Let us do better in the future. Hahaha!”

“Me too, and don’t tell anything to Kim JaeHoon….”

“Isn’t that obvious? We’re of the same kind.”

President Yoo MinSung made a sneaky smile as though he knew everything. KangYoon also smiled, but inside, he detested the guy. From his attitude, he was convinced hat this company wouldn’t last long.

After that, KangYoon handed over the money after signing the copyright transferrence contract.

With that, the rights to all of Kim JaeHoon’s songs now belonged to World Entertainment.

***

Kim JaeHoon was spending a spring that was hotter than anyone.

Going to get his hair done in early mornings was natural, and he was enduring a giant tsunami of TV programme recordings and other events.

“…Hyung, are you really okay?”

“It become endurable once you get used to it.”

“…Are you sure you’re human?”

Manager Kim DaeHyun, who spent his time looking after Kim JaeHoon in KangYoon’s stead experienced a weird event of his two cheeks becoming hollowed. Leaving for work under the stars and leaving work under the stars became his life now.

However, Kim JaeHoon was very satisfied with this kind of busy life. His body may have it hard, but he liked the fact that he could go on stage again.

“Walking next to you on the plains—”

“WAAAA—!”(cheering)

Achieving the feat of singing four more songs as service after his arranged four at a countryside art hall event, he rose as the new king of events.

While he spent his busy month of May, Kim JaeHoon suddenly received a summon from his company.

He had a very nice reunion with the members at the company, then sat down together with KangYoon. From the looks of it, KangYoon’s eyes had become strangely dark.

“President, are you hurt?”

“I stayed up last night for your songs.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s right.”

“Sheesh. Anyway, I called you here since I had something to talk about.”

KangYoon handed him a few sets of documents. Kim JaeHoon accepted the documents and soon smiled very brightly.

“Th, this! You got my copyrights back?”

“To be precise, I didn’t get them, but I bought them. With enough time, I may have been able to save some money, but you would have had it harder. I thought that it would be better to give him some more money and be done with it.”

“President….”

Kim JaeHoon was truly touched. His voice even sounded tearly. KangYoon shook his hand saying that it was alright.

“Now you really belong to World now, JaeHoon.”

“You’re right. I’ll never make you regret your investment in me.”

“Yeah, please.”

KangYoon patted Kim JaeHoon’s shoulders. Kim JaeHoon’s eyes were sparkling in determination as he nodded.

***

Park SoYoung picked up her guitar after a long time. During the past few years, she had the excuse of ‘studying’ to rarely pick up her guitar at all. However, she suddenly wanted to hear the clear sounds of her guitar today.

“The night of starlight…. Aaaah—“

With her guitar in hand, she opened up a random page of a thick book and played them randomly. Inside the tightly closed room, her guitar sounds rang out. Her voice as well as the sounds of her guitar filled her room and made her ears joyful.

However, the joy only lasted briefly. With an unpleasant sound, the thinnest string of her guitar snapped.

“Ah….”

Murphy’s law, was it? Park SoYoung frowned. She didn’t have a spare string either. In the end, she threw her guitar onto her bed and lied down.

“Nothing is to my liking.”

She sighed deeply. Graduation and her future made her head complex. How good would it be if she only had one thing to think about… like entering college – she even thought of such nonsensical things.

[SoYoung, you should try giving your songs to my brohter too.]

At that moment, HeeYoon’s advice suddenly came up in her head. Her songs, eh….

‘Now that I think about it, KangYoon-oppa’s help was big even when I was preparing to enter college.’

Now that she thought about it, she never even thought about KangYoon, even though it would be practically impossible for her to enter such a prestigious university without his help.

Park SoYoung jumped up from her bed.

‘Should I try?’

She stood up from her seat and took out a notebook with blank music scores in it. Then, she picked up her guitar again.

“Oh yeah… the string….”

However, she shook her head after seeing the snapped string and left her room. It was to buy a new one.

***

– Entertainer Hyun MinWoo, prosecuted for foreign gambling.

Actor Hyun MinWoo (aged 38) was prosecuted for foreign gambling. Mr. Hyun had gambled and lost hundreds of millions to billions of won ( up to 1million USD) in countries such as the Phillipines, Macao, and the US.

(omitted)

The police are investigating further, looking for accomplices in this matter.

Quick news, rising phoenix.

Journalist Lee ChangYeon (T/N: Lee ChangYeon is the author’s name)

***

“Looks like this won’t end small.”

Sighed Lee HyunJi while looking at the news article on her monitor. Hyun MinWoo was quite a successful actor. With such a person causing an uproar, the online communities would stay bustling for quite a few days.

“But he’ll make it back.”

“He turned himself in after all. Although he might get some insults at the beginning, it should change later. I imagine you persuaded him the same way.”

“That’s right. Thanks to that, I was able to pressure President Yoo MinSung. He’s a rather thankful guy.”

“Looks like we helped each other. We prepared a trigger to get copyrights back from that guy, while Hyun MinWoo was liberated from Yoo MinSung’s threats. People should live a kind life.”

“Hyun MinWoo prepared the stage well. Though, if you think about it, this means that his resentment towards Yoo MinSung was quite big. In any case, Hyun MinWoo should have been threatened quite badly by that Yoo MinSung guy. On top of that, the loss of sense of judgement due to gambling addiction gave us even more room to work with. We got Kim JaeHoon’s copyrights for such a cheap price.”

KangYoon sighed in absurdity. He would never use the same tactic again.

Lee HyunJi was on his side, though.

“It’s his own fault. You set up the stage well. Thanks to that, we were able to toy with that Yoo MinSung easily. Actually, if your position was ‘Team Leader’ like in the past, this place would have been on fire. Otherwise, we would have had to fight for ages in court to get them back. We are short on money, so it would have been hard to hire a proper lawyer. In any case. All’s well that ends well.”

“That’s fortunate.”

Now that one big matter was over, KangYoon stood up from his seat feeling refreshed. Now, he didn’t have to concern himself with legal stuff and could concentrate solely on songs. KangYoon was relieved with just that.

Just as KangYoon was immersed in work, Jung HyeJin spoke to him.

“President, someone called Jay Han is here. He asked if you’re present.”

“Jay Han? Oh, him.”

A foreign Korean resident he met back in Korea ONE STAR. KangYoon was quite surprise by this call.

“What is it about?”

“Apparently, he got selected for the top 3 this round. And that’s why he’s here to thank you.”

“Really?”

KangYoon accepted. When asked when he would come, Jay Han replied that he would come within the next hour. KangYoon said okay and asked Jung HyeJin to clean the office.

Not long after, Jay Han entered World Entertainment. Lead by Jung HyeJin he entered the president’s office.

“Welcome. It’s been a while.”

“Hello composer!”

Jay Han’s expression was very bright. It looked as though he had become more handsome after overcoming the crisis of being dropped out. KangYoon also felt very good seeing him doing well.

Jay Han first handed him a set of tickets for Korea ONE STAR. Although the programme didn’t have reserved seats, the ticket was for VIPs at the front row.

“This is….”

“I’ve prepared enough. Come over and enjoy with your company.”

KangYoon was flabbergasted. These tickets were incredibly hard to get on the internet. KangYoon decided to give the tickets back, but Jay Han became serious and shook his head.

“How much do you think you did for me, composer? Actually, I wanted to work with you again this time, but the rules of the last round states that it has to be done with the mentor, so I couldn’t help it.”

“Maybe there’s a next time. But I still wonder if I should accept these….”

“Without you, I would have never come to the finals. Please don’t feel bad accepting them.”

KangYoon hesitated a little before accepting the tickets. Looking at the date, all the members of his company would be able to participate if he reschedulled Kim JaeHoon’s events.

Jay Han’s voice was very excited. KangYoon listened to his story about the stages in eagerness. Perhaps it may have sounded like a teenage boy’s trivial story, but KangYoon didn’t miss any of it. Jay Han also seemed to have noticed that and was very humble.

After a long time, Jay Han stood up.

“Well, then composer. I’ll be on my way.”

“Be careful on your way back.”

KangYoon saw Jay Han out. Waving his hand, Jay Han spoke.

“Please write me a song when I get an official album out.”

“Hahaha, sure.”

“You promised! You did!”

Jay Han left the company after saying that multiples of times.

“Well, then. Should I get our schedules ready?”

KangYoon walked back inside his office with slow steps.

This was a very good opportunity to let everyone experience what the TV programme industry looked like.

Thinking about what he needed to do, KangYoon headed inside.