Chapter 75

75

[So, Representative Wisu falsely manipulated the consent of the legal guardian and signed an exclusive contract with the minor, Jung Dajun. Is that right?]

[Yes...]

As the sound of the recording file echoed through the office, the representative's mouth opened wide. He must not have expected that I would really solve everything in four days, or even two.

"Is this... really what you did?"

"Yes."

I nodded and also handed over the original termination notice.

"With this, everything will be settled."

"Where did you get this...!"

"Someone gave it to me."

The representative was surprised by my straightforwardness and alternated his gaze between the termination notice and me.

As soon as I entered the lobby, Jung Dajun, who had been waiting for me, stood up and sobbed excessively. I deliberately left him outside because I thought he would prevent me from speaking.

"I will go this far, and the rest is up to you to handle, Representative."

"......"

"I hope you will handle it better next time."

=I cleaned up this mess, so you clean up the next one.

It was a complete reversal of the power dynamic. Still, it seemed that some shred of conscience remained deep within him, as he responded with a nod.

But it didn't stop there.

"Is the renewal prepared?"

"That... "

'Not prepared.'

He must not have expected me to solve it.

His expression stiffened.

If I had failed and paid the penalty for Jung Dajun's contract, he definitely wouldn't have settled the accounts.

He might have even used this as an excuse to invalidate the renewal and pressure us.

'What a world.'

I deliberately said nothing. When you look at someone in silence, they naturally start looking for excuses.

"That's because, Dajun's case is still a bit unresolved..."

"Representative."

I hesitated for a moment. Would I really bear the hassle and look for another agency, or would I try to make the representative more useful?

"I... "

My style was the latter.

In this regard, the current agency, which I had been left to manage, wasn't too bad. It was easy to manipulate.

"While talking with Wisu Entertainment and carefully reviewing the contract... I remembered something."

"Uh, yeah."

"At first, when I renewed, I created the penalty clause in the contract, remember?"

'For every investment made so far, make me pay double.'

'Sure. The penalty will be double the investment.'

The clause that required paying double the investment as a penalty.

Though it had become useless after the last activity, it was still a card I could play.

"I remember."

"I thought about it, and it might be seen as an unfair contract by others... "

The representative's eyes wavered. 'It can't be,' his eyes said. I smiled slightly.

Right.

'It was a trap from the beginning.'

He probably accepted it readily, thinking I was just a rookie idol. But he was wrong.

If this clause were to leak, the company would be branded as one that imposes unreasonable conditions on idols, and the representative would be caught for unfair contracts.

If he didn't want that, he had no choice but to listen to me, even if it meant being threatened.

'Time to apply some pressure.'

The representative probably didn't expect it. He wouldn't have thought that a 23-year-old rookie idol, who knew nothing about the world, would go this far.

A normal, sensible person wouldn't want to get into a mud-slinging match by bringing up such a clause.

But I'm not just anyone.

I'm Seo Hoyun, a mud-slinging expert. I won't go down alone.

I leaned back on the sofa, pretending to be anxious about the potential leak, but subtly emphasized certain words to pressure him.

"I want to make sure it doesn't leak. Can you manage it, Representative?"

"......"

"I want to stay with Daepa Sung for as long as possible. I want a good Daepa Sung that can protect artists."

The representative, not being completely stupid, understood the implications. The message was clear: if he didn't want to be in trouble, he should behave well. He nodded, rubbing his forehead.

"Seo Hoyun... "

"Yes."

"......No."

The representative sighed heavily. I could hear him muttering, 'I made a mistake.'

'Really?'

Pretending not to hear, I stood up.

"Thank you. I'll go first."

As I opened the door to the representative's office, Jung Dajun, who hadn't heard anything yet, stood there, tense. Jung Dajun, after mumbling, bowed to the representative. The representative, who had been lost in thought, suddenly smiled brightly and stood up.

"Dajun."

"Yes, yes?"

"Thanks to Hoyun, the matter was handled well. And... "

The representative hesitated and glanced around.

"I'm sorry. I didn't trust you."

"R-Representative?"

"I wasn't lying. I was too hasty and didn't see the bigger picture. If the agency representative doesn't trust the artist, who will protect the artist first?"

'Let's see the change in attitude...'

I watched the representative, who was now saying all the right things, and inwardly rolled my eyes. To survive, such actions are necessary, but seeing it in action is really dirty and disgusting.

'...It's not my place to say anything.'

"I'm really sorry."

"......No, it's okay."

At such times, it's better to accept the apology boldly with a 'I understand,' but the still soft-hearted Jung Dajun vehemently denied it. Well, that's not something I need to worry about.

"Work hard."

"Yes, thank you. But there are limits to what we can do on our own."

=Give us more money.

"......If there's anything lacking, I'll support you."

The representative, unable to say anything, would just watch us. Indeed, people need to be periodically reminded of their place to avoid being easily messed with. I smiled widely, quite satisfied.

[Choice

-Representative! Cheer up~ We're here for you~

-Then, Hoyun and Dajun will go and work hard!>. <-Hey, yeah! Thanks for all of that!]

The system window, as always, was annoying.

"Then, Hoyun and Dajun will go and work hard!"

"......Yeah! Let's fight for our agency's rising star!"

"Fight!"

The snakes, after laughing, turned and left.

One had a face like he had eaten shit, and the other had the smile of a victor.

The victor, of course, was me.

***

"To celebrate the successful resolution of Dajun's case."

"To celebrate the contract renewal!"

"To celebrate!!"

To celebrate the successful resolution of Jung Dajun's dual contract issue, we spread newspapers in the middle of the dorm and laid out the ordered chicken. I subtly placed some alcohol, but naturally, only cola was served to Jung Dajun.

"You guys did well on the B-Live yesterday."

"Was it good?"

Seong Jiwon smiled with closed eyes. Kang Icha chimed in from the side.

"Let's have fun~ Let's have fun, but Seong Hyun was so worried. So we quickly switched to a ramen eating broadcast. You don't have to talk when you're eating."

"You did well. Good job."

"Only Seo Hoyun?"

Fortunately, no one had noticed the recent incident. There were no rumors or news articles.

The fans were already tired of the controversies this year. It's better to show only the good things.

'Let it pass quietly.'

If possible, I wanted to live as if things existed and didn't exist.

As I silently grumbled and picked up a piece of chicken, Kim Seong Hyun, curious, asked me.

"How did you do it? I heard the representative couldn't."

'I subtly hinted to the paparazzi Kim Jae Yeon that Seo Hoyun was interested in the contract, and to create an image of a naive idol, I borrowed luxury items from Joo Woosung and bought tea leaves from the item shop to make him confess everything after drinking them.'

'Wow!'

If I actually said it, I would sound like a lunatic!

I couldn't say it like that, so I just brushed it off.

"It was just luck, that's all."

"Dajun said you suddenly acted like a different person."

"......There was something going on."

To Seong Jiwon's words, I just shrugged and changed the topic.

"Did the contract renewal go well?"

"Yeah. I signed it."

"Good that the ratio improved."

Yeah, um. Satisfying.

Since I had already renewed, I didn't go when the members gathered to sign. The manager had already told them that I had signed the renewed contract after meeting the representative about the Dajun issue.

No matter how much I helped, if I had renewed alone, they would feel betrayed. I originally intended to maintain that ratio alone.

The reason I changed my mind was...

'Just, you know.'

As I chewed on the chicken, trying to clear my head, Seong Jiwon suddenly said,

"You could have done it alone. Thank you so much."

"......Huh?"

"Ah, right. You had already renewed, hadn't you? It must have been a hassle to go to the representative again, but I'm really, really grateful!!"

"......Huh?"

What is he talking about?

I swallowed the food in my mouth and looked around at the other members. Seeing my strange expression, they, who had been acting normal, now looked at me with question marks on their faces.

"Hoyun, why?"

"......You already knew?"

"What?"

"I had already changed the contract... "

Feeling a bit embarrassed, I trailed off. The members' faces were now filled with even more question marks.

"Huh?"

"Of course we knew...?"

"Was it a secret?!"

What is this...?

Kim Seong Hyun tilted his head and asked.

"Did you think we didn't know?"

"......Of course."

"Ha ha ha, what's this situation?"

Everyone was stunned, except for Kang Icha, who was holding her stomach and laughing.

"What, are you guys really? Seriously? When did you find out?"

"About 5 months ago...? We guessed from seeing your ratio go up. The manager was also restless... "

"But why didn't you say anything?!"

"Should we have said something?"

Isn't it normal for the group to be upset if only one member renews their contract?

I would have been pissed.

"Aren't you mad?"

"Mad~?"

I was confused by the mismatched conversation, and while I was mumbling, Kang Icha, who had been giggling, wiped her tears and grabbed my shoulder.

"Hoyun, we all knew and didn't care... No, we thought it was natural."

"What are you talking about?"

"We all know how hard you've worked. In the past six months, how many things have you solved for us?"

Everyone nodded vigorously in agreement. Seong Jiwon cautiously added,

"To be honest, Hoyun, you deserve more. Your settlement ratio should be better than ours. We feel bad... "

Ding!

[Shocking! Buddha exists!]

I had never heard such a thing before.

It was a moment when I was really dumbfounded.

"Ah, right!"

Kang Icha, remembering something, suddenly snapped her fingers while pouring cola. Then she laughed and shouted at me,

"Didn't you, Hoyun! When you brought up the settlement ratio, were you checking to see if we knew?"

"......"

"Wow, it's really true!"

Kang Icha, who had said, 'I'm tired of ugly people who care about money,' giggled and hovered in front of me.

"Why are you subtly checking~! I'm not tired of you~."

"Please go away."

She was teasing me. This kid. The other members, curious, asked,

"Seo Hoyun was checking?"

"Was that you, Hyung?"

"Hoyun... Why are you so nice?"

"You're secretly soft-hearted."

'These lunatics...'

Seeing the members burst into laughter, I was speechless. These guys, the threshold for being nice has become too low lately.

"Hyung, hyung, hyung."

Feeling defeated, I lay sprawled on the sofa when Jung Dajun came over and fidgeted. I felt embarrassed and grabbed the strings of Jung Dajun's hoodie and pulled.

"Hey, you're cool."

"What?"

"This soft-hearted hyung will listen to all your worries."

The big issue was resolved. Now, only Jung Dajun's scenario progression was left. Jung Dajun, eyes wide, sat at the end of the sofa and thought.

"Um... I do have one."

"Go on! Tell me!"

I sat up straight, putting on a serious face. Jung Dajun, embarrassed, rubbed his nose.

"I want a hamster lately. I'm busy with activities, so I can't take good care of it... I guess I'll have to be satisfied with a virtual one. Yeah, that's right. That's the way to go."

"Get out."

"But you said you'd listen!"

"Just get out. Don't come back home."

"That's too much!"

Jung Dajun whined and clung to me.

No, I need the main scenario to be completed, not Jung Dajun.

I was about to tell him to imagine a hamster like Kang Icha, but got tired and just pushed his forehead away. Suddenly, his eyes sparkled with anxiety.

"Whoa, home?"

"......"

"I'm here!! Please!!"

"......What."

"I want to go to your home!!"

I glared at Jung Dajun coldly, but the members, who had been chatting, suddenly perked up like hyenas who had spotted prey.

"I want to go too!"

"Me too!!"

'These kids...'

Their faces clearly showed they were looking for more material to tease me.