Chapter 256

Chapter 256

In the evening on the last day of our Chuseok vacation, the members were slowly starting to return one by one. I expected that Bae Sejin and I would be the first to arrive, but someone else had gotten back before us.

“Huh?”

“Oh! Moondae! Welcome back! You too, Sejin!”

Big Sejin, whose parents’ home was close to the dorm, had come back early. We found him lying on the living room sofa. He was watching a commentated version of the special episode from TeSTAR’s Island Life.

I’d heard that he’d spent his holiday signing autographs for his excited cousins, as was expected for a proper top-tier idol. It wouldn’t take long for social media to be flooded with eyewitness accounts and photos of his autograph, posted by Big Sejin’s relatives.

“And you, my cool-headed Moondae! How have you been? My mom was so disappointed she didn’t get to see you in person!”

Big talk from the guy who went as far as visiting his grandfather’s brother this holiday.

“Yeah. I guess I’ll have to video call her sometime,” I said.

“Haha!” Big Sejin laughed.

I wasn’t sure if the rest had done him well or if he just felt good seeing the breadth of his popularity in a more private setting, but it was good that he seemed more relaxed. It meant when we had to squeeze out every drop of remaining energy when working on our album later, he would have more of it to spare.

“So many of you guys are back already.”

“H-hey guys!”

Chungwoo and Ahyeon arrived at almost the same time. Ahyeon had gone on a family trip again, and he’d even brought back souvenirs from a small island in the southern sea. I received a seagull-shaped bun from Ahyeon, filled with matcha cream.

“I-it was near the island we were on for the show! M-my parents said they wanted to visit, so…”

After seeing what we went through? I didn’t know what to think about that. Apparently, they’d had fun, though, so I decided not to comment.

“Did you have a nice vacation, everyone?” Raebin asked. He’d come back with a bundle of various things, and he… looked a little chubbier.

First, he’d endured his grandmother’s hospitalization, then his own car accident. I could only assume his grandmother had fed him plenty to make up for all the hardship he’d experienced this year.

“Guys?”

“Yeah… Welcome back,” I said.

“Yeah!”

It was fine since we were on hiatus. It wasn’t enough that it constituted a health problem, and once we started work on our album, he would return to normal naturally. It was revealed later that night that Raebin’s chubbiness was the least of our worries. Our last member showed up having undergone a shocking transformation.

“Yahoo! Hey everybody! How’s it going?”

“Cha Eugene!”

Eugene had returned to Korea on a late-night flight from Los Angeles. His skin was… patchy. Putting it nicely, it made him look healthy, but more bluntly, he probably needed to have worn more sunscreen. It seemed he’d had a lovely holiday on the beach.

The stylists are going to get a shock… They’d probably lock him up somewhere inside and force him to take vitamin D pills.

“Hey! You! What’s wrong with your face?” Raebin was the first to display his astonishment, slapping Eugene on the back.

“Oof! There’s nothing wrong with my face! I’m fit and healthy!”

“You are not! This isn’t a healthy tan. You failed to protect your skin!”

“You didn’t exercise, either, Raebin! You’re a failure!”

“N-no, I can easily recover my lost muscles by exercising…”

In any case, it was only after the ruckus had died down that I was able to get down to business—at two in the morning.

“I thought I might visit the agency tomorrow—that is, today. At lunchtime.”

“Huh?”

“Wh-why?”

“Moondae, you’re such a workaholic. You need some rest. You were working at Sejin’s house, too, weren’t you?”

“Just hear me out, would you?”

They weren’t letting me explain.

I massaged my forehead and continued, “I’ve been thinking about how I don’t want the material we collected for our lawsuit—especially the stuff Bae Sejin put together—to go to waste…” I described the plan I’d put together slowly during the holidays.

“Hmm.”

Bae Sejin nodded without reacting, since I’d informed him of the plan already before we came back. The others, however, seemed surprised, then conflicted.

“D-do you think that’s possible?”

“Yes, it is. I spoke with a lawyer,” Bae Sejin said.

Raebin raised his hand. “Is it illegal, by any chance?”

“No, it’s not.”

What followed after that was quite an in-depth discussion, the seven of us exchanging many questions and answers. In the end, Big Sejin shrugged.

“Hmm. We’ve already got everything we wanted, right? I think this should work.”

“Yeah. Why don’t we all head in together tomorrow?”

I shook my head. “No. I think it’s better that I go alone.

“Huh?”

The person we were taking on would find a secretive one-on-one chat more intimidating—a group of young people storming the office would only make him think his underlings were rebelling or something. A single person representing the entire group would be enough.

After explaining this, I added, “Chungwoo is the leader, so if he goes, he’ll think this is an official deal that we’re bringing to the table. I think it’s best for me to go and take him by surprise.”

“Hmm…” Bae Sejin frowned, “But there’s the danger of threats or revenge to consider.…”

“It’s fine. I’m not going to resort to such extreme methods.”

What’s with that look on all your faces? I thought, taken aback. Then I laughed.

“Oh, you meant the director threatening me?”

They said nothing.

“He can’t do that. He wouldn’t dare.”

So it was decided that I would be speaking to the director. Things were going according to plan.

***

T1 Stars’ third director had a fairly pleasant holiday. A psychotic ex-employee had caused them a huge headache, but the agency was already accelerating toward recovery as they came up on Chuseok. The damage the whole fiasco had done to the company’s image and the losses they’d suffered thanks to the canceled tour, however, still made his head spin.

Good thing the kids recovered. At least the TeSTAR member who had been in a coma hadn’t died. His behavior upon waking up, however, hadn’t been all that welcome.

A charity concert after such an accident? And it had been held on another agency’s platform. It was suspicious.

Don’t tell me they’re considering jumping ship. He couldn’t stop them if that was the case, given the current state of public opinion, but the director believed that an agency was akin to a soccer player’s club, because he had no prior experience in the entertainment industry. It made him feel bitter, thinking that TeSTAR was testing the waters.

But TeSTAR didn’t seem to be in contact with the other agency, so he put his suspicions aside for the time being.

I’ll have to sweet-talk them into starting a tour as soon as the agency isn’t under so much scrutiny. By the time the tour ended, he would have them prepare their next album, which would focus on a global launch. It was stressful, however, that he had to take into account the opinions of the constantly complaining idols.

None of them have even graduated from college. Why can’t they just be meek and obedient, and faithful to their role as the faces of our company? The star marketing that Hollywood had implemented to sell more tickets had reduced the industry to such a sad state, he believed. The entertainment industry had no proper order or dignity. He tutted to himself. He’d leaped into his role with ambitious goals, but he was starting to fall out of love with the job.

I’ll just work a few more years, so this is a meaningful addition to my portfolio, then launch a business of my own elsewhere. He was busy with these thoughts as he made his way to meet one of the TeSTAR members for lunch, the meeting having been arranged in advance.

“Hello,” Moondae said politely.

“Yes. Welcome.”

Entertaining the kid was pretty silly, if he was honest. As the director, he had no obligation whatsoever to meet just because a celebrity who worked for him demanded it. Even so, this meeting might give him the leg up that he needed, so he was willing to hear the member out. He couldn’t deny that the agency had yet to recover fully after the car accident.

Let’s see what he’s got to say. He stared at Park Moondae, the TeSTAR member who had come to see him alone, and made a guess at what he wanted.

He must have something he wants from me. Moondae wasn’t the leader, and the director had heard that he was the same member who’d been in contact with T1 in the past. It didn’t occur to him, however, that Moondae had been behind the creation of TeSTAR’s dedicated management team. He didn’t suspect for even a second that a stupid entertainer who hadn’t even graduated from high school would have the brains for that. But he was willing to take advantage of Moondae, if possible.

He’s the sort that will let his greed get the better of him with just a little encouragement. His team let him speak for them, and he seemed quite ambitious in his own way. That had to be the only reason he had requested this meeting, even after his coma.

As soon as they were seated away in a private room at a sushi restaurant that offered full-course dishes, Moondae produced a pile of documents.

“These are documents for a lawsuit,” he said.

The director choked on his sip of water, but the idol in front of him stared back without batting an eye, nonchalant and observant. The director was dizzy with rage for a moment, but he put practical considerations first. He checked over the documents and was left aghast by what he saw.

“It’s all evidence of the agency’s negligence regarding the former manager.”

The documents were meticulous. Worse still, specific details had been purposefully redacted, making it difficult for the agency to prepare counter arguments even with access to the documents. They had obviously been prepared by a legal professional.

Did they hire a lawyer? The director took a deep breath, making sure the idol didn’t notice his unease, then put the documents down.

“So why are you showing me these?”

Moondae said nothing.

“I can only assume you’re not planning to sue us immediately. Is there something you want from us?”

Moondae had to admit, He’s got his wits about him.

This was unsurprising, since this director was neither a nepotism hire nor the relative of some executive. He was just a superior with a bloated ego, which made things easier for Moondae. He considered the conversation he’d had with Bae Sejin the night before they’d returned to the dorm.

“Moondae, you mentioned taxes when we got our first payout, right? You said a large chunk of it would go into taxes.”

“Yeah.”

“You were right. Celebrities are basically freelancers.”

Moondae had known this when signing his own contract, based on the legal knowledge he’d gained during university and from his civil service exam experience. Celebrities did not sign a labor contract with their agency. They were classified as individual businesses, and therefore often did not have the full protection of labor laws or occupational safety laws.

And the agency seems to get too much power because of that. But that hadn’t been something he could do anything to change immediately, so he’d moved on.

In other words, there’s considerable freedom regarding how the contract can be written. It was a contract between businesses, after all. That was why he was making the suggestion he was making now.

“We wish to add additional clauses to our contracts. There will be penalties… and guarantees.”

“Guarantees, you say?”

“Yes. Nothing serious. It will be similar to a bet, if you will. And that bet will be…” Moondae laughed. “If TeSTAR receives a daesang at the annual awards ceremonies within the next year, you will fully support the founding of an independent label by the group.”

“…!”

“The timeframe will be two years… and of course, we’ll be affiliated with T1. We don’t wish to breach our contracts. We need to stay under T1.”

Moondae handed him another document that contained all the details.

‘Annual awards ceremonies’ refers to awards ceremonies that are hosted by an album or digital music distribution platform, wherein that year’s album sales is 70% or more of the criteria for daesang.

…during this period of verification, A will guarantee the independent and safe activity of B. ‘Independent’ refers to…

In other words, it was a demand that the group would go about its own business without any interference from the agency. Their only role would be to provide proper care. Moondae had realized something.

This bastard has no connections within celebrity circles. All he had were connections with the executives of T1—strong enough that he’d been able to acquire this post. Because of concerns for his reputation, however, he wouldn’t be able to speak about this matter with a superior.

He’ll just have to handle it himself. In fact, it won’t matter if he does speak to his superiors. He’ll just be reaffirming that we have no intention of antagonizing T1 and that we only want to keep our distance from the agency, which is led by this director.

It was the same logic he’d already used before when they’d requested a dedicated management team. Even if the details of the deal came out, T1 would have no reason to hold it against TeSTAR. In the meantime, the director had reached a similar conclusion. He realized that if he tried to browbeat this idol or tried to take a stronger stance, the result would be disaster.

He interlaced his fingers and said in a serious tone, “Now, I understand your position… but this is not something that I can simply agree to. I’m not at liberty to do that. I’ll need to report to the executives as well as the CEO.”

This was a lie. The CEO position had only been created as a boon for some relative or acquaintance of someone important at T1. It was the director who was in charge of discussing the particulars of the contract.

“Oh, I don’t know much about that sort of thing,” Moondae said, completely unfazed. “Just persuade them for me.”

“What?!”

“Well, I don’t really know all the inner workings of the agency. If this doesn’t work out the way we want it to, we’ll just sue. That will be more convenient for us in the long run. The lawyer will handle things.”

Has he lost his mind? The director stared, at a loss for words, but there wasn’t a single crack in Moondae’s smooth facade. The director realized that the idol really would take this to court without another thought—unhinged personalities like his could not be persuaded.

“Another new season of Idol Inc. will be starting soon. The group that debuts from that will join this agency as well, and we don’t have many years left of our contract. It shouldn’t be a problem if we start a label of our own… should it?”

The director said nothing.

“All you have to do is make a label for us when we get the daesang. It doesn’t sound too difficult to me.”

By the time the sun was setting, Moondae had collected all seven contracts, which were modified and signed, and was heading back to the dorm.

That went pretty well. Moondae had known this would work out if the director was forced into a corner, with no time to think. He would have no doubt done something troublesome if the man had been given a couple of days to mull it over.

The trick is to get it over with quickly. And regardless of the additions to the contract, TeSTAR’s performance as a group was tied to the director’s career. He wouldn’t be able to sabotage them and stop them from getting a daesang—it was obvious the man was extremely greedy for glory. And as a precaution, Moondae had set up two compensation clauses in case of a breach of contract. He shrugged.

We didn’t manage to set a legal precedent, as Bae Sejin wanted, but… I hope this satisfies him. In any case, the group would be free to do what they liked until the end of next year—perhaps even after that, if they managed to win the daesang.

And if we don’t… it won’t matter. Our contracts will be almost over. He shrugged. Either way, they were at no risk of loss.

“Time to get started on our next album.”

He was ready to pour in every bit of his time.

This time, we’re going to go hard. And so, they began the very high-intensity prep work involved in putting together an album.

Their first comeback stage, as planned by the agency, was at the annual awards ceremony hosted by T1.