Chapter 137
I put every bit of effort I had into acting like I was troubled.
Cheon Giseok watched me for a moment, then finally spoke as though he had made up his mind.
“Fine.”
He shrugged.
“It’s not like anything is going to happen anyway. Add the clause to the contract.”
“Will that satisfy you?”
It seemed that, from Cheon Giseok’s perspective, securing the contract itself came first.
Got him.
Baek Seonghan and I secretly exchanged glances while cheering inwardly.
We finalized the contract on the spot and exchanged copies.
With this, by tomorrow, every relationship we had with Golden Sound would be over.
I already knew that Kingdom of Crime would become a massive domestic hit.
There was no way I planned to share the profits from that success with a company like Golden Sound.
On the drive back from Golden Sound, Baek Seonghan still seemed unable to believe what had just happened.
He spoke excitedly.
“CEO Min, did you see how happy Executive Director Cheon looked when he signed the contract?”
He burst out laughing.
“Man, I almost laughed right there. I had to pinch my thigh to hold it in. Hahaha.”
I gave him a thumbs-up with genuine admiration.
“PD Baek, you could switch careers and become an actor.”
“When you got angry earlier, even I got intimidated for a second.”
“Hahaha.”
Baek Seonghan looked pleased.
“Right?”
“I guess I only discovered my acting talent today.”
Then he suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, right.”
“When are you releasing the article?”
“We’ve already signed the contract.”
I smiled.
“So tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
Baek Seonghan grinned even wider.
“Man, I really wish I could see Executive Director Cheon’s face when he reads it. Hahaha.”
He kept laughing as though the whole thing was incredibly entertaining.
Then something else occurred to him.
“Ah, wait.”
“Shouldn’t we tell CEO Han and Executive Director Kim beforehand that we were behind the Yoo Jaehan plagiarism issue?”
“To be honest, it would be better to keep it hidden from as many people as possible.”
I nodded.
“But once CEO Han and Executive Director Kim see today’s contract, they’re obviously going to question the clause.”
“So yes, we should tell those two the truth.”
“Right.”
Baek Seonghan chuckled.
“No point hiding it from the wrong people.”
He leaned back.
“Man, I’m already looking forward to seeing their faces when they hear this.”
[Exclusive] That Summer, We Loved OST Under Fire... Music Director Yoo Jaehan Suspected of Plagiarizing Music from 1998 German Short Film.
[Hot Issue] “Entirely Original” → “Yes, It Was Borrowed”... Yoo Jaehan Ultimately Admits Plagiarism.
[Today’s Issue] Industry Shaken by Yoo Jaehan “Plagiarism Scandal.”
For several days, the internet was consumed by talk of Music Director Yoo Jaehan’s plagiarism.
Before my regression, Yoo Jaehan had only admitted to plagiarism after a long legal battle.
This time, however, he admitted to every allegation within a week of the suspicions surfacing.
[↳ I listened to the original. He basically copied an entire section. If he had any conscience, he could’ve at least changed it a little. Tsk, tsk.]
[↳ Still, he admitted it cleanly within a week. Let’s at least give him credit for having some conscience.]
[↳ I knew Yoo Jaehan plagiarized ages ago.]
[↳ You lunatic, if you knew, you should’ve said something ages ago. LOL.]
[↳ More importantly, what happens to That Summer, We Loved now? The film came out over two years ago. Do they have to redo the music and replace it?]
[↳ Seriously. What a mess.]
Then, not long afterward, another article about Yoo Jaehan exploded.
[Exclusive] One-on-One Interview with Music Director Yoo Jaehan... Claims Agency Golden Sound Pressured Him to Plagiarize.
[Hot Issue] Shocking Recording Secured! Golden Sound Executive Heard Pressuring Yoo Jaehan to Plagiarize.
“Jaehan hyung, if I’ve set the table for you, shouldn’t you at least feed yourself?”
“I’m sorry... music work hasn’t been easy lately...”
“Ha! What, do I have to spoon-feed you too? If you can’t meet the deadline, plagiarize something if you have to! Damn it!”
The recording had reportedly come from a former engineer at Golden Sound.
He had accidentally recorded the conversation while working there and kept the file after leaving the company.
After the plagiarism scandal broke, he finally released it.
[↳ Holy crap. This is insane. He’s literally telling him to plagiarize.]
[↳ Damn, Yoo Jaehan must’ve had it rough trying to create anything under an agency like that.]
[↳ Tch. The bastard who openly ordered plagiarism and the bastard who actually plagiarized are both the same.]
“Executive Director Cheon.”
Han Taesung looked at him calmly.
“I never expected we’d meet again under such unpleasant circumstances.”
Then he continued,
“Fortunately, CEO Min Kibaek of our co-production company, New Wave, finalized the contract so cleanly that it almost feels like he anticipated this exact situation.”
“So I don’t think we need to make this any more unpleasant than it already is.”
Cheon Giseok bowed his head repeatedly in a servile manner.
“Yes...”
“Almost as though he really did know in advance...”
He looked like he had plenty he wanted to say.
But in the end, he said nothing and turned away.
Right now, because of the plagiarism scandal, Golden Sound was paying penalties in multiple places.
They urgently needed to recover the money they had invested in Big Picture.
And so...
Every contract with Golden Sound was reversed as though it had never existed.
“Of course, when Team Leader Min said he thought there was a way to solve this, I didn’t doubt him.”
Kim Eunkyung spoke after Cheon Giseok left.
“But I really never imagined he would solve it like this.”
The more she thought about the contract we had arranged, the more impressed she became.
“It really was a masterstroke.”
Han Taesung smiled leisurely.
“At this point, I’m not even surprised anymore. Hahaha.”
Then Kim Eunkyung remembered something.
“Ah, but what should we do about the hole in the production budget now that Golden Sound has withdrawn its investment?”
“I suppose we’ll have to cover it ourselves...”
“I was actually about to bring that up.”
Han Taesung shook his head.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“CEO Min has already brought in a new investor.”
“A new investor?”
Kim Eunkyung blinked.
“Yes.”
“Starlight is currently preparing for an IPO and expanding its business.”
“Ah.”
Kim Eunkyung immediately understood.
“So he brought in Starlight.”
