A dreadful silence lingered in the room for a while.
“Ah.”
The first to break the silence was Austin. When he realized he was gripping an unsanitized doorknob tightly, he let go with a small sigh.
Then he pulled out the handkerchief he always carried and wiped his hand.
Swipe, swipe.
It seemed his head had finally returned to normal.
Before long.
Austin, having regained his composure, cast an indifferent glance and asked,
“Whose work is this painting?”
But contrary to his tone, his eyes looked quite curious.
“At first, I thought I was the one drawing it.”
Vincent opened his mouth, as if answering that look.
“But now that I think about it, I was just sharpening the pencil, and HS was the one actually drawing the picture.”
As if it was the answer he wanted, Austin immediately let out a sound that was hard to tell whether it was admiration or a sigh.
“Huh, seriously…”
Even though we’re still family, it seems his expectations for HS are bigger than anything for me.
For a very brief moment, jealousy rose up, but he realized it was a useless emotion and let out a small laugh.
Right.
The owner of this picture is HS.
.
.
.
Before the meeting with Austin, HS had contacted him.
─ From now on, tell Austin exactly what I say.
“Out of nowhere? What am I supposed to say?”
─ Tell him you have one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.
HS spoke quickly, like he was reciting prepared lines.
─ If you do that, he’ll definitely choose to take the whip first.
Does he really have a script coordinated with Austin in advance or something?
“How can you be sure right away?”
─ Because it seems like he will.
“You’re just going off a hunch?”
─ Yeah.
“Seriously…? Anyway, and then?”
─ What do you mean, and then. You have to request termination of your exclusive contract.
HS kept talking as if he could see everything.
─ Then he’ll probably think someone tried to work you over to steal you away.
“Is this a hunch too?”
─ No, this one’s certain. If you were the CEO, wouldn’t you think that too?
“That’s true.”
─ Then now give him the good news. Tell him it’s HS who’s taking you.
Vincent, who had been listening silently, asked back.
“Why is that good news?”
─ Are you really an idiot?
A scolding question came back immediately.
─ I’m starting a label, and you just say we’ll entrust the distribution line to them.
“Huh? But I already signed an exclusive line contract with a different distributor….”
─ That’s for you to deal with.
“It’s kind of dictatorial, but…”
─ Each of us handle it well and contact me. That’s it.
He felt like the CEO had terrifying foresight. Even just from today’s conversation with Austin, hadn’t it gone exactly the way he said?
More than Austin’s pressure, that was what gave him chills.
“This is candy we hurriedly put together today, so we don’t have a contract prepared right now. I’ll come again next time.”
Vincent, snapping out of his recollection, got up and greeted him politely.
Then, leaving the dazed Austin behind, he walked toward the CEO’s office door.
“Uh….”
The moment he opened the door, a sudden chill covered his whole body and he stepped back.
Right.
Because someone completely unexpected was standing in front of the door.
“I knew you were acting weird today.”
It was Sarah Stewart, glaring at him like she wanted to kill him, with a sharp expression.
“Fuck…”
What is with this small girl, why is she so strong?
“You already dragged me into the studio, so can you let go now?”
Vincent pointed with his chin at the grip holding his wrist tightly.
Sarah Stewart snorted and let go like she was flinging his hand away.
“Hmph.”
Judging by her expression and attitude, she must have heard at least part of what was said in the CEO’s office.
“Why did you bring me?”
Then this gets even more fun.
“I’m busy, so I’ll give you five minutes. Say what you need to say.”
Vincent checked the time on the watch on his wrist, then pressed the bridge of his nose as if he was tired.
“You talk fast.”
Sarah Stewart stared at him like she wanted to kill him and said,
“What am I supposed to talk about?”
“What you said in the CEO’s office. Say it again.”
“Ah, that? Why would I?”
Vincent, holding back the grin leaking out, shrugged casually.
“Is it true!”
“What is?”
“HS!”
Sarah Stewart, unable to contain her anger, shouted at him.
“If you chop off all the context and ask like that, I can’t answer you.”
The more she did, the more Vincent just teased her with an even slyer tone.
“HS and you, a label…”
Sarah Stewart, as if it was a reality she couldn’t even bear to put in her mouth, paused and continued.
“You’re starting it and leaving, that.”
At those words, Vincent nodded big once and answered shortly.
“Yeah. That’s how it is.”
“Why with you?”
“Why what? People whose interests match do business together.”
“That can’t be true.”
“You’re really funny.”
But Sarah Stewart kept shaking her head, as if she couldn’t accept this reality.
Then…
“Th-Then maybe….”
As if something occurred to her, she grabbed his sleeve urgently and asked,
“Don’t tell me you’re the label CEO and HS is the composer?”
At the unexpected question, Vincent ended up flustered.
“Huh?”
In the end, as if bewitched, he nodded without realizing it.
“Y-Yeah, that’s right.”
Because he judged that answering like that was the only way to seize the upper hand in this fight.
Still, maybe the lie didn’t show, because Sarah Stewart couldn’t continue, her face showing despair.
“…”
Instead, her hand that had been gripping his sleeve dropped limply.
I’ve teased her enough. Time to go.
Vincent whipped his body around to hide his twitching lips.
“If you’ve got nothing else to say, I’m leaving.”
Sarah Stewart grabbed his sleeve tightly again.
“W-Wait.”
And then…
“Take me too.”
She added in a voice so small it was barely audible.
Vincent thought he had misheard and asked, “What?”
“Take me there too.”
But Sarah Stewart met his eyes directly and said it again, clearly.
“Uh….”
Vincent was startled for a moment.
“Why would I?”
He asked again in a mocking tone.
“You said if interests match, you do it together.”
“You and I don’t match at all.”
“Put personal feelings aside and think. If it’s an artist at my level, isn’t it a benefit to take me?”
Normally she would be swearing like a sailor, shouting, glaring, throwing verbal daggers….
Or at the very least, it would be time for her to start rambling some weird nonsense about misutgaru.
But instead, she countered everything he said very rationally.
“The termination penalty sounds like it’ll be bigger.”
But Vincent, who already held the advantage, wasn’t about to let it slide.
“I’ll handle that.”
“Hmm…”
“I’ll invest too! Me!”
“Hmmm…”
He had only wanted to play one mischievous prank on Sarah Stewart, who had acted lofty all this time.
“Then call me ‘CEO’ once.”
“What?”
“Try it once. If it sounds good, I’ll think about it.”
He hadn’t even intended to bring Sarah Stewart into the label in the first place.
But Sarah Stewart seemed unexpectedly serious.
“C, C…kheuk, E O.”
Even though she looked like she might bite her tongue and die from how hard it was, she still forced the words out.
And just looking at her face, she would have to work alongside him while she constantly bristled at him, but she looked like even that was fine—she even looked desperate.
‘This much?’
Vincent was surprised but smiled as if satisfied.
Right.
He too had rated HS highly, so he’d agreed to establish a label together even if it meant putting himself in the lower position.
But he hadn’t expected Sarah Stewart to trust HS enough, and want to follow him enough, to throw away her pride entirely.
“The sound of it is terrible.”
But Sarah Stewart isn’t in the future of “VINCIS,” the future he and HS will build together.
At least, she is absolutely not in the future he dreams of.
“Still, your effort is commendable, so I’ll think about it.”
As for that, it was something HS had already conceded on, so there was no way it would be overturned.
Before long.
Vincent turned on his heel with a pleasant smile.
“FUCK, FUCK, FUCK,”
He heard a huge curse from behind him but ignored it lightly.
Now.
It was going to be a busy day.
When Hyunseung returned to the studio, he had to take a smack on the back while being held by Executive Director Park’s thick hand.
“You little punk!”
Instead of a “Slap!” a pretty tough “Thud!” rang out in the room, but it didn’t actually hurt.
So this is what they call the rod of love.
Hyunseung, who hadn’t been hit even by his parents in his entire life, found it a fairly fresh experience.
“Okay, I get it, so stop scolding me already.”
Hyunseung spoke in a grumbly voice that didn’t suit him.
He’d gone and taken the burden himself, but all he was getting was being chewed out, so he didn’t feel all that good.
“Anyway, it went well, so isn’t that enough?”
At those words, Kim Woohyun made a gesture like he was going to flick him on the forehead, then spoke with a sigh.
“Hah, fine. We were going to crash into it someday anyway, so maybe it was good that you just did it like spilling it.”
Executive Director Park added from the side.
“So what did you go spill in the CEO’s office?”
Hyunseung, sounding offended, furrowed his brow and answered firmly.
“I didn’t spill anything. Negotiation.”
It wasn’t like there was no impulsiveness to it, but he had definitely, as the future CEO, made Jeon Nam-il a proposal where both sides could benefit.
Even if it wasn’t finalized, he’d wrapped it up and come back.
He could tell just by Jeon Nam-il’s face, which carried a distinctly different air.
“What? Negotiation? With CEO Jeon Nam-il?”
“What kind of negotiation did you do?”
Then, passing the baton, Kim Woohyun asked, following Executive Director Park. Ask one at a time, it’s chaotic.
“Nothing major. I proposed a partnership relationship, and we decided to talk again later after preparing a contract.”
Hyunseung spoke like it was really nothing, then flopped down on the sofa.
After going toe-to-toe with Jeon Nam-il, fatigue was hitting him hard.
“Huh, seriously….”
Maybe noticing his condition, the two of them just let out dry laughs and didn’t dig any further.
“Anyway, then, let’s talk again next time too.”
With that, Executive Director Park turned as if to leave the studio with Kim Woohyun.
“Ah, and prepare your resignation letters.”
Hyunseung spoke casually to their backs.
“I look forward to working with you.”
At that, both of them turned their heads at the same time.
“Executive Director Park, Division Head Kim.”
Hyunseung, who had already sat upright, was looking at them with a bright smile.
“We’re really in the same boat now.”
Executive Director Park and Kim Woohyun also straightened their posture, following Hyunseung.
“Yes, CEO.”
“Yes, CEO.”
They answered together with mouths full of laughter.
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