Vincent felt fear closing in on his body.
When was the last time he had felt fear this deep?
Ah, there was exactly one time.
His father had a car he treasured.
He did not take it out often, but he would dote on it, saying it was a car he had obtained with difficulty. On his days off, he would go out with a towel and polish it until it shone.
Every morning, he would check to see if there were any scratches.
And then one day…
Vincent, playing ball alone in the yard, suddenly grew curious.
If I wreck that car, will Father get really angry?
His father was an extremely gentle, kind man.
That was the father Vincent had known.
So even if he got angry, if it was his son’s mistake, wouldn’t he understand and let it go?
That was Vincent’s arrogance and his mistake.
That day, Vincent got beaten so hard you could have raised dust with it, even on a rainy day.
He was someone who had let things slide even when Vincent skipped school, came home late at night, or when his grades were a mess.
Vincent thought he would get scolded, reflect, and it would pass, but after being beaten until dust could rise, he had to drag his battered body and sleep on the freezing floor of the storage shed.
Was that what was scary?
No, that was not what was scary. Even while being hit, he was not scared.
What was truly terrifying was the time he had to spend the night thinking, What if Father hits me again tomorrow?
That was what scared him.
That is what fear is.
When you can somewhat predict what will happen afterward, and yet you cannot avoid it.
Like right now, in this moment.
“Where’s my studio?”
At those words, Vincent blinked slowly. HS’s gaze right in front of him looked like it was saying, If you don’t answer right now, I’ll tear your limbs apart.
At the very moment he needed to think fast and answer well, fear made his thinking circuits shut down.
“Uh, well…”
In the end, only a spaced-out answer came out of Vincent’s mouth.
“I-It’s being prepared…”
“Being prepared?”
“Yeah, it’s not finished yet.”
He did intend to set up a studio, of course.
But for now, he had been so focused on setting up the CEO office perfectly to win the guy’s favor that he had forgotten.
“When everything’s done later, I’ll show you then.”
Vincent spoke with a deliberately calm face as he led HS toward the window.
“So for now, first, the view from the CEO office you’ll be using…”
If the guy is a man, yeah, if he is someone with big ambition to do business, Vincent was sure he would be tempted the moment he saw the view from this CEO office Vincent had prepared.
“Just show me where it is. Guide me.”
But HS, pulling one shoulder free, asked in a flat tone where the studio was.
He is not some lost kid, why does he keep looking for his studio like he is calling for his mom, damn it!
“Uh, well, right now….”
Vincent forced his stalled brain to spin and continued, trying to somehow escape this situation.
“We haven’t even started the interior work there, so it’s a bit hard to show you—”
But before long, HS calling his name blocked his words.
“Vincent.”
“Huh?”
“Why did we gather to set something up?”
“W-What do you mean!”
At that question, Vincent flared up and shouted, one hand on his waist.
“To set up a world-class label, obviously!”
It was an unrestrained ambition. And it was not an impossible ambition either.
“But….”
However, HS, still looking dissatisfied, slowly scanned the CEO office and asked,
“Is a CEO office like this important?”
“Of course it is! The CEO office is like the command center of this label!”
“No, you’re wrong. The CEO office isn’t the command center. It’s a nice-looking boundary line. A place not just anyone can easily enter, a private resting place for the CEO.”
“B-But the CEO office is like the face that represents that company.”
“Then I’ll ask again.”
HS did not look like he had any intention of listening to Vincent.
“From the lobby to the reception room… even the cafeteria has been decided.”
Like someone who only has what he wants to ask and what he wants to say.
“Why is the studio, the studio itself, still not done?”
“Uh, well…”
“You don’t look like you’re at an age where you wouldn’t know that if the essence gets blurred, the ending won’t be good either.”
It was a very stubborn, high-handed attitude.
Back then, when they first met, Vincent thought he was just a crazy bastard.
After that, he thought he was just a crazy bastard with skill.
When he proposed the business…
To be honest, Vincent thought he was a perfect business model to fulfill his ambitions.
A guy who is a bit reckless, sure, but fairly capable, decent-looking, and skilled on top of it all.
Someone who would jump into anything interesting without caring about fire or water….
Yeah.
A perfect guy who seemed like, if you worked with him, he could bring you help, wealth, and fame.
“Don’t forget that we’re not even established yet.”
But now that he was here, he was a scary guy.
“We might end up tearing down this building you built with effort.”
A person like a sharp blade, terrifying enough to be vicious, and not someone you can just grab and swing around as you please.
“There’s nothing to look at, so let’s go and have the business talk you like instead.”
Vincent could tell instinctively. HS would never become his business model.
And that he had become HS’s business model…
No.
That he had become an instrument that would be bound forever.
The atmosphere that had suddenly turned heavy and awkward showed no sign of loosening.
“Ahem, hm….”
They could have talked in the perfectly finished CEO office.
HS deliberately headed to the reception room, which still felt empty because not all the furniture had been moved in yet.
Rustle, rustle.
Then he kept scanning through the documents he had brought for quite a while.
Just how long was he going to keep maintaining silence like that?
“Hm! Hm!”
Vincent kept clearing his throat, watching for cues, but HS only rechecked the documents again and again, without the slightest wavering posture.
That look was frightening, and unfamiliar, but it also looked very CEO-like, so Vincent decided to let it be.
Rustle, rustle.
How much time passed like that?
Flap.
At the timing when he should have been putting the papers away, HS dropped a bundle of documents down in front of Vincent as if scattering them.
“Take these and go negotiate with Austin.”
“Negotiate what?”
“Then what, you were going to handle a legally binding contractual relationship verbally, without any negotiation at all?”
“That’s not it, but….”
Vincent trailed off as he picked up the documents laid out in front of him.
He had thought it would just be a cooperative relationship, maintaining things appropriately so they would not become hostile.
“The ratio for securing the Unice Music Group distribution line contract, and the number of tracks you’ll secure every month accordingly.”
The documents were filled with conditions and subsidiary clauses that looked complex at a glance.
“And this is the contract for equity acquisition. Talking him into it is your job, so handle it well.”
On top of that, it was now clear that getting Austin’s signature on this contract was also his job.
“Wait.”
Vincent narrowed his eyes, flipping through the papers, then raised one hand.
“But I think this ratio and the equity acquisition percentage are wrong…”
It was the kind of atmosphere where it felt like you had to do this if you wanted to voice an opinion.
“No, it’s correct.”
“Equity, fine, whatever, but this ratio is the kind of ratio you only barely get if you’re at least someone like me among contracted artists.”
“If you got it like that, and I got it like that, then even if it changes from an individual to a corporation, I don’t think it’s a big problem.”
At that, Vincent’s upper body jerked like he was about to spring off the sofa, and he demanded,
“What? You’ve been distributing with Unice at this ratio?”
But HS did not even look at him, only gave a small nod.
“Ha…”
Vincent let out a strange chuckle mixed into his sigh.
Because…
The settlement ratio and the royalty terms HS had requested for securing an exclusive distribution line were like special privileges given only to artists in Vincent’s tier.
But to give those privileges to a composer who had only just started to make a name on Billboard.
In truth, even “only just” meant it must have been from before he was known.
‘Does Austin have foresight?’
In this moment, Vincent felt like it was absurd and unfair, and yet at the same time, it crossed his mind that Austin had used a clever tactic to catch the goose.
“Anyway, for the equity part, tell him we’re not talking about management or anything, it’s just an acquisition procedure for an appropriately equal relationship.”
“And if Austin’s side doesn’t accept those conditions?”
Then, Austin…
I think both I and you are wrong.
“Then, well, I’ll just cheer you on to oppose me and try to survive.”
HS doesn’t look like a goose you can put in your arms.
A stormy time swept through and passed.
It was a very short time, but Vincent’s complexion was pale enough to look drained of blood.
Now, what was left for him was to put a contract filled with outrageous conditions in front of Austin and get his signature.
And to set up a studio that would satisfy HS as soon as possible.
In other words, to carry out HS’s orders without talking back.
‘How did my life end up like this…?’
A bitter smile spread at the corner of Vincent’s mouth.
When he first proposed the business, he never thought it would turn out like this.
Yes.
It had started from a single desire, to become not just a singer, but a singer with overwhelming power, wealth, and fame, someone who would be recorded in history for a long, long time.
But now, hadn’t he somehow become more like HS’s secretary, watching HS’s mood?
Seriously.
Who could have imagined this picture would unfold?
But even if HS was holding the initiative, Vincent was still a business partner who had put enormous investment money into this business.
Someday… Yeah, someday, he would definitely reclaim his authority and position.
Swearing that to himself, he saw HS off.
“Get back safe, and I’ll contact you as soon as the studio construction is done. Is there a specific brand of equipment you want? If there is, I’ll check it ahead of time and prepare it.”
He even asked whether there was anything like that, so there would be no inconvenience.
It was humiliating, but….
Somehow, today’s HS felt like someone he absolutely should not provoke.
“In Korea, there’s a new slang term, ‘aljalttakkalsen.’”
“Ah, al, jal, ttakkalsen?”
“Yeah. It means, handle it neatly and with sense, on your own.”
And that was because the guy who would lightly smirk, or lift the corner of his mouth like he had found interesting prey…
Did not smile even once today.
Not a single light attitude, not a single playful expression.
He only showed a presence on par with Austin, maintaining a weighty demeanor the whole time.
“By the way, I heard you made Sarah Stewart a recruitment offer?”
“What? Me? When did I?”
“Sarah Stewart said so.”
“I never did that!”
“Then take Austin and Sarah Stewart and sit down the three of you together and coordinate it well. The contract issues are tangled up here and there, so it’ll be a bit difficult, but.”
“No, I’m saying I never made her that offer!”
“Calm down and think about it in business terms. Is Sarah Stewart talent that would help, or not?”
Yes.
As if he was drilling into him a warning that the business you and I are about to do is not a joke.
“Ahem, hm….”
Unable to declare that Sarah Stewart was not talent that would help, Vincent chose silence at HS’s words.
Step, step.
After leaving the building and walking several steps—
“Hold on.”
HS suddenly turned back toward the building, pulled out his phone, and—
Click, click!
At first, it looked like he was taking photos of the exterior.
“Hyuna, are you with Father?”
He must have started a video call, because he began talking to someone at the screen.
— Yeah, I’m right next to him!
“Can you see it in front of you?”
— Wow, that’s insane! That’s Oppa’s building?
“Yeah, that’s right. Show Father too.”
— Dad, Dad!
It was Korean, so Vincent could not understand what they were saying, but he could tell he was on the phone with a woman.
And on HS’s lips was a warm smile Vincent had not seen even once before.
Ah.
‘So that guy makes that kind of expression for his girlfriend.’
Vincent felt nothing but pleased, like he had learned one secret about HS that other people would not know.
T/N:
“aljalttakkalsen” Korean (Hangul): 알잘딱깔센
- Full phrase it abbreviates: 알아서 잘 딱 깔끔하고 센스 있게(있게)
Meaning:
“Figure it out and handle it neatly, cleanly, and with good sense.”
More loosely: “Take care of it properly—no fuss, do it right.”
- Often said half-jokingly but can still feel a bit demanding.
Leave a Reply