After returning to Korea, Sung Wooyoung headed somewhere immediately.
Because he simply…
could not stay still anymore.
Step, step.
His footsteps were far from calm.
The anger he had been holding back was stamped into each one.
At first, he had tried to resolve things smoothly.
In the middle of pushing hard for their activities in the United States, they had suddenly notified him that they were sick and would be taking a break.
He thought the kids must be having an extremely hard time, since their schedules had suddenly become so busy.
If he gave them as much of their settlement money as possible, adjusted their schedules, and promised them rest…
Yes, then maybe…
Maybe the girls’ hearts would change a little.
He had thought something that foolish.
But that had only been a delusion.
Gahyeon and Yujin avoided contact with him and filed for an injunction to suspend the validity of their exclusive contracts.
And Lee Sol and Seulgi, who had stayed by his side, began spending more and more days watching everyone’s reactions as the situation unfolded.
Why?
Why did the girls who had stayed by his side have to be the ones walking on eggshells?
They had practiced harder than anyone else and had finally begun to see the light.
And now it had to end like this?
He could not allow that.
Sung Wooyoung kept trying to contact the girls.
Then, in the middle of that,
what he heard from Lee Sol, the leader, shocked him.
“I was contacted by someone named Kim Wooseok from JN Entertainment.”
He had never imagined the name “Kim Wooseok” would come out of Lee Sol’s mouth.
Kim Wooseok.
When Sung Wooyoung first joined LS Entertainment, he had been his colleague and partner.
The two of them had been assigned to the same girl group, and they ran around until their feet were soaked with sweat, without even being able to sleep.
“Someday, let’s start an agency of our own.”
“Yeah. Then let’s raise idols properly.”
Because they had shared the same dream, they had been able to endure.
Since they knew the dark underside of this industry far too well, they had told each other they would not become like that.
They would help those jewel-like idols shine.
Then, at some point,
the contract period of the girl group they were in charge of ended, and all the former members scattered to different agencies.
Because of that, Sung Wooyoung also moved to another agency, following the one member in the group he had been most attached to.
After that…
All he did was occasionally meet Kim Wooseok and have a drink with him.
Kim Wooseok had risen all the way to director at LS Entertainment, but he said he had hit a ceiling. Unable to bear his thirst for more, he moved to JN Entertainment.
Around that time,
Sung Wooyoung used up all the money he had saved and started an agency.
On the day he finally founded the agency of his dreams,
Kim Wooseok came to visit with an expensive bottle of liquor and offered his heartfelt congratulations.
And then,
he added that he had decided not to chase his dream.
He was an old friend.
Hearing that he was giving up on his dream left a bitter taste in Sung Wooyoung’s mouth, but he could not try to persuade him. They were both too old for that, and each had his own path to follow.
It was not something he could urge or force on him.
After that,
they were both so busy that several years passed without them seeing each other.
Sung Wooyoung had simply assumed he was doing well.
He was capable and had a wide network, so he was probably living while being recognized at his company.
But.
He had never imagined he would hear his name again like this.
“I think that person named Kim Wooseok has been working on the girls.”
When he heard those words, it felt as if he had swallowed a handful of hot pebbles. His heart burned.
An emotion he could not define swept through his entire body.
It was…
betrayal.
Sung Wooyoung immediately prepared a lawsuit. No matter how old a friend the other party was, he could not simply sit there and take it.
These were idols he had poured his life into and brought into the world.
His house, his car, his watches.
He had used up all the money and assets he had earned to protect this group.
More than anything, he could not stay still for the sake of the hurt and damage the remaining girls would suffer.
“I knew the girls were unhappy, but I just stood by, thinking everything would be fine if things went well. A leader shouldn’t do that…”
For Lee Sol, who had cried and said everything was her fault.
Ding!
When he opened the door to a coffee shop tucked deep inside an alley in Jongno, a clear bell rang out.
Creak, creak.
The old wooden floor made a strange sound every time he stepped on it.
Rattle, rattle, rattle.
An old fan, worn from years of use, spun with a clattering noise as if it might fall at any moment.
This place had been the same for a long time.
And.
The old friend who had always come here with him seemed to have changed far too much.
“What brings you here?”
He wanted to punch that shameless face right then and there, but he could not.
He had too many things to protect now.
“You must be pretty busy.”
Sung Wooyoung sat down across from him with a deliberately composed smile.
“Still, it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other. It wouldn’t be too late to wet our throats with some coffee first before we talk, would it?”
“Ah, right.”
Then, pretending not to, he examined the appearance of the old friend sitting across from him.
Unlike him…
Kim Wooseok wore a custom brand-name suit that looked tailored perfectly to his body, and a luxurious tie pin gleamed inside his jacket.
Not a single stray hair stuck out, as if he had just had his hair styled at a salon.
Most of all,
wrapped around his wrist was a watch that most office workers would struggle to buy even after saving money their entire lives.
Yes.
No matter who looked at him, he looked like a successful businessman.
As for Sung Wooyoung’s own appearance…
He had lost weight, so his suit hung loosely and weakly on him.
The leather of his shoes was worn out in every corner.
And because he had sold off all his watches, his now-thin wrist was exposed as it was.
“Have you been well?”
Kim Wooseok asked.
As if he could have been well.
Just as Sung Wooyoung was about to answer that way,
“I heard the news. They say 4WAY’s song is doing well on Billboard. How in the world did you pull that off?”
Kim Wooseok cut in first and added those words.
At the same time, Sung Wooyoung clenched his molars so hard that it felt like they would shatter, and a grinding sound rang in his ears.
His reason snapped.
Splash.
He poured the iced coffee in the tacky glass over Kim Wooseok’s face without leaving a single drop behind.
If only he had said that his higher-ups ordered him to do it, so he had no choice.
You know how this industry is too. Do you think I did it on purpose?
If he had said that…
Sung Wooyoung might have understood, if only a little.
Because he knew better than anyone how dark the underside of this industry was.
He had shuddered at that filthy underside at LS Entertainment and at the agency he moved to afterward too.
That was why.
He had endured, telling himself that he, at least, should not become like that.
He had tried to protect that firm conviction.
And yet, to him.
To him, of all people.
How could you, the person who knew me best,
the person who once shared the same dream as me, do this?
“Don’t touch Sol or Seulgi.”
But he swallowed all those words.
“Hey, you…”
He had no intention of playing friends with someone who had already changed, nor did he intend to cling to a guy like that and appeal to old emotions.
“Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m planning to let this slide.”
“Ha…”
“You tried to take everything from me. Are you angry because I gave you a little coffee shower?”
Kim Wooseok roughly wiped his face with a wet towel and opened his mouth.
“Wooyoung, since it looks like you already know everything, I’ll be honest.”
“Yeah. Go ahead.”
“If you think about the future prospects of 4WAY, the group you care so terribly much about, wouldn’t it be better for them to receive support and promote under our JN Entertainment?”
“Why do you get to decide that?”
“Honestly, 4WAY suddenly blew up because of HS. Before the effect wears off, shouldn’t they get strong support and charge forward?”
He was not wrong. It was true that they had risen because of HS’s song.
But.
It was still a miracle born because the girls’ efforts had supported it.
“What? The effect?”
Kim Wooseok’s attitude, as if he considered that something trivial, made Sung Wooyoung’s insides burn hot.
“Also, with two of the members already set to sign with us, there’s nothing good for the remaining girls if we keep wrestling with each other for no reason.”
But Kim Wooseok cut him off and added, as if scolding him.
“So if you just terminate the girls’ contracts, everything will be resolved cleanly and amicably.”
Sung Wooyoung let out a hollow laugh.
“Cleanly? Amicably?”
Thanks to that, his anger settled, and instead, he became calm.
“Why should I do that? You’re trying to take everything from me, so I should take at least one thing from you too.”
“My friend, you know Samwoo Group recently acquired and merged with our JN Entertainment. It’s not like you don’t know what that means, right?”
“I know very well. It means you’re overflowing with money and already thinking about making money by selling the kids again.”
“You? You think you’re any different?”
Kim Wooseok snorted at those words and asked back.
“In the end, aren’t you just struggling because 4WAY is doing well now and you can’t bear to let them go?”
No. He was not calm.
“I’ll make sure you’re more than fairly compensated for how well you’ve taken care of 4WAY until now.”
Kim Wooseok continued scraping at him, as if testing him.
“And if you’re all right with it, I’ll even get you a position at JN Entertainment. Then you can keep seeing 4WAY too.”
Kim Wooseok had changed so much that he seemed like a monster.
“You really have changed a lot.”
Once Sung Wooyoung thought that the person sitting in front of him was neither a friend nor a person, but a monster, his mood quietly settled again.
“My friend, enough time has passed for the rivers and mountains to change twice over. Isn’t it only natural to change?”
“That’s true.”
“I’m saying this because of our old friendship, but don’t you think we’re too old now to keep talking about dreams?”
Kim Wooseok took a business card from the inside pocket of his suit and tossed it onto the damp table.
“Think carefully, make a wise decision, and contact me.”
Executive Director Kim Wooseok.
“But if you’re too late, it’ll be hard for me to help you too.”
Yes.
“But how did you coax HS into giving you a song?”
“I…”
“Since you’ll be contacting me anyway, tell me then. We were partners and friends once, after all.”
I intend to take at least one business card from the friend who has become a monster.
Meanwhile.
Hyunseung scratched at his ear, which had suddenly begun to itch.
“Is someone talking about me?”
Kim Woohyun answered his muttered words.
“It’d probably be harder to find someone who isn’t talking about you right now.”
“Why?”
“What? Why? You’re not asking because you really don’t know, are you?”
“I am asking because I really don’t know.”
“Oh, good grief.”
Kim Woohyun clutched the back of his neck and groaned for a moment.
“After you made such a fuss about moving up the deadline!”
He shouted as if scolding Hyunseung, then held out his phone.
“Jamal’s song was officially released just now.”
At those words, Hyunseung casually checked the screen.
[JS – G.H.S]
Then he narrowed his eyes and asked back.
“Why is his name like this?”
“How would I know?”
“Ah, seriously, that lunatic.”
Now Hyunseung was the one clutching the back of his neck as he huffed.
The title “G.H.S” was already so embarrassing he could die, so what was this sudden “JS” supposed to be?
“The whole world is probably talking about you right now.”
Just then, Kim Woohyun added more fuel to the fire.
“Not just Jamal. Sarah caused a bit of trouble too.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Should we go out to Times Square and have some coffee?”
“Why would we suddenly go to Times Square for coffee…?”
Hyunseung began speaking in disbelief, but then paused.
A memory from his last birthday came to mind, and his words trailed off.
“Ah, no way.”
He let out a sigh with a devastated expression.
[ G. H. S
20xx.xx.xx
official release ]
But in life, the things you thought “no way” about always ended up happening.
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