— The phone of the customer you are calling is turned off. You will be connected to voicemail…
Just how many days had he been listening to this message?
Thwack!
Kim Wooseok irritably threw his phone aside.
He was almost there now…
If he could just pull Lee Sol and Han Seulgi out properly, everything would be over.
“The girls have a stubborn side.”
Yes.
“This is what makes it a little fun.”
Kim Wooseok forced a smile and picked up his phone again.
He had thought that if he offered support and settlement ratios so exceptional they could not even be compared to Utopia Entertainment’s, they would happily throw away their comrades.
But they had flatly refused…
And now they had cut off contact entirely and gone into hiding.
The more they did this, the more his stubbornness surged.
How long could a cheap emotion like “affection” really last?
It must be because they were still very young.
Well, of course they would be like that at their age.
On top of that, knowing Sung Wooyoung’s personality, it was obvious how much he must have looked after the girls without ever showing how hard things were.
So.
Wasn’t that why an idol group from a tiny management company had suddenly gotten a song from a major composer on the level of HS?
And thanks to that, hadn’t they even put their name on the Billboard chart?
‘That aside…’
How had he managed to get a song from HS?
It was already widely known in the industry that no one could easily approach HS.
When he had been in Korea, the massive fortress called LS Entertainment had been protecting him.
Well, it was obvious enough.
He must have run all the way to America to save the collapsing 4WAY and begged until his hands became feet.
Please help the girls.
Please help them just once.
I’ll give you anything you want.
There were plenty of cases where people paid a famous composer enough money to buy more than a house and received a song in return.
Because a hit was guaranteed.
Because one hit could also call forth a second hit.
Everyone was willing to bet their lives on that kind of miracle.
For HS, all he had to do was give them a song.
But Sung Wooyoung’s position would be different. It was obvious he must have gone through tremendous struggles to create a miracle with that one song.
To get 4WAY up there….
Sung Wooyoung must have also ground down everything he had.
Yes.
He had been that kind of guy since his road manager days.
For nothing more than wages at the level of passion pay, he would not only take on work no one had even asked him to do if it was for the kids, but also become their shield, sometimes stepping forward in their place, and end up doing far more than a manager’s share.
That was why many kids followed him.
Of course, Kim Wooseok had once had days like that too. Back when he and that guy would run around until their feet were soaked with sweat, without even sleeping, happy while receiving a monthly salary that was not even a million won.
Back when they babbled about someday creating an agency that would not turn sparkling, jewel-like children into products.
However.
That was nothing more than an empty dream they had when they were young.
“You really have changed a lot!”
At that moment, the words Sung Wooyoung had said suddenly came to mind and made something rise in his chest.
‘I did change a lot…’
The words made his stomach churn, but they were not entirely wrong.
He had changed.
Yes, he would admit it coolly. He had changed, and he had become corrupted.
But what could he do?
Living while adapting to society was also part of the natural order.
Since he had changed and become corrupted anyway….
This time, he intended to properly teach his old friend.
That dreams were something you should only have while sleeping.
There was not a shred of hesitation in Kim Wooseok’s steps.
Far from hesitation, his stride was loaded with bold confidence, and the heels of his shoes made a harsh scraping sound as they met the ground.
“This should be the place….”
Kim Wooseok lifted his head and looked at the old green iron gate, its paint peeling off in patches.
People really live here, right?
Creak.
When he lightly kicked the front gate with his foot, it opened as easily as it looked.
“For a girl group, the security is unbelievably sloppy.”
When he opened the gate and stepped inside, washbasins filled with water and baskets lay scattered over the cement floor.
A single-story detached house.
That did not mean it had a luxurious atmosphere.
Rather, its exterior was closer to that of an abandoned house.
“The girls are living in a place like this…”
Kim Wooseok sighed at the miserable environment and shook his head.
“This is driving me crazy.”
This was why people should not live chasing things like dreams.
They were a girl group that had even made it onto the Billboard chart. If people heard they were living in a shabby house like this, would anyone believe it?
It was then.
From beyond a translucent door that looked like it would break easily if someone slammed into it with full force, happy laughter could be heard.
“Puhahahaha!”
“Ah, unnie!”
“Sorry, sorry.”
“I told you not to tease me!”
They really were young, it seemed. Seeing that they could still find things to laugh about in this situation, while living in a house like this.
Knock, knock.
Kim Wooseok immediately knocked on the door.
“Representative?”
From inside came the question of whether it was the representative, as if that were only natural, along with several rustling sounds.
So they were thorough about security in their own way, even in the middle of this.
“W-Who is it?”
The woman who opened the door was….
“Seulgi, you stay inside.”
It was Han Seulgi, the rapper of the team. If she had only been the rapper, he would have left her out and taken the others.
But with powerful rap skills that contrasted with her cute image, she was a member who had captured quite a few female fans in Korea too, so it was difficult to cast her aside.
And then Lee Sol appeared in front of Han Seulgi.
“I couldn’t get in touch with you at all, so I suddenly became worried.”
Lee Sol was the team’s visual member and main vocalist, an asset they absolutely could not afford to lose.
“We don’t need your concern.”
Even if she charged at him this rudely, it was enough for him to endure it.
“That hurts. I came here because I was genuinely worried.”
“You’re the one who created something worth worrying about.”
“Me? I’m actually someone trying to help 4WAY.”
“And someone like that coaxed our members into filing a lawsuit to terminate their exclusive contracts?”
Lee Sol questioned him as if she might charge at him at any moment.
But even that only looked cute in Kim Wooseok’s eyes.
While working in this industry, he had seen countless people who tried to stab him in the back.
If they only showed their teeth, they were on the cute side.
No.
Rather, that type was easier to tame.
Once you removed their suspicion, they would wag their tails on their own.
“I never told them to terminate their exclusive contracts.”
Kim Wooseok shrugged, wearing a sly smile.
“Then are you saying the girls voluntarily filed a lawsuit against the representative?”
“I merely said that the current settlement ratio at Utopia Entertainment seemed somewhat strange, and that if they came to JN Entertainment, that sort of thing would not happen.”
“What did you say?”
“Well, this is….”
As expected, Lee Sol was greatly shaken by his words. Even if she frowned and shouted while pretending otherwise, her eyes were wavering like rough waves.
Even Han Seulgi, who was hiding behind her.
“Are you innocent, or just blindly devoted?”
Kim Wooseok clicked his tongue and asked back, as if he truly pitied them.
“Miss Lee Sol. Honestly, haven’t you ever thought something was strange?”
“Pardon?”
“Even if you didn’t get hugely popular in Korea, you’ve been charting on Billboard for thirteen consecutive weeks now. Look at the house you’re living in.”
“Even if you didn’t get hugely popular in Korea, you’ve been charting on Billboard for thirteen consecutive weeks now. Look at the house you’re living in.”
Then he took one step back from the door and slowly looked over the crumbling house as he added,
“The Korean music market and the American music market are different in scale from the ground up. That’s why Korean entertainment agencies are all making such a fuss trying to enter the U.S. somehow.”
When he paused for a moment and glanced at her, Lee Sol could not reply at all and was gnawing on her lower lip.
“You’re a girl group that pulled off something that difficult. If you’re living in a crumbling house like this right now, shouldn’t you at least suspect something?”
At times like this, he had to push even harder.
“I was only making a suggestion out of pity. JN Entertainment would support you much more generously, so you should come and spread your wings as much as you want.”
So that they could not think of anything else.
“But you shouldn’t treat me like some guy who goes around driving wedges between people.”
As if there was nothing to be gained from opposing him.
“Sung Wooyoung must have spoiled you so much that you don’t find much scary anymore.”
If he gently poked at her Achilles’ heel and delivered the finishing blow…
“How about we do this nicely? The members want to start promoting again soon too. As the leader, are you planning to let the group 4WAY disband into thin air like this?”
Her spirit would soon break, and she would have no choice but to lower her tail.
Clap, clap, clap.
Just when Lee Sol’s answer should have come, Kim Wooseok jumped in surprise at the sudden sound of applause from behind him and turned around.
“Director Kim Wooseok, with speaking skills like that, you could be a prosecutor.”
“Who are you?”
“My apologies for the late introduction. This is who I am.”
A young man wearing a mischievous smile that was almost unpleasant to look at handed him a business card.
Gaon, one of Korea’s top three law firms.
And.
Lee Eun-woo, an attorney affiliated with it.
That was the information written on the card. Kim Wooseok had plenty of reasons to meet lawyers, but he had never worked with Gaon before….
“Why would a lawyer suddenly come to me…”
Which meant that Sung Wooyoung, who had been sued by the members for suspension of the validity of their exclusive contracts, had hired this player.
Did he still have the financial state to put together a team of Gaon lawyers?
He had heard that the debt incurred from raising 4WAY alone was in the tens of billions of won, and that because he gave them a settlement ratio above average, there was nothing left over….
“Didn’t you just say it yourself?”
Before Kim Wooseok even had time to think, Attorney Lee Eun-woo immediately added his next words.
“You said you suggested they come to JN Entertainment, where you would support them much more generously, and spread their wings as much as they wanted.”
“W-What?”
“Client Sung Wooyoung filed the lawsuit for us, but I thought we were a little short on evidence….”
Then he took a pen from the bag in his hand, clicked it, and smiled broadly.
That was definitely…
“I had no idea you would so kindly spill it all yourself like this. Should I call this an unexpected harvest?”
“You illegally recorded the conversation just now, didn’t you? Do you think an illegal recording can be used as evidence?”
“This recording will not be submitted by me, but by the member over there. Since she is a party included in the conversation, it should be able to fully serve as evidence, so you don’t need to worry.”
“You think you can win with just a single remark like this?”
“Unfortunately, it seems it was not just a single remark.”
Attorney Lee Eun-woo fluttered a stack of documents that looked thick at a glance, as if to say he was not finished yet.
“Ha, there really is a lot.”
Then, after flipping through a few pages himself, he clutched his head and let out a sigh before adding,
“First, I have a headache today, so let’s just file charges for obstruction of business.”
At those words, Kim Wooseok’s brow crumpled sharply.
He did not like the sight of him grinning as if this were all a joke.
Yes.
This was not a situation where some young lawyer could butt in and play around.
“Hey, you brat lawyer.”
Kim Wooseok called out to Lee Eun-woo in a low voice.
“Are you saying you intend to make an enemy of JN Entertainment?”
“Me?”
“Looking at you, you don’t seem to have been a lawyer for very long. Do you know who stands behind me?”
This was a matter where none other than Samwoo Group was pouring a massive investment into JN Entertainment to secure the global market.
It was something that could not slip, and could not be scratched.
It had to be completed flawlessly.
Yes.
This was not a board where a brat lawyer like that could run around acting up….
“Ah, then do you happen to know who stands behind me?”
Perhaps not understanding the situation, Attorney Lee Eun-woo asked back with another grin.
“Pfft.”
At that sight, Kim Wooseok let out a hollow laugh.
Thanks to that, he immediately judged him to be someone not even worth paying attention to.
“At best, you’re just from a large law firm….”
Just as Kim Wooseok took a step toward him and was about to threaten him,
Creak.
The rusty iron gate opened with an eerie sound.
Step.
“Looks like Wooseok didn’t properly hear my warning back then.”
Step.
“I don’t think he understood me either. I told him not to touch HS.”
Behind Lee Eun-woo appeared the faces of people he had never expected at all.
“E-Executive Director, and W-Woohyun, how are you here….”
And then, following them,
“Executive Director, put that person through hellish hard training too.”
A man wearing a flame-marked helmet walked in while pointing at him as if tattling, and in an instant, came right up to him.
Then.
Tap.
He raised his goggles.
“I don’t think his chronic disease of stealing people can be cured with words.”
Inside, his eyes gleamed with a murderous light.
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