Jamal was only happy for a moment that he had gotten to face HS.
“You two are dating, right?”
He wondered what on earth that was supposed to mean.
“Hyung, what exactly….”
For him to receive that kind of misunderstanding, this was the first time he had ever met Sarah Stewart in person.
It was true that she had suddenly pressed “like” on his Starstagram posts about twice, but they did not even follow each other back.
And those posts had also tagged HS, so he had only thought she was close to HS and was giving him support.
But.
Out of nowhere, he and Sarah Stewart were dating?
‘Could it be….’
Did she really press the heart because she had feelings for me?
Yes.
With HS as a good excuse, the like button was perfect for showing a moderate amount of interest.
‘This damned popularity of mine.’
Just as Jamal covered his face and grinned smugly,
“Are you seriously crazy? What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”
“Huh? They say a fierce denial is a strong affirmation.”
“It’s absolutely not like that, okay? I only just found out he was JS.”
Sarah Stewart protested while huffing, her face flushed bright red. So that really was it.
“What does that mean now? Then why did you support-fire for someone whose face you didn’t even know?”
HS tilted his head and asked back.
It seemed he was talking about the like support.
‘Hyung really has no tact.’
How many women could answer directly if you asked something like that so bluntly?
“T-That, I said it wasn’t me.”
Of course she would deny it like this.
“Wasn’t you? The articles all said you did it.”
“Ah, I said it wasn’t me. Do you think I’m overflowing with money?”
“Don’t you have more than enough money to do that thanks to my song?”
Wait, why was money suddenly coming up here?
It did not cost money to press a heart on Starstagram…
“Anyway! I’m not the one who put the ad up on the Times Square billboard, so stop digging into it.”
Ah, so that was what happened. The identity of the Times Square Angel was not HS, but Sarah Stewart.
Compared to the rumors…
She was kind of cute.
“Hey, why are you grinning so creepily?”
HS asked, looking at him.
“Me? I wasn’t smiling.”
Jamal immediately fixed his expression. If Sarah Stewart fell for him again because of his smile, that would be a serious problem.
He felt sorry to her, but…
‘Right now, I don’t have time to leisurely date.’
He had to work harder and make sure he won a Gray Awards prize.
He decided he would think about accepting her feelings then.
Clench.
HS and Sarah looked at Jamal, who had suddenly clenched his fists and was wearing a wistful expression, and thought the same thing.
Judging by his expression, something was going to happen today.
Since Hyunseung was on his way back from Korea, he wanted to finish the formalities quickly, go home, and rest.
However.
He was suddenly caught by MisutSarah and Bap-al, who had come to the company building out of nowhere.
“No, so why are you here?”
The two only kept glancing at each other and said nothing.
“Should I throw both of you out?”
“No! Wait!”
At that moment, MisutSarah hurriedly raised her hand and shouted.
“I want to talk with you alone, so send him out.”
She added in a serious tone.
“Alone?”
Hyunseung asked back in surprise for a moment.
“Yeah, alone.”
Realizing that the look in MisutSarah’s eyes was unusual, he jerked his chin at Bap-al, telling him to go out.
“Hmm.”
Then Bap-al narrowed his eyes and looked Sarah up and down, said he understood and would see them next time, then left the studio first.
“Now tell me.”
Once only the two of them were left, Hyunseung spoke first.
“I think you’re really too much.”
Misutsara abruptly glared at him with a sulky face and said that.
“Me? What did I do?”
They said you could never know what was in a woman’s heart, but this was a little sudden.
“You suddenly pointed out that a song was strange to someone you were meeting for the first time.”
“That’s because it really was strange.”
“Then after that, no matter how much I looked for you, you were nowhere to be found, making me anxious.”
“I didn’t know you’d look for me.”
Surely she was not bringing up something from the past now.
“You suddenly appeared, made me a song, locked me in a recording studio, and not satisfied with that, even took me to your house.”
“Hey, if you say it like that, people will misunderstand….”
“Is that all? After that, you only gently coaxed me with misutgaru whenever you needed me!”
“When did I coax you again….”
“And one more thing! Even with the dating rumor, you waited without putting out a single denial article, supposedly because you were being considerate of me!”
“No, hey, that was….”
“I said I hated it, that I really hated it! And you forced me to reconcile with my dad too!”
As Hyunseung listened, he increasingly wondered whether any of this was really something he deserved to be scolded for.
But Sarah’s eyes had turned red as if she might burst into tears at any moment, so he decided to listen quietly.
“After putting that kind of burden on someone’s heart, now you won’t even give me a chance to help you.”
“Calm down a little….”
“I, I want to be of help to you too….”
However, despite her efforts, tears finally began to fall from Sarah’s eyes.
“That’s why I deliberately participated in challenges if they were for your songs, and when I heard some guy whose face I didn’t even know was releasing a song, I even put up an ad in Times Square….”
He did not know the meaning behind her tears, but Sarah’s face, quickly covered in them, looked terribly sorrowful.
“But then you suddenly ask if I’m dating a guy like that Bap-al.”
Was she upset because he had misunderstood that she was dating Bap-al?
He had not known she was upset enough to cry like this….
“I misunderstood that. I’m sorry.”
“Are you really sorry?”
“Yeah. It was really all my fault.”
He did not know whether he had done something wrong enough to apologize this much.
But he could not just leave a crying woman alone either.
“You said you’re sorry….”
However, seeing Misutsara suddenly stop crying and smile, he regretted it.
‘Ah, I think I got caught.’
“Then let me come here.”
“As I said last time….”
“I’ll talk to Austin properly too. My contract period is ending soon anyway. Even if there’s a penalty fee, I’ll carry it all and come out.”
Sure enough, as if she had been waiting for this moment, Sarah poured out her words.
He was already on his way back after filing a complaint for obstruction of business, so why was she suddenly acting like this too?
“No.”
Hyunseung firmly cut her off. It might be different after her contract period ended, but right now, he could not give her any definite answer.
Vincent had quit and come out because he wanted to start his own company, but Sarah Stewart’s case was different.
Yes.
He did not want to become someone like Kim Wooseok.
“You’re doing this because you want a song, right? I’ll make you one even now and give it to you. Would that be enough?”
Hyunseung asked as if trying to soothe Misutsara.
“No.”
However, far from being pleased, Misutsara’s face turned cold, and she flatly denied it.
Then Sarah’s mouth opened again,
“Because I want to be by your side.”
Before Hyunseung could even be surprised by those words, he heard someone sharply inhale from somewhere.
“Hup.”
Hyunseung turned his head toward the studio door where the sound had come from and snapped sharply.
“Who is it?”
Suddenly, the door that had been slightly open swung wide, and people spilled inside like dominoes.
Crash, clatter, bang.
Starting with Jamal, whom he thought had left, Executive Director Park, Kim Woohyun, Vincent, Michelle, and for some reason….
“O-Oppa.”
Even his younger sister Hyuna was there, smiling awkwardly and watching his reaction.
“Ahaha, I-I’m totally in favor even if you marry a foreigner, Oppa?”
“Get out.”
“Dad would probably like it too.”
“I said get out.”
Hyunseung threatened everyone to leave in order to wrap up the situation.
“Fuck….”
But he could not soothe Sarah’s face, which had already turned bright red.
Meanwhile.
Kim Wooseok was biting his nails in front of the representative’s office.
The longer the wait continued, the more his anxiety doubled.
Click, click, click.
When on earth is the meeting going to end? I need to quickly find a countermeasure with the representative….
At last, the door opened, and Managing Director Lee walked out of the representative’s office.
“Director Kim, it’s been a while.”
As Managing Director Lee said that and passed by him, the look in his eyes felt strangely unpleasant. It must be because Kim Wooseok was even more sensitive right now.
“Please come in.”
Soon, following the secretary’s guidance, Kim Wooseok stepped into the representative’s office.
“I made you wait too long. Sit down.”
As soon as the representative finished speaking, Kim Wooseok took the seat diagonally across from him.
On the table sat teacups that had gone cold.
But why were there three?
The only person who had just left was Managing Director Lee….
“Now then.”
Just as Kim Wooseok’s doubt was deepening,
“If Director Kim urgently asked to see me, can I assume the issue of recruiting the other members has also been resolved?”
CEO Hong Jinpyo asked with a benevolent smile.
Instead of answering, Kim Wooseok lowered his head deeply.
He could not bring himself to speak.
His mouth would not open easily.
“Or did some problem arise?”
Hong Jinpyo looked at Kim Wooseok and asked sharply.
It was a problem he could not avoid anyway. It was not as if he was dreaming after even confirming on his way here that the complaint had been filed.
Now that things had come to this….
He had to explain quickly and find a solution. Only then could he, the company, and Samwoo prevent unnecessary bleeding.
“Representative, actually, yesterday I personally went to the house to persuade the other members.”
“And?”
“But for some reason, HS came there.”
“HS? Composer HS?”
“Yes. But HS came with a lawyer.”
“Why would he?”
“I think Sung Wooyoung really must have some connection with HS. It seemed like he intended to sue on that man’s behalf.”
At those words, Hong Jinpyo swept back his hair and asked,
“Ha, so is that lawyer an individual? Or is he affiliated with some law firm?”
“He was a lawyer from the Gaon law firm.”
“Gaon, Gaon, huh…. They won’t be an easy opponent.”
After striking the armrest of the sofa heavily for a moment,
“But if he’s just an ordinary lawyer, not the president or vice president, then coaxing him over won’t be difficult. It’s fine.”
He forced out a breath he had been holding and spoke as if soothing Kim Wooseok.
Just as Kim Wooseok felt inwardly relieved at those words,
‘Still, the fact that HS, the original creator of the song, has sided with them is a bit bothersome….’
Hong Jinpyo raised one eyebrow and continued.
“Is there any way to make contact with HS? I’d like to meet him personally and talk.”
“Representative, do you remember the friend named Kim Woohyun I told you before that I wanted to bring in?”
At Kim Wooseok’s sudden question, Hong Jinpyo let out a low “Mm?” for a moment, then nodded as the memory belatedly came back to him.
“Yes. But why are you suddenly bringing up that friend?”
“Yes, that friend is extremely close to HS.”
“You fool! Then we can just call that friend in right away and talk to him!”
“That friend came yesterday too. But because of what happened back then, it seems both of them harbor bad feelings toward me.”
“How on earth have you been doing your job!”
Hong Jinpyo soon raised his voice in frustration.
“Ha, enough….”
Knowing better than anyone that anger would not solve the situation, he immediately checked the facts.
“In the end, that side has stepped in on his behalf because of personal feelings, right?”
“That seems to be the case.”
“Then there’s nothing to worry about. You just focus on coaxing the girls and bringing them in.”
For Kim Wooseok, that was something that should have reassured him quite a bit.
But since there was one thing he had left out and had not told him, he could not answer easily.
“What now? What else is left that has you sitting there looking like death!”
In the end, Hong Jinpyo sprang up from the sofa and shouted at Kim Wooseok while pointing his finger at him.
“They recorded it.”
“What?”
“Me telling Lee Sol and Han Seulgi to come to JN Entertainment….”
“You stupid bastard!”
At once, the teacup on the table flew from Hong Jinpyo’s hand, hit the wall, and shattered with a crash.
A fairly huge noise rang out, but not a single person came running in.
In other words, no matter what happened here, no one would know.
“No wonder. I wondered if something was up when I heard a copyright hold had suddenly been filed….”
Unlike the person who had been furious just moments ago, Hong Jinpyo calmly sat down and explained.
“I’ve already talked everything over with the executive director from Samwoo Group and our Managing Director Lee.”
No wonder there were three teacups.
“Let’s say this was something you, Kim Wooseok, did alone because you were blinded by your desire for promotion. Understood?”
“R-Representative….”
“I’ll support you as much as I can with the lawsuit too. Anyway, something of that level will only get you a slap on the wrist, so don’t worry too much.”
“T-That means….”
“If you wrap things up well, I’ll compensate you for everything myself.”
Hong Jinpyo added as if he were bestowing tremendous generosity.
It sounded sweet, just like when he had tempted him by saying he would give him an executive director position.
“Understand it that way and leave now.”
If Kim Wooseok had not seen his expression, he might have been completely fooled.
“Yes, I understand.”
Why was it that, in this situation, the words that strange lawyer had said suddenly came to mind?
“So please, don’t let this end too easily.”
Yes. It could not end too easily.
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