Chapter 64: Cherry Blossom’s New Song (2)
Kim Woon-Sik stared at me intently. He seemed curious about how I figured out he and Ace Entertainment had signed an exclusive contract. After all, Kim Woon-Sik had never once signed an exclusive contract with an agency given his immense pride.
"This is just my guess, but I’m assuming they might have threatened to end the deal if you gave us a song. Am I right?"
Kim Woon-Sik's face hardened even more. "Who are you?"
When he burst out in anger, I was 100% confident that my guess was correct.
Lee Dong-Min squinted his eyes and smirked. "I told you he’s our company’s secret weapon."
Kim Woon-Sik glared at me for a moment, then soon let out a deep sigh. "Sigh. I thought I had hidden it well, but how did you know?"
"If it wasn't for that reason, a composer of your caliber wouldn't have said you have no songs left."
Kim Woon-Sik pushed Lee Dong-Min away and sat on the sofa.
"Move over. Ah, this is frustrating."
Then, he finally opened his mouth after drinking a lukewarm glass of water. "Damn it. I guess I can't lie to someone who already knows everything."
Kim Woon-Sik began to explain everything. According to him, Ace Entertainment had recently signed a one-year exclusive contract with all the well-known S-class composers, offering huge signing bonuses. As expected, it was a process to concentrate on producing songs for Girlfriends7. It turned out it wasn't entirely a lie that Kim Woon-Sik really had no songs left.
Furthermore, it was also true that he had been pressured by the heads of major entertainers like TK Entertainment, SJ Entertainment, and Bigstar Entertainment.
"Especially that guy Ma Dong-Pal—he came on strong. He said my deal with them would be forever done if I gave a song to Cherry Blossom."
"Hey! If you were facing such circumstances, you should have said so earlier!"
Lee Dong-Min's annoyance made Kim Woon-Sik burst out in anger. "Fuck. I was embarrassed to tell you I signed those contracts for money! Okay?"
"I've been clinging to composers like a fool, not knowing that."
As Lee Dong-Min sighed deeply, Kim Woon-Sik lowered his voice as if he felt sorry for not telling him earlier. "I’m sorry about that. Technically, even talking about this to you is a breach of contract. So please don't mention it anywhere, okay?"
Lee Dong-Min's expression twisted. "You jerk. As if I would do that."
"Anyway, all the other S-class composers are also tied to Ace and TK Entertainment as well."
Eventually, we concluded that there were no other S-class composers who could give us a song. However, this made it easier to introduce the future hit composer I knew.
***
Lee Dong-Min left the studio feeling defeated and started sighing as he looked up at the sky.
"Sigh. Do I have to leave it to Jee-Tae after all?"
We were already scheduled to release a new song on KBC Music World on April 24th. To do that, we needed to have the song and choreography by the end of this month at the very least so that Cherry Blossom could practice before performing it on stage.
"Mr. Lee, I actually happen to know a talented composer."
Lee Dong-Min turned around in surprise. "Who is it? Is it an S-class composer?"
I shook my head. "The talent is not just S-class, but much beyond that... Can you trust me just this once?"
Lee Dong-Min looked at me doubtfully. But eventually, he nodded. "Well, who else do I trust but you at times like this? And if it doesn't work out, we can always turn to Jee-Tae. Let's just go for it. Now is not the time to be picky."
With Lee Dong-Min's permission, I gave him the address of a shop in Garibong-dong.
***
When identifying the most successful composer at the moment, the name most frequently mentioned was undoubtedly Epil K. He was the one who produced Petite More's hit song ‘Bling Bling.’ But in two years, Epil K would face a lawsuit for plagiarizing songs from an unknown composer, Bang Seon-Woo. The lawsuit, which would involve as many as twenty songs, would cause a huge uproar.
Bang Seon-Woo, who was a broke amateur when he created those songs, would protest that he had no idea how his works ended up with Epil K. But Epil K, the top composer earning billions annually, would easily win the lawsuit by hiring a large team of lawyers.
Afterward, Bang Seon-Woo would suffer from depression and make the extreme choice of taking his own life. He couldn't bear seeing the songs stolen from him continuously topping the charts. This tragic event was still noted in my planner.
[Everyday V10]
[Date: July 1, 2022]
-01:00 PM Suwon St. Mary's Hospital Funeral Hall Room 8. Bang Seon-Woo's funeral service. Starts at 9 AM.
I had also attended Bang Seon-Woo's funeral to pay my respects in my past life.
‘If only I could meet Bang Seon-Woo and purchase his songs at a fair price...’
I was convinced that I could not only solve Cherry Blossom's new song issue, but also prevent Bang Seon-Woo’s death. I could pave a smooth path for Cherry Blossom's future.
Screech!
I stopped my vehicle in front of an old pork soup restaurant in Garibong-dong.
Lee Dong-Min looked puzzled. "Is the composer you're talking about here?"
At that moment, a loud voice came from inside the shop. "Gwi-Nam~ Take care of the customer!"
"Ah, seriously. Mom! It's been so long since I changed my name to Seon-Woo. Why do you still call me Gwi-Nam!?"
"What's wrong with your name? Seon-Woo? Why abandon a fine name like Gwi-Nam for something like that?"
"Ugh, just forget it. From now on, I won't respond to you if you don’t call me Seon-Woo!"
"Is that the way to talk to your mother?"
Walking past a lady speaking in a thick Gyeongsang-do dialect, a man came out of the shop.
"You can give me the keys."
The timid-looking man, who donned a pair of thick horn-rimmed glasses, was originally named Bang Gwi-Nam. The genius composer, now named Bang Seon-Woo and who met an untimely death in my past life, was extending his hand to me.
"Mr. Bang Seon-Woo?"
"How do you know me? Ah, you must have heard our conversation just now."
Bang Seon-Woo scratched his head, thinking we had heard his earlier conversation with his mom.
I stepped out of the vehicle and handed him my business card. "No. We actually came here specifically to meet you, Mr. Seon-Woo. Could we talk after you finish work? I am Jung Yoon-Ho from Hoop Entertainment."
Bang Seon-Woo looked bewildered. "You're from an entertainment company? For me? But why?"
"Didn't you upload sample songs to an amateur composer's website? We came after hearing those."
"That's impossible. It's a small website with fewer than fifty members..."
I didn't know the website’s current size but it would become a much bigger site in a few years. Nonetheless, I continued to pretend to be clueless. "If you don't believe me, there's no other way to explain."
"A-are you for real?"
Then, Lee Dong-Min, who was standing beside me, also presented him with his business card. "I'm Lee Dong-Min, the chief of Hoop Entertainment. This guy is telling the truth."
"I-it's Lee Dong-Min!"
Bang Seon-Woo was startled as if he had seen a famous celebrity.
‘Well, Lee Dong-Min is indeed somewhat famous in the music industry.’
"It seems like you're busy now, so we'll wait. We haven't eaten yet anyway."
Bang Seon-Woo regained his composure and nodded. "Oh, yes. Then please have a meal first. My mom's pork soup is really excellent. I'll ask my mom and try my best to finish work early today!"
Bang Seon-Woo took the keys from my hand and disappeared to park the car. Seeing this, Lee Dong-Min wore a stern expression. "Yoon-Ho. I trust you, but this doesn't seem right. How can someone like that be a composer..."
His face showed complete disbelief. Indeed, if I hadn't gone back in time, I wouldn't have believed it either.
Bang Seon-Woo was known for helping his mom run the pork soup restaurant all day and composing in his spare time. He was bullied and barely graduated from high school through a qualification exam. He became engrossed in listening to and creating music alone. Although he never learned the basics of composition, let alone music theory, he became famous for composing songs by tapping notes on an old MePad a friend gave him.
That was why he was a genius—a genius who could craft melodies on his own without anyone teaching him. However, telling Lee Dong-Min about Bang Seon-Woo's background story at this point could be more of a hindrance and potentially instill a prejudice that he lacked fundamentals.
"Mr. Lee, let's listen to the music first and then judge. You said you trust me, remember?"
Lee Dong-Min sighed. "Alright. I'm hungry anyway, so let's eat some pork soup first. And well, let's listen to the music first before judging, as you said."
"You'll definitely be satisfied."
Although Lee Dong-Min still looked doubtful, I was confident he would recognize Bang Seon-Woo's talent for sure.
We headed to Bang Family's Pork Soup Restaurant with our stomachs growling. After finishing a bowl of pork soup loaded with ingredients, our spirits were lifted.
Lee Dong-Min patted his full belly and smiled brightly. "Their pork soup is really good. The rich broth is super satisfying."
"Mr. Lee, it seems like we won’t have to wait two hours."
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Bang Seon-Woo was talking to his mother in the kitchen.
"Ah, Mom. Let me finish work early today. I have important guests."
"Guests? Who are they?"
"People from a big company called Hoop Entertainment. They want to listen to the music I made."
Hearing Bang Seon-Woo's words, his mother and owner of the restaurant, Kim Chun-Ja, frowned. "They want to listen to your music? Nonsense. How does that even make sense?"
"Why not? Of course, it makes sense!"
"Ah, stop it. You got tricked last time and they were just fooling around. Remember?"
"Yes. But not this time, Mom!"
"Quiet! Where are those people? Let me see for myself! I’m going to kill them!"
Her thick Gyeongsang-do accent echoed loudly in the restaurant.
'What did we do to deserve such a reaction?'
Kim Chun-Ja seemed furious as she rolled up her sleeves and brandished a ladle.
Bang Seon-Woo, not knowing what to do, pleaded, "Ah, Mom, please! Stop speaking in dialect!"
"How dare you talk back to your mother like that!"
When she thrust the ladle at Bang Seon-Woo, who was standing in her way, he immediately recoiled like a turtle.
‘He mentioned he had three sisters, right?’
Growing up in a female-dominated household, he said he couldn't stand up to women.
The bewildered Lee Dong-Min asked, "Do you understand what that lady is saying?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"One of my middle school friends from the orphanage was from Busan."
"Ah..."
Lee Dong-Min didn't ask any further, probably realizing his mistake.
I didn’t care if he asked, but people’s reactions were always like this whenever orphanage stories came up. Anyway, I didn't know who previously came to meet Bang Seon-Woo, but they seemed to have caused a significant problem. For this reason, Kim Chun-Ja continued to give us an unpleasant glare.
However, as Bang Seon-Woo kept insisting, Kim Chun-Ja reluctantly approached us while still holding the ladle.
"So, you say my son's music is good?"
Lee Dong-Min and I stood up, presenting our business cards. "Yes, ma'am."
Kim Chun-Ja looked at us with suspicion and snatched the business cards from our hands. "Hoop Entertainment, huh?"
"Yes, ma’am. That's right."
"Strange name. Is it even a proper company?"
She spoke in a rough manner, but I could tell that beneath that tough exterior was her concern for her son. Even in my past life, she was the mother who protested in front of Epil K's house for three years with banners, claiming her son's innocence after he had died.
Kim Chun-Ja relentlessly said her kind child could never do such a thing. She was also the one who first made me realize that mothers could sometimes do incomprehensible things for their children.
"Ma'am, do you know the actor Jo Min-Seong?"
"Min-Seong? Jo Min-Seong? The one from Sky Wings?"
"Yes, that Jo Min-Seong. He's with us at Hoop Entertainment."
Kim Chun-Ja looked at my business card intently with a stern expression. However, when she lifted her head again, her expression had softened slightly.
"T-then, does it mean we have to pay money if my son wants to be a composer?"
It seemed she had an experience of being deceived by some fraudsters.
"Not at all, ma’am. We intend to buy the songs from your son and pay him for his work."
Appearing less suspicious of us, Kim Chun-Ja pulled out a chair and sat down. "I’m sorry for losing my temper. It seems like I misunderstood you."
Kim Chun-Ja placed the ladle she had been holding down on the table. Then, she began to tell us about a previous incident involving Bang Seon-Woo.
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