Buying the Dip
After a period of time that felt both long and short, Hye-eun spoke up.
"Unni."
"Y-yeah? What is it?"
"Can I listen to it just one more time?"
Hye-eun asked to play the music again with a somewhat serious expression. Dain replayed the song on her phone's music player.
After this was repeated a couple of times, Dain realized that Hye-eun wasn't analyzing or reviewing the song—she was simply losing herself in it.
"Hey. What do you think?"
"What do I think?"
"Is it good? Does it feel like something you guys could use as your debut song?"
At Dain's words, Hye-eun opened her mouth slightly, then closed it again.
Was it good? Could they use it as a debut song?
If they could debut with a song like this, she felt like she wouldn't have another wish left in her life.
"Wow, it's insanely good."
"Is it really that good?"
"It's the real deal, seriously. Unni, my vocabulary is so trash right now that I can't even find the words. This is why even idols need to study. I want to say something, but..."
Hye-eun said this and played the song on Dain's phone once more. It felt like an image was forming in her head. An anime character popping out, dancing, firing a pistol, with retro hearts flying all over the place.
"Anyway, this song is amazing. Wait, did you say there were two songs?"
"Yeah. I'll play the other one then."
Hye-eun calmed her mind again and listened to the second song.
This one had the exact opposite vibe. Rather than other instruments, the drums and the beat took center stage, with the vocal line forming the main melody. A faint, delicate humming created an inexplicable sense of solemnity, while cute percussion sounds blended with the drums to lighten the atmosphere slightly.
If it's a song like this, what kind of choreography would go with it?
Neither of them were songs that fit into what people—including Hye-eun, to some extent—commonly thought of as mainstream K-pop. But that was precisely why Hye-eun loved them so much. The songs themselves were incredible, but they were also incredibly hip. How was this possible?
What kind of dance would fit this?
Without realizing it, Hye-eun closed her eyes and stood up, completely deaf to Dain asking, "Huh?"
The moves she had learned since her early trainee days, the choreography she had practiced until it seeped into her very bones and joints after joining the debut group—those internalized movements naturally flowed from her body, creating a plausible, striking routine.
"Oh...!"
Dain immediately disconnected her AirPods and let the music play through her phone's speakers. The movement, which had paused for a brief second, flowed seamlessly once more, and Dain recorded the scene.
Amidst the flowing music, Hye-eun's dance moved relentlessly, as if expressing the raw emotions embedded in the track. And, as the dance came to an end...
"...What did you say earlier, Unni? Who gave you these songs?"
"Um, an acquaintance of mine."
"You have a composer among your acquaintances?"
"Uh... strictly speaking, she's not a composer."
Dain said this, recalling the conversation she had with Suyun. Do not reveal my identity. Do not give any clues that could lead back to me. When Dain had asked why she had to be so secretive, Suyun had explained in detail.
"Ever since I gave that song to Aurora, way too many people have been pestering me for tracks."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"You might think so, but constantly dealing with those requests is a pain. It's not like I can just tell them to screw off, either, given our relationships. That's why I've been telling everyone I'm too busy with my band to write songs. If it gets out that I suddenly gave one to someone else, there's bound to be people whining about why they didn't get one..."
Dain had thought at the time, Aren't those people the weird ones? The person giving the song holds all the cards anyway, so can't you just ignore them? But since her friend said so, she went along with it.
"Anyway, yeah, there's someone like that."
"Hmm... But Unni, getting songs like these must have cost a fortune. Are you okay?"
"No, it didn't cost any money. She gave them to me as a gift."
At those words, Hye-eun narrowed her eyes and stared at Dain. It was utterly unbelievable. Giving songs like these as a gift? Did that make any sense? Without receiving anything in return? Just out of pure goodwill?
"Unni, is that person by any chance a guy?"
"Huh?"
"They aren't like, way older than you, right? What if they're trying to get with you and doing weird things to you?"
"No, it's nothing like..."
"Unni. There are so many issues like that these days. If that's really what's happening, we need to report it to the police right away. I'm incredibly grateful for the songs, but you don't need to put up with some creep for my sake."
"Hye-eun. Listen to me for a second."
Dain calmed Hye-eun down, who was in a slight state of panic over a scenario that defied common sense. Even if she couldn't reveal Suyun's identity, she couldn't let her friend be treated like some old creep trying to groom a girl ten or twenty years younger...
"I played it for my cousin yesterday."
"And?"
"She absolutely loved it. Said she's going to take it to her agency and talk to her producer..."
"Tell her that if they're going to use it, I'll send over the mixed version and the multitracks later."
"Multi-what? Anyway, I just need to tell her I'll send that stuff over, right?"
"Yeah."
While working on her upcoming album at home, Suyun received a call from Dain. Dain chattered away endlessly, saying her cousin was so moved by the songs that she had danced on the spot. When Dain offered to send a video of her cousin dancing, Suyun politely declined, not wanting to be responsible for creating a future embarrassing memory for a girl whose face she didn't even know.
Suyun thought to herself. Although she had worked on them on the side while producing her own album, she had still poured a considerable amount of effort into those tracks. It was a relief to hear they liked them.
"But why did you tell me not to say you wrote them?"
"I told you before."
"I mean, you hold all the cards anyway, so can't you just ignore them?"
"Well..."
Suyun twirled her hair slightly. Do not reveal that they are my songs. There were several reasons. It was a hassle, and she didn't have time to write songs for others. But in truth, the biggest reason was something else. Something she hadn't revealed to Dain, nor to anyone else. It wasn't an embarrassing reason, but there was no real need to spell it out either.
Quality control is a nightmare.
As evident from the decades she had spent obsessing over the guitar, Suyun was someone highly sensitive to her reputation. And she was currently satisfied with the reputation she had earned: "music you can trust blindly." To have her music described as something you could listen to without questioning anything was the ultimate praise.
Paradoxically, because of that, Suyun went through agonizing, blood-spitting trials to refine every single song she produced. While her primary goal was to make great music, she also refused to let a single blemish tarnish her reputation. This meant that any song carrying the name "Ha Suyun" had to guarantee that exact level of quality.
And Suyun simply didn't want to pour that much effort into songs she was just giving away as gifts. If doing so delayed her own album production and caused her all sorts of trouble... that would be putting the cart before the horse.
"Anyway, there are a lot of reasons."
"Well, if you say so. Anyway, I kept it vague. Just said an acquaintance gave them to me, and made sure she knew that person definitely wrote them."
"Got it. Let me know if you need anything else."
"Okey-dokey~"
After saying that, Suyun hung up and stared at the monitor in front of her. Dozens of tracks were scattered in a chaotic mess. What should she do with this? If she tweaked this part, she didn't like the sound over there. If she tweaked that part, she didn't like the sound over here. If she tweaked here, she didn't like the sound there.
Should I just re-record it?
Scratching her head, Suyun stood up and headed to the living room. She definitely needed another cup of coffee. Any thoughts about the songs she had gifted to Dain had long since vanished from her mind. Song fees, copyrights, and all other trivial matters—to Suyun, it was nothing more than a passing thought.
On the day of Hye-eun's return to the dorms.
"Producer!!"
As soon as Hye-eun returned, she unpacked her bags and immediately ran to the producer in charge to let him hear the songs she had brought. The exhausted producer frowned as he saw Hye-eun running toward him with a bright face.
"What's going on? What is it?"
"No time to explain. Just listen to this song first."
"What are you talking about?"
Skipping any messy explanations, Hye-eun immediately played the song for the producer. Flowing from the state-of-the-art speakers in the studio, the gifted song sounded far richer and fuller than it had through the AirPods. After a brief silence, the producer spoke.
"What song is this?"
"It's good, right?"
At Hye-eun's words, the producer nodded silently. It was a song that practically glued itself to one's ears.
"So, what is it?"
"An older girl I know got it as a gift to give to me."
"What? Got it as a gift?"
The producer couldn't believe Hye-eun's explanation. Who on earth would give away a song like this as a gift? But Hye-eun continued, "It's true, she got it as a gift. She even said if we contact her, she'll give us the multitracks and the pre-mixed files."
That meant giving away the entire song.
Giving a song like this as a gift?
It was unbelievable. Moreover, this song happened to align perfectly with the concept he had been envisioning for the girls. It wasn't a 100% match, but this direction actually felt much better.
"Did you mention our concept when you talked to her?"
"Ah... no. Just, you know, what kind of vibe we were going for..."
A lie slipped out of Hye-eun's mouth almost instinctively. Without noticing the lie, the producer fell deep into thought, wondering, Is this person a genius...? It was hard to believe they had just guessed it by coincidence. If so, did that mean they were a genius capable of creating such a song just by hearing a rough description?
In any case, with the song Hye-eun had brought, the producer called an emergency meeting. This wasn't something he could decide on his own. In the conference room, where everyone involved with the debut group had gathered, the producer played the song Hye-eun had brought. And, naturally, he watched the reactions erupt.
"What song is this?"
"Wait, what?"
"Is this a new song we received? This is absolutely insane."
"It's crazy. If we promote this properly, we're seriously going to blow up."
"Does everyone think it's good?"
"Yes, incredibly so."
The responses came in unison. The producer lightly stroked his chin before delivering the crucial news.
"Actually, this isn't a song we bought. Hye-eun brought it, saying an acquaintance of hers gave it to her as a gift."
"What?"
"What does that mean..."
"I kept asking, but she only said she received it from an acquaintance. But they said they can give us all the source files, and it's definitely not stolen."
"Does that even make sense?"
At that objection, the producer felt it didn't make sense either. But what could he do when it was the reality of the situation?
"This is a track that would be hard to get even from the in-house composers of top-tier idols. A song of this caliber belongs to a famous label. Even if we paid tens of thousands of dollars, a small-to-medium agency like ours wouldn't be able to get it. And they gave it for free?"
"Well, that's what they said."
He scratched his head as he spoke. If they said they gave it, what else could he do? They could cross-check the copyright details later, so he decided to focus on the immediate task at hand.
"Anyway, once that part is cleared up, I'm planning to use this song. Is there anyone who objects?"
No one answered. He lightly touched his nose, thinking about how to proceed with the production. Since they had a great song and were even getting the multitracks... they could start working on it as soon as they received them.
"Hyung, but I think we should clear the copyright first."
"Of course. I'm sure Hye-eun didn't lie, but the other side might have given her incorrect information."
"But here's what I'm thinking... If the copyright is clear, why don't we just take the whole thing for ourselves?"
A sudden silence fell over the conference room, only to be instantly shattered by those words. The producer stared at the team member who had spoken. He looked dead serious, as if he truly believed this was a golden opportunity.
"If they register the copyright later, there's nothing we can do. But if they don't, and they literally said it's a gift, we don't need to compensate them separately, right? If we take their share of the royalties too, the profit will be massive. No, wait, even better than that."
"Better than what?"
"If there are no copyright issues, we can just say our girls participated in the production and market it that way. Wouldn't that create an insane promotional effect?"
A few people's eyes lit up as if they thought it was a brilliant idea. At those words, the producer stroked his chin for a moment before speaking.
"It's not a bad idea."
"Right?"
"In the short term."
"...In the short term?"
The team member asked back blankly. Scratching his head, the producer opened his mouth to address the team.
"They say things like that used to happen in the past. It's died down a lot now... but anyway, that's not the point. If we approach it that way, putting everything else aside, it'll definitely have an effect in the short term. But that's looking at it with too short a vision."
"A short vision?"
"Yeah. First of all, seeing how they didn't reveal their name, the composer doesn't seem to have much of a career yet. So even if we steal the copyright, nothing major might happen. But if we run our business like that just to save a few thousand dollars, we'll end up throwing away hundreds of thousands, millions, or tens of millions down the road."
He rested his chin on his hand as he spoke. Perhaps because his argument had been refuted, the tense expression of the team member was clearly reflected in his eyes.
"My opinion is that even if they didn't bring up the copyright, we should approach them first to clear it. We should pay them a decent song fee and use the copyright as an excuse to get in touch. We need to think about getting more songs from this person in the future."
Whether it was their debut work or their very first piece, they didn't know. But seeing that a song given as a 'gift' was of this quality, even if it was a fluke, the composer clearly had a certain level of caliber. Therefore, they should use the copyright as a pretext to get their contact information, pay them properly, and build a close relationship. If possible, they could recruit them as an in-house composer, or at least establish a friendly partnership to receive more songs or have them produce for them in the future.
In other words, buying the dip.
"That is how you make money. Nothing else."