The Price of Generosity
"Giving away songs to others."
"That's how you make money. Nothing else."
At the producer's words, the meeting room fell into a heavy silence. The staff member who had suggested stealing the copyright kept their mouth shut and head bowed, seemingly realizing their mistake.
The producer watched them for a moment, then scratched his head and spoke.
"Anyway, that's my take on it. I want everyone to keep that in mind... Ah, but before that, there's one thing we need to decide."
With those words, he played the two tracks again.
The first song was cheerful and bouncy, featuring highly skilled guitar and bass work. It was mainstream-friendly enough to easily draw a popular response.
The second song was slightly solemn, even tragic. It felt like it was standing at the very cutting edge of the trend—or perhaps, it was a song capable of creating a new trend entirely.
"Which one should we release as the title track?"
"Uh..."
The meeting room fell into deep thought at his question. The producer, too, lost himself in contemplation.
Which song would be better as the title track? Both had their own clear merits.
If they went with the first, they could secure the public's choice.
If they went with the second, they would receive critical acclaim for their musicality while simultaneously securing a core fandom.
Of course, this was all speculation.
"Is this really something we can decide right at this moment?"
"We need to decide quickly. We have to choreograph, write lyrics, and practice the songs starting immediately."
"It'll take some time to hire a lyricist and set up the choreography anyway, so why don't you take a bit more time to think it over? It's not like we're only going to use one of the two songs for their promotions, right?" one of the staff members suggested.
The producer thought that made sense. Scratching his head, he said, "You're right. Then first, Eun-ah, ask Hye-eun for her cousin's contact info and address. Tell her we absolutely have to meet in person to clear the copyrights. If we do it over the phone, she might reject us, so insist on a face-to-face meeting."
"Yes, sir!"
"Tae-woo, you... actually, no. Let's just outsource both songs this time. Find the highest-tier lyricists and choreography teams you can get. Don't worry about the cost. Just recruit people who can get it done as fast as possible."
"Understood."
"And the rest of you who are good with the internet—unless you have other urgent tasks, drop them and find out who made this song. This is our top priority. Got it? Scour SoundCloud, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, fucking everything. Search every corner and find them. Preempting them before anyone else snatches them up is the most important thing!"
And quite naturally, such decisions began to affect other people's lives.
And quite unfortunately, that impact failed to reach the person it was actually meant for.
The one bearing the brunt of it wasn't Ha Suyun, the creator of the songs, but Park Dain, who had delivered them directly to Hye-eun.
"Ah! Dain!"
"...Are you here again today?"
"What do you mean, 'again today'! It's not like that. I just happened to be passing by on business today, and by pure chance—pure chance!—I ran into you, Dain."
"Don't you think there are a few too many coincidences lately?"
The employee from Radiant Entertainment, Hye-eun's agency, had been staking out the cafe Dain frequented. Whenever Dain showed up, they would offer to buy her coffee since she was Hye-eun's cousin, gossip about the entertainment industry, ask if she had any questions, or shower her with gifts...
Normally, with Dain's personality, she would have snapped at them and chased them away long ago.
But because they were part of the company Hye-eun was signed to, she couldn't do that. To make matters worse, even Hye-eun was begging her, saying, "Unni, please, just tell me who that person is!" leaving Dain completely helpless.
"I was passing by, and I heard there's a delicious dessert cafe nearby! I bought some because it made me think of you, Dain. Would you like some?"
"...No, I appreciate the gift, but honestly, if I could tell you, I would have done so already."
"Oh, don't say such cold words! That's not why I'm doing this! Though, of course, it would be great if you did tell me~"
And the problem was, Dain wasn't the only target of this campaign.
"Hey, Dain. Someone from Hye-eun's company came by and left some gifts. They mentioned you, too. Is something going on?"
"I don't know what it is, but they seemed very sincere. They said they wanted to ask you something. If possible, just tell them. It's Hye-eun's company, after all. Shouldn't we help each other out?"
"They even went to your house?"
It was as if they had studied military siege tactics. Not only were they pleading with Dain directly, but they had also targeted Dain's parents—something she had never anticipated.
"Dain. Did you do something for Hye-eun?"
"...Did people from that company go to you too, Auntie?"
"You must know something. People from Hye-eun's agency came and talked for a long time. They said the songs this time are amazing? And they said you, Dain, gave them the songs."
"Yes, that's true."
"Dain, thank you so much for doing something so good for Hye-eun. I don't even know how to repay you. But from what they were saying..."
"Ah! Auntie, I'm sorry! Something just came up and I have to run! Sorry!"
With even her relatives being targeted, making a cold refusal became utterly impossible. Cornered, Dain had no choice but to make a call.
"...So, please save me."
"Save you from what?"
"You know what I mean."
"No, I don't."
Suyun had answered the phone while playing guitar to clear her head. Seeing the name [Park Dain] flash on her screen, she had hesitated for a moment, already guessing what this was about. But since they were friends, she answered anyway, only for the conversation to turn out exactly like this.
Save her?
"I'm literally going to die. That company went to my parents, and they went to my cousin's parents. Now my parents are acting like I'm the weird one for not telling them. They're asking how I can't even do something like this for my cousin. I mean, I already gave them the songs!"
"Well, to your parents, they probably think that since you already gave them the songs, giving them a name is a simple matter."
"...Then can I just tell them your name?"
"If you're going to pay the song fee."
"How much is it?"
Was she hoping to pay her way out of this situation? Dain's voice sounded slightly hopeful, reflecting the sheer exhaustion of her current ordeal.
Suyun chuckled softly and replied, "Let's see... I told you I gave songs to Aurora before, right? Back then, I got forty million won for two songs from Cream Ent. That was my first time selling songs."
Immediately, a sharp gasp echoed through the receiver.
"Seriously?"
"Would I lie to you?" Suyun said, clicking her tongue as she ran the numbers in her head. "Since then, more people have been looking for me, so the price has probably gone up. Well... back then I did the producing too, so let's subtract that. With a twenty-five percent friend discount, I'll let you have it for thirty million won. If you pay me that, you can tell them."
"Hey! Be realistic!"
"Dain, that's what I want to say. I did forty million won worth of work for you, why can't I make this demand? You should be the one blocking them."
"Ugh, you're so right I have nothing to say."
"Exactly. Since I did that much for you, you should keep your end of the deal. Do thirty million won worth of shielding."
"Ah, seriously, it's literal torture. Yesterday, I was sitting in a cafe and that person came... Oh, right. They said they need to see you to clear the copyright, register it, and sign a transfer contract."
Ah, right. There's that.
Dain's voice trailed off, but the last piece of information she dropped was impossible to ignore. Suyun swept her hair back with a heavy sigh.
The agency could handle the neighboring rights on their own, but if she didn't register as the copyright holder, the creator of the songs would officially become someone else.
But if she registered to prevent that...
They'll immediately realize I made them and come looking for me. Even if I use a pseudonym, they'll have to pay me, so they'll find out my identity right away.
"So, what are we going to do about that...?"
"I don't know, you handle it."
"What? You want me to be a meat shield?"
"Earn that thirty million won. I'm hanging up."
Faced with a headache-inducing situation, Suyun scratched her head and decided to push the problem aside for now. If they were desperate enough, they would figure something out.
However, Suyun's peace did not last long.
Dain literally showed up at Suyun's house, begging on her knees for mercy.
And she did it right in front of Hye-in.
"I don't know what's going on, but shouldn't you help Dain out? Look at how desperate she is," Hye-in said.
Faced with her mother's intervention, Suyun massaged her temples, wondering how things had escalated to this point. Was gifting the songs a mistake in the first place? If she hadn't done something so troublesome...
No, gifting the songs wasn't wrong. Is it my fault for not predicting that the agency would cling to me like this? No, why is that my fault? It's their fault.
But no matter how much she thought about it, no good solution came to mind.
Tell them to pay the song fee like she told Dain? They would immediately run over with cash and a contract in hand. So that was out.
Should I just hand over the songs entirely?
She could just tell them, "I don't care, you guys can have all the copyrights," and wash her hands of it. Let them register it, let them keep all the money.
But Suyun knew that unless the agency executives were complete idiots who would say, "Oh, really? We'll take them, haha! And we won't bother you anymore, composer-nim," that trick wouldn't work at all.
They weren't stupid. They knew the value of a hitmaker, which was exactly why they were desperately trying to track her down to get more songs.
"It's a complicated situation."
"Even so, she's your friend. You should help her resolve it..."
"No, she's the problem in the first place. If she received a favor, she should do her job. Why is she here bowing her head to me? Your job is to be my meat shield!"
"I can't do it anymore! If they were only bothering me, I'd endure it. But they've won over all my relatives! Now I look like the bad guy who's blocking her own cousin's path to success!"
"This is driving me crazy."
Suyun swept her hair back roughly.
Should she just admit she wrote them, register the copyright, and then say, "Yeah, I wrote them. But I'm never writing another song for you. Go away, I'm going to Japan to perform"?
That seemed like the cleanest solution.
But the moment she did that, she could already picture Harin running out of the Cream Entertainment dorms on all fours to hunt her down.
"Go home for now, Dain. I'll give you an answer in a day or two. Tell them to wait until then."
"Okay..."
Dain trudged back home like a cow being led to a slaughterhouse.
Watching her leave, Hye-in asked, "What on earth is going on?"
When Suyun gave her a brief explanation, Hye-in sighed.
"No matter how annoying it is, how could you dump that on a friend? If you're going to refuse, you should be the one doing it."
"I know, but..."
"And besides, composing makes you more famous, and it helps your company grow. Don't find it so annoying. Just think of it as taking things step by step."
At Hye-in's words, Suyun stared blankly at the ceiling.
She was right. Everything she said was absolutely correct... but the sheer annoyance of it all was unavoidable.
"...So that's the situation. What should I do?"
In the end, Suyun decided to seek help.
She chose the person she believed had the most experience with these matters and who was guaranteed to keep her secrets safe.
It was Team Leader Ko.
"Hmm... Let me see if I understand correctly. In short, you don't want to deal with the hassles that come with composing."
"Yes, exactly. After August Night and Meteor, I was flooded with offers. Some people were incredibly persistent and annoying."
"That's true."
"It finally quieted down, but if we release this song—I don't know what the title will be yet, but anyway—and if it becomes a huge hit, the exact same thing will happen. Plus, the excuses I used before won't work this time. That's why I kept it a secret."
"Well, anyone who hears a song you made would naturally react that way."
Team Leader Ko chuckled softly, stroking his chin. He, too, didn't seem to have an immediate, perfect solution.
Seeing his expression, Suyun wondered if she should give up hope. Was she doomed to walk the path of endless annoyance?
"Actually, I have a good idea."
"What is it?"
But what came out of Team Leader Ko's mouth was the exact opposite of what Suyun had expected.
An actual solution? What could it possibly be?
"How about pretending to be someone else... in other words, using a completely different alias?"