The Birth of Roger

"A way to pretend to be someone else, not Suyun... In other words, how about using an entirely different alias?"

"An alias? Do you mean a stage name?"

"Yes. An alter ego, so to speak."

At those words, Suyun twirled her hair slightly. Changing just her stage name, or rather her composer name... was something she had already considered and concluded would be utterly useless. But did he have some other trick up his sleeve?

"KOMCA requires real-name registration. I don't think that'll work?"

"That's why we register it through a workaround."

After saying that, Team Leader Ko walked over to his desk and returned with two books. They were the terms of service and registration manual for JASRAC, written in Japanese.

"If we register through KOMCA, the probability is low, but an internal employee could leak your real name. Since KOMCA holds the internal database, the risk is higher."

"So, registering with JASRAC makes a difference?"

"Of course, there could still be leak attempts on JASRAC's side. But since it's in another country, we judge it to be much safer than KOMCA."

Team Leader Ko explained further. If they registered with KOMCA through JASRAC, KOMCA would only know the alias unless they made a special request, keeping Suyun's real name hidden. And if KOMCA did make a special request, it would signal that someone was actively trying to expose her real name...

"If we prepare properly, we can block any leaks. Plus, since it's registered in Japan, they'll most likely assume the composer is a foreigner."

Watching Team Leader Ko speak, Suyun twirled her hair again. It made sense, but how would they manage the JASRAC registration? The answer to that came very easily.

"Our company can register it on your behalf. Once registered, we have a subsidiary that handles copyright management agency work. We spun it off recently, and if they negotiate the copyright with Radiant, your identity can be processed without ever being revealed."

"Hold on. My head is getting a bit cluttered. To summarize..."

Suyun ran her hand roughly through her hair, then stared at the ceiling as she organized Team Leader Ko's explanation.

1. Registering the copyright in Korea carries a high risk of leakage, so we register it in Japan.

2. And if we manage the registered copyright through a copyright agency, Radiant will never find out.

"But if they find out it's our company, wouldn't they naturally suspect it's me?"

"An agency of that size doesn't disclose its subsidiaries. No one will know it's us."

"Hmm..."

A complicated explanation. Suyun wondered if she really had to go this far, but on the other hand, she thought it was a remarkably good method. If this was possible, she could finally do the things she had been thinking about.

I've ended up writing quite a few songs that just don't fit our band's concept.

Even though she was living a new life, decades of old habits from her past life weren't easily erased. To overcome his lack of natural talent back then, he had frantically listened to, analyzed, referenced, copied, and rearranged any decent song he could find... a relentless habit of creation. Thanks to that habit, Suyun had accumulated a vast library of songs, regardless of whether she was fully satisfied with their quality.

Among them, there were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠songs where she thought, Isn't this actually pretty good? and others where she thought, This is definitely release-worthy.

The problem was that most of those songs didn't fit the concept of her band, Group Sound. Some were too loose for them to release, some were slightly awkward, and others lacked mainstream appeal, making them too risky to gamble on.

Either way, Suyun had felt a lot of lingering regret over them.

But if she used this method, it went beyond simply having a way to make money as a composer...

I could actually promote under an entirely different identity, couldn't I?

Of course, band activities would always be the top priority. But alongside project-based activities or solos under the name 'Ha Suyun,' this method seemed to open up a completely different avenue of operation.

Suyun twirled her hair slightly as she pondered. Ever since she gave Dain that song, her life had been filled with nothing but annoying hassles, but seeing how things were turning around like this, she supposed good people really did get rewarded in the end.

"By the way, if you're going to create an 'alter ego'... have you decided on a name?"

"Well, I haven't really thought of one..."

Suyun mused. Let's see. What name should she use?

The very first thing that popped into her head was:

"How about HSY?"

"I think anyone with eyes would know that stands for Ha Suyun."

"What about Henry S. York?"

"Why are you so obsessed with HSY?"

"I wouldn't call it an obsession... I just can't think of anything else. SYH... YSH..."

"I think you need to completely step away from your own name first."

Is that so? Suyun thought, staring up at the ceiling. Wasn't deriving it from her own name the simplest way?

If not that... MJ? SMJ? Those were still ultimately related to her past name.

Steve John Myung? That sounded like a bass player's name for some reason.

Bass, huh...

"Hmm... how about Roger?"

"Roger? As in R-O-G-E-R?"

"Yes. Let's go with Roger. That sounds the best."

Suyun spun her pen lightly. Roger. It was a name she quite liked.

A few days later.

Radiant Entertainment finally received contact from the copyright holder of the song they had been desperately waiting for.

When they practically flew to the meeting place, the person waiting for them was completely different from what they had expected.

A suit-clad individual who was clearly an office worker. At any rate, someone who looked entirely removed from the world of songwriting.

"Hello. I am Kim Hyun-ho, and I have been entrusted with the copyright agency authority by the artist, Roger. Nice to meet you."

"Uh... nice to... meet you?"

"First of all, as previously notified, we will not be requesting a separate song fee... You can just match the royalties to the standard market rate. I have already drafted the contract on my end."

Leaving the utterly bewildered producer aside, the agent smoothly continued his spiel.

Radiant's producer barely managed to cut him off.

"Uh, excuse me. The person who entrusted you with this copyright agency... what did you say their name was?"

"It's Roger."

"Could we... perhaps meet Roger in person?"

"Regarding that, Roger did mention something to me."

"What is it?"

The producer perked up his ears, waiting for the agent's response, hoping it might be an invitation to sign an exclusive contract. But the agent said the exact opposite.

"Roger requested that we include a clause in the contract stating that if there is even a single attempt to uncover Roger's identity or harass Miss Dain, the copyright will be immediately revoked."

"...What?"

It was completely different from what he had expected. But Radiant's producer couldn't pry any other answer out of the agent.

The only clue he managed to obtain was a single word written under the composer's name...

'Roger.'

And before long, that single word became the hottest topic in the music industry.

"I'm telling you, our girls' debut song is absolutely insane."

"Insane, my foot. Everyone says their own songs are insane. Who doesn't say that?"

"Hey, this is on a whole different level. You have to hear it to understand, man..."

While the producer was clutching his head wondering who on earth Roger was, Radiant's employees—as if they had been waiting for the copyright to clear and the song to be finalized—bragged about it to every industry insider they met.

They kept talking about how amazing their song was, and how it was bound to succeed.

"What was the name of that new group debuting under Radiant again?"

"From what I heard, it was some weird name like Luminous."

"Right, that. Why are they acting so cocky about getting a good song? They're a tiny, dirt-poor agency, so they shouldn't even be in a position to get a decent track..."

"Maybe they were sick of always being ignored."

"This time we're hitting the jackpot, this time we're hitting the jackpot."

Even though they couldn't play the song for anyone, Radiant's employees kept saying things like, "Ah, I wish I could play it for you, it's such a shame," ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠driving everyone crazy.

It got to the point where a post was uploaded to Blind.

However, that public sentiment began to shift. No one knew how, but people who had actually heard the song started to emerge... and the atmosphere slowly began to turn.

"Wait, you guys seriously got this song?"

"I'm telling you the truth. Why won't you believe me?"

"Would you believe it if you were in my shoes?"

An in-house composer in charge of arranging invited an entertainment industry friend over and played the song for them.

"This is like hitting the lottery."

"Right? I honestly have no idea how Hye-eun managed to bring in a song like this."

"Who's the composer?"

"We don't know. They didn't reveal anything to us."

Even though the song was strictly under NDA, the choreography team invited outsiders and played it for them under the pretext of "it's just too good."

It was an absolute mess, with people even claiming on Naver stock discussion boards that they had heard Luminous's new song.

Yet, amidst all the chaos, there was one consistent evaluation.

"The song is seriously amazing."

"Unless they completely botch the promotions, this is a guaranteed hit."

"They should probably start preparing for the summer college festival circuit."

The song was truly insane. And naturally, industry insiders began searching for the person who wrote it.

It was only logical. Under normal circumstances, this was not a song Radiant could have produced or acquired.

Which left only one answer.

If a composer of this caliber was already active in the market, they would never have given this song to Radiant.

They wouldn't get paid enough, and the song might not get the recognition it deserved.

In other words, they must have scammed some rookie composer they found somewhere!

The only clue was a name they had overheard: Roger.

While Radiant's employees, who knew the truth, remained bound by their NDAs, the Korean music industry was slowly beginning to boil beneath the surface.

However, the state of the Korean music industry wasn't of much concern to the people here.

Because right now, they were busy with something far more important.

"Manager Jung, would you like a herbal calming pill?"

"Oh... yes, please!"

A small, golden pill handed over by her subordinate. Manager Jung took a short, deep breath and swallowed it.

Then, another deep breath.

As she double-checked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the materials in front of her, she felt her body warm up slightly and her mind begin to settle.

It's barely been any time since I took it... It must be a placebo effect, right?

Even as she thought this, she made a mental note to always keep some Woohwang Cheongsimwon on hand. She hadn't expected it to work this well.

While she was lost in thought, her alarm went off. A vibration signaling ten minutes before the hour.

"Alright, let's go!"

Rising with forced energy, she slung her bag over her shoulder and headed toward the building in front of her.

The place she had to go today.

And the place she had to do her absolute best to persuade today.

If they failed here, they would have to try the next place. And the next. And the next.

But since Manager Jung's philosophy was to always give her absolute best to what was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right in front of her, she decided to pretend she was standing on the edge of a cliff.

She felt that pushing herself that way brought out her best.

"I am Jung Yu-young!"

"Yes, one moment please."

The lobby receptionist made a quick phone call, then guided her on which floor to go to.

While riding the elevator up, Manager Jung kept repeating the facts she had memorized.

Group Sound sold 10,000 copies of their first full-length album in Korea in the first week, and their album sales have been steadily increasing ever since...

"Manager, we've arrived."

"Oh, oh! Ah, goodness."

The Japanese office workers stared at the two of them with puzzled looks.

Manager Jung bowed her head repeatedly, stepping out of the elevator with an embarrassed expression, and headed toward her destination.

With every step she took, she felt an imaginary weight pressing down on her feet.

It's only natural to be nervous. Since I joined Eco Sound, I've never handled a deal bigger than this... probably.

Manager Jung reminded herself of this and took another deep breath.

All for the upcoming discussions regarding Group Sound's major debut, full-length album release, and live tour in Japan and Korea.