Showcase (3)
Showcase (3)
The place A-ra led me to by the hand was Gangnam.
Well, technically we came by car, so calling it "led by the hand" is a bit of a stretch.
Me, someone who had only ever lived on the outskirts,
ending up in a glittering place like this.
So this was why people always went on and on about Gangnam.
My head was nodding in agreement all on its own.
Seeing me like that,
A-ra said I was cute and stroked my hair.
"Was it Seong-hwan's first time coming to Gangnam?"
"I never had a big reason to come here."
When I was in that other world, I was too busy going to school and working part-time jobs.
And after I came to this world, I was also too busy going to school and working part-time jobs...
Not much had changed after all.
Ah—for the record, I quit the convenience store job.
Actually, the manager was the one who brought it up first, apologizing and telling me she had to let me go, so I suppose I should be grateful.
Just as A-ra had said, it was something that wasn't good for either me or the manager.
She smiled bitterly and said it would hurt sales, but it was probably just a joke
to lighten the suddenly dampened mood...
A-ra mimicked the tone of an old remodeling show MC and
introduced the building we were standing in front of.
"This is our agency."
She let me out before parking, so I looked up at it once.
How should I put it? It looked like one of those IT company buildings in Pangyo.
It was a big, rectangular building.
So this was the kind of scale you needed to be in the industry's TOP3.
I didn't let it show, but I was deeply impressed.
"Rumor has it that A-ra Noona pretty much owns a stake in a company like this...?"
"Hehe. Your noona is pretty impressive, you know."
"That is true."
She was a world star, after all.
Who could possibly pick a bone with A-ra?
I stroked the hair of A-ra, who was puffing out her chest with a confident expression.
"S-Seong-hwan, don't stroke my hair when we're outside!"
"But Noona was stroking mine."
"Are men and women the same?"
What was different?
I tilted my head with a look that said I didn't quite understand,
and A-ra's face flushed slightly red.
"It ruins my image... I mean, a woman getting her hair stroked by a man out on the street..."
"It's just cute though?"
"...The only ones who say that are men like you."
The reason male idol fans are mostly women and female idol fans are mostly men
is because people are drawn to the opposite sex.
That's why, supposedly, seeing displays of affection from the same sex never feels pleasant—
only unpleasant.
Definitely.
I didn't want to see a guy grinning and acting cute either.
Ugh...
"Right?"
"Yeah... I think I understand what you mean."
Happy that I understood, she smiled brightly and held out her hand.
I sighed and smiled wryly, then took that hand.
***
After looking around the inside of the agency, we went up
to the top floor and waited for the Director in the reception room.
Did the Director really come out personally when signing contracts with rookies at such a big company?
"There's no way that happens normally, right? She came out because it's you, Seong-hwan."
Well, that made sense. There was no way that happened normally.
The CEOs of entertainment companies were usually famous singers,
actors, or actresses.
It would be nearly impossible for such people to make time to deal with rookies.
And yet, a person like that had shown up at the company on a weekend,
on a Sunday no less, because of me.
And I wasn't even a celebrity, just a mere creator.
"The Director was saying that in her eyes, you'd hit 10 million subscribers in no time, you know?"
"Come on, 10 million is only possible for kids' channels or block-building game channels, right?"
A cooking channel surpassing 10 million?
That would be impossible unless this were a cartoon world where 90% of the population was obsessed with cooking.
"Well, I guess we'll find out once we make the channel, won't we?"
A-ra laughed as if teasing me.
I was starting to lose track of whether she was serious or joking.
Since nothing A-ra ever said was wrong, some part of me found it tempting,
but another part of me felt bitter, wondering if I was just counting my chickens before they hatched.
We spent a good while exchanging idle chatter like that
when someone opened the door and came in.
She had black hair like A-ra's, tied neatly into a ponytail,
and she wore a black suit and glasses that looked carefully chosen.
Was she some kind of legal consultant or something?
The intellectual aura she gave off was no joke.
"Hello. I am CEO Lee Min-jeong. This is our first time meeting, isn't it?"
"Ah... Hello. I am Yoo Seong-hwan."
I sprang to my feet and bowed my head.
To think she was the CEO.
I never would have imagined that.
How could anyone look at her and think she was the CEO?
And then the Director held out her hand first,
so I responded by shaking it with both hands.
"Actually, I have some business that came up starting tomorrow, so I need to go down to the countryside.
How terrible of me to interrupt your date time when you're newlyweds."
"Uh... Unnie...! What are you saying!"
"Honestly, A-ra... where did you even fish up a gentleman like this... bragging about it by text every single day..."
"Shh! Be quiet!"
A-ra lunged forward and clamped her hands over the Director's mouth.
The Director's face was all smiles as she tried to wriggle free and keep teasing somehow,
but it seemed A-ra's strength kept her pinned.
"What are you saying in front of my husband, you're embarrassing me!!"
"Well, I mean, when I finally saw the husband you brag so much about in person, I just wanted to tease you."
"Do you have no sense of shame, Unnie?! Saying that kind of thing in front of a man...!"
Whether she was taking A-ra's nagging to heart or not,
I was amazed to see the Director simply snort and ignore it.
To think a person existed who could tease A-ra like this.
I thought she would be a stiff person since she was the Director,
but she was just a really, really close older sister.
Watching the two of them tussle like that, my heart felt warmer.
A-ra and the Director, who had been kicking up quite the ruckus,
just barely concluded a peace treaty and took their seats.
These people, right in front of someone else,
had spent a full ten minutes fighting, pulling each other's ears and pinching each other's cheeks...
Still, they seemed embarrassed after all,
because they cleared their throats awkwardly, their faces a little red.
They didn't make eye contact, just looked down at the Tablet PC they had brought earlier,
apparently preparing something.
"First, this is the contract you, Seong-hwan-ssi, will be signing."
What the Director handed over was not a paper contract but a Tablet PC.
What was this? Do they hand you a Tablet PC instead of a contract these days?
I tilted my head with a look that said I didn't know what was going on,
and when I poked A-ra's side, she brought her mouth to my ear.
'It's an electronic contract. If you fill it out here, they print out a physical copy for you later.'
Aha.
Only then did I understand. I
took the Tablet PC and read through it line by line.
"The creator, as owner of the channel and contents, joins the MCN...
The company holds exclusive business rights related to the creator's content...
'Channel' refers to the public transmission and distribution channels for content, including SNS and mobile broadcasting,
which the creator legally owns or can manage and control during the contract period..."
To put it simply,
it meant that, naturally, the owner of the channel was me, the creator,
and the company would hold exclusive business rights over it.
This applied not only to my Qtube channel but also to my SNS accounts,
meaning the company would manage most areas where I was active online.
"Looking at this clause here, does the revenue also get transferred to a company channel?"
"Yes, that's correct. The revenue from Seong-hwan-ssi's channel will be divided by ratio,
and then what's left after deducting taxes and a few other things from Seong-hwan-ssi's share
will be deposited into your personal account."
"I see... Honestly, I don't know anything about that kind of stuff."
"That's exactly why the company exists, for people like you."
The Director flashed me a grin.
The contract wasn't bad.
No, it was good enough that you could even call it excessively accommodating.
Thinking about all the past incidents where MCNs had snatched channels away,
it was enough to make me smile bitterly.
A-ra also read through it line by line from beside me,
and her expression seemed to brighten a little.
Yeah... it had brightened.
It suddenly darkened again, so that's why I used the past tense.
"Unnie, somehow this contract seems quite a bit different from the one I signed?"
"Th-That's..."
"The revenue split ratio, and also... when I signed my contract, there was a waiver clause, but there's none here?"
Evidently, the terms were so good that even A-ra, a world star, felt envious.
A-ra picked up the Tablet PC she had placed on the table
and read through it again in a long scroll.
"10:0..."
I almost burst out laughing.
What kind of agency, to a rookie...
no, to a total newbie who didn't even have a channel yet,
offers a contract with this kind of revenue split?
From what I'd heard, an 8:2 ratio was standard for rookies,
and 9:1 was standard for established Qtubers.
At this point, wasn't this a reverse slave contract?
The MCN would be handling all the tax processing, editing, and ad placements anyway.
Would there even be any profit?
"No profit, my foot! If we bring you in, the CEO Unnie is obviously going to be sitting on a mountain of money on the MCN side.
Do you think there's only one or two Qtubers who would want to come if you were here?"
"Hahaha! Seong-hwan-ssi, hurry up and sign! Go on!"
Dodging the pouncing A-ra this way and that, the Director tossed the stylus pen to me.
The stylus pen landed neatly on my palm,
and as if it were fate, my hand curled around the stylus pen and
began drawing a signature onto the Tablet PC.
"Unnie, don't change the subject and tell me. Say you'll re-contract with me."
"Oh-ho! After I brought in little Tiny who was posting music on her blog and raised her up!"
"That's one thing, but this is another!"
"I have nothing left to give you now, okay?! I already gave you all my stock!"
"W-Well, that is true, but..."
A-ra looked like she'd been knocked flat.
Now that I thought about it, this company was a major corporation.
Having received all of the major corporation's CEO's shares,
it couldn't have been just a pittance of money.
It was amazing she still maintained her position as CEO even after giving that away...
But I guess it was possible because A-ra was the majority shareholder?
The Director confirmed that I had finished signing, then
snatched the Tablet PC and held it aloft as if it were some kind of holy grail.
Seeing that, A-ra let out a snort,
and I could do nothing but smile wryly.
"The contract's settled, so why don't you tell me about the lawsuit now?"
"Right, right. I almost forgot."
The previously chaotic atmosphere turned sharp in an instant.
'Finally, the main topic.'
Was that the feeling?