Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: First Paycheck
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I arrived at the office.
“Alright. Let’s set it for that day, and we need to have the review completed at least three days before the showcase.”
-…
“Even if the company is struggling, we’ve always been clean with our financial dealings, so don’t worry.”
Manager Ji, who seemed to be on a call with the music video production company, nodded at my greeting and gestured toward the CEO's office.
‘You want me to go in?’
Seeing my mouthed words, Manager Ji nodded again.
I approached the CEO’s door and knocked.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
“…”
*Knock, knock, knock.*
“…”
What the? He told me to come in.
I opened the door slightly and peeked inside.
“…Hah! …Hut, hah!”
It was CEO Park Jae-yong, wearing a VR headset and vigorously slicing through the air.
“…”
When did he buy that thing?
CEO Park Jae-yong’s movements matched the choreography of the Answer song I had uploaded yesterday.
“Phew, it’s hot.”
Still wearing the VR headset, he moved cautiously, searching for the heater’s remote, and then jumped in surprise as he turned toward me.
He must have seen me through the headset’s external camera.
“Geez, you scared me! Hey, Min-jun. Even between us, huh? You gotta knock. What are you doing just barging in like this?”
“I knocked more than ten times.”
“Y-You did?”
“I was told to come in, but I got worried when there was no response, so I came inside.”
“Well, whatever. The map you made is incredible, you know? The choreography came out perfectly just by following the map.”
“I paid close attention to the sound quality as well.”
“Right, right. It was practically lossless audio quality, wasn't it? The map got a 5-star rating.”
CEO Park Jae-yong, looking immensely satisfied, mimicked a dance move as if slicing through musical notes.
“So… um, make some for my songs too. High difficulty.”
While others seemed to pour an immense amount of time and effort into a single map, thanks to my Star Maker trait, I could whip up a high-quality one in just an hour.
But… it was a pain.
“Even if I left work early, it would take a full two days to make…”
“I’ll buy you a meal.”
“I’m too busy to even eat. I haven’t even finished working on the rest of Answer’s B-side tracks.”
“What are you talking about? Looks like you’re all done. All that’s left is the mastering, right?”
For some reason, I felt myself becoming more brazen whenever I was in front of CEO Park Jae-yong.
Was it because of some lingering resentment from when he almost didn’t hire me?
“…Fifty thousand won per song…”
Why is he being so annoying?
“One hundred and fifty thousand won.”
“Gasp… I’ll give you seventy thousand.”
“One hundred and fifty thousand won.”
“You’re going to be like this with me? One hundred thousand.”
“I have a meeting for the school uniform commercial today, so I should get going…”
“Ah, seriously! Fine. One hundred and fifty thousand. Just make me five songs.”
“…”
“…Haha, you’re something else!”
As I stood there silently, CEO Park Jae-yong fiddled with his phone.
*Bzzzt.*
-Deposit: 750,000 KRW.
-Sender: Park Jae-yong.
So he was serious. He complains about the production budget being tight, and then he throws money around like this?
* * *
Manager Ji and I had a meeting regarding the school uniform commercial.
“I’ll be honest with you. Your Girl, Answer, and N-Pink were the final candidates. We decided on Answer based on a recommendation from a radio writer. We’ve been given full authority by the advertiser, but the production budget is fixed. Even knowing that Answer will likely become more popular, fifty million won is our limit. We have to pay our staff salaries too, you know.”
“Sounds good. Let’s sign the contract.”
Answer’s recognition was rising fast, and that speed would double after today’s episode of *Best Idol* aired. But a school uniform commercial was a great promotional tool that minimized image consumption while highlighting Answer’s character.
Moreover, an issue with the original model meant that the commercial, which should have started airing in February at the latest, was now scheduled for March. This effectively turned a six-month contract into a three-month one, since an entire quarter was lost.
Besides the summer and winter uniforms, sales of the spring and fall uniforms were most prominent during the school enrollment season in March.
Finally, if we refused, the commercial would go to our rivals, Your Girl.
“The schedule is a bit tight, so we’d be grateful if you could shoot as early as tonight.”
“That’s too sudden. I’ll coordinate it so we can shoot early tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you. And the rebate… that won't be a problem, right?”
“…No.”
The rebate was something beyond the fifty million won that would be paid to Answer.
Manager Ji and I left the meeting place.
“What are you, really? Are you actually twenty?”
“I’m twenty-two now, internationally, and twenty-three in Korean age.”
“Kid, it’s all the same.”
“More importantly, since the contract fee is coming in, let’s give Answer a provisional payment. As a show of support.”
Answer had unanimously agreed to postpone their payment to invest in the new album. While their living expenses were covered by the company, having money in your pocket just gives you more confidence.
“Let’s do that. The Director will be okay with it, I’m sure. Anyway, you did good. Landed a great commercial.”
Manager Ji and I returned to the company in high spirits.
“I could only get it up by another five million.”
“The fifty million already came in, anyway.”
The Director showed me the corporate account on her phone.
“We’ve scheduled the shoot for early tomorrow morning.”
“What? Talk about rushing things. Good work, Manager Ji. You too, Team Leader Min.”
“And Director, Team Leader Min suggested we give Answer a provisional payment.”
“The contract fee is in… and their schedule is more than half full, so let’s do it. While I run the numbers, could you go get Answer?”
The Director agreed without a moment’s hesitation.
I headed to the ASMR practice room where Answer was.
A drenched, heavy hip-hop EDM track. It was Your Girl’s title song.
♪♬
Where am I now?
A stage of a different color
Wanna get to know you more (get to know you more)
Trap me in the lights
♪♬
After their visit to the dance studio I had hired, I had figured out that the second round’s blind mission on *Best Idol* was to perfectly cover a rival’s song. So, I had been making Answer practice Your Girl’s choreography in their spare time.
♪♬
We had a secret time
Throw off your clothes, we don’t
Really need them (Baby, hurry)
We had a secret time
Just waiting around is so
Boring (Baby, hurry)
We had a secret time
♪♬
I watched with a pleased smile as Answer performed until the song was over.
Even Ro-si, the weakest dancer, executed the choreography flawlessly.
It felt like it was Answer’s song to begin with.
The result of a lot of hard work behind the scenes, I supposed.
*Clap, clap, clap.*
“A perfect cover, wouldn’t you say?”
The members of Answer turned off the music and smiled brightly.
“I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first…”
“The bad news.”
Seol-ah said with a tense expression.
“The bad news is that you’ll have to pull an all-nighter starting early tomorrow morning. The good news is that we signed a school uniform commercial deal today, and the even better news is that the contract fee was just deposited.”
“Woooah!”
“How much?”
As the Answer members cheered, Seol-ah asked.
“Six months, fifty million won.”
“Awesome!”
“There’s one more piece of good news, but let’s go hear it from the Director.”
I went to the office with the members of Answer.
The Director seemed to still be calculating, her fingers tapping on the keyboard.
“Just a moment.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
A few more entries were made, and the results appeared at the bottom of the spreadsheet program.
“What have you heard so far?”
“Just that the commercial contract fee came in.”
I answered the Director’s question to Answer.
“You’re starting to feel things getting busier, right?”
“We’re very grateful.”
“This isn’t an official payment, but I called you here for a provisional one.”
“!”
The members’ faces instantly brightened.
“You’ve received pocket money a few times, but that was just an allowance. Even if this is a provisional payment, it’s money you’ve earned through your hard work, so even if the amount is small, you should take pride in it.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Seol-ah seems especially happy.”
“Yes…”
Seol-ah made a tomboyish expression that didn’t quite suit her. It seemed most people couldn’t hide their true nature in front of the Director.
“You know that official payments are distributed 7:3 after the initial investment is fully recouped, right?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
In truth, a 7:3 split wasn’t a bad deal at all.
For rookie contracts, an 8:2 split in favor of the company was quite common.
“I’ll show you the honest data. We’ll distribute the documents during the official payment period, but from your auditions until yesterday’s expenses, the total investment has been 780 million won.”
“Gasp.”
Yi-na was particularly shocked.
In reality, just a few years of dorm life and food expenses could easily run into the hundreds of millions.
“Things have gotten better since Team Leader Min joined, and you’ve all worked hard, but we’ve only recouped 430 million. There are a lot of unexpected overhead costs.”
The Answer members nodded, their expressions a little disappointed.
“But since winning on *Best Idol*, your schedule for next month is almost 70% full, and we’ve been getting a fair number of commercial offers lately. We’ll probably get more after the episode showing your first-round win airs tonight. Your value will go up too.”
“…?”
“What I mean is, for now, we’re only accepting commercials that will help your image. For ads that consume your image, it’s better to take them after your value has gone up enough.”
“Aah!”
As if they had never been disappointed, smiles returned to the faces of Answer.
“I think it’s about time Answer started maintaining a certain standard of living, and just then, Team Leader Min suggested a provisional payment, so I called you in.”
The Answer members looked at me with touched expressions. The Director didn’t need to say that.
“So, this provisional payment will only be for the school uniform commercial. Understood?”
“Yes! Thank you.”
“Out of the fifty million won contract fee, after the 3.3% withholding tax, it’s 48,350,000 won… excluding overhead expenses…”
As chunks were deducted from the fifty million for various overhead costs, Yi-na’s expression turned comical.
“On top of that, excluding incentives, 30% of that is 10,900,000 won. Divided by four, that’s 2,725,000 won per person. Do you agree?”
“Yes! Thank you!”
Seol-ah, Seul-bi, and Ro-si, who had a proper understanding of payments, nodded calmly, but Yi-na’s face was crestfallen.
“Yi-na, are you disappointed?”
“…Honestly, just a tiny bit…”
Everyone chuckled at Yi-na’s reaction.
“This is because it’s a per-project payment. Once Answer’s value goes up and your schedule is packed, you could easily be making tens of millions a month. Let’s keep working hard.”
“Yes, Director!”
“I’ve already spoken to the accounting team, so it should be deposited soon.”
“Thank you, Director!”
*Bzzzt.*
You’ve got mail!
*Ting, ting, ting!*
*Bzzzt.*
Their phone notifications went off simultaneously, and proud smiles spread across Answer’s faces.
The accounting team members, sitting just two meters away, had strange smiles on their faces.
“I think we’ll be able to do a real payment starting next quarter, so let’s look forward to it.”
“Yes, Director!”
“All managers do their best and work hard for their artists, but Team Leader Min is making a special effort, so listen to him well.”
“Yes, Director!”
“We’ll listen to him!”
The corners of the Director’s mouth lifted in a pleased smile.
“You guys are going to watch from the practice room, right?”
“Yes!”
“Let’s go. We have to watch Answer’s brilliant performance live.”
A beaming Answer headed for the practice room, and the Director and I followed.
I stopped by the supply room and grabbed a folding chair in each hand.
“Me too!”
The Answer members followed my lead, each grabbing a chair in each hand.
“Ah! We’ll get those, Seonbae-nim! Oh, the Director too.”
As we entered with chairs in our hands, including the Director, the trainees rushed out.
Soon, a TV stand was rolled out with a *clatter-clatter-clatter* and positioned in the center of the mirrored wall. Choi Yoo-jun, who had been out on a schedule with Lee Yoo-ah, returned.
“You, come with me to get coffee.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Coffee’s on me. The menu is Iced Americano, Hot Americano…”
“Ooh!”
At my words, smiles bloomed on the trainees’ faces.
“The café can use Stevia instead of sugar, so Caramel Macchiatos are also possible.”
“Woooah!”
“Who said you’re buying coffee? Not while I’m here.”
The atmosphere became even more lively as the Director held out her personal card.
I might not know her total net worth, but I was pretty sure I had far more liquid assets than the Director… and she wouldn’t even let me treat them?
Well, I wasn’t going to stop her.
“You’ll be short-handed. I’ll go too!”
In the end, even the members of Answer ended up tagging along to buy something as simple as coffee.