The OST Contract (3)
[Mr. Young-hoon, did you have a good lunch? Your voice sounds a little tired.]
“Yes, President Lee. I ate so well that I'm fighting off a food coma right now. I hope you enjoyed your meal as well?”
[I did, thank you. I finished the registration application for 'A Loving Heart' this morning. But it looks like the copyright paperwork will take a few more days.]
“Understood. Thank you for your hard work. So you'll be heading over to Cheongdam-dong in Gangnam now?”
[Yes. I have a meeting scheduled for two thirty.]
“Hmm, that's coming up soon, then. Keep up the good work.”
[By the way, Mr. Young-hoon — are you sure you don't need to come along? You're the real owner of the company, after all. I was thinking it might be better for you to take the lead rather than me.]
“Well… all we have to do is stamp the contract as we agreed on verbally with PD Shin Hye-yoon on Saturday. Is there some other problem?”
President Lee Jae-man hesitated for a moment before answering.
[It's not that… I'll take care of it myself.]
Young-hoon felt a flicker of worry, but he trusted that President Lee would handle things just fine.
Yet the moment the call with President Lee ended, another one came in — this time from PD Shin Hye-yoon.
“Hello, PD Shin Hye-yoon.”
[Mr. Kim Young-hoon, if you're free this afternoon, could you come to our office?]
PD Shin fired off her request without so much as a greeting, and Young-hoon was utterly at a loss.
“Is something wrong? I just got off the phone with President Lee, actually, and… I thought there was no problem as long as I didn't come?”
[The truth is… I reported the draft of the OST contract to our CEO, and while there were no objections about the advance payment or the terms, our lawyer raised an objection about the penalty clause. We really have no choice but to have you come here and resolve it in person.]
“Could you tell me what the objection is?”
[We're contracting three OST songs with Girin Entertainment, but only one has been properly recorded and completed so far. The other two aren't finished — all we have is a schedule. That's what the lawyer took issue with. He says that if things run behind schedule, it could affect the drama, so the contract needs to specify exact deadlines, and it needs a clause allowing us to claim damages if those deadlines are missed.]
PD Shin continued in a tone of apology, almost pleading for his understanding.
[Honestly, from what I can see, the second song shouldn't be a problem schedule-wise… but the third one hasn't even been written or composed yet, has it? President Lee probably won't be able to give a clear answer about that one. That's why I'd like you to come over urgently and sort this out.]
“Hmm, I completely understand the lawyer's concerns. If it's necessary, I'll come over and take care of it, so don't worry. I heard the meeting is at two thirty — if I leave now, I might be a little late.”
[That's all right. I'm sorry the plans changed so suddenly. Then we'll discuss everything further when you arrive.]
As soon as he hung up, Young-hoon filed an outside-work report with Manager Kim and headed across to Cheongdam-dong in Gangnam.
When he arrived at Sinabro Production and checked his watch, it was just shy of two thirty. He walked into the office without being late, where CEO Joo Young-ki, the lawyer, screenwriter Lee Na-yeon, PD Lee Hyo-young, President Lee Jae-man, and PD Shin Hye-yoon were all waiting for him.
He found it curious that screenwriter Lee Na-yeon and PD Lee Hyo-young were present for an OST signing, but it didn't seem like the right moment to ask.
CEO Joo Young-ki greeted him warmly.
“Welcome, creator of the original work. I'm sorry we had to call you over so suddenly.”
“Not at all. I hurried over, so I should be the one apologizing for holding up the contract.”
Once the customary greetings were out of the way, the lawyer began speaking in earnest.
"I assume PD Shin Hye-yoon has already explained, but there are two problems with this contract. First, the OST we're contracting totals three songs. Of course, it was our own side that suddenly requested the additional song, leaving little time to spare — but there's nothing in the contract specifying exactly when each song will be delivered."
The lawyer raised his voice, as if these were points that absolutely had to be addressed.
"The second problem is that the penalty for missing the OST delivery deadlines is vague. In truth, this could be settled between us and the contracting party, Girin Entertainment — but we asked for you to join us because we wanted to hear the opinion of you, Mr. Kim Young-hoon, as the original creator."
Young-hoon thought the lawyer's arguments were entirely reasonable.
"I fully understand what you're saying, and I agree it's a legitimate concern. As for the schedule for the three OST songs — the first, 'A Loving Heart,' had its registration application filed today and is slated to open on November 1st. As far as I can tell, there's no problem with the timeline whatsoever."
President Lee Jae-man nodded along, confirming that Young-hoon's account was accurate.
"The second song, 'After Farewell,' is scheduled for lyric recording the day after tomorrow, on the 26th. Once the final touch-up work is done, we'll register the track in early November and release it on November 11th — so from the drama's production standpoint, there shouldn't be any issue at all. The third song is the tricky one. The truth is, that song was only requested this past Friday, the 20th, by PD Lee Hyo-young. It's an OST for the latter part of the drama, and he asked for the track to be ready by the end of November."
At Young-hoon's words, PD Lee Hyo-young stepped in to elaborate.
"Allow me to add some context about the third song. The drama we're currently producing is called Love After Separation. As you can probably tell from the title, it's the story of two people in love who are forced to part ways due to unavoidable circumstances, but who can't forget each other — and who eventually meet again and find a beautiful love together."
"……"
"We received several candidate OSTs from other singers for that moment, but none of them captured the feeling completely. As you know, the two OSTs Mr. Kim Young-hoon has already made are a sure guarantee that the drama's ratings will climb. The problem is that we have no OST to carry the final act of the drama. So after consulting with our screenwriter, I asked Mr. Young-hoon to create one additional song for us."
Only then did Young-hoon understand why PD Lee Hyo-young and screenwriter Lee Na-yeon were in the room. Looked at one way, they were the ones who had caused this whole situation — and they had taken their seats here to help smooth things toward an amicable resolution.
"To continue — the third OST is slated for use in the second half of the drama, in mid-January, so there's actually a fair amount of leeway time-wise. As long as it's finished by mid-December, there will be no problem at all in editing. I only asked for it by the end of November just to be on the safe side."
Having heard the full explanations from Young-hoon and PD Lee Hyo-young, the lawyer nodded as though satisfied — though it seemed not all of his doubts had been laid to rest.
"Then the questions about the first two OSTs have been thoroughly resolved. However, there are still gaps regarding the third song. First, I'd like to hear Mr. Young-hoon's own position on when he can have it completed. And second, if the quality of the third OST falls short of the other two, we'll need to discuss how contractual fulfillment should be handled."
"Let me answer the points you've raised, counselor. PD Lee Hyo-young asked me to have it done by the end of November — but that's not my plan. Finishing it as quickly as possible is clearly a win-win for all of us. The lyrics and composition are already complete. The song is called Returned Love."
Young-hoon swept his gaze around the room, then spoke with force in his voice.
"Furthermore, I handed this song over to Five Girls just yesterday. We're aiming to finalize each member's vocal parts and pass everything to the producer around the end of October. From that point on, it's purely a matter of technical execution, so I can't speak to the specifics — but I see no problem with meeting the delivery deadline."
Judging it was his turn to step in, President Lee Jae-man jumped in with a supporting answer.
"Allow me to address the technical side. We'll have the MR backing tracks finished by November 10th at the latest, then conduct the lyric recording and post-production on November 15th — which means the track should be registered by around November 25th. That gives us more than enough room to meet whatever timeline the production company requires."
"I see. Thank you for the explanation, President Lee. Now, as for the quality of the third song… I'm hopelessly tone-deaf myself, which is why I've invited the group who will actually be singing it — Five Girls — to join us here. They should have arrived by now. Please give me just a moment while I check where they are."
Everyone in the room, having heard that the third OST was already written and delivered, wore expressions of relief mixed with rising anticipation. The two songs they'd heard already had moved them deeply, so expectations came naturally.
Only the lawyer, who had yet to hear a single note, looked around at the others with a bemused expression.
Before long, Five Girls filed into the conference room. They'd apparently come straight from practice — their faces were bare of any real makeup.
Hye-in, the leader of Five Girls, spoke for the group.
"Hello, everyone. We're Five Girls, and we'll be singing the OST for Love After Separation. Please look kindly on us. On the way here, we got the gist of the situation from Mr. Kim Young-hoon. We only received the song yesterday, so we haven't had enough time to practice it properly. If our performance falls short, we ask for your understanding. The song we'll be singing is Returned Love."
After a brief round of vocal warm-ups, Five Girls began to sing in earnest.
Back then, I didn't know.
My heart was still too young, and the words went unsaid.
Time has passed, and down a long, winding road,
you and I have met again.
Our love begins right now.
Truly, a living legend — no argument there.
The moment the song ended, everyone in the conference room burst into applause and cheers. In a word, the game was over.
The lawyer was no exception. He couldn't hold back the tears of emotion streaming down his face.
For a long while he sat with his eyes closed, savoring the lingering resonance of the song, before composing himself and speaking.
"I'm a complete layman when it comes to music. But this is the first time a song has ever moved me like this. I haven't heard the other two songs yet — though frankly, I don't see any need to. Anyone capable of writing music like this is someone I can trust without reservation."
CEO Joo Young-ki chimed in with a see-I-told-you-so air, taking credit as if he'd made the song himself.
"Hey there, Lawyer Cha. I was right, wasn't I? I keep telling you — this is a guaranteed deal. If you get the chance later, have a listen to the other two songs as well. They're on a completely different level from anything other singers put out, my friend. So? Do you still think we need that penalty clause?"
"No. It seems I've committed a grave discourtesy. The contract can proceed exactly as written."
Only then did everyone in the office breathe a little easier, as if a weight had lifted from their shoulders.