Stopping the Wrong Deal (3)
Joanna couldn’t hide her excitement.
She loved the occult.
Ghosts, spirits, Halloween.
And then there was the mystery of the East.
All of it delighted her, filled her with a bright, childlike thrill.
So when she first heard about a man called Kang Noah online, it was only natural that she let out a cheer.
Good heavens.
A fortune-teller?
One who was said to be infallible, no less.
A mysterious man who flipped over a single card and solved people’s problems as if it were nothing.
Joanna couldn’t possibly not be interested.
“Hey, Joanna. Isn’t it a little much to be talking about going all the way to Korea?”
The company president she’d worked with for years.
A woman in her fifties named Alice let out a sigh.
She didn’t like the fact that Joanna was interested in this sort of thing.
Collecting things like power stones.
Going to see fortune-tellers who claimed to be shamans.
“Oh, Alice. It’s just a hobby.”
“Ha. Fine. Then what about the contract?”
Back when she’d first heard her sing and play guitar, Alice had scouted her and signed her.
And now that contract was nearly up.
Alice was certain of it.
Joanna would stay with her company.
“Sorry. I got a call from Swimmel.”
Swimmel.
A place far bigger than Alice’s company.
“Why?!”
“Why, you ask...”
Joanna looked flustered.
Of course it was true that Alice had been the president of the company that had stayed with her from the very beginning.
But that didn’t mean she had to remain there forever, did it?
“W-would you at least hear the terms?”
“Hmm. All right.”
Alice felt a flicker of relief.
Like any exceptional artist, Joanna was stubborn and had a strong ego.
For her to even agree to hear the terms was already half a victory.
So Alice handed over the new contract.
“Mm. This isn’t great.”
“...Why? It’s not bad compared to what Swimmel would offer, is it?”
“Because there are clauses in here that let the company interfere with the music I want to make.”
That wasn’t all.
She’d also have to wear outfits chosen by the company.
“At this rate, I won’t be able to pursue the freedom I want.”
“Then if these terms change, you’ll sign with me?”
“One more thing.”
“What?”
“Let me choose which countries I want to visit on overseas tours.”
Alice felt the back of her neck go stiff.
This was becoming a headache.
How much did one overseas tour cost, and she wanted the singer to decide where they went?
“Joanna. It’s true that you’ve been getting popular lately, but you’re not there yet.”
“Swimmel said they’d let me do that.”
“What?!”
Swimmel.
Even in America, it was a company people respected.
To push someone this hard from a place like that...
Are they planning to raise Joanna even higher...?!
She had to admit it.
Joanna had talent.
Maybe Swimmel had seen it too.
I’ve lost.
From the scale of the company to the facilities, the singers under contract, and the support they provided...
In every way, her own company was inferior to Swimmel.
So it was only natural that Joanna would leave.
And yet, and yet Alice couldn’t bear it.
“Damn it!”
Alice stormed out.
Watching the door she’d left through, Joanna turned back to her phone.
-Korabi. Don’t drive tomorrow. Your brakes are shot.
[Korabi sent you 100 gold!]
[Holy shit!! I just had it serviced a week ago and now you’re saying the brakes are broken?! Those bastards!!]
Messages flooded up the screen.
Joanna blinked, waiting in anticipation, then posted her own message.
[STarLight1 sent you 1000 gold!]
[What do you think next quarter’s Billboard chart will look like? I like Joanna!]
But.
There was no reply.
Joanna pouted, clearly disappointed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Fuck! Fuck!”
Alice kicked over a trash can and seethed.
The terms Swimmel had offered were real.
That meant Joanna really was leaving.
“To think you’d betray me!! You filthy bitch!!”
It wasn’t unusual for a singer whose contract had ended to leave under certain conditions.
Especially not someone like Joanna, who wasn’t just idol-level but could practically be called a pop star.
There were plenty of places that wanted her.
But to Alice, this was betrayal.
I...!! Do you have any idea how much I worked for you!!
Since the days when Joanna had been nothing but an ignorant upstart, how much had Alice done to guide her?
From broadcast stations to a nationwide tour across America.
There wasn’t a single place she hadn’t touched.
I made you... I did!!
She was the one who had made Joanna.
It was thanks to her that Joanna had managed to carve her name into the Billboard charts at all.
And now.
Now she was betraying her like this?!
If I tell you to do something, you should just go and do it without making a fuss...!!
She was so angry she could no longer think rationally.
But Alice didn’t even realize that.
Some singer, some no-name entertainer.
Some yellow monkey bastard from the East.
How dare she defy a white woman’s orders?
Of course, everyone knew that Joanna’s success had far more to do with her overwhelming talent than with Alice’s efforts.
But none of that mattered to Alice now.
She believed she was right.
Rage.
Endless rage toward Joanna.
It had driven Alice completely out of her mind.
That was why.
“...I won’t forgive you.”
It was only natural that she would reach for the notebook where Joanna sometimes scribbled down songs.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“W-what do you mean... Alice would never...”
“You don’t believe me?”
Joanna’s blue eyes trembled.
Well, I couldn’t really blame her.
“You signed with Alice when you were seventeen, right?”
“Y-yeah! Alice would never do that! We’ve been together for almost ten years...!!”
“And yet she did. Here, take a look. Garbage, right?”
“.....”
“Should I arrange for you to meet her later?”
“Okay.”
It wasn’t time to mention a renewal just yet.
The president had come along himself for the sake of Joanna, the company’s treasure, so we might as well meet Alice first.
I needed to find out what kind of person she really was.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“I’m Alice Twinster.”
“I’m Kang Noah.”
I shook hands with a neat, middle-aged white woman in her mid-fifties whose Korean was fluent.
On the surface, she didn’t look like the type who’d steal other people’s songs.
But I could see it.
This woman wasn’t just embezzling from her company.
She was also taking sexual favors from the male singers under her label.
And when she’d received investment, she’d spoken with great confidence.
Joanna was practically her puppet.
She’d do anything she was told.
She’d used Joanna’s rise as leverage, and now she planned to use a renewal with her as leverage as well, bringing in investment, growing the company, buying a house, buying a car.
So of course she’d done something like this when Joanna tried to sign with another company.
“I’ve heard a lot about you from Joanna. They say you’re quite the fortune-teller.”
“Haha. It’s nothing special.”
“May I have my fortune told too?”
Her eyes were full of expectation as she looked at me, so I held out a card.
She slowly turned it over, then looked back at me with obvious anticipation.
I didn’t really feel like telling someone like her her future, so I said something vague and left it at that.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The next day, Joanna complained to me that Alice had told her not to see me.
“Alice really hates you, huh?”
“Well. That might be true. Anyway, let’s think about how to deal with Alice. First option: just stay with her.”
“I hate that. Alice’s terms are way too unfavorable to me.”
“Fine. Second option: register every song you’ve already written under copyright.”
Whether it was practice songs scribbled in a notebook or anything else.
“...So? Which method do you think is better?”
“That’s for you to choose.”
I held out a card to Joanna.
Her trembling hand touched it.
“If you use the second method, you’ll get shot.”
Because if that worked, there’d be nothing Alice could do to Joanna.
“Wait, so you’re saying my only choices are to die or become a slave?”
It didn’t sound like a slave contract to me...
“There’s a third option.”
“Wha...t?”
“Sue her for an astronomical amount.”
“A lawsuit?”
Wasn’t America the country of lawsuits?
That’s what the older guys at the orphanage used to tell me.
“You can’t sue someone unless they actually did something wrong. But Alice hasn’t done anything wrong yet, has she?”
“What do you mean she hasn’t done anything wrong?”
“Hm?”
“Alice intercepted a pretty large amount of money that should’ve been paid to you.”
“...What?!”
She looked stunned.
But it was true.
When I’d looked into Alice’s past yesterday, there had been quite a few things she’d done.
“And she’s been secretly selling drugs too.”
On top of that, there was prostitution, embezzlement, and breach of trust.
Not to mention her gun-handling issues and tax evasion.
“N-no... why would Alice...”
“Maybe because money’s good. Wouldn’t that be enough to get at her?”
At that moment, Joanna’s future changed.
From a future where her songs were stolen and she cried miserably, to a future where she moved forward under a new company.
So that was the answer after all.
“Anyway, when you get back, tell a lawyer and make a quiet report to the National Tax Service. You do have a lawyer friend, don’t you?”
“You saw that too?”
“If you start with the embezzlement and work outward, the rest will come out.”
If you’re going to cut something off, you have to cut it quickly and cleanly, don’t you?
“O-okay... uh...”
“There. I think I’ve told you everything I can.”
She had fallen silent and lowered her head.
Learning the truth about Alice, the colleague she had trusted, must have come as a tremendous shock.
“...Then can I ask just one more thing?”
“Of course.”
“If I do all that and move to another company, what will happen with my next album?”
“It’ll do well.”
It was true.
It would spend a full three months at number one on the Billboard charts.
“...Really?”
“Really.”
“Ha. I thought this was just a fan meeting, but it looks like all sorts of things happen here.”
She scratched her head and then grinned.
“Anyway, then. Hey, are you ever planning to come to America?”
“No.”
I answered flatly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After a short vacation, Joanna left.
And not long after that.
A gift arrived as her consultation fee.
“......”
A Porsche with a pop-up roof.
A car worth nearly three hundred million won in cash.
I turned my head.
There was a Mercedes sports car sitting next to the Porsche.
It was the car Han Yu-na had once given me as a gift.
I’d refused it, but she’d left it behind anyway, as if she’d already settled the tax issue and there was no point arguing.
Now I had two ridiculously uncomfortable cars.
No, I didn’t even have a driver’s license...
What was I supposed to do with these?
I couldn’t exactly sell something I’d received as a gift.
“...I guess I should get a license.”
Right.
Let’s do that.
I went straight to a driving academy.
And when I went in to register.
“Mr. Kang Noah... your driver’s license...”
I saw it.
The future where the academy exploded and people died in a heap.