Not long ago, the day he received the payment for his exclusive contract and went out to buy gifts for his family, Hyunseung, after much hesitation, finally made up his mind and bought a "gaming console".
「Come Visit, Animal Island!」
A game where you live a peaceful life on a quiet island village, doing leisurely activities like farming or fishing with adorable animal friends!
He had enjoyed playing this game even in his previous life because it always made him feel like he was on vacation.
"Haa…."
But there was one problem.
"Who on earth… stole all my turnips…?"
After playing the game all day and going through many ups and downs, he finally completed his "turnip farming" with a bountiful harvest, only for someone to steal all his turnips overnight.
"This is so depressing…."
Just as Hyunseung was about to set his console down on the bed...
Bzzzzzz
A call came in from an unregistered number.
"What the…?"
Without hesitation, Hyunseung pressed the reject button.
At least for now, he wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.
Bzzzzzz
But then, it vibrated again.
"Again…?"
Hyunseung reluctantly picked up his phone once more.
"Ah."
Upon checking the text message that had just arrived, he let out a short sigh.
[ Hello, Composer-nim. This is Kim Woohyun, Manager at LS Entertainment's Management Team. I found your song very impressive and would like to make a proposal that could be mutually beneficial…. ]
He had thought LS might send a contract offer soon, but he hadn't expected the bait to come this quickly.
"Hm."
It was clearly an important matter. Yes. It was definitely an important matter but...
'I'm just not in the mood to talk about work.'
So, forcing himself, Hyunseung typed out a reply:
[ I'm very sad. All the turnips I painstakingly farmed overnight got stolen. Let's talk later. ]
Then he threw his phone into the corner of his bed and closed his eyes. Contract or whatever... He figured he'd think about it after getting a good sleep.
A few days passed like that.
"Hm..."
Kim Woohyun was sitting at a table in the company cafeteria, jotting something down in his notebook.
- Currently using the pseudonym "HS."
- Contract name and account holder: Min Hyunseung.
- However, "Min Hyunseung" might not be his real name.
- Presumed to be an exclusive composer for another management agency.
- Skill level is judged to be exceptional.
- Hobby seems to be turnip farming (?).
After scanning through the list of peculiarities he'd scribbled in tiny letters about "HS,"
he added another line:
- A few days ago, after mentioning "someone stole my turnips," he's been ignoring my messages for days.
Honestly, this was a completely unforeseen situation for Kim Woohyun.
'Does he not know who I am?'
If he's an active composer, he should've at least heard the name of "The Rising Midas of the Industry" once. Even if he hadn't heard of his name, surely he'd know LS Entertainment, which boasts a lineup of major artists.
'Even if he doesn't want the contract, shouldn't he at least give a clear refusal?'
Woohyun shook his head.
'No… he's probably going through something tough…'
If someone had all their hard-earned turnips stolen after farming them all year, they'd be too devastated to focus on work, wouldn't they?
"Hm."
But he couldn't just sit around and wait forever.
[ HS ]
Staring at the number saved in his contacts for a while, he slowly gathered his thoughts.
'Should I try calling again?'
If he did, how should he open the conversation? After thinking for a long time, he finally made the call.
Beep... beep...
The dial tone rang for a bit, then...
"Hello."
A blunt voice answered on the other end.
"Min Hyunseung-ssi?"
"Yeah, who's this?"
At the curt response, Kim Woohyun squinted slightly and cleared his throat quietly, then carefully said the greeting he had rehearsed in his head:
"I'm truly sorry to hear about the recent turnip theft incident."
"Ah, LS?"
"Yes. First of all, I'd like to offer my sincere condolences…"
Just as Woohyun was about to continue...
"It's fine now."
"That's a relief."
"I've been forgetting about it through fishing."
Hyunseung added right away:
"After enjoying some boat fishing on the island, my anger subsided."
At that, Woohyun pulled the phone slightly away from his ear and stared at the screen in silence.
'…What the heck?'
The voice sounded like someone in their twenties, yet from turnip farming to fishing... His hobbies felt oddly mature and out of place. For some reason, he imagined him as the "mountain man" type, with long hair and a beard.
"Then… are you available to talk now?"
Then, from the other side:
"Hold on, I'm getting a bite right now."
Grunting sounds followed.
"Oh! It's a big one!"
Woohyun answered with a typical reaction:
"Oh! Congratulations, sincerely!"
Then Hyunseung's voice came through again:
"By the way, I'd appreciate it if you could keep it brief."
Swallowing dryly, Woohyun replied:
"I'd like to offer you an exclusive contract. Rather than talking over the phone like this, I'd prefer to meet in person and have a proper conversation…"
He trailed off cautiously, then asked again:
"By any chance, when will you be returning to Seoul?"
A cryptic response came right back:
"I'm in Seoul."
But hadn't he just said he was enjoying boat fishing on an island...?
'What? Are there islands in Seoul?'
As Woohyun puzzled over that...
"I hate dragging things out. Let's meet tomorrow, you can lay out the terms then."
"Tomorrow?"
"Yeah, tomorrow at 5 PM, at the DP Cafe in Hapjeong-dong."
With that, Hyunseung added, "Well then, back to fishing," and abruptly hung up. Woohyun sat there blankly, staring at the smartphone in his hand.
"Manager-nim, what's up? You look totally zoned out."
The PR team employees greeted him as they entered the cafeteria after lunch.
"Hey, uh…"
Woohyun asked out of nowhere:
"Are there islands in Seoul?"
One of the female employees chuckled and answered:
"There are plenty of islands in Seoul! There's Seorae Island, Sebitseom Floating Islands…"
Woohyun tilted his head in confusion.
"Do people fish there too?"
Then one of the male employees chimed in:
"I saw in a documentary recently, there are eel fishers there."
Only then did Woohyun nod in understanding.
"Ah…"
Min Hyunseung.
He didn't know much about him yet, but he seemed to be an exceptionally skilled composer who enjoyed turnip farming as a hobby and eel fishing on the Han River. On top of that, there were even rumors of his long hair falling past his shoulders (unconfirmed), a beard grown ruggedly like a bandit (unconfirmed), and his rude habit of bluntly saying what he wanted before abruptly hanging up the phone (confirmed).
"This guy…"
Kim Woohyun muttered again.
"Is a complete lunatic…"
Director Kim's misunderstanding only deepened further.
The next day, Kim Woohyun, having arrived 30 minutes early at the meeting place, looked down at the watch strapped to his wrist.
'4:59…'
There was only one minute left until the promised time of 5 o'clock. But for some reason, he hadn't been able to get in touch at all, nor had he caught even a glimpse of the other's face.
'Am I… being stood up?'
No matter how much the man had said he had "no intention to sign a contract," once a meeting had been scheduled, standing someone up was simply beyond the bounds of common sense.
What made it worse was that he hadn't even asked for Woohyun's understanding and had scheduled the meeting for the very next day, forcing Woohyun to cancel other plans.
'But now he's standing me up…?'
It would be one thing if he were at least reachable.
'He hasn't read my messages, nor is he answering his calls…'
Normally, when a meeting is set, isn't it standard courtesy to inform the other person when you're coming, whether you've left yet, or, if you're going to be late, by how much? At least, in his understanding of etiquette, it was.
No matter how long he waited, the naturalist who farmed radishes as a hobby, enjoyed boat fishing on the Han River, had long hair and a beard — this man was nowhere to be seen.
"Haa—."
Letting out a heavy sigh, Kim Woohyun glanced at the fishing rod set placed beside the chair he was sitting on.
It had been a set of expensive fishing rods he had purchased entirely out of pocket, as it was a bit awkward to put it on the corporate card.
'I didn't want to come empty-handed, so I splurged on this… and now I'm being stood up?'
Just as he was chastising his past self for not bothering to keep the receipt, thinking there would be no need for a refund…
[ 17:00 ]
His smartphone screen displayed that it was now exactly five o'clock.
Step, step.
Just then, a young man suddenly walked into the café.
"Hm?"
Immediately, Kim Woohyun gave the man who had just entered a quick once-over from head to toe. This was something of a chronic occupational hazard for him.
'Good looks, great proportions, seems photogenic… he totally has the face of an actor.'
Whenever he spotted someone, male or female, with striking looks, it was his habit to size them up just like this.
At that moment, the man, who had been glancing around the café, suddenly fixed his gaze right on Kim Woohyun.
"Are you from LS?"
At the unexpected question, Kim Woohyun coughed repeatedly as if something had gone down the wrong pipe.
"Kek, kek!"
"Are you… the composer?"
To his surprise, the composer who grew radishes as a hobby and enjoyed boat fishing on the Han River possessed a level of attractiveness that could allow him to debut as an actor immediately.
Contrary to Woohyun's expectations, the man didn't favor wearing hanbok, hadn't grown his hair out to his shoulders, wasn't sporting a thick, rugged beard, nor did he give off any sort of "naturalist" vibe. On the contrary, he was handsome. Not just ordinarily handsome, but jaw-droppingly handsome.
"Yes, I'm Min Hyunseung."
Hyunseung then sat across from Woohyun and crossed his arms.
"I thought you weren't coming since I couldn't reach you…"
At that, Hyunseung narrowed his eyes.
"Isn't it enough to just show up on time?"
"Well, that's true, but…"
"Are you proposing a contract without even that level of trust?"
Immediately, Kim Woohyun bowed his head and apologized.
"Ah, I'm sorry if I offended you."
He had a sinking feeling that the situation was taking a delicate turn, and cold sweat began to form. For Kim Woohyun, who had conducted easily over hundreds of meetings, this was the first time he'd ever felt so out of control.
'Still… he's just a rookie.'
Judging by his still-youthful face, it was obvious he didn't have much experience in the professional world, likely in his early twenties. If he just spent some time complimenting him and then laid out some decent contract terms, he'd surely be able to get him to sign without much trouble.
"Actually, I was very impressed by the track you sent."
But Hyunseung didn't even bother to respond.
"Your composing skills are truly outstanding. Not just me, but everyone in the in-house A&R team was full of praise…"
At that moment...
"I know."
Hyunseung replied with a hint of annoyance, furrowing his brows as he asked:
"So? You bought the song, right?"
Momentarily at a loss for words at Hyunseung's audacious attitude, Kim Woohyun forced a smile.
"On top of that, your appearance is also exceptional."
"Yes, as you can see."
"You could totally start acting right away…"
Hyunseung answered again in the same flat tone.
"Not interested."
A brief silence passed.
"Then… do you perhaps already have a contract with another company…?"
Director Kim trailed off ambiguously and looked at Hyunseung.
"No, not at the moment."
At those words, Kim Woohyun rejoiced inwardly.
"Ah, I see…"
Then, making effort to not show any excitement, he handed over the prepared contract.
"As I mentioned beforehand, I came to offer you an exclusive contract with our LS Entertainment. Please take a look through it, and if there's anything you don't like… would you mind letting me know…?"
Hyunseung quickly responded in a firm tone.
"Alright, let's read it through for now."
With those words, Hyunseung began slowly and meticulously going through the contract he had received from Kim Woohyun.
Rustle, rustle.
Only the indifferent sound of the pages turning echoed through the space.
'What's this? Don't tell me he doesn't like the terms?'
Kim Woohyun kept stealing glances at Hyunseung's expression, watching his every move.
'No way, that can't be.'
Sure, there were a few "poison pill" clauses mixed in that could potentially work against him later, but wasn't this contract drafted far more favorably than the industry average?
Even the poison pill clauses embedded within were crafted so cleverly that, from the perspective of a novice with no contract experience, they would be nearly impossible to detect and weed out. Besides, for a rookie composer, signing with LS Entertainment, a company with one of the most solid artist lineups in the industry, was practically a dream come true.
'In the end, he'll have no choice but to sign.'
Just as Kim Woohyun regained his composure and was about to take a sip of his now watered-down Americano…
"It's better than the industry standard."
Hyunseung spoke, keeping his eyes fixed on the contract.
"But there are a lot of poison pill clauses."
"Pardon?"
"Shall I recite a few for you?"
Without waiting for a response, Hyunseung began reading out a few clauses aloud.
"Cannot be terminated unless a natural disaster occurs."
"Well… it's not like you'll need to terminate it anyway…"
"You never know what could happen in life, so what are you talking about?"
Then, he recited another clause.
"In cases like this, the ownership period of the works will be adjusted through negotiation."
"Exactly, through negotiation…"
"You'll just sic your in-house legal team on me and twist it to your advantage anyway."
Once again.
"The contract period is way too long, and I'm not happy with the revenue split either."
Hyunseung shook his head and handed the contract back.
"My overall assessment is… 'It lacks sincerity.' That about sums it up."
"For a rookie, though, these terms are still quite favorable…"
"Yes, but I want to be treated according to my skills, not my experience."
As Hyunseung stood up, he asked:
"My skills aren't rookie-level, are they?"
Then, in a calm tone, he added:
"I'll give you one last chance."
"..."
"Please prepare a new contract… filled with sincerity."
Kim Woohyun just stared up at Hyunseung with a dazed expression, as if he'd been struck on the back of the head.
"I'll see you here again at this time tomorrow."
With those final words, Hyunseung turned around without a moment's hesitation and swiftly walked out of the café.
"Hah…"
Kim Woohyun let out a hollow laugh and loosened the tie that had been choking him, muttering under his breath:
"Interesting…"
His expectation that he could easily get a signature had completely missed the mark.
Kim Woohyun… He was someone who had been through it all in the concrete jungle that is the entertainment industry, but his instincts told him this wasn't just about exceptional composing skills. How should he put it?
It was as if this guy had the experience and discernment of someone who'd gone through dozens of contracts before.
"That bastard…"
Kim Woohyun also stood up from his seat.
"…is the real deal."
That composer was bound to make it big. To be precise, he was something that Kim Woohyun wanted to obtain, no matter what.
"Alright then… let's see who wins…"
A glint of intrigue flashed in Kim Woohyun's eyes.
By their next meeting, all he could think about was how he would, by any means necessary, make Hyunseung his.