Chapter 76: Plagiarism (1)

"Seon-Woo plagiarized someone else’s song?"

"Yes. I went to the copyright association with Mr. Park because of work, and I overheard him talking with an association employee. They said the song was exactly the same as one that was already registered."

"Ran-Hee, when did you hear this news?"

"Two days ago."

Now I could understand why I still hadn't received the final confirmation after registering Seon-Woo's song at the copyright association.

'Park Han-Cheol. You’re seriously trying to screw Singer Division 2 over, huh?'

After sharing the news, Do Ran-Hee seemed a bit worried and asked me to keep it a secret.

"Don't worry. I won’t mention your name. I’ll say we looked into it ourselves."

I told the relieved Do Ran-Hee to go back inside the restaurant first.

"I'll go back in after making a phone call. Oh, and..."

"And?"

"Thanks for sharing this information with me. It was a big help. I'll treat you big time at

Hanwoo Myeongga

in Apgujeong."

Do Ran-Hee's eyes widened like huge marbles. "What? But that place costs 55 thousand won per person! I heard the charcoal-grilled barbecue with

myeongi-namul

[1] is amazing!"

"Yes. Now, I’m going to make that phone call. I’ll meet you inside?"

Do Ran-Hee threw her head back and roared with joy. "Yes, go ahead. We still have our second round so hurry up!

Hanwoo! Hanwoo

! Delicious

Hanwoo

!"

‘

Yep. She’s definitely drunk.

’

I immediately called Lee Dong-Min and updated him over the phone. Relieved by Lee Dong-Min’s reassurance that he would look into it right away, I headed back to the restaurant.

In the short time I was gone, only the bones of the chicken we ordered were left.

"S-so. Where shall we go for the second round?"

Yung-Jin answered my question. "How about

Hanwoo Myeongga?

"

Do Ran-Hee looked startled and shook her head as she said it wasn't her who suggested going to

Hanwoo Myeongga.

‘Then Yung-Jin is just talking nonsense.’

I laughed and downed the remaining beer in my 500cc glass.

Clang.

The sound of the beer glass hitting the table was quite loud.

"My beloved friend, Yung-Jin. I must have heard you wrong, right?"

Yung-Jin hesitated for a moment. "Then... how about the food stall nearby?"

Despite the protests from other colleagues, I nodded and gave Yung-Jin a warm gaze—though I highly doubt he considered it a warm gaze.

"Ah, yes. It’s a perfect place for wrapping up. Sounds good to me~."

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Thanks to Yung-Jin's alternative suggestion, I managed to settle the second round for 30 thousand won.

***

The filming of

Blue Sky

that started in the morning ended at 6 PM.

After dropping off the exhausted Yoo-Jin at home, I headed straight to the company.

"Have you seen Mr. Lee?"

After reporting the plagiarism incident yesterday, we decided to have a strategy meeting as soon as he came into the office today. But Lee Dong-Min wasn't answering his phone.

Choi Kang-Woo, the team lead of Singer Division 2 who was busily moving around, answered my question. "Go check Practice Room 1 on the second floor."

Practice Room 1 was the largest in our company, usually used by Golden Road and Cherry Blossom for practicing their choreography.

I thanked him and headed straight to the second floor. As soon as the elevator doors opened, I slightly opened the glass door of the practice room right in front of me. But instead of Cherry Blossom who should have been practicing, it was Golden Road.

Clap clap!

The members of Golden Road all turned in unison to the loud clap counting the beat.

"That's it! There~ turn! One. Two. Eun-Yung, you’re doing great. Soo-Jin, your right hand is too low. Myung-Eun, you're not concentrating!"

Seong Eun-Soo, the choreography team lead, was busy overseeing the dance practice for Golden Road members, who were all wearing a tracksuit with hair tightly tied back.

Not understanding the situation, I closed the door and stepped out. Then, I checked the LCD notice board at the entrance of the practice room. It was clearly written that it was Cherry Blossom's practice time from 7 PM to 9 PM.

The current time was 8 PM.

‘But why is Golden Road here?’

Cherry Blossom was scheduled to attend Park Seon-Nyeo's aerobics lesson at 11 PM—so it couldn't be that they had finished practice and left already.

'Could they have been pushed out by Golden Road?'

That was when Seong Eun-Soo opened the door and appeared with a fierce glare like a predator.

"You really stick your nose everywhere, don’t you. What brings you here today?"

Seong Eun-Soo’s words were laced with thorns.

"I came looking for Cherry Blossom because they are supposed to be using the practice room at this time."

Seong Eun-Soo scoffed and glared at me. "But you guys are training with that aerobics lady, aren’t you? That's why our Golden Road girls are using this space. Why? Is there a problem with that?"

Every single word she spoke was dripping with hostility.

It was true that Cherry Blossom were scheduled for lessons at Park Seon-Nyeo's aerobics academy, but they still needed to use the practice room for other times.

"I understand why you're upset, Ms. Seong. But you still have to respect the scheduled practice time."

"What did you just say to me?"

"Since you've used up Cherry Blossom’s practice time, our girls will use the next time slot."

When I replied firmly, Seong Eun-Soo's face turned red with anger. "Are you kidding me? My girls will be practicing in this room until dawn, so don't even think about it!"

‘Until dawn? Yikes.’

I saw the faces of the members of Golden Road turning pale through the glass door.

‘

Sorry, girls. It seems your dance trainer has lost it.

’

Their expressions twisted as they looked at me, but it wasn't my fault.

Seong Eun-Soo went back into the practice room and yelled at the Golden Road members. "What are you looking at!? Get back to practice!"

‘

Well, it doesn't matter much. Cherry Blossom can practice when Golden Road has a schedule.

’

But I definitely intended to pay them back for what was happening now.

Once Cherry Blossom became more popular, the priority for using the practice room could change anytime.

This time, I called Team Lead Han Myung-Ho.

-Hey, Yoon-Ho.

“Mr. Han, where are you? I came to the main practice room, but Ms. Seong is..."

-Come to the basement theater. Things got a bit awkward with Seong Eun-Soo, so we came down here.

‘They must have already had a confrontation before I came.’

"I'll be right down, sir."

After ending the call with Han Myung-Ho, I went down to the small theater on basement level 2. The small theater on the second basement floor located at the end of the recording studios had 150 seats and a stage. It was slightly smaller than a broadcast station's open hall, but perfect for real-life practice even though practicing here wasn’t what we had intended.

I carefully opened the back door, trying my best not to disturb the practice.

Boom! Boom! Doo-Doo-Boom!

A powerful percussion sound escaped the room as soon as I opened the door. On stage was Cherry Blossom dancing in bear print sweatshirts and track pants.

'It looks like the choreography has changed. Is this the finalized version?'

The members of Cherry Blossom turned their waists in unison while raising both hands. With each flick of the waist, their outlines were slightly revealed. The simple movements looked easy enough for even a child to follow and had a showstopper that made them appealing to the crowd.

'Wow. This is going to be a hit.'

Idol choreography that had dance moves which made it easy for children to follow as well as a showstopper tended to be more successful. Of course, it also needed to possess a level of complexity that was challenging to replicate in intricate detail. The choreography arranged by Park Seon-Nyeo had both of these elements of success.

‘Hurry Up!’

had so many waist movements that it could even be called 'waist up' choreography. The formation of Cherry Blossom had completely changed from the initial version. Sae-Ri, who used to be at the back of the diamond formation, was now at the front. Yang Eun-Bi stood to her left and Eun-Ah stood to her right while Woo Yeon-Hee danced at the very back.

In the past, Sae-Ri was usually sent to the back of the formation because she was considered a bad dancer. But just by assigning her an easier choreography and placing her at the front, the entire mood had become more lively.

I couldn’t believe how much had changed just by changing the choreography and the formation. Hiring Park Seon-Nyeo was indeed a masterstroke.

"One~ Two~ Three~ Ho~!"

The recorded voice of Park Seon-Nyeo flowed out of the speakers of the small theater. Below the stage was Han Myung-Ho recording the performance with his phone for monitoring purposes.

"Okay~! That's good for now. Let's take a quick break, guys."

As Han Myung-Ho called cut and stopped the music, the Cherry Blossom members plopped down on the stage.

Then, Woo Yeon-Hee somehow managed to spot me in the dark and waved her hand with a bright expression.

"Oppa!"

‘Woah. Does she have infrared cameras for eyes or something? How did she see me in this darkness?’

"Hey. Good work, guys."

As I waved back and walked down the stairs, a barrage of greetings followed.

Yang Eun-Bi's greeting had changed. "You are now Assistant Manager Jung, right? Hey~ Wassup!"

Eun-Ah stood up and bowed politely upon seeing me. "Mr. Jung. Hello."

"Whoa, Eun-Ah. If you greet him politely like that, what does that make me?"

Yang Eun-Bi playfully grumbled, turning Eun-Ah's face red. "I’m sorry, unnie."

It seemed like everyone had heard the news of my promotion and started addressing me as Assistant Manager Jung.

‘But I'd prefer it if they just called me oppa.’

However, Sae-Ri didn't care about such formalities and shouted with her hand raised high. "Sae-Hi!"

'Sae-Hi' was short for 'Sae-Ri says Hi.'

"Yep. Sae-Hi~."

When I responded to her long-distance high-five, Sae-Ri smiled contentedly.

After greeting everyone, I handed a bag filled with soft drinks to Han Myung-Ho. "Guys, come down the stage and have some of this."

One by one, the Cherry Blossom members came down the stairs next to the stage in a line.

Woo Yeon-Hee quenched her thirst and asked, "How did you know we came down here instead of Practice Room 1?"

Yang Eun-Bi took a sip of her drink and answered on my behalf. "He must have called Mr. Han."

Yang Eun-Bi always made things easier and simple to understand, which was something I appreciated about her.

Everyone was drenched in sweat as if they had worn their clothes in the shower. Despite the sweat streaming down their exhausted faces, they all looked really pretty and fresh.

‘Oops. This is not the time for that.’

"Mr. Han, do you know where Mr. Lee went? He's not answering his phone."

"Mr. Lee? He went to see Ms. Kang earlier. Why? Is there an urgent matter to be discussed with him?"

It seemed Lee Dong-Min hadn't told Han Myung-Ho about the plagiarism issue of Bang Seon-Woo.

‘Well, fair enough. Talking about it would only increase worries.’

"No, it's nothing serious. But what are we going to do about the practice room situation, Mr. Han? It seems to be getting more complicated."

Han Myung-Ho sighed. "I guess we can't help it. Seeing how blatant they are about it, we'll have to use the room when Golden Road's schedule allows."

I nodded in agreement. Even if we talk to the higher-ups about it, they would probably just say we need to give priority to Golden Road due to their Japan joint concert preparations.

That was when Woo Yeon-Hee bit her lip slightly and spoke as if she'd made up her mind. "Don't worry too much. We can keep practicing down here."

Yang Eun-Bi nodded in agreement with Woo Yeon-Hee. "Ms. Seong never really paid attention to our lessons anyway. It's better to practice on our own down here than to go up and bump into them. Plus, we can practice at Mrs. Park Seon-Nyeo's academy too."

Han Myung-Ho nodded with a sympathetic look on his face. "Alright. Let's endure just a bit more. If this song does well, I'll push out Team Lead Seong and secure the time slot for us."

Cherry Blossom responded in unison. "Okay!"

'Sigh. It's like they’re underground idols or something.'

Then, Sae-Ri looked at me and began to brag. "Yoon-Ho oppa. Mrs. Park said I dance well and put me in the center of the formation!"

"Wow, she did? That's great!"

Sae-Ri made a peace sign with her fingers. "Yes. I finally met a trainer who recognizes my dancing skills!"

Eun-Bi shook her head in the background, suggesting that wasn't the case, but she seemed reluctant to spoil Sae-Ri's mood by saying anything.

From my perspective, Sae-Ri’s dance skills seemed the same as before. Sae-Ri was indeed talented in singing, but when it came to dancing, she was the type to overcome her lacking skills with effort rather than with natural talent.

I figured that Park Seon-Nyeo must have placed Sae-Ri as the center because of her 'liveliness' alone.

Anyway, everyone seemed optimistic thanks to both the song and the choreography turning out well this time.

Sae-Ri declared her ambition after receiving my compliment. "Unnies, let's take first place this comeback and snatch back our practice room!"

As expected, Sae-Ri's ambition was impressive.

Yang Eun-Bi was grumbling until a moment ago but nodded with a serious expression to Sae-Ri’s determination. "I agree with Sae-Ri. It would be embarrassing to face our families if we can't take first place with such a good song and choreography."

Woo Yeon-Hee extended her hand with a smile. "Then, shall we do a cheer?"

"Should we?"

I also placed my hand on top of the four hands.

Following Sae-Ri's lead, everyone yelled as if their throats would burst.

"Please let us bloom this spring!"

With the four girls' earnest wishes in my heart, I headed to the director's office.

***

In the director's office, Kang Ji-Yung, Kwak Moo-Hyuk, and Lee Dong-Min were having a meeting with a pile of documents spread out everywhere.

As I sat down, Lee Dong-Min briefed me on the situation. "I checked with the association, and it turns out it wasn't just one song that was already registered. Another company had preemptively registered all twenty songs from Seon-Woo's old notebook pad. Damn those assholes."

"All twenty songs? Which company is it?"

Lee Dong-Min sighed and answered my heated question.

"Well, that company is..."

1. A type of vegetable ?