Chapter 93

"By the way, I found out a pretty interesting piece of information. The real reason why Woo-Jin left TM," Seol Moon-Young said to Kim Seok-Hyung.

"What?"

"Lee Yeon-Yi had done something that Woo-Jin refused to do."

"..." CEO Kim wasn't sure what Seol Moon-Yong was implying, so he kept quiet.

Blue Fit's member, Lee Yeon-Yi, had gotten drunk at a drinking party one day and unintentionally spilled a secret. Seol Moon-Young happened to get wind of it.

"Right now, the golden eggs are being laid, but in any case, once a sex scandal breaks out, it's impossible to make a comeback. I'm sure you know that better than I do. Even if you hold events and concerts abroad, the group will still meet its doom and disband at some point. So it would be better for you to just let them go right now. Keep in mind that only then would you be able to save TM's image and keep our solidarity going for a long time."

Seol Moon-Young smirked. As a former idol, he was more familiar than anyone else with how the music industry worked. This group still had a lot to offer, so abandoning them at this point was such a waste. But there was nothing else the CEO could do. He had to save himself first to live to see another day.

"Did you forget you were the producer of that album?"

"Let's just tell the public that, 'The soft-hearted producer caved to the complaints of his overly-ambitious student,' and call it a day. After all, considering his family background, Min Si-Hoo will still be able to lead a comfortable life without being a singer, so we don't have to worry too much about him."

Min Si-Hoo hated Chae Woo-Jin, resulting in their feud back then. TM decided to take Min Si-Hoo's side over Woo-Jin because of his impressive family background. When choosing between the two members, it was the most clever and rational decision to make at that time. That was also why the other Blue Fit members took Min Si-Hoo's side and rejected Chae Woo-Jin, choosing to engage in violence against him. In any case, the other members had also earned an insane amount of money that most people wouldn't be able to earn in their lifetime, so their lives weren't particularly pitiful either.

"CEO Kim, this just got delivered from DS." Kim Seok-Hyung's secretary opened the door and handed him a Certification of Contents[1] and a small package sent by DS. Out of curiosity, Kim Seok-Hyung opened the package first. It contained a small USB flash drive and a card. He had a bad feeling about it and decided to verify the flash drive's contents first. Its only content was a five-minute audio file. However, listening to it was akin to hearing his death sentence.

It was the recording of Min Si-Hoo and other Blue Fit members swearing at Chae Woo-Jin and assaulting him. The sound of their assault had been clearly recorded as it was, all of it. It clearly captured Min Si-Hoo's wrath, stemming from his strong desire to become the main vocalist and the mockery from the other members that sympathized with Min Si-Hoo, without any filter.

<We don't just have an audio recording; we have a video recording as well.>

That was the phrase written on the card that came with the package containing the USB flash drive. The short sentence in bold contained several meanings. At this moment, waves of desperation washed over Kim Seok-Hyung as he realized that he was unable to make the issue go away quietly this time around.

"Oh no! I don't think this issue will go away even if you sacrifice me." Seol Moon-Young whistled as he sneered at Kim Seok-Hyung. The latter glared at him before taking a look at the Certification of Contents.

The first page of the document contained the results of an analysis of Min Si-Hoo's parts in Blue Fit's song and Chae Woo-Jin's voice when he performed 'Shining Star.' They had officially commissioned Professor Oh Myung-Hwan, a speech and audio researcher, for that. Naturally, the results concluded that both audio clips were sung by the same person, prompting DS to request a reasonable explanation and compensation from TM.

The following document was about the assault inflicted by the members of Blue Fit. DS managed to secure clear evidence of the assault, and it was stated that the statute of limitations for assault was five years. However, Chae Woo-Jin said that he wanted an apology from Blue Fit instead of pursuing legal action. Furthermore, he wanted an unequivocal apology from Min Si-Hoo, the cause of the discord and the lead perpetrator, along with the other members. DS expressed that if they didn't comply, contrary to Chae Woo-Jin's wishes, DS would be left with no choice but to pursue legal action for the sake of Chae Woo-Jin's honor.

Judging from the fact that the Certification of Contents arrived on Friday afternoon, it could be safely assumed that DS had already been thoroughly prepared.

"This pretty much means that there is no way out. Furthermore, do they have a lot of money? They hired Rome law firm to write something as trivial as the Certification of Contents. I heard they charge an arm and a leg for just a simple document.

"It's a warning. Doesn't it mean that if we end up going to court because of this issue, the lawyers from Rome law firm would be representing them?" In a situation where clear evidence was present, coupled with the fact that Rome law firm would be representing the other party, defeat was guaranteed for TM.

"Rome doesn't take on celebrity cases, though?"

"But if you look at it from another perspective, it's a lawsuit between two companies, so they might make an exception. More importantly, isn't Jang Soo-Hwan the CEO of DS?" Judging from the relationship between Jang Soo-Hwan's family and Rome law firm, it wasn't necessarily impossible for Rome to take on the case.

"As for the assault, fair enough. But even if you were to abandon Blue Fit, having Si-Hoo take the heat alone for 'Shining Star' isn't enough. So, Moon-Young, I'm asking you for a favor. Can you please turn a blind eye and sacrifice yourself just this once? I'll give you anything you want in return."

Kim Seok-Hyung was Seol Moon-Young's mentor, so he tried appealing to Seol Moon-Young to help him out for old times' sake. The latter's eyes lit up like a snake and made an offer.

"I'll think about it if you give me 5%."

"What?"

"Give me just 5% of your TM stocks."

"You must be completely out of your mind. Just for something like this?"

Despite Kim Seok-Hyung's agitated response, Seol Moon-Young didn't budge at all; he was adamant about not taking the fall all by himself for other people's mistakes. Hence, Kim Seok-Hyung's anger gradually lost its power.

"I've spent several years building my career, which I'll be throwing away over this matter, and you're making it sound like it's not a big deal? You have a lot of money. When this scandal breaks out, the stocks will hit rock bottom anyway. Wouldn't it be fine if you simply buy another 5% to make up for it when the price is at an all-time low? Which is a better option? Think about it carefully. What do you think will happen to the agency if we add the sponsorship issue to the list? Do you think the other TM artistes would go unscathed with Blue Fit's demise?"

Kim Seok-Hyung would be able to protect the company's image if he chose to part with just 5% of his stocks. And even though Blue Fit was done for, he could save the other artistes as a result.

"The trainees that are preparing to debut are rather promising. If you don't intend to sacrifice them as collateral damage, 5% isn't a big deal for something this trivial, am I right?" Seol Moon-Young told him to think it over carefully and said he would take the fall for 'Shining Star' once the stocks were transferred over to him.

The entertainment industry was essentially a business that sold images. Lip syncing and assault were fatal mistakes, but they were nothing compared to an agency condoning and pushing for sponsorship. It was akin to getting rid of a bump only to add one more.

TM's CEO Kim Seok-Hyung observed the trend over the next couple of days and finally reached a decision only on Sunday afternoon.

***

"You aren't going to watch it today either?"

Woo-Hee had been depressed over the past few days. Woo-Jin teased her, poking her in the rib. He insisted that she go down to the living room to watch TV with him, but she looked at him with sad eyes.

"Stop it."

"I'm getting depressed because you keep acting like this."

"Hmph, why do you even care about the feelings of your younger sister with no fantasies?"

"Because I love you."

"Ahhhhhhh~! Don't say that, don't say that!"

Woo-Jin forcefully dragged Woo-Hee down to the living room, as she yelled that hearing those words was more repulsive than getting poked in the ribs.

"I've brought her here." His parents had been waiting for them in the living room, and as soon as Woo-Jin announced their arrival, they greeted the children with bright smiles. Woo-Jin's parents sat on the sofa while he sat on the floor by their feet as he continued patting Woo-Hee on the head. Woo-Jin told her to smile because everything was fine now. She looked at his eyes and gradually started to laugh while pouting.

As always, after The King of the Masked Singers ended, Wish Baragi was buzzing with conversations and discussions. For the first time in a few days, it was a pleasant day for the barags that were worried they'd have to release their pent-up anger once again today.

<Today, it felt as though there was indeed justice in this world. Were they going to make somebody take responsibility if Min Si-hoo didn't get his seventh victory? He didn't even get five victories, let alone seven. They're really proud of Min Si-Hoo for so many things, huh. He lost by the biggest margin ever. I'm making an educated guess that the three votes came from his fans. By the way, when they briefly showed the audience's reactions, I'm sure you all saw some people covering their ears when he sang. I feel as though all the stress I've accumulated over the past few days has been relieved.>

-- I'm so glad that you-know-who is gone. I don't even want to type his name out. Frankly, I was a little worried that he might win and get his sixth victory because if he failed to get his seventh victory, Genie might be wrongly accused. You have no idea how worried I was.

-- When exactly will TM come forth and make an official statement?

└ There was an official announcement earlier. They said that an official interview will be held on Monday at 3 p.m.

-- Who exactly is Hanryang Doryeong? Strangely enough, my heart is unusually racing for him.

└ Isn't it because you're thankful towards him for beating that person?

-- I'll only know for sure if Hanryang Doryeong removes his gloves, but no matter how I see it, he looks like Genie.

└ But their singing voice is so different from one another.

└ His voice was completely different too when he sang 'Shining Star.' Ack! Just thinking about it makes me feel so emotional because it's such a pity, and it's so unfair. But right now, I'm thinking if I should buy 'Shining Star.' If we buy it, they'll be giving the profits to the blue people, right? Also, that means that I'll have to listen to the voices of those people too, so it's making me reconsider... T_T

-- For the people who are agonizing over whether to purchase 'Shining Star' or not, please download this. It's a version containing only Genie's voice. Don't worry about copyright and whatnot because they violated it first. So just download it.

-- I'm a little concerned about the fact that the real name of Berry Rose's A-Ra is 'Chae Woo-Ra.' Could there be some kind of birth secret?

└ That's too far-fetched. Reality is different from dramas.

Contrary to Kang Ho-Soo's prediction, the barags continued to show a deep interest in The King of the Masked Singers despite the current state of frenzy after TV Star's episode was aired. The battle against Blue Fit and Blue Hole had always been a part of their daily routine. They couldn't afford to disregard a significant event like The King of the Masked Singers. Additionally, they instinctively guessed that Hanryang Doryeong was Chae Woo-Jin.

Until last week, they had been uncertain, but this week they were very confident that Hanryang Doryeong was Chae Woo-Jin. No matter how they looked at it, his posture when he stood, his hand gestures when he spoke, as well as the way his body moved when he felt embarrassed, were somehow exactly the same as Chae Woo-Jin.

Even though the tone of Hanryang Doryeong's voice was completely different from Chae Woo-Jin's singing voice in all of his performances and recordings thus far, his usual speaking voice was more obvious in The King of the Masked Singers. The more engrossed Hanryang Doryeong was in his song, the more apparent Chae Woo-Jin's usual speaking voice would become.

However, the barags had a mutual understanding to only keep it within Wish Baragi. They were waiting for the day when Hanryang Doryeong would take off his mask while appreciating the secret only they knew about.

-- Everybody, Jin-Hee's Mom just uploaded a photo she had received from Genie's mother. Genie's mother personally took the photo. Please take a look at it. Our paradise is waiting for us.

Jin-Hee's Mom uploaded a photo of Woo-Jin to congratulate him on stopping Min Si-Hoo from making his fifth victory on The King of the Masked Singers, and also for the sake of cheering up the barags who had been suffering a lot over the past couple of days.

It was a photo of Chae Woo-Jin sleeping on the sofa with Woo-Sa in his arms. He looked like he was at peace, and was sleeping without any worries with a gentle smile on his lips as the warm morning sun shone on him. That photo was their paradise.

1. It's a document that verifies the contents of a specific piece of mail (usually important documents such as legal or confidential documents). ☜