translation by mourningmoor
The announcement of L.I.T's unit songs caused an uproar in the fan community.
Both songs were praised as masterpieces, and the song selection received high marks.
However, opinions were divided about the unit members.
Fans who wanted to see the youngest members together were disappointed that they were split up, and those who wanted to see the "trainer and puppy" duo were equally disheartened.
The units were decided as follows:
Kang Ichan, Park Roa, and Yoon Siu chose Graphstar, while Kim Jaewon and Hanjoon chose Biba.
Roommate units, huh.
└Yeah, they ended up pairing roommates.
Wow, the youngest members are so competitive. Now that they’re split up, it’s going to be a silent rivalry.
We’re going to hear Gu Oppa’s song with Hyun Oppa’s voice. Kang Ichan, fighting!!!!
└Ooh, I’m also a Stella fanㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Nice to meet you, Stella-nim.
└LOLㅋㅋㅋㅋ if Graphstar is Gu Oppa, then L.I.T can’t be Hyun Oppa, right? Unnie, you’re showing your ageㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ?
└(Yelling) If they’re handsome, they’re all Oppa. That’s not my words, that’s Ichan’sㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Juhee, who was monitoring the fan community’s reactions, furrowed her brows slightly.
There was something that worried her.
She immediately opened her messaging app and sent a message to the group chat.
What do you guys think about the kids covering Graphstar’s <Change>? I’m a bit worried.
Yoojung
Seconded.
Mina
Thirded.
As Mina unnie said, based on past patterns, every artist who covered Graphstar ended up hitting a wall.
Mina
Yeah, according to my stats, that’s the case. All the cover videos were deleted too.
Doesn’t it seem like someone’s deliberately trying to erase Graphstar?
Mina
It feels that way.
Yoojung
Are our kids going to get hurt because of this?
ㅠㅠThat’s why I brought it up. No matter how precious Gu Oppa is, he’s not as important as our kids now ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I want to see them for a long, long time.
Yoojung
Shouldn’t we tell them not to do it?
Mina unnie, you’ve exchanged emails with PD Pyo before, right? Can you talk to him?
Mina
I’ll try.
Mina disappeared from the chat.
Juhee, who had exited the messaging app, started searching the internet.
Graphstar.
No matter what keywords she used, nothing came up.
Instead, she typed in “Baekjakbyeol,” a keyword used to bypass search filters.
Then, old records started popping up.
Some of the photos and videos she had uploaded were still there.
The childish titles of the posts made her cringe.
It was a post Juhee had made a long time ago.
“Dreaming of eternity.”
It completely flopped.
She let out a sigh.
Where are Gu Oppa and the others now?
She suddenly wondered.
“I’ve been so obsessed with L.I.T that I forgot about Oppa.”
Juhee, who had been savoring the bitter taste in her mouth, closed her laptop.
Thinking about Graphstar, who had disbanded in such a ridiculous way, made the ramen she had for lunch feel like it was coming back up.
“Let’s clean this up and look for a part-time job. Ticket scalping.”
Juhee picked up her phone, preparing for L.I.T’s fan meeting ticket sales, which would open in two days.
* * *
The news of L.I.T covering Graphstar didn’t just cause a stir in the fan community.
Maon Entertainment was also in chaos because Aki, who had just entered the company, was causing all sorts of trouble.
They had heard through the grapevine that Aki’s hatred for handsome men started because of Graphstar, but they never imagined it would be this severe.
This is ridiculous. If anyone saw this, they’d think Graphstar had sold the country.
CEO Kim Yangho wiped the sweat from his brow and picked up the phone.
Come to think of it, it’s L.I.T again.
It feels like just yesterday he apologized to PD Pyo, and now he has to talk to him again—or whatever his name is.
“This is so annoying.”
The ringing tone in his ear was oddly grating.
Dealing with a third-rate agency was annoying, but dealing with the temperamental Aki was even more annoying.
What does the SS Group think they’re doing?
As he let out a sigh, the other party answered the phone.
“PD Pyo Cheon-hee? Hello, this is Kim Yangho from Maon.”
—Ah, yes. Hello?
“I heard L.I.T is planning to cover Graphstar’s <Change> for their fan meeting?”
It was oddly quiet on the other end.
He must be wondering why you’re asking.
“In case you didn’t know, Maon acquired <Wiz>, Graphstar’s former agency. Even though they disbanded, if anyone’s going to manage Graphstar, it should be us.”
—Ah, I see.
This guy, a small agency like his, has the audacity to act so high and mighty.
Kim Yangho wanted to yell at him, but he held back because he owed them for the Aki incident.
“We cannot allow the remake of <Change> at the company level.”
—…?
“You can’t cover it.”
—Why?
‘Why?’ He clearly said the company wouldn’t allow it.
Just as Kim Yangho was about to say something, Pyo Cheonhee cut him off.
—We’ve already gotten permission from the copyright holders. What right does a disbanded group’s agency have to stop us?
This time, Kim Yangho was taken aback.
“You got permission from the copyright holders?”
Three of Graphstar’s six members are in prison. One immigrated to New Zealand, and another opened a café in Marado. The last one’s whereabouts are unknown. It’s not even clear if he’s still in Korea.
And the composer of <Change> reportedly committed suicide the year Graphstar disbanded.
So whose permission did they get?
—We contacted the composer’s family and got their permission. We don’t need the agency’s permission.
Kim Yangho was at a loss for words.
This had never happened before.
All Graphstar members had transferred their copyrights to the agency.
Even songs from other composers were acquired by Maon.
The only ones they couldn’t acquire were about five songs, including <Change>, because the composer committed suicide before they could make contact.
Rumor has it that the composer’s family doesn’t want his songs to be released to the world again.
That’s why it was easy to erase Graphstar’s traces from the world.
But what? A small agency like his contacted someone?
“No, PD Pyo. You contacted the family? Who gave you the right…”
—Do you manage the family too?
“Well, no, but…”
—Even if it’s Maon, telling another company what to do is a bit much.
Kim Yangho gritted his teeth and switched the phone to his other hand.
This is bad.
Aki will go berserk, and the SS Group might withdraw their investment.
“So you’re really going to cover that song?”
—Yes. The family specifically asked us to do a good job.
This is a disaster.
Since they had contacted the copyright holders directly, the agency had no say in the matter.
“Still…”*
—We’ll do our best to present it well. Who knows? Maybe everyone will start contacting Maon to remake Graphstar’s songs. You might even make some copyright profits, CEO Kim Yangho.
Click, the call ended.
“If Aki finds out, all hell will break loose.”
Kim Yangho picked up the intercom and called his secretary.
—Yes, CEO.
“Find out where the family of <Change>’s composer lives.”
—Huh?
The secretary was baffled by the sudden request.
But Kim Yangho was even more baffled.
Everything had been going so well, so how did things get so tangled?
—Who is this composer…
“I don’t know. Don’t ask questions, just investigate and bring me the information. That clueless small agency managed to find it, so you better not fail.”
* * *
After hanging up the phone, PD Pyo looked at me.
“You were right. Maon is trying to stop us.”
PD Pyo wiped his chest and put down the phone, smiling meaningfully.
“Good thing Team Leader Lee Gyuhyung knows the composer’s family, huh?”
Yeah, thank goodness PD Pyo is clueless.
I nodded and stood up with a smirk.
“So we’re going ahead with it?”
“Of course. We have the copyright holder’s permission, and we’ve even paid the royalties.”
“Then I’ll go practice.”
“Go ahead. Do your best. Let’s show them something amazing.”
I nodded, gave a slight wave, and left the CEO’s office.
“Hyung-nim.”
“Ichan.”
Roa and Siu, who were waiting outside the office, quickly approached.
“How did it go?”
“We’re doing it.”
“Did Aki sunbaenim try to interfere?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded and looked at Roa with admiration.
This guy, only nineteen years old, has an uncanny ability to read the situation.
“Park Roa. You did well, huh? It was a good call to secure the copyright first.”
“Hehe, it was nothing.”
Roa scratched his head.
Graphstar’s <Change>. There had been a lot of talk about it from the song selection stage.
I was the one who chose the song.
Kang Ichan’s laptop had the demo of the song.
Of course, Kang Ichan didn’t compose it.
His older brother did.
He had dreamed of being a singer but never made it to the stage, though he kept composing. And he was quite talented.
Even though it was just a demo, the song was really good.
I wanted to hear the full version, so I searched music sites.
But I couldn’t find Graphstar’s songs anywhere.
Surprisingly, Roa had the album with <Change> on it.
Then he casually dropped a bombshell.
[I’m a personal fan of Graphstar, but we probably can’t perform this song. Graphstar’s songs are blocked from being performed.]
[By who?]
[Well, Wiz. No, actually, it’s Maon now. Maon acquired Wiz.]
[Maon? Aki’s agency?]
[Yes. This is just my opinion, but I think Maon and Wiz were involved in the Graphstar incident. Actually, Aki was the first to leak the crimes of Graphstar’s members.]
[Really?]
[He was known to be close friends with the leader, but he exposed him for drug use… On the surface, it was about justice, but there was something fishy about it. After that, things just kept exploding.]
That would’ve been fine, but after that, there were blatant attempts to erase Graphstar’s traces.
The funny thing is, the Graphstar members didn’t even try to defend themselves.
As Roa said, there was definitely something fishy going on.
Even if it’s my brother, covering a song from such a controversial group would cause some noise, so I was about to give up.
But Roa’s last words made me decide to cover the song no matter what.
[If I’m right, we need to find the composer’s family and secure the copyright first. Otherwise, Maon will interfere using copyright as an excuse.]
Then, as if it were just a rumor, he added one last thing.
[It’s said that the composer committed suicide, but that’s not true. There were suspicions of foul play, but the police covered it up.]
This wasn’t something I could just let go.
The image of Kang Ichan’s mother in Samcheok. The sorrow of that pitiful woman weighed heavily on my chest.
Alright, let’s give it a try.
If there’s something fishy, they’ll bite.
If they bite, we’ll catch them. And crush them.