Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

Chapter 395: Han Hyun-Ho (2)

The Hwaranjeon original soundtrack album has a minimum of twelve songs. When I told him I couldn't give him a single track, Han Hyun-Ho glared at me as if he wanted to devour me.

"Are you serious about not giving me any songs?"

"Yes, I'm serious."

"This is absurd. What's the reason, huh?"

"Who would give songs to a singer who comes here to intimidate the composer, especially when the album concept hasn't even been decided yet?"

Of course, I was excluding Han Hyun-Ho because I knew he would be arrested for assault soon, but that was a future only I was aware of.

I phrased it in a way Han Hyun-Ho could understand, but he had no intention of listening and raised his voice instead. "You've got to be kidding me. Fine, then listen up. If my name isn't attached to this original soundtrack, you'd better be ready."

"Ready for what?"

"It means the upcoming contract renewal is off the table. And it'll be all because of you!"

There were still six months until Han Hyun-Ho's contract with Hoop Entertainment ended. His contract had always been automatically renewed every two years since the day he joined. However, he was now threatening to stop that.

Nonetheless, this was great news to me. If Han Hyun-Ho were to leave Hoop Entertainment, the company's name wouldn't end up tarnished by scandal.

Getting up from the sofa, Han Hyun-Ho flashed a spiteful smile. "Oh, by the way, I remember Ace Entertainment wanted to meet with me. Maybe I'll give them a visit."

With that, Han Hyun-Ho left the studio.

Taken aback, Lee Dong-Min quickly ran after Han Hyun-Ho.

"Hey! Han Hyun-Ho! Stop! Hold on a second—Ace Entertainment? What are you talking about?"

I left them to sort it out and turned to Bang Seon-Woo. "Seon-Woo, are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I was just a bit thrown off by how hard he was pushing."

"Don't worry about it. You can work on this album however you want. Just focus on the quality of the songs."

Bang Seon-Woo glanced down the hallway where Han Hyun-Ho had disappeared. "But hyung, we don't have many male singers in the company. What will we do without Hyun-Ho hyung-nim?"

"If we need a male singer, I'll bring one in. Don't you trust me?" I remarked as I tapped my chest.

Bang Seon-Woo let out a small laugh. "Haha. Why wouldn't I trust you?"

Just then, Lee Dong-Min returned and exhaled a deep sigh. "Sigh. Yoon-Ho, that guy's hot-tempered, but he usually cools off quickly. He'll probably come back to apologize tomorrow. I'll smooth things over then, so..."

I interrupted him. "There's no need to do that. I really have no intention of giving any songs to Mr. Han Hyun-Ho."

Lee Dong-Min's eyes widened. "You were being serious? You weren't just trying to put him in his place?"

"No. I've been hearing troubling rumors about him lately."

"Rumors? What rumors?"

I calmly told him part of what I knew about the future.

***

With his height of 186 cm and his actor-worthy good looks, Han Hyun-Ho was known for his good looks.

Furthermore, he had a gentle voice that earned him titles like "Prince of Ballads" and "Prince of Original Soundtracks," gaining the adoration of countless women.

The company generally stayed out of his private life as he had never touched drugs or been involved in serious scandals.

However, trouble was brewing two months ago with his new girlfriend: Yoon Myung-Hee.

She was an actress under a small agency called Angel Productions, known for her striking beauty and exotic allure.

The moment Han Hyun-Ho saw her, he was instantly smitten and pursued her aggressively, ignoring the fifteen-year age gap.

Yoon Myung-Hee initially refused Han Hyun-Ho but eventually yielded to his persistent affection.

Since then, Yoon Myung-Hee devoted herself to Han Hyun-Ho. However, once she started treating him well, Han Hyun-Ho couldn't resist his old habits and cheated on her.

Yoon Myung-Hee pleaded with him to stop, but Han Hyun-Ho felt constrained and started to hit her.

He eventually went too far, and the record of that incident was still preserved in my planner.

[Everyday V11]

[Date: December 15, 2020]

-10:00 p.m.: General meeting (Meeting Agenda: Han Hyun-Ho arrested for assaulting his girlfriend, actress Yoon Myung-Hee. Decision pending on whether to compensate her agency, Angel Productions.)

After severely beating his girlfriend, Han Hyun-Ho was ultimately arrested and even detained.

And because Yoon Myung-Hee suffered such severe trauma that she could no longer pursue acting, Hoop Entertainment had to compensate her agency. At that point, Hoop Entertainment also terminated its contract with the imprisoned Han Hyun-Ho.

I decided to share this information with Lee Dong-Min since he was one of the few people who showed genuine trust in me no matter what I told him.

"They say Hyun-Ho hyung-nim has been hitting his girlfriend. It's apparently a regular thing and it's bound to lead to a serious incident soon."

Lee Dong-Min turned pale. "Hyun-Ho... that guy is laying hands on a woman?"

"Yes."

"T-then shouldn't we report it to the police right away?"

"I want to, but his girlfriend will probably deny it if we do. She seems to really care about him."

I vividly recalled what Yoon Myung-Hee had told me back then: that she hadn't been hit but just slipped in the bathroom.

Then finally a week later, the drunk Han Hyun-Ho brutally swung a golf club at Yoon Myung-Hee, breaking her bones and shattering her trust.

The furious Lee Dong-Min asked, "This is a real mess. Is there any good way to handle this?"

If it were up to Han Hyun-Ho, he would try to drag both Lee Dong-Min and me into trouble. Believing himself to be the best in the world, he wasn't the type to stay quiet after his ego had been bruised.

"Mr. Lee, don't worry too much. I'll think of a plan."

Reassuring the nervous Lee Dong-Min, I sent the Hwaranjeon script to Bang Seon-Woo's tablet and asked, "Seon-Woo, do you want to start by reading the script and brainstorming the album concept?"

"Yep, okay."

Bang Seon-Woo nodded and headed to the desk in front of the control panel. As he focused on the Hwaranjeon script on his tablet, I also fell into deep thought.

Besides Lee Dong-Min who fully trusted me, neither Singer Division 1 nor Bang Sang-Yung would believe my words without evidence.

Hence, I needed to find a legitimate reason to exclude Han Hyun-Ho from the album. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

***

Thirty minutes passed.

While reading the Hwaranjeon script, Bang Seon-Woo suddenly set down the tablet. He hummed softly like an orchestra conductor and began waving his fingers in the air.

After a moment, he looked up with his face glowing with excitement, not just from an album concept but because he had also started envisioning melodies.

"Hyung, I think...I've got it. I'm already hearing the melodies."

"Already?"

"Yes. I've roughly drafted out about five songs. It's still very unpolished, but I can see where the rest are heading too."

In that short time, Bang Seon-Woo came up with the outlines for five tracks. He would need to read more of the script for the remaining songs, but he didn't expect any major issues as the main characters would be introduced in the first fifteen episodes anyway.

Bang Seon-Woo's brilliance consistently exceeded expectations.

"Alright, tell me about the album concept."

Eagerly, Bang Seon-Woo explained the ideas he had come up with. "I want to align the album concept with the title, Hwaranjeon—the War of Flowers. Bold and intense, but also gentle and intricate. Since the drama centers around a struggle for the throne, we need an epic and grand feel as well."

I wondered if it was possible to capture all those elements at once.

"So we'll likely use mostly female singers, huh?"

Bang Seon-Woo nodded. "I would say about 70%. But we can't exclude male vocals altogether. For historical drama original soundtracks, character theme songs are essential. And for the grand, epic tracks, male vocals might suit it better."

"Then how many solo male tracks do you think we'll need?"

"At least three or four. We'll need male vocals for the king's theme, the prophet's theme, Gukseon's theme, and for Kim Beop-Min's theme as well."

Kim Beop-Min was a major supporting character in the drama and the son of Kim Chun-Chu, who was in love with Princess Yoo-Hwa.

"And what kind of vocalists will you need?" I asked.

"Well, one track could go to Jong-Hoon hyung. But we'll also need someone with a deep and rich baritone. Plus, one singer with a higher tone."

At that moment, a few singers came to mind. I said to Bang Seon-Woo, "Alright, at least two male vocalists. I'll make it happen."

Having mostly created ballads and dance songs recently, Bang Seon-Woo was excited to have a chance to explore a variety of styles again.

Just then, Lee Dong-Min's phone rang. It was Bang Sang-Yung calling.

As I expected, it seemed that Han Hyun-Ho had caused a stir.

"It's about Hyun-Ho hyung-nim, right?" I asked.

Lee Dong-Min nodded. "Yeah. Seems he rushed over to report it."

Lee Dong-Min answered the call and my suspicion was confirmed.

-Chief Lee. Get up to the conference room immediately. Bring Team Lead Jung with you.

"Yes, sir."

After ending the call, Lee Dong-Min turned to me. "Yoon-Ho, I'll go up on my own, so don't worry about it. Just keep working."

"No, let's go together."

Though Lee Dong-Min offered to handle it on his own, I saw no reason to put it off.

After all, I had already figured out a way to keep Han Hyun-Ho off the album.

***

We arrived at the meeting room.

With Kang Gam-Chan absent, only Kang Ji-Yung, Bang Sang-Yung, Han So-Yoo from Singer Division 1, and Team Lead Lee Yung-Seop, who managed Han Hyun-Ho, were present.

Just as expected, criticism over the fact that one of their top artists had threatened to jump ship to Ace Entertainment started pouring in.

Lee Yung-Seop seemed especially upset as he voiced his frustration. "Mr. Lee. It's not just a single original soundtrack track but we're talking about an entire album, right?"

Lee Dong-Min frowned. "So what do you expect me to do?"

"If three songs are too much, then at least let him have two. I'll try to calm Hyun-Ho hyung down."

"And you think that's up to me?"

With Lee Dong-Min's blunt refusal, Lee Yung-Seop turned to me instead. "Team Lead Jung, don't you think you're going too far? What are you going to do if Hyun-Ho hyung switches over to Ace Entertainment tomorrow just because you won't give him the songs?"

At that moment, Bang Sang-Yung intervened to mediate. "We're here to find a solution, not to argue. Let's work out a reasonable compromise. And Team Lead Lee Yung-Seop, try to keep it professional."

"Sigh...Yes, Mr. Bang."

After calming Lee Yung-Seop, Bang Sang-Yung looked at me. "How about this, Team Lead Jung? Give him a single for one track and he can feature on another. That's a reasonable middle ground, isn't it?"

Since losing Jo Min-Sung, Bang Sang-Yung had become much more cautious around me.

Though this was a fairly reasonable offer, I still drew a firm line.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bang."

Bang Sang-Yung's eyebrows shot up. "Why? Are you refusing just because I'm the one asking?"

"No, it's not about that... I think you're all misunderstanding the situation."

"What do you mean by that?"

'We have a former top artist in his forties and the hottest composer in the industry,' I remarked inwardly.

It was astonishing that they didn't understand who had the upper hand here.

I turned back to Lee Yung-Seop who was still visibly angry. "It seems you're still not quite getting it... Let me ask you one question, Mr. Lee."

"What is it?"

"Which would you choose between a singer and a composer?"

Lee Yung-Seop couldn't finish his words. "Of course..."

I had just asked a simple question about choosing between Han Hyun-Ho, a singer who scored well on the charts once or twice a year, and Bang Seon-Woo, a composer who churned out hits one after another.

No matter how renowned Han Hyun-Ho was, he couldn't compare to the copyright revenue Bang Seon-Woo had generated this year alone. Unlike most composers, Bang Seon-Woo was under contract with the company, meaning that 20% of his substantial earnings directly contributed to Hoop Entertainment's revenue.

Yet here Han Hyun-Ho was, trying to intimidate Bang Seon-Woo simply because Bang Seon-Woo was younger.

A singer intimidating a chart-topping composer was utterly absurd. It should have been the singer pleading with the composer for a track, not the other way around. Furthermore, the fact that this matter wasn't stopped by his talent agent but escalated into a meeting was a failure.

I pressed further and targeted the now-speechless Lee Yung-Seop. "We all acknowledge that Mr. Han Hyun-Ho once sold a million albums. It's true he has contributed a lot to the company. But that doesn't mean he can talk down to Bang Seon-Woo, who's currently the top composer in Korea. Does it?"

"Th-That's..."

"And since we're on the subject, how do you think PD Oh would react upon hearing about this? If Seon-Woo decided he couldn't produce any songs under these conditions, could you handle the fallout?"

"N-No, I..."

If anyone should have kept Han Hyun-Ho in check, it was Lee Yung-Seop. He should have come to me—or better yet, gone directly to Bang Seon-Woo—to apologize and ask for his cooperation.

Instead, Lee Yung-Seop brought this issue to the Chief, the Managing Director, and the Director, escalating the situation needlessly.

As a result, my words now carried more weight than ever.

It was clearer than ever who was indispensable: Han Hyun-Ho or Bang Seon-Woo.

Lee Yung-Seop's face turned pale and he lowered his head in silence before finally managing to speak. "I...I'm sorry, Team Lead Jung."