CH38

March 3rd, 2017.

Today is the day I legally become an adult.

It's my birthday.

Because of that, my phone's been blowing up.

The first contact came from my uncle Hyun-Soo, and I also received careful messages from my high school classmates, telling me to cheer up and enjoy my birthday.

I called them high school classmates and not high school friends because I do not remember them well.

I might ring a bell if I saw their faces, but names alone got me drawing blanks.

Lastly, there were congratulatory messages in the "Three Months, Hundred Days" group chat.

[Three Months, Hundred Days Lee Ye-On (21): Happy birthday Si-On. Coz we're not shooting today, u can have fun with ur friends. U want any gifts?]

[Three Months, Hundred Days Go Tae-Hwan (20): Happy birthday. I was gonna send u a humidifier, but you already have one?]

[Three Months, Hundred Days Choi Jae-Seong (18): Bro! Happy blabby birthday!! Sent you a gift in ur Kakao DM!]

[Three Months, Hundred Days On Sae-Miro (20): Happy birthday. Have a great day.]

Messenger apps are quite tiring these days.

Why does it have to broadcast everyone's birthday like it's breaking news?

And the craziest bit is...

[Old fart uncle: It seems I've been pushing you too hard all this time. I'm sorry.]

My great-uncle also sent me an apology along with a gift.

Buddy's on another level of wild.

Thought this peace offering would smooth things over?

Or maybe he's sharper than I gave him credit for.

After my birthday, I'll shed the legal minor label and acquire the qualification of a legal guardian from the family court.

It might be hard to believe that a twenty-year-old would be scheming this hard, but if my great-uncle did send the gift with that in mind, props to him.

However, the person I planned to meet on my birthday was not the one who congratulated me but the one who would defend me.

Attorney Choi Ji-Woon.

"It's fortunate that your birthday is in March. It would have been troublesome if it was around September."

"Yes, indeed."

"How's it going with the doc? Your parents need to be declared as being in a vegetative state now."

I prefer Choi Ji-Woon's businesslike manner over empty consolations.

After all, he's banking a 10 billion won retainer fee from one single client, so it's the utmost business for him.

"The vegetative state declaration should come out by next week at the latest."

My uncle Hyun-Soo never fails to grant my requests.

This time is no exception.

"Well then, let's charge in without hesitation. It seems the jurisdiction will be the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho."

"Are you confident?"

"If it were a different jurisdiction, I'd say we're sitting pretty at a 70% win rate. That's still quite high, though."

"What's the success rate if it's the Seocho-gu court?"

"700%."

Well, I've heard this countless times, so I guess it's my cue to act all impressed.

After that, I got down to brass tacks with Lawyer Choi Ji-Woon to discuss splitting the spoils.

The liquid assets with stable value are getting sold off and divided ASAP, and we'll slowly offload some bonds over time.

"I'll line up a realtor for the real estate right away. The property market's a crapshoot. Best to cash out now."

At my words, Choi Ji-Woon dropped the professional mask for the first time and said,

"Let me ask this as an adult – are you sure? There must be a lot of memories attached to that place."

"I'm sure. It's just bricks and mortar to me, after all."

I really do think that way, but I won't actually sell the house.

Selling a house is not something that can be completed overnight, and I can invest the money elsewhere and earn profits while Choi Ji-Woon twiddles his thumbs waiting on that real estate deal.

I can use that money to pay his retainer fee.

After that, I informed him that I was currently appearing in an audition program on M-Show, and Choi Ji-Woon seemed pleased.

He said it's a good thing to prove that I'm leading a normal social life, not a PTSD patient from a traffic accident.

That's how the convo with Choi Ji-Woon rolled, and as I left the law firm, I had a few missed messages.

First up, from PD Kang Seok-Woo.

[Chris Edwards from HR contacted me. After listening to your "Flowers Bloom" arrangement, he decided to fly to Korea.]

[He has some schedules to take care of, so he can't come right away. He'll arrive in two weeks.]

It's good news.

I shoot a thanks to to PD Kang Seok-Woo and check the message from Team Leader Seo Seung-Hyun of BVB.

[BVB and Double M have completed their payments, please confirm.]

[And both NOP and Drop Out said they plan to make minimal arrangements just for part distribution without touching the original song.]

[They asked if you could personally make the arrangements or if you're interested in doing so.]

[What should we do?]

They're not going to touch the original?

Are they trying to get my contact information by doing this?

Hmm. What should I do?

To be honest, I'm not sweating over NOP freely arranging <I'm not your man>.

It's a song where the pleasure comes more from the sound than the composition.

I doubt they'll mess with the main melody while re-arranging it.

But if Drop Out touches even a smidge of <Selfish >'s composition, they could totally kill the song.

Come to think of it, I'm curious to see how the K-pop industry of this era would interpret my songs.

Maybe I should just handle the arrangements myself?

After confirming the songwriting fee payment, I sent half to Team Leader Seo Seung-Hyun and sent him a message.

[I sent the payment.]

[For the arrangements, it's okay if we communicate remotely via email only.]

[No, actually, I'll send you a rough draft with the parts distributed appropriately and vocal guides today. You can haggle off of that.]

[If it's okay, please be as generous as possible with the arrangement fee.]

[If you pay a good arrangement fee, I'm thinking of offering mixing and mastering services for free.]

I'm fine letting the songwriting fee slide since I want the deal to go through, but not for the arrangement fee.

It's not that I need the money, but it's the honor cost of us creators.

And I'd rather handle mixing and mastering myself than have some numpty mess it up.

And well, this is also somewhat pleasant information.

But the real deal was in the last message.

[Video]

A video letter that came from Fade.

No, a "video letter" doesn't sound quite right.

It's an apology video.

Regarding the previous incident where I expressed myself in an inappropriate manner on set, causing trouble, I sincerely....

As expected, Fade is a smart guy.

With a clear humble attitude, he delivered a perfect apology.

These things shouldn't be done ambiguously through messages or with a forced attitude, as that could become a vulnerability later on.

Not because I'm unsatisfied but because it could become a weakness later.

Should I release this video publicly?

With such a perfect apology video, the public's criticism might actually turn towards me for mocking him by releasing it, even though they don't know the full context.

On the other hand, if Fade starts causing trouble and uploads a half-hearted apology video, he'll be the only one labeled as an idiot.

That being said, Fade's handling of the situation was perfect.

So I should give him a perfect reply in return.

[Thank you for taking the mature step of apologizing first.]

[Although our first encounter left scars on both sides, I hope we can take this opportunity to build rapport on set going forward.]

If Fade's party ever decides to disclose the whole process, this response will serve as a shield.

But damn. Look at those eyes.

Even though he played it cool, I can tell he's really salty at me.

I feel sorry for Fade.

He didn't need to come to Yeoksam, I arranged for him to just send a video.

Does he perhaps enjoy subway outings?

<Coming Up Next> is all about the teams battling it out, but it's also like a reality TV show where we watch 'em like hawks.

People think they know what idols are all about, but they're clueless.

They think it's just about pretty faces, singing other people's tunes, and dancing on stage.

But if it was that easy, why are there so many failed idols?

Do you think they all sucked, couldn't sing, and didn't work hard enough?

That's why <Coming Up Next> is gonna show us the real deal, the everyday lives of <Take Scene> and <Three Months, Hundred Days>.

It's gonna be like a reality TV show, but even better.

We're gonna get up close and personal, and root for these kids like crazy.

So, on March 5th, when the cameras started rolling, ten contestants checked into their digs.

The main content of <Coming Up Next> was the competition between the two teams, but it also had the format of an observational reality show.

The public may think they are familiar with the existence of idols, but contrary to their beliefs, they are actually quite ignorant about the lives of idols.

They just think that idols with exceptional appearances undergo training, practice singing songs made by others, and then perform on stage.

But if that is all there is to it, why are successful idols a tiny minority while failed idols are the vast majority?

Can it be that all the failing idols have poor looks, skills, and short training periods?

That was why <Coming Up Next> planned to observe the daily lives of <Take Scene> and <Three Months, Hundred Days> to provide the fun of an observational entertainment show.

Additionally, this was intended to give viewers a sense of immersion and a desire to root for the teams.

For this reason, on March 5th, when the main format filming began, ten participants checked into the lodging facility.

It's better than I thought.

This is how I felt when I saw the hostel with the name tag 'Han Si-On' on my chest.

The lodging arranged by "Coming Up Next" was a pool villa pension located in Pocheon, not too far from Seoul.

<Take Scene> would stay in the building on the left, while <Three Months, Hundred Days> would stay in the one on the right.

"Don't unpack your luggage yet. Just leave it in the common entrance and come back here."

"Okay!"

Following the writer's instructions, us ten casting members began leaving their luggage in the common entrance area.

We're still not close, but I think we're starting to feel more comfortable with each other.

When I put down my personal luggage in a suitable spot, the other <Three Months, Hundred Days> members also start piling theirs around mine.

I realize that I have the most luggage on our team, and On Sae-Miro has the least.

Wait, scratch that. It's not that On Sae-Miro has little luggage - he has nothing.

The dude's got a tiny shopping bag, and that's it.

Out of curiosity, I peep inside his bag, and despite his appearance, he has quite the manly style.

Yeah… well… HOW come he only brings lotions and sunscreens? (They did instruct us to bring no clothes because there would be sponsorships)

Anyway, when I drop my luggage and look over towards the other side, and Fade is giving me the stink eye.

I smirk, mouthing the sentence, "You want to say sorry again?"

Seeing him fidget, he must have good lip-reading skills 'cause he seems to get it.

But if he starts beefing here, the producers will really view him negatively.

You only get away with the whole "I might get into fights" thing once. Acting young and extra can only be excused one time only.

As we're heading outside...

"Oh, BLUE!"

My mentor is standing in front of the pool villa with a bright smile.

Since the other judges aren't there, he must be coming to check on the progress of the show, not to judge us.

"Come gather round, guys. We'll start by giving you some announcements."

The main writer standing next to BLUE mentioned that the broadcast schedule has been moved up by two weeks.

"We got two extra weeks of airtime, but it got pushed up for scheduling reasons. You guys got it?"

"So it'll be broadcast for a total of 10 weeks?"

"That's right. I was going to announce this at the meeting, but...."

He looks at Fade and me while trailing off slightly.

It's a subtle hint for us to take the broadcast seriously.

"Anyway, we've got 16 days till the first episode. Feeling nervous?"

"Does that mean we might have to go live?"

The main writer laughs at the pale-faced Choi Jae-Seong's question as if it's ridiculous.

She explains that episodes 1 and 2 have almost finished rough editing, and what we're filming now will be in episode 3 or the end of episode 2.

"There's a 4-week gap between filming and airing, so there won't be any live broadcasts."

After finishing her explanation, the main writer steps back. BLUE then faces the main camera and claps his hands to mark an editing point.

Clap!

And with that, the main shooting for introductory talks began.

The talks are nothing special.

They ask us B teamers how we feel about getting picked and about our team name, "Three Months, Hundred Days."

As for Take Scene, they're asked about their determination and mindset towards this competition.

As BLUE is affiliated with Lion Entertainment, he seems to be quite familiar with Take Scene and appears comfortable.

TL/n - 

You can read 5 chapters in advance on p@treon.com/inkbound