The Famous Millionaire

Jinyoung angrily headed to the place where Hyunwoo and his entourage were waiting for him.

Only a moment ago he was thrilled to meet Jinhon, the composer of Duckling Fly, but he felt pretty disappointed now.

When he entered the conference room, they greeted him gladly, “Hello!”

Though he was disappointed at Hyunwoo, he couldn’t show his feelings to the students.

Hiding his disappointment, he greeted them warmly, “Nice to meet you, guys. By the way, can you wait a bit here? I’ve got something to talk with Hyunwoo briefly. Hyunwoo, can you see me a second?”

“Yes, brother,” said Hyunwoo.

He followed Jinyoung at a brisk pace.

As soon as they entered another conference room, the atmosphere became heavy.

“I’m disappointed, Hyunwoo. How could you do that to me?”

“What the heck are you talking about?” asked Hyunwoo with a surprised look.

Jinyoung explained to him about what Taesu had told him.

Hearing his explanation, Hyunwoo flatly denied, “That’s just ridiculous. I’ve never talked to anyone about you or Nami. I’m serious.”

“Then, how did Taesu find it out?”

Hyunwoo had no idea whatsoever. Suddenly, he came to think of one unusual thing.

“Some time ago, I met Nami at a cafe in Yangpyong. Though she was extremely busy, she could take time out to see me. I guess Taesu came to learn about me at that time and did a background check on me behind my back.”

“I don’t think background check on you would reveal our secret conversation.”

“Did Taesu tell you about it in detail?”

Jinyoung stopped for a moment because Taesu’s questioning was not so detailed. He just mentioned something bad about himself broadly.

Snapping his fingers, Hyunwoo said, “Obviously, Taesu must have jumped to conclusions about you. As it was clear that I was close to you and Nami, he tried to learn your response by throwing such questions.”

Jinyoung smiled at that with a sigh of relief. Actually, that was Taesu’s specialty. If any entertainer got trapped by his trick, that would mean the end of his or her life in the entertainment world.

“You didn’t say anything about our conservation to anybody else, right?”

“I swear it! Never.”

“Phew, I feel now much relieved to hear that. I was so tense that I broke out into a cold sweat.”

“Taesu is such a terrible guy, isn’t he?”

“Not only terrible but also very dirty. I don’t think we should talk about him in a place like this. I’m afraid that somebody might eavesdrop on us.”

Hyunwoo quickly looked around, and fortunately, there was nobody there.

They went back to the conference room where Jinhon and his friends were waiting.

They brightened their faces before the students.

“Hahaha, welcome, guys. I’m glad to see you. Who is Jinhon Kwak?”

After hugging them one by one, Jinyoung looked for Jinhon.

Raising his hand quickly, Jinhon came forward, “Yes, sir. I’m Jinhon.”

“Oh, you are! Terrific! I was really surprised to hear Duckling Fly. Your dancing is also terrific.”

“Actually, the dancing style was developed by this friend of mine,” said Jinhon, praising Suljoon Kim.

“Hey, Jinhon, won’t you get into the US market?”

Jinhon grinned from ear to ear. Though he expected such an offer, he felt he was walking on air when Jinyoung mentioned it in person.

“Absolutely, sir. I’ll do my best if you give me a chance.”

“Great. You can just trust and follow me from now on. I’ll take care of everything. Oh, not me alone. Hyunwoo and I will manage your activities, so just focus on music. Also, take good care of your voice and your physical condition.”

“Yes, I got it, sir.”

With a satisfied smile, Jinyoung called somebody. A little later someone who looked about the same age as Hyunwoo came into the conference room.

“Did you call me?”

“Can you show these students around the broadcasting company? I’ve got something to discuss with this gentleman.”

After he took them out of the room, Hyunwoo asked, “What is he?”

“He will be the manager of Jinhon.”

Hyunwoo opened his eyes wide and asked, “I thought you would be Jinhon’s manager.”

“Of course, I’ll take direct control of Jinhon, but as you know, I have a contract on the sitcom at the moment, so I can’t take out enough time to manage Jinhon right now.”

Hyunwoo nodded. He forgot that Jinyoung appeared in the sitcom ‘Wolf and Fox’ featuring Nami Yu.

“Don’t worry, though. That guy was my alter ego in my prime time. When I was running JYP, that guy helped me move into the US market.”

Jinyoung said he had three great managers when he was so active in the US market. Two of them left, but the man who Hyunwoo saw a moment ago was the only manager who didn’t leave Jinyoung.

“May I ask where are those two managers who left you?”

Jinyoung made a hearty laugh at that and said, “Hahaha. I think I made worthless remarks. Let bygones be bygones, dude. Anyway, let me make Jinhon an entertainment star, so I’ll rely on your financial backing.”

“Got it.”

“By the way, it looks like you’re financially very stable. Can you back me up financially to the end?”

Actually, Hyunwoo didn’t worry too much about supporting Jinyoung’s project. He could take out 6 billion won with his stocks in N&C in Vietnam as collateral. Though he took out some loans to support Ani & Funny, the startup costs were less than 500 million won.

The only thing that bothered him was his father Duyoung Jang’s research project.

If he hit upon a great idea tomorrow and started a new business, even 6 billion won might not be enough because he had to compete with large companies, but it was stupid for Hyunwoo to prepare that huge amount of money in advance.

“Just trust me, brother!”

“Sure. Do you have the contract? I’ve prepared a draft here,” said Jinyoung.

Of course, Hyunwoo prepared one, too.

What was most important was the transparency of expenses. Though he could trust Jinyoung confidently, any opaque expenses could cause a lot of headaches later and the source of misunderstanding. As he was ready to entrust the whole operation of management to Jinyoung, Hyunwoo only cared about the transparency of the expenses of Jinhon’s musical activities.

The gist of Hyunwoo’s contract was the extent of Jinhon’s activities and the division of the profits. From now on Jinyoung would be taking care of all the musical activities related to Jinhon and Angela’s Duckling Fly, and Jinyoung would take 15-25% of the total profits. He was supposed to take 15% of the profits of the existing song.

Actually, Hyunwoo’s contract was quite reasonable. These days the management companies took at least 40% and even 70% of the profits.

Taking a review of the contract, Hyunwoo looked at him with a satisfied smile, but Jinyoung seemed disgruntled. It was because of one clause Hyunwoo put in for transparency of how the expenses were to be paid.

“Do you want me to pay all the expenses?” asked Jinyoung.

“Yes, let me lend you money at the interest rate of 7.5% per year.”

“Can I ask why you inserted this clause? Are you concerned I might submit fake receipts?”

Hyunwoo didn’t deny that. He just preferred transparency about everything because mutual misunderstanding caused by business could damage human relations.

“That’s right. Inserting that clause, I thought we should not waste too much time on unnecessary stuff.”

Jinyoung nodded his head and said, “Got it, man. Instead, let’s change the division ratio of the profits. Let me include all the expenses here.”

“Of course, you should.”

After some hard thinking, Jinyoung modified the profits ratio. He increased it by 5% to 20~30% of the total profits. The rest of the profits will be divided between Hyunwoo and Jinhon according to the contract.

After signing the contract, they held their hands tightly and said, “Let’s hit the jackpot!”

“I only trust you, brother!”