<Episode 91>
“Not renewing your contract? Hah. You think there’s anywhere that’ll take you in?”
CEO Joo Youngjun sneered.
“Hey. I’m the one who brought you this far. You were nothing, and I was the one who led you.”
The A-Pen members had to suppress their anger.
There wasn’t a single thing they felt grateful to him for.
It wasn’t that he led them; they had been exploited by him.
“So what, you’re planning to retire like this? Retirement isn’t easy either, you know. What are you going to live off after that? It’s not like you’ve ever done anything else, and you don’t even have any qualifications. Huh?”
“We’re going to establish our own agency and leave.”
Park Juchan answered in a calm voice.
“What? Your own? Ah, a one-man agency? You really don’t know how the world works.”
CEO Joo Youngjun needed to scare A-Pen into renewing.
Right now, the only artists in the company who could still make money were A-Pen. To keep Spade alive, A-Pen was a card he absolutely had to hold onto.
“You do know that you won’t be able to use your group name, your fandom name, or even the channels you’re using right now, right?”
“Yes.”
Contrary to his expectations that they would be frightened by those words, A-Pen remained endlessly calm.
Without the slightest agitation, they stared straight at him with steady eyes.
“And you’re still saying you’ll leave?”
“We’re leaving knowing all that. How could we not know? You told us over and over until our ears hurt during the last renewal.”
A-Pen could never forget that conversation.
At the time of their last renewal, they had gone to consult a lawyer, determined to at least try for a proper contract.
But the moment they entered the CEO’s office, everything they had prepared became meaningless.
“You’re renewing, right? Same conditions, three-year term. If you don’t renew, you won’t be able to use the name ‘A-Pen,’ your fandom name, or even your current SNS accounts and YouTube channel. They’ll all disappear as they are.”
That had been a clear threat.
“We can’t use our name?”
“Of course not. I registered the trademarks. Your group name and even your fandom name.”
It was something the A-Pen members had never even considered.
So in the end, they had no choice but to renew, swallowing their resentment.
“Did you all lose your minds or something?”
“No. We’re perfectly sane. In fact, our minds are clearer now than ever. And… the rumors about us, those were spread by you, right? We know everything now.”
Every renewal season, CEO Joo Youngjun would use his connections to bring A-Pen down.
It was to lower their value.
So other agencies wouldn’t want them, and so A-Pen themselves wouldn’t be able to demand better terms during renewal.
All to bind them in his own snare.
“What are you talking about?”
CEO Joo Youngjun denied it.
But A-Pen didn’t believe him.
“We know everything. It’s not that we didn’t know… we just chose to look the other way. CEO. We’ve been in this industry for ten years already. Do you think there wouldn’t be anyone to tell us things like that?”
At Park Juchan’s blunt words, CEO Joo Youngjun coughed awkwardly, trying to shift the atmosphere.
“Hah. You think anyone can just start a one-man agency? Do you even understand business? Business is never easy. Even for someone like me who’s been doing this for years, it’s not simple… and you think you can do it with zero preparation? You’re going to regret it big time.”
A-Pen simply listened quietly.
“We’ll take care of that ourselves. So just know that we’re not renewing.”
“Who tells me that on the day of the renewal?! Huh?! I’ve already prepared everything for your comeback! Do you have any idea how much the company is going to lose if you say this now?!”
“You never asked us!”
Yoon Jae burst out, as if releasing all the anger he had been holding back.
“You just assumed we’d renew, so you never once asked! You didn’t even tell us about a comeback, and you prepared everything on your own! Why are you bringing up company losses here when you pushed everything forward without even consulting us?!”
CEO Joo Youngjun frowned.
“We really endured for a long time. We stayed here for ten years. That should be enough. You’ve earned more than enough… be satisfied. You never really did anything for us, so why do you only demand more?”
It was as if they had decided to pour out all the anger and resentment they had bottled up; they spoke without stopping.
“When we released our second mini album, remember? There was a stage accident, and we got injured, but we didn’t even get a single apology. What kind of agency can’t even properly protect its artists? You never even properly supported our albums.”
“And what about the military? When we said we wanted to enlist together so fans wouldn’t feel a hiatus, you flat-out rejected it, saying then who would make money?”
There was far too much they had kept buried inside.
“And the video call fan sign events too. Spade is failing, so you’re just trying to squeeze money out of our fans. Actually, there’s no point in saying more. For all these reasons, we can’t renew. We’ve all agreed on it.”
CEO Joo Youngjun’s fist trembled.
“You know what? We endured all this only for our fans. Because we didn’t want to abandon the name A-Pen. Because it would make our fans sad. But… we can’t keep going like this.”
Thinking of their fans made their eyes sting with tears.
But they clenched their teeth, refusing to cry here.
“Even our fans are telling us to just leave the company. After hearing that, how could we renew? I can’t do it.”
“Then we’ll be going now.”
As A-Pen stood up, CEO Joo Youngjun slammed his fist onto the armrest of the sofa.
“You think I’ll let you?!”
Then he began shouting at the top of his lungs.
“What? Can’t you renew for the sake of your fans? Don’t give me that nonsense! You got offers from another agency, didn’t you? Huh?! There’s no way this is happening otherwise!”
A-Pen looked at him with expressions full of disdain.
“We’re not artists under you anymore, so there’s no reason for us to stop just because you shout. The only reason we listened to you all this time… was because you were the CEO of the agency we belonged to. Goodbye. We hope we never have to see you again.”
They gave their final farewell and left the CEO’s office.
***
“You seem to be in a good mood today?”
At his mother’s question, he smiled and nodded.
“Work is going well.”
“Really? That’s good news.”
“Yes.”
“No wonder you look so bright.”
A-Pen, whom he had been certain would renew, had instead declared they were leaving the company.
By now, CEO Joo Youngjun must be furious.
“Whatever it is, congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
‘I hope news about A-Pen’s contract situation comes out soon.’
“It’s already tomorrow that we have to go back. That’s a shame.”
At his father’s words, his mother nodded.
‘They’re leaving already tomorrow… this feels strange.’
At first, it had only been uncomfortable… but somehow, having them in the house had become natural.
‘It’s only been two days… I didn’t expect this.’
He had always believed he would never get used to it, so he had never once tried to get close to them.
He had deliberately pushed them away, using busyness as an excuse to avoid contact.
But he hadn’t done anything special; just coming home after work and having dinner together had been enough to make him feel this way.
‘Maybe, through all the repeated regressions, I just missed the warmth of people.’
Even before being transmigrated into the game, it wasn’t as though he had never felt such warmth.
That might be why.
“Next time, stay longer before going back. I’ll personally show you around Korea.”
“Really?”
“Yes, of course.”
At his answer, his mother smiled brightly.
“John.”
“Yes.”
“When things settle down, come visit us in the U.S.”
“Alright.”
“Then, how about we all sleep in the living room together tonight? Like when we used to go camping.”
“Sounds good.”
“Okay.”
They moved the furniture to the side of the living room, spread out blankets, and lay down.
‘This is my first time doing something like this.’
Even before transmigration… and even after going through multiple regressions… it was the first time he had ever lain down to sleep together with his family in the living room.
“John, back when you were in school, every time vacation came, we’d go camping and sleep like this together.”
“He wasn’t this big back then.”
His parents seemed to grow emotional as they reminisced.
“You’re already thirty-six, John.”
“What? You’re that old already?”
“Did you forget how old he is?”
“Now I’m starting to forget my own age too.”
His mother burst into laughter.
“Anyway, it’s nice being like this again after so long.”
“It really is.”
He added a word as well.
“But John… have you thought about getting married?”
“Marriage?”
“Yes. Living alone in Korea… you must feel lonely.”
“I’m not that lonely. I have Han Suseok, and I meet Kang Woojin often… and I’m busy with work too.”
“That’s good, but…”
His mother trailed off.
“I just want you to be happy. Ever since you said you’d start a business, you’ve changed so much… it worries me.”
His heart sank.
‘So they did notice that John Raid Lombardi has changed. Well… It’s only natural. Han Suseok said the original John Raid Lombardi had a completely different personality from mine.’
“It’s nothing. Anyway, let’s sleep. You’ll have to go to work tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
And so, the final night with his family quietly deepened.
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