Chapter 599 (1/2)

“This is a neat-looking company.”

She grabbed onto her mother’s arm, as her mother looked around all over the place. Somehow, they were gathering a lot of attention. After waiting for a while in the lobby on the 1st floor, they were guided to the president’s office on the 4th floor.

“Welcome. I am Yoo Ahyoung, the one managing this company.”

“Oh, yes. I am this kid’s mother. The interior design is really good.”

“I put a lot of effort into it. Also, nice to see you again. And thank you for contacting me back so early.”

Ahyoung offered for them to take a seat. She sat down on the sofa with her mother.

“You have heard about the general gist of things, yes?”

“Yes. But are you really okay with accepting my girl?”

“Of course I am. In fact, I’m looking forward to it. I am sure that she will raise the value of our company. Would you like some tea first?”

“Sure.”

Ahyoung left the room after telling them to wait for a while.

As they waited, her mother looked around the president’s office. For a brief moment, she saw her mother smiling faintly. She looked as though she met a friend of hers. She wondered what her mother saw.

Not long later, Ahyoung returned with some pretty-looking pottery.

“It’s a hobby of mine. I hope you like it.”

“I like tea too. Is it red tea?”

“Yes. If you want, there’s milk too.”

“No thanks. I like tea by itself.”

“You have similar preferences to mine.”

Red tea was poured into the transparent cup. She took in a sniff of the fragrance that wafted into the room and felt her tense body relaxing a little. She met eyes with Ahyoung who asked if it was good. She curtly replied ‘yes’.

“If she was an adult, I  would have asked her to sign a contract on the spot, but in the case of minors, a parent or guardian needs to be present. There are cases where this isn’t the case, but it is the tradition, so please understand.”

“In any case, doing everything neatly is good. Like this tea.”

Her mother and Ahyoung smiled at each other.

She found the eyes of sharp observers between the two warm smiles. The two people seemed to have started probing each other out. Whether it was in an official place or not, she never saw her mother lose in a battle of wits. Even when the editor sometimes comes to their house to beg her mother for a manuscript, her mother would always put on her neat smile and maintain her usual calmness. Her editor would become more and more fatigued as time went by, and it was to the point that she would sometimes give her a drink in secret and cheer her on.

“For now, this is the contract form.”

“May I read it?”

“Of course. Let’s talk again once you’re done reading.”

There were two copies of the contract. While her mother carefully went over the contract, Ahyoung pushed the other copy to her side.

“You should read it as well.”

“Yes.”

When she read the words 'exclusive contract’ at the top, it finally came to her that she was stepping into the entertainment industry. She took a deep breath before reading the form below. The wall of text that filled the entirety of the page made her feel suffocated. There were many difficult words and terminology that made it hard to understand if she did not read it in detail.

“You don’t write standard contracts, huh?”

“That’s because we include intangible assets. Also, to be clear, she is not in a state where she can bring us profit. It’s not like she’ll be working at our company either. Most of her time will be spent on education, so standard contracts are meaningless.”

“That’s true. Then what happens to the deposit?”

“The exclusive contract deposit is 14 million won. It’s paid in one go, but will be taxed over 7 years, 2 million won each time. It will be amortized under activity fees after her debut.”

“What’s this clause about development expenses?”

“It’s money we invest in her. This money will also be amortized after the debut. Of course, most of the time, we just ignore it when we extend the contract. She’ll get treated according to her name value.”

“So it’s a conditional debt in a sense?”

“Yes. It’s a debt for us. Even if she does not produce any profit in the 7 years after she signs the contract, there will be no monetary losses for her. However, that’s not in the best interests of either of us. Gaining as much as the investment, if not more, is how people feel after all. Since we’re doing it, isn’t it better to earn a lot?”

“Money is not always right, but it’s right most of the time. Now that I actually see it, the entertainment business is pretty risky, huh. There must be cases where you don’t make money off your investment.”

“That’s why over a dozen agencies appear and disappear every year. Perhaps an entertainment agency is similar to gambling. Doing things little by little doesn’t guarantee that you’ll make it, but if you do make it, it’s a huge jackpot.”

These two looked like they were at each other’s throats. She put down the contract after reading it until the end. The contract was just like what she had heard, and there were no major differences. Her mother, who had stamped several contracts, said that there were no problems, so it was definitely a normal contract.

“Hey, you seem to like that book, huh?”

Her mother pointed at the one book that was placed on the display case next to the president’s desk. The moment she had a look at the cover of that book, she understood the meaning behind her mother’s smile from before.

“That book? It’s a new work from a favorite writer of mine. It’s a romance novel, and I end up reading it without noticing the passage of time once I start.”

Ahyoung said that while brightening up. Her good feelings towards the book could be felt from her words. She could see her mother’s smile becoming thicker. It wasn’t surprising, since it was her own writing that was being complimented.

“As awkward as it is for me to say it in a place like this, I wrote that book.”

“What? Really?”

“Yes.”

“You are writer Choi Haesoo? Oh my god, wait a sec.”

Ahyoung stood up before hurriedly moving somewhere. After a while, Ahyoung returned with her hands full of books. They were all her mother’s novels. There was even an essay.

“You bought all of them?”

“Of course. You won’t know how much I advertised these books to my friends.”

“Thank you for that. Perhaps the slowly increasing income of mine might have been thanks to you, president.”

“Uhm, can you give me an autograph right here? I really enjoyed this book. I was thinking that it would be really good as a drama.”

“Hm, actually, there are already talks about publication rights on adaptations. This is not set in stone though, so don’t go talking about it to others.”

“Really? Tell me once the adaptation is decided. I will put any actor you want in the drama.”

“Thank you for that. Oh, I saw Mr. Yoo Jihoon’s photo just now.”

“He’s with us.”