Chapter 1038: I knew it (7)

While everyone involved with Sound of Sun was running around in a frenzy,

a man in a black shirt sat smiling in Lemon Entertainment's office.

"Perfect timing."

A deep smile spread across the face of the handsome man who resembled a fox.

A newly drafted contract lay on the table.

[Regarding the profit-sharing terms for Sound of Sun...]

Executive Producer Cho Gyuhwan calmly reviewed the document.

The revised contract, prepared by the company's legal team, contained a new condition: Studio Lemon, the production company, would receive a larger share of the profits than before.

Under normal circumstances, this contract would never have existed.

But circumstances had changed.

The film's position had changed.

When the distributor first invested earlier that year, the movie's standing had looked like this:

If the film turns out well, maybe we'll give it a decent push.

The budget might have been modest, but that was all.

Some of Hollywood's best crew members were attached to the project, and the screenplay had turned out exceptionally strong.

And what about the music composed by Wooju?

The executives at Silver Screen had listened to the soundtrack and immediately poured in an additional ten million dollars.

Because of that, they had originally been willing to invest in worldwide promotion, including a substantial Asian marketing campaign.

But then...

the studio's financial situation deteriorated.

The four-hundred-million-dollar superhero movie completely bombed!

And not just a little.

The failure was so severe that Silver Screen's CEO was currently facing pressure from shareholders to step down.

With hundreds of billions of won in losses looming, the studio's leadership rushed to slash budgets wherever possible.

Sound of Sun ended up taking a direct hit.

Naturally, its position within the company changed completely.

We're short on money. Forget the marketing campaign. Just sell it domestically in Korea and make enough to break even.

The meeting had radiated a desperate determination to cut costs no matter what.

And since the distributor funding the project had made that decision, the production company had little room to argue.

Still...

I'll take advantage of the opportunity.

After the meeting with Dwight Goodman, while Wooju had been planning how to overturn the entire situation, Cho Gyuhwan had been thinking like a businessman.

How can we turn this situation to our advantage?

His answer had come immediately.

Renegotiate the profit-sharing terms.

Silver Screen is under significant financial pressure right now.

What if Lemon Entertainment returns part of the investment in exchange for improved profit-sharing terms?

If they offered to return some of the fifty-billion-won investment in cash, there was no way the distributor would refuse.

Cash flow was exactly what they were struggling with.

And Cho Gyuhwan had possessed the perfect argument to persuade them.

You said you're expecting strong Korean box office results from this film.

That's correct.

Then under the current investment structure, the movie will never reach its full potential in Korea.

Why not?

Because of the screen quota system.

As things stood, Sound of Sun was funded entirely by the American distributor Silver Screen.

That made it an American film.

Which meant it was subject to Korea's screen quota system, where theaters are required to show domestic films for a certain number of days.

Since it's a musical film, premium theaters with superior sound systems will generate the highest profits. But as soon as another Korean film is released, it'll push this movie out of those premium screens.

Ah...

Not only the premium auditoriums, but regular theaters will prioritize Korean films as well. And the Korean releases scheduled around that period aren't weak competitors.

The distributor's representatives had immediately become interested.

Then what should we do?

Make it a Korean-American co-production.

Hmm...

To qualify as a Korean film, a Korean production company's investment ratio must exceed twenty percent. Once that requirement is met and the scoring criteria are satisfied, the film can officially be recognized as Korean. Based on our review, we're already well above the required score threshold.

It was the first moment the distributor—who had originally insisted on "100% our investment or no deal"—started wavering.

Director Cho Gyuhwan smiled.

Perfect.

The studio was already under tremendous financial pressure.

And he had cleverly turned their own argument—"Korean box office performance is important"—against them.

The result was:

[New Profit-Sharing Terms for Sound of Sun]

A freshly printed contract.

Studio Lemon would return part of the investment while securing a larger share of future profits.

Cho Gyuhwan nodded.

One hundred twenty billion won isn't a small amount.

Out of the film's fifty-billion-won production budget, Lemon Entertainment would contribute twelve billion won.

That alone was enough money to produce a full-scale Korean blockbuster.

No matter how much money NewBlack was bringing in, even Lemon Entertainment found that amount burdensome.

Still, the instinct that had guided the company's growth all these years kept telling him the same thing.

They couldn't let this opportunity pass.

They had to seize it.

There were many reasons for that conviction.

But one particular pair of sparkling eyes played a larger role than most.

I have a good plan.

Ever since the days of Fireworks, whenever Wooju spoke with that look in his eyes, something enormous always happened.

"So, CEO..."

"Sniff..."

Cho Gyuhwan smiled as he watched CEO Park Gyuho sitting on the sofa and sobbing dramatically.

"One hundred twenty billion won is a lot of money, but we'll make it back."

"Uwaaaaah...!"

Leaving the crying bald middle-aged man behind, Cho Gyuhwan gazed out at the view of Cheongdam-dong beyond the window.

Wooju. I'm counting on you.

Things kept escalating.

"Wooju!"

"Yes, Director!"

"The filming crew is coming to Korea to shoot the promotional video."

"Huh?"

"And we invited all the foreign actors too~!"

"...What?"

The Sound of Sun crew and overseas cast were flying to Korea just to film a promotional video.

"Wooju."

"Yes, CEO."

"We've decided to invest twelve billion won."

"...What?"

"The CEO's putting all his faith in Wooju..."

"What?!"

To borrow Kim Deoksun's expression, it felt like the kind of situation that would make someone lose their mind and start jumping up and down.

One shocking announcement after another bombarded me until I finally collapsed onto the practice room floor and grabbed my head.

"Why? Why does this keep getting bigger?"

A disapproving clicking sound came from above me.

Perhaps because of the backlighting, Ri Hyuk somehow looked even more irritating than usual as he leisurely sipped black tea.

"You made the plan yourself. Why are you surprised?"

"No..."

I tried to explain.

"This isn't what I planned."

"Then what did you plan?"

"I was just going to put on the best performance possible. Maybe add a few marketing strategies..."

If the video happened to go viral afterward, great.

If not, whatever.

That had been the original plan.

"The best part was that there wasn't supposed to be any risk..."

The whole point was that even if the video received a poor reaction, there was nothing to lose.

That had been the beauty of it.

Hahaha! Let's invest twelve billion won because we trust Wooju!

Wooju! We invited all the Hollywood crew and actors!

Everyone around me kept creating risks where none had existed before.

I'd said I had a good plan, and suddenly people were rolling out a golden carpet in front of me.

"I think I know why."

I looked at Jiho.

"Hm?"

"Hyung, make that face again. The one you made at the rib restaurant when you told Director Cho and the CEO that you had a plan."

I tried to recreate the expression from memory.

"I have a good plan."

"Oh..."

Junghyun stared in admiration.

"That's the expression of a promising seedling. Like you look at it and think, if I water that thing, it'll grow into a giant baobab tree."

"...Really?"

Jiho nodded.

"It looks like the kind of face that makes people think they'll get rich if they just follow you. Reliable. Like you're about to pull off something huge."

"Exactly."

Biju's eyes sparkled.

"Hyung, do it again."

"...I have a good plan."

"Hoooo..."

"Is it really that convincing?"

"Yes! Even if someone told me to invest my entire life savings, I'd trust you."

Looking at Biju's dreamy expression, I asked,

"Then could you guarantee—"

"No."

The rejection was immediate.

The younger members burst out laughing.

I climbed back to my feet and dusted myself off.

"Auuugh...!"

"Did you call me?"

"That was an exclamation, Junghyun."

Patting his embarrassed shoulder, I stretched my body.

But no amount of stretching eased the tension.

"What am I supposed to do? This is a lot of pressure."

The bigger things became, the heavier my shoulders felt.

While Biju massaged my shoulders and cheered me on, I took several deep breaths.

Ri Hyuk looked over the lyric sheet and said,

"Alright. Let's go again."

"Okay."

"Since it's a jazz-based song, don't get too hung up on structure. Sing freely. I'll focus on the feeling."

With help from our main vocalist and his loyal assistants, I practiced Like The Sun.

Watching Ri Hyuk fill my lyric sheet with notes, I cautiously asked,

"By the way, are you sure it's okay to spend this much time helping me?"

"Hm?"

"You've got that competition with Cha Woohyun this week. Won't you be short on time?"

"I'm doing just fine. Worry about yourself."

Then he added,

"This matters more to me right now."

"Really?"

"That Hollywood distributor looked down on you. We need to teach them a lesson."

"Ri Hyuk..."

As I placed both hands over my chest, feeling unexpectedly touched, the sharp triangle continued,

"I'm the one who's allowed to look down on our members. I can't stand watching other people do it."

"I can't decide whether to admire how hopeless you are or be moved by your loyalty."

"We don't have time for wordplay. Sing."

"Yes, sir."

With the enthusiastic support of my younger brothers, I finally finished preparing Like The Sun.

Afterward, I headed off to find Director Kim Bora, who had arrived early to prepare for tomorrow's promotional shoot.

"I'm going to see the director for a minute."

"I'm coming too!"

Jiho hurried after me.

"Why are you coming?"

"She's going to win a bunch of awards at film festivals. I need to make a good impression now."

"An excellent mindset."

I stopped him long enough to fix his hair.

As Jiho sucked on a piece of candy, he said,

"And Director Han Giyoung came too, right?"

"That's right."

The cinematographer of Sound of Sun.

And the person who would be filming tomorrow's promotional video.

Jiho brightened immediately.

"He used to work in the Korean film industry before moving to Hollywood. His visuals are incredible. Famous directors line up to work with him."

"Really?"

Chatting excitedly about movies, we headed toward the practice room where Director Kim Bora was waiting.

But as we reached the door...

"Hm?"

"Uh..."

The atmosphere somehow felt wrong.

Like we shouldn't go inside.

A man and a woman sat in silence.

Director Kim Bora and Director Han Giyoung were staring out the window beside a camera setup.

As though waiting for something.

A few moments later, both smiled while looking outside.

Click.

Even when we entered, neither turned around.

"Wooju?"

"Yup! And Wang Jiho is here too~"

"Come in, Jiho~"

Kim Bora patted the chairs beside her.

"Sit down, both of you."

"Okay."

After sitting down, I asked,

"What are you looking at?"

"The perfect timing."

"The timing?"

I looked out the window but saw nothing unusual.

Just the summer sun slowly setting.

As I tilted my head in confusion and Jiho smiled as though he understood something, Han Giyoung finally broke his silence.

"Think it's time?"

"Yes."

He stood and checked the camera.

Then—

Fwoooosh—

As the sun sank lower, the angle aligned perfectly.

Brilliant golden light flooded into the practice room.

The kind of sunset that occasionally stirred strange emotions in people.

But the light lasted only a moment before another building blocked it.

The glow vanished.

Han Giyoung beckoned me over.

"Wooju. Come here for a second."

"Yes."

He showed me the footage he'd just recorded.

The practice room bathed in a sudden wave of sunset light.

Beautiful backlighting.

A scene where even the shadows looked elegant.

As I stared in admiration, the cinematographer smiled.

"You're wondering why I'm showing you this."

"Yes."

"This exact moment will be when you sing the climax of Like The Sun."

The next day.

The practice room at Lemon Entertainment was packed.

"Hello!"

"Oh, Senior! How was traffic? It was terrible today."

"Everyone's doing well?"

The Korean actors who had endured the Sound of Sun shoot together exchanged warm greetings.

A veteran actor asked Lee Gyeonwoo, who was warming up nearby,

"Aren't you filming a drama right now? Aren't you busy?"

"Very. But I couldn't miss this opportunity."

The veteran actor nodded.

Lee Gyeonwoo was right.

This was an opportunity no actor could afford to miss.

A promotional project with the nation's biggest idol group.

The son of the biopic's protagonist.

A member of the biggest boy band in the world.

And he was personally helping promote the film.

People would make time for that even if they had none.

As the Korean actors chatted and caught up—

"Lee Gyeonwoo! Long time no see!"

"Good to see you, Ronnie."

The {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} American cast members, including Ronnie Lucas, who had played Sun Myungju's close friend in the film, began greeting the Korean actors they already knew.

"Wooow..."

Everyone's eyes widened when a young actor who had recently become one of Hollywood's hottest rising stars entered the room.

Beneath dirty blond hair stood a breathtakingly handsome man whose appearance carried an almost priestlike aura.

He's ridiculously handsome.

His eyes practically sparkle.

So that's Hollywood's newest golden boy?

No wonder they're pushing him so hard.

The actor had recently won the acting category at the Teen Choice Awards, where NewBlack had also taken home trophies.

People marveled at him while discussing his upcoming exorcism-themed film.

Then—

"Hahaha!"

The Black actors portraying famous jazz musicians entered with booming laughter.

Lee Gyeonwoo walked over to Willie Jones, who had portrayed legendary saxophonist Winston Ross.

"You made it, Willie. That was a long trip."

"Of course I came."

The veteran actor grinned.

"Honestly, I only joined this movie because of Wooju. My granddaughter practically demanded it."

"I got dragged here because of Wooju too... I mean, I joined because of him."

"So where's today's star? I want to meet him already."

"He'll be here soon."

The American actors who had never met Wooju in person waited eagerly.

They had heard the news.

Silver Screen only gave us five percent of the marketing budget.

Everyone had been furious.

The Black actors in particular had been outraged.

Are they refusing to market the film because it focuses on minorities?!

Once the story moved into Sun Myungju's American years, Black musicians and minority characters became major leads.

The film's themes embraced minorities as a whole, not only Asians.

That was why they had flown all the way to Korea to help with the promotional video.

Everyone waited expectantly.

Then—

Click.

The door opened.

Someone entered.

"Holy..."

The room collectively inhaled.

Partly because of the overwhelming visual impact of seeing him in person.

And partly because Wooju was dressed similarly to his father.

"Thank you all for coming."

He greeted each actor with a handshake.

The Korean actors, already veterans of Wooju's recording sessions, responded casually.

The American actors simply stared.

"Hoooo..."

While discussing preparations with Director Kim Bora, Wooju switched to English and addressed the cast.

"The shoot will begin in about six hours. We'll be running rehearsals beforehand. Thank you for your hard work."

Then he repeated the instructions in Korean.

The Korean actors nodded.

The American actors exchanged glances.

"Six hours until filming?"

"That's a really long wait."

"Where are we supposed to relax afterward?"

As they chatted among themselves, Willie Jones glanced at Ronnie Lucas, who was quietly making the sign of the cross nearby.

"What are you doing?"

"Praying in advance."

"For what?"

"That we survive the rehearsal."

"...?"

Seeing Willie's confusion, the young actor patiently explained.

"I've performed with Sunny before, at the Billboard Music Awards."

"And?"

"When he says filming starts in six hours..."

"..."

"...he doesn't mean we're rehearsing briefly and then waiting six hours."

"...What?"

"He means we're rehearsing for six hours."

"!!"

The American actors turned toward Wooju with expressions that said No way.

At that exact moment, Wooju's eyes met theirs.

He smiled brightly.

"..."

"..."

And beside them, Ronnie Lucas continued reciting prayers like an exorcist confronting Satan himself.

"Please help us. The evil force before me is far too powerful..."