Ā Chapter 5
Having boldly spoken up, I emitted spiritual energy toward Jayco.
[Jayco]
Beat Maker, Composer.
Personality: Petty and gloomy. (Evil > Good)
Special Notes: Extremely anxious because his plagiarism seems to have been discovered.
<<Appearance: 61/63, Acting: 38/61, Singing: 77/79, Dance: 32/36, Rap: 55/61, Wit: 61/64, Composition: 70/75, Arrangement: 77/82, Charm: 23/59>>
As Hwang Jae-hu said, it was definitely plagiarism. The special notes directly mentioned plagiarism, and it was impossible for someone with a mere 70 in Composition to have produced three big hit songs. Perhaps because I seemed so confident, everyone’s attention was focused on me. Now it was Hwang Jae-hu’s turn to step up. As I called his name inwardly, Blue Velvet’s members, sensing something strange, also came out to the waiting room.
‘Hey, they’re asking me to present the evidence?’
ā¦ā¦
‘Hey, what are you doing? Hwang Jae-hu?’
ā¦ā¦
Suddenly, Hwang Jae-hu’s presence completely vanished. I was flustered but acted naturally while looking around. At times like this, I couldn’t show any sign of being intimidated. But inwardly, I desperately called out to Hwang Jae-hu.
‘Hey, where are you? Come out.’
ā¦ā¦
‘Are you really going to do this? Earlier you said plagiarism is a serious crime, and if you know and turn a blind eye, that’s also a crime, didn’t you?’
ā¦ā¦
“Su-ho, you said you could prove it clearly, right?”
“Han Su-ho, what are you doing without presenting the evidence?”
“Manager, what evidence could that bastard possibly have?”
“Han Su-ho, do it right. If you can’t present the evidence, I’m not letting this slide.”
“Manager, isn’t it obvious? This bastard clearly doesn’t know shit and is just running his mouth.”
“Seriously, what does a roadie know about music to be talking plagiarism to me? You arrogant bastard, aren’t you going to kneel and apologize right now?”
As I, who had spoken so boldly, stood there frozen, the atmosphere quickly turned hostile. Chae Won-tae, Park Hyeon-su, and Jayco, now emboldened, hurled insults at me. I was in a situation where I would inevitably be cast as the villain. In desperation, I called out in the friendliest voice I could muster.
‘Friend, help me.’
No answer no matter how desperately I called. But the moment I said “friend,” he appeared instantly.
– What did you say?
‘They’re asking me to present evidence of the plagiarism?’
– Evidence, huh. What should we do about this?
‘Why? What? Don’t tell me you don’t have evidence?’
– I have evidence, but to present it, I need to possess you, you see?
‘You, don’t tell me…’
– Wh-what?
‘You bastard, you were trying to possess me from the very beginning…’
– No, I didn’t know it would turn out like this either! I swear!
‘Damn it. Come in.’
I had already made my move, and with no other option, I relented.
– You definitely said to come in.
‘Come in quickly before I change my mind.’
*Whooshā!*
The moment I allowed possession, I felt something burrow into my body. It settled inside me, rapidly expanded its presence, and soon occupied most of my body. It felt very strange. It wasn’t like we became perfectly one. There were parts that felt short and insufficient here and there. It was uncomfortable, like forcing myself into clothes that were too small.
‘Is possession always like this?’
– Like what?
‘It’s really uncomfortable and awkward.’
– It’s because it’s your first time; you’ll get used to it as you go. Anyway, your body is goodāI think I can fully unleash my abilities!
‘Just present the evidence first.’
Even while feeling awkward about the first-time possession, I followed what Hwang Jae-hu told me to do.
“Excuse me, for the plagiarism evidence, may I use a laptop for a moment?”
“Of course.”
Taking an engineer’s laptop, I accessed an obscure self-composed music community and went to a specific blog. The last post on that blog was from two years agoāmeaning it had been inactive for two years. Jayco was visibly flustered. And when we finally found a song with the exact same accompaniment, melody, and even beat, he actually screamed that he was the one being plagiarized. If he had any conscience, he should have apologized and begged for forgiveness right then and there, but he kept denying it to the end, which made me furious.
“Really. You plagiarized, yet what makes you so high and mighty that you disrespect and curse at others? Someone like you needs to be properly taught a lesson.”
Furious, I gathered all my spiritual energy and emitted it. Directly hit by the spiritual energy, Jayco collapsed like Lee Kyeong-su had and started trembling uncontrollably. In a state of extreme terror, he now had no choice but to confess the truth to my questions.
“Confess while I’m being nice.”
“I-I’m sorry. The original composer, my junior, had passed away, and only his younger sibling and mother were left, so I thought no one would… know.”
“What, you stole your junior’s song?”
Manager Lee Woo-seong muttered in a dazed voice from beside me.
“The-the song was just too good…”
– Friend, the three songs he released and hit big with before were also his dead junior’s songs. How about bringing those up now too and correcting the record?
‘Those were also plagiarized from his dead junior? This bastard is truly trash.’
I couldn’t let the other plagiarisms slide either. Under the influence of my spiritual energy-infused questions, Jayco confessed to all his crimes. Shortly after, the company’s legal and PR teams, who arrived after receiving a call, took care of the related tasks, including obtaining Jayco’s written confession. Meanwhile, during the process of bringing Jayco to justice, Park Hyeon-su and Chae Won-tae were left out in the cold. They left, taking the Blue Velvet members with them, without apologizing or thanking me.
“Su-ho, you prevented a major disaster. If we had released it without knowing it was plagiarized and a problem arose… just thinking about it is terrifying.”
“I was just lucky.”
“You worked hard. Leave work right now. I’ll report this incident to the company formally, and it’ll be of help to you in some way.”
“Thank you.”
“Good work. Go ahead.”
“Good work to you too, Manager. See you tomorrow.”
I said goodbye to Lee Woo-seong and was about to leave KS Studio when I thought of Hwang Jae-hu. He was still possessing me.
‘Hey, I’m about to leave the building now. Will you be okay?’
– It’s fine, let’s go.
‘Can a Seongju-shin move locations?’
– I think it’s fine while possessing you.
‘Since you helped me, I’ll grant your request this once. You said you wanted to drink coffee earlier, right? Is that enough?’
– I can’t let such a good opportunity go to waste so easily. My request is to visit my parents’ graves. I committed the filial sin of dying before them, so I should at least pay my respects.
‘Where are your parents’ graves?’
– Damyang, Jeollanam-do.
‘That’s too far?’
– It doesn’t have to be today.
‘Okay, I’ll go when I have time.’
– Thanks.
‘Alright, now get out of my body.’
– Already? We became friends today; we should have a drink to commemorate it.
‘A drink? No, thanks.’
– I heard there’s a great hunting pojangmacha nearby, or they say the clubs in Gangnam have really good atmosphere?
‘Not interested.’
– What about Itaewon? I heard there are lots of foreign girls there?
‘Too much trouble.’
– Aren’t you a bit too lukewarm for a guy in his 20s?
‘I’m tired.’
– Well then, this neighborhood has been famous for its fried chicken places since way back…
‘Wait! I absolutely do not eat fried chicken or anything deep-fried.’
– Why is that?
‘It triggers my PTSD. Stop the nonsense and get out quickly.’
– PT… what? Anyway, then let’s try some pizza. I heard it’s really delicious. It didn’t exist in my time, so if you let me eat that, I’ll write a massive hit song for that girl group Lovely.
Judging by how he uncovered the plagiarism, his musical abilities seemed exceptional. Suddenly, I became curious about who Hwang Jae-hu was. I opened an app and accessed a search site. On the profile section of a major domestic portal, he was listed as a singer and composer who died young in the early 80s, a tragic genius who composed and sang numerous hit songs and brilliantly illuminated Korean popular music. The wiki said that because of him, Korean popular music advanced by more than a generation. Many younger musicians revere him as a great genius, or the god of music.
‘He’s really revered as the god of music?’
– See? That’s who I am. How else would I have become a Seongju-shin from being a jibakryeong (bound spirit)?
‘You were originally a jibakryeong?’
– Yes.
‘How did you become a Seongju-shin?’
– I loved music so much that even after I died, I stayed here at the studio and kept making music. Over time, divine energy accumulated, and before I knew it, I ended up like this.
Just as Guan Yu became a god after death, when the wishes of the living gather, ghosts can sometimes become gods. Hwang Jae-hu seemed to be a case like that.
‘How many years have you been at this studio?’
– This year marks exactly 38 years.
‘Being stuck in a studio for 38 years must have been really stifling.’
– It was stifling at times, but more than that, what pains me most is not being able to attend my parents’ funerals and not having visited their graves.
‘When did your parents pass away?’
– My father 18 years ago, and my mother 11 years ago.
‘…I’ll try to arrange the Damyang trip as soon as possible.’
– Thank you.
‘Anyway, dinner tonight is pizza. I’m adding a large cola too, so you have to make a proper song.’
– Don’t worry. I’m Hwang Jae-hu.
—
* * *
We came together to my studio apartment in a semi-basement. After showering and coming out, while unwrapping the pizza that had arrived just in time, a Kakaotalk message from Manager Lee Woo-seong arrived.
– Su-ho, these are the songs that have been offered to Lovely. Take a listen and see if there’s a good one.
– I have a tin ear, I wouldn’t know even if I listened.
– If you can spot plagiarism in an instant, you’re definitely not a tin ear. I’m not asking you to find one, so just listen without pressure and tell me your honest thoughts.
– Understood.
I played the files Manager Lee Woo-seong had shared. The first song was a dance pop with a fast tempo and strong rhythm, originally offered to Blue Velvet. Dance is the basic framework of girl group music, so many girl groups sing dance pop, and many have succeeded. However, not every dance pop song is successful.
‘The topline is bland, and the melody is monotonous, so no matter how intense the performance is, it’ll be hard to get attention.’
Halfway through listening, I readily understood why Blue Velvet had rejected this song. The second song was also dance pop, with a fun, lively melody and easy-to-sing verses and hooks kept simple. It gave a fairly intense feel by putting power into the bridge. But…
‘This song is no good either.’
The so-called “money chord” progression. It was so familiar it was boring. It might feel refreshing the first time, but it would definitely become tiresome the more you listened. A song like this could never hit big.
‘Huh? How do I know about money chords?’
I had learned the term “money chord” itself today for the first time. Yet I could identify them, analyze a song’s strengths and weaknesses, and judge its hit potential? That wasn’t like me at all.
– Hey, isn’t this really too much?
‘What is?’
– You’re taking all my knowledge and sense, wholesale!
‘Me?’
– Yes, you.
‘What am I supposed to do when it just happens on its own, regardless of my will?’
– You’ll probably end up writing lyrics and composing too at this rate.
‘Surely not? To compose, you need to know Cubase and plugins well, but I’m a complete layman in that area…’
The moment I thought about composing, related knowledge came flooding in. That meant, as Hwang Jae-hu said, I could freely use his abilities. Hwang Jae-hu was possessing me, but he hadn’t lent me his abilities. Yet I was freely using them? This was a very peculiar case. However, it was questionable whether this knowledge would remain after the possession ended.
That night, I installed the trial version of Cubase on my laptop. I then watched Lovely videos for about two hours, and at some point, I opened the Cubase program. From then on, I was in a frenzy. I don’t know exactly what I did, but as I frantically moved my mouse and keyboard, a song was quickly completed. The process was so amazing that I couldn’t help but ask questions, and even while asking, the sensations, memories, and feelings of composing kept coming back. I felt like, with this mindset, I could compose myself now.
