Ryu's POV:
After all the hard work, the first concert had arrived. The artists were nervous, but so was I. Enhypen was trying to keep me as calm as possible, which I appreciated, I just needed things to go off smoothly.
As the concert started and the groups got to see it was no different that what they normally did, everyone started relaxing and having fun. That's when I was finally able to relax. The second day started the same way, but everyone found their footing much easier than those who performed the first of the six days had.
I was proud of everyone. They were all determined to bring their best to their concert dates, and the first two nights had done exactly that. Those artists set a high bar for everyone who would follow them over the next two weekends. It was just amazing to be right out of view of the cameras, watching as they all found their rhythm and seemed to forget everything else about the night. It left me excited for the next two concerts the following weekend.
In the week that preceded the next two concerts, I had to make the virtual programs for said concerts, and ensure I had the intro videos for all 21 acts that would perform. Between doing all of that, emailing the programs to the fan email list, which I had officially blocked the fans from emailing me back on, I was still putting together the surprise package with the photocards and autographed posters. I had gotten a decent amount of work done with Zelo and Jonggup, but I still had a lot more to do.
The 21 acts that followed the first week brought their A game and outdid the 20 acts who did the first two shows. I wasn't honestly surprised with B.A.P, Super Junior, VIXX, EXO, Seventeen, iKon, Kris, Pentagon, TXT, Nu'est, TVXQ, Got7, MonstaX, LuHan, and Tao among the talent performing that weekend. These guys pull out all the stops for their fans when they perform on tours. Knowing they did so much to help Jisung and I? They pulled out the stops and slammed the gas pedal to the ground. Their performances were exciting to watch.
Now, I was ensuring the intro videos were done, as I had some of those who had performed already help me finish the majority of the packages. Jisung and I decided we would finish them on the Thursday and Friday before the final shows, because we didn't want anyone to know what we were up to. On Friday, it was bittersweet that everything was finally done and I had mailed out all of those packages to the fans. It left my focus on the last two nights of the concert series.
The last Saturday, the lineup had a lot of talent. I scheduled BlackPink, Dreamcatcher, OneUs, OneWe, Cravity, FTIsland, Boyfriend, BTS, Red Velvet, and Lay. BlackPink and Dreamcatcher were amazing on their own, but they had me help them with one or two collaborations exclusively for the concert, and it sounded extraordinary. OneUs and OneWe were doing their own thing for part of each of their allotted time, but they also had collaborations in their sets. Every single artist was debuting new material or even collaborating with someone they'd never get the chance to under normal circumstances. It was fantastic.
During the concert, Hongki called me up on stage to perform with FTIsland. I was speechless, but did it without thinking. When Appa and the rest of BTS were getting ready to go up, Kookie took me with them. He sat me in a chair that was in the center of all of them, and they began to sing "Butterfly." I wasn't completely surprised since Yoongi wrote it when I was in the hospital after the plane crash, and it was about their fear of losing me because of how fragile and delicate I looked hooked up to all the machines in the hospital. However, I was surprised when a whole montage of pictures of me growing up after Appa took me in instead of the computer graphics that should have been played in the background.
When they finished, Appa came closer to me. We still hadn't spoken since our argument. Neither of us was willing to give an inch to the other. He was my appa by adoption, but my oppa by blood, so we were still very much alike, though I usually won when we argued.
"Ryu-ah, my beautiful ddal, the seven of us have always had fears where you were concerned. We each handled it differently, and I couldn't get past the baby girl Eomma and Appa brought home having such a serious medical condition who had now become my ddal," he started. "I know things were almost never easy between us, so I'm glad you've had my dongsaengs, who quickly adopted you as their own dongsaeng, because it meant there were six other guys of varying ages who you could turn to. But, I'm sorry I tend to overreact on the side of trying to hold you tighter. I'm scared if I let you go, you'll disappear, and that terrifies me more than anything."
"I just want you to trust me, Appa. If I'm stepping in on something I wasn't originally planning, it's not on impulse, I've thought it through," I told him as he hugged me. "Now, the six of you have a set to finish. Don't upset ARMY."
I walked back to my computer to find, of all people, Vernon, setting my programming back on track.
"Really? Behind my back, Vernon?" I asked him.
"Minghao asked me to do it for them because you haven't talked to Jin-hyung in like a month," he defended himself.
"You still could've talked to me," I started. "Now, go back to whatever it is that your group should be doing before I call Woozy and tell him what you were actually up to."
"You wouldn't. We're friends! You wouldn't put me in danger with Woozy!"
"I'm not really liking the surprise vibe right now, so I might if you don't go," I replied, making him grab his stuff and go.
I watched the rest of BTS's set and then the rest of the concert. At the end, Appa and my Oppas insisted I had to go out to dinner with them because of how much work I had done with them and everyone else. I agreed, so they treated me, giving Appa and I a little time to talk. Since they had insisted on this, I had texted Jisung know that one of the guys would be bringing me home. With my anxiety as bad as it's been, he didn't want me driving after dark when I was going to be out really late. So, after dinner, when we all said our goodbyes, Taehyung took me home.
"I'm so proud of you for the way you are taking everything a day at a time and keeping yourself busy so you don't focus on the bad things, Ryu," he said to me as he drove. "You know I'm always a phone call away if you need me for anything, but I'm happy that you're taking small steps to try to manage everything. As your second youngest brother, it's my duty to make sure our baby sister is doing well."
"Well, the trick with Vernon did help make things a little easier with Appa and me," I admitted.
"I told Suga-hyung that Kookie and I were right about this. You needed a neutral space to be reminded you that we've all been there for you over the years; at least if you weren't actively pushing us away," he said.
"Thanks for helping Kookie talk Yoongi into doing this, Tae. It helped."
"I know you haven't really talked to any of us since your disagreement with Jin-hyung. But I heard a rumor that you and Jisung are going to be moving out of the penthouse?"
"How do you know when... wait, Jiyong knows. Half of Korea probably knows already! He's the only one we've told," I replied, frustrated.
"He didn't tell me, Ryu."
"Then who in the hell said something?" I asked. "We decided to leave this as one of those things we were going to wait until after the concerts to tell anyone. It's not like we have the time to move right this second."
"Don't worry about that, just know I'll keep your secret until you're ready to tell people. I won't even tell Jin-hyung."
"Thanks, Oppa."
"So, do you want help moving?" he asked.
"I'll let you know when Jisung and I figure out a date to move. Okay, Oppa?"
"Alright, Ryu," he replied. "Just never forget, even if you're not talking to all of us, you're always on good terms with at least half of us, and we'll all always be there for you."
"I promise to remember, Oppa," I said, giving him a hug, before I got out of the car at the penthouse. "Get home safe."
I went upstairs and Jisung just held me in his arms.
"How was dinner with your family?" he asked.
"Between the concert and dinner, things are much better between Appa and I. The rest of the guys and I just joked around and had fun," I replied, before looking up and kissing him. "Thanks for understanding I needed tonight."
"Things always go better for you when you're not fighting with your Oppas in BTS, but especially when things are good with you and your Appa, Ryu. I would never try to get in the way of that," he told me. "While you were gone, I actually had a nice long conversation with my parents."
"What about?"
"I told them about the house we bought, emailed them some of the pictures I took when I was there before you and Jiyong paid for it," he started. "They love it. They're surprised we can afford it."
"Well, we're not paying Jiyong the $175,000 back for the house. We only owe him $139,000," I told him.
"How?" he asked, and I realized I forgot that I hadn't told him what Jiyong had told me while he was on his way back to work that day.
"Jiyong was saving up what we paid him in rent in the penthouse to put down on a house when we found a place that felt like our home. Remember, we rushed to move in together because I had gotten the death threat. We've paid him over $32,000 in rent at the penthouse since we've been there and then there are all the other things we've helped him out with that we wouldn't let him pay us for, and all the times I've spoiled him, I guess, because he took another $4,000 off the price over the $32,000."
"He really did that?" Jisung asked in shock.
"Yeah. And he said not to rush about paying him back because he knows that once the concerts are over and I can start working again, that we'll pay him back quickly. He knows that right now we're on your income only, so he knows that once we're back to two incomes, we'll pay him back as soon as we can."
"How quickly can we pay him back $139,000, Ryu?"
"It depends on how much I work after the concert. I'm not sure if I'm going to completely freelance or take a few artists on."
"Do you have any in mind?" he asked me.
"B.A.P, VIXX, and Jae from Dae6 to start. Jiyong also came to me about the possibility of bringing BigBang and BlackPink to me because he's bored at YG and he won't leave BlackPink behind due to the way they're treated there."
"Are you prepared to fight YG for their top money-makers?"
"I wouldn't be. I told Jiyong if he wants to do that, he needs to get them out of their contracts and make sure he has rights to their stage names, group names, merchandising, all of their music... basically everything before he comes to me," I started. "Jae is already out of his contract with JYP, so I can work with new stuff with him. TS Entertainment and Jellyfish Entertainment? I'm willing to fight them for the rights for everything with B.A.P and VIXX."
"Why?"
"They were both underrated by their companies, not taken care of, and they still have so many fans who want to see them comeback. Not to mention they're my friends and I'd love to see them have a real chance to see them make it... Maybe I'll invite Boyfriend, too. Starship was in total breach of their contract by essentially shipping them off to Japan for almost the entirety of their contracts, keeping them an extra year and releasing them without notifying them. They were done wrong from the start. They also deserve that second chance."
"How about we get through tomorrow before you go inviting all these people to join your company?" Jisung asked. "Tomorrow is going to be a long day, especially since nobody knows we're performing at the very end of the concert."
"Well, that's not completely true come tomorrow before the show begins," I replied.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm going to need to tell someone what we're doing. Someone is going to need to use my laptop to start the graphic with our music after I cut the lights for us to get on stage. Right now, nobody knows, but I'm going to need to choose someone to trust with that tomorrow, so the show runs smoothly from beginning to end."
"That makes sense. Someone was going to have to do that for us," Jisung said, a little uncomfortable.
"I need help on that, Jisung. Nobody has known about our little secret plan all this time. Eventually, it was going to come out to everyone, but first it needs to come out to one person. I'll find someone who won't just run off and tell everyone before we fulfill our plan. I promise."
Jisung pulled me tighter into his arms.
"I trust you," he said, sounding more confident. "But you should wash up so we can get to bed. We have a long concert day ahead of you, and for you it's your sixth in three weeks. Thankfully, it's the last."
I nodded into his chest and then went to wash up. When I got out of the shower, nice and clean, Jisung brushed my hair for me. I was yawning by that point. So, he picked me up and carried me to our bed where he held me in his arms until I fell asleep in his arms.
It was finally May 16th, the date of the last show. I sent out the last email to the fans with the link for the final concert, giving the time it would start. Then, holding Jisung's hand, as he held our costumes for our final act, we walked out of the penthouse to head to the venue.
I ran a quick tech rehearsal, making sure that everything was still going to run smoothly. Even though I hadn't deleted anything from my garbage on my computer, I had been deleting the intros for the other concerts after each concert so I had fewer intros on my computer to go through. The concerts were going to be archived on VLive and for the first six months only people with the links I sent them would be allowed to access the the concerts, and the links only worked once each. After the six months, VLive was free to put a price on the concerts and put them up for sale on their Beyond Live page. It was part of why they'd charged so little for the extra four dates.
After the tech rehearsal was done, everyone went to get lunch, except me. I was nervous, so I asked Jisung to bring something I could eat while working when he came back from lunch with NCT. While they were gone, I made sure that all the costumes were in the right places.
"Do you need any help, Ryu?" a voice asked and I turned to see Hyunseong.
"What are you doing back here today?" I asked him with a smile on my face. "You guys performed yesterday."
"Something told me you could use a friend to help you out with the last show. You know, keep your nerves calm?"
I took a deep breath and relaxed, smiling at him.
"You're right."
"You sent everyone to eat, but you're here checking costumes," he started. "You need to eat, Ryu."
"Don't worry. I asked Jisung to bring me something I can eat while I work when he comes back. He's out with NCT," I told him.
"I just want to make sure that you're taking care of yourself, knowing how much work you've put into these concerts," he replied. "Is there anything I can do to help you today?"
A light turned on above my head and I brought him to my laptop. I told him that Jisung and I were going to be the last act tonight, but nobody was to know that, and I needed him to start our graphics which were already combined with our sound when I cut the lights for the stage after the last act. Then I showed him which one to start and renamed the thumbnail with his name.
"Why don't you guys want anyone to know?"
"This is the first time we will be publicly performing together," I started. "So, for starters, even though we know the piece inside and out, we're both nervous. We don't want people to know and try to reassure us we'll be fine. Jisung is a lot more introverted, but I agree with him on this one. We want to do this before anyone but you knows to comment."
"Is there anything else I can do to help you before that?"
"Off the top of my head, I have no idea, but stay close and if something comes up, I'll let you know," I replied.
"I can do that. This way I can also make sure you drink water," he said, smirking.
In what seemed like no time at all, Itzy was opening up the last concert. They did an amazing job, like they always do. NCT was up next and they performed for just over an hour, having three permanent sub-groups and then NCT U. They took the time and gave the most explosive performance they could in the time they had, pulling out all the stops. Taeyong and the guys were sweaty but looked exhilarated by the time they came off the stage. The Stray Kids and ATEEZ shared their stage time, collaborating on one or two songs, doing some of their songs on their own, debuting one or two new songs. Kang Daniel performed after the Stray Kids and ATEEZ. Seeing him live was hypnotic. His voice and they way he moved was so thrilling, I was glad I had gotten him to stay on the project. A.C.E. was after Kang Daniel and they liked to have fun in concert, they showed that plus their amazing skills, pushing their limits. SHINee came up next and they did what they do best...SHINE! They pulled out all the stops, making the choreography they performed look easy, when I knew for a fact it was not. It was great seeing them up there performing, but part of me still ached over Jonghyun. Finally, as far as everyone knew, BigBang hit the stage. The five members knew how to get people fired up and that's exactly what they did. Everyone backstage was so into their performance, they didn't notice Jisung and I slip away to get changed, do our hair, our makeup, and connected our mics. When they left the stage, everyone was confused when the lights went out.
A few seconds after the lights went out, they came back on, with only Jisung and I on the stage. Hyunseong started our graphics and our song came on, the one we had written together whenever we had time since the concerts had been announced. As we sang and danced together, we tuned everyone backstage out, not wanting to make a mistake because we flubbed at their faces. This was us. Completely. We wrote and composed the song. We choreographed the piece together. Nobody holding us back, nobody controlling us.
When the song was over, Hyunseong sent the rest of the performers from that night onto the stage to make their final bow and say their final goodbyes to the fans. I saw when the cameras cut and I was so happy it was finally over. Jisung and I hid that from everyone for over a month. I had done so much work since the plans for this had started. Early mornings, late nights, and the work had paid off. All six concerts were a success.
"Where did that come from?" Jiyong came over, hugging me.
"Something Jisung and I have been working on together since this was announced," I started.
"We thought it was only fair, considering all these fans were desperately trying to make sure that Ryu was found safe and then tried to help pay her medical bills, that the see how far she's come since all of that," Jisung continued.
"You guys did great," Taemin came over to compliment us. "I knew that the only way to make the two of you better dancers was to separate you!"
"That sucked, Taemin! You took my best friend away from me!" I exclaimed.
"And look at how well that turned out," he replied with a smirk.
"You're still a jerk," I told him.
"That's why I will always love you, Ryu-ah," he said with a big smile.
"How did you have time to do all of that?" Jae asked.
"We'd work on it after I brought dinner to the company building. Since nobody was usually there by that time, we'd work on the song and once that was finished, we went right into the choreography. Ryu did the graphics on her own, though," Jisung replied.
"Come on, guys, why don't those of you who are supposed to work on the take-down tonight get started. I'm gonna change and I'll be back to help you."
"No, you won't," Hyunseong interrupted me. "Go change and you can supervise. I'll help them."
"Thanks, Hyung," Jisung said to him, bowing, and leading me away.
Jisung's POV:
It was Wednesday morning and both Ryu and I were sitting in Lee Soo Man's office. She looked tired. I didn't blame her. She'd done so much work, working all those days going into and even during the concerts, and she'd only had Monday and Tuesday off. She wasn't planning on going back into Exploration Entertainment & Production before Friday, and even that was for a few meetings.
"How are my favorite couple?" he asked in a too sweet sort of way, before his phone buzzed. "What is it?"
"Sir, there is a Ms. Chen here who says she is here for the meeting with you and the Parks?" his assistant replied.
"Who is this Ms. Chen?" Soo Man asked, looking at us.
"Our lawyer," Ryu answered. "Now that I have my own building to work on my freelance work, I hired a lawyer of my own to protect mine and Jisung's best interests. Now please, allow her in."
"Send her in," he said to his assistant.
Ryu and I got up and greeted Ms. Chen. Then I turned to Soo Man.
"Ms. Seo-ah Chen, this is my boss, Lee Soo Man. He is the one who called this meeting," I introduced them, and they bowed to each other before we all sat down.
As soon as Ms. Chen sat down, she pulled out a portfolio with a legal pad to take notes.
"Mr. Lee, since you have called this meeting with my clients, may I ask what this is in regards to? Neither of them seem to know why you asked to meet with them, however, they have informed me of your underhanded tricks to break them up even after they have met your conditions for them to be together. As I understand it, had Mrs. Park not recorded you after a warning to watch herself from a former artist, you were going to try to misconstrue their words to try to use Mr. Park's parents to break off their relationship," Ms. Chen told him, getting to the point that she already knew the games he's played before and that she just wanted to get down to business.
"I see that you have been given their side of the story..." Soo Man started.
"Actually, I was given the audio recordings Mrs. Park has of conversations between the three of you, along with information from her former lawyer, and testimony from others who have witnessed your behavior. The Parks', themselves, have not given me information on how conversations with you have gone except the audio recordings," she shut him down. "So, again, may I ask why you have called this meeting?"
He sighed, knowing he couldn't mess around with her. He didn't know it, but Mr. Kang referred her to us. Apparently, she was the top law student when he was graduating law school, and was even more cunning and shrewd than he was. HYBE, which bought out Big Hit tried to recruit her and she turned them down at his word, because things weren't changing for the better, so he referred us to her. Apparently, her pet peeve was when bigger companies tried pushing little people around like Lee Soo Man had been trying with us as long as he'd agreed to let us date. Lee Soo Man Ms. Chen was a lioness and he was her prey.
"At the concerts they were involved in, the two of them did a surprise song at the end of the last concert," he started. "I would like to discuss a collaboration between SM and Park Ryung-gi to release the song as a single and promote it."
Ms. Chen looked at Ryu and nodded telling her to make her choice.
"First, this would be a collaboration between Park Jisung of NCT, represented by SM Entertainment and Park Ryung-gi of Exploration Entertainment & Production," she started. "It will not be between SM & I, because I will not leave any possibility of grey area for you to change which SM male artist would do the vocals on the song. Second, I will produce the song and make the video, do the photography. SM can handle the release and promotion on music shows. Exploration Entertainment & Production will get 40% of the profits, I will get 20% of the profits, Park Jisung will get 20% of the profits, and SM Entertainment will get 20% of the profits. Is that a fair enough deal?"
"Absolutely not!" Soo Man exclaimed. "Why does your company get 40% of the profits and then you get another 20% of the profits on top of that?!"
"Simple, the song was written at my company. In addition, the way my company is set up, not only can I produce and clean up the song on-site, but I can shoot the music video and do all the photography on-site. This means that no extra security will be necessary to keep either of us safe. But that will all be with equipment at Exploration Entertainment & Production. That is why the company itself gets 40% of the profits. I get 20% for the same reason Jisung does, we're actually the ones performing."
"How is it right I only get 20% of the profits?!" he demanded.
"In the long run, you're really only going to be making phone calls to get us on music shows, putting this up on the social media for SM and NCT. Realistically, even though you want to release the song, Jisung and I are doing all the work. You would just handle releasing the single and getting us appearances to promote it."
"And who would have rights to the song?" he asked.
"The song was registered as of Monday morning. It is copyrighted to both Ryu and I, Sir," I told him.
"Which means if you want to use it in any event you are making a profit at, you will need Mr. and Mrs. Park to give you written permission or they can sue you," Ms. Chen clarified for him.
"Would you consider making the company profits and even 30/30 split, Ryung-gi?" Soo Man asked her, trying to keep his cool and be polite.
"How about this, Soo Man?" she started. "I've recorded this conversation like I have all of our conversations. I will have Ms. Chen draw up the contract, as stated so far, but leaving the percentages for the two companies with a blank to be filled in and a place for both of us to initial it, and we'll make that final decision when I see how much work SM puts into making this single a success. If I don't feel like you're doing at least enough to earn that 30%, it will stay at the 40/20% split its at now. But I'll give you a chance to prove that both companies should earn 30% of the profits. Right now, however, it seems like almost everything will be done by my company. Impress me with the release and promotion plans, Soo Man."
"Jisung, is there any way that you can help with your wife?" Soo Man asked me, and I let out a small laugh.
"Not counting the ways you've tried to sabotage our relationship so many times?" I asked him. "I still can't help you. I'm under contract with you here at SM, which I'm not complaining about. I love being with NCT. However, any business that concerns Exploration Entertainment & Production... that is 100% up to Ryu. My name is on the title with hers just because it made it easier to get it going, but the building was paid for with her money, not our joint account, her separate account from when we were still dating. The only thing I have to do with that company is that I get to hear what she wants to do with it, or she'll tell me what she's been up to all day. It's a top of the line facility, Soo Man, where she can do all of her freelance work from. So, I'm sorry I can't help you."
"You should get back to NCT since the meeting is over," he told me. "I will let you know when the meeting to sign the contract will be."
"And I will let you know when I need Jisung at my company to work on this," Ryu said. "Which begs the question... How soon do you want to release the single?"
"How fast can you have it done?" Soo Man asked her.
"Everything, by next Friday, for release the following Tuesday if you can handle the release and promotion in that time," Ryu replied.
"I can," he reassured her. "So, will you need Jisung for full days all days between now and then?"
"Actually, no," Ryu said, surprising him. "Let him out of his schedule three hours earlier than normal and I can still have everything done in the timeframe I told you. Since you've heard the song, if you have any suggestions for the music video, email me. I may not use it, but your input might help regardless."
"How soon can you bring the contract back to be signed?" he asked her.
"Ms. Chen?" I asked our lawyer.
"Tomorrow?" she replied.
"If that's the case, you have today to start to make plans for the release and promotions," Ryu told him. "We'll take our leave so you can start making phone calls. And see you tomorrow at... is 2pm good, Ms. Chen?"
"That works, Mrs. Park," Ms. Chen replied.
We all turned and left. Outside his office I gave Ryu a hug and kiss before I got back to work, especially if I would be joining her three hours earlier. I made my leave and watched her go with Ms. Chen.
In the studio that night, Ryu handed me an arrangement of the song that was only slightly different from the one we performed at the concert. It was half a beat faster, which would make it easier to dance to. She gave me a few minutes to go over the new arrangement and then sent me into the booth to record.
Since my voice was already warmed up, it didn't take me that long to get the new arrangement right. I tried to get her into the studio to record her side, but she said her side was done.
"What are you talking about?" I asked her.
"I've been here on my own all day. It's how I realized the song should be that half beat faster, so I tested it by recording my own half. I'll clean it up tomorrow and if Soo Man doesn't give any decent ideas for the video or concept, I'll choose one and do the photography tomorrow when you get back here."
"Growing up around idols really made you a prodigy at this stuff, didn't it?"
"Actually, being taught to produce by two prodigies helped with that. Remember, Yoongi and Changbin taught me just about everything I know about producing," she replied, but she seemed a little sad when she said Changbin's name.
"You still haven't talked to them?"
"I'm not ready to," she admitted. "I feel bad, and I kinda blamed them for what happened with Woojin when they told me what I did, but that was just me being overwhelmed and feeling cornered. I didn't really mean it."
"Speaking of Woojin," I started and she groaned. "Apparently that girl was the daughter of the prosecutor who was supposed to prosecute his case and he did not only drop the charges against Woojin without notifying Mr. Kang, but he did have the police investigating you. Woojin and the girl have been in jail since they attacked you in the park and the Stray Kids and ATEEZ witnessed it. Now that prosecutor was arrested this morning. Regardless of the outcome, he'll never be able to practice law again."
"Good, how dare he believe that little lunatics ravings," she said, still nervous.
"I see Mr. Kang caught Ms. Chen up to everything in your past and present that can become or already are issues?"
"Yeah. He said that by taking the final step in getting my own attorney, I was finally taking that last step into adulthood. He said he's proud of me, even if he's a little sad to lose us as his clients. I told him with what's going on with Big Hit becoming HYBE I think his hands are going to be full without us."
"How is your family handling that?"
"They hate it," she replied. "They had more freedom under Big Hit. HYBE just wants things certain ways and BTS got a lot of criticism over the years for not being 'Korean enough.' HYBE is only going to make that worse because they want them to start releasing more music in English, catering to the Western audience. That's what YG did with BlackPink and they get a lot of hate. Big Hit should've told all of them that they were working on this before they had them renew their contracts, because now they're stuck for several more years, years that they wouldn't have been stuck for had they known about HYBE and their agenda."
I finally got her to calm down and go to sleep. As long as she was in my arms, I could sleep peacefully. She kept my nightmares at bay.
The following morning I went to SM and went to see Taeyong. We were going to be mixing it up, so I would be working with guys from different units for a song that would be on an upcoming album under the banner of NCT U. It was fun to mix it up sometimes with the guys. We all loved each other like family, but they separated all of us so it sucked when some of us didn't get to see others. At some point while we were practicing, Yuta looked at his phone and came over to me.
"Get out," he said to me and I looked at him confused. "Your wifey and lawyer are waiting for you up at Soo Man's office."
I bowed to him, thanking him, took a towel to dry the sweat on me, and ran to his office. I kissed Ryu and greeted Ms. Chen.
"Sorry, I lost track of time," I apologized to them.
We were lead into Soo Man's office and he was sitting at a table covered in papers with a tablet in his hands.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Lee," the three of us said, greeting him to get his attention.
He looked up at us and greeted us.
"So, should we sign the contract yet?" he asked.
"Why don't you call your company attorney, so he can sign as well?" Ms. Chen suggested.
"In the meantime, show me the plans for release and promotions for the song so we can figure out what percentage SM Entertainment will earn from this," Ryu added getting right to business.
Soo Man asked his assistant to call for the company lawyer and then turned his attention to the tablet. He showed us all the places he had contacted to promote the song and then showed us that so far, at least 8 of the 15-20 places he'd contacted had agreed to host us for our promotion. Then he showed us the papers on the table. They were flyers he would have a street team passing out the day the song was released and on the tablet he had a similar flyer that would be released, he hoped, with a teaser, of the song, the day before the song was released.
"You did all of this in just over 24 hours? That's good work, Soo Man. But don't let up," Ryu told him. "Keep trying to get us out there. But, this has earned you the 30% of the profits for SM Entertainment."
"I've shown you what I've done since we last met. Do you mind me asking what you've done?" he asked.
Ryu pulled out her phone and started a song. After only a second, I realized it was our song. She let it play to the end. It was the cleaned up version.
"I recorded and cleaned up the song that will be released, Soo Man," she replied with a smirk. "Now, I know you've been busy working on all of this, but if you have any ideas for concepts or the music video, now would be the time to pitch them. I may not use them, but they may lead to other ideas. I plan on doing all the photography tonight."
They discussed some ideas and concepts before his attorney came in. He looked over the contract, wanted to argue, but Soo Man informed him he had agreed to everything, but the percentage of profits SM entertainment would make, which is why that had been left blank until Ms. Chen put the numbers in. After re-reading it with the knowledge that Mr. Lee had already agreed to it, he signed it, handed it to Soo Man to sign then initial where the percentages where, then handed it to Ryu and I. We signed, Ryu initialed where she needed to, then Ms. Chen signed, initialed where Soo Man and Ryu had, before asking his attorney to make four copies. She informed him that she would keep the original, but that the copies were for all four people present to have a copy to prove the agreement if any party tried to break the contract.
Ryu's POV
I had a busy schedule to keep that day, which is why Soo Man didn't know I wasn't starting the music video until Monday. I was, separately, meeting with Boyfriend, VIXX, B.A.P, Jae, Got7, Nu'est, and the Stray Kids. Nobody knew about these meetings except those meetings with me, but none of them knew why I asked them to meet me.
After meeting with Boyfriend, VIXX, B.A.P, Jae, Got7, and Nu'est, since their contract was almost up and HYBE acquired Pledis Entertainment, B.A.P were definitely on board, so was Jae. Boyfriend and VIXX wanted to see what happened with the rest of their music before they decided, but they were interested. Nu'est wanted to see what happened what it was time to renew their contracts to see if it was worth it to stay. And Got7 needed some time to think.
My last meeting was with the Stray Kids, and for this one, Ms. Chen was there. I knew it was going to make them nervous, but they told me something they shouldn't have. Woojin was back in jail, but it's not fair that their situation meant he'd never be held accountable for what he'd done to them. I had talked to Ms. Chen about this based on what Heechul had told Jisung. And if I wanted to go after JYP for letting that bastard loose on the world, I had to make sure my friends were safe first. Who knows how long he'd been hurting them before JYP decided he was too dangerous and had to go? As the guys came in, their eyes landed right on Ms. Chen as they took their seats. They were already putting their guard up.
"Hey, Ryu," Bang Chan started. "Are you going to introduce us to your friend here?"
"This is Ms. Seo-ah Chen. Ms. Chen, these are the Stray Kids, Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and Jeongin," I introduced them and they each greeted her as I said their name. "Guys, Ms. Chen is my lawyer."
Some of them looked like they'd seen a ghost.
"Relax," I told them.
"If this is about the last time you spoke to us, we're sorry," I.N said, looking nervous.
"Listen to me. Let me explain," I said to them, so they at least stopped looking like they were gonna run. "When you tried to tell me how you guys could be there for me, I said some cruel things to you, and I'm sorry. I was in shock, I was overwhelmed, and I just said it, but I don't mean what I said about Woojin, implying it was any of your fault. I'm very sorry. But, after talking to Jisung, hearing the advice he got from Heechul when you guys first told him about this stuff, I realized that JYP needs to pay for letting that bastard go as if there was no threat in doing what they were doing. And upon realizing that, I also realized, he needs to pay, just as much as JYP, for what he did to you. So, with that in mind, I know I can't go after JYP, can't get justice for you, without getting you out of JYP."
"We can't just walk away from our dreams, Ryu," Han spoke up.
"It's not fair of you to ask that of us," Hyunjin agreed.
"Is it fair of JYP to expect you to live with this trauma for the rest of your lives in silence? Act like Kim Woojin never attacked you? To bribe you with your musical freedom for your silence? Because it's not! I'm not asking you to give up your dreams. I'm asking you to give me a copy of your contracts and the document you received when they put the gag order on you. I'll use it against them to get you out of your contracts, so you're as free to go after Woojin and JYP as I am, and I'll sign you here, you can continue making music here," I told them.
"We'll lose our name and all the music we've ever made," Ms. Chen spoke up.
"What do you mean?" Changbin spoke up.
"From what I understand about how your group works, 99% of your music is written by members of your group, produced by members of your group?" she asked.
"Yeah, so?" Felix asked, and I realized what she was saying.
"If the music was written, composed, and produced by members of the group, I can easily force them to release the rights to the music and anything they've every allowed copyright with that music, anything with your likenesses, because it's your proprietary work."
"And our group name?" Bang Chang asked.
"Considering everything that's happened because they tried to hide Kim Woojin's crimes to protect their reputation, they'll be begging me to take what I want and just go away by the time I'm done with them," Ms. Chen said with a smile. "These aren't just the normal regulatory infractions that are often found in businesses. These are criminal acts, acts that will not go unpunished. You get me the contracts, the gag order with the stipulation of freedom over your music, and names involved in this. I'll handle it from there. First I'll get you out of your contracts."
"What do you say, guys?" Bang Chan asked the others, after a minute, everyone nodded in agreement.
"Ryu," Lee Know came up to me so nobody could hear us. "Are you sure you want to take on JYP?"
"I have no choice but to take on JYP, Lee Know. They knew the kind of danger he was and they kept it to themselves to protect their own asses. I lost my heart, Lee Know. I almost died. I can't let them get away with this any more than I can let Woojin get away with this. They made all of this possible because instead of protecting the eight of you, they protected their own asses."
"We're behind you on this," he said to me, hugging me.
The next few weeks were hectic. Jisung and I released the single, promoting it on radio shows, music shows, and other places. After we stopped promoting it, I signed Stray Kids, B.A.P, Jae, Boyfriend, and VIXX, after acquiring all the groups rights to everything from their time with their former companies, so they could just keep going. Immediately, I set them the task of writing a song for their groups. I wanted to see what they were capable of. While they did that, Jisung and I moved into our new house.
Moving in was bittersweet. It was sad to leave Jiyong's penthouse, but it was nice to finally move into a place that we could call our home. After we'd unpacked, we'd used movers this time, and people started coming over, they fell in love with the house, too. We had a house warming party two weeks after we moved in and there was plenty of room for our idol family. We were excited and happy.
A few days after the house warming party, the guys from Nu'est came to Exploration Entertainment & Production to see me. I was working on something for OneWe, but told the guys to take five so I could talk to them.
"What's up?" I asked them.
"We can't agree on the contract," Aron told me.
"Some of us think it's too controlling," Ren said, looking upset.
"If it seems that way now, it's probably only going to get worse, you guys," I told them. "Appa is absolutely miserable under HYBE. He wouldn't have renewed if he knew what they were like. None of them would've."
"Would you still take us here?" JR asked.
"The offer is still on the table. Creative freedom, with minor suggestions from your boss, and you're free to collaborate with anyone who has signed with me," I told them.
They looked between each other.
"We're in," Baekho said.
"Head to the conference room I met with you in and I'll meet with you when I finish with OneWe, so, in about an hour," I told them.
They nodded and walked off. OneWe came back and I got back to work with them. When I finished, I talked things over with Nu'est. I worked out the details of their contract, including the fact I would get a "dorm" they could all live in, even though it was for JR and Ren.
"I'll have an official draft made by my attorney," I told them. "I can't let you sign it until your contract over there is completely up. In the meantime, I will start looking for that dorm."
"Thanks, Ryu," Minho said. "We really weren't sure how to handle this. We wanted to stay together, but not all of us wanted to stay there."
"Anything I can do to help," I told him. "Besides, all of you helped me when I was growing up, teaching me different things about the business."
"We should get back, before they question where we've been all this time," JR told the others.
I waved them goodbye and they went. A few minutes after they left, Yongguk came tearing into the office with the rest of B.A.P right behind him, their manager chasing them.
"Ryu, you better set this woman straight or we're going to have problems," he said, anger in his voice.
"What's the matter? Why did all of you come running in here?"
"I'm trying to get them to dress appropriately for their appearance tonight," Mr. Choi said.
"Ah," I said, looking from him to Yongguk. "I get it. Guys, go get ready, the van should be leaving in 15 minutes."
They left, but I kept Mr. Choi.
"Mr. Choi, do you remember what I told you your responsibilities would be as a manager here at Exploration Entertainment & Production?" I asked him.
"Making sure the group gets where they need to be on time and keep their goofing off to a minimum," he replied.
"Exactly," I said. "Nowhere in your responsibilities does it state that you are in charge of their wardrobe, nor will you have any say in their choreography, anything in the sound booth, concepts for the videos or photos, none of that is your responsibility. I handle all of that. Do you know why?"
He shook his head.
"Because every group signed to my company has already been a successful group before. Their labels didn't help them reach their potential or neglected them, but they already know what they need to do. So, I check on them from time to time to make sure what they're working on sounds good, give advice, handle their schedules, do their photography and music videos myself. I hire managers for these groups essentially to keep an eye on them, make sure they eat, and get them where they need to be on time. That's all you need to do. Watch them, make sure they eat, and make sure they get where they need to be on time. Can you handle those three things?"
"Yes, Ma'am," he replied.
"Good," I replied. "Because the groups who are here, they're all dear friends of mine. I don't want to see another outburst like that. Are we clear?"
"Yes, Ma'am," he said.
"You may go, B.A.P has somewhere to be tonight," I dismissed him.
Not long after he left, I started feeling off. I thought it was just a dizzy spell, but it turned out I was wrong.
Jisung's POV:
I ran into the hospital and saw Leo, so I rushed straight to him.
"What happened, Leo-Hyung?" I asked him, trying to catch my breath.
"I was supposed to meet with her but she wasn't in her office. I found her in a conference room on the floor. She was slightly cool to the touch and her breathing was great, but it wasn't the best it could've been either. I called her cardiologist from her phone before putting her in my car and bringing her here, calling you on the way. That's really all I know."
I hated the waiting game. I'd had to play it too often since Ryu and I had been together.
"How long have you been here, Leo-Hyung?" I asked him.
"Not that long before you got here," he replied.
We had probably waited about an hour before her cardiologist came out to get us.
"What happened to her?" Leo asked before I could.
"Is anything stressful happening today?" Doc asked.
I let out a deep breath.
"The trials against Woojin and JYP started today. She wanted to go, to face them, but Ms. Chen and I agreed that today isn't the day to face them," I told him.
"So, she was overstressed..." Doc started. "My guess is, to prevent her from focusing on what both you and Ms. Chen agreed wasn't a good idea for her today, she was keeping herself extra busy."
"Why do you say that?" Leo asked.
"But she was cold, not warm when I picked her up," Leo said.
"She was cold because her heart can't handle picking up the extra beating to compensate for the lack of fluids. It's a good thing you found her and brought her in. We put her on IV fluids and I want to keep her overnight, if not two," Doc said.
"You know how that's going to go, Doc," I warned him.
"I know," he replied. "I also know how to keep her in bed... I'll call Appa."
All of us laughed for a minute.
"You are a brave man, Doc," I said to him.
"Come back and see her in the morning before you go to work. Bring the charger for her phone. I won't know until tomorrow afternoon if she'll be discharged tomorrow or the day after and she's still out. Say your goodbyes for tonight," Doc said, leaving us outside of her room.
"Why don't you go in first, Leo-hyung? I need to clear my head," I told him.
I called Jin when Leo went inside.
"Ah! Jisung! How are you two?" he asked when he picked up the phone.
"Ryu is in the hospital. Doc says she's alright, but she dehydrated herself. He thinks she was trying to distract herself from the fact that Woojin and JYP's trials started today and forgot to stay hydrated. She's still out right now, but if you want to come by in the morning, he said we can," I told him.
"What about now?"
"She's hooked on IV fluids and he told me and Leo-hyung, who found her and got her here, to just say our goodbyes for the night and come back in the morning if we want. I'm supposed to bring her phone charger. He doesn't know if he's discharging her tomorrow or keeping her the extra day to ensure she is fully hydrated."
"I'll be by in the morning. You give my ddal a kiss on the forehead for me."
"I will."
We got off the phone as Leo came out.
"She just looks like she's sleeping," he said to me.
"Thank god," I said to him. "I've spent too much time at my wife's hospital bedside wondering if she'd live. This is easy."
Leo put his hand on my shoulder.
"Considering you used to have anxiety being around too many people, you've both changed, Jisung."
"I love her."
"You better," Leo said, laughing. "You married her and she's like my little sister."
He took his leave and I went into see her. She did just look like she was sleeping. She only had the single IV, no injuries, I knew she would be fine.
It took two days for Doc to release her and she was ready to run as soon as he said the word discharged. I had to hold her in my arms so the paperwork could be signed and I could hear any warnings he had to give. Once we got out, I took her home and she took a nice bath. While she did, I ordered in. After we ate, I carried her upstairs, holding her, kissing the back of her neck, telling her how happy I was she was home, knowing how upset she would get if big things were made of minor hospital stays. She turned around and kissed me back, running her nails up and down my spine, making moan into her lips. Before I knew it, we were losing clothes.
Ryu's POV:
It took about three or four months after the minor incident while I was at work, but everything was finally falling into place with us. We finally figured out how to manage our married life without it interfering in our professional lives. Everything was going great since we had.
Word had gotten out that Exploration Entertainment & Production did, in fact, have their own groups signed to the label. At first, companies were weary about me still free-lancing with them, but when they found out all the artists were experienced idols and for the most part I made their schedules, we made an agreement, which included them being able to have their artists collaborate with mine when I freelance if I feel it would make the project better.
Nu'est finally joined my company at the same time as Got7, and then not long after, so did BigBang and BlackPink, so now everyone wanted to collaborate with my artists. Even though it took some work and both Mr. Kang and Ms. Chen going over their contracts, they eventually got BTS out of the HYBE hole. They day they signed their contracts with Exploration Entertainment & Production, a few of them looked like they were gonna cry. They had gone on conscription to avoid releasing anything else HYBE wanted because they really didn't like it.
With the new talent, came an expansion to the company, so they'd all have their own space to work from without taking away certain floors I worked on during my freelancing work. It took a while, but my company building was prepared for all the groups I now had, plus another 15 when I finished the renovations.
"Ryu? Are you home yet?" Jisung called out to me as I finished dinner one night after the renovations were done.
"Just finishing dinner. Wash up," I told him.
By the time I set the table, he was back. I looked him in the eyes and I still couldn't believe that we were together. Our third wedding anniversary was coming up.
"How was your day?" I asked him.
"More or less the same," he started. "Except NaNa was so high on what he calls coffee he ran head first into the closed door!"
We both had a few laughs.
"What about yours?" he asked.
"I'm considering not doing anymore freelance work," I said to him.
"Why?"
"Because, I have 10 groups under the Exploration Entertainment & Production label. At this point, most people who want me to freelance for them want to do it so they can collaborate with my artists, but they don't want to pay much to them. It's not fair to them," I started. "The revenue that comes in from freelancing isn't even a fraction of what the artists are bringing in, so I think I need to work more on my company, taking care of my artists."
"If that's what you feel you should do, you know I'll support you," Jisung told me, smiling at me.
"I mean even Jae, he was brave enough to go solo after all the drama with JYP and the rest of Dae6. And he's outselling Dae6 with every release! I couldn't be happier!"
"How many releases a year are your artists putting out?"
"They can put out a mini album a month if they have the material for it," I replied. "I have final say on recordings and everything, but I don't have to get overly involved. These guys know what their doing. I might give one or two suggestions and off they go. I book their schedules.
"What about touring?"
"I want to take the lot of them on a big world tour to reintroduce them to their fans, show them what they can do when they're not being held back by puppet strings."
"When do you want that?"
"Maybe next year?"
"Why wait so long?"
"Because I need to be very careful for a while, Jisung," I told him.
"Why?"
"I'm four months pregnant," I said, afraid of how he'd react.
"We're always so careful. How did this happen?"
"Remember when I was off the pill for a few weeks because I ran out and neither of us had time to go get them?" I asked and he nodded. "It happened sometime in there."
"But I always use..." he started but I cut him off.
"There have been a few times where we got caught up in the moment and only realized you didn't wear a condom until after," I corrected him.
"Is this safe for you?"
"It's a very high risk pregnancy, Jisung," I started. "So, I will be seeing the doctor for the baby every 2-3 weeks. I will also be seeing Doc either every week or every other week at the latest so he can make sure my heart is handling the stress of the pregnancy. So far, he said that both the baby and I are healthy."
"He knows?"
"I went to him after I confirmed the pregnancy with a doctor because I was scared of how this would affect my health. He referred me to an OB/GYN who has helped some of his patients who got pregnant and had either heart conditions or transplant hearts who works with him and knows he would need to be in the delivery room during the birth. I have my first appointment with her next week," I told him, showing him the appointment card. "Can you be there? Tell them I have an important doctor's appointment that you can't miss?"
"I'll do my best to be there," he told me.
Jisung did make my appointment with that OB/GYN. We found out my due date, and even the gender of the baby, a little boy. We both had so many questions and she answered them so patiently for us. She understood we were a young married couple, having just celebrated our third anniversary on Jisung's birthday. I was exactly 18 weeks pregnant and the idea was terrifying.
After that, everything seemed to go into fast forward. We had a gender revealing party at our house two weeks after seeing the doctor together. We had sent an announcement that I was pregnant after I told BTS and Jisung told NCT and his family, but everyone was told to keep it to themselves, neither Jisung nor I wanted the world knowing this.
The party was great, but too soon, it was like time vanished because I was 30 weeks pregnant. I was still working, even though my doctors didn't want me to, but I was mostly working out of my office, making phone calls. Jisung would drive me to work and pick me up every day. He didn't want me driving so late in my pregnancy.
Around my 32nd week, Jisung and I had started ordering what we needed for the baby online and having it delivered. Our friends would come over and help build things. Jisung had taken his time and painted the baby's room. It was a base of blue with a rainbow on it, and the Kookie and some of the guys who could draw from NCT drew and painted butterflies and dragons around the room.
By my 33rd week, I felt weak. I told Jisung to take me to the hospital. They admitted me, called Doc and my OB/GYN and decided to do a caesarian section to deliver the baby seven weeks early. I was just glad that my heart issues weren't genetic, so there was so way our son would have a defective heart. Everything happened so fast, I don't even know if they gave me something for the pain or not. I do know I felt it when he was taken out of me. After a few seconds he started crying and I must've blacked out.
Jisung's POV:
They handed our son to me and told me to follow the nurse to the Neonatal ICU. Before I did, I saw Ryu's eyes weren't open.
"What happened to Ryu, Doc?" I asked.
"She bled a little more than we expected during the delivery. We need to find the bleed and stop it, close her up, and give her blood to get her pressure up. She'll be fine. Just take your son and follow the nurse."
I did as he told me to. Not half an hour later, he came up to the NICU to see me and my son with the OB/GYN.
"Did you guys settle on a name yet?" he asked me.
"Yong-rae. Park Yong-rae," I told him. "How is she?"
"We'll need to keep an eye on her, so we're moving her to the cardiac ICU..."
"Please don't do that," I stopped him.
"Jisung, it's the best place for her," he said.
"But if she's there, she won't be able to see our son until she's discharged," I argued. "After everything she's been through to get to this point, keep her down here. There's lots of staff, she'll be on monitors and I'm not leaving her, so I will call for help if anything is off. Just let her be where she can see her son. I know what safe stats are for her."
He nodded.
Thankfully, in the week they kept her and Yong-rae, there were no issues with mother or son. When I finally got to take them home, I found my parents, Jin, Kookie, Hoshi, and Vernon there.
"What are the six of you doing here? Ryu's kinda exhausted," I started.
"You're just as exhausted, Jisung," my mother told me.
"The six of us are here to take care of the three of you until you're all a little stronger on your feet after the baby was born prematurely," Jin told me.
"So, Vernon and I will take Little Man, and set him down in his room, look after him," Kookie said.
"Your father and I will help you and Ryu to your room to rest," Hoshi explained.
"While your mother and I cook a real meal for you. Hospital food is not real food," Jin said, with some disgust in his tone.
I bowed to them.
"Thank you. All of you."
This is how it went for about three weeks. My parents stayed, members of BTS, and other friends rotated to help. By the time I finally told everyone Ryu and I had it on our own, it was after her follow-up with the OB/GYN and her cardiologist who said her recovery was going well and she'd be fine. Yong-rae had his first pediatrician appointment, so we realized we did have everything under control. So we thanked them and kicked them out, because we needed time to be a family, alone.
Ryu's POV:
After Yong-rae was born, Jisung and I finally realized that we could do everything and still have a family. It took some adjustments, rotating who would be home at a reasonable hour every night to put him down for bed and things like that, but we made it work. I took him to work with me most days, so I spent the first hour I went into the building trying to get my people to go back to work. But he, just like his father, was a spark of hope for me to hold onto.
We kept our son out of the spotlight, so he wasn't mobbed as an infant, something that really kept my anxiety down. Since we were usually already in garages when he was moved around, nobody really saw him to take any pictures. Still, he was going to be just like me and his father, he was going to grow up around idols. And I hope he loved every minute of it.