The Trashy Pd Has To Survive As an Idol: 문찐 [139+]

"Well, well."

It had been a while since I'd seen Lim Hyunsu, and her face looked rather haggard.

"What brings such a precious guest to this shabby place?"

"Oh, come on. A precious person coming to a shabby place like this is the real miracle."

Maybe the California magic had finally worn off—Lim Hyunsu radiated fatigue and a sharp, irritable energy.

She seemed both angry about the Kang Ichae plagiarism scandal and personally hit by it.

"That lunatic… Seriously. Get your ass in here."

As soon as we stepped into her studio, she instinctively opened the window. The smell that hit my nose was different than usual.

"What's that smell?"

"Ugh, you're like a ghost. I switched to vaping—for the sake of my precious lungs."

"If you really cared, you'd just quit altogether."

"Are you trying to poke every sore spot I've got?"

Grumbling, Hyunsu propped her feet on the table and started biting at her fingernails. Empty bottles were strewn all around her feet.

"Seo Hoyun, cut the nonsense. Let's get to the point."

She took her fingers out of her mouth and raked a hand roughly through her hair.

"So, how's Kang Ichae holding up?"

"Honestly? Doesn't seem all there."

"…Huh? Ichae?"

She blinked in surprise, clearly not expecting that answer.

"That's… kinda surprising."

"You're the one who asked. What's with the reaction?"

"I mean… you know. That guy's mental game is like reinforced steel."

Yeah, pretty much indestructible under most circumstances.

I sat at the computer in the corner of her studio.

'Still… something's weird.'

The fact that he showed no reaction really rubbed me the wrong way. There was something off in his vibe too.

I searched Kang Ichae's name in the copyright database. The only thing registered was the fan song from September.

As I tapped my fingers on the desk, trying to figure out what I might've missed, Hyunsu started biting her lip again.

"You listened to that shameless bastard's song, right?"

"Yeah. Sounded exactly like our fan song."

I responded lazily, opening up SNS to check the latest chatter.

"F*ck, we're the ones who got plagiarized and still ended up screwed. Not even funny at this point."

"Where are all the psycho freaks who came swinging the second they had a chance? After smearing the kid as a plagiarist, they ghosted. Humanity is so done."

"I'm staying neutral. I don't even know anymore."

└ "There's literal evidence, how can you be neutral?"

└└ "There's no proof of plagiarism. Could just be similar."

"We need to clean up the trending searches. This is infuriating."

"But is it really plagiarism? It's similar, sure, but there's no definite proof, right? It's not even a released song."

└ "Still, it's way too similar."

Just as expected, within the Noeuls (fanbase), talk of the unreleased track had already spread, and they were rallying behind Kang Ichae's innocence.

But with no copyright registration and the overwhelming backlash against his reputation as a "genius," it was clear that no matter how loud the fans shouted, their voices would just be buried.

'Maybe I overreacted… but even Kang Ichae must be shaken by this.'

Getting falsely accused by thousands of people? Anyone would be rattled.

Looking at the online reactions made things even clearer.

There were two main issues.

One: they missed the window for a proper rebuttal.

Two: public opinion had already solidified against Kang Ichae.

There was only one solution in this kind of situation.

'Restructure the narrative.'

Make people see the incident in a new light.

"Kang Ichae's totally getting screwed. That composer coming after him? Serial offender. He's swiped parts of my own songs too."

"Really? Did you sue him?"

"Pfft. Don't you know how hard it is to win a plagiarism case? Even if it goes to court, it just drags on forever."

As a former PD for a long-running trainee survival show, there was no way Hyunsu didn't already know this stuff about copyrights.

I just asked to get her talking. To have her spell it out.

"Hmph."

While she kept talking, I quietly gathered information on the other composer and mentally stacked it all up.

"I tried, okay? Tried to be calm, to be mature about it. Told myself, 'It happens. People might plagiarize in this industry…'"

"…"

"—The hell kind of logic is that?! If someone commits a crime, they need to pay for it! I'm still freaking traumatized, okay?!"

She gritted her teeth furiously, clearly haunted by her own past scandal involving plagiarism.

'She's walking right into it.'

Perfect timing to start nudging.

"Composer-nim… when something like this happens, do composers usually talk directly to each other?"

"Case-by-case."

"Really? Our company's supposedly handling it, but communication's been a mess."

I let my voice trail off, eyebrows lowering slightly. Hyunsu scowled.

"You little punk. Just say it straight—you want me to handle it."

"Hehe?"

"Wait a sec. This composer-nim's gonna show you what mature resolution looks like."

Clicking her tongue, Hyunsu grabbed her phone.

"Relax. I won't mention Kang Ichae."

"Ooooh."

I gave her a showy double thumbs-up.

Hyunsu really was good at reading the room.

Ahem.

"Hello! This is Cheongbeom."

Not long after she made the call, she switched it to speaker and greeted the person loudly.

[…Ah, hello. Good to hear from you, sunbae-nim.]

"I just wanted to talk briefly about one of your songs, if you've got a moment."

"Pardon?"

The other person responded with an obviously uncomfortable tone.

'That was a fastball.'

With my arms crossed, I watched Cheongbeom's so-called "mature" approach to handling things.

"I was just calling about that Survive Menthol track. I noticed it's quite similar to one of my own—"

["—I don't think I have anything to discuss with you, sunbae."]

"Excuse me?"

What came back was nothing short of audacity.

From the other end, I could hear the sneer in their voice.

["Wow, unbelievable. I never thought you, Lim Hyunsu sunbae, would be the one calling me about something like this."]

"…What?"

["I guess you've made enough money to forget your own mistakes? Or maybe you're trying to stir up some attention again?"]

Lim Hyunsu's face went stone cold.

'So it still haunts her, huh.'

Once you've been branded, the mark sticks for life.

Whenever someone brings up plagiarism, Lim Hyunsu can't refute it—no matter how unfair it might be.

She probably wants to believe she paid her dues by crediting the original creators and giving up all profits. But the truth is… that wasn't enough. Not by a long shot.

If plagiarism ever comes up again, she'll be back in that nightmare all over again.

["Besides, that song is ancient history. Why bring it up now?"]

"Hey, what the hell did you just say?"

["Wait—this is about Kang Ichae, isn't it? You two are close. Is that why you called?"]

Hyunsu was hit right in the nerve and couldn't respond—just opened and closed her mouth silently.

["I heard he didn't even register it with the copyright office. If anything, maybe he's the one plagiarizing me?"]

"…!"

The other composer let out a smug little "heh." Clear mockery.

["I'm hanging up now."]

The call ended, and Hyunsu grabbed the back of her neck.

"That… that f*cking bastard, what the hell did he just say?!"

"My thoughts exactly."

"HEY! Tell that bastard to come down right now. I'll throw down with him in the damn parking lot!"

Ding!

> ["...Is this what you call a mature response?"]

You're telling me.

While Hyunsu angrily chugged nearly half a 2-liter water bottle, I sat beside her, thinking of the best way to rope her in.

I kept browsing through the other composer's songs and checked out his Stargram too.

"There's a new story post."

"What's it say?"

Freshly uploaded.

"Want me to read it to you? 'Sure, the progression and melody might sound similar, but the chord structure is entirely different. And now I'm getting pressured phone calls from seniors? '"

"ARGHHH!"

"'And to top it off, that sunbae of all people. Can you believe the irony?' …Wow."

He really went and set the whole stage for us, huh?

Even though I read it aloud, Hyunsu grabbed the monitor and read each word herself, eyes scanning in disbelief, her face turning red and pale by turns.

I reached for the regular, old-school cigarettes next to the monitor and held one out to her.

"Composer-nim, looks like you're going to need this."

"I do."

Screw vapes.

Hyunsu practically snatched the cigarette from me and started digging through her pockets. I lit it for her like a gentleman, then started playing the other composer's songs one by one.

From the side, she muttered angrily.

"Goddammit, I swear I never plagiarized anything… but that little shit—!"

'Obvious imitation, just different enough not to get caught. Just enough controversy to bait engagement.'

Then, one song caught my attention.

'Perfect bait for Hyunsu.'

There was one track that sampled classical melodies—ones long out of copyright—like Chopin, Brahms, Debussy…

"…Composer-nim."

"What?!"

And once again, I asked something I already knew the answer to.

The bait was starting to take shape.

Bait not just for one composer—but for all of them.

"This composer used classical pieces in his song. Is that something you can do?"

"…If the copyright has expired and there's no related performance right, yeah, it's possible."

"So if we made a song using the same classical piece he did, would that be plagiarism?"

Hyunsu looked deeply irritated.

She tapped the ash into the tray and answered:

"…Depends on how it's done. If the song ends up different, then technically it's not plagiarism. Might feel shitty to the other guy, though."

"I see."

Of course.

"…Hey."

She suddenly realized what I'd been leading up to with all my questions.

"You—you're planning to use the same classical piece to create a track and start a fight over it? On purpose? Making sure it doesn't count as plagiarism?"

"We don't have to stoop to his level, but… don't you think this is the only way to flip the narrative—by playing a little dirty?"

Ding!

["Hey, what are you doing?"]

I ignored the system message.

Hyunsu now looked completely horrified.

"Don't. Just don't. You might be able to stir up buzz, but are you insane? You want to get Kang Ichae to release a song that looks even a little like plagiarism?"

"Then who in our team's going to compose it? I guess I'll have to talk to Ichae."

"What kind of BS is that? You think he'll actually agree to that?"

"If I ask, he will."

"…What?"

Hyunsu shot up from her seat.

"Seo Hoyun, are you out of your damn mind?!"

It had been a while since I'd seen her this furious. I had to admit—I was a little touched by how much she cared about Kang Ichae.

"Don't you realize what a bad move this is?! Why would he do that? Even I wouldn't!"

She remembered her own past scandal and grabbed the cigarette pack from the desk, pulling out another one.

With the unlit cigarette clenched in her teeth, she started chewing it out of stress.

I watched her calmly and asked:

"Composer-nim, if not this, then what can we do?"

The fish was swimming right near the bait.

"If we don't do this, do you have any other way to stir up the public?"

"…Well, yeah! I mean, maybe I could just flip it and sue him for stealing our track. Let people say I'm being petty—I could still file a case—"

She trailed off.

Hyunsu's mouth stopped moving, hanging open.

The cigarette slipped and fell to the floor.

"...Wait a sec."

She figured it out.

"You... You brought this up to me first on purpose, didn't you?"

Of course.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't bluff."

From the start, I had no intention of ever mentioning the word "plagiarism" to Kang Ichae.

But I had to seem like the kind of guy who absolutely would—to Lim Hyunsu.

"You—you seriously want me to stir up a plagiarism controversy with that composer? If I do that, then... then that incident's going to come up again."

As expected of Lim Hyunsu. Sharp as ever.

Right, what other reason could I have to come to her at this timing, in this situation?

Was I going to ask her to appeal to the public on Ichae's behalf, to claim that he's not that kind of person?

If anything, that would just tie them both to the image of plagiarism and drag them along with public opinion.

"If I don't do it? Then what—are you going to ask Kang Ichae instead?"

I didn't bother answering that.

Instead, I sweetly asked a different question.

"Composer-nim, are you really that much of a nice person?"

At that, Lim Hyunsu shut her mouth tight and didn't say anything for a long moment.

It looked like she was torn between not wanting to have her shameful past dragged out and not wanting to dump that filth onto her student.

Then, finally, a genuine curse—something I hadn't heard from her in a while—spilled from her lips.

"...Wow. Seo Hoyun, you son of a bitch."

So I chuckled a little.

"You're just figuring that out now?"