MDQ Ch 23

Park Saebit’s face looked much better than the last time I saw him.

Should I say it looked as if he wasn’t bothered at all by my absence?

“Because I told him I liked you.”

“I said, you seem a little different to me.”

For someone who once said he liked me, wasn’t he living far too comfortably?

Of course, I didn’t resent Park Saebit. Rather, I thought it was fortunate he was doing well.

I wanted to be naturally forgotten by Park Saebit and the Given members.

After all, there were countless managers who could replace me. Even if someone like me disappeared, it wouldn’t cause any damage.

With that thought, I was able to look at Park Saebit through the TV screen without much resistance.

As expected of Park Saebit, who said he wanted to take a short break from group activities, then work as a variety show MC and producer, he handled MCing quite well.

If I hadn’t taken leave, I would have had to go over every program where Park Saebit was an MC and give him feedback.

And if he ever felt my feedback wasn’t enough, how wildly he would have gone off…

In the past, I had even watched his programs more than five times just to give him satisfying feedback.

I briefly prayed for the soul of Minsoo, who must now be the one taking care of Park Saebit in my stead.

‘Minsoo, hang in there…‘

Then, just when Park Saebit was smoothly continuing the broadcast without any awkwardness, he suddenly said something unexpected near the end of the music program.

“Next week, our Given’s junior rookie boy group will be debuting! And their pre-release track is one I personally participated in writing the lyrics for! Please look forward to it a lot!”

A song Park Saebit wrote lyrics for…?

That was something I hadn’t heard of while I was still at the company.

Besides, it had only been half a month since I left the company. It was quite a tight timeframe to work on a new song.

‘Did Saebit insist on using his own lyrics for the pre-release song?’

If not, it didn’t make sense.

Of course, Saebit was nearly a beginner as a lyricist, so he wouldn’t have worked on the title track. It seemed he had been allowed to participate in the pre-release instead.

Then what kind of lyrics had Saebit written?

I suddenly recalled the lyrics he had once written. The ones he’d written after referencing a lot of other songs.

‘Surely he didn’t use one of those, right…?’

I had told him several times not to use those lyrics, so there was no way he did.

I thought there was no way that cunning kid would overlook something serious enough to even spark plagiarism controversy.

But suddenly, I couldn’t help but wonder about the lyrics Park Saebit had written.

If the comeback was next week, wouldn’t the pre-release drop soon?

Three days later, Archon Entertainment’s official YouTube channel uploaded the pre-release music video for the rookie group Heyri.

I hurried to listen to the song the moment it was uploaded.

The concept seemed to be “refreshing.” Young boys, still with traces of youth on their faces, wore school uniforms and sang a sweet song.

The visuals, the concept, the vocals… everything was excellent. Except.

“Aren’t these the lyrics I saw back then?”

The thing I feared had actually happened.

Foolishly, Park Saebit had boldly used the very lyrics I had told him never to use. I recognized them instantly.

What should I do? Should I contact the company? Or should I talk directly to Park Saebit?

Even after the song repeated itself ten times, I couldn’t bring myself to make a decision.

And then, at that moment, I noticed a comment from someone who seemed to be just as knowledgeable about lyrics as I was.

That comment’s likes skyrocketed until it sat firmly at the top.

My heart sank. I hadn’t done anything wrong, but it felt like I had committed a crime.

I stopped hesitating and immediately turned on my phone. With the situation this bad, there was no way I could just sit still without contacting the company.

The moment my phone turned on, a call came in from the CEO.

If he had been monitoring things in real-time, there was no way he hadn’t seen the same comment I had.

With trembling fingers, I pressed the call button. Immediately, the CEO’s roar came through.

– “Manager Lee, are you insane? Is it true you gave Saebit plagiarized lyrics? You’d better be ready to take full responsibility.”

Me…… plagiarize? Me, write those lyrics?

Even after hearing it with my own ears, I couldn’t believe it.

“CEO, I think you’re mistaken. I never gave Saebit my lyrics.”

I asserted my innocence firmly and clearly. I had no intention of covering for Park Saebit.

Because plagiarism was never a light matter.

It was something that could strip me of the only talent I believed I had—lyric writing—forever. I desperately wanted to set the record straight.

But the CEO seemed to trust Saebit’s words more than my innocence.

– If you want to claim you’re innocent, then come to the company right now. Understood? If you don’t return by today, an article will come out saying you orchestrated the whole thing.

“All right, understood.”

The call was cut the instant I gave in.

The nausea in my stomach, which had eased after not facing Given members or my father for a while, flared up again.

Now the pain cut so deep it felt like my very insides were being torn apart, making it hard to even breathe. My powerless hand holding the phone trembled uncontrollably.

I tried to calm myself by letting out a long breath.

I didn’t even need to ask why Park Saebit had lied.

Having never once tasted failure in his life, Park Saebit would never have the courage to admit his own mistake. If he acknowledged it, the career he had built would crumble in an instant.

He wouldn’t want his life branded with the mark of failure.

So he had thrown the blame on me, the easiest and most convenient scapegoat. There was no one else to pin it on.

It was utterly absurd. How could someone do this to the very person who liked them?

Only someone with a rotten character could.

I was appalled by his duplicity. Even if I were born again, I didn’t think I could ever like Park Saebit.

On the way to the company, I searched for articles about plagiarism.

Whether because the company had taken measures or because it hadn’t blown up into a major scandal yet, there weren’t many articles about Saebit.

Only headlines like “Famous Boy Group Member Caught in Plagiarism Scandal” showed up sporadically.

I thought that was at least a small relief. If things escalated, it wouldn’t be good for me either.

By the time I arrived at the company, it was close to quitting time. I took a deep breath and went inside.

The moment I stepped into the lobby, I felt the gazes of the people walking through it pierce into me. Every single one was sharp.

They whispered to each other as they looked at me.

It was probably because the issue with Park Saebit had already spread to them, too. They might not know I was a famous lyricist, but they knew I was the manager connected to Park Saebit.

Even so, my whole body trembled for no reason.

It felt like they were all pointing fingers at me. Like they were all giving me looks that said they knew I had plagiarized.

My heart pounded, sweat dampened my hands and feet, and trickled down my back from under my shoulder blades.

The panic disorder I had developed after my brother’s death felt particularly severe today. Normally it wasn’t this bad.

I pulled my hat low over my face.

I didn’t have the courage to meet their eyes. If I kept facing their harsh gazes, I felt like I would collapse right there.

Barely managing to move my heavy feet, I dragged myself to the CEO’s office.

“Sir, it’s me.”

I knocked on the door, and immediately a shout came back.

“Hurry in!”

I took another deep breath before stepping into the CEO’s office, repeating to myself that it would be okay since I had done nothing wrong.

Inside, Park Saebit was already there waiting.

I looked at him in disbelief, my eyes asking why on earth he had done such a thing.