#026
There was no way to know what Yeonwoo was thinking when he signed this. Until yesterday, he had thought proudly that at least he wouldn’t starve to death anywhere, but he decided to uproot and throw away that thought entirely.
Originally, toxic clauses could be problematic even in passages that seemed harmless enough to gloss over if examined in detail.
[If items within ‘Party A’s’ residence are damaged or destroyed during filming, ‘Party B’ has the right not to pay compensation costs.]
There were various strange clauses, and this ranked in the top 3 of annoying sentences.
‘What right is that.’
Electronics like washing machines, TVs, and refrigerators could easily cost several hundred thousand won to repair or replace.
‘You call this a contract…!’
The titles were just Party A and Party B, but this was clearly Yeonwoo in the position of Party B.
He hurried out to the yard to find Han Taegu, but he had left after saying he had business to attend to, leaving things to the youngest PD.
Kang Dojun’s eyes sharpened. Right, now that he looked at it, he didn’t seem to work well either.
Han Taegu was a famous PD who had produced several hit shows. Whatever circumstances led him to leave his post, Kang Dojun’s direct experience with Han Taegu up close was running at the worst of the worst.
As he gradually recalled past schedules, there were more than one or two things he had done while thinking ‘this much is nothing…’ and brushing them off as no big deal. Moreover, after checking Yeonwoo’s contract, the difference was even greater.
He immediately requested a halt to filming and called Han Taegu.
“Hello?”
“Where are you?”
“Ah, Dojun-ssi. I have some business to attend to for a moment….”
“What is this?”
“Huh?”
Kang Dojun took a beat to catch his breath before speaking. Even though it wasn’t something that happened to him, he was getting worked up as if it were his own business. He gripped the paper in his hand tightly.
“Yeonwoo’s contract. What is this? Who wrote this kind of contract? You, PD-nim? Or the broadcasting station? Who?”
“…It’s a contract that’s already been signed and completed, and even if you raise issues now….”
“Did you sweet-talk an innocent kid into signing?”
“Yeonwoo-ssi also approved it, and besides, Yeonwoo-ssi has already….”
“PD-nim.”
Kang Dojun cut off his words and swallowed his anger. Maintaining his rationality as much as possible, he spoke in a low, grinding tone.
“This is fraud. First, I’m going to check through my agency’s legal team whether this contract can be invalidated, and if not, I’ll sue on my own.”
“Dojun-ssi, calm down. This is Yeonwoo-ssi’s problem, it doesn’t seem like something DH Entertainment needs to step in for. For the entertainment company to get involved in a civilian’s problem….”
“A civilian, you say. Hah…, did you treat him however you wanted because he’s a civilian?”
“It seems there’s some misunderstanding. Please calm down for a moment.”
“Misunderstanding, my ass.”
A laugh burst out in his disbelief.
“If you don’t want this to blow up, come here right now and revise the contract.”
* * *
“…Is something wrong?”
Yeonwoo, who had returned from the apiary, sensed the cold filming atmosphere and asked Kang Dojun. The cameras that should have been recording were all turned off, and Kang Dojun was busily writing something.
Yeonwoo looked at him with worried eyes.
“Hyung, is something wrong?”
Kang Dojun pressed his lips tightly shut and raised his head to look at the pathetic mutt in front of him.
“Ah, were you scared being alone? Hey, the production staff are here too.”
Instead, Yeonwoo praised Kang Dojun as if he had done well staying alone, patting his shoulder like giving a compliment.
It was a huge misconception to think that just because he was scared, everyone else would be scared too.
No matter what Yeonwoo did, he never looked hateful, but this time was different. Yeonwoo, who had carelessly signed such a contract, was completely nonchalant, not knowing that Kang Dojun was fuming inside.
And all that anger was directed at Han Taegu. Did he trick this innocent kid who knew nothing into filming?
“Yeonwoo.”
“Yes, hyung. Please speak.”
Kang Dojun stared at Yeonwoo silently for a long time.
‘What on earth is he thinking about to take so long?’
With that serious expression, he kept moving his mouth as if he wanted to say something, which made Yeonwoo feel frustrated too.
“Is something wrong? Is the PD bothering you? Should I go scold him?”
Who’s the one who got wronged…. Kang Dojun sighed and said.
“You signed a contract when you appeared here, right?”
“I suppose so.”
‘I suppose so’… He was truly carefree.
“Did you know what the content was when you signed?”
Yeonwoo rolled his eyes in a circle through the air. He had definitely been drunk when he roughly read and signed it, but later he had visited Han Taegu to check the contract again and had also received the electronic contract via email.
“Roughly.”
At those words, Kang Dojun’s eyes went wild. In his worry, he unknowingly raised his voice.
“What do you mean ‘roughly’ when making a contract?!”
Working in the entertainment industry, such contracts were common. Especially for newcomers, they would blatantly insert toxic clauses, and there were often times when they had no choice but to sign even knowing about them.
Kang Dojun had once been a tadpole too. That’s why he was even more disgusted by such things, and anger surged at the fact that Yeonwoo had signed such garbage.
Not knowing the situation, Yeonwoo flinched and looked at him with wide, startled eyes.
Kang Dojun thrust the paper he had been busily crossing out lines on, full of toxic clauses, into Yeonwoo’s hands.
“It was under the living room drawer.”
As Yeonwoo slowly read through the paper, he easily realized it was a filming cooperation contract.
It seemed like it had somehow ended up under the drawer when he was lying unconsciously in the living room after drinking. However, he had already read the electronic contract that came via email.
Among the sentences wrapped in all sorts of bizarre language, he had noticed that there were plenty of sentences that would harm him, but what could he do? It was already done.
It was in the past and it was something he had caused. At first, he had regrets, but dealing with it was his responsibility.
And Yeonwoo had surprisingly done well with it.
Even until now, the production crew hadn’t come to his house and caused any major trouble he couldn’t handle.
Yeonwoo was living his daily life in the peaceful countryside, feeling not a little bit of boredom. In that sense, the visit of the Seoul people and the joy that Kang Dojun gave him was immense.
“It’s okay. It’s already in the past, and they’ll leave soon, so I’ll just endure it for that time.”
“Endure what? Shit…, are you a pushover?”
Yeonwoo’s eyes opened even wider. He never could have imagined that profanity would come out of Kang Dojun’s lips.
Of course, there were scenes of swearing in dramas and movies while acting, but for Yeonwoo, who was clueless about broadcasting and internet media, it was a new shock.
Considering his gentle personality, it felt awkward, but it also suited his glamorous and sharp-looking face well.
‘Hyung swears too.’
When Yeonwoo didn’t respond, Kang Dojun wondered if he had been too harsh and soothed him with a much gentler voice.
“Yeonwoo, I’m not trying to scold you. I’m worried about you.”
Yeonwoo pressed his lips tightly shut and looked at Kang Dojun with curious eyes. His worry wasn’t excessive. Everything he said made sense.
However, the fact that someone he had only known for 7 days was getting angry and worried about his problems with such passion made his chest feel warm and fuzzy. Having someone else worry about him and even get angry was better than he thought. At the same time, he felt like Kang Dojun was on his side.
The corners of his mouth went up without understanding the situation.
“This isn’t something to smile about.”
Kang Dojun scolded him again, but he was happy without knowing it. Trying to hold back his laughter somehow made his face scrunch up strangely.
Perhaps not liking that, Kang Dojun’s eyes twitched slightly before he grabbed both of Yeonwoo’s cheeks and stretched them out.
“Ueee-.”
“Not paying attention?”
“I ahm.”
Strange sounds leaked out. No matter how much he tried to scold him, Yeonwoo’s bland reactions ultimately made him sigh.
Yeonwoo rubbed his reddened cheeks that stung and glanced at Kang Dojun. Then he sat right next to him and snatched the pen.
“Thank you for worrying about me. But this is a contract, is it okay to underline it carelessly?”
“It’s fine since we’ll modify it by agreement. We will… agree, right?”
Kang Dojun looked at Yeonwoo with anxious eyes just in case. Yeonwoo nodded vigorously as if it were obvious.
“Of course, if hyung tells me to do it, I should. Besides, I never liked PD Han Taegu anyway.”
‘You’ll do it if I tell you to?’
What kind of existence was he to Yeonwoo? As expected, Yeonwoo trusted people too much.
“Hyung, how should we handle this part? Should we raise the amount entirely? Just tell me.”
…It felt like he was training a well-behaved puppy.
Whether he knew his thoughts or not, Yeonwoo was radiating happy emotions.
He worries about me. He who worries about me is on my side. I’m on his side too.
It was an absurd three-step logic, but Yeonwoo faithfully believed it and decided to carry out his words.
“What would be good to change here?”
The way he looked straight at Kang Dojun with pure, clear black eyes and asked was exactly like a mutt that would cling to and like anyone without discrimination and cause trouble all day long.
The head he always stroked gently, today he ruffled with slightly rougher hands. Whether he liked that too, the bright smile never disappeared from his face.
“Be selective about who you like. Don’t sign just any paper either.”
“Of course. I’m originally a cautious person by nature.”
Sure you are. He glanced at Yeonwoo with coldly cooled eyes.
‘It would be nice if you only followed me.’
If such a thing happened again, he would solve everything. No, he wouldn’t create such a situation in the first place.
“Hyung, I tried revising it like this, how is it?”
Forgetting what he had just been thinking, Kang Dojun snapped back to attention at Yeonwoo’s question and checked the revised text.
“Uh… yeah.”
Not knowing Kang Dojun’s worrying heart, Yeonwoo looked pleased with his own revisions, which seemed cheeky, so he stretched his cheeks once more.
“I ahm.”
“This mutt.”
* * *
“Hah, I’ve checked for now, but it’s not up to me – I need to get permission from higher-ups too.”
“Which broadcasting station was it?”
“…Approval will come through.”
At Kang Dojun’s muttered threat that wasn’t quite a threat, Han Taegu answered with a deflated voice.
The broadcasting station that aired the variety show “Rural Conquest” was a recently rising place, so they had to extremely avoid any controversies. Moreover, if it was revealed that they had scammed a civilian, public sentiment would obviously be shattered.
Han Taegu, who had briefly gone to Seoul on business and was planning to return, hurriedly came back at Kang Dojun’s contact.
‘I even took the highway….’
How did things turn out like this? Han Taegu, who was the epitome of being strong against the weak and weak against the strong, couldn’t dare confront Kang Dojun and quietly glared at Yeonwoo. However, the problem was that Yeonwoo was also “strong.”
“What.”
Not avoiding Han Taegu’s gaze, he glared back fiercely as if to show him. Even that looked only lovely to Kang Dojun, who glanced at Han Taegu once and then patted Yeonwoo approvingly.
Normally, Yeonwoo would have reacted blandly to Kang Dojun’s attitude, but for some reason, he was proud of his praise. It wasn’t very noticeable, but to Han Taegu’s eyes, who always checked videos on the monitor, the change was clearly visible.
It appeared as if it wasn’t Kang Dojun and Yeonwoo, but rather a master and his dog wagging its tail after receiving praise.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
