“Thank you for coming here like this.”

Yura’s expression was sour as she watched Joo Hye Rim bow her head politely. She wondered why she had been specifically called to this meeting.

However, thoughts of Hye Rim didn’t last long. It was because Oh Se Jin was approaching her with a leering gaze.

Fortunately, unfamiliar security guards blocked Oh Se Jin’s movements.

It was clearly visible that he wanted to shout something at them right away with eyes full of displeasure, but was holding back. Yura just pretended not to notice and moved to the side after standing behind Representative Baek to keep her distance from Se Jin.

The representative of Songrim Art Center, Yura, and Oh Se Jin sat facing each other. Yura deliberately fixed her gaze on Joo Hye Rim sitting in the seat of honor.

Her heavy makeup blended with her confident expression to make her look arrogant. When she had seen her before, she didn’t give off this impression, but her greatly changed appearance was burdensome to the point of being uncomfortable.

“We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

Yura recalled the contract from a few years ago at Hye Rim’s seemingly friendly question.

“We met once before regarding an artist performance contract.”

“Ah, that time. You’re still so pretty.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

As Yura bowed her head slightly, Ji Ho’s stiff and dry voice flowed from beside her.

“What did you want to discuss?”

Hye Rim pressed her lips together tightly as if gathering her thoughts, and stared blankly at the people sitting there.

“We’re planning to make an official announcement soon, but I arranged this meeting to inform the concerned parties beforehand.”

Hye Rim’s naturally good voice had a strangely captivating power. Accordingly, a strange tension filled the room. Except for Oh Se Jin, who seemed to have no thoughts at all.

People’s gazes reflexively followed as Joo Hye Rim stood up from her seat. Joo Hye Rim’s face stiffened in an instant as if changing masks.

“Our IF Management…”

After taking a moment to catch her breath, Hye Rim calmly announced the shocking matter.

“We are notifying you of the termination of our contract with pianist Oh Se Jin from this point forward.”

“Joo Hye Rim!”

Oh Se Jin seemed to have been completely unaware as well, shouting with a face stained with shock. Se Jin’s face, who had jumped up from his seat, was flushed red and blue as if about to burst at any moment.

Joo Hye Rim’s declaration was quite a shock not only to Oh Se Jin, but also to Yura and Ji Ho. Although Songrim had intended to terminate Oh Se Jin’s performance contract, they hadn’t expected IF Management to pull out first.

Things were going in a completely different direction from Songrim’s concerns. Additionally, they had to clearly address the newly emerged issues.

“Our Songrim Art Center also plans to terminate the performance contract. The issue is that this contract was originally made with IF Management, not Oh Se Jin personally, so how do you intend to handle the damages?”

Ji Ho clearly pointed out the problem that arose from the contract termination.

Basically, in performance contracts, if a performance cannot be fulfilled due to an artist’s issues, damages are to be paid.

Moreover, this wasn’t just a simple problem, but social and moral issues had arisen, with the responsibility falling entirely on the artist.

In such cases, Songrim Art Center could claim damages, but the management that should pay compensation was trying to pull out first.

There was a risk that they might have to claim from Oh Se Jin personally. If that happened, the matter would become hopelessly complicated.

As monetary issues were raised with talk of damages, Oh Se Jin, either belatedly realizing the seriousness of the situation or still not understanding, once again interjected and shouted.

“Why are you terminating my contract as you please!”

“Shut up!”

A single fierce and cold word instantly changed the atmosphere in the room. Hye Rim didn’t hesitate to direct even sharper criticism towards the startled Oh Se Jin.

“You should have kept your disgraceful behavior in check. Even after being told so clearly, you caused this mess, so you should be ready to take responsibility for it. As an adult, shouldn’t you be prepared for that much?”

“You, XX! How dare you do this to me? Joo Hye Rim!”

Oh Se Jin reached out as if to grab Hye Rim’s collar in response to her direct criticism. However, the security guards waiting nearby rushed in to restrain Se Jin’s movements.

Blocked by the hands of two sturdy men, Oh Se Jin screamed like a madman and thrashed about as if venting his frustration. Watching this scene with an indifferent gaze, Joo Hye Rim gave a brief instruction to the security guard.

“Calm him down.”

The guard who nodded his head dragged Oh Se Jin into the bedroom. There was a dull sound as if something had been thrust into the floor, and then the room suddenly became quiet. Yura felt a chill at that strange silence.

Wondering what had happened, she tried to fix her gaze on the floor rather than looking towards the bedroom, when Joo Hye Rim’s voice, now much brighter than before, flew in.

Yura found that even more chilling. It was surprising that she could control her emotions so quickly.

“I apologize for the disturbance.”

Joo Hye Rim responded to Ji Ho’s question as if nothing had happened.

“As the contract was terminated due to Oh Se Jin’s personal issues, our IF Management will settle the damages according to legal procedures.”

Yura, who had been silent throughout, narrowed her brows and glared at Hye Rim. The contract termination that occurred at such an exquisite timing was a petty method chosen to minimize losses. Yura was so dumbfounded she was at a loss for words.

“So you’re saying you want to settle this at a reasonable level.”

“We will do our best to not disappoint you.”

Hye Rim’s face, wearing a gentle smile, was disgusting. Yura let out an involuntary sneer as disgust welled up inside her. Before Yura could argue further, Ji Ho stood up.

“I understand. Let’s both work towards a good resolution. Let’s go, Team Leader Jin.”

Yura looked at Ji Ho, wanting to ask if they were really just leaving like this, but in the end she just nodded slightly and followed Ji Ho in silence.

As they got into the elevator, Yura vented her twisted feelings without filter.

“Isn’t this too petty? Backstabbing us with a contract termination first.”

“It’s natural for a company.”

“How is that natural?”

Looking at Yura who was frowning as if she couldn’t understand, Ji Ho answered calmly.

“Companies are places that pursue profit, not charities. If there’s an issue that will cause losses, they look for the way to minimize it.”

“Then, are you saying you would do the same in this situation, Representative?”

“Of course. Do you think I dig the ground to do business?”

Yura was flabbergasted at Ji Ho’s nonchalant response. She wanted to argue how he could plan performances for artists with such thoughts, but Ji Ho’s words weren’t wrong either. After all, profit is what companies pursue first.

Giving up on arguing further as she realized she couldn’t blame Ji Ho anymore, Yura got in the car.

As the car started smoothly, the view of the hotel came into view in the side mirror. This wasn’t the result she had hoped for, and somehow the ending felt unsatisfying.

They say good fortune is often accompanied by mishap. Just when she thought she would regain the top spot, that dream had turned to bubbles.

Yura let out a deep sigh without realizing it. She had thought her position would change again if this performance ended successfully, but stumbling right before the finish line made all her motivation disappear.

“Team Leader Jin, you’ll have to work hard.”

Ji Ho’s words, filled with worry and encouragement, deepened Yura’s gloom.

“Tsk, who to replace the emptied performance with.”

With the dreaded situation having occurred, the upcoming second half of the year performances looked bleak. The pressure of having to struggle again to find artists made her eyes feel dry and her ears stuffy.

“How about violinist Yoon Ga Eun?”

“She said she doesn’t want to be Oh Se Jin’s substitute.”

“Oh my, I heard she was picky.”

“Where is there an artist who isn’t picky? They’re all like that.”

Before meeting violinist Yoon Ga Eun, she had held a small hope. It would have been a perfect situation if she had readily agreed, but she drew the line immediately, so Yura couldn’t even ask for understanding.

“Looks like Team Leader Jin has quite a headache now.”

There was no gravity in Ji Ho’s voice as he spoke while staring out the window. Yura frowned at his light voice that seemed to contain amusement.

“Seems like you’re enjoying this.”

“How could that be. My heart aches. Ugh.”

Yura barely held back from actually smacking the back of Ji Ho’s head as he pretended to clutch his chest as if playing a trick. Yura clicked her tongue and shook her head as if looking at a five-year-old child.

“Tsk, if you can’t even speak properly.”

As she turned her gaze to the window, Ji Ho spoke up with an irrelevant comment.

“Baek Yi Hyun has wide connections.”

“Pardon?”

“He has an extraordinary appreciation for classical music. That means he knows a lot of people too.”

As Ji Ho kindly explained the meaning of connections, Yura recalled the personal space in Yi Hyun’s office. She could fully empathize with Ji Ho’s words, given how much he enjoyed classical music to the point of collecting LPs.

However, separate from that, his personality didn’t seem like he would interact with artists. Baek Yi Hyun, who was far from humble and didn’t know how to speak pleasantly, was not at all a matching combination with artists.

“I understand his appreciation is extraordinary, but I’m not sure if he knows many people.”

“He had to become well-versed in many areas because of someone.”

Yura’s eyes narrowed at Ji Ho’s words that seemed to be speaking on Yi Hyun’s behalf, as if he had no choice.

“Because of who?”

“Mm, someone.”

At Ji Ho’s short, meaningful answer, Yura suddenly thought of Joo Hye Rim. If asked why that woman came to mind, it would be because of that day when she called her by a nickname without hesitation. But she didn’t want to pry further with Ji Ho.

She didn’t like subtly being jealous, and this would look like blatant jealousy. Moreover, the sharp Baek Ji Ho would probably see through her one-sided love at once, so she had to keep quiet even more.

Looking at Yura who was pouting with her mouth shut, Ji Ho thought she had a long way to go. It seemed like things could change a bit between the two if he explained the whole story, but he didn’t particularly want to intervene.

Thinking of Yura and Eun Su made him want to help somehow, but thinking of Baek Yi Hyun made him want to interfere out of spite. So Ji Ho thought that simply observing was the best option for him.

“Since we’re out, want to have lunch with Eun Su?”

He suggested it since it was almost lunchtime, but Yura still seemed upset and glared with both eyes.

She would never know that her reactions like this made him want to tease her more. Ji Ho grinned, thinking that teasing Yura like this was a small revenge against Yi Hyun.

“Who was it that just said I need to work hard?”

“You still eat even when you’re busy.”

Yura found it despicable that he would pile on work and then ask to eat together. If he was going to do this, he should have eaten first and then given her work. His terribly nasty attitude was infuriating.

“They say if it fits your ear it’s an earring, but you just do whatever’s convenient for you.”

As she kept grumbling unable to control her rising irritation, Ji Ho’s laughter followed. It seemed he was really good at doing annoying things in all sorts of ways, which was exasperating.

Ji Ho added one more thing while humming happily for some reason.

“If you’re upset, you be the representative.”

For a moment, Yura considered using Baek Yi Hyun to push out Baek Ji Ho. Then she shook her head and gathered her thoughts.

No matter how much Representative Baek provoked her, it was an impossible delusion. Yura let out a hollow laugh at herself for being so ridiculous.