44. Chapter 44
The room was so quiet that Eunjae’s heartbeat seemed twice as loud in his ears. At first he thought his request would be denied, but Soyeon brought out her own phone and set it on the table. “Go ahead,” she said, much to Haewon’s alarm.
Eunjae thanked her, then opened the right app and pressed record. He took out the pages he’d been keeping in his jacket pocket and smoothed out the creases.
“To summarize, Emerald Entertainment terminated my exclusive contract for multiple violations.
“First, failing to comply with the group’s promotional schedule. Because I ran away, our fanmeeting was canceled and the unit project was postponed.
“Second, failing to cooperate with agency staff. I refused to accompany my managers to the airport. I’m sure Doyoung will confirm it for you in a statement. Nami will, too. I made that call. Running away was my idea.
“Third, abuse of power. I persuaded the other members to leave the country with me, including younger members, which can be argued as misuse of authority.”
“Where are you going with this?” demanded Haewon, seething.
“I’m making sure you got it all,” Eunjae answered. “The contract states that terminating an agreement between the agency and the artist requires ample proof of just cause or misconduct.”
It caused Eunjae no small measure of disquiet, that the conflict had come down to this. Knowingly provoking Emerald was a huge risk. What he”d wanted most was to settle this amicably. The hope for a bloodless resolution had remained at the forefront of his thoughts, and sometimes this made Eunjae feel more than a little absurd. But if he stopped believing that it might work out in a way that was kinder to all of them, then the situation felt that much harder to bear.
He shuffled the back pages to the front, pushing these forward for the founders to review. “I also signed a separate contract for employment without prior permission from Emerald Entertainment. I work here.” He gestured at the dining area Haewon had disparaged earlier. “You can look through the documents — they”re all valid. I’m allowed to live and work in the United States because I have dual Australian and American citizenship. Something to thank Leila for, I guess.”
“This is ridiculous.”
“It’s not. I’m helping you. Acquiring additional employment can be argued as a conflict of interest. There”s a whole section on that. Also, any earnings made while under contract with Emerald are supposed to be reported so that the agency can take its cut. Those are both described as grounds for termination in my contract. Make sure you present it all to the board.”
Eunjae didn’t dare to stop, not even to take a breath. Not now.
“Fire me,” he said. “To trigger the penalty clause, I would have to quit. And because I’m not quitting — because you’ve decided to fire me — the clause doesn’t apply. You can’t disband Apollo even after I leave. You can’t keep the rights to our music, either. That only happens if I try to terminate the contract myself. Your legal team didn’t cover for that while they were writing this.”
“Let me just send an email about it right now,” sniped Haewon.
“Maybe you should fire them, too,” someone sniped back at her.
Jaehwan’s voice, Eunjae realized with a start. It wasn’t an imaginary, sibilant whisper in his mind, this time. Max had his phone out. The actual Jaehwan was there on the line.
“Finish it, Ari,” he said. “We’re with you. No matter what happens next, we’re here.”
Everyone had moved to stand near him and Eunjae never noticed because he was so busy talking. He had a brother to the left and to the right, brothers at his back with their hands on his shoulders. His throat ached and his eyes burned as he delivered his final argument. He worded it exactly as Arthur had advised a few days before.
“I, Ari Goldsmith-Song, accept the termination of my exclusive contract with Emerald Entertainment.”
He bowed to Haewon and Soyeon. “Thank you for the twelve years I lived under your roof. I”m grateful for what you taught me. I”m glad I was part of what you built, and that you saw something special about me, something worth caring for and protecting.”
The walls shook with his brothers’ cheering and applause even as Haewon’s mouth shaped a rebuke, or perhaps a refusal. Eunjae couldn”t hear her over the tumult of voices raised in victory, in praise, in pride. He wasn”t done yet, though.
“The remaining members won”t be forced to disband, but I can”t leave them with you. If you won”t remove the penalty clause, then I’m petitioning the board to have the rest of Apollo placed under disciplinary review. Section 6 of the contract says that participating in misconduct as an accomplice is grounds for termination. They were all my accomplices. End their contracts, too.”
“No. They stay until their contracts expire. If they want to be terminated, they”ll have to file injunctions individually.” Haewon shook her head, dry-eyed, arms wrapped tightly around herself as though she might shatter at any minute. “You wouldn”t even be brothers, without us. We”re the ones who brought you together.”
“We’re brothers because we chose to be,” Kazu contradicted her. “That won’t change. And if we have to take legal action, we will.”
“Tell yourselves whatever you want,” she said. Especially for Eunjae, she added, “Soon enough, you”ll see: you”ve thrown it all away, and for what?”
“This isn”t everything I am,” Eunjae replied, “and this isn”t the end, either.”
“You”re right. It”s not the end at all. This fight isn”t over until I say it is.”
Haewon was poised to say something further, but she fell silent when Soyeon rose from her chair. “That”s enough.” She turned to face her sister, the tracks of tears still gleaming on her face. “Ari fought well. He”s won, fair and square. Let him go.”
“I can”t believe this. You”re giving up again.”
“Haewon-ah. Do you remember how it all started? The dream we had and the company we wanted to build? Because it isn”t this. Who we”ve become, it”s not anything like who we wanted to be.”
Her gaze fell upon Eunjae and each of his brothers, one by one. The noise died down instantly, save for Haewon’s sharp intake of breath as Soyeon said, “As the majority shareholder of Emerald Entertainment, I approve the termination of Ari Goldsmith-Song. He is free to seek representation by an agency of his choice, and I wish him a long and successful career. Any career he might want to pursue.”
Eunjae could hardly process it. He bowed again. He bowed as low as he could, and all around him, his brothers bowed as well.
“I”m a majority shareholder too,” Haewon interjected. “You can”t authorize that on your own. Not without the full board behind you.”
“I own more shares than anyone with a stake in Emerald, including you. Did you forget that, too? You insisted.” Soyeon’s voice was gentle, but weighted down with sadness. “Because I”m older, and because I was leader. Not that I”ve acted like much of a leader, these past few years.”
“You”re still not leading. You”re being a coward. We could fight this, fight them together, but you won”t. It”s like you don”t care what this will do to us. I feel like we’ve gone back in time.” Bitterly, Haewon added, “Why should they have it all when we never could?”
She left the room, then. Soyeon didn”t turn to watch her go.
“Furthermore,” she went on, a slight tremor in her voice, “I find the remaining members of Apollo to be in violation of company policy as willing accomplices to Ari. All members assisted Ari in failing to meet contractual obligations. I hereby terminate their contracts as well.”
Soyeon plucked a sheet of paper from the table, then flipped it over. “Who has a pen? Jungwoo, I know you always carry one around.”
With a trembling hand, Jungwoo drew a pen out of the front pocket of his shirt. He gave it to Soyeon, who wrote several lines in clean, steady script across the blank page. At the bottom, she signed it with her name.
“Here,” she said to Eunjae. “Now you have it in writing. It”s good enough for the time being.” And then she bowed to them, too. Careful to speak loudly enough for both phones to record, Soyeon added one more statement.
“As per the contract terms cited by Ari, the members of Apollo retain the rights to their music, all related royalties, and the trademark to their name. No penalties are invoked.”
Soyeon reached out to clasp Eunjae”s hand. He pulled her into a hug, rendered speechless, and she let go of a sob she must have been holding in the whole time. Seven more pairs of arms wrapped around them both.
“You”re free,” she said, and Eunjae found his voice again at last.
“Thank you.”