God's Song Volume 4 Chapter 1.4

God’s Song
Volume 4 Chapter 1 Part 4

When Jun Hyuk arrived at Tokyo Haneda Airport, Yoon Kwang Hun was waiting with both arms spread wide.

“This kid. You have the essence of an adult now. Boys grow up faster once they become independent and live alone.”

“I was already grown up. You’re exaggerating.”

Yoon Kwang Hun was seeing Jun Hyuk again after only 5 months. He was surprised by how much Jun Hyuk had changed, but did not show it. He was most pleased that Jun Hyuk had gained confidence. His worries that Jun Hyuk might be suffering alone in a far away country disappeared.

He could also guess why Jun Hyuk seemed to have matured.

“Hey! I’m saying you have the essence of an adult because you have a girl. What do you mean exaggerating.”

“What?”

Jun Hyuk was pushing his cart when he stopped in his tracks. Yoon Kwang Hun knew exactly what he had been up to all the way from Korea!

“How did you know?”

“If you look at the songs you write recently… Well, they’re so bright. I almost cringed. When did it start?”

Had he made it that obvious? Jun Hyuk’s face was already so red it looked like it would explode.

“At the start of winter.”

When Jun Hyuk responded with embarrassment, Yoon Kwang Hun laughed,

“He he. You didn’t come back to Korea during the break because of that girl?”

“Oh, no that’s not it. She went back to Argentina.”

Jun Hyuk waved both hands to tell him not to misunderstand. Yoon Kwang Hun grinned from ear to ear when he said Argentina.

“What? Argentina? She’s Latino?”

“Yes.”

“Is she pretty?”

Yoon Kwang Hun teased him and Jun Hyuk was no longer embarrassed.

“Of course. Do you want to see a picture?”

Jun Hyuk took out his phone and showed him a picture of Amelia. Yoon Kwang Hun saw a few pictures saved on the phone and grumbled for no reason,

“Hmph, I’m jealous. She’s really pretty!”

“He he.”

“What’s her name?”

“Amelia. Amelia Lamarque.”

“Amelia… Even her name is pretty.”

Yoon Kwang Hun and Jun Hyuk had tons to talk about, but they had to stop because of the person standing awkwardly next to Yoon Kwang Hun.

“Ah, say hi. He’s a supervisor at the company that’s distributing your album in Japan right now. He speaks Korean well because he works with the Korean end.”

“Ah, hello.”

“Mr. Jun Hyuk. We finally get to meet. I’ve really waited a long time.”

Jun Hyuk was not even surprised when he heard his tight schedule for the next week in the car to the hotel. It was lenient compared to a day at CH School of Music.

Jo Hyung Joong and Baek Seung Ho were waiting at the hotel. They could not hide their surprise at Jun Hyuk’s matured image either.

“But it looks like Teacher Yoon Jung Su isn’t coming?”

“This overlapped with his schedule for entertainment show appearances. Once you go after your promotions, he’s going to make a round with the kids.”

“The kids?”

“Yeah. The guest singers. Hye Sung, Na Rae, Hae Jun, and Nam Seung Hee. They’re all benefiting from this because of you since they were able to get a foot in to this Hallyu wave.”

Jo Hyung Joong felt sorry. Beyond the monetary issues, he could not help but feel that the star Jun Hyuk was being forced to share his rising popularity in Japan with other people.

In the most extreme example, Lee Hae Jun started activities in Japan with his idol group and the song he participated in for Jun Hyuk’s album is most popular among Japanese fans.

When Yoon Kwang Hun told everyone about Amelia as they ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, Baek Seung Ho was most delighted.

“This kid. What were you talking about when you were busy dating instead of studying? You said you had a lot of work to get done?”

Baek Seung Ho and Jo Hyung Joong looked at the picture of Amelia on Jun Hyuk’s phone and admired her beauty.

“I’m telling you I’m really studying. And this girl is an incredible pianist too. She’s known as the 2nd Martha Argerich in Argentina.”

“Hey! Tell me honestly. Did you fall for her because of her piano? Or because she’s pretty?”

“Well… it was both.”

“Since Jun Hyuk is handsome too, don’t you think this girl Amelia might be dating him because of his looks? Ha ha.”

Jo Hyung Joong spoke while looking at a photo of the two of them together, but Jun Hyuk shook his head.

“Oy, Teacher. You don’t know what you’re saying. In America, I’m just a tall and skinny Asian kid. Western girls like manly Asians.”

“Good. Let’s just say the two of you fell for each other because of your music.”

Jun Hyuk started happily telling them about what happened over a semester at school and in LA. When he said that Philadelphia Philharmonic’s maestro, Bruno Kazel, recognized his talent and that he played improv with Stanley Clarke, Yoon Kwang Hun and Jo Hyung Joong looked like they were going to pass out.

“Philadelphia’s maestro said that you’re the future conductor of the New York Philharmonic?”

“The real Stanley Clarke? The Stanley Clarke that we know?”

“You can’t believe it, can you? Ha ha. I still feel like it’s a dream. Look at this. We even took a picture together.”

When Jun Hyuk showed them his pictures with the two greats on his phone, Yoon Kwang Hun and Jo Hyung Joong showed more excitement than when they saw Amelia’s picture. Only Baek Seung Ho did not know what they were talking about and just blinked.

“Who is that old black man that you’re making such a fuss?”

“Ignorant bastard. All you have to know is that he’s incredible.”

While Yoon Kwang Hun made fun of Baek Seung Ho, Jun Hyuk handed over the contract that Alex Zakin had given him.

“Please take a look at this for me. It’s the contract LA Sound gave me.”

Yoon Kwang Hun read through the contract slowly.

“I don’t think this has anything to do with what you recorded. It’s about the albums you’ll be recording from now on.”

“Oh, yeah. He said that we need to make a different contract for that… He said this is a general contract. I read it too and I don’t think it looks bad.”

Yoon Kwang Hun does not know the basics of the entertainment industry, so he explained the contents simply to Jo Hyung Joong.

“So LA Sound wants to contract a certain number of records. They’ll pay an advance royalty of $1 million for each record. Of course it doesn’t mean that if he agrees to do 10 albums that he’ll get the entire amount at once, but he’ll get the advance royalties each time he completes an album for the next album.”

“So whatever amount he chooses for the albums he’ll release with them, they’re going to give him advance royalties of $1 million for the first album.”

“Yes.”

“Oh right. He told me to tell you that even in America, these kinds of conditions are only applicable to the top stars.”

Jun Hyuk did not forget the last thing that Alex Zakin said.

“That’s right. You need to be a star with the ticket power to sell out for a world tour at one time to get $1 million.”

Jo Hyung Joong had already been expecting to some extent when he heard that Jun Hyuk had performed with Stanley Clarke. But once he knew what was included in the contract, he realized that Jun Hyuk was holding the card to become a superstar at any time.

“And the online profit share is also really generous… It seems LA Sound doesn’t want to lose you.”

Jo Hyung Joong’s concern just now that Jun Hyuk had missed out on an opportunity in Japan became laughable.

“Well… It seems we made him come to Japan for nothing.”

Jo Hyung Joong poured a drink for Yoon Kwang Hun and spoke.

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t think promoting Jun Hyuk’s debut album here is the issue. The second Jun Hyuk signs on with LA Sound, he is basically reserving a spot as a world star.”

Everyone became speechless. This is an opportunity that is hard to come by in a lifetime for the average person, but it came to Jun Hyuk in a matter of a semester. The Maestro’s recognition. And an unconventional proposal from a worldwide record label.

Chapter end